Because Ubuntu is a free operating system, they are not technically allowed to give people the codecs used decode certain media types with the system. A multimedia codec is a small piece of software which allows you to watch videos or listen to music of a specific format. There are many different multimedia formats and so you may need to install several codecs. Ubuntu includes many codecs by default, but not all of them (the proprietary codecs).

In order to play different media types (including mp3 and DVDs), follow the simple instructions below.

1. Open a terminal window from the accessories menu (under applications)

2. Install java and other add-ons by copying and pasting the following into the terminal window and executing (your password is the password that you set when you installed the system) sudo

apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

The sudo command lets you preform an action as a computer administrator. If you do not use the sudo command, the terminal will not let you preform installations. This is so that regular users to not harm their systems.

The apt-get command is a program that searches installed repositories for software. The format something like this.

apt-get install software package name

In this case, it installing the package ubuntu-restricted extras. Because Ubuntu uses Debian’s package management system, the program will fetch all the necessary components for you.

3. Add Medibuntu to your sources.list, as well as its GPG key to your keyring by copying and pasting the following into the terminal window and executing

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

This command adds the Medibuntu repository to your system. Once installed, your package manager will search through the added repository. This repository contains the codecs to play protected file formats.

4. Then, add the GPG Key:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

This adds adds the key to use the software repository.

5. Add the proprietary codecs to play DVDs and mp3’s

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 w32codecs

This command installs the libdvdcss2 and the w32codecs software from the medibuntu repository.

This should get DVDs and mp3 to work properly. You may need to restart your system for all changes to take place.

Other Cool Stuff

Google software repository

To add the Google software repository (Ubuntu uses the Debian software repository model to install/uninstall software. Once you have added a software repository, installing/uninstalling software is as easy as checking a box and clicking apply in the Synaptic package manager).

Download the Google Repository key at:

http://www.google.com/linuxrepositories/aboutkey.html

Save it as the file on your desktop

Goto System -> Administration -> Software sources

Goto the authentication tab

Click the “Import Key File…” button and select the “linux_signing_key.pub” file you downloaded previously(on your desktop), then click “OK”.

You should now see the “Google, Inc. Linux Package Signing Key” in the list.

In the “Software Sources” application, click the “Third-Party Software” tab, then click the “Add…” button.

Enter deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free for the APT line:, then click “Add Source”.

It may now want to reload. Let it.

Now you can go to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager

Search for Google You can also find Picasa, Google Earth, Google Desktop (for indexing your computer)

getdeb

Software for you computer in .deb file formats. Download the *.deb file to your computer
It works almost exactly like an .exe file.

http://www.getdeb.net/

Documentation for your System

The following websites offer some great documentation on the operating system.

Official Documentation
https://help.ubuntu.com

Community Support via Web Forum
http://ubuntuforums.org

Cool things you can do with your operating system
http://www.ubuntugeek.com

ShareThis

That was the conversation the put everything on the table… socks and sandals. And not only socks and sandals, white Wilson socks (above the ankle), sporting themselves under a comfortable pair of ‘WindRiver’ sandals.

“Why”, she asked. “Why would you do that? Isn’t there a some unwritten fashion rule the prohibits wearing socks with sandals.. and white Wilsons to top it off. It’s like wearing white after Labour day.

Well, I agree, there are some dos and don’ts when it comes to fashion.

1. Oprah should not be allowed to dress herself.
2. Socks should not be worn with thong sandals.
3. Pink does not look good on straight men, despite how hard the fashion world tries to convince us otherwise.
4. Capris are stupid and ugly, no matter which way you look at it. I’ve heard that men are wearing capris in Europe. Come one guys. Why don’t we all just start wearing sugar sack shorts. Better yet, throw on workout leggings again and put a scrunchy in your hair.
5. Tapered, form fitting pants only look good on heroin addicted British actors and 70’s punk rockers. Emo boys are not going to bring them back.

However, despite all the rules, I feel that socks have a place with a certain style sandal. I’m not making a rule. I think that caution and good judgment should to be used. But I do think theer is room for white socks with sandals and I will provide you with 2 reasons.

1. You should follow your own fashion sense, no matter what people tell you (yes, this includes Oprah and the two hosts from ‘What not to wear’).

2. In the summer, working in an office, its nice to wear sandals. It is cooler. However, it is not cool to smell sandal feet from the cubicle next to you from the guy who thinks it’s not cool to wear socks with sandals.

ShareThis

ShareThis

Go to a terminal and type:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Follow the prompt and you can set the Gnome display manger (gdm) as the default.

Let me know if you have any questions.

ShareThis

My car was broken into this past weekend; a long weekend at that. I was furious. How could some one knowingly do this to someone else’s property? I had a Garmin c550 in a hidden console. Other than that, the only valuables in the car was some pocket change in the middle council. This was also hidden. This lead me to believe that it was a random break in. Perhaps it was some kids looking for something valuable?

My car is a Red Nissan Altima, 2007. It’s a nice car, not a Porsche, but a relatively nice automobile. Perhaps they saw the car and was hoping that I had some cash or other valuables. In the end it was probably some kids looking for some money and a rush.

They broke the passenger side window. I think it was amateur because they first tried to bust the handle, and then the damaged my side paneling when using it as leverage to bust in the window. In total, there is probably about $3000 dollars worth of damage done to the car.

But this got me to thinking. I was upset and angry because I felt violated. Someone damaged my car as well as stole some of my property. Obviously it’s a crime because I paid for the items and they took them from me without asking. But what is the difference between this and stealing software, songs or copyrighted material on the internet?

I know that I have and probably will continue to download songs over the internet. I made a conscious choice to switch to Linux in order to avoid using illegal versions of proprietary software. But songs, I will likely continue to download from torrent sites. And yet, I do not feel remorse for stealing these things.

Is it because:

1. Songs are and abstract medium with no physical substance (unlike my Garmin)?

2. Stealing from large nameless corporations isn’t wrong. We should being doing this because the artist in the end makes a fraction of what the record label makes from the artist’s en devour?

3. We choose which actions are right and wrong based on convenience. There are no morals or ethics, only decisions and choices?

Guilt is like a bag of bricks. You just have to let it go. Obviously, this only works when you are the one stealing (not the one being stolen from), and the dilemma remains unsolved.

Let me know what you think.

ShareThis

The short sweet answer:

Make sure you have the MPlayer’s Movie Encoder installed (sudo apt-get mencoder). It is available from the Medibuntu repository.

Then go to the command line and enter:

mencoder video.ogg -ovc lavc -oac mp3lame -o video.avi

where video.ogg is the original OGG file and video.avi is your desired ouput file

That should be it. Let me know if you have an questions.

ShareThis

Some ideas:

1. You made bombs and forgot about them…
2. People must really not like you… (I would seriously start to question why)
3. You had some extra money laying around (and that’s after the an imminent recession, mortgage crisis and health care crisis, and yet, somehow you still have a surplus plus of money. I think that maybe this is called an inflated economy)

Do you think the bomb sniffing dog can detect pins too?

At least the next time you see a homeless person or a child with cancer, you know why there wasn’t enough funding to help your fellow Americans.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on the aquatic money sucking dog project… or something like that. Maybe your president can help you… Just a thought.

ShareThis

ShareThis

Having bought a computer with IE7 installed you will notice accessing your web-mail has changed. IE6 and IE7 do not render or display the interface the same, let alone give the user the same functionality… and that is IF you can login in using IE7.

So you’ve called your IT team at work and they will tell you, “Sorry, we do not support IE7. Good luck.”

So you try to install IE6 onto your brand new computer. No luck. It will not let you. So you try to un-install IE7 and revert back to IE 6. Vista will not let you. Now your thinking, why is this happening to me. Well have to no fear.

There is a solution.

You can use FireFox (a far superior browser) to access your web-mail just like you used to.

Installing the extension

Go to http://www.firefox.com to install FireFox onto your computer if do do not have it installed already.

With FireFox installed on your system, click on the link below and add the extension.

Internet Explorer (IE) Firefox Extension 

Restart Firefox. Right click on the tool bar at the top (in a blank spot beside where it says ‘help’) and click customize from the menu options.

Scroll down to the bottom until you see a button called ‘IE Tab’. Drag it to your toolbar (beside the other icons at the top).

Close the customization window. Your toolbar should now look something like this.

Using the new extension

That was the hard part. Now you can just use the feature shown here below.

Go to the site requiring you to use IE 6. Click on the IE tab now on your menu bar. Your page should now be like it was using IE 6 with all the same functionality. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below and I will get back to your promptly.

ShareThis

Case in point

• he is fed a well balanced diet
• he does not do anything but lay around the house (far from gamy)
• we pet him periodically, tenderizing the meat
• he drinks plenty of fluids
• he lives in a sanitary apartment (which is a much better than any of you can say about the last bird that you bought in the grocery store)

Johnny is arrogant. Of that much you can be sure. I say that we stop eating the birds and eat the animals that feed upon birds. We are highly evolved and in my own personal opinion, the world could use a few less arrogant cats.

ShareThis