NeutralAxis

Anyone else have trouble with their updates to Ubuntu 9.10? On a dual boot install and on a Virtualbox install, the update from 9.04 went fine through downloading all the packages, and then hung. In each case, after it sat there for several minutes doing nothing, I canceled the upgrade and then restarted it. After restarting the upgrade, it whizzed through downloading and went into the install phase without a problem.

Have you ever wanted to experiment with a different OS but were afraid to make the commitment?  Virtualization software is your answer.  Its easy, and free.  With it, you can install any OS (except MacOS) inside a working copy of any other OS.  (continue reading…)

Finally, I think I have my mail server working correctly so that I can send email notifications for system and blog events.  Up to this point, I never received any notification when comments were left on posts.  I used the procedure from this site for my exim4/Ubuntu setup.  Steps repeated after the jump.

[Update:  Yep, it works.  After a false alarm of it not working due to getting stuck in a spam filter, I now get an email to moderate posts from new users and when a comment is posted.] (continue reading…)

Just installing Ubuntu doesn’t really get you where you need to be for a good user experience.  The linked article below has some good tips and instructions for making sure you can play video and mp3, tweak the system, configure a firewall, etc.  The instructions are keyed to Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty” but most should work in the 8 series also. See below for some thoughts on their recommendations and additional notes to help get things done perhaps a little easier and answer a few questions that might arise.

9 Things You Need To Do/Install After Installing Ubuntu

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In an effort to see if I could reasonably dump Windows entirely, I decided to get my feet wet running a windows application in Ubuntu using Wine.  I only have three applications I use on a regular basis that still tie me to Windows.   iTunes, EAC (Exact Audio Copy), and PC-Control.  With iTunes and EAC my first attempt was only partially successful. (continue reading…)

This is a callback to a previous post that described my efforts to add additional display resolutions to Ubuntu 8.10 during my efforts to install MythTV.  In that case, the highest resolution Ubuntu offered me was 800×600, despite the monitor and video card being able to display much higher than that.  The point of this post is simply to make that post easier to find by giving a more descriptive title.  See the post Mythbuntu – Back On Track for the full procedure that worked for me.

Angelina Jolie in Hackers

OK, so maybe Angelina hacking into your computer isn’t so bad, but in general, keeping things secure is a good thing.  So thanks again to Steve from OZLUG for helping get me started accessing my Linux machine via VNC through a SSH tunnel for security.  VNC is an open source remote control program that provides the same sort of capabilities as commercial products like LogMeIn and GoToMyPC.  Unlike those products though, VNC has no built-in security encryption, so any work done through VNC is subject to eavesdropping.  These notes describe how to use SSH to generate a secure tunnel that is then used by VNC to make its connection.  They’re as much for me as for anyone else who might find it useful. (continue reading…)

The screen resolution problem that had stymied my MythTV experiments is solved.  One website in particular provided the means to get the problem fixed and now I can run at resolutions up to 1600×1200. (continue reading…)

I installed the Ubuntu Tweaks package this evening and gave it a run. Its kinda like the TweakUI component of Windows XP Power Toys in that it wraps a GUI around a bunch of system setting options. (continue reading…)

Tried fiddling again with MythTV to get it working better and was again stymied by one of those linux things that will raise your blood pressure.  Screen resolution.  Why is choosing a screen resolution so darn difficult?

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