Fast Mirror

Fast Mirror is a program that I wrote in Java that helps you find which Ubuntu mirror is fastest for you. It checks both latency and bandwidth on all official Ubuntu mirrors. Here is the download. I apologize for the ad-ridden download site, but I don't have my own file hosting yet. To run it, just open a command prompt, cd to the download folder and type:

java -jar FastMirror.jar

Be sure that you have Java Runtime installed. Please let me know what you think of it. This is version 0.1, so it is likely to have bugs, but nothing that will bring your system down. ;)

KWin Composite

Here's a project to keep an eye on. New in KDE4 is the latest version of KWin, boasting compositing effects similar to those found in Compiz/Beryl.



Soon I'll be recompiling KDE4 from SVN to take this for a test drive. Until then, have a look at the announcement on KDE.news.

QuickSynergy

One of the most overlooked programs in Ubuntu is a tool called QuickSynergy. You may be familiar with its beefier, less user-friendly older brother Synergy, but for those who aren't, Synergy allows you to connect multiple computers into one giant desktop. For instance, if you have a laptop and a desktop computer, Synergy allows you to use the desktop's mouse and keyboard for both computers as if the laptop were an extra monitor. What's great about it is that the laptop can be running one operating system and the desktop another. At work I am responsible for an e-mail system with thousands of users, so I have to be able to test and develop with Linux, Windows, and OSX. With Synergy, I can use the mouse and keyboard attached to my Ubuntu machine to control all four computers (two Ubuntu's, one Windows, one Mac). When I move the mouse off the right side of the Ubuntu laptop's screen, it appears on the screen of my Windows computer.



QuickSynergy simplifies the Synergy interface. Synergy takes a little while to figure out because all of the connections between computers are made from the command line in a somewhat cryptic fashion. QuickSynergy is a GUI, thereby simplifying the process of connecting your computers.

To install QuickSynergy, just go to a command prompt and type:

sudo apt-get install quicksynergy

I recommend using a Linux machine as the host, and setting up Windows and OSX machines as clients. Setting up the host is the hard part and it is easiest to do in Linux. For more info, visit the QuickSynergy project page.

Linux Media Center Edition

Linux Media Center Edition is a full home entertainment solution for your PC. It combines many existing Linux programs such as MythTV and Pluto into one complete package. Not only can it play your DVDs, Music, Pictures, and TV, but it also includes home automation. When you start playing a movie, LinuxMCE can automatically dim the lights. If you have media PCs in multiple rooms, LinuxMCE can track which room you are in by tracking the location of your cell phone, and have your media follow you from room to room. If you have a home security system, LinuxMCE can integrate it so that you can view your security cameras, converse with someone who is at the front door, and unlock doors.

Unfortunately I am not blessed with all of these systems in my house, but the following Youtube video (in two parts) demonstrates several of these features:



LinuxMCE 1.0 had some difficulty integrating properly with Ubuntu, mainly because of trouble with Ubuntu's compositing engine. The LinuxMCE team found that KDE fully supports compositing, so LinuxMCE 1.1 is built on Kubuntu and is better integrated. Version 1.1 is still in beta mode right now, so downloads are only being offered through bittorrent. The link on the LinuxMCE homepage eventually leads to a 404, but I managed to track down a working download site for the tracker at this location.

If you have any difficulty with setup, or if you are interesting in contributing to the project, the Linux MCE website has a wiki and forums.

Be forewarned, however, that LinuxMCE is not completely up to par on hardware support. ATI users in particular have difficulty with installation. Be sure you have several hours free before attempting it.

UPDATE: As with any beta software, be sure you have a good backup before installing. LinuxMCE 1.1 beta2 inexplicably unmounted my home partition to replace it with its own home folders. This was easy to recover from, but it is likely that more potentially damaging bugs exist. For now I have to recommend staying with version 1.0 if you are installing LMCE over an existing Ubuntu installation. If you are performing a fresh install, then I recommend 1.1 beta2.

Nvidia and ATI the Easy Way

Yesterday I reinstalled Ubuntu on my Dell laptop, but made the silly mistake of not backing up my xorg.conf. It seems that the directions that I originally followed to get my Geforce4 4200 configured are no longer available where I first found them, so I spent several hours trying to figure out the correct settings for xorg.conf. I was cruising through the Ubuntu Forums when I came upon a post by Alberto Malone in which he recommended his Envy program to another user. I subsequently visited his website, grabbed a copy, and ran it. It immediately found and installed the correct drivers and configured my xorg.conf. This is no mean feat. My Geforce4 is quickly falling into obscurity and requires specific tweaks to the xorg.conf. The Envy utility is made to download, install, and configure the drivers for any ATI or Nvidia card. I was very impressed, and recommend the program to anyone having difficulty setting up their graphics card. Well done Alberto!

To install Envy, do the following:

wget  http://albertomilone.com/ubuntu/nvidia/scripts/envy_0.9.5-0ubuntu1_all.deb
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-dev build-essential
sudo dpkg -i envy_0.9.5-0ubuntu1_all.deb

You should now find Envy in the 'Applications->System Tools' menu. All credit for Envy belongs to Alberto Malone. His Envy page can be found here.

Ubuntu Studio Theme

Every good robot needs a good desktop! Lately I've been very excited about the look and feel of the Ubuntu Studio desktop. The charcoal grey color scheme accented with neon blue gives it a decidedly Tron-like feel, a very good alternative to the bland default themes. On top of that, it comes complete with wallpaper, system sounds, and splash screens.



To download the Ubuntu Studio theme, enter the following at the terminal:

sudo su -c 'echo deb http://archive.ubuntustudio.org/ubuntustudio feisty main >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
wget -q http://archive.ubuntustudio.org/ubuntustudio.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-desktop

Then go to System->Preferences->Theme and select the Ubuntu Studio theme.
Bon Appetit!

For more information on Ubuntu Studio, visit the Ubuntu Studio website