How to Make Ubuntu Look Like Vista (Kind of)

So you're a new Ubuntu user who really wishes your computer looked more like Windows (maybe Vista). Here's a quick and dirty way to make that dream happen. You'll need to install Gnome Art Manager before you start.
The final product will look like this:
Here's the video:
How to make your Ubuntu desktop look like Windows Vista (sort of)

Make Ubuntu Look the Way You Want

I made a short (and not too good) video about how to use Art Manager to change the look of Ubuntu 7.10.:
Change the Look and Feel of Ubuntu

Something About This Seems Ironic

The big news today for Linux users is that new iPods won't work under any of the available Linux software due to a new security method Apple implemented. They will Only work with iTunes. Hmm. Bad news for Linux, eh?

It is bad news, and seems insurmountable until you look at the changelog for the verion of Wine released today (Wine assists users in running Windows apps on Linux and other Unix-type systems). Right there at the top -- "Many improvements to the crypto dlls (should make iTunes work)."

Update: The database was cracked within a week. The new library is equipped to handle the new iPods.

The Storm Worm ... Again!!!

Well, the Storm worm (actually a trojan) is making its rounds again,
this time using blogs and youtube.com as a phishing front.

The victim reads a blog and sees a link to a funny YouTube video. Who
wouldn't click that, right? The link leads not to youtube, but to a
phishing site which hand-crafts a page based on the browser and
version, putting an exploit right in there with the HTML.

How to get infected in Windows:
See an interesting blog, click the link. Presto! You've got Storm!

How to get infected in Ubuntu:
Quoted from http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/evilmalware.html
1. Put the attachment into the appropriate directory eg. /usr/src

2. Type `tar xvzf evilmalware.tar.gz' to extract the source files for
this virus.

3. `cd' to the directory containing the virus's source code and type
`./configure' to configure the virus for your system. If you're
using `csh' on an old version of System V, you might need to type
`sh ./configure' instead to prevent `csh' from trying to execute
`configure' itself.

4. Type `make' to compile the package. You may need to be logged in as
root to do this.

5. Optionally, type `make check_payable' to run any self-tests that come
with the virus, and send a large donation to an unnumbered Swiss bank
account.

6. Type `make install' to install the virus and any spyware, trojans
pornography, penis enlargement adverts and DDoS attacks that
come with it.

7. You may now configure your preferred malware behaviour in
/etc/evilmalware.conf .

Sometimes ease of use is not what you want...

"Help! I can't delete files off my external hard disk!"

I got this call from my friend who's a new Ubuntu user. He didn't understand why that was. I agree that it's confusing for new users.

I haven't checked his drive yet, but since he can't delete the files even as an administrator (root via sudo), I believe that the drive he's using is formatted for Windows XP. The filesystem is called NTFS. Older windows versions used a filesystem called FAT, which is what I put on external hard disks for maximum ease of use.

NTFS has permission settings and a lot of other really good stuff that FAT (and later VFAT) didn't have. It's not well documented, so Linux support has been a long time coming for it. Linux developers have the same problem with some kinds of hardware -- when you have to reverse engineer everything, it takes a long time to get all the features.

After quite a few years with NTFS, though, Linux is pretty stable with it. It is not, however, installed by default in Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty). To do that, you'll need to open the Add/Remove dialog in the Applications menu:

In the search dialog, put in ntfs, wait about five seconds for the search, and you'll see the NTFS configuration tool.


Check the box next to the program, click Apply Changes, and type in your password. After about a minute, the program will be installed and you can close the window.

Next, insert your external hard disk and open the NTFS configuration tool located in Applications -> System Tools.
Click on the check box next to Enable write support for external device and click OK.

That's it! You're done. Your external drives shouold now work with no problem.

Please feel free to write any comments or questions.

What's Coming in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

I've upgraded to the Alpha version of the next Ubuntu release and have some insight into the changes that are being made. Here's a quick list of what I've seen so far.

Office

Evince Document Viewer

The default PDF viewer will have support for forms. Good news for those people who don't want to install the dog Adobe calls Acrobat Reader. There will also be annotation and multiple-page per sheet printing.

Evolution Personal Information Manager

Better spam handling and a Google calendar backend may actually bring me back from my all-online-PIM life.

Graphics

The Gimp Image Editor

The Gimp is an old stand-by of the Linux world, and the father of the Gnome desktop. Many people complain about the interface, but I don't often have problems with it. The Gimp has stayed on version 2.2 for a couple of years now, but there's a major rewrite and UI cleanup due in 2.4. Ubuntu 7.10 has started shipping the development version of The Gimp, with 2.4 scheduled to be in when they both go gold. The new icons make seeing what's going on a little easier.

F-Spot Picture Manager

I'm writing an introduction piece about this software right now (in the style of the movie and music entries last month). It's a nice piece of work. I'm not as familiar with it, so I might miss some of the new features. The photo editing tools are better now, with horizon adjustment, soft focus, and auto-color adjustment.

Internet

GAIM ... er ... Pidgin

Making me feel right at home (Hawaiian), GAIM has been renamed to Pidgin due to a suit from AOL. The interface has been cleaned up and it offers more stability. One of the major additions due in the next version is implementation of the MySpaceIM protocol. Since the MySpace client is only available on Windows, this will allowfolks that I know to chat with each other. I won't affect me one little bit, though.

Gnome has Telepathy

Gnome is starting to integrate IM, voice, and video chat at the deepest levels of the desktop. You can now have panel applets to chat with your most common contacts. Soon, any application will easily integrate voice or video chat. Your Evolution addressbook will double as your IM contact list. Cool beans!

Ekiga Softphone

This is a standards-based softphone which operates in a manner similar to Skype. The rates for landline calls are cheaper, too, but it can't contact any Skype members because Skype uses a closed protocol. Version 3.0 will see a completely new interface, with the ability to see whether contacts are online, available, on a call, etc. This is a feature which has been sorely missing. Complete audio and video support are also due. Can I make a request for a test call like Skype's?

Sound and Video

Movie Player

The movie player (Totem) is seeing more work done on automatically locating and installing codecs for you. GStreamer, the backend for the player, is seeing quite a few upgrades. There is a new plugin for making annotations on the screen.

Rhythmbox Music Player

The player is still sleek and easy to use, but it has seen some minor upgrades. The Jamendo and Magnatune store listings have been moved to their own section of the sidebar, "Stores." The are auto playlists for top rated, recently added, and highest ranked songs. Most interestingly for my friends, the is MTP support in the new version, meaning they can just drag and drop songs to their iRiver Clix without having to run a script afterward.

Conclusion

There are probably a million thing under the surface which I haven't touched on, but the major players are getting enough of a facelift that 7.10 looks to be a must-have upgrade for anyone using 7.04.

Why I Increasingly Like Google Docs

When I first started using Google Docs, things were a little iffy. There were lots of problems, especially related to the HTML input: I still routinely jump into the HTML mode to correct some formatting issue that's bugging me, like a div or span that won't close. I stayed on, though, because I'm using Ubuntu Linux and OpenOffice.org is just too damn slow for my tastes. That's right! You heard me. The local app is much slower than a web app. OO.o guys, start code cleanup on that mess you're brewing, please. The features are killer, but the speed is a killer.

The New Look

I do pretty much everything on Docs now, and was working on a new lesson plan for about two hours, when I went back to the Docs & Spreadsheets page to tag some of my documents. Things weren't working correctly. I decided that the page may have timed out since I hadn't used it in a while, so I refreshed and was greeted by a brand new interface. And by brand new, I mean completely fucking different. I actually though a different site was coming up by accident. It took me a minute to see what they'd done, but then I realized the just changed tags for folders. The sidebar is a nice addition, though. Everything seems easier to get at now. Mandatory screenshot below:

Anyway, I'll be doing a bit on Docs main points later, as a part in my series on Ubuntu apps. Hehe. That's cute. No, I won't be doing OO.o.