Pacsoft med Firefox

För att installera unifaun webprint pluginen i firefox:
Flytta filen "NPMagLbl.dll" till Firefox pluginsfoldern.
C'est Tout!

Metacity allows alt-right-click resize!

I

don't know when this happened but it [finally] did! After years of pain... After hours of searching the web for a fix... After eons of inconvenience... They finally let users decide for themselves; how they wish to resize their windows in a stock gnome environment!

Every software update was an adventure

Naturally it is possible to use other window-managers than metacity, but anyone who has ever tried to use non standard software in mainstream distributions know that it can be a bit tricky. Small interoperability problems start to rear their ugly heads and every software update becomes an adventure.

The problem has been solved by the editing of a simple gconf key;

/apps/metacity/general/resize_with_right_button.

Now you too can have Metacity window operations that work the way they were supposed to.

How linux kernel boots

T

his is an absolutely beautiful presentation detailing how your computer boots, in this case using Linux.

This is a screencast of a talk given by Bart Trojanowski before the OCLUG (Ottawa Canada Linux User Group).

The slides were created using the open source MagicPoint, an X11 - though text-based presentation program. In other words; use your favorite text-editor to create your slides.

Barts presentation describes the boot-up process using very innovative and illuminating slides. Well worth the trouble of taking a look :^)

T

wo excellent themes combined. The windowdecorations are silmathorons Aluminium 1.1+2.0 (Emerald Beryl theme). An Emerald theme created to match the Aluminium theme for gtk2.

The Gtk2-theme used here is a combination of the standard Clearlooks-theme and the Aluminium-theme. I call it dclear.

The background btw is one of the staple wallpapers for ubuntu-studio.

Compiz to the rescue... Again!

G

rowing resentment over Metacitys inability to let me choose which mouse-button to use for resizing windows has led me into the loving arms of Compiz, once again.

I thought that I could learn to live with the GNOME Desktop hegemony but I was wrong. After a long and hard search of the internet I have yet to find an elegant solution to my problem; remapping "-Mouse2" to "-Mouse3". I even went so far as to consider KDE4. Since KDE4 doesn't seem to be ready to emancipate me just yet I had to find someting else to get the job done.

Compiz does it again. I found that I would rather have a slightly heavier desktop than live with using the middle mouse-button to resize my windows. After tweaking the Compiz settings a bit it proves quite fast and I do like that windows fade to gray instead of displaying an hourglass/wristwatch at the cursor. Windows going down in a blaze of fire is also good fun.

Absurdly kitchy computer case!

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bout two months ago we decided to purchase a new computer desk. A computer desk that would fit better into our new home.

I had installed most of the components of our small computer system into the new desk when disaster struck! The most important component of all - the actual computer didn't fit! The computer compartment was too small to house the bloated (Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo T) computer case!

Yes I know... I'm an idiot for not taking the measurements of the case before leaving for IKEA. But in every failure there's an opportunity - sometimes for more mistakes.

Before calling me an idiot. Bare in mind that I have already gotten what I deserve in my new computer case.

We decided to get a new case... (this was not the mistake).We decided to get a white computer case... (we're getting close). The actual mistake emerged as a slight oversight. I had tried very hard to make the computer desk and computer components look unified, in doing this I had forgotten a small detail - the color of the old case's front-components.

Believe it or not but I did not notice this obvious aesthetic issue before migrating the contents of the old computer case to the new one. However after slamming the front cover shut, it slowly dawned on me... I had made a slight color matching error.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the case wasn't the same shade of white as the desk and the silver linings made the case look like a gaudy old ivory makeup case. In the combination with the off black components the case has reached a new height of originality and lack of style.

Back to the original

A

few years back when I was first introduced to the graphical world of Linux - there were two graphical interfaces to choose from; KDE and GNOME. The K Desktop Environment (KDE) looked more like a newer implementation of the windows gui while the Gnu Network Object Model Environment, while resembling the mac interface, just seemed more outlandish and original.

A lot of the percieved originality was probably due to the default window-manager in GNOME; Sawfish.

Unlike Metacity (the current window-manager in GNOME) Sawfish allows for the Meta+Mouse3 (Alt+right mouse button) window resizing that I previously wanted in an earlier post.

While using the old window-manager did work it also created a lot of compability issues. These issues clouded the consistency of the Ubuntu desktop i bit. For example the sawfish workspace switcher proved impossible to turn off! Themes obviously don't work as they used etc etc. All of this made me give up my quest for Alt+Mouse3 clicking. I now use the standard desktop as provided.

In the earilier post I sought to solve the issue by using compiz, the composite 3d-"windowmanager". That solution was a horrible kludge though, due to the fact that I didn't really want all those bells and whistles. all I wanted was the Meta+Mouse3 window-resizing!

Besides the new version of Ubuntu, Hardy Heron 8.04, doesn't let you change the keymapping for window-resizing at all!

To The Rescue – KDE!

After seeing oxygen and Plasma, two of my biggest gripes with KDE seem to be gone. The interface is overhauled and some of the pro's of GNOME has been injected into KDE. A simple, easily overviewed and non-confusing interface was basically all that was missing from KDE. Now the most competent Desktop for GNU/Linux systems has a nice clean interface. When the usable version of KDE4 (4.1) is shipped with ubuntu – I'll probably make the switch. From my old love; GNOME - to a new one; KDE.

Nokia E51 - No BS

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hose two little words basically sum this phone up. I might be wrong, of course, but barring the absence of a small camera in the front for video-calls - it lacks nothing. Basically this is a smart-phone that mimics an ordinary phone. The slight wedge-shape of the bottom-part of the phone makes it perfect for snug pockets. The Nokia e51 is a good basic phone.

The keypad is small but distinct, the buttons feel nice with a slight laptop-feel to them. The only negative thing about the keys is the soft-button's size and placement. The angle and size of the left/right soft-button that could easily lead to erroneous key presses if one is not careful. The “OK”-button and navigational-ring will probably live forever – they're excellent.

The screen is crystal clear. A 2" display is probably as big as it gets on a phone of this size. In combination width the excellent color depth, youtube works OK.

I use my E51 as a (detachable) wireless broadband modem via the tele2 mobile network. My girlfriends SE w910 is actually better at this than my Nokia E51 since it supports usb networks. In practice this means that all you have to do is plug the phone in and surf away! After issuing the mandatory “ifconfig usb0 up” , I don't even consider this a step a step. The Nokia requires a serial approach, by using /dev/ttyACM0 as modem one simply dials (I use wvdial). This is my configuration (right):

Bluetooth configuration has yet to work for me - I could make it work with the trusted old Nokia 5500 sport by substituting “/dev/ttyACM0” with “/dev/rfcomm0” in the wvdial.conf-file but my current Nokia just won't have it... I haven't really tried the wifi but whenever I come across an open network it is as easy to surf the web off as the gprs is – no problem.

Using the E51 with Ubuntu 7.10 was no problem. Universal Mass Storage support for the NON-INCLUDED 2gb “hotpluggable” microsd-card that I ripped out of the 5500 sport and and pc-suite mode for data-transfer ie modem use. Unfortunately neither gammu nor gnokii supports it yet so no syncing! Not an enormous problem unless you want to back your calendar up... In which case it is.

Between the built in BrowserNG symbian browser and the java midp Opera browser virtually all web content is available. I don't know why but Nokia refuses to deliver this phone with stopwatch/timer applications but there is one available at mosh for free that seems to work well enough. I think that anyone who has come in contact with the standard calculator for S60v3 has learned to loathe it! There's a replacement called Calcium at mtvoid.com. The screenshot was taken using 'Screenshot for symbian s60'. The future of the PC is dead... and gone. It belongs to the mobile phone now! Everything in personal computing that I once needed a complete computer for can now be done with a tiny 100 gram mobile phone. I say the future because the day of mobile rule is not quite here yet. But the second they can figure out how to squeeze these things into the moblie - is the second I toss my desktop computer in the bin.

Full "big boy" operating system – access to applications.
qwerty-keyboard/voice recognition – fast text input
support for HD-video/TV-out

I soon learned that mailing using predictive/non-predictive text IS hell. qwerty desperately needed! 2” screen - it works - but built in projector or TV-out would be nice. Until then I'll have to make due with this extremely slick and capable phone.

Resolutions wallpaper

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simple wallpaper that lets you check out what your site might look like at different screen-resolutions, without having to change your actual resolution.

resolutions.png

Just resize your browser window to fit in the applicable square and that's it. Not a perfect solution obviously but handy if all you want is to check what elements are visible at different screen-sizes.

My current Desktop

Screenshot

B

ecause the default window-manager in Gnome (Metacity) refuses to adhere to the contemporary X standards for window movement and resizinging, or even make it possible to, I decided to give the beryl 3D windowmanager a try.

These are the standard way of moving and resizing windows under X:

• Alt+Mouse1="move window"
• Alt+Mouse3="resize window"

Beryl is absolutely beautiful. And I think I'll actually stick with it for a while.

• Gnome Theme = Gorilla
• Beryl Emerald Theme = frame (by pomalin)

Slackware DVD-cover

Scalable Vector Graphics

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created this normal-size DVD-coverimage using inkscape 0.45 on Ubuntu 7.04. Designing this cover was a great opportunity to learn a little more about SVG.

Link to a zip containing all images and inkscape-compatible svg-file.

A point not to be forgotten is that the penquin-graphics and the Slackware-button were not created by me. The Slackified Tux-image was taken from the Slackware propagande site: http://www.slackware.com/~msimons/slackware/grfx/ and the Slackware button was found somewhere on the internet.

Oh... lest I forget - the background tile was snatched in its entirety from the slackware website. It's all more of a composition really...

Palm scripts

Palm related script

I figured I'd throw in the scripts I use with my palm tungsten e. You never know when you are going to need stuff like this.

palm-mail.sh Script that I use to:
1. start fetchmail
2. start pop3d
3. establish a ppp connection to the palm.
4. let the palm download the mail.
5. then kill pop3d & pppd.

palm-ppp.sh
Basically a script I use to connect the palm to the internet through the desktop machine using ppp.

Both of these scripts are based on different things I picked up on the internet and they are not very well written - but they do the job.

GTK/Metacity Configuration

Gtk2 & Metacity Configuration

I love this gtk2-theme! It makes the desktop warmer and easier on the eyes

gtk-theme:

cde-motif

GTK2-cde-motif.tar.gz

window-border: mist (gnome-builtin)

background:The-Good-Times-1.jpg (kde-builtin)

http://art.gnome.org

TWM & CTWM

Two lightweight WindowManagers

These windowmanagers are perfect for use on a resource hungry system. There is some kind of zen-like beauty about them that makes me want to use them every now and again.

TWM Config-File -- CTWM Config-File

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twm

http://ctwm.free.lp.se/

FVWM2

FVWM2 Configuration

I can't remember how many times I've started over from scratch with this one! I always misplace this configuration file but only after spending hours on makin FVWM2 do something cool. This time... Things are going to be different.

FVWM2 Config-File

I my case this file is supposed to reside withing the "~/.fvwm/" directory. Emacs inspired.

http://www.fvwm.org

Fetchmail

Fetchmail is a commandline tool for downloading your emails from a remote server to your localhost. Since the graphical configuration tool never worked for me under ubuntu I was forced to manually configure fetchmail, this is not particularly difficult but I keep forgetting the proper formatting. so...

Fetchmail Config-File

http://fetchmail.berlios.de/

Emacs Configuration

Emacs - Edit MACroS

Emacs can be hard to handle at times. And I have a tendency to forget my personal configuration whenever I reinstall Linux so I'm putting my emacs-configuration on my webpage. For future reference.

Emacs Config-File

Quite a bit of it is probably just standard ubuntu-configuration. Look to the comments for guidence.

http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

The Razer Krait

New acquisition.

Today I bought the Razer Krait infrared, high-resolution (1600dpi) mouse. And I like it. It is not the best thing out there - but for me it is the perfect choice. It has a modest price

A while back I had some trouble with the wireless Fujitsu-Siemens keyboard/mouse kombo that was included with the computer. It developed a nasty habit of picking up the keystrokes of a neighbours wireless keyboard! I was minding my own web-buisiness as usual when suddenly someone typed "Red Dragon" into an input field of a webpage! unless the wireless reciever had suddenly developed some sort of preemptive mindreading capability, it would be an understatement to say that this was a problem.

I spoke to with the company that I am leasing the computer from and they sent me a new wireless keyboard/mouse combo (same brand, though) and believe it or not but the very same thing happened again! Only - this time the same "someone" was searching for "borat".

After hitting the ceiling a couple of times I set out to get myself some unwireless periferals. Mouse-wise I stumbled across the Razer Krait (named after some snake I presume) for a measly 350 SEK. Being the last of the highend infrared gaming mice it will serve my purposes nicely. All I need is a good mouse plain and simple.

I'm using it under ubuntu dapper drake (6.06 LTS) and it workes fine. Bear in mind that you probably have to tweak your mouse-settings in gnome slightly.

For a simple person like me this mouse seems to be perfect. There are only three buttons left, right and middle/scroll (being a modest gameplayer, that's all I need). I you're an advanced gamer you would problably rather be looking at the newer 2000dpi laser mice that are available but if all you're looking for is "a good mouse" this one ought to do nicely.

System Log - star date...

This is my personal system-log. In this file a have tried to incorporate everything that has ever been a problem on my systems and and the manner in which I solved the problems.

This information is primarily here so that I can access it myself but, of course, anyone who finds it useful is welcome to use it. Keep in mind that unless you are running some variant of Linux this will probably not help you very much.

My System Log