Python

So, I've started messing around with python recently and I found this to be a really good intro the the language.

More news as the story develops.

Feisty Fawn

So I just upgraded to Feisty Fawn herd 4 on my laptop. There are a lot of small changes. Most people seem to be concentrating on the new layout of the control panel. I haven't messed with it much yet, but it looks clean and easy to use. KDE has a pretty similar kind of set up and as has been pointed out it definitely bears are resemblance to Windows XP.

While this change is monumental, I'd like to concentrate on a few other things. Firstly, I've noticed that 7.04 is booting a lot faster than 6.10 was. This is great for me because I use my laptop to take notes in class and I tend to arrive in class with little time to spare.

The wireless network manager has been seriously beefed up. Previously it was a real pain to deal with and I ended up using Wifi radar to deal with different wireless networks. The new manager is a lot smarter. For one thing it will automatically switch between eth0 and eth1.

Lastly, there is a new program called Tomboy. This program is really neat and it is something I have been wanting for a little while now. It is a note taking program that allows you to search your notes, create links and do all sorts of other neat little things.





As you can see I'm using it to stay organized for my school research. It is easy to use, and provides a great deal of organizational power to the user. It isn't the prettiest program in the world, but I don't need eye candy in my note cards

Ubuntu on tap

This has got to be one of the most interesting ideas. It is remarkably simple, and really wouldn't be half as cool if it weren't for the little hand drawn sign.

Google Search Commands

Google is the number one search engine, but at the same time how much do we really understand it? There are a lot of tricks that you can make google do which will greatly increase your efficiency. If you want to search for web pages by their title you can simple use intitle:search_terms or allintitle:search_term. These commands are incredibly useful whenever you're trying to find a web page but can't remember the entire title. If you can only remember part of the url you can use inurl:search_terms or allinurl:search_terms.

While these are very useful in specific situations I don't tend to run into those situations all that much. On the other hand the site: command has proven time and again to be an immense time saver for me. Whenever dealing with pages that have a lot of content to sift through the best way to get to what you are looking for is typically to just use google and the site:command. You just type in the URL and then whatever you're searching for. Typically this gets you where you want to be faster than the built in search engine on most pages.

MS fonts in Ubuntu

The MS font collection is a really useful package to have on your computer. I know that there are open source fonts that look similar to times new roman but it just isn't the same. In order to get the MS fonts (most importantly Times New Roman and Curier New) you can follow this simple process.

Make sure you have the universe and metaverse libraries enabled in /etc/apt/sources.list (if you do not know how to add additional repositories there is a very good explaination here.

This procedure is really quick and ridiculously pain free (or at least it has been for me both times I've done it.)

Open up a command prompt and type: apt-get install msttcorefonts

This is will download all of the fonts for you it might take a minute or two depending on your internet connection speed. At the end it should say all fonts successfully installed.

Now we just type: fc-cache

Openoffice should now have the MS fonts available as options now. Enjoy

Wallpaper Saturdays

I've just decided that from now on every Saturday I will produce a new wallpaper. If anyone has any requests for particular subject matter or resolutions please let me know. I'd be all too happy to make you a wallpaper.

FOSC - Free Open Source Cola

Over at Everything Else I found this interesting little post about Open Cola. The company has gone out of business and their URL is now owned by overstock.com's cheap bedding section. Luckily the formula is available to all here. I think I am going to whip up a batch and see how it tastes.

300 Wallpaper

Ok, so I got bored today at work and decided to splice some pictures from 300 together to form a new image for my desktop. I'm pretty pleased with the results. I have a 1280x800 resolution desktop so I tend to run into annoyances when trying to find wallpaper for my little Vaio.

Sauerbraten Map

This is from a map I have been playing around with. I was going for the gothic look with the pointed arches. Unfortunately the bright sky totally kills the dark effect I was going for with the lighting.

Linux Seppuku

It is a bit embarassing considering every web page that discusses linux shell commands includes a warning, but I have to admit that I entered the infamous sudo rm -rf / command when I first installed linux. I had just installed Ubuntu and I was trying to switch to the root user. Flipping through a guide I saw the sudo command and below it in a large box quote I saw sudo rm -rf /. Well, without thinking about it I entered the code guessing that it would switch me to the other user.

Things got crazy. I don't know if any of you have ever run this command. I'd assume not. We all know what it does basically but to experience it is very odd. I could still use the mouse. My cursor would move around, but every icon disappeared and I couldn't really do anything. Looking back at the guide on my other computer I realized my mistake, hung my head in shame, and put the ubuntu install disk back into my laptop and began reinstalling linux.

Now most people might think an event like this would turn a person off of Linux, but it had the opposite effect on me. This was the moment that I fell in love with Linux. Sounds strange? Well, it was then that I truly understood the level of power that the administrator has over Linux. You are in total control of the system. There is no hand holding or coddling of the administrator. When you run a command as root Linux assumes you know what the fuck you're doing. I like that.

digg.icio.us

A special thanks to n3il89 over at Technology Wrap for his clever code to put del.icio.us and digg links at the bottom of your post.

Sauerbraten

People tend to be most intrigued by the fact that Linux is free. In our consumer economic world giving away quality products that other people are selling doesn't make any sense. I have been incredibly happy with all of the FOSS that swarms around Linux. One of the happiest surprises though was when I discovered that there were open source first person shooters. I was further surprised to discover that these games don't look like ass.

I have become completely obsessed with map building in Sauerbraten/Cube 2. Before this I had never attempted to create a map and I still have not succeeded in making a complete one but I have been tremendously enjoying working with the Sauerbraten editor.

In way of an introduction

Hello. I have recently switched from Windows to Linux. The reasons for doing so are complex but involve a deep sympathy for the ideology of open source programming and a slightly deeper disdain for Microsoft.

I cannot explain why I do not like Microsoft but I do not. As a child I grew up on Macs and switched to Windows in middle school. At first I was happy with Windows as I suddenly was able to select from a myriad of computer games. As time went by I slowly began to dislike Microsoft. This slowly grew into a hatred. However, like a lot of people, I was scared of Linux.

I don't know why I finally made the leap, but I did. I downloaded KNOPPIX and messed around with it for a little while. After I concluded that Linux wasn't that scary after all I downloaded and installed Ubuntu on my laptop and Kubuntu on my desktop. A wise or reasonable man would have chosen to set up a dual boot system, but my deep seeded animosity towards Microsoft combined with my generally impulsive nature forced me to completely reformat both computers.

My girlfriend has had issues with Linux so far. She wasn't too excited about the switch, but I can say that I haven't looked back.