Archive for the 'Linux' Category

Digital Artwork

Published at October 6, 2007 in Software and Linux. 0 Comments

I have recently been experimenting with making cool looking stuff using Inkscape and The GIMP. These are tools for vector and general image manipulation (respectively), and beyond both being very powerful and well designed, they are also open source and free.

Anyway, after roughly an hour of manipulation, I made this image (below), which I think may signify a new hobby: when I don’t have anything else to do (a state which is, unfortunately, rare) I can draw stuff without having to worry about paper, pencils, skill I don’t have, etc. I intend to use this image for an avatar somewhere, or maybe just leave it lying around my hard drive until I delete it in twenty years. Regardless, I hope you like it.

final.png

Top 10 Web Utilities

Published at August 30, 2007 in Internet, Software, Linux and Life. 0 Comments

I tried to think of some sentimental and appropriate way to start this, properly honoring the amazing development of the Internet and all that, but it is more expedient to cut right to the chase. The Internet is awesome, and a ton of people use it. Some even have a computer specifically for the purpose of going online. So here I set out to identify and describe what I consider to be the best applications and services to use in conjunction with an internet connection. Oh, and yes, I was feeling octal today.

10. StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon, also affectionately known as “Stumble”, is a Firefox extension used by recreational web surfers to “Stumble Upon” pages which they will most likely enjoy, according to their interests as identified to the service. It is a very, very fun way to waste time, but can also be used constructively (searching for popular pages relating to science, for instance).

7. vBulletin

vBulletin is online software that is used by many forums to manage, well, the whole thing. I don’t use it personally, but I might some day, and I frequent many forums that rely on it.

6. WordPress

Now, WordPress, I do use. You are actually looking at its results right now. WordPress is software, kind of similar to vBulletin, but for blogs. It makes it easy to post, administer, organize, etc, while still providing room for creative licence (you can mess with the themes, and stuff). It is easy to use and set up. And fun. You should try it.

5. SourceForge

SourceForge is the largest repository and host of open source software there is. I have two programs hosted there (Affinity and SiteDrive), and I am very pleased with their services. After you submit a request for hosting, they will provide you with space to put your software, publicity tools, a spot to put a site for your product, and many other great services.

4. Wikipedia

Almost everyone knows about Wikipedia, the user edited online encyclopedia. While many think that the fact that almost anyone can edit it makes it less accurate, I think it actually makes it more reliable, as more people have the option to correct and add to the articles there. Oh yeah, and there is lots and lots of information there, enclosed in over a million articles (in English; many can be found in other languages), on almost anything you can imagine. Amazingly cool and useful.

3. Gmail

Mentioned in several other posts, Gmail is the free web mail service offered by Google. It provides over two gigs of space for your mail, so you never have to delete (using the handy “archive” function instead). The interface is nice, smooth, easy to use, and unique from all others. The service is fast, innovative, and highly customizable. I highly suggest Gmail over any other email service.

2. Google

Well, everyone has heard of Google. It’s even a verb now. And rightly so: it is the best search engine on the web. Highly inclusive and easy to use, it almost always provides the results desired by the searcher. Google also has many other services for everyone from webmasters (Google Analytics) to those desiring 3D modeling easily done (SketchUp), all of which are free and immensely useful.

1. Firefox

The ultimate browser. Firefox is customizable, simple, reliable, cross-platform, open source, and tons of other great things. There are many extensions to add capabilities, fix problems, ease use, and more. If you use anything else, you are cheating yourself out of the best browsing experience you can have.

Free Ubuntu Stickers

Published at August 14, 2007 in Internet and Linux. 0 Comments

You know how your computer came with the little “Powered by Windows XP” sticker (or whatever) before you switched to Linux and peeled it off? Haven’t you always wished to have a similar sticker, though for your new, superior operating system? Well, if you use Ubuntu, you are in luck! System76, Inc., has an amazing offer (I thought) of free stickers that say “Powered by Ubuntu Linux”. Woot! Get yours here:

http://system76.com/article_info.php?articles_id=9 

Resolution Problems Fixed

Published at July 23, 2007 in Linux. 0 Comments

If you have previously read my post about getting my graphics card to work in Linux, you will know that after enabling it, I was restricted to a resolution of a mere 1024×768. Well, I discovered a workaround to that, namely in reconfiguring the xserver to realize my screen was more capable than it thought. I just ran sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, and followed through the long setup process choosing the defaults until I got to the settings for the monitor. Here, I selected 17″ (the size of my monitor) and let it auto-detect the rest. I enabled all the possible resolutions listed, and selected “Advanced” for the last setup prompt. After pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace (to restart xserver), I was kicked back into 800×600, but I went to System>Preferences>Screen Resolution, and miraculously, there were scads more options in the drop down menu than before. I happily selected 1280×1024, just about perfect for my size screen. Problem solved! And my graphics card is still enabled.

Cinelerra Works!

Published at July 21, 2007 in Software and Linux. 0 Comments

A while back, I was trying very hard to get a certain piece of video editing software for Linux to work. Cinelerra, as it is known, seems to be very difficult to get working, as a whole bunch of people I encountered in forums also seemed to be unable to initiate its use. Recently realizing that kdenlive, the video editor I was using in Cinelerra’s stead, was on the fritz again, I made the decision to renew my efforts at getting Cinelerra to work. And, after picking up several tips from UbuntuForums, I succeeded.

Previously, I could install it, though it would not run, complaining of some illegal instruction and dumping the core. I decided to try to install it from a different source. Now it wouldn’t install at all, due to some discrepancies in the versions of several packages it wanted. I learned that by manually uninstalling these packages, I could trick it into installing the ones it wanted by itself. And, after a little further ado, it worked! Now I just have to figure out how to work the darn thing.

If you are having similar problems, read on to find instructions to carry out the installation. Continue reading ‘Cinelerra Works!’

Enabling A Graphics Card in Ubuntu

Published at July 16, 2007 in Hardware and Linux. 0 Comments

Recently, I had been disappointed with my graphics quality when running in Ubuntu Linux. I couldn’t run Google Earth (yes, there is now a Linux release!), my sparse collection of games lagged immensely, movies played in a choppy manner, and so on. I came to the conclusion that Ubuntu just didn’t do a very good job of managing my video card (a nVidia). Well this was true, but only because I didn’t have my card working at all with my system! Woah!

I figured this out when I thought that maybe I would need to reinstall my card driver (I thought I already had it installed, of course). I did a search on Ubuntu Forums (a great place), and one of the search results yielded the suggestion of checking the box next to one’s graphics card in the Restricted Drivers Manager to enable one’s graphics card. So I looked at it, and *gasp* it was not checked! So I clicked it, and thus enabled my graphics card. (If you think you have the same problem I did, to get to the Restricted Drivers Manager go to System>Administration>Restricted Drivers Manager to fix it.)

My graphics quality is now (unsurprisingly) much better. There is only one slight issue in that I can’t get my resolution above 1024×768, even after modifying xorg.conf to add higher resolutions (gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf). But it is probably a gift in disguise, as now I won’t have such a great chance of hurting my eyes. And now I can do many graphical things I could not do before, and do many others better. I am satisfied.

Linux Video Editing: An Epilogue

Published at June 25, 2007 in Linux. 0 Comments

Some may remember my post earlier reporting my none too successful bid at video editing using a Linux OS. Other, more perceptive readers may even recall my immense dissatisfaction with the availability (or lack thereof) of good tools for this endeavor. Well, I would like to revise my review of Kdenlive from a disapproving one to a satisfied one.

I was in one of my lazy lets - see - what - I - can - do - with - this - while - I - procrastinate - from - doing - whatever - else - I - am - supposed - to - be - doing moods recently, and I pulled up my old rival, the aforementioned video editing software, Kdenlive. I had previously suffered difficulties with it, in the form of its many crashes whenever I attempted to execute various routine editing tasks. Well, in my experimenting of late, these have been entirely unapparent. Maybe I downloaded the next version without noticing, or maybe I just was being an utter dunce last time I was trying to use it, but I had no problem saving and opening files as I did before, and using a handy tool in one of the menus, I was able to easily make clips of images, what I had most difficulty doing before.

I am thus stripped of that which made me ever regret touching Linux with video editing intentions, and am left with the ambition to promote its ability therein. Using Kdenlive, I was able to successfully create a video masterpiece, documenting a giraffe I befriended at a local zoo (just for fun, you can check it out here). Well it is really no masterpiece, but it was fairly easy to create, and demonstrates several of the things I will want to be able to do in future video editing. So that’s that.

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