Gmail, Google’s webmail system, is widely considered to be the best out there. I certainly think it is. Gmail gives you tons of space, an integrated chat system, a beautiful interface, and many other innovative and helpful features. If you don’t have it yet, I sincerely suggest you get yourself some Gmail. It comes bundled with the standard (free) Google account, though if you don’t have one, you can sign up for Gmail alone (which I think then creates you a Google account anyway). Sign up for Gmail here.
But, after that bit of free advertising for Google, to the point. When you sign up for Gmail, they give you your own email at their domain, say you@gmail.com. But say you have another email address, either at your own domain or something else, and you want to use Gmail with it. Aarg, you may say to yourself, there is no hope. These emails are inextricably bound to the email service of their domain. Not true! There are two methods you can go about to receive email from other domains using Gmail. Read on to learn of them. Continue reading ‘Using Gmail with Email from a Different Domain’
So I was testing out modules in the Python dynamic interpreter (IDLE), and getting a momentary wave of boredom, I began typing a word over and over again in time to my music. The word was “UBER”, but this is inconsequential. What is consequential, or rather not inconsequential, is that I realized that it was very difficult to change my idea of the order of the letters in the word I was typing over and over. So say I am typing …UBERUBERUBER…, but in the middle I want to decide I am typing …ERUBERUBERUB…, it is nearly impossible (for me) to make this switch mentally while continuing to type in rhythm. Try it, you will not be disappointed. No guarantees.
UBERUBERUBEURUBEUERUEUREURlejrogbn;sdb’84y3′[-9u’2 1y`0adbleah
Published at July 23, 2007
in Linux.
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.
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!’
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.
As a follow up on my last post, I write this to notify the world that I have found a WordPress theme that suits my fancy in almost every conceivable way. The default configuration looks very nice, though it is designed quite intelligently so that I can easily modify it to look any other way I please. It took me three minutes to accomplish what I had tried to do (and failed to do) for an hour with kubrick: change the header image. I am quite satisfied, and I suggest that you pick up a copy of K2 (at www.getk2.com) if you are at all interested.
I have been recently possessed with discontent regarding the look and feel of my blog. The theme I previously had going, the WordPress default, looked nice and all, but it was not original; it was not mine. I spent an hour or so today questing to modify it to the extent that it looked how I wanted it to look, but failed utterly. I decided that the proper path to follow was to find a theme that looked nice already, and modify it as I wished. Well, I come to report, there are not that many themes I like out there. I installed many, putting them to the aesthetics and overall workability test, and have as of yet not succeeded in finding one that suits my taste. I am changing so rapidly that the theme will probably differ between when I write this and when you read it, but keep in mind, I am working to make this blog appear more original!
I have just recently located K2, a sequel to kubrick (the WordPress default) and it looks pretty good so far. Soon I will test it for flexibility in modification, and if that looks good, I may keep it. Though on my own terms, of course.
