Glancing back at this person basking in the glow of their costly purchase you reply, “Mine does something like that.”  While reaching for your own Ubuntu equipped laptop, they proceed to tap the Tab key while holding the Windows button, thumbing through their 3D Rolodex of running apps in an attempt to grab your attention again.  “You can switch between them like this,” they add, while verging upon self-induced nerdgasm.  In your most professional tone you reply, “Neat.”

Revealing your own laptop, a device that could easily be 4 years old by now, you set it down and turn it on with a semi-placid smile.  They appear to be conflicted with child-like curiosity and clinical anxiety as the boot-splash screen appears.  To sooth the mild nervousness while waiting, they go back to fiddling with their side-bar and grin again while changing the themed appearance of the analog clock.  But once your cost free, open-source Linux OS is up and running, you start to watch their eyes, waiting for that split second their glued stare falters back to your laptop, and that’s when they see this on your screen:

You didn’t even give them any advanced warning.  For a second they’re in a state of denial, but as you start to drag your mouse around to freely rotate that cube, they can’t help but let their hands fall away from their respective peripherals.  Drool almost precipitates as you maximize and minimize windows.  Some vanish with a Star Trek teleporter effect; others in a ball of flames and smoke.  They feel that perhaps they’ve been fooled by a dreadful hoax, like those poor saps who partook in the Mojave experiments.  And then…

So, what’s this about watching Youtube?

Right.  Sorry, got carried away there.  Bloggers call that “filler”.  Without it the post would be about as exciting as milk without the the stawberry syrup…. Moving along:

If you’ve got Compiz running right now try this:

• Hold down the Windows Key (called the SuperButton in Ubuntu)
• Roll the scroll wheel up on your mouse

This will cause you to zoom into wherever your mouse is located. To zoom out, just hold that Super Button down again, and scroll down instead of up.

Now you’re might be thinking, “I see what you’re getting at.  You’re going to show us how to zoom in on our Youtube videos so we can watch them full screen.  Big fat deal!”

Well, no it’s not a big deal.  But something you’ll probably discover and be annoyed by when you try this with Youtube is the fact that the mouse cursor stays on the screen, often right over the middle of the video you’re trying to watch.  So, here’s the other half of this trick:

• After zooming in, press SuperButton + L

This will unlock the cursor from the zoom, allowing you to move it off screen and away from the video you want to watch.  When you’re finished, you just hit Super Button + L again to lock it again, and then Super + Downscroll to zoom back out to normal.

I prefer to do this with Youtube (and other flash-based videos) because often times using their built in “Full-screen” buttons causes the frame rate to get jerky (Windows suffers from the same problem).  But when you zoom into the videos with Compiz, they often playback more smoothly.  Anyway, enjoy your Youtube.

P.S.

If you haven’t heard, Steam is officially coming to Linux!  Hence the epicness of the Black Mesa teaser.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) was officially released yesterday.  Boosh!! Often with each new release comes a spike in the number of people who are trying it out for the very first time.  So to help the new users out, I’ve written this guide to introduce you to this popular Linux-based operating system and some of the cool software you can install on it.

Here’s what we’re going to go over:

1. Customize the appearance of Ubuntu (wallpaper, theme, fonts, dockbars, etc.)
2. Run Update Manager.
3. Install Flash, Java, Windows Media Codecs and MS fonts with just 4 clicks!
4. Install Compiz Fusion Advanced Settings Manager with one more click.
5. Install WINE with one more click and use it to run Windows based software.
6. Reveal Archive Manager in the Accessories menu and use it to create zip archives.
7. Install the libdvdcss2 decoder so you can watch DVD’s.
8. Install Skype from a *.deb file.
9. Install Google Earth using Terminal.
10. Install Virtualbox.

1.) Customize Your Ubuntu Desktop
Difficultly: Very Easy

The first thing anybody should want to do with their own computer is make it look the way they want it to look.  Who wants an OS that forces its users to conform to one particular layout over another?  With Ubuntu, you have a lot of flexibility.  You even have the option to use a different desktop environment.  GNOME is the default environment for Ubuntu and it’s what we will see used in the example screenshots in this guide. KDE (which looks very similar to Windows XP/Vista/7) is the default environment for Kubuntu;  xfce is the default for the lightweight Xubuntu.  There are others, such as Fluxbox and IceWM, that are geared towards being minimalistic in resource usage and makes them perfect for older, slower machines.

Below is a screenshot I took of my own desktop shortly after upgrading my computer from 8.04 to 8.10.

You may or may not like the looks of the default desktop.  I’ve always though this default background just looked like a bunch of coffee stains… You can modify the interface in so many different ways the possibilities are endless.  Check out this small gallery of Ubuntu screenshots I put together to see some examples of what you can do to your own Ubuntu desktop.

The best way to explain how to customize your desktop is to show you a video (albeit, from an older version of Ubuntu) that demonstrates how you can modify the following things:

• Changing Wallpapers
• Changing Screensavers
• Panel Properties (Location/Auto-hide/Background)
• Changing/Adding Desktop Themes
• Adding/Moving Launcher Shortcuts to your Panel/Desktop
• Modifying Menu Layouts
• Adding Applets to your Panels
• Modifying your About Me user info
• Customizing your Login screen layouts/themes
• Using Multiple Workspaces

EDIT: Since the original posting of this blog, Alan Pope has removed the video below from Google and I have not yet found a comparable replacement. A very good guide about how to do all of the above can be found here.

There are several little applets that widgets that can be added to your panel, but you can also make changes to the panel itself such as its orientation (Bottom/Top/Left/Right edge of the screen), its background (solid color or transparent), its width and a couple other minor things like auto-hide.  Be careful, it’s easy to accidentally delete a panel.  If that happens, right-click on a remaining panel and click “New Panel” to create a new one. Newly created panels will be completely empty and you will have to right-click on them and select “Add to panel” in order to add things back like a task switcher.

The video makes use of http://art.gnome.org/ during it’s demonstration of changing wallpapers and themes, but another noteworthy site you should check for such things is http://www.gnome-look.org/. My personal favorite website for wallpapers is InterfaceLift Wallpapers.  You should also check this site out for wallpapers, too.

You might have noticed in some screenshots of Ubuntu that some people have added a dockbar (similar to the one used in Mac OS X) to their Ubuntu installation.  Below is a picture of one in action.

Check out this guide I’ve written about adding Cairo-Dock to your Ubuntu install as it is one of the best available for Ubuntu (in my opinion).

2.) Run Update Manager
Difficultly: Very Easy

Typically, a fresh Ubuntu install is actually a tad bit older than the current status of the distribution (this happens with all operating systems, including Windows). So often times after a fresh install, your system might be needed a few updates to be applied. Running Update manager manually after installing can bring your system up to date with the latest security and software patches.  While Update Manager does check for updates automatically, it often doesn’t do it immediately after you login for the first time.  So after a fresh install it is a good idea to force it to check for updates.  To do this:

• Click System>Administration>Update Manager
• Click on the “Check” button to check for updates

If there are updates available, you simply click “Install” to install them.  It will ask you to enter your administrative password when you do this.  This is the password you created for the “first” user during installation. Piece of cake.

*Note: If you’re having hardware issues (e.g., 3D video acceleration not working, wireless adapter not in use, etc.) after installing all available updates, you should check in System>Administration>Hardware Drivers to see if there are any proprietary drivers that need to be enabled.  You simply check the appropriate boxes off for the driver needed, and they will be installed for you.

3.) Install Flash, Java and Extra Video Codecs in just four clicks!
Difficultly: Very Easy

In order to get the best multimedia experience out of our computer, we need to install a few programs and plugins.  Most of you out there are familiar with Flash, Java and multimedia file formats like Divx, Xvid, MP3, ASF, Apple Quicktime, etc. Installing decoders to open these types of files has been made simple by bundling them all together into one package.  And installing it is very easy.  To get started, do the following:

• Click Applications>Add/Remove (now called Ubuntu Software Center).   A new window will appear (see below.)
• Change the “Show:” drop menu in the upper right corner to “All Available Applications” (In Ubuntu Software Center, click View>All Applications)
  
• Search for the word “restricted”

• Once the search returns its results, check off the box next to “Ubuntu Restricted Extras”
• Sit tight. Don’t click the Apply Changes button just yet.  We’re going to check off a few more things

Frequently Asked Question: “What does it mean by restricted extras?”

Answer: The word “restricted” in this context is used to describe these types of multimedia plugins and decoders because most of them are closed-source and proprietary.  Hence, you are restricted from modifying their source code.

4.) Install Compiz Fusion Advanced Settings Manager
Difficultly: Very Easy

Compiz Fusion (the program responsible for the dazzling eye-candy special effects on Ubuntu) is included by default, but its advanced control panel is not. Need of this advanced control panel comes up if you are a power user who wants to use the 3D window management features to the MAX, which means turning your desktop into a rotating cube of multiple workspaces, among other nerdy things. You can also greatly customize your special effect animations and window behaviors using this control panel. So let install it!

• After you’ve checked off Ubuntu Restricted Extras in the above step, do another search for the word “compiz”

• Check off “Advanced Desktop Effects Settings” (shown above)
• Sit tight, and don’t click apply just yet.  There’s more we’re going to search for and check off.

Once the control panel applet is installed, it can be found in System>Preferences>Advanced Desktop Effects Settings.

*Notice: You will want to make sure you have Compiz enabled in System>Preferences>Appearence>Visual Effects before using the above control panel you’ve installed.  Otherwise changes you make with it will not be seen.

5.) Install WINE for running Windows-based software in Ubuntu
Difficultly: Very Easy

WINE is a program that acts as a sort of emulator for Windows programs to run on top of.  Instead of needing to use Windows for running that favorite application or game, you can run the program right in Ubuntu with the help of WINE.  The only catch is that not all Windows program run on WINE yet.  So you should search the WINE applications database to see if a program you’re wanting to use works with WINE.  Below is a screenshot of Half-Life 2 running in Ubuntu, thanks to WINE!

To install WINE:

• In the Add/Remove Applications applet (should still be open from the previous step), search for “wine” and then check off the box next to WINE in the results window.
• Finally, click Apply in the lower right corner to install WINE, as well as the other programs you’ve already checked off in Add/Remove.

Now if you want to run a piece of Windows based software, you simply double-click on the executable (like setup.exe) and it should run just as it would in Windows (provided the WINE Application Database lists that the program you are trying to use and says it works with WINE).  Shortcuts created by software installers are typically added to the Applications>Wine>Programs menu.  You can read more about using WINE here.

NOTE: If double-clicking on an EXE causes the Archive Manager to open instead of WINE, it’s because your default file-association needs to be changed.  To fix this, right-click on an EXE file then click Properties.  A new window will pop up with a few tabs along the top, one of which says “Open With”.  Click this tab, then select WINE from the list and click Close.  From now on, EXE’s will always open with WINE. Also, if you get a message that complains to you about an “execute bit”, it means the EXE file needs to be given permission to run as a program.  To change permissions, right-click on the file, click Properties, then the Permissions tab and check the box off near the bottom that says “Allow to be executed as a program”.

6.) Enable (reveal) your Archive Manager and create zip files
Difficultly: Very Easy

Some of you might be wondering: How can I create a zip file? The answer is with the included Archive Manager. This tool (for some weird reason) isn’t shown in the Applications>Accessories menu by default. But we can reveal it very easily by doing the following:

• Click System>Preferences>Main Menu
• Click on the Accessories menu in the left panel, then check off the Archive Manager (see below). Then click Close.

That it! Now when you open your accessories menu, you’ll be presented with a new shortcut to your Archive Manager. You can use this utility to create zip files. Keep in mind that it can also create other types of archives, such as tar.gz, and a few others (not RAR, at least not without an additional package installed to provide this option to you).  To explore the possibilities, click Applications>Accessories>Archive Manager.  Once open, click New in the upper left corner and take a look at the bottom of the window where you can specify archive file type, password locking and spliting.  After you create a new archive, you simply drag and drop files into the archive manager and it will add them to the new archive.

One other simple way to create an archive is to select all the files you want to put into a zip file (by CTRL-Clicking or SHIFT-Clicking them) or even by clicking on a folder containing the files you want.  Then once they’re selected, right-click on any one of these files or folders and a drop menu will appear.  Just click “Create Archive” and a wizard will appear asking you where you want to save the new file and what format you’d like it to be in.

7.) Install the libdvdcss2 decoder for DVD playback
Difficultly: Medium

Click Applications>Accessories>Terminal.  This will open a new terminal window.  (If you would like to know more about Terminal, check out my Terminal for Beginners guide). Copy the following command and paste it into the Terminal window and press Enter:

sudo wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list && sudo apt-get --quiet update && sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get --quiet update

This will add the Medibuntu repositories to your 3rd party software sources (in other words, this tells Update manager to check one additional server when it looks for system updates).  Next we’ll install the libdvdcss2 decoder for playing commercial DVD’s as well as an additional set of video/audio decoders that weren’t included with the “restricted” extras from the steps above.  To do this, paste this command into Terminal:

• sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 w32codecs
  

..And press the Enter key.  It will ask you to type your password (which will not produce any characters on screen while you’re typing, so don’t expect to see *****’s show up) and say “y” for yes to confirm your command.  Once installed, you should be able to watch a DVD simply by inserting a disc into the computer.

NOTE: You may have heard a rumor that installing the libdvdcss2 decoder is illegal. If you live in the US and someone tells you this, refer them to 17 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(f). The binaries to crack the DVD video stream encryption are not illegal if you have a license to the content.  In other words, if you have purchased your own legal/legit DVD, then that means you have license to watch it.  After all, the content must be decrypted in order to make the content usable.  However, the law is not the same in all countries so you should check your local country laws.

8.) Install Skype
Difficultly: Very Easy

Skype is a very popular Voice Over IP application that allows you to make cheap phone calls from your computer.  They ask you for 10 bucks for your first set of calls and send special offers your way from time to time.  I’ve been paying 30 bucks a year for the last 3 years to make unlimited calls to anywhere in the United States, so that’s a pretty good deal if you ask me.  It also features webcam capabilities and conference calling.

Installing Skype is easy.  All you have to do is download the deb file from Skype.com.  Here is a direct link:

http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-ubuntu

Once the deb file is finished downloading, double-click on it.  An installer window will appear with a “Install Package” button in the upper right corner of the window.  Click that button, and when it’s finished, you’ll find Skype in Applications>Internet.

9.) Install Google Earth
Difficultly: Medium

First thing you have to do is download Google Earth. To do that, visit this link: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

After you agree to the license, you’ll be taken to a new page where an automatic download will begin and ask you what you want to do with a file called GoogleEarthLinux.bin. Simply save this file to your Desktop for now.

Next we’ll need to open up a terminal window. To open Terminal:

• Click Applications>Accessories>Terminal

When you first open terminal you’ll be given a prompt where you can enter commands. You also will be sitting in your Home Folder. If you type in the letters “ls” (That’s ls, short for the word “list”, in lowercase), you’ll be shown the files and folders in your home folder. Notice that one of them is called “Desktop”. We need to change our directory so we can run our GoogleEarthLinux.bin file. To do this:

• Type “cd Desktop” (no quotes) and hit enter.

In the world of Linux, everything is case-sensitive, so be sure to Capitalize the word “Desktop” in the above command. This command will bring you to your Desktop folder. If you type “ls” again and hit enter, you’ll see the files which reside on your desktop right now. Listed somewhere should be the bin file you just downloaded.

Now for the magic!

• In terminal, type: “sh GoogleEarthLinux.bin” (no quotes) and hit enter.

After you press enter, the following window will appear, and begin to install Google Earth for you:

Shortly after the above screen appears, you’ll get another one that says the program successfully installed. You’ll then be given the option to run Google Earth right away. If you don’t want to, you can just click Quit, and start it later by going to Applications>Internet>Google Earth.

NOTE: Google Earth runs best on PCs that are equipped with 3D graphics acceleration cards/chipsets.  Some video cards require you to have their proprietary drivers enabled in order for them to be utilized by the system.  You can check to see if you need to enable any such drivers by clicking System>Administration>Hardware Drivers.

10.) Install Virtualbox
Difficultly: Medium

Virtualbox is a popular application used on many different operating systems that allows you to create Virtual Machines, upon which you can install any number of operating system.  So, for instance, you could be running Windows XP inside of a window on top of Ubuntu.  This is good for users who are trying to migrate from Windows to Ubuntu but are not quite ready to take the big leap or are being held back by one or two applications that won’t run in Ubuntu.

So here’s what you need to do:

1. Download the Virtualbox deb file for your particular processor architecture (i386 or AMD64) from here.
2. Double-click on the the deb file you downloaded to start the installer.  Click “Install Package” to install Virtualbox.
3. Once that is finished, you will need to add yourself to the vboxusers group.  To do this quickly, open up a Terminal window (Applications>Accessories>Terminal).  Once Terminal is open, paste in the exact text and press the enter key:  sudo adduser $USER vboxusers
4. Reboot the PC.

Another cool thing you can do is add scripts to your Nautilus file browser that will give you new abilities when you right-click on something.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your new Ubuntu Linux operating system!

The Business…

I recently got my apology/bribe money from the government and I’ve been looking forward to investing that money into some business related expenses (such as advertising, because it would probably just offend someone to death if I spent it all on silly things made in China).  I’ve also been waiting on a friend of mine to declare whether or not he would be able to participate in a business venture with me, and it turns out he won’t be available.  The ideal role for him would have been project management and accounting (a boring desk job).  If I were him, I would have said no too (but in truth, he really will not have extra time to spare for it).  He’s going to be working a lot of overtime with a new employer this coming year so I’ll have to wait and see if he’ll ever be able to participate with me some time later.

On the bright side I have two other associates ready for work — one a web developer/programmer and the other a graphics artist.  My hope is to combine all of our skills to offer a new slew of online and offline services.  One project we hope to take on very soon is designing a new website for a rural K-8 school; it being the first site that shall utilize content management software.  The goal is to have a powerful interactive website that will allow teachers to administer their own mini-sites for each class, with students also able to put content on the site (provided their stuff is given approval by each respective teacher in advanced).  It is an ambitious project and we’ll have plenty of time over the summer to kick it around the sandbox.  We also intend to create websites in advanced and approach small and medium sized businesses with a site that’s more or less been designed for them.  We’ll also combine this with ready-made advertising packages which can even include original logos we custom design.  Toss in Ubuntu Linux-based office PCs custom built and serviced by me and we’ll have an attractive, versatile selection of tools many businesses will probably be interested in using.

No more CCNA?

A while back, I got into this habit of writing about wanting to get my CCNA networking certification.  I’ve lost the motivation to continue writing about this for the time being, mostly because I think it’s really boring (no, really!).  There are many aspects about computer networking that I love, but there’s also a good chunk that I don’t have a practical use for right now.  I’m not desperately attempting to secure a desk job somewhere so I can map subnets in Microsoft Visio, configure VLANs on serial interfaces, setup ACLs to filter network traffic and perhaps occasionally arm-wrestle with some absurdly obtuse/self-righteous HR department.  Computer networking is not an intimidating field of study and understanding the basics is about as complicated as understanding how the Post Office works.  But Cisco seems a little full of themselves at times.  You’ll know what I mean by this after you’re waist deep in the plethora of rediculous acronyms Cisco is continually pulling out of its ass.  Cheap excuses to procrastinate aside, I’m now more interested in web design and Linux.  The diploma I’ve already got and passing the tests necessary to get it is certification enough for now.

What’s new with Ubuntu?

I’ve been meaning to create a new video to show off Ubuntu 8.04, but very little about it stands out when compared to 7.10 (with exception to performance improvements, which are very noticeable).  One of the most hyped features, Pulse Audio, has turned out to be something of a disappointment (though this is just my opinion).  The decision to include it with 8.04 by default was likely made so as to help get the kinks ironed out before the next major release of Ubuntu in October, which is rumored to be sporting a sexy new theme that will compliment the impressive collection of special effects rendered by Compiz Fusion.  By then, the soon to be developed “glitch-free” version of Pulse Audio should already be in place.

What’s new with Dave?

Believe it or not, I’m reading Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces“.  The book takes a deep look at the multitude of mythologies that have existed world wide throughout human history and highlights the similarities between them instead of the superficial differences.  I probably shouldn’t comment on it further until I’ve finished reading (which will probably take quite some time).  Ancient human history is something I’ve been interested in for a few years and the topic of mythology adds an informative and sometimes entertaining layer.  After finishing it, I hope to plow through Julian Jaynes’ “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”.

UPDATE:  Here’s a better list.  Check it out!

So you went to Ubuntu.com, downloaded the latest Ubuntu Live CD ISO file from their website and burned it to a CD. You booted from that CD, waited for the desktop to appear, and double clicked on the Install icon. 40 minutes later, your hard drive is partitioned and ready to boot Ubuntu for the first time. Congratulations!

But now what?!

As you might have noticed, the desktop and software installed with Ubuntu by default is a bit bland. I’ve written the following guide for two reasons:

• To make installing some popular software a breeze.
• To expose you to different ways software can be installed in Ubuntu (a.k.a., “get your learn on.”)

So we’re going to jazz up our Ubuntu and learn about installing software by doing the following:

1. Running Update Manager.
2. Install Flash, Java, Windows Media Codecs, MS fonts in 4 clicks!
3. Install Compiz Fusion’s Advanced Settings Manager with one more click.
4. Reveal Archive Manager in the Accessories menu.
5. Install Phatch from a *.deb file.
6. Bonus Challenge: Install Google Earth using Terminal

Yeah! We want something more like the above screenshot. And most important of all: we want to get all of this stuff installed with ease. I said EASE! As in ridiculously simple to do. So lets get started!

1.) Run Update Manager
Difficultly: Very Easy

• Tip: To make the rest of this go faster, only pay attention to the bulleted text in bold. Like this right here. [/ Robert DeNiro]

The reason I have listed this first is simple: Typically, Ubuntu ISO images are a tad bit older than the current distribution. Therefore on a fresh install your Linux Kernel is likely out of date along with a lot of other software, and as a result your system may be vulnerable or may not be detecting all of the hardware in your computer. If this is a fresh install, you probably have at least 200 MB worth of updates you will be asked to download and install. If you are not having any hardware compatibility issues right now (as in: everything appears to be working correctly), then you can do this step last (since installing that many updates can take some time).

Running Update manager is about as easy as sitting on your hands, since it automatically checks for updates each time you turn your computer on. However, you can force this process to occur sooner by running it manually:

• Click System>Administration>Update Manager
• Click on the “Check” button to check for updates

If there are updates available, you simply click “Install” to install them. Piece of cake.

*Note: If you’re still having hardware issues after installing all of your updates, you should check in System>Administration>Restricted Drivers Manager to see if there are any devices that need to be enabled.

2.) Install Flash, Java, Win32 Video Codecs, DVD playback (and more) in just four clicks!
Difficultly: Very Easy

Did you think installing all that software is going to take you a half hour? With Ubuntu, installing software is very simple. To get started, do the following:

• Click Applications>Add/Remove…

Now that you have the Add/Remove Software app open, do the following:

• Change the “Show:” drop menu in the upper right corner to “All Available Applications”
• Search for the word “restricted” while the “All” software category is highlighted (should already be by default, as shown below):

• Once the search returns its results, check off the box next to “Ubuntu Restricted Extras”
• Sit tight, and don’t click the Apply Changes button just yet…

Ok, we’re half way done. That probably took you… a minute? Wipe that sweat off your brow, we got Compiz Advanced Settings Manager to install next.

*Notice: It has been brought to my attention that the DVD decoder included with the above mentioned Ubuntu Restricted Extra’s package is inadequate for playback of encrypted DVD’s (the kind you buy from the store). If you encounter such problems with DVD playback, this guide will show you how to install the libdvdcss2 package. Also, you may have heard a rumor that installing this package is illegal. If someone tells you this, refer them to 17 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(f). The binaries to crack the encryption are not illegal if you have a license to the content. (i.e., if you have a legit DVD, you have license to watch it.) After all, the content must be decrypted in order to make the content usable.

3.) Install Compiz Advanced Settings manager
Difficultly: Very Easy

Compiz Fusion is included by default with Ubuntu, but its super-advanced control panel is not. Need of this advanced control panel comes up if you are a power user who wants to use the 3D window management features to the max, which means turning your desktop into a rotating cube, among other things. You can also greatly customize your special effects, animations and window behaviors using this control panel. So let throw it on!

• After you’ve checked off Ubuntu Restricted Extras in the above step, do another search for the word “compiz”

• Check off “Advanced Desktop Effects Settings”
• Click the Apply Changes button in the lower right corner.

Once installed, this advanced control panel can be found in System>Preferences>Advanced Desktop Effects Settings. Your Restricted Ubuntu Extras package will also be installed.

*Notice: You will want to make sure you have visual effects enabled in System>Preferences>Appearence>Visual Effects before using the above control panel you’ve installed.

4. Enable (reveal) your Archive Manager to create zip files.
Difficultly: Very Easy

Some of you might be wondering: How can I create a zip file? The answer is with the included Archive Manager. This tool (for some weird reason) isn’t shown in the Applications>Accessories menu by default. But we can reveal it very easily by doing the following:

• Click System>Preferences>Main Menu
• Click on the Accessories menu in the left panel, then check off the Archive Manager (see below). Then click Close.

That it! Now when you open your accessories menu, you’ll be presented with a new shortcut to your Archive Manager. You can use this utility to create zip files. Keep in mind that it can also create other types of archives, such as tar.gz, so you should specify your desired file type when you create a new archive.

5.) Install Phatch – Batch Photo Management Software
Difficultly: Very Easy

Recently, I was looking around for a program that I could use that would allow me to resize multiple photos at the same time. This is what’s called a “Batch Conversion”. So I found a program called Phatch that does this job very well. To install it, you have to download the deb installer.

• Click here to download the Phatch deb file. Save it to your desktop for now.
• Find the deb file you just downloaded and double click on it.

After you double click on the deb file, this window will appear:

At this point, all you have to do is click the Install button in the upper right-hand corner. Once installed, you’ll be able to find the program in the Applications>Graphics menu.

I would also suggest that when installing programs via deb installer files, to save these deb files to a permanent location before running them. Simply clicking “Run” in Firefox will cause the file to be stored in a temporary cache folder, which could cause your deb file to possibly disappear mid-way through an installation. So saving it to your desktop and double-clicking on the file from there is the preferred method. Once you are done with the deb file, you can delete it.

6.) CHALLENGE – Install Google Earth
Difficultly: Medium

I threw this into the list because I wanted to give you a little exposure to the terminal. Don’t freak out! You’re just going to copy and paste some text so calm your ass down.
First thing you have to do is download Google Earth. To do that, visit this link: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

After you agree to the license, you’ll be taken to a new page where an automatic download will begin and ask you what you want to do with a file called GoogleEarthLinux.bin. Simply save this file to your Desktop for now.

Next we’ll need to open up a terminal window. A terminal window is similar to DOS in that it is a Command Line Interface. To open Terminal, do the following:

• Click Applications>Accessories>Terminal

When you first open terminal you’ll be given a prompt where you can enter commands. You also will be sitting in your Home Folder. If you type in the letters “ls” (That’s ls, short for the word “list”, in lowercase), you’ll be shown the files and folders in your home folder. Notice that one of them is called “Desktop”. We need to change our directory so we can run our GoogleEarthLinux.bin file. To do this:

• Type “cd Desktop” (no quotes) and hit enter.

In the world of Linux, everything is case-sensitive, so be sure to capitalize the word “Desktop” in the above command. This command will bring you to your desktop. If you type “ls” again and hit enter, you’ll see the files which reside on your desktop right now. Listed in it somewhere should be the bin file you just downloaded.

Now for the magic!

• In terminal, type: “sh GoogleEarthLinux.bin” (no quotes) and hit enter.

After you press enter, the following window will appear, and begin to install Google Earth for you:

Shortly after the above screen appears, you’ll get another one that says the program successfully installed. You’ll then be given the option to run Google Earth right away. If you don’t want to, you can just click Quit, and start it later by going to Applications>Internet>Google Earth.

Well, that wraps up this little list. There are plenty of other applications out there worth installing, such as Pidgin, Audacity, Avidemux and many more. Most of these programs can be installed using the Add/Remove applet which we used to install our Ubuntu Restricted Extras with. Simply searching for the program will likely produce a result that you can simply check off install with a couple clicks. Sure beats the hell out of looking through a filing cabnet for a software CD or a serial number (see: Windows software).

Oh yeah, one more thing. You can’t have a bad ass operating system without a bad ass wallpaper to go with it:

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?sort=ratings

And here’s another great link for some wallpapers:

http://abduzeedo.com/20-beautiful-hdr-pictures?=main

Have fun with your Ubuntu!

The way Ubuntu Brainstorm works is simple: You can join in by submitting your own ideas about what you think should change or be slightly modified about the current Ubuntu operating system, and then other people can vote for or against your submitted ideas. It works much like Digg does as a social bookmarking website, where users submit multitudes of different things, and the popularity contest begins.

Some good suggestions have already been made, and it is clear that one of the strongest drives held by many of the participants is to find ways to make the OS increasing simpler for new users. One of the most recent suggestions I liked was to get rid of that dreaded GRUB menu and replace it with something more pleasant looking, and less intimidating. There are many other suggestions present on the site. And best of all, you don’t have to be a developer or know a thing about computer programming to make an impressionable suggestion.

So if you’re an Ubuntu user, check this site out and join in helping to make Ubuntu the best OS in the world: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/

Here’s the dumb idea I just submitted: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/338/

Compiz Fusion, for those of you who don’t know, is a Window Manager that is included by default with Ubuntu Linux and many other distributions of Linux. Using your computer 3D graphics card, it renders your desktop in a more lively environment, giving you wobbly windows, dazzling special effect animations, and much more ability to customize the aesthetic look and feel of your computer to your hearts content.

Recently, the developers behind Compiz Fusion have started to take the concept of “head-tracking” into consideration of its feature set. This would give the user an even more mesmerizing and lifelike view of the desktop. Rather than talk about what could be done, I’ll let your imagination fill in the blanks. And if you watch the video below to the end, you’ll not need any further fuel for that imagination to go wild.