Linux @ Digital Space

Logitech G110 Keyboard + USB sound not working - KDE

2010-12-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

To make use of the audio jack on the G110 keyboard you have to make two configuration changes:

1.) Change the Master Channel in KMix

Right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray. Then choose the "Select Master Channel". Make sure USB PnP Sound Device is selected and click on OK.

2.) Change the default Audio Output preference in Phonon.

Open die KDE menu. Select the Computer Tab and then System Settings. Go down to the hardware section and then click on the multimedia icon. On the next screen select the Phonon tab. Select Audio Output and then click on the Prefer button to move 'USB PnP Sound Device' to the top of the list. Click Apply.

Installing Ubuntu One on Kubuntu 9.10

2009-12-18T17:59:00.000-08:00

Canonical's version of Dropbox is called Ubuntu one. Although it is installed by default with Ubuntu 9.10, it is sadly missing from Kubuntu 9.10.

Issue the following commands inside a terminal:

echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/apachelogger/ubuntuone-kde/ubuntu karmic main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo 'deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/apachelogger/ubuntuone-kde/ubuntu karmic main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 4427DF3B

Open KPackageKit and install the client: "ubuntuone-client-kde"

There should be a Ubuntu One icon in the start menu, under Applications, Internet. Click on the Ubuntu Icon.

To use: simply move files to the Ubuntu One folder that lives under your home folder.

Compiling Qtpfsgui 1.9.3 on Kubuntu 9.10

2009-11-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

Qtpfsgui is an open source graphical user interface application that aims to provide a workflow for HDR imaging.

Issue the following commands in a terminal:

wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/qtpfsgui/qtpfsgui-1.9.3.tar.gz
tar zxvf qtpfsgui-1.9.3.tar.gz 
cd qtpfsgui-1.9.3 / 
qmake-qt4
make
sudo make install

Compiling Sportwatcher on Kubuntu

2009-10-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sportwatcher is the Linux equivalent of the Garmin Training Center software. You can use Sportwatcher to sync your Garmin GPS watch without resorting to booting Windows in Virtualbox. Read more here...

I have compiled Sportwatcher 0.6 from source on Kubuntu netbook edition 9.10 Alpha 4 and these are my notes. Although you can install sportwatcher from .deb files I thought this post might be useful for somebody out there...

You can download the source from http://www.theosys.at/download/index.html

Although there is a 0.7 source, I have problems compiling 0.7 - (I get Mapnik errors).

Step 1: Install compile utilities:

sudo apt-get install cmake build-essential apt-file

Step 2: Install dependencies for Sportwacther:

sudo apt-get install libgdal-dev kdelibs5-dev libusb-dev libmapnik-dev

Go make coffee - a lot of stuff will be downloaded. Once done, reboot - one of the components acts as a server and needs to be started.

Now we are ready to compile.

Step 3: Download source

- Download version 0.6 of Sportwatcher
- extract archive to any folder...
- open konsole (kde) and navigate to the extracted sportwatcher folder

Step 4: Compile

Issue the following command:

cmake CMakeLists.txt

if that was successfull then issue the following command:

cmake

If the compile was successfull, the executable will be in the src folder. The actual filename is called sportwatcher. You can then just click on the file while you are in the dolphin file manager (kde).

Problems and possible solutions:

If you run into errors while doing the cmake procedure which are usually dependency issues, two utilities that can help out are: apt-file and aptitude.

To install apt-file: sudo apt-get install apt-file. Then issue the following command apt-file update. You can use apt-file to figure out what package to install when cmake complains about a missing file. For example: when cmake complains about the following: ERROR: cmake/modules/FindKDE4Internal.cmake not found
Issue the following command:

apt-file search cmake/modules/FindKDE4Internal.cmake

Apt-file will then respond with "kdelibs5-dev". You can then install with:

sudo apt-get install kdelibs5-dev

Sometimes apt-file returns an empty answer. This is when you use the aptitude command for example:
cmake complains about cmake/modules/FindMapnik.cmake not found. Could not find Mapnik.
Issue the following command:

aptitude search mapnik

Look for a package that ends with -dev then install that package with sudo apt-get install ?????

Aptitude should already be on you system, so there is nothing to install to use it. Aptitude also comes with its own text based GUI - just issue the aptitude command without any parameters.

Upgrade from OpenOffice 3.0 to 3.1 on Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty

2009-09-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Issue the following commands inside a terminal:

echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 60D11217247D1CFF
gpg --export --armor 60D11217247D1CFF | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

Fix GPG:error in Synaptic

2009-09-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

If you get the problem above with Synaptic, enter the following commands in a terminal:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 2836CB0A8AC93F7A
gpg --export --armor 2836CB0A8AC93F7A  | sudo apt-key add -

Repeat for every key missing, changing 2836CB0A8AC93F7A with whatever you see in the error dialog box. After doing this, you can click on the reload button in Synaptic.

Raw file image processing with Raw Therapee

2009-09-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

Raw Therapee is a free RAW converter(using DCRaw) and digital photo processing software that is available for 16 bit and 64 bit Linux.

It has the following image processing options:Exposure control, White balance adjustment (in-camera, automatic and spot white balance), Highlight Recovery, Shadows/Highlights, Basic Luminance curve tool, Brightness / Contrast adjustment, curve editor, sharpening tools, Color shift control, Luminance denoising algorithm, Color denoising tool, Image flipping horizontally or vertically, rotation by 90 degrees clockwise or counter clockwise, Arbitrary image rotation (straightening tool), Simple lens distortion correction, Crop tool, Chromatic Aberration correction tool, Channel Mixer for Red, Green and Blue channels, C/A Correction and Vignetting Correction.

Install ?

Download the latest version here. Extract the compressed archive to a location of your choice. Navigate to the extracted folder and double click on the RT executable to run.

Tip:

I highly recommend that you read the manual first before using RT. RT is built for batch processing of images and at first the interface might confuse you. After you configured all your image processing parameters, you can apply them to images. In the file browser dialog there are little icons that you click on to add them to the processing queue. To start the processing, you first click on the icon that looks like a rocket and then you click 'start processing'.

RT is a incredible piece of software and is the best raw converter available on Linux.

Sites to browse for additional Linux software

2009-08-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

If you are new to Linux you might be under the misconception that there isn't a lot of software for Linux. The opposite is true - there is too much of it and you have to wade through the noise to find the gems. Here is a list of sites you can use to discover new software:

Another very useful site for APT Ubuntu users: http://appnr.com/

To download over 120 games with one click see: http://en.djl-linux.org/ and a nice howto: http://maketecheasier.com/linux-access-100-games-instantly-with-djl/2009/10/17

Use Spideroak to backup Garmin Training Center in Virtualbox

2009-08-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Similar to the fantastic Dropbox utility, Spideroak offers a cross platform utility that backup and sync your files to a server on the internet. Spideroak is available for the following systems: Ubuntu Jaunty (32 bit, 64 bit), Debian Etch, Debian Lenny, Fedora 10, Mac OS X, Slackware 12.1, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, Ubuntu Hardy Heron, Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex, Windows. All your data is fully encrypted with a combination of 2048 byte RSA and 256 bit AES - not even the employees at Spideroak can decrypt your files - so don't loose or forget your password.

Spideroak offers a 2 gig free account. The major difference between Dropbox and Spideroak is that Spideroak offers more control: you can select the folders you want to sync, while Dropbox creates a single folder that you use to drop files into.

One of my readers had a question about backing up the Garmin Training Center database file UserData.bin, see post here. At that time I suggested using Dropbox to backup the Garmin files. After thinking about it for I while, I realized that Dropbox would be a poor solution for this particular problem. The data files are stored in a separate folder than the Garmin Training Center program files. Spideroak would be the perfect solution for this backup requirement.

Download Spideroak from here while you are inside your Virtualbox Windows guest virtual machine. You create your Spideroak account inside the Spideroak utility after downloading and installing the software.

To backup the entire Garmin Traning Center you have to select the following two folders:

C:\Garmin  ... your location might be different

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\GARMIN

Note: The 'Application Data' folder is hidden. You have to click on the 'Hide/show hidden folders/files' option first before you can see the Garmin folder in the list.

If you click on the View tab, you can see the listed files and folders that you have elected to backup. Scroll down the list, to the userdata.bin file and click on the file. On the right of the window is a 'grippy' area. Click and drag this to the left. This is where you get to see the historic versions.

I haven't had the opportunity yet to restore from a previous version. I will sync the Garmin watch everyday this week and attempt a restore at the end of the week and see what happens. I will come back to this post and update with my findings.

The number of online services that offer this kind of backup is increasing and things are getting better and better. I've created a list of online backup services here.

Update 8 Sept:

I ran into a slight problem with the Garmin Training center software. It seems that the software does not update the last modified date and time stamp on the database files. This prevents Spideroak from detecting file changes and will only take a backup once and never again.

I then downloaded a utility from http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/, called Setfiledate. This utility allows you to change the date and time stamp manually. This is what it looks like:

The moment you update the date and time stamp, you will notice Spideroak kicking into high gear (backing up the file). After the backup as been made you can view the historic versions. To restore a previous version is as simple as selecting the version you want and then clicking the download option.

Add Facebook and Skype to Pidgin

2009-08-26T03:45:00.001-07:00

Pidgin is a very functional, cross-platform (well - almost, native Mac
OS X is missing), multi-protocol instant messaging client. Out of the
box Pidgin supports AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber/XMPP, MSN
Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ,
Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr. To add facebook and skype to the list, you have to install plug-ins.

Download the latest Pidgin versions for a Debian GNU/Linux distribution:

Ubuntu Jaunty 32 bits - 2.6.1
Ubuntu Jaunty 64 bits - 2.6.1

Before installing the plug-ins, make sure that you shutdown pidgin first, otherwise the protocol options (facebook and skype) will not appear in the list.

Installing Facebook plug-in:

Navigate to http://code.google.com/p/pidgin-facebookchat/downloads/list. Download the .deb file to your desktop and install with GDebi (right-click and then open with GDebi). After installing you can add your facebook account by using the menu option <accounts>,<managing accounts>, <add>. You should have a facebook option under protocol that you can pick.

Installing Skype plug-in:

Make sure you have skype installed first,as the skype plug-in cannot function on its own. Navigate to http://eion.robbmob.com/. Download the .deb file (you can choose between 32 bit and 64 bit). Follow the same instructions as for the Facebook plug-in. When you configure the Skype plug-in don't use the auto-start Skype option - this only works if you run Pidgin as super user - not the recommended way to do things.

After installing and adding your accounts to Pidgin, you should have your Skype and Facebook contacts appear as separate sections in your buddy list. The Facebook plug-in also has the ability to notify you when a message arrives in your facebook inbox. In addition, when you mouse over the Facebook contacts you can see the last status update.

Notes:

If you have installed the Skype plug-in and Pidgin refuses to start, try running it in the command line (terminal). Enter pidgin -d in the command line to execute Pidgin with the debugging option. If you get segmentation fault, the likely cause is that pidgin does not have the authority to start Skype when you have selected the 'auto-start Skype when not running' option in the Skype plug-in configuration.

Other possible causes for segmentation fault in Pidgin:

- if you configured your network proxy to use manual, but you haven't configured the proxy.
- You are running out of space in your home folder
- Encryption plug-in misbehaving.

Disabling misbehaving plug-ins in Pidgin

Try starting Pidgin with super user: sudo pidgin and then disabling the plug-in in Tools, plug-ins. If that fails, try editing the configuration file in: $HOME/.purple/prefs.xml

Kill misbehaving apps fast

2009-08-24T03:59:00.001-07:00

Although the Linux kernel is extremely stable, you do run into misbehaving apps that eat your CPU for lunch. The worst offenders tend to be web browsers with flash. The biggest one of them all for me, is Opera and the hulu.com site. If I dare to point Opera at hulu, it is game over for my CPU.

The normal GUI procedure for getting rid of a running process is to use System Monitor (Gnome) or KSysGuard (KDE). You then go down the list to the find the offending application and you click on the kill/end process button. The problem with the all-out GUI method is that usually when you need to kill a task/app, your machine is already straining under the load and you don't need or want another one starting up. Both the System Monitor and KSysGuard tends to consume a lot of CPU resources themselves and therefore are poor choices for getting rid of a task.

Method 1: Use the xkill utility

If you are using the latest Ubuntu or Debian GNU/Linux distribution, this should be installed already and ready for use. To execute xkill, open the run application dialog box by pressing ALT-F2. If you are using KDE you will open Krunner (also ALT-F2). Type xkill and click on the Run button. You will notice that your cursor now changes to a X instead of the usual mouse pointer. On some distros the pointer changes to a cool Joli Roger (Skull and Bones). You then move your mouse to the application window you want to zap and click with the left mouse button. Boom - it is gone and you have your CPU back. If you decide you don't want to kill anything, you click the right mouse button (On some distros you have too press 'Esc' to cancel).

Method 2: Use the pkill command

The ultimate in process destruction and fastest draw in wild wild west is pkill. Start pkill with Alt-F2 (Run Application) and supply the name of that application you want to kill. Warning: Pkill has a broad sword and will kill anything that matches your search string (application name). See example below where I show firefox the door.

Use HTC Touch Pro as modem (tethering) with Linux

2009-08-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

If you want to use your HTC Touch Pro as modem, you might be wondering what kind of changes you would have to make to get it working on Linux. The short answer is: absolutely nothing. If you have Windows XP you need to install active sync. On Linux you just connect the cable and the network manager takes care of you.

All the efforts to get the phone to tether is going to be on the phone's operarting system Windows Mobile 6. The steps that you need to accomplish this is all over the web (I am not dropping new knowledge on you by posting this and I am just repeating what is in the user forums out there).

Step 1: Install a Registry Editor

A good free one is PHM Registry Editor

Step 2: Change Registry entries

Follow the forum guide here.

Alternative to Step 1 and 2: Apply cab file that will make the registry entries changes for you: see post here.

Step 3: Soft reboot the Device

There is a small hole at the bottom of the device. This is the reset button. Press it.

Step 4: Start ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

This is under programs. Make sure the settings are as follows:
PC Connection: USB
Network Connection: should be your network provider's name and not 'phone as modem'.

Step 5: Touch the 'Connect' button (bottom of the screen)

If you run into a user id and password problem when you get to this point: Go to the weather applet and update your weather, or fire up the browser and let it connect. Then try Step 5 again. This sounds stupid, but trust me it works.

Step 6: Connect the USB cable to phone and computer.

In Linux, the network manager will spin around for a few seconds before connecting. You can also unplug the cable at any point and reconnect by doing step 5 again. When you reboot the phone drops the connection and you have to connect again via step 5.

Turn the phone into an access point.

You can turn your phone into a access point / router by installing a program called WMWifiRouter. You can download a trial version to test before you buy. The final cost of the software is 29 bucks. The WMWifiRouter program can replace ICS - you can tether via USB with this program.

Note:

It should be obvious that you need an unlimited data plan.Your network provider might require a phone as modem plan - the availability of that is fast disappearing. Don't use this when roaming !
The phone gets hot when using tethering.
It gets even hotter when using it as an access point.
You can still send and receive phone calls while the phone is in this mode.

For tethering the Fuze phone, read this post here. This might be a howto guide for an older version of Ubuntu. You will notice the instructions on the phone is similar. I don't think you need to do anything for 9.04 and upwards. Even Jolicloud, Ubuntu UNR works like a dream with the HTC TP.

Fixing broken flash in Firefox

2009-08-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days flash in Firefox went AWOL on me. Going to sites like Youtube, Firefox shows a blank box where the video should be. Luckily for me a quick fix was to reinstall the "flashplugin-nonfree" package.

Install Guest Additions in Ubuntu

2009-08-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

After installing a guest OS with Virtualbox, the first thing you need to do is to install the guest additions. Installing guest additions will improve performance and make integration much more seamless. Among the features provided by these Guest Additions are mouse pointer integration and arbitrary screen solutions (e.g. by resizing the guest window). If you install a Windows guest and you choose the "Install Guest Additions" option from the devices menu, the installation program will execute automatically. But with an Ubuntu guest this will not happen automatically and needs a bit of hand holding.

Step 1 Click Install Guest Additions from the Devices menu

This will mount the guest additions cd and Ubuntu will place a cd icon on the desktop. Double click on the cd icon. This will open the mounted cd with nautilus (gnome's default file manager).

Find the file "VBoxLinuxAdditionsX86.run" for 32 bit guest or "VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run" for 64 bit guest. Right click on the .run file and choose "Open with Other Application..."

The Open With popup dialog box will open. Go down to the bottom and open the "Use custom command" box and type "gksudo" in the custom command file. Then click Open.

Follow the instructions on the screen from here on.

Note: if you upgrading Virtualbox from an older version, remember to reinstall your guest additions in all of your virtual machines.

Howto Enable Automatic login for Gnome and KDE

2009-08-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

It often very convenient to set up a Linux computer so that a user can boot it (i.e., start it up) and have it proceed directly to a GUI without any need for manually logging in. A good example would be: you are setting up a computer for your kids at home.

Gnome instructions:

Open the main menu (Alt-F1). Under Administration, click on Login Window. Then click on the Security tab, switch on "Enable Automatic Login" and choose the user-id in the drop-down box.

Note:

The settings for XFce is very similar to Gnome: Applications > settings > login window.

KDE instructions:

Open your main menu (ALT-F1). Choose system settings. Click on the Advanced tab. At the bottom select Login Manager.

You have to click on three items here:

Switch on "Enable Auto-Login"
Switch on "Enable Password-Less Logins"
Choose user-id.

Click Ok.

Conclusion:

You don't have to be concerned that this trick will somehow lessen your security. Anybody with linux experience will be able to bypass the login security. If you want security look into encryption, eg Bcrypt, Ncrypt, Pad, GnuPG and EncFS.

Update your Ubuntu Kernel in-flight without rebooting

2009-08-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Linux kernel evolves with tremendous speed.A new security issue is found and fixed every six days.Traditional updates require you to tolerate the downtime and disruption of rebooting in order to keep your system up to date and secure.

What is KSplice ?

Ksplice Uptrack delivers important security and bug fixes that have been identified and corrected by Linux kernel developers, including the mainline Linux developers and your distribution’s developers. These updates fix well-understood problems that could expose your computer to attackers or cause other trouble. Ksplice updates the core of your operating system, the kernel, while it is running—without disrupting your operations or requiring a reboot.

Where do I download Ksplice ?

Download Ksplice Uptrack™ for Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty ▼

KSplice Notification Icon :

KSplice before updates:

KSplice after updates:

How to install on Gnome ?

Download the .deb file, right click and use GDebi (the GUI)

How to install on KDE 4.3 ?

Download the .deb file to your desktop.
Don't use Kpackagekit or GDebi (the GUI) !
Open konsole, navigate to the deb file and use the following command: sudo gdebi ksplice-uptrack.deb
Follow the instructions on the screen.

Notes:

You can configure Ksplice to install updates automatically by enabling the autoinstall option in /etc/uptrack/uptrack.conf. (By default, updates will not be installed automatically)
All variants of Ubuntu are supported including Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

KDE 4.3 is out - How to upgrade ?

2009-08-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

If you have flash installed on your browser you can view this shockwave screenshot of my desktop (not viewable via feed reader). It shows Mythtv playing a high def video stream from a HD Homerun tuner.While watching the high def stream, Mythtv was doing double duty as DVD ripper, compressing a DVD down to 1.2 gig. While doing all of this my kids were watching Tim Burton's Corpse Bride with a PS3. Mythtv was also serving as media server, streaming the DVD to the PS3. At the bottom you will also notice the Avant Window Manager dock. Zoom in at the bottom and look at the CPU utilization - only 25% !

What is my point ?

The Linux Desktop Rocks ! Life as a KDE user is getting better all the time and the KDE 4.3 desktop looks and feels like a million bucks. I am a heavy Gnome and Xfce user. I like to use the right tools for the job. If you have a weak machine stick with Gnome or Xfce. If you have a dual core or better, then nothing beats KDE 4.3. The eye candy (cowbell) in KDE is absolutely stunning.

How to upgrade to KDE 4.3 ?

Press Alt-F2 to bring up Krunner. Type the following command and press enter:

kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following to the bottom of your /etc/apt/sources.list and click save:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu jaunty main
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/staging/ubuntu jaunty main

Start Krunner again with ALT-F2 and type in the following:

kdesudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys 8AC93F7A

Now start Synaptic Package Manager. Click Reload and click on Upgradable (upstream), then click on Mark all upgrades and then click Apply.

Note: When I was doing this, Synaptic complained about not being able to update a file. It stopped halfway through the upgrade process. Luckily I did not panic and simply clicked on Apply change again. The second time around Synaptic was happy and everything turned out fine.

Blocking ads in Google Chrome or any other browser

2009-08-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Currently there is no Adblock Plus equivalent for Google Chrome. One way to block ads is to use a proxy server. An excellent proxy server that targets internet ads is Privoxy.

What is Privoxy ?

"Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks."

Step 1: Install Privoxy

In the gnome-terminal enter the following command:

sudo apt-get install privoxy

Step 2: Configure Chrome

Click on the Wrench icon in Chrome in the upper right corner.Choose options, Under The Hood, Change proxy settings. Check off "Proxy settings" and in the address setting add 127.0.0.1 and in the port 8118 Click "Ok", close Chrome and restart it.

Step 3: Verify Privoxy is running

You should not have to reboot to get Privoxy running after installing. You can look in the task manager to see if it is executing or you can point your browser to http://config.privoxy.org/

Step 4 (Optional): Configure Privoxy

You can make changes to Privoxy's configuration by editing /etc/privoxy/config. I like to use Gnome-Do and to edit the config file with gedit type in the following:
gksudo gedit /etc/privoxy/config.

If you made changes to the configuration file and don't want to restart for the changes to take effect, you can restart Privoxy by using the following command in either Gnome-Do or Alt-F2:

gksudo /etc/init.d/privoxy restart

Notes:

This will work for all browsers capable of using a proxy.
Privoxy will run on a number of operating systems including OS2 and Windows.
It helps to have a beefy machine when using Privoxy. I have notice that on my slowest machine , that Privoxy makes the browser appear sluggish.

Optimize Firefox on Netbook with Meerkat

2009-08-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

If you use a netbook you will notice that the one thing you don't have a lot of is screen real estate. The default Firefox interface is bloated and one way to claim the precious pixels back is to use the Meerkat add-on. You can download the add-on from here.

The original menus can still be reached via a drop down next to the search bar. Even adblock plus fits in neatly on the side.

How to create spectacular screenshots with Gimp

2009-08-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Creating a screenshot with reflection and perspective effects is very easy with Gimp and a cool plugin called "Shiny Screenshots". The plugin was created by Fabian Scherschel and you can visit his site at: http://linuxoutlaws.org/

Step 1: Download and install plugin

Download the latest version of shiny screenshots here. Extract the shiny-screenshots.scm file and place it in your Gimp scripts directory. The scripts directory is under your home folder, for me it is under:
/home/riaan/.gimp-2.6/scripts.

Step 2: Open Software

Open whatever you want to screen print. I took Google Chrome and my website. You don't have to open the default linux screen print utility. We are going to take the screenshot with Gimp itself.

Step 3: Take screenshot with Gimp

Start Gimp. From the top menu choose File, Create New and then Screen Shot. Gimp will give you a few options for taking screenshots. Choose your options and click on the snap button. Move to the application that you want to take a screenshot of and click with the left mouse button. You will hear a beep when the screenshot is taken.

Step 4: Execute filters

For the lens flare: Click on Filters, Light and Shadow and then Lens Flare.
For the reflection and perspective effect: Click on Filters, Decor and then Shiny Screenshots. The screenpint below show all the options for the Shiny Screenshots filter. The default values are spot on for what I need.

Click on Ok and watch the magic. The final step of this howto is to apply for a job position at apple.com because you now have all the tools to create their screenprints :-) .

Enabling flash plugin for Google Chrome in Ubuntu

2009-08-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Install Google Chrome (Read here..)

Step 2: Create plugins directory and create symlink to flashplayer plug-in.

Issue the following commands in the gnome-terminal (perform each one line by line):

sudo mkdir /opt/google/chrome/plugins/
cd /opt/google/chrome/plugins/
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so

Step 3: Change the Google Chrome program launcher settings.

Open the Main Menu editor. You can find it under System, Preferences, Main Menu. Select Internet under Menus and you will find Google Chrome under the items list. Select the Google Chrome entry and then click on properties.

Change the 'Command' field, add --enable-plugins just before %U

You should now be able to watch YouTube videos and visit other flash enabled websites.

There are a lot of configuration options you can give to Chrome. You can get the list here:http://www.chromeplugins.org/tips-tricks/chrome-command-line-switches/

Installing Google Chrome on Ubuntu

2009-08-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

The days of battling to install Google Chrome on Linux are finally over. Just choose your version (32 or 64 bit) and download.

Download location:

(32-bit): google-chrome-unstable_current_i386.deb
(64-bit): google-chrome-unstable_current_amd64.deb

The file that you download is a 'deb' file. These files are Debian packages. The package files associated with Ubuntu have the .deb suffix because of Ubuntu's close relations with the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. You will need administrative privileges to install a .deb file. To install a .deb file, simply double click on it, and then select Install Package. Alternatively, you can also install a .deb file by opening a terminal and typing:

sudo dpkg -i package_file.deb

No need to update your software sources in Synaptic. The Google deb file will do that for you automatically.

Improving stuttering during flash video playback

2009-08-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Problem:

You have a CPU that supports dynamic frequency scaling and you experience dropping frames or sound stuttering during flash video playback. By default the CPU governor in Ubuntu is set to 'ondemand'. It appears that the ondemand governor does not always scale up as needed.

What is ondemand ?

Ondemand is a dynamic in-kernel CPU frequency governor that can change CPU frequency depending on CPU utilization. It was first introduced in the linux-2.6.9 kernel. Not all hardware support this feature. For Intel CPUs is referred to as SpeedStep and for AMD CPUs it is referred to as Cool'n'Quiet or PowerNow!

Solution:

Add the following lines to your /etc/init.d/ondemand configuration file. You can type “sudo gedit /etc/init.d/ondemand” in the terminal to access this file. I changed my file using the root mode of Krusader.

for CPU_THRESHOLD in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold
do
[ -f $CPU_THRESHOLD ] || continue
echo -n 40 > $CPU_THRESHOLD
done

This is what my ondemand file looks like after the change:

This will scale your CPU when the processing utilization reaches 40%. You can experiment with different values here. Reboot after making these changes and you can verify that your CPU supports this feature by checking the output from the command line with the dmesg command. You should NOT see the following message:

ondemand governor failed, too long transition latency of HW, fallback to performance governor

This should provide an improvement for all applications (not just Firefox, Opera) that needs that extra kick to work smoothly.

How to watch flash based videos on a slow computer in Linux

2009-07-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

One of my computers is an old AMD XP 1700 (1.4 Ghz). When I try to watch videos from sites like Hulu and Veoh with Firefox or Opera the computer becomes extremely slow and unresponsive. Video playback is jerky.Flash has been a thorn in Linux's side for a long time and it seems that version 10 is no exception. It is a real pity that Flash is not open source so that the community can get involved and fix the issues.

While I was playing around with the XFce Desktop Environment, I tried the Epiphany browser. What a fantastic unknown gem. Here is a browser that can give Google's Chrome browser a run for it's money when comes to speed. Just by chance I tried to watch a flash video from veoh and to my amazement the video was watchable. CPU utilization via HTOP revealed that CPU was still at 100% (same for Opera and Firefox), but at least I could watch the video.

I am planning to blog more about Epiphany in the future. If anybody else out there had similar positive experiences with Epiphany drop me a note.

Quick Reference Card to install a package via a cli package manager in Linux

2009-07-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is just a short reference card (mostly for my own use) showing the different command line commands to install a package for a particular disto.

Debian: su && apt-get install whatever_package
Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install whatever_package
PCLinuxOs: apt-get install whatever_package
Mint: sudo aptitude -y install whatever_package
Fedora: yum install whatever_package
Red Hat: yum install whatever_package
Mandriva: urpmi whatever_package
Mandrake: urpmi whatever_package
SUSE: yast -i whatever_package
Gentoo: emerge whatever_package
Sabayon (binary): equo install whatever_package
Sabayon (source): emerge install whatever_package
Foresight: sudo conary update whatever_package
Arch Linux: pacman -S whatever_package
Frugalware: pacman -S whatever_package
OpenBSD: pkg_add whatever_package

If you can contribute a command based on your distro that I can add to this list, I would appreciate an email.