Pinguy's Blog
Easy Guide To An Up To Date Usable Ubuntu 7.10
Ubuntu 7.10 has come on a long way since I have last used it (longterm
support (LTS) 6.06), but even with all the improvements
it has made its still not very usable from a fresh install for the
average home user.
The
problem with Ubuntu is it doesn't come with any restricted codecs or
software and if you are new to Linux you are probably not even going to
know how to get mp3 and DVD play back working.
I have tried to
make this guide as easy as possible to follow, and once you have
finished the guide you will have a very up to date usable system that
will be able to do everything an average home user will need to do.
List of Programs That will be Installed on top of the ones you get with
Ubuntu:
Accessories
Graphics
Internet
Office
Programing
Sound and Video
System Tools
Other
- Webilder (to get working right-click on the GNOME panel, choose "Add to panel", and select "Webilder Webshots Applet")
Plus lots of plugins, programs and codecs so everything will just work.
To start off go and grab a copy of Ubuntu 7.10 from here
and burn the .iso to a CD.
If you are not sure how to burn an .iso follow this guide.
You can also request free CDs from the Ubuntu site if
you don't mind waiting for them to be delivered.
Once you have a copy of Ubuntu 7.10 on a CD go to this site
and follow the first page of the guide then come back here.
Now
that you have a fresh install of Ubuntu the first thing we are going to
do is to update the kernel to the most up to date one, as this is a
huge update to the
one that is being used in Ubuntu 7.10.
To see a list of all the changes to the kernel click here.
1.
First you need to add the Hardy repository (this is only temporary to
pull the new kernel) by going into the Terminal (Applications >
Accessories > Terminal) and copying and pasting
this:
-
echo 'deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main
restricted' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hardy.list
2. Now that you've added the repository you need to update:
-
sudo apt-get update
3. Next you need to install the new kernel:
-
sudo apt-get -y install linux linux-generic
linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic
linux-restricted-modules-generic
4. It will ask you to restart the PC once installed but don't do that
yet as you need to download and install Envy first, go here
and download the most up to date version.
To install just simply double click on the file.
5. Now that you've pulled the kernel and got the packets Envy needed
you need to remove the Hardy repository:
-
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hardy.list
6. Once again you need to update so that you'll stop pulling updates
from the Hardy repository:
-
sudo apt-get update
Alright.
If you've done all of the above without errors, you've successfully
installed updated the kernel. Now you need to reboot into the new
kernel:
-
sudo reboot
Once you are back into the Ubuntu desktop you now need to download and
extract this file
to your home folder.
Inside the archive there should be files called:
-
installed-software.log
sources.list
trusted.gpg
Double click on sources.list
then select Display, this will add more software sources to your
repository. Next you will need to import the Authentication key, just
click the tab that says "Authentication"
and click on the "Import
Key File..." button and find the trusted.gpg
file that you downloaded earlier.
Now all you need to do is to open the Terminal and copy and past each
part of this:
-
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dselect
sudo dpkg --set-selections < ~/Pinguy_Ubuntu7.10/installed-software.log
sudo dselect
Then choose i.
This
will take awhile to download and install all the software so go off and
make a cup of coffee and watch a bit of TV then come back.
Once
everything is installed go to
System > Administration >
Users and
Groups > Manage Groups, scroll down to the bottom
and find
vboxusers, select it then properties and tick all the boxes then
restart the PC.
Next install your graphics driver using Envy (Application
> System Tools > Envy)
When
envy asks you to restart hit "No" then go to System >
Administration
> Restricted Driver Manger then enable 3D graphics,
then restart
the
PC.
Thats it you should now have a very up to date and usable PC.
Couple of links you may also want to have a look at:
How
to Disable Services and Reduce Power Consumption
Make
Your Linux Desktop Look Like A Mac (Also a good way to learn
how to change the look of Ubuntu)
Ubuntu Themes
Getdeb (a place
to download .deb programs)
CNR
Client (program to download and install programs from the CNR website)
PlayOnLinux
(the easiest way I have found to install Office 2003 and many Windows
only games)
AcetoneISO2
(the best .iso mounting program for Linux)
Ubuntu Tutorials Sites
Ubuntu Geek
Debian Admin
Howto
Forge
Free Firewall for XP and Vista
Sure, Windows comes with a basic firewall, but when it comes to protecting your computer from malicious attacks, you can never be too careful. PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful firewall from the makers of Spyware Doctor. And it also happens to be free and works with vista.
PC Tools Firewall Plus gives you much more control over your firewall than the built in Windows Firewall application. There's an expert mode for advanced users, and a normal mode for umm.. normal users. The first time you run the firewall you'll get a bunch of pop-ups asking if you want to allow any programs you're currently running to access the internet.
But once you get past that, you can leave the firewall running in the background and pretty much ignore it. If you want to edit advanced permissions, view your history, or see the packets that have been blocked, you can do that. There's also a new stealth mode that lets your system hide from other computers on the network. In other words, you can connect to other computers, but they cannot connect to you.
Guide to Blackjack Doubling
- Minimal bet 5 if you are playing with 100, minimal bet 10 if you are playing with 200.
- Always place a minimal bet every time you win a hand.
- Double your bet every time you lose a hand.
- Always split Aces and Eights.
- Always Double if you are dealt 11
- Never take risky hits if the dealer is showing 6 or below.
- Take risky hits if the dealer is showing between a 7 to an Ace and if that card and a 10 would beat your hand.
- Never take insurance.
If you have set out to play with 100 dollars/pounds your minimal bet a hand should be 5, other wise your bets could get way to high if you loose a few hands in a row, what I mean by this is you always place the minimal bet when you win a hand but you double your bet every time you loose a hand and if you loose 5 hands in a row the bet would be 80.
How it works is if you loose a hand you would loose 5 but if you had won that hand you would of got 10, so on the next hand you double your bet to 10 and if you win that hand you would get 20 back, meaning you just won your winnings back that you would of lost in the previous hand if you was still placing a minimal bet.
So how it goes is if you loose the first hand and you placed the minimal bet of 5 the next hand you would put down 10, if you loose that hand you put down 20 and keep doubling the bet until you win a hand, and once you win a hand you go back to placing the minimal bet of 5 and keep placing the minimal bet every time you win and only doubling when you loose a hand.
This way isn't card counting where you are guaranteed to win there is still an element of chance and you could loose, but its very rare to loose more than 6 hands in a row that's why this technique does very well.
To help you win more often there are a few golden rules that will help you win more hands.
Always split Aces and Eights
Two eights are 16 and thats a horrible hand but if you split them there is a good chance you will get a face card or a 10 making it 18 same as Aces, two Aces are 12/2 but splitting them you could get 21.
Always Double if you are dealt 11
There's a good chance you will get a face card or a 10
Hitting and Standing
You should stand if the dealer is showing 6 or below and hit if the dealer is showing between 7 and Ace and if that card and a 10 would beat your hand.
Never Take Insurance.
Never take insurance there is a huge house advantage at the odds paid out, and it is not worth taking under any circumstances.
Thats it and have fun, to have a practice without paying here are some places you can play online Blackjack for free.
Blackjack Facebook App (my fav)
#Edit to answer some of the questions asked on digg
The
odds are some what high for losing 6 hands in a row but it doesn't
matter, as long as you don't lose to many hands in a row so the bet
goes over the maximum bet this technique works well because you win
your losses back every time you win a hand and make money every time
you win more than two hands in a row.
Where this technique fells
is when you lose to many hands in a row and the bet goes over the
maximum bet, thats why I say there is still an element of chance.
Here's an example of a very bad game of black Jack to show you how
you keep making money.
bet 5 = 95
lost 0 = 95
bet 10 = 85
lost 0 = 85
bet 20 = 65
lost 0 = 65
bet 40 = 25
win 80 = 95
You just won
your losses back
bet 5 = 90
win 10 = 100
bet 5 = 95
win 10 = 105
Won two hands in
a row making money
bet 5 = 100
lost 0 = 100
bet 10 = 95
lost 0 = 95
bet 20 = 75
lost 0 = 75
bet 40 = 35
win 80 = 105
You just won
your losses back
bet 5 = 100
win 10 = 110
bet 5 = 115
win 10 = 125
Where you win money is when you win two hands in a row or more, and if you get 21,
you win larger amounts when you double on 11 and split Aces and 8's. You will never
make huge amounts of money doing it this way and its not fast.
Get StarOffice for free
StarOffice cost $70 but Google has just added StarOffice to Google Pack for free.
The move is slightly perplexing, as OpenOffice.org is absolutely free, and it's built on StarOffice source code. The main difference between the two office suites is that StarOffice includes some proprietary graphics, fonts, and templates.
South Park’s Warcraft Episode Up For Emmy
Dwarven champions and South Park fans are united in general glee this week after South Park’s ‘Make Love, Not Warcraft’ was nominated for an Emmy TV award.
The hilarious – yet affectionate – send-up of World of Warcraft, its crack-like addiction qualities and the repercussions are brilliantly brought to cartoon life.
If Cartman taking a dump into a bedpan held by his mother because he can’t be arsed [sorry] to stop playing WoW doesn’t bring a tear of mirth to your eye, you’re already dead.
You can watch the whole episode online by going to 4spark.com, clicking on Season 10 and choosing episode 1008. Have a good weekend.
PS3 Firmware 1.9 Details Announced
The new firmware 1.9 update just hit in Japan. Here are the complete changes:
- Ability to rearrange games on the XMB
- Option menu now includes "eject disk"
- Press triangle to eject games/CDs/movies in the XMB
- XMB backgrounds
- Change the folder classification
- Emoticons
- Change CD output to 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz
- Force 24Hz output for Blu-ray over HDMI
- Change PS3 video settings in-game
- "Bit Mapping" in the "Music Setting"
- Save AVCHD type animations from a Memory Stick
- Change settings like upscaling while playing PS and PS2 games
- Add bookmarks
- Web browser security function in the browser's tool section
- Avatar moves during audio visual chat
Custom iGoogle Skins
If you're looking for a few more customization options for iGoogle, check out this new Google gadget.
£44,000 PS2
A 16 year old lad from Norfolk, England, bought a Playstation 2 on eBay for £95. But when It arrived, he got a bit more then a PS2 the contain had £44,000 cash money. Unlucky for him his parents has handed the whole lot over to the police.
EU pirate's have it easy
If you're a file pirate living in the EU, you may have reason to celebrate. Juliane Kokott, Advocate General to the European Court of Justice declared today that European ISPs cannot be forced to reveal the identity behind accounts identified for sharing copyright protected material.
The statement was directed to a panel of judges mulling over the legality of a Spanish file-sharing case, and could be a harbinger of things to come in the EU. Kokott's declaration essentially asserts that although ISPs can be required to turn over identities in criminal matters, file-sharing is a civil issue and therefor doesn't enjoy the same legal privileges.
Kancho WTF??? [Game]
This is funny as hell. I just came across this game that just baffled me, (go have a look at it now and come back.)
So after I played it I did a bit of Google and came across this site and just about keeled over and died of laughter.
From the site:
Let me introduce you to a game Japanese kids like to play called "Kancho."Actually, it's not so much a "game" as it is kids clasping their hands together, sticking out their first fingers, and shoving them up your butt. I'm really not joking.
You know, before we come to Japan, they tell us a lot of ultimately useless stuff. What kind of computer to bring, if our DVD's will work, clothing sizes, that kind of nonsense. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the 3-4 months of orientations did anyone ever mention that at some point, a Japanese kid may try to stick their fingers up our butt. That's something I would have liked to know, personally.
It's called Kancho, and just about any kid can be a Kancho Assassin. Even the sweetest little girl may be prone to jam her fingers up your ass the second you turn around. This happened to one of my friends, which just goes to show - don't trust anyone. I'd say the little girls are the most dangerous cause they have natural ways of lowering your defenses.
I was pretty lucky. Before I came, I bought a really big, really baggy pair of pants. The kids try to Kancho...but they just have no idea where my ass is! It's beautiful! I had one kid try and find his fingers hit nothing but jean fabric and air. Yes! But I've actually gotten pretty good at dodging it, much like Spider-man I have developed a Kancho Sense that tells me where and when it's coming before it comes. I parry fingers like a pro. My record is still 100% Kancho Free. Ha! America 2, Japan 0.
All in a day's work I suppose.
So after reading that you have decided you want to become a Kancho Master, well you can, all you have to do is enroll at Kancho University.
Lily Allen whips out her third nipple on tv [Video]
This is from a British television show called The Friday Night Project
Free WiFi in London but with a catch
Online-4-free.com uses an already live network running along the River Thames. The service uses advertising to pay the bills so you have to watch a short commercial every 15 minutes to use the service, but at the end of the day its free.
To get wifi in London without the ads the pay options are pretty reasonable, ranging up to £10 for a month, allowing 2GB of downloads at up to 500 kbps. As more and more cell phones support WiFi, city wide networks start to get very useful.
A Bold ManBearPig [Image]
Zack roommate Ed recently took a photo of this . . . thing. They have no idea what animal this is but it was seemingly deaf and/or dumb as Ed said he got extremely close to it before it slunk away. There are two tufts of hair on it but, otherwise, it was completely bald.
Singing Tesla Coil [Video]
Super Mario Brothers
These are a solid-state Tesla coil's. They primary runs at its resonant frequency in the 41 KHz range, and is modulated from the control unit in order to generate the tones you hear.
So just to explain a little further, yes, it is the actual high voltage sparks that are making the noise. Every cycle of the music is a burst of sparks at 41 KHz, triggered by digital circuitry at the end of a piece of fiber optics.
Drunk-O-Vision [Image]
Get an invite to private beta services with InviteShare
Do you want to get invited to all the cool private beta projects going on at the moment but never get invited? Well InviteShare is here to help.
InviteShare is a web2.0 where people with beta invites share them with those who don't have them.
E-mail addresses are displayed publicly but they're in image form, which means no spam bot attacks.
Project Blue Book Online
footnote an online archive of all sorts of original source documents has recently added Project Blue Book to there archive that has detailing government investigations of UFOs from 1947 to 1969.
New Gran Turismo 5 trailer with Ferrari's [Video]
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has been reported that the game will include Ferrari's for the first time in its history.
Who needs Surface? [Video]
Want a multi-touch computing platform but don't have $10,000 lying around? No problem. The Multi-Pointer X Server has just added multi-touch support to the X server windowing system used in Linux.
Transformer's Bumblebee for sale
The original Bumblebee '77 Chevy Camaro from the new Transformers movie is up for sale on eBay. It started at $14.98 but has already climbed to $60,101.00.
Looking at today's internet using yesterday's browser
Have you ever wondered what today's internet would look like if you were using a 12 year old browser?
Well, wonder no more. You don't have to install Mosaic, Netscape 1.0 or Internet Explorer 2.0. Just pop on over to the Deja Vu Browser Emulator, choose your poison, and watch as all the things that make today's web beautiful are stripped away. The virtual browser will pop up inside of a browser window, giving you the surreal experience of surfing the web using the granddaddies of Firefox or Internet Explorer from within IE7 or Firefox 2.0.
E3 2007: First Soul Calibur IV trailer [Video]
Girl knits herself a Ferrari
The classic red bodywork consists of 250 squares of garter stitch made by Lauren and 20 family members and friends. The windows are V-shaped stocking stitch, while the details are crochet and the badge is embroidered. It's all supported by a steel frame which Lauren, 22, of Greatham, Hants, welded herself.[Link]
Nintendo’s New Zapper
Nintendo today at E3 dropped a couple new hardware accessories for the popular Wii, including a steering wheel for Mario Cart, and a new Zapper. For those who might be too young to recall, the original NES Action System shipped with the original Zapper, which you used for Duck Hunt, and that’s about it. But Duck Hunt was great fun, and the Zapper became iconic.
We’re hoping that now that your virtual gun can have motion sensing that many of the popular arcade shooters of the last decade can hit the Wii. House of the Dead with motion sensing? Sign us up. What we’re really hoping for is a new, 2007 version of Duck Hunt, wherein we can finally shoot that damned dog who snickers at us for missing. I hate that dog.
