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.