Gnome Do: Also a Dock

If you have not yet installed and tried Gnome-Do, a program similar to quicksilver for mac which can run applications and do other various tasks using only the keyboard, I highly recommend doing so. If you already have it, however, I have a suggestion. Go into the settings

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

For my exact setup, use the Dust Theme (Included in Jaunty) and this wallpaper.

Daily Chromium Builds

Here is the repository for the latest chromium builds. (Google Chrome for Linux).

#Chrome
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Add these to your sources.list with

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

and then paste all that text at the bottom. Open a terminal, and run:

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0xfbef0d696de1c72ba5a835fe5a9bf3bb4e5e17b5
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install chromium chromium-browser

Enjoy!

Test Firefox 3.5 Beta 4

As noted at tuxradar.com, the new firefox 3.5 beta for has significant speed improvements for running native on linux. Bloggers have complained that the current version is unnecessarily slow, and even that they prefer running the windows version in wine. To compare the speed changes for yourself, or just to take a look at how it is progressing, install it like this:

wget http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/3.5b4-candidates/build1/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-3.5b4.tar.bz2
tar xvfj firefox-3.5b4.tar.bz2
chmod +x firefox/firefox
ln firefox/firefox Firefox
mv Firefox Desktop/

This also creates an icon on the desktop. To run, simply double click this icon.

Hugin Panorama App

Install with:

sudo apt-get install hugin

This app is an excellent tool for stitching photos together to make panoramas. It works extremely well with my Nikon d60 and just as well with my regular hand-held digital camera. To create a basic panorama, try this:

1. Pick A Scene - It doesn't have to be amazing, since it's just your first time fiddling with the program. You are going to want to take at least 2 shots, I recommend 3. Your subject should Ideally contain some 'points' that are easily identifiable. For example, a shot of the sunset on a plain ocean may be hard to turn into a panorama, because it has very few static, or non-moving, parts. You want to include a few points that are easy for you to recognize in the separate shots. An ideal scene may include a few trees, on which you can identify points in common between your photos. An example of such a point could be where the lowest branch sticks out from the trunk of the tree.
2. Shoot the scene - Take 2+ pictures (I recommend 3). You want to have a significant amount of overlap between the images, so you can find common points in the application. If they are clear enough, hugin will identify them for you.
3. Use Hugin - Open Hugin, assuming you've already installed it with the above code. Select load images, and load your images from your computer or memory card. Next, click align. It will take some time to load, depending on how many images you have, how large they are, and how many points in common hugin is able to identify. After this step, hugin will show you a preview of your panorama. If you are content with the result, render it. It will most likely have weird dimensions in the hugin window. To remove these, edit the file in gimp later.
   

Enjoy your panorama! Soon I'll post one I'm making now. It is made of over 100 shots!

Jaunty Beta

Some readers may have noticed I post much more infrequently than previously. This is because I'm simply having fewer problems. Ubuntu is becoming more and more user friendly, and can now do essentially everything I want (except a few music-related functions I use for my band, Power Pirate, and tools I use for creating HDR photography)

Today I am going to install the new Jaunty Beta, and hope that all is still well. Happy 'bunting.

Finally Some New Themes!

Check out the sample of the themes for the new Ubuntu release, 9.04!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-04-039-s-New-Themes-106961.shtml

Run Google Chrome on Mac and Linux with Crossover Chromium

The folks at crossover office, the makers of the commercialized version of wine, have developed a package which allows google chrome to be run on macs and linux. Just go to their site and download an install the respective package for your system, and you should be good to go.

Download

Disable tap to click while typing

run this at startup (system > preferences > sessions)

syndaemon -t -d

Compiz Fusion Vacuum Effect

Due to legal issues with Apple, Compiz Fusion is not allowed to have the vacuum effect for minimizing windows. If you are determined to re-enable it, here's how:

If compiz is running right now, you should close it by pressing alt+f2 and then typing metacity --replace

Then open a terminal and run the following, or install the ghex package with the synaptic package manager.

sudo apt-get install ghex

Then modify the following 3 files:

1. sudo ghex2 /usr/lib/compiz/libanimation.so

Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find, and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.

2.) sudo ghex2 /usr/lib/compiz/libanimation.a

Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find, and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.


3.) sudo gedit /usr/share/compiz/animation.xml
Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find. Scroll down a bit past the languages and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.


Then open comiz again by running compiz --replace in an alt+f2 window
Good luck!
For more help see this forum thread

How to: FIX the flash crash in hardy!

After all this time, there is finally a fix for the flash crash that works. Do the following:


first run the following just to refresh:

sudo apt-get update

add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/thielmann/ubuntu hardy main

you can use the following command to do so easily

sudo echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/thielmann/ubuntu hardy main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

then run

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfreebeta && sudo apt-get remove libflashsupport

then, edit your /etc/asound.conf file

sudo gedit /etc/asound.conf

to contain the following contents:

pcm.pulse {
type pulse
}
ctl.pulse {
type pulse
}
pcm.!default {
type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
type pulse
}

save this file, then finally install one last package

sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins