Aside from the free service you can extend your storage through a subscription model with the following choices:

• 10GB – $25/year
• 50GB – $95/year
• 100GB – $160/year
• 500GB – $630/year
• 1TB – $1000/year

This is a decent pricing model because if you break it down monthly it’s a lot cheaper than Dropbox or Ubuntu One. This makes this service a big contender in the cloud market. Of course with the paid services you get 3 extra services over the free version. You get automatic backup of folders you choose to store, a "Time Travel" service which allows you to go back to previous folder revisons, and a file versioning service that tracks revisions of independent files (i.e. Documents). Have reserves about security and reliability? Here’s a clip from their website that is under "How It Works"

Technology Wuala is based on a novel technology that we have researched and developed for the most part at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. A number of important aspects distinguish Wuala from other services. Privacy and Security Wuala protects your privacy: In stark contrast to most other online storage services, all your files get encrypted on your computer, so that no one – including the employees at Wuala and LaCie – can access your private files. Your password never leaves your computer. Wuala employs the 128 bit AES, 2048 bit RSA and SHA-256 algorithms for encryption, signatures and integrity checks. If you’re interested in how Wuala manages encryption, have a look at our publication on Cryptree. Reliability When you store a file, it is first encrypted on your computer and then chunked up and encoded into redundant fragments using erasure codes (Reed-Solomon codes). These encrypted, redundant fragments are then stored in our European data centers and in the Wuala cloud. We make sure that your data is always safe. A complete backup of your encrypted files is always kept on our servers, so that it can always be accessed and restored. The Wuala cloud serves as an optimization that allows us to operate a large-scale infrastructure at low cost and to provide you with better performance. Also, it allows organizations to get access to reliable online storage by providing their own resources to the Wuala cloud. Get More Storage You start with 1 GB provided by us. If you want more, you can either buy more storage, or trade some space on your hard disk for additional online storage. The idea behind trading is not to give you more storage in total, but to change the quality of your storage: Wuala is able to transform local storage into online storage that can be accessed from anywhere and at any time, even when your computer is offline. Please note that trading is an option, not an obligation. If you need extra space but don’t want to trade, you can always buy additional storage instead. Desktop Client and Web Start Wuala comes as a convenient application for Windows, Mac, and Linux that can also be started directly from within the browser, elegantly bridging web and desktop. This has the advantage of drag and drop support, the ability to upload files in the background and to work offline. Wuala integrates with your system as a network drive so you can open and edit your files in your favorite application. Also, links to files and folders can be sent to friends, who can click directly on the link and access the files in the browser. Open Source We love open source technology and Wuala is based on a number of open source projects. We did open source Wuala Webstart and Wuala Persistent Map. This is defintely worth checking out. And it adds to my personal regiment of places I can back up. Although large files I personally like to store on a local back up mainly because of bandwidth reasons with my ISP (stupid 1Mbit connection). Check it out at http://www.wuala.com.

Ubuntu has a vast array of authoring tools. You can do a search for “DVD” (sans quotes) in the Software Center and you will see a bunch of DVD related tools. 2ManDVD was one I tried first because it was recommended back on Karmic. However I never really was able to get it to work right then and it still wouldn’t work right now. For some reason I could never get it to pick up the movies or figure out how to produce a playlist of multiple videos to have a “Play All” option. When I thought I had it, the software produced a zero byte ISO and just wouldn’t produce the DVD at all.

So I furthered my search for a decent editor. I tried QDVD Author, DeVeDe, Brasero (the default in Ubuntu even would not work), and tovid with the todisc ui. None of these worked right or was to convoluted to get to work right.

I had also read a recommendation for DVDStyler so decided to try that out. This was definitely the right choice! I had to make a series of DVDs for my girlfriend’s cousin’s kids so I loaded 4 episodes of the show I was making the DVDs for. The software put them in, set up a Play all option and a separate menu for individual episodes in a pinch!

I added a fan art image I grabbed off of The TV Database and made some modifications for the text and added a label to the individual episodes so you knew what they were. Then I began the burning process. BOOM! It created a preview in Xine which looked perfectly fine (hey that rhymed!) so I exited out of the preview and it started the encoding process then the burning process.

I really recommend DVDStyler for authoring DVDs it’s quick and simple and really works under Lucid.

I don’t know if the reason the others didn’t work is because I installed them through the software center instead of the command line apt-get method or not. But DVDStyler is perfect for quick and dirty DVD authoring. I will play with it more for sure. I have a lot of DVD’s to make before we head on down to Georgia to give them the DVDs. Let’s hope I can get it all done before then!

The list of derivatives has been expanding more and more and I am sure I missed some. Please comment if you have any more info on others.

Mint

Link: http://www.linuxmint.com/

Linux Mint’s purpose is to produce an elegant, up to date and comfortable GNU/Linux desktop distribution.

Linux Mint is one of the surprise packages of the past year. Originally launched as a variant of Ubuntu with integrated media codecs, it has now developed into one of the most user-friendly distributions on the market – complete with a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, a web-based package installation interface, and a number of different editions. Perhaps most importantly, this is one project where the developers and users are in constant interaction, resulting in dramatic, user-driven improvements with every new release. DistroWatch has spoken to the founder and lead developer of Linux Mint, Clement Lefebvre, about the history of the distribution.

Kubuntu

Link: http://www.kubuntu.org/

Kubuntu is the KDE version of Ubuntu. This version comes packed with the KDE window manager instead of Gnome.

Kubuntu is a free, user-friendly operating system based on the K Desktop Environment and on the award winning Ubuntu operating system. With a biannual release cycle and at least 18 months of free security updates for each release, it is the secure, stable computing environment you’ve been waiting for. Take the tour or hear what our users have to say.

So basically if you like Ubuntu and prefer the KDE window manager you might want to install this instead of Ubuntu. It will save you the time of downloading and installing KDE and switching window managers.

Edubuntu

Link: http://edubuntu.org/

Edubuntu’s objective is to create an integrated and usable experience for educational users by enhancing Ubuntu with educational applications, tools, content, and themes.

“Ubuntu” is an ancient African word, meaning “humanity to others”. Edubuntu seeks to bring the freedoms and spirit of Ubuntu to children, parents, students, teachers, and schools.

Xubuntu

Link: http://www.xubuntu.org/

Xubuntu is a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need – a web browser, document and spreadsheet editing software, instant messaging and much more.

If you like Ubuntu but prefer the XFCE window manager download Xubuntu and check it out.

Gobuntu

Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/gobuntu

Gobuntu is a GNU/Linux operating system, derived from Ubuntu, that endeavors to adhere to the Free Software Foundation’s four freedoms and intends to provide a base for other free software platforms to build upon with minimal modification required. It does this by only including open-source non-restricted software. This means there will be no firmware, drivers, applications, or content included in Gobuntu that does not include the full source or whose license does not provide the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute the body of work.

Gobuntu shares the same system requirements as Ubuntu. At present, this means Gobuntu is available for 32-bit and 64-Bit PC architectures and the install requires at least 4 GB of disk space.

Ubuntu Studio

Link: http://ubuntustudio.org/

Ubuntu Studio. A multimedia creation flavor of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Studio is aimed at the GNU/Linux audio, video and graphic enthusiast as well as professional.

We provide a suite of the best open-source applications available for multimedia creation. Completely free to use, modify and redistribute. Your only limitation is your imagination.

Mythbuntu

Link: http://www.mythbuntu.org/

Mythbuntu is an community supported add-on for Ubuntu focused upon setting up a standalone MythTV based PVR system. It can be used to prepare a standalone system or for integration with an existing MythTV network. Unlike similar projects, Mythbuntu keeps close ties with Ubuntu and all development is given back to Ubuntu. This architecture allows simple conversions from a standard desktop to a Mythbuntu machine and vice versa. The development cycle of Mythbuntu closely follows that of Ubuntu, releasing every six months with Ubuntu releases.

Ubuntu Server Edition

Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/products/WhatIsUbuntu/serveredition

The Ubuntu Server Edition – built on the solid foundation of Debian which is known for its robust server installations – has a strong heritage for reliable performance and predictable evolution.

The Ubuntu Server Edition is changing the server market for businesses by delivering the best of free software on a stable, fully supported and secure platform. In the two years since initial launch Ubuntu can now be found in hundreds of organisations across the world delivering key services reliably, predictably and economically. Ubuntu Server Edition is an energy efficient, low memory and disk footprint operating system that helps build server functions that respect our environment with no compromise on agility and versatility.

Ubuntu servers are available on Amazon EC2

Eeebuntu

Link: http://www.eeebuntu.org/

With over 45,000 downloads to date, Eeebuntu Standard contains everything you need to get working and playing on your EeePC from the beginning. It includes a full suite of internet applications, including Firefox for browsing, Pidgin for IM chat, and Thunderbird for mail. For work, a full suite of OpenOffice applications; Database, Presentation, Spreadsheet and Word – all Microsoft Office compatible; and a selection of multimedia applications: VLC for watching movies and Banshee for listening to music. You even have support for your iPod with gtkpod!

Ubuntu Mini Remix

Link: http://ubuntu-mini-remix.crealabs.it/

You want to build your own Ubuntu based livecd, having the complete control over the installed software but you don’t know where to start? Ubuntu Mini Remix is here to help you!

Ubuntu Mini Remix is a fully working Ubuntu livecd containing only the minimal set of software to make the system work. Ubuntu Mini Remix ISO image is only 133MB.

After downloading Ubuntu Mini Remix you can use Ubuntu Customization Kit, Reconstructor or any other tool to remaster the ISO and add the software/configurations you want, building your own Ubuntu based livecd.

Crunchbang Linux

Link: http://crunchbanglinux.org/

CrunchBang Linux is an Ubuntu based distribution featuring the lightweight Openbox window manager and GTK+ applications. The distribution is developed from a minimal Ubuntu install and has been designed to offer a good balance of speed and functionality.

OzOs

Link: http://cafelinux.org/OzOs/

OzOs is an elegant stable environment of beauty, specifically “The Reality Different”. OzOS is built on Xubuntu or to be more exact a Debian base and utilizes the sexy Enlightenment 17 Desktop. This is a special version of e17 that is brought to you by the most discriminating e17 user: Rui Pais; with his precious time and Enlightenment knowledge, he has created a Distro that is OzOS. Rui’s easy “e17 SVN Deb” was the founding blueprint for the OzOS Live CD(With Installer) RC.

Ubuntu Satanic Edition

Link: http://ubuntusatanic.org/download.php

In reaction to the Ubuntu Christian version we have:
Ubuntu SE is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. It brings together the best free software and free metal music on one CD.

You can also upgrade your existing Ubuntu installation with a comprehensive set of themes to make your desktop dark and malevolent. Don’t worry; you can easily change your system back if you intend to recant.

OpenGEU

Link: http://opengeu.intilinux.com/Home.html

OpenGEU completes the missing parts of the E17 Desktop Shell and WM with a certain number of tools and applications from the Gnome Desktop.

In OpenGEU you can find a classic Ubuntu set of applications mixed with those provided and created from and for E17. Since this would not be enough for an easy integration of Gnome and E17, OpenGEU introduces a number of new E17 modules, applications and configurations specifically designed by the OpenGEU Team for you to enjoy a new and easier desktop experience! You’ll discover a finally usable and productive Enlightenment 0.17 Desktop, even if you are a beginner!

Nubuntu

Link: http://www.nubuntu.org/

The main goal of nUbuntu is to create a distribution which is derived from the Ubuntu distribution, and add packages related to security testing and remove unneeded packages. nUbuntu is the result of an idea two people had to create a new distribution for the learning experience back in early 2006, when Ubuntu was in its still early stages. nUbuntu started many years ago as a project with the intent for its developers to learn about distribution development and quickly evolved into a full scale project after recieving a large community response. Currently today, we have many developers and a large contributing communinty. Anyone interested in helping may do so by contributing ideas and packages directly to the nUbuntu developers.

gOS

Link: http://www.thinkgos.com/gos/index.html

Since our debut in 2007, gOS has been praised for being the most beautiful and easiest to use Linux operating system on the market. Now with our third and best version of gOS, we have carried on our effort to create a Linux for the rest of us.

Ubuntu Jeos

Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/jeos

Ubuntu Server Edition JeOS (pronounced “Juice”) is an efficient variant of our server operating system, configured specifically for virtual appliances. Currently available as a CD-Rom ISO for download, JeOS is a specialised installation of Ubuntu Server Edition with a tuned kernel that only contains the base elements needed to run within a virtualized environment.

Users deploying virtual appliances built on top of JeOS will benefit from:

better perfomances on the same hardware compared to a full non-optimised OS
smaller footprint of the virtual appliance on their valuable disk space
fewer updates and therefore less maintenance than a full server installation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_JeOS

Ubuntu Mobile

Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/products/mobile

Ubuntu MID Edition targets an exciting new class of computers called Mobile Internet Devices. Ubuntu MID, based on the world’s most popular Linux distribution, and MID hardware from OEMs and ODMs, is redefining what can be done in mobile computing.

Ubuntu MID Edition, a fully open source project, gives the full Internet, with no compromise. Custom options may include licensed codecs and popular third-party applications.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Link: http://www.canonical.com/projects/ubuntu/unr

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.

Canonical has collaborated with Intel and is working with a number of OEM’s to deliver Ubuntu on netbooks in retail. In keeping with the philosophy of our best work being available to everyone, the core remix product is available to all through the Canonical repositories. This version is free to download and modify by any user.

Kiwi Linux

Link: http://kiwilinux.org/kiwi/en/

Kiwi Linux is slightly a modified Ubuntu Desktop/Install CD for the i386 architecture, that is in sync with Ubuntu’s release cycles and uses its package archives. Hence it is easy to switch to and from Ubuntu and all the security and bugfix updates from Ubuntu are getting into Kiwi Linux automatically.

The latest release, Kiwi Linux 9.04 is based on Ubuntu 9.04. Differences from it include :

• All languages but en,hu,ro removed
• GUI for pppoeconf and support for Speedtouch 330 USB ADSL modem firmware (Romtelecom Clicknet)
• A graphical tool for restoring GRUB boot menus lost after installing other OSes.
• Evolution removed, no mail client at all on the CD
• Flash, audio and video codecs for restricted formats, support for encrypted DVDs
• Compiz extra settings GUI
• p7zip, unrar for better interop with Windows users’ archive files

Qimo

Link: http://www.qimo4kids.com

Qimo was designed to be a standalone home computer for kids, rather than a networked classroom computer. The interface for Qimo is designed to be easy enough for a 3 year old to use, without having to navigate menus or manage multiple open windows. Also, Qimo will also run from a LiveCD, and doesn’t require an existing Ubuntu installation the way Edubuntu does.

Version 2.0 was released on May 26, 2010

Sources:

• NixTutor
• Quimo FAQ

• 1 shot Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1 shot Port Wine

It’s basically the same as a Cement Mixer, but using a different name it throws them off. But seriously a good drink to really confuse the bartender is to order the maritini inspired by the Linux distribution known as Ubuntu. I present to you, the Ubutini! You can get the recipe by expanding the image on the right or get it at the Ubuntu Wiki.

If you are too lazy to click on the image or link, here’s the recipe for this drink. I so want to try it, sounds delicious. So grab your martini glasses and mix this:

• 1 oz. Vodka
• 2.5 oz. Tonic Water
• 0.5 oz. Grape Soda
• Splash of Crown Royal

Recommended:

• Grape Soda Ice Cubes
• Frozen Grapes
• Tang Crystals (for rim of glass)

I have played around with previous versions going back as far as Warty the Warthog (version 4.10) and none of them really compare to the look and feel to Jaunty Jackalope (version 9.04) and Karmic Koala.

The first thing you will notice is that they have added a graphical splash screen to the OS load screen using xsplash. Of course being the type of guy who likes customizing his GUI I found information on how to modify it thanks to the Ubuntu Forums.. Well google first, but you get the picture.

I really like seeing this over the old text style loading and then blank screen.

Of course the load time has drop considerably. It takes 15 seconds to boot up from a cold boot. A lot better than the slow boot of the other OS’s I have ran on my computers.

They have ditched Pidgin for Empathy. Personally I don’t care for Empathy so I am continuing to use Pidgin.

The Software Center replaces the old Add/Remove programs option and it is a lot simpler. But for a better control of packages I still use the synaptic manager from time to time.

All in all Karmic Koala kicks ass and you will see a ton of other reviews agreeing with that statement.

I personally recommend downloading it and checking out the Live CD at least. Even if you are not ready to make the jump into Linux, you can play around with it and see how easy it is.

I will be compiling a list of alternative software VERY soon.

The reason for adding these entries is because I am trying to consolidate my websites a little. And the subdomains albeit a great idea for making some little blogs, I have decided that this will be my primary blog for all of the things I want to talk about.

So enjoy! And subscribe to the feed if you want to be updated of new posts.

From the new graphical load to the other extra stuff that is added from the previous release. This is going to be the best release ever!

Here’s a little review on my thoughts on this upcoming release.

Now I recently had made a mistake with trying to convert my HD from the ext3 format to the new ext4. So I had to redo everything and the only CD I had was the Jaunty release.

Karmic formats to the ext4 on a clean install, however with people using Jaunty, I hope they come up with a user friendly utility to migrate to ext4 because by default Jaunty installs under ext3. In order to install jaunty on the ext4 format you need to use the Advanced partition option on the install. I know it’s a little tedious to do it but it is well worth it.

But I digress.

Karmic by default installs Empathy instead of the familiar Pidgin that we have been used to in previous releases. Personally I loved pidgin and some folks may find Empathy a little less powerful and odd to configure their personal settings for instant messaging. I deal with a lot of people on other OS’s and with file transfer it doesn’t always work well. So if you want Pidgin back, you can install it through the repositories.

Speaking of installing software, you can install things using the new Ubuntu Software center. This breaks down free software by category and installs what you need. However I am finding some things are not in the Software Center that are in the Synaptic installer app. So I am using both not just for some little packages, but some of the software that doesn’t get installed though the Software center (Super Maryo Chronicles install missed the music package for example. That should be a dependency in my opinion).

As I mentioned the boot up process is now more graphical because it’s using XSplash for the boot up screen. Very nice, but I can’t wait to find out how to customize that. Muwahaha.

As far as some other features coming soon, check out this article on OMGUbuntu.

• The Indexer
• Make Tech Easier
• HowToForge

This is a list of what I have installed on my machine as of now…

I have broken them down by Category. Bear in mind some you need to use their repository to get properly. See my notes or the proper websites for these apps.

Audio/Video

• gPodder
• Audacity
• dvd::rip
• ManDVD 2
• VLC
• Songbird
• LiVES
• WinFF

System Related

• Ubuntu-Tweak
• Compiz Manager
• Screenlets
• Avant Window Navigator (AWN)
• ububtu-restricted-extras

Productivity / Grpahics

• Fontmatrix
• Inkscape
• FontForge
• Gourmet Recipe Manager
• Gimp

Internet

• Adobe Air
• Skype
• gFTP
• Kompozer – http://www.kompozer.net/
• XChat
• SSH Server

Games

• Secret Maryo Chronicles
• Spring RTS
• Warsow
• Super Tux Cart
• Second Life

I remember the different versions of Windows up to it’s most recent Vista incarnation. And more and more I realized I was feeding into the mega-empire that is Microsoft. And I was also noticing that as the years progressed the OS I was using was getting bigger and bigger not only in the aesthetic of it’s design, but in the size of the space it was taking up on my hard drive.

Not just the OS itself, but some of the programs were growing as well. And let’s not talk about installing issues with Windows if you buy a new machine with an older OS or no Restore CD available by the OEM.

Enter the Penguin!

I’ve played with Linux here and there through terminal mode for work and I have installed older versions of Mandrake and even the early inceptions of Ubuntu. But I always turned back to Windows for my day to day computer habits.

I took the plunge and installed Ubuntu on my laptop. And having some knowledge about the OS helped a little. But all in all my experience was rather well and now over 45 days later I am still running under a Linux system and getting the hang on what works and what doesn’t in some areas. However I have a bad habit of pushing things till they break almost and a reinstall seems to be my only cure even if there is a way to fix what isn’t working right.

My experiment mostly was to try out Ubuntu and it’s KDE flavor (Kubuntu) and I am on the fence with both really. Both are really good GUI’s for what was originally a command line only OS and still uses command line stuff. But all in all I am able to have programs to do what I do computer-wise with all open source products. And I still have a ton of disk space to play with compared to what I had left with all the programs that were “commercial” in nature.

I’ve documented my journey at VooDooStevie’s Misadventures In Linux. I blogged up to 46 days so far, but I think I will use this domain as my primary blog of geek related stuff including Linux How-To’s and such.

In the end I am still using Linux and will try not to sway back to the Window necessary, but as for now I don’t see that happening for quite some time.

I found that Kubuntu uses a lot of the same apps I was using before, Open Office is still there.. Oh wait, no it doesn’t no FireFox. It uses Konqueror as it’s web browser by default. But check this out, all those nifty things I was doing under Gnome that required extras, it’s all native here under KDE 4. Here’s some of the screen shots. I will report more about what I had installed and stuff tomorrow. Read on for the little gallery of pics.

I still have the ability to transfer stuff to my iPod with no issue, but I can’t listen to MP3′s on the laptop or even watch videos for that matter. What did I do wrong? I know I must have killed something, but I cannot find out where. BACKUP TIME!

So I moved the new pictures, music, and videos I ripped and transcoded onto the handy dandy external hard drive… And now the big decision. Do I attempt a reinstall over this installation and hope it fixes the issue that way or do I try out another flavor of Linux.

I chose that I would stay with the Ubuntu family. But I will try Kubuntu unstead. For those who do not know what this is. It’s Ubuntu with KDE as it desktop instead of Gnome. Now I have used KDE a LONG time ago with Mandrake Linux. When Linux was still kind of a clunky and not so userfriendly Operating system. Although there is some things you still should install via terminal there are a lot of things you can use the GUI to install things onto the system. But you always have the terminal (aka command line) to help in doing things quicker.

So I basically began downloading Kubuntu from it’s main site and burned the CD under Gnome. Did a completely clean install of Kubuntu and did the updates.  Tommorrow I begin reinstalling some applications or poking to find what I can use that I used under Gnome.

It gives you an idea of how breaking boundaries of the Windows OS can be. Read on…

Computers started making their way into homes, en masse, 15 years ago. After 15 years, computer users should not be afraid of using their computer.

This case study tells the story about a customer of mine, Wanda, who happens to be in her 70s. Like most computer users she used a Windows based computer. In her case, it was a system put together by her grandson in 2002 or 2003 and has a 1.8ghz processor, 256mb of RAM and the XP Home version of Windows.

When I first met Wanda a few years ago, she had typical Windows user problems; slow computer, slow Internet, couldn’t open some attachments, virus and spyware problems. She used dialup Juno for Internet and Norton Antivirus on her system. I couldn’t talk her into getting a DSL or cable connection, but I did change her security from Norton to AVG and optimized the startup and running of the system. However, with dialup and Juno, she continued to have problems that cropped up every 3-4 months.

In April of 2008, I talked with her in detail about computer usage. She stated that she really only needed to do three or four things with her computer:

1. Email
2. Word Processing
3. Solitaire
4. Very light Internet browsing

We talked about the cost of a new computer and a high speed connection. And then we talked about taking Windows off her system, installing a different system (Ubuntu and Linux didn’t mean anything to her) that would be virtually trouble free and no cost to acquire besides my install and configuration time. She liked the sound of that, but I informed her that I could not install Ubuntu unless she was agreeable to getting a DSL connection for the Internet. She agreed.

I installed Ubuntu for her and configured her desktop with shortcuts to her email, the web, solitaire, and her word processor. Again, that was April of 2008. Prior to that I received at least one call from her every month, and visited her for cleanup and troubleshooting appointments at least 3-5 times per year.

Today, Wanda called me for the first time since I installed Ubuntu on her system 14 months ago. She asked two questions:

1. Why can’t I get email from my daughter?
2. My printer stopped printing, do I need a new one?

Knowing that it would be a quick visit, I stopped by her house in between two other appointments. To my delight, the computer desktop looked exactly the same as I left it the prior year except for a few saved PowerPoint slideshows she saved from email to it.

Since she was using Hotmail, I could almost guarantee that she had blocked her daughter’s email address (Microsoft places the spam / junk mail button dangerously close to the delete button). Sure enough, a trip to the blocked senders settings revealed what I suspected. Her daughter’s email address and a dear friend were blocked. I rectified that in a few clicks.

Next, her printer problem turned out to be a paper jam. After clearing it, the computer was happily printing again. I left her home in under 15 minutes after correcting the problems that had nothing to do with Ubuntu, and she was beaming like a kid in a candy shop.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Properly setup and customized for an individual’s computing needs, Ubuntu Linux can be used successfully and easily by anyone of any age and computing ability. AND, the problems associated with computing under the Windows environment disappear.

My only regret is that I did not start looking into and learning about Linux prior to 2006.

I may play with layout some more later. But for now this is what it is. Shows information I personally need to know about my machine. And of course what the time is. I think I should put the clock back on the panel because most of the work I do covers up the desktop and I always have to minimize to see what time it is.

I imported pictures off a SD Card for our digital camera using F-Spot. It worked flawlessly. It was really easy and this shows that the card reader also works on the laptop under Linux. Wheeee! Now I have the pictures that Sarah this past month on my machine. That’s about 400 pictures. Seriously. We have taken over 8GB of pictures of Emma in the past year and a half almost. Think we’re obsessed with our child? Got a problem? Fuck you.

I took pictures of the labels I added onto the machine. As you see they look awsome! I trimmed the picture of Tux to remove the shadow that was in the original because it would look nasty with the white and gray shade that was in it. And yes I put a VooDooRadio logo sticker on my laptop. What’s it too ya! People will ask me about it if they see it and that promotes my show… Kinda… Sorta… Leave me alone!

During the last update, Ubuntu had released a version of Firefox called Shiretoko. It’s Firefox v.3.5 but looking up info on it. It’s a Beta of the browser. All I have to say is that Shiretoko is a little slo-mo. It locked up while uploading the pictures you see here. But also the original files are 3MB average each. But still. It runs a little ragged.

So we are nearing the end of the 30 Days point. Where do we go from here? I think I may continue to blog about running under Linux but we’ll see. Still missing some of the games I played under Windows and watching Netflix. But maybe I will load the games on the desktop and hope it will work ok.

I got this setup from the Ubuntu Blog website which it was very helpful, but seeing how I am wireless more I needed more variables to add to my setup. And this information was easily obtainable from Conky’s Sourceforge site more specifically the variable section.

The one thing I have been finding out about conky is that is is very tedious to really set it up. There is no “user friendly” GUI to configure it like the Screenlets so you have to do a lot of text editing to get it to work right. And you have to really ignore word wrap.

Another little thing about conky is when you make changes you can kill the process (I use top in the terminal to kill it) and restart it, reboot the machine, or log out of your Gnome session. I have used all three and logging out seems to be a little quicker than the other two. Go fig.

Also I learned that gPodder has an option to skip podcasts when syncing them to your iPod. So the Ubuntu Podcast has been set to that because of the file format issue with the iPod.  You can also set up an autodelte ever 30 days or whatever you want. I prefer to manually do it, but that’s just me. Also you can save the files somewhere else if you please. This is  a nice option because some shows I like to archive or edit to get bits for my show (ala “This is Why we’re Fat” from Nobody Likes Onions being inserted into my show).

I have been shutting down the machine lately so I don’t log in from work too much. But I still think I got some things done in the short time I did them.

I am now trying to think of what I should remove or tweak next. I find it funny that with all the programs and files I have on the system now it’s only 20GB used and a large portion of that is the documents and files I have in my home folder Can we say Bloatware?

I am looking back on the things I have been doing through this experiment and it pleases me to see I am able to do a lot of things I was able to do under Windows just fine.

Netflix REALLY needs to get on the ball with the instant streaming stuff because this is a pain in the nuts having it be Silverlight 2.0 only. That is primarily one of the only things I miss so far.

Speaking of streaming I need to think about finding info about how to get my DirecTV DVR and this machine to talk so I can stream movies or pictures. I got it going under windows before. I also will have to hard-wire the laptop so I can get a decent connection for that as well.

It would be awesome to be able to stream videos off of the lappy because I have a ton of AVI’s I backed up onto DVD-R’s that I could easily copy onto the hard drive to play better. Maybe I will do this later today.. Or start that.

However the other one was correct and things went fine. More movie backups made. Go me.

I updated to a new version of Firefox that the name escapes me as I write this, but it’s a ubuntu based fork of 3.5 that seems to work fine. I also imported all my old bookmarks that I exported when I was under windows.

Also I found the Ubuntu Vidcast site. But the thing doesn’t play on my iPod because it’s in Ogg Vorbis. Dernit! And the video link for the ipod is a iTunes link. GAH!

Finally I finished sorting out all my music files and got them back on the external HD! So I started to get things together to record my podcast. Hooked up my mixer, turned it on and plugged it into the USB port. The system found it OK. I checked it with Skype.

Beautiful.  Launched Audacity and chose the input for the mixer and started recording.  The waveform was flat..

Hmmmm..

Read on to find out what happened.Well, I’m looking all around on the machine for settings issues and everything seemed right then I looked down and realized that all of a sudden I had no power on my mixer. The powersupply died. FUCK!

And of course I find out there is an Internal Mic bug in Ubuntu. Great.

Before going out and getting a headset, I guess I should see if I can get the Internal Mic going.  I looked on the Ubuntu Forums and found a few others who have the same issue with Acer Laptops and the internal mic’s. Luckily there is a fix!

• Step 1: Download the Alsa Driver from here:

ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.20.tar.bz2

• Step 2:extract the contents.Open terminal and go to where you downloaded the driver. Extract it using

tar -vxf alsa-driver-1.0.20.tar.gz

• Step 3:  Compile the driverNote:  You need checkinstall if you don’t have it use apt-get to get it

sudo apt-get install checkinstall

Then run the commands below
This takes a little while to do its thing

./configure
make
sudo make install

• Step 4: Configure alsa-base.confAdd the following line to the end of /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file. I did this by using the command:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

I added these two lines at the end of the conf file then saved it.

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=acer

• Step 5:  Reboot.

This worked, but seriously, internal mic’s are shitty to say the least. But it’s nice to know that it works more or less. By this time I had gotten so fed up with my mixer dying, I decided that maybe it’s best I use a headset or find out if Daddy’s Junky Music will allow me to get a new cable with my extended warranty. GRRRR.

So after fighting with it all I gave up recording for the night and watched my friend’s do their show on XLR and called it a night.

“Ubuntu is the essence of being human. I am human because I belong, and my humanity is bound to yours.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

However, the name apparently has appeared not only for the software. I introduce you to Ubuntu Cola!

The company is a fair trade company that donates 15% of their proceeds to African sugar farmers. There aren’t any distributors locacal to me so if I were to purchase this, I would have to resort to online sales. Check out their website.

They have a section called Where to Buy where they use Google’s maps to display where you can get it. As far as the U.S. it appears that people in Milwaukee and San Francisco can get it locally.

I wonder if they use the Open Cola recipe for this?

When Transmission opened I chose where to save the download and voila torrent downloading.  Simple.

While waiting for the torrent to do it’s thing I moved some files from my external hard drive to my home folder to sort out things that I have floating around. Some music I put into the Music folder and when I launched Songbird it sorted it for me. YAY!

I really need to reorganize the HUGE collection of music I have on the large External and  catalog them all as well. I think I will look for a program that can help me with that soon.

Poking around the Add/Remove Programs application I poked around for some more programs I wanted to check out. I tried Ardour which is a audio editor that has been

Installed Kraft which is a small business program for creating invoices and tracking inventory.

I also install Internet DJ Console which for some reason isn’t running. Hmmm.. Looking into that later.

I also installed a game called Open City which seems to sound like another SimCity clone. I will check this out because LinCity-NG seems totally different than expected.

I want to get my Razr set up to get pictures and sounds off it so I installed gMobileMedia to see if that is something that will help with that. I know moto4lin is supposed to handle that as well but I need to dig deeper into configuring it to work.

I am thinking of trying to get some vector graphics made for designing stuff so Inkscape was the next thing I installed. It’s a replacement for Adobe Illustrator.

I like putting pictures on my iPod from time to time and GpixPod is suppsed to handle that

I installed an app called Camera which is listed as an app to aid in getting pictures off of digital cameras. If I can’t get the card reader going (yeah I haven’t tested that yet) I am going to see how this works out.

I am thinking of making my own Fonts sometime so I installed FontForge

For some web development I figured I’d install MySql Manager to help with databases. I think I am doing something wrong because it won’t connect to any database I use (local or remote).

Yet another test of an audio application that can sync podcasts and handle my music library, I checked out Exaie Music Player, which I installed some of the extras but didn’t play with it that much.

I am trying to see if I can connect to this site from my desktop rather than loading up Firefox and logging into my site so I installed BloGTK which supposedly connects to WordPress blogss.

I have a TON of pictures of my daughter and I saw a lot of picture mosaics out there  and think I would like to make one of her. I found a program called Pixelize that is supposed to do exatly that. Take a bunch of pictures and make a mosaic of them to produce 1 picture.

I Removed Gwibber because I am using TweetDeck and it seemed redundant to have 2 programs to tweet with.

I had another DVD I wanted to rip (for backup purposes, yeah that’s it) so I decided to try dvd::rip this time. It was getting late so I started the rip of the main movie and hit the sack. More on this tomorrow!

So to fix this I subscribed to 1 feed inside of Rhythmbox (the default audio player in Ubuntu 9.04). I plugged in my iPod and after it noticed it was connected, I dragged and dropped the latest episode onto the iPod.

I loaded up gPodder and had it do it’s sync and  all the episodes that were not marked as played went right onto the iPod. However it kept the 1 episode from Rhythm box, which is no big deal.

I unplugged my iPod and head off to work with all my new podcasts ready to play. The ONLY downside to gPodder is that when the podcast uses cover art for their shows it doesn’t show on the iPod.  For example, VooDooRadio’s Last show had a special cover art that I made for the episode. When I was using iTunes under Windows the episodes would have that picture I made, but under gPodder. Nothing. Nada. BAH!

Maybe I missed something. I dunno.

So basically nothing new installed. Just conquered a small little issue that I found as important for my work day. Listening to shows as I work makes me feel more productive.

I played with gPodder some more to understand it’s workings. I figured it out I think. Some folks say this is one of the best apps for syncing your iPod. So far it seems that way.

I removed all the old shows on the iPod and loaded up all the newly downloaded episodes. Synced the iPod an voila!

I installed Ubuntu-Tweak, Compiz Manager,  Screenlets, and Avant Window Navigator (AWN). Now with AWN it makes the system look a little “Macintosh-ish” but I like the way it handles running applications and some of the other features are real nice. Very similar to Object Dock for windows as well. If you look at the screen capture I put up as a tumbnail for this post you will see the way the desktop looks now.

Ok, I now installed Skype. I downloaded .deb file from website. Double clicked and installed. Ran the program, logged into my Skype account. So far so good. Hey Webcam works under Skype awesome! I hope it works for other things as well. We’ll see.

Installed Avast antivirus – Initial download instructions I found were not right so I downloaded it directly from site and manually installed. Downloaded updates and setup for a scan. I ran scan (took a while because I did a FULL scan and had my external HD hooked up. Might as well, I was on a windows system, heh).

For graphic manipulation I downloaded Pixel (website). Pixel is a RGB, CMYK and HDR image editing, photo retouching and manipulating program available for many operating systems formerly known as Pixel32. It is available for Windows, Linux, Linspire, MacOSX, BeOS, Zeta, QNX, MorphOS, FreeBSD, eComStation, OS/2, SkyOS and even old plain DOS, for both x86 and PowerPC architectures. It’s exactly like Photoshop!

I registered this software a long time ago when I initially was thinking of switching, so it is a bonafide copy. But you can check out the demo.

I noticed on a reboot I didn’t check start at login on a few items, now I have Skype, Pidgin and all my screenlets loading up when I get into the system. Pidgin somhow doesn’t have the option to load when the OS boots up so I had Gnome remember all applications running when I shut down. This should help that perfectly.

I can’t believe I forgot to install my add-ons for firefox. Namely the Gmail Manager to check my mail and Stumble Upon. I use the Gmail Manager to check all my email for both my domain hosted mail and my original Gmail account I had gotten a long time ago.

I have a Motorola Razor that I like to plug into the USB port primarily for charging. In order to do so I needed to install moto4lin for it to work. Very simple to get because its located in the repositories so apt-get worked like a charm.

I downloaded Gourmet Recipe Manager to keep my recipes. Downloaded version on Sourceforge rather than the one in the repositories for it’s more up to date. Gourmet Recipe Manager is a gtk-based recipe organizer and shopping list generator intended for GNOME (though it does not need all the GNOME libraries). Gourmet can import Mealmaster(tm) files and can export recipes in a number of formats, including text, RTF and web pages. Gourmet also can calculate nutritional information for recipes. I tested it by adding the recipe for the New Mexico Cow Patties I made last week.

I got some games today that were all in the repositories (I went into the Add/Remove Programs area and chose Games). The game I installed were the GFCE NES Emulator, Glest, LinCity-NG, Scorched 3D (a classic favorite of mine), Secret Maryo Chronicles, ZSNES Emulator (Super NES Emulator). I downloaded Alien Arena but it crashed whenever I played the darn thing.

Ok enough games, I need to get things for web design. I already have the graphic tools, now for the editors. I downloaded Kompozer (website) because NVU is no longer being made. I needed something that is an alternative to Dreamweaver and this was highly recommended. It’s the same folks that made NVU so let’s hope it works just as good.

Ok, it’s time for DVD ripping and making time! I installed dvd::rip, Dvd955 convertor and ManDVD. I will play with these more VERY soon.

While poking around the Add/Remove Programs app, I found a Pre-School Bundle in the Education section. So I grabbed it for teaching my daughter things. She needs to learn to use a mouse first.

Installed XChat for IRC, Art Manager for making the computer look pretty.  Now the Art Manager supposedly connects to Gnome-Look.org for its content. I tried installing a theme and it failed. Oh well try more later.

Graeme called me and was having issues with Nasusa Live’s chatroom so I attempted a login to uStream using Xchat. Either they are having IRC issues again or it was quasi-fail. Normally XChat works fine.

Well, sadly Amarok was not working properly, so I uninstalled it. I tried playing Distorted View and it just skimmed right through it. Where VLC and Rhythm Box worked perfectly fine.

That is Day 2. Day 3 will contain less installations (I hope) and more hankering down and reporting what I was able to accomplish with Linux based software over my old M$ Habit.

I have been a user of Windows since version 3.0 came out and in my opinion it’s become a crutch for my computer needs. It’s also been increasingly bloated and bothersome to say the least.

I have dabbled with Linux. But now I have decided to attempt a completely Windows Free system.

My flavor of choice for this experiment: Ubuntu Linux

I want to experience this operating system to the fullest. That means all the things I do under windows I will be doing it under Linux.

I have planned to do this for sometime, now I am actually going to take the dive. To get a hint of what I do on a computer here is a list of things that come to mind off the bat:

• Podcasting
• Web Design
• Gaming
• Web Browsing
• DVD Authoring
• Graphic Design
• Chat (IRC, Instant messaging  and Voice)
• Video Streaming
• iPod Listening (daily)

I have already found the alternatives to Windows programs so I feel I am on the way to a good experience.

I will post once a day of what I accomplished. And attempt screenshots to share as a photoblog experience. And when possible I will try a videoblog (aka vlog) of what I have done as well.

I think that anytime I NEED to use windows I will be on the other machine (the desktop that is shared with Sarah). But it will be far and few in between.

So tonight I am doing my last necessary things under Windows (aka backup) as I begin to install Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope 9.04.