linux

I’ve been using my GPS for cycling trips for a few months now and I’ve decided to write a small list of tips and tricks I’ve found useful or found out during these months. Most of the concepts here are general but the technical examples applies to linux which is my main operating system. Terms A waypoint is a set of coordinates for your orientation. It can either be created on the track to mark a position or it can be created on the map and used on the track for in track later orientation....

I’ve been waiting with impatience the new Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. So I’ve downloaded the CD as soon as it appeared and started upgrading the Ubuntu 8.04 on my DELL Latitude D820 to the new version. The install Since I’ve had some problems in the past with the upgrade process I’ve decided to do it simple and just do a clean install on a different partition based on the desktop installer CD....

I’ve bought a GPS device for use during treking and cycling. Since the choice is rather limited here where most of the GPS devices are car dedicated I’ve ended up with a Garmin eTrex legend HCx. Connecting Upon connection my Ubuntu syslog shows: Sep 7 15:53:47 black kernel: [16333.973603] usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3 Sep 7 15:53:47 black kernel: [16334.117759] usb 3-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Sep 7 15:53:47 black NetworkManager: <debug> [1220792027....

I have decided to call my Acer Aspire One “the little one” or “little” first because it’s really little and second because I was reading Orson Scott’s Ender – Speaker of the dead and as “the little ones” from it’s book this netbook has been strange at first to me. I have never had a laptop with less than 1600x… or it’s wide equivalent resolution yet this laptops screen is bright and I could use it even on the beach under an umbrella....

So here are a few things which bother me a bit to this new toy: long shutdown time (even if the boot is very fast) large power cable (it’s absolutely huge compared to the laptop itself) long charging time Yet I am still happy with it, check the difference:

Someone will laugh and make fun greatly of me because of that but the truth is that in a moment of panic caused by the thought of one week without a computer I bought an Acer Aspire One the SSD version. Even if it has a very small screen it’s quite sharp and I loved this gadget right away. It comes with Linpus linux installed. Getting the prompt Just press Alt + F2 and then xterm....

I can only say good things about the ease to fetch photos from a digital camera in ubuntu now but the F-Spot interface is completely dummy. I can’t understand any good reason to use it. In order to revert to the old gutsy photo import option here are the steps: apt-get install gthumb go to System -> Preferences -> Removable drives and media -> Cameras and remove the f-spot-import with...

In the code just add trace(…) calls as you would add printf of System.out.println calls The plugin first you will need the debugger version of the plugin. In ubuntu the plugin can be found in /usr/lib/firefox/plugins which is usualy a link in /etc/alternatives which links to the actual plugin. root@black:/home/len# ls -l /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/total 8628lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 37 2008-04-27 22:43 flashplugin-alternative.so -> /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashpluginroot@black:/home/len# ls -l /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 99 2008-05-01 17:33 /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin -> /phantom/linux/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/Player/linux/install_flash_player_9_linux/libflashplayer....

Taking advantage of the free easter days I decided that between sleeping and cooking to also try the new Hardy Heron: not wanting to take any risks as in the painful Gutsy update I did a clean install on a different partition I tried the data migration option (gaim, evolution, firefox) but it only imported partial configuration and no data. I reverted to the old method...

Updated 22-03-2008: fixed broken link. After the tragic death of my T630 phone I have bought a new Sony Ericsson K550i to replace it. The old phone worked quite ok with linux but I was very pleased by how quick I was able to make this new one work with my Ubuntu Gutsy. Synchronization I managed to establish a bluetooth connection with no trouble using the same method described here using multisync....