techyTim http://blog.techytim.com Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:42:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Ubuntu: No sound after suspend to RAM fix http://blog.techytim.com/2009/01/28/ubuntu-sound-fix/ http://blog.techytim.com/2009/01/28/ubuntu-sound-fix/#comments Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:18:00 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/?p=123 The magic of open source software is evident every few days or so when the Ubuntu Update Manager notifies me of another round of bug fixes and/or security patches. Over this past winter break, I put a new motherboard (Foxconn M7VMX-K) in my computer and decided to test the “sleep” function. Since Ubuntu relies on community testing, hardware support can be a weakness and sleep did not work with my old mobo. However, I was excited to see that my computer properly slept and woke-up with this new motherboard… except for one problem. After waking up, the sound did not work! Frustrated, I did a Google search and found a thread on Launchpad (the Ubuntu bug tracking site) which seemed to describe the issue I was experiencing as well as a workaround. For anyone interested, the fix is to run the following commands after resuming:


pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio -D

A few weeks later I spotted an update to pulseaudio on update manager with the description “Add pm-utils sleep hook to suspend (and resume) users’ pulseaudio daemons”. That sounded promising so I quickly installed the update and put my computer to sleep. Sure enough, after waking it up the sound worked!

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2009/01/28/ubuntu-sound-fix/feed/ Disable Skype Mic Auto-adjustment in Ubuntu http://blog.techytim.com/2007/09/02/disable-skype-mic-auto-adjustment-in-ubuntu/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/09/02/disable-skype-mic-auto-adjustment-in-ubuntu/#comments Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:01:22 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/09/02/disable-skype-mic-auto-adjustment-in-ubuntu/ Update: Skype 1.4.0.118 adds a menu option to fix this

Skype 1.4.0.118 Mixer Options

I’m using Skype for Linux 1.4.0.99 and I noticed that if I jostle my microphone, the capture volume will decrease. This is annoying because when I go to make a call, the other person won’t be able to hear me. I found a fix to avoid this auto-adjustment:

      First, close Skype if it’s running.
      In your home directory press Ctrl-H to show hidden folders.
      Find the .Skype folder and edit the shared.xml with a text editor.
      Find the subsection <lib> with a subsection <voiceeng>. In this subsection, add <agc>0</agc> to disable automatic microphone manipulation.

Here’s a screenshot of the modified shared.xml file:

shared.xml

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]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/07/02/stickies/feed/ Only Microsoft http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/18/only-microsoft/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/18/only-microsoft/#comments Fri, 18 May 2007 13:44:32 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/18/only-microsoft/ Virtual Earth Installation

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/18/only-microsoft/feed/ Download YouTube Videos http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/17/download-youtube-videos/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/17/download-youtube-videos/#comments Thu, 17 May 2007 17:30:45 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/17/download-youtube-videos/ The free Online FLV Converter allows you to download online videos such as those from YouTube to your PC, iPod, etc. Just enter the URL and go!

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/17/download-youtube-videos/feed/ InterfaceLIFT http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/09/interfacelift/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/09/interfacelift/#comments Wed, 09 May 2007 14:50:44 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/09/interfacelift/ For great high resolution wallpaper, icons, and themes check out InterfaceLIFT. Download sizes for wallpaper include up to 1920×1200 (widescreen), 1600×1200 (standard), as well as 1080p and mobile sizes. The site is a bit cluttered with ads, but the content is excellent! Enjoy.

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/05/09/interfacelift/feed/ Keep Your Programs Updated with File Hippo http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/06/keep-your-programs-updated-with-file-hippo/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/06/keep-your-programs-updated-with-file-hippo/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:25:54 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/06/keep-your-programs-updated-with-file-hippo/ Windows Only: You probably fall into one of two categories: a) you are constantly checking the websites of your favorite freeware programs for the latest and great updates OR b) you update your software only when prompted or when you get a new computer. File Hippo makes checking for and installing updates simple. Just download the exe and run it, no installation necessary! File Hippo will quickly scan (took about 5 seconds on my system) and display the results in a web browser. You’ll get a simple list of regular updates, as well as a separate list of beta updates for early adopters. Perhaps the best part of the service is that you can just click on the download icon on the File Hippo update page and download the file directly from the File Hippo servers. No searching the vendor site to find the correct download for your system. File Hippo: quick and simple!

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/06/keep-your-programs-updated-with-file-hippo/feed/ Ergotips: CUErogopods http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/02/ergotips-cuerogopods/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/02/ergotips-cuerogopods/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:12:15 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/02/ergotips-cuerogopods/ Heavy laptop user? Looking for the best way to arrange your dual-monitor setup? Check out video and audio CUErgopods, the work of the students in the DEA470 Applied Ergonomics class at Cornell University. The CUErgo page is also a good resource and an interesting read. Avoid carpal tunnel with neutral posture computing!

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/04/02/ergotips-cuerogopods/feed/ Blog Homepage as a Graph http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/27/blog-homepage-as-a-graph/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/27/blog-homepage-as-a-graph/#comments Wed, 28 Feb 2007 02:55:24 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/27/blog-homepage-as-a-graph/ Check out this nifty Java applet which converts HTML tags of a web page into a colorful graph. Described as a HTML DOM Visualizer, I’m not sure if this would have any productive use, but it’s cool at the least! Here’s a screenshot of my blog’s homepage:

Homepage HTML as Graph

What do the colors mean?

blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags

]]> http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/27/blog-homepage-as-a-graph/feed/ How to Get an “A” in Math http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/19/how-to-get-an-a-in-math/ http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/19/how-to-get-an-a-in-math/#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:19:04 +0000 techyTim http://blog.techytim.com/2007/02/19/how-to-get-an-a-in-math/ Some different approaches for when the going gets tough…

Find Ways to Make the Problem Easier

ramp.jpg

Innovate to Create a More Interesting Problem

proton1.jpg

Search for Sympathy When the Problem Gets Ugly

math2.gif

Do What’s Obvious

findx.gif

Find New Meanings for the Instructinos

expand.jpg

Interpret Instructions Literally

curve.jpg

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