Author: Jay Forrest

Giver is a real simple file sharing desktop application. First you have to install Giver. It can be found in the Ubuntu Software Center as well as in Linux Mint.

After it in installed on more than one computer on your home network, simply start it. It is located under Internet in the program menu. It will automatically detect anyone running Giver on your network. You can then send files to them by simply dragging the files to their photo or icon shown in Giver.

It is really that simple. I use it on my home network and love it.

Link
Giver File Sharing

The Ubuntu Developer Summit comfirms that Ubuntu will continue its missteps. Ubuntu 11.10, code named “Oneric Ocelot” will no longer ship with the classic Gnome desktop on the default CD. Now you will have to choose between Unity 3D and Unity 2D. Since it is build on Gnome 3, I assume you will be able to choose that.

Next there are plans to dump Evolution as the default email client and switch to Thunderbird, that is if they can complete an extensive number of items in time. If not, the change will likely occur in Ubuntu 12.04.

They will be dumping PitiVi Video Editor, the Computer Janitor, and possibly not include LibreOffice on the Cd to conserve space.

There was also talk of dropping Firefox as the default web browser and switching to Chrome. Although I prefer Chrome, it is not the best browser for some languages. Furthermore most user still prefer Firefox.

All this mean that the next Long Term Service (12.04 LTS) release will be Unity based. Like it or not Unity is Ubuntu. Well, I don’t like Unity and I am beginning to not to care for Ubuntu. I am hoping some distrubution will step up to the plate and make a user friendly distro that doesn’t suck. Right now I think Linux Mint is the best choice. I am tired of Ubuntu ignoring the users and just going with what Mark Shuttleworth wants. I think it is time to ditch Ubuntu no matter how much it hurts.

Links
Plans for Ubuntu 11.10 crystalise
Ubuntu Developers Party In Budapest

Rovio is the company behind Angry Birds. If you haven’t played it you should give it a try. Rovio has just released a Beta version of the game using HTML 5. This version brings an end to the platform lock and allows all operating systems to enjoy the game. It is the beginning of a revolution. Angry Birds can be found in the Chrome Web Store.

According to Rovio press release, “This is only a beta release of the game, and so far we have 63 levels of the original game available, with an additional 7 special Chrome levels! We are working on bringing more levels to Chrome, and planning on making the Mighty Eagle available as an in-app purchase option.”

So let’s say you are having problems with your computer. You are not sure if it is the hard drive or something else. What do you do?

I suggest doing a surface scan of your hard drive. The program that I used to scan my new hard drive was GSmartControl version 0.8.5. It will even check multiple drives, if you have more than one. GSmartControl is in the Ubuntu Software Center, so it is easy to install. Once it is installed you will find it under System Tools. Just click on it, choose the drive you want to scan, and click the Preform Tests tab, pick the test you want to do, and then click the Execute button. You can choose to do a Short Self-test, Extended Self-test, or Conveyance Self-test. I did the Extended Self-test and took a couple hours to do my 1 TB drive.

The other tabs give you a ton of information about your drive. Check it out and hopefully it will help you get to the root of your problem.

Link
GSmartControl

If you like the Cosmos background slideshow in Ubuntu 10.04, there is a way to create your own. It is called Create Background Slideshow (CreBS). It is not in the Ubuntu repositories, but I think they should add it. You have to install it from a PPA.

It is actually pretty simple, just type the following in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:crebs/ppa

Then you need to update your software list, just type the following in the terminal:

sudo apt-get update

And finally install crebs, just type the following in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install crebs

To run the program go to System > Preferences > Create Background Slideshow.

Use the plus sign to add wallpaper to the slideshow. I suggested putting the ones you want to use in a special folder. I also suggest you use pictures that are the correct dimensions for your desktop.

You can control how often they switch and how fast they transition. You can customize length and style as well. Don’t forget to give it a name.

Once this is done, you just right click on your desktop and select Change Desktop Background. Select the slideshow you created. And that’s it. Enjoy.

For more information about crebs go to:
http://www.obfuscatepenguin.net/crebs/

Now that the beta version of Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) is out, I took it for a test spin. Unity didn’t even load because I don’t have 3D graphics. I was hoping that it would so I could give it a spin. However I did discover that it is pretty easy to switch back to the Gnome desktop. You do this while logging in.

On the right you will see the login page. On the bottom there is a scroll bar that lets you select Ubuntu Classic. In the Alpha version it was called Ubuntu Classic Edition. This will take you to the usual two panel Gnome desktop that you are used to.

There are currently a ton of bugs in this beta version. I had a number of crashes, so I don’t recommend installing it on your system. Maybe its just me, but there seems to be more bugs that usual.

Now I should warn you that the top panel acted differently than it normally did, at lease in the beta version. If you open a file the title bar appears in the panel (that’s the File > Edit > View > Search, etc. Just right click and remove it from the desktop. You will also notice that the usual Applications > Places > System is missing (at least in the beta version). You can add that by right clicking, choose Add to Panel, and select Menu bar: a custom menu.

Oh ya, you will want to remove the menu bar that is provided.

I updated to Firefox 4 about a week ago using a PPA. Since that time is has frozen  at least a dozen times. Out of complete frustration I decided to install Google Chrome. It can be found in the Ubuntu Software Center under  google-chrome-stable. I have now switched to Chrome as my main browser. It just runs better and doesn’t freeze. It even has a sync feature built in. There is only one Firefox add-on I miss, the video downloader plug-in. But Google is now buying it so maybe it will appear in the app center.

If you don’t have Google Chrome in your repository, you can download it directly at:
http://www.google.com/chrome?platform=linux

Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) is the standard firewall configuration program in Ubuntu. It is a command line program. Most users will prefer to use Gufw, which is a graphical program to configure UFW.

Advanced users may wish to use UFW directly in the terminal. See the UFW manual or the Community Documentation page on UFW for more information. Alternatively, you can use iptables – see the iptables manual.

The Amazon.com mp3 downloader requires libboost 1.34, which is older than the version now included in Ubuntu 10.04. So in order to install it you have to download the earlier versions of these libraries.

First, lets make a directory to put these in. Type the following in the terminal:

mkdir Amazon_Downloader

Then go to that directory in the terminal by typing:

cd Amazon_Downloader

Now get the libraries, just copy and paste the following in the terminal:

wget https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959932/libboost-signals1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959936/libboost-thread1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959922/libboost-iostreams1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959918/libboost-filesystem1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959916/libboost-date-time1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/26959928/libboost-regex1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb https://launchpadlibrarian.net/34165098/libicu40_4.0.1-2ubuntu2_i386.deb

Next, Install the libraries by typing the following in the terminal:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Now simply run the Amazon MP3 downloader. Go to the following site:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html/

Click on the yellow button that says “Download Now Ubuntu 9.04.”
Check the option that says “Open with: GDebi Package Installer.”

It will now install the Amazon mp3 downloader. Your done.

If you a lucky you will turn on your printer and it will be automatically recognized. But, if like me, it is not, then there are some steps you have to take.

First of all, everything I will tell you only applies to HP printers (which is the type of printer you should buy for your Ubuntu computer).

The  program you are going to use is called hplip. Now the program is already installed, so you could use it in the terminal and type all kind of codes. I am a gui guy, gui stands for graphical user interface. It is what most people are comfortable using, Well hplip has a gui. If it is not installed, you will have to install it yourself.

Installing the gui for hplip is easy. Go to Applications and click on Ubuntu Software Center. You want to install hplips and hplip toolbox. In Ubuntu 10.04 hplip is install and the hplip toolbox is not. You will want both of them installed.

Once they are installed, you will want to start them. First of all make sure your printer is on. Then go to system > Preferences > and click on HPLIP Toolbox. If no printer is installed, it will pop up a menu to install one. You can also press Device > Setup Device. If your printer is connected via USB, you would choose the first option. Click next and it will search for the printer. Choose your printer and click next to finish the install.

That’s should be all there is to it. It will also work on Linux Mint.