Alt-Ctrl-Shift-R to start and stop.  Small red circle appears in bottom right of screen while recording.  Recordings are saved in webm format in the home directory with the filename shell-YYYYMMDD-#.webm (YYYY – year, MM – month, DD – day and # is a sequential number).

I will update this when I find out how to change settings (frame-rate, …).

UPDATE: Perusal of the source code reveals that the frame rate is hard wired in at 15 fps.  So if you need more flexibility you will need to use something else.  It’s still a great tool to have built in for casual use!

Until now.

I am using Fedora 15 as my main OS, and read the release notes just to see if there was anything I might be interested in coming soon. I came across a brief note in the release notes:

2.1.1.1.2. How do I change settings?
Click on the user menu at the top right and select System Settings. For more advanced preferences, install the gnome-tweak-tool package.

Ahh. A quick ‘yum install gnome-tweak-tool’ later and I have a far more customisable Gnome 3.0. Here are some highlights:

Under Shell you can change which buttons are displayed in the titlebar, and alter what happens when you close the laptop lid.  This is particularly valuable to me, as I often close my laptop when moving and don’t always want it to suspend.

The Fonts options allow you to effectively change the dpi of the screen, and alter the fonts – something I have seen a lot of people desiring.

The File Manager options allow you to enable the file manager to control the desktop – restoring traditional desktop functionality.  This is useful for unmounting removable drives.  You can also remove the wallpaper.  I’m sure someone has a use for this.  I don’t.

You can change the behaviour of titlebar actions in the Windows menu.  I found out that the middle button does something (I just bought a wireless mouse for my laptop – now I actually have a middle button ).

The Interface section gives you options for changing gtk theme among other things.  I’m generally happy with the standard so haven’t played much with these settings.

So there you have it.  Gnome 3 is here.  I like it, and think the developers have done a wonderful job.  Many of the gripes people are having can be solved with the installation of a small configuration tool.  So give it a try!

Note: some people don’t see how they can use programs that normally put an icon on the taskbar (Skype and Dropbox being two popular ones).  Hover in the bottom right corner, and you’ll find a shaded bar appears, and there they are!

My RaLink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe is in my MSI Wind U135, and the good news is that it is supported in the latest kernel (2.6.35 currently), but the staging drivers from the kernel are not included in the standard Fedora 14 install.  I’m not sure what the reasons for not including them are (possibly stability, or copyright reasons), but they do have them at http://rpmfusion.org/ .

So first off, you will need some sort of connection to the internet.  This could be over a wired connection or, my favourite, hooking your phone up to your computer with a usb cable, and sharing your 3g or wifi connection with the computer.  My HTC Desire happily connects in Fedora 14, and if usb tethering is enabled in the options on the phone works perfectly.

Then you need to go to http://rpmfusion.org/ and enable the RPM Fusion repositories on your sytem.  The package we want to install is part of the free repository, so only that one needs to be enabled.

Once you have done that, installing the required kernel modules is as simple as opening a terminal, su-ing to root, and typing:

yum install kmod-staging

Yum will then run through, download the package, and install it.  Once yum is finished, a quick reboot is in order and your wireless should be working!  Enjoy!

(should you come across any problems, the first thing you should check is that wifi is switched on, either by switch or key combination [Fn]+[F11] on the MSI Wind U135)

ffmpeg is my first port of call when doing any video conversion, as it normally performs brilliantly, but for some reason, no matter what options I used, I was unable to produce a video file that wasn’t blocky, and completely wrong coloured.  See a sample below:

I pumped the bitrate right up for this as well.

I have no experience using MEncoder, but I gave that a try, and got similar results.  VLC player has a conversion function, but I have never managed to get this working.  Even the built in presets have never produced a proper video file, with the ones I have tried either coming out as 3 seconds long, or looking as above, and missing the audio track.

A program I have used for converting media for my (freedom hating once again) iPod is Handbrake, but only ever in Windows.  Most recent versions of Handbrake included in Ubuntu had gui issues, with controls not being wired up correctly (resulting in the Start button never being ungrayed out).

Luckily these issues seem to have been fixed in the development version, and so if you checkout the latest source, and build from scratch, it seems to work.

The instructions for building the latest version from source are here.

Once you have followed those steps, you should be in possession of a working copy of HandBrake.

You can start the application by running it from the System menu, or by running ‘ghb’ from the command line.

The program is fairly simple to operate, you click Source, and select the file you wish to transcode.  Then select where you want to save it.  For straight PS3 usage, I just go with the default profile, which sets most settings sensibly.  Then hit Start, and the file will appear in the queue and start transcoding.  You are then free to select more files to be transcoded and add them to the queue.  You can see the progress of the current operation at the bottom of the window, and hitting the Show Queue button will show you the current queue in a new window:

and if you look closely you can see the UDS videos all queued up and currently in the process of transcoding!

There is one more step before you can play these files (in my set up anyway).  I’m not sure if this is the PS3 or the Media Server (TwonkyMedia Server) built into the router (Linksys WRT160NL), but Handbrake names the files with a .m4v extension, and while these will play fine in most players, the PS3 likes it if you rename them to .mp4.  Simples!

That is all there is to it.  The HandBrake team have done a wonderful job of creating a simple program which just works, and I am grateful for the hard work they have put in, that makes my life a bit simpler.

Any comments, go for it!

Someone I do not know had clearly missed the last month of campaigning, had decided to ignore what was going on, and then on the day of the actual election, asked the people she knew on facebook who she should vote for. She voluntarily gave up her right to independent thought by not making herself aware of the current political situation, instead relying on the wisdom of those she knew on facebook.

The reply is fantastical. Vote labour, because the other two will stop tax credits, and leave immigrants in the country to work (spelling corrected).

So now the person who didn’t care to actually find out parties policies to allow herself to make a decision of her own, based upon her personal political ideas, now decides to vote Labour, because the other two will take away tax credits, and allow immigrants to work.

Except those aren’t policies of any of the other two main parties. Both the Conservatives and Lib Dems have policies that will cut tax credits for the higher earning families, but then in real terms Labour has been doing that all along, by not taking inflation into account. It is also already legal for an immigrant to work. Otherwise why would they come here. It isn’t legal for illegal immigrants to work, that’s why their status is “illegal.” The Lib Dems have a policy of legalising illegal immigrants already living here, and taxing them, rather than letting them work illegally and not being able to tax them. But that isn’t the same thing.

I’m sure this is quite a common occurrence, and not a special case, and it shocks me that people can be so stupid. Lack of information in this time of freedom of information cannot be an issue.

Please, if you haven’t bothered to find out what the different candidates are offering, don’t vote. Leave it to those who are making informed decisions. Don’t just listen to the regurgitatings of those around you who will presume to tell you for whom to vote, especially if they are going to get it wrong.

Controversy

Lucid Lynx has split the Ubuntu community in two, with controversial changes being pushed through by Canonical, the financial backer to the Ubuntu project.  Much of the controversy surrounded the movement of the window buttons from the top right hand corner of the window, to the top left hand corner, and as soon as this change was implemented, there was uproar, with people arguing that Canonical have no right to force changes that the users do not want.  I personally like the new button placement, and find it far more convenient.  I also believe that Canonical have every right to direct the development of the distribution in whichever way they want.  If you aren’t happy with it, no one is stopping you from branching off and developing your own version of Ubuntu, but with the buttons on the right.  Of course Ubuntu is a trademark, and you will have to use a different name.  Maybe you would like to try Mint linux instead?

Another controversy (at least early on in the development cycle) was the removal of the Gimp from the live CD.  It was felt that the average user does not need or use the powerful features found in the Gimp, and that most users aren’t even able to appreciate just how good the Gimp really is as they don’t have exposure to professional level photo editing software.  The decision was made to cut it out of the live cd, although it is easily installed with a quick

sudo apt-get install gimp

Removal of the Gimp left a little space to include other features, one notable addition being the Pitivi video editor.  Video production is so widespread, with most mobile phones being able to record video, and the explosion of Vimeo and Youtube, an easy to use video editor is a valuable addition, and one that both Mac and Windows ship with.  Unfortunately, in my experience Pitivi is not up to the job.  I have experienced numerous crashes, and that doesn’t look good for the end user.

Social from the Start

New for Lucid Lynx is the Social from the Start feature.  The default Ubuntu desktop now has Social networking functionality built in through the Me Menu.  Here you can set up chat accounts, broadcast accounts (for facebook, twitter, identi.ca, etc) and connect to Ubuntu One.  I really like this feature, as I hate having to log in to a slew of websites, and like the ability to quickly post my status, without having to wade through who was farming facebook today, and who now is king of the criminal underworld.  Received tweets can be set to show as a notification, allowing you to be aware of what is going on in your circle, with out you having to context switch periodically from whatever you are doing to check twitter or whatever.  I think this is a killer feature, and its slick integration with the desktop makes it seem like this is the way it should be.  Seriously, you should try Lucid just for this feature.

Other Improvements

I have seen big increases in boot speed (although I still have an 8 second wait before it boots thanks to ACPI DSDT issues), HAL removal helping this out.  The new colour scheme is nice, and looks easily as good as a OS X.  The install system is refined, and quick, as ever.

Summary

This release is a good one.  Its amazing that they managed to get all of the new features into an LTS release, and the development of the Ubuntu system, with leadership and direction driving forward the evolution of the desktop, is one to watch.

The library that provides all of the major music applications on Linux with iPod support is libgpod.  It provides the backend operations for:-

• Amarok
• Exaile
• gPodder
• gtkpod
• Rhythmbox
• Songbird iPod extension

plus others.

So once libgpod is configured and working, in theory you should be able to use whichever music program you like best.

gtkpod seemed like a good place to start.  So in Karmic, I opened a terminal, and entered:

sudo apt-get install gtkpod

This pulled in some necessary dependencies, including libgpod.  This step can also be accomplished by going into the “Ubuntu Software Centre” and the searching for “gtkpod”, and installing the program that way.

I assume that your iPod has been set up on a windows machine. When you plug it in via USB, you should see an iPod icon appear on the desktop.  The next step is important, as without it, if you change anything on your iPod, when you attempt to use it, it will show as being empty.  We need to store certain information about the iPod on the iPod itself, so that libgpod can do it’s work.  In a terminal run:

sudo ipod-read-sysinfo-extended

Once this command has been run, you won’t need to run it again, unless you reset your iPod.

Okay, now run gtkpod from the Sound & Video submenu of the Applications menu.  From the Edit Menu, choose Repository/iPod Options.  In the Repository Options dialog box, select the “Add new Repository/iPod…” button in the top right hand corner.  In the Create Repository Dialog, select iPod as Repository Type, Choose a name for the repository (I chose Dan’s iPod), and click the “Browse” button, and click on your iPod in the folder chooser dialog.
Leave the iTunesDB backup as is, and choose your model from the drop down list.  My 160GB Black iPod Classic was the xB150.

Now hit Add, and then the big “Load iPod(s)” button.  The program should then fill up with everything saved on your iPod.  gtkpod can be used to add and remove files from your iPod, and while basic, is functional.

Dear Jane,

How are you and your family doing? And how is life all these while? I hope splendid, as for me and my family we are doing fine.

I have been longing to have a friend with a caring heart cos I’m a guy with a caring heart. I’m so ecstatic that I have found one which is you Jane. I thank God for bringing you to my way as a nice friend and I’m inviting you in to my life now as a friend, because only God brings good friendship. I’m that kind of friend you will trust without an iota of doubt because; I’m a guy with an open hearted heart though distance may lie in between us, but as long as our hearts beats for each other as good friend then the distance got no meaning in our hearty friendship. I pray to God that this our new hearty friendship should grow and be more intense as the day and year passes by if having you as a nice friend is a sin, I prefer been a sinner and still have you as my nice friend which my heart desires as a dear longs for river so does my heart for you deep as the ocean, is my desire now that I have found you as a good friend I will never let you go because you have captured my heart, please handle it with care. Loved people do say hearty friendship is frolic, vibrant, I never believe it but i’m believing now because I have tested yours which is unquestionably the ultimate. Jane, when I cogitate about you sometimes I always put up a ravishing smile on my face and say good friend like you are really hard to come by. Please come in to my world of coastal and let me spin you round the galaxy of my hearty atmosphere as a nice friend. But silver and gold I have not but the most precious gift of my heart I will give to you in abundance as a nice friend. In the name of love and life I pray our hearts beats for each other as nice friends, only God knows who and where our best friend will come from.

I prefer you loving me as a friend than giving me one of the best thing on earth cos materials things come and go but love last for eternity, my love for you in unconditional. I do think about you much more than you could guess because you mean so much to me each day and through out the year, and I’m wishing you and your family blissful, merry, happiness through out the year and entire life, have a peaceful, joyous, frolic, merry and blessed day over there in London.

Hope to hear from you soon

Thanks from your good friend

Ian



They even give you a handy Windows or Ubuntu webpage to help you see which is right for you.  Take a look, and then carry on reading…

Which one sounded the most attractive?

Let’s break this down.

Windows

1. Firstly that’s assuming that you are already using Windows.  Many windows applications will run on Ubuntu, using wine, including Microsoft Office.
2. Again, this is only valid if you use Windows.  Further to this is that many applications in common use are available on different platforms natively.  Firefox, Thunderbird, Openoffice.org, Skype, just to name a few.
3. “You are new to using computers.”! What?! Where did this come from?  Which platform is best if you are new to computers?  Mac, Windows, Linux, AmigaOS, MsDos? If you are new to computers it doesn’t matter which you pick.  When I was new to computers, I had a BASIC interpreter.  If you have no concept of computers, it is all confusing, and using strange language.  Windows offers no more to the “new to computers” category than OS X or Ubuntu.  There are many cases where Linux has been put on a computer for someone who is not familiar with computers, and they have gotten along brilliantly.  Lets face it – current desktop paradigms are pretty much the same.  If simplicity is the goal, compare installing software on Windows, which requires (often) navigating to the correct website, downloading said software (then the hardest part for a new user), finding where you saved it, and then installing it.  Most windows programs usually require you to enter much information before it will install (license keys, where to install, User name and company (why??)).  Then you get a lengthy file-copying process followed by “Please restart your computer.”  Great! Just what I want to do.  Compare this to installing software on Ubuntu.  Two mouse clicks and you are presented with a big list of categorised software.  Pick which one you want.  Click Install.  Enter password to verify (you did this in Windows too), what a few seconds while the system automatically downloads the software, and installs it in the correct place.  Done.  Look in your menu, it’s there already.  Drivers are the other issue.  What do you do on Windows when you don’t have the correct driver?  Off to the manufacturers website to download the driver.  “Ooh, which one?” you may hear the ‘new to computers’ user say, when presented with the list.  Then its basically the same as installing software (including finding where you saved that driver).  On Ubuntu all my hardware was supported out of the box.  And I’m using pre-release software, and it all works.  No unsigned drivers, no fuss.  Laptop soundcard not working?  Just let the system know what model it is.  Bottom line is Ubuntu is easily a good platform for a new user.

Ubuntu

1. Hmm.  Good idea.  Use an alternative if you don’t want to use Windows.  What kind of reason is this?
2. Uh seriously?  Apart from the reasons listed above, why would that possibly be a reason to do things?  That’s a little like choosing a car with non-standard controls because you want to learn how to use something different.  Again this doesn’t really encourage you to use Ubuntu.
3. Umm.  yeah I can see this one.  Actually I would remove the Open Source, and encourage you to use Ubuntu if you are interested in programming full stop.  Comes complete with a compiler, debugger, and plenty of tools to develop in any number of languages.  Unlike the MS offering (Visual studio, which supports 3 languages and costs $799).

There are plenty of good reasons to use Ubuntu.  Perhaps we should mention freedom.  Yes, that’s right – personal liberty.  It’s something I hold close to my heart.  If I want to pass my Ubuntu cd along, I can.  If I want to change some part of the operating system, I can.  If I want a different file manager/browser/email client I can.  With Windows we find the opposite.  DRM – digital restrictions management pervades the Microsoft operating system.  They prevent you doing what you want.  With your computer.

All this and I haven’t mentioned cost.  When you buy a computer with Windows on it, you are paying a premium to have it.  A computer with Ubuntu supplied on it has no extra cost for the operating system.  Microsoft have recently offered a free upgrade to Windows 7 with any newly purchased computer – subject to shipping and handling fees (£13 for the UK – must be a heavy package!).  Ubuntu comes with free upgrades for life – you’ll always have the latest and greatest software.  For a new version of Windows 7 Ultimate £230.  Ubuntu £0.  Yes that’s right, £0.  I no longer even have to pay for a cd to burn it off on, as I can just stick it on any usb stick lying around.  If you don’t have an internet connection to download it, just log on to www.ubuntu.com from any computer you can (library, cyber cafe, work,…) and request a free cd to be sent out to you.

It’s clear where my preferences lie.  It’s also clear where Dell’s preferences lie.  There’s  a little reminder in the top right of that web page – “Dell recommends Windows 7.”  I also love the slogan – “Windows. Life without walls.”  Funny, because I figure that if you have no walls, you have no need for Windows.

Come on Dell, give us a proper comparison, let us make an informed decision. Oh yeah, you mis-spelled programs.  A “programme” is something you look at in a theatre, or at a concert.

All trademarks belong to those that own them.  I put this in because some companies like to litigate.