On my previous post I was trying to install Jackalope's notify-osd on Intrepid and was waiting  for download process to finish, and now a post later it's a success! Thanks to easy to follow manual from softpedia.
Although the manual can look complicated at first, it's not, just follow the steps, one at a time and you're there.
Here's how it looks on my system.

keyword : 9.04 notification on 8.10 | notify-osd

Eagerly waiting for the Jaunty Jackalope? You should. Just look at Ubuntu 9.04 login  screen screenshot from softpedia, beautiful.
For more screenshots from latest Ubuntu 9.04 click here.

New login screen in not the only new thing in Ubuntu 9.04. There's new cool looking notification application, called notify-osd. The good news is you don't have to wait for 9.04 to have it. You can install notify-osd in Ubuntu 8.10. Check this manual from softpedia to install it in 8.10.
As of this writing, I'm still downloading the packages, I'll be back with update on next post.


keyword : notify-osd on 8.10

Now this is some weird forum, in good way. The title says it is a Windows Vista Forum, but one of the threads is about Moblock in Ubuntu 8.10.
Talk about inter-OS brotherhood. I know it's not an official Vista forum, but still helping out Ubuntu user? That's something.

Here's the screenshot:

And here's friendly Windows Vista forum link.

keyword : ubuntu | vista | forum

My favorite pasttime, Google Earth. Did you know you can see ruin of Atlantis via Google Earth?
Atlantis or whatever, it is very interesting. But that's not the point of this post. This post is about how to install Google Earth in Ubuntu.
First of all you need to add Medibuntu repository, open your terminal and type this command :

1. sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
2. sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

Step #1 is for Ubuntu 8.10, for other Ubuntu read this manual.

After that;

1. open synaptic package manager
2. click "Origin" section and Choose package.medibuntu.com/non-free
3. search Google Earth, here you can choose version 4.2 or 4.3, I chose 4.3
4. checkmark it and apply
5. wait until Ubuntu finished the downloading and installation process (about 20MB). and then... Google Earth in Ubuntu

Google Earth 4.3

Among the list you'll find Skype, RealPlayer, Acrobat Reader, w32codecs ( a non free codecs).



keyword : google earth | skype | realplayer| Ubuntu

ScribeFire now in version 3.2.2, here’s what new compared to previous 3.2.1 :

• Fixed various error messages when using ScribeFire in window or tab mode
• Fixed pingbacks
• Fixed bug causing new accounts to not show up until ScribeFire was closed and reopened
• Fixed bug causing "Auto-save drafts as notes" to always be checked

Small bug fixes, I am hoping for feature addition, e.g.: advance hyperlinking option, in ScribeFire 3.3 maybe ?

But still this is a good news. Keep up the updates ScribeFire.

Go get yours here.

FYI :
ScribeFire is blogging tool addon for your favorite browser Firefox.

Update :

ScribeFire 3.2.3 now available with minor change : the QuickAds management pane removed from ScribeFire, pending an overhaul of ScribeFire’s monetization features.

keyword : scribefire 3.2.2, 3.2.3, blogging tool

It’s been a while since my last boot to Win XP. The reasons? I have to print some documents fast, and I haven’t set my printer in Ubuntu. So while I wait my printing job, this is what happens:

Guess what have been waiting for me? My antivirus reminds me that it has been more than 3 days since my last update, of course I have no other option but to comply. Ah, it’s been a while…

Ah some not-responsive-application, I got to be fair I find them in Ubuntu too. Hello Ctrl-Alt-Del.

If you read my previous post about playing rmvb media files in Ubuntu, then you know Ubuntu needs some codec treatment to make it plays certain media files. Little did I know that Windows can’t play rmvb too, and I already installed K-Lite Codec Pack. Download new codec? Hmm, maybe not. I'’ll watch this movie on Ubuntu later.

I write this post with Windows Live Writer, kind of ironic isn’t. Here I am blogging about Linux on Windows. Shout to my WInXP “ this (wlw) is one thing that keep me keep you WinXP!”.

OK, all done. I have no reason to stay longer. Let’s boot back to Ubuntu.

 

keyword : ubuntu | windows xp

When Wine 1.1.15 finally available for Ubuntu 8.10 I wasted no time. The first thing I tried after  got WIne installed was checking Windows Live Writer (WLW) progress. Yes, it becomes my obsession : WLW on Wine. If you are a blogger and ever tried WLW then you know how good and powerful this blogging tool is.
The result ? Some progress and yet still unusable.
But there's a noteworthy progress. We get to see the welcome screen to create blog account plus one big nasty error message. Here's the mandatory screenshot :

Here hoping next Wine version will fix this, meanwhile hello ScribeFire, I'm still here.




keyword : wlw | windows live writer | wine | ubuntu

Technorati Tags: wlw wine

I've downloaded some great themes for Firefox. Unfortunately not all of them work the way they should. The most common problem is disappearing menu text when mouse pointer hover above it.
You see themes are made for specific edition and version of Firefox. Not all Firefox are equal, I suppose.
So here's 4 (for now) Firefox themes that I love to use (tested on Linux Firefox 3.0.6) :

1. Strata Human 1.0

Strata XP theme modified to match Ubuntu Human Theme. If brown is not your thing (I notice there are people who dislike Ubuntu's Human theme) then this is not for you, For everybody else, go ahead.

2. Foxkeh

Cute theme with brown color and cute animated little fox running instead of rotating gear. There are three four things missing in this theme : menu icon, intra-menu border, scroll-down handle and menu button. It has some flaws, but still too cute to ignore.

3. Fullflat,

As the name suggest, it's a minimalist theme, very.

4. MacOSX Theme

A very nice Mac OSX Theme, this is a must have theme if your desktop goal is Mac-like Ubuntu. The 0.6.5 version didn't work with Ubuntu Firefox, so I didn't include it here but then it was updated to version 0.6.6 and works with Ubuntu Firefox. Nice….

There are tons of Firefox themes out there, so check out this post for future updates.


credit goes to the respective authors. Whom you could find on the links.

update :

- March 24, 2009 : MacOSX Theme

keyword : ubuntu firefox theme.

Technorati Tags: ubuntu linux theme

First of all I know it's not a Linux exclusive app and (only) a Firefox addon. So why I choose to review it?

It's the only decent blogging application, if not the best, option in Linux at the moment, IMO so I think every Linux Blogger should know about it.

It's cleverly named ScribeFire, although I like ScribeFox better.
I used to use 3.1.6 but when it was upgraded to 3.2.0 I found it was broken version, at least in my system. It can not publish post. So I downgraded back to 3.1.6.
Today, Firefox told me that another version, ScribeFire 3.2.1 is available for download, I download it hoping the problem solved, and it is. Now I use 3.2.1.
The interface is neat and tidy with one exception : ugly font color icon.
You will find standard feature in blogging tool: font options, list, justification, etc; and nice additions such as shortcut to post pictures (local, web, Flickr and Zemanta), Youtube videos and find related articles with Zemanta. And there is Live Preview to display your post the way it would in your blog theme.

Although I like it the way it is now, there are still a lot of things that can be perfected:

• more options in hyperlinking e.g. rel=nofollow, I know I can hand edit the html code, but it will so much better if it was available as a clickable option.
  
• uploading pictures is a misery : Firefox is unusable during the process, can they make it as a background process, like downloading?
• as I said earlier the font color option icon is lame : ugly, big and space eater. Compare it to nice looking icons next to it. Do you see that big black box in screenshot below? That's the one.
  
• newly published post takes forever to show in editable published post. There are times when newly published post needs immediate editing. Especially for those lacking in grammar (like I do).
• no more than latest 25 post available to edit, and there's no option to search or add older posts to edit.
  
• spell-checking is not the best out there.
  

What you need : Firefox, I used it on Firefox 3.0.6.

Conclusion : it's the best blogging tool in Linux environment and still have so much room for improvement. And it's free. So why not?


keyword : blogging app | ubuntu | firefox

Get the Mac feel in your desktop with IMac, an Audacious skin in Mac style. Actually it's a Winamp Skin, but since Audacious can use Winamp skin you can apply it easily.
Here's the screenshot :

Now, how to add and change Audacious skin :

• download IMac skin for Winamp,
  
• place it in /usr/share/audacious/Skins , you need to be a superuser or administrator, (run Terminal, type sudo nautilus )
  
• run Audacious -> Preferences -> Appearance, choose your new skin

keyword : mac skin audacious

If you're E-trading client who use HOTS 2.0 as your stock trading tool and you have Ubuntu as your only OS, don't worry, HOTS can run fine in Ubuntu with Wine.
Things you need:

• Wine 1.1.14,
• Wine Gecko installed,
• you might want use Windows font, to make font looks good.

Warning : there are times that HOTS keep exiting and needs restarted, but there are times too that it runs smoothly. So is it Wine's problem or HOTS server problem? Don't know yet.

Look how it plunges

FYI :
E-trading is one of Indonesian Stock Securities. It releases HOTS as trading software under Windows only.


keyword : stock trading software | wine | ubuntu

I was surprised after read what some say scandalaous. According to Tux Radar's benchmark of same version Firefox on their respective platforms : Firefox for Windows is faster than Linux Firefox, and not just that. Tux Radar found that Firefox For Windows runs on Ubuntu with Wine is faster than Linux Window! Wow.
I was tempted to talk about conspiracy but I decided NO, let's see it from the bright side.

• Wine is Free
• Firefox for Windows is Free (too) and easier to update (last time I checked, Firefox 3.0.6 is only available at Ubuntu 9.04 repository) and you must edit the repository to include that).
• some addons only works for Windows Firefox.
  

So, it's : Free. Faster. Easier To Upgrade.

We got nothing to lose.

And by the way you could use same profile of your native Firefox, by editing the profile.ini file which is located at :

"$HOME/.wine/drive_c/windows/profiles/USERNAME/Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles"

Point it to your native Firefox profile.
More about sharing/use same Firefox profile in Windows/Linux/Wine on next post, if someone request it though.


Via :Benchmark news via Tux Radar



keyword : firefox | ubuntu | windows | vs | firefox profile in wine

Actually there are some good things in Vista. One of them is Vista's clock. I like day above clock format. Informative yet only small space needed. And Ubuntu can do it too, with a little editing.

This is how to show clock in Ubuntu in Vista way :

• launch gconf-editor (press Alt-F2 and type gconf-editor)
• go to /apps/panel/applets/clock_screen0/prefs/custom_format
• paste this :
  <span size="smaller" color="#27369E">%a%d%b%n<b>%H:%M</b></span>
• go to /apps/panel/applets/clock_screen0/prefs/format
• type : custom

See picture below :

And the result :

You may need to resize your panel size to fit the new clock . Do it by right-click your panel and click properties and then adjust the size to at least to 32.

You can edit the format to your liking, read custom strftime here.



keyword : vista clock | ubuntu | longhorn

Need a guide to find your way inside Ubuntu world?
Then this book by Keir Thomas is what you're looking for. This useful book available in two forms :

• PDF edition which is free of charge to download, you can download here or,
• print edition, for only $9.94 from Amazon

keyword : ubuntu book | guide

Do you know any good and user-friendly Linux (Ubuntu) native download manager? I don't.

Aria download manager? No thanks. Awkward interface, super tiny fonts - not my thing.

I've tried Free Download Manager (FDM) version 2.1 build 494 under Wine 1.1.14 on Ubuntu. FDM is a free Windows application. Not fully compatible but usable. Here are some occasional glitches I notice :

• stop/pause download needs few clicks extra,
• sometimes it can not exit, you need to close it via System Monitor, but it's rare
• could not integrated with Firefox,
  

Even with these glitches, I found FDM 2.0 usable and still better than your average native download manager.

The latest FDM 3.0 build 484 has more annoying glitch, it can start but the main window won't show up. So it is not usable.

Tips :

• set the download folder to one default folder on your Doucment folder, if not it will store the downloaded files under wine hidden folders and that's not fun.
• use version 2.1 build 494.
  

keyword : ubuntu download manager

Technorati Tags: ubuntu, wine, free download manager

I just spent 2 days of confusion and almost
sleepless nights because my Ubuntu was broken.  It was stuck on the
desktop without panel, no background, only mouse. It's my fault really,
I tinker with it to much.
Why? I am an update-holic, so I use Jaunty
repository in my Intrepid, and the result is chaotic, predictably. Not
all of  them are to blame, but I updated to much files without thinking
and backing up (yeah I'm such a fool) so I can't pinpoint which files
are the culprit. My guess is libgtk something.
So unable to get
things done in graceful way (or the way of linux master). I try the
newbie way (my way) :) and that is reinstall.
You see, I have may
applications and updates installed, like : OpenOffice 3.0, newest
kernel for 8.10, nvidia driver; the thought of having to redownload
them is unbearable (I only have 256kbps internet connection).
So out
of desparation and no choice but re-install, this is what I do (after
series of trial and error) to have my old downloaded packages ready to
be installed in newly installed machine. And this is what I learned
from my mishap.

Warning : this method works for me, but maybe not for you.

1. before reinstall - copy all files under /var directory, except /var/run and /var/lock to your backup hard disk.
   you can use LiveCD to browse your Ubuntu partition, in case you can no longer access your troubled system,
2. after re-installation, back up your newly installed /var by renaming it to /var.backup, just in case this method doesn't work for you you can .
   
3. copy and paste your backup-ed /var to your new /var, you may need superuser permission. Do that by going to terminal and type sudo nautilus. Now you browse your system as superuser so be careful.
   
4. now go to /var.backup/lib/dpkg, copy and paste it in /var/lib/dpkg
5. start your Synaptic Package Manager or Add/remove program and install what you already downloaded on your machine.

This
method can also be applied to copy downloaded packages from one PC to
another PC without internet connection, I think. Basically the steps
are :

1. PC1 is the giver and PC2 is the receiver,
   
2. back up your PC2 /var, name it for example= /var.backup
   
3. copy PC1 /var directory (except /var/run and /var/lock) - merge all and replace all when asked to PC2
4. from your /var.backup copy /var.backup/lib/dpkg to your PC2 /var/lib/dpkg
5. on PC2 start your Synaptic Package Manager or Add/remove program and install what you already downloaded on PC1

Again, this method works me but your experience may vary. Be careful and back up.



keyword : update ubuntu without internet connection | no network install

I have confession to make. Two points, I must admit that:

• I have not found an image viewer that I like in Ubuntu, I found they feel clumsy to use (or is it me?) I tried Mirage, Eye of Gnome. Honestly I'm not going to spend any more time installing and trying out every image viewer out there.
  
• my favorite freeware image viewer is FastStone, ACDsee is a little better, IMHO, but it's not free, so no thanks :)
  

OK I said that, what's the solution?

Thankfully we have Wine. I installed FastStone 3.7 in Wine 1.1.14 on Ubuntu 8.10 and it works like in real Windows with some little quirks. But over all it's usable, very usable.
Want a proof? Here's my screenshot. I deliberately put Wine window over FastStone window so there's no doubt that this is Linux (Ubuntu) indeed.

How to install FastStone on Ubuntu?

• First you need Wine installed on your system, you can find it in Synaptic Package Manager - search for Wine,
  
• then you can install FastStone like you would under Windows.

Little tips :

To make the scroll mouse works in the fullscreen mode, you may have to press Esc key once (and only once for the first time you use it).
There's a little quirk when you minimize the application, and then maximize it again, try click it twice, if it won't maximize.

Notes :
I've tried FastStone 3.2, 3.6 and 3.7, all work.


keyword : image viewer in ubuntu, wine, faststone

Hot-babe is a revealing way to show how "hot" your computer is. Instead showing numbers this application shows girl that will undress in accord to your system activity. 100% means 100% nude.
This application is available at medibuntu repository, and this is the official description :

Hot-babe is a small graphical utility which display the system activity in a very special way. When the CPU is idle, it displays a dressed girl,and when the activity goes up, as the temperature increases, the girl begins to undress, to finish totally naked when the system activity reaches 100%. Of course, if you can be shocked by nudity, don't use it!

This package is in Medibuntu because of its explicit content

You've been warned, if you still want to continue this is how to install hot-babe :

• add medibuntu repository, open Terminal, copy and paste this (for Ubuntu 8.10)
  

  sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
  

  
  Then, add the GPG Key:
  

  sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

  
  
  For other Ubuntu here's the complete guide : How to add Medibuntu repository.
  
  
• After that open Synaptic Package Manager, click Reload to get new list of applications from Medibuntu
• After that, type hot babe in quick search,
• Checkmark and apply, to install it,
• after all done, this application will available under Accessories tab.
  

keyword : monitoring application, ubuntu, girl on desktop

3D desktop on Ubuntu? Yes, We Can.
It's not something new, this 3D thingy, but to me it is. And look how cool it is. Wow.

I realize there are already (too) many amazing tutorial on how to enable 3d desktop in Ubuntu 8.10.  So instead of re-inventing the wheel here's a good tutorial about enabling 3d desktop on Ubuntu. That tutorial uses 8.04  but the steps is the same in 8.10. The only difference is instead of "Advanced Desktop Effects Settings", the menu is called CompizConfig Setting Manager in Ubuntu 8.10.

I activate 3d desktop in both of my PC, I notice that even with this feature enabled I don't see significant performance lost. FYI : my 2nd computer is an old AMD Athlon 2200 XP + GF5200 + 512MB RAM. Yeah, (not) that old.



keyword : 3D desktop, ubuntu, 8.10, compiz.

Finally my Ubuntu plays .rmvb and .mkv movies, yay, one less problem in Ubuntu. In case you don't notice  just try to play mkv files with Totem (default Ubuntu media player), it plays sound only at best.
One problem solved means one more reason to love Ubuntu.
The solution is simple really, all you have to do is to use the proper media player and right codecs, in this case mplayer. You have to install these from synaptic package manager :

• mplayer
• mencoder
• mplayer-skins (optional)
  

After installing mplayer files, you need to add binary codec package that suit your system, if you're using Ubuntu 8.10  32 bit then choose Linux x86 codec package from mplayer site, here. named essential-date.tar.bz2. As of this writing it is essential-20071007.tar.bz2.

• since you have to make some change in filesystem, you should become superuser . Go to Accesories -> Terminal, type sudo nautilus,
  
• go to /usr/lib/ and make new folder name it as codecs,
  
• extract all the files under the folder /essential-date in essential-date.tar.bz2 to /usr/lib/codecs
• close nautilus
• start your mplayer and play those mkv and rmvb files.
  

Not so sure about these gstreamer, but hey got nothing to lose, you'll need it to play mp3 and restricted media files anyway. Install it via Synaptic Package Manager :

• gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly,
• gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad,
• gstreamer0.10-plugins-good.
  

I found this helpful info in simplehelp.net. You should visit it too, if you want to play these files properly.

tenjo tenge in rmvb finally played

keyword : mkv | rmvb in ubuntu

Tried in Ubuntu 8.10 with Gnome

It's a simple thing really, to know what version you're currently running and to what version you're upgrading in update manager. But it's not readily available, and sometimes it can make confusions. Like I once had.
For example, I already have kernel 2.26.27.11, but my update manager recommends me to upgrade to kernel 2.26.27, see my confusion? It even occurred to me that my update manager had an error.
Compare this :

With this :

I guess you'll agree with me that screenshot #2 is way clearer and less cryptic.
How to make file version appears? This is where gconf-editor comes handy, read my previous post about how to launch gconf-editor in simple way.
Do 2 steps below :

• Alt+F2, then type gconf-editor to launch it;
• apps -> update manager -> check show_version; close.

Start your update manager, it is more informative now.



keyword : ubuntu, update manager version, gconf-editor,

Tried in Ubuntu 8.10 with Gnome

There are many applications that already installed in Ubuntu but not available right away (or hidden) and need some command line to activate it. One of them is gconf-editor, it's like registry editor in Windows but much more simple but no less powerful in the hand of those who know. You could be one too.

Many things can be achieved with gconf-editor, but that's not the intention of this post. Later posts will cover what gconf-editor can do. This post is about simpler thing that is how you launch it.

Ready?

• Press Alt+F2 to launch Run Program,
• type gconf-editor

That's it.
But it's not convenient to type in command line every time we need it. So let's make a graphical shortcut.

• System -> Preferences -> Main Menu
• Choose where you want to put the shortcut, e.g: in Other or System -> Administration, your choice,
  
• New Item, type this in the command line : gconf-editor , the rest is up to what you think best describing this shortcut. I name it Config Editor.
  

Some things you can do with gconf-editor is :

• hide mounted devices/volumes icons in desktop (personally I don't like to have things cluttered in my desktop especially some mounted devices that I can explore via file explorer)
• assign keyboard shortcut, miss Ctrl-Alt-Del to view and end your non responsive application?
• many more, on next post

keyword : registry editor, ubuntu, gconf-editor