Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on June 30, 2008 by CyberNet.

One of the the most frequent comments I hear from new Ubuntu users is that the default theme for the operating system is a tad too brown. I kind of like the current Ubuntu theme, but it was supposed to get an overhaul with the last release. The new default theme has got pushed back to Ubuntu 8.10, and we’re getting our first glimpse of the new theme now that Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 1 has shipped. The verdict: it’s even more brown!

To show you what I mean here’s a screenshot that PhoroLinux provided showcasing OpenOffice.org fully skinned by the new theme:

(Click to Enlarge)

What do you think? There is always the option to go back to the lighter Ubuntu theme, but I find it interesting that they might be shipping Ubuntu 8.10 with an overall dark theme. Personally the dark theme is not at all something I would use, and I was hoping for a theme more along the lines of this mockup.

We’ll keep an eye on the progress of the new theme, and we should have a better idea what will ship with Ubuntu 8.10 as we get closer to the October 2008 launch.

Grab Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 1

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This article was written on July 11, 2007 by CyberNet.

There are lots of TV listing fetchers out there, but OnTV is certainly different. OnTV is not a stand-alone program. It’s a GNOME applet, which means that you can put it anywhere on your GNOME panels.

When setting up OnTV, you can choose which channels you want to be shown. This little applet supports over 25 countries including the USA, the United Kingdom and most countries in Western Europe.

OnTV also allows you to set up reminders for upcoming programs. Right-click the OnTV icon, click ‘Search Program’, type in the name of the program you want to set a reminder for, right-click it and finally choose ‘Add reminder’. When your program is about to begin, something like this will pop up:

Note that this reminder window even displays a countdown clock (bottom right).

How to install OnTV on Ubuntu systems:
1) Enter sudo apt-get install ontv in a terminal
2) Right-click one of your GNOME panels
3) Click ‘Add to panel’
4) Drag the OnTV applet to one of your panels

If you’re not satisfied with the default logo of a certain channel, you can change it in Preferences. OnTV has the tendency to stretch channel logos if they are not square. You can do away with this little annoyance by opening the logo in an image editor, making it square and finally reloading the channel image. Here’s how you can do this using The GIMP:

1. Locate the logo you want to edit and open it using The GIMP. OnTV’s logo database can be found in /home/username/.gnome2/ontv/logos.
2. Go to Image > Canvas Size.
3. Click the chain (near Width and Height) to unlink it.
4. Have a look at Width and Height. Change the lowest value to the highest one. In my case, the width and height values were 56 and 41, so I had to change the height value to 56.
5. Click the Center button.
6. Press OK and save the image.
7. Right-click the OnTV icon and click Preferences.
8. Go to the second tab.
9. Right-click the TV channel you edited the logo for and select Properties from the menu.
10. Click the logo and re-select the same logo. The logo should be displayed correctly now.

If you prefer full listings instead of the Now/Next-style listings that OnTV offers, you should take a look at gTVlistings. Unfortunately, it cannot be installed from the Ubuntu repositories.

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This article was written on March 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

I never thought that Dell would actually get serious about offering Linux PC’s for consumers. I figured the IdeaStorm site would have been another one of those feedback systems that are there to make consumers feel like they were being listened to, but I think Dell may really be getting serious about this.

Just a short while ago on the Direct2Dell blog they posted about a Linux survey that will take just a few minutes to complete. They are not able to offer every Linux distribution on their PC’s, so they are trying to figure out which ones would be the most important to you the consumer.

Not only that but they are also trying to figure out what you would do with the computer once you received it, such as browsing the web, listening to music, and editing videos. This is probably so that they can pre-install the software many of you would need to minimize what you have to install once you receive the computer.

Then the survey goes on to ask which distribution Dell should set as a high priority. The list consists of:

• Commercial: Novell/SuSE Linux Desktop
• Commercial: Red Hat Enterprise Desktop
• Community Supported: Fedora
• Community Supported: OpenSUSE
• Community Supported: Ubuntu

I prefer OpenSUSE myself, but I voted for Ubuntu simply because I think that is what users would have the best experience with. Ubuntu undoubtedly has the best support community out of all the Linux distributions, so new Linux users would easily be able to find the help that they need.

Yesterday, OpenOffice.org actually contacted Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, about being the second most requested option on the IdeaStorm site. The letter (PDF, JPG) they sent to Dell begins by praising Dell, then throws in why Dell should offer OpenOffice.org, and pretty much concludes saying “call me, we’ll do lunch.” Okay, maybe it isn’t exactly like that, but that was the initial impression that I got out of it.

One thing is for sure, and that is more people would benefit from Dell offering OpenOffice.org on computers because people buying a Windows PC would also be able to use it. I would love to see OpenOffice.org as an option when purchasing a PC because it does all the things that more than 95% of computer users need. Hopefully the OpenOffice.org team keeps us posted on any progress they make with Dell.

Having a Linux option would be cool, but I’m a little worried that it is going to be a waste of Dell’s time and resources. Do you think this is going to be as popular as the IdeaStorm site makes it seem like it will be?

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You won’t find this hack available for download just yet, but Erica Sadun over at TUAW has posted a video showing AirPlay streaming from an iPad to an XBMC media server running on Ubuntu. As we understand it, the Linux box runs the AirPlay client service with XBMC advertising its availability using the Bonjour-compatible Avahi. Erica, who helped initiate all this AirPlay trickery with her early code spelunking efforts, says that Windows hacks are also in development. Click on through to see AirPlay take another bold step down the path of device agnosticism.

Continue reading AirPlay hacked onto XBMC Ubuntu PC, Windows next (video)

AirPlay hacked onto XBMC Ubuntu PC, Windows next (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to see how multitouch works in Maverick Meerkat‘s Unity UI, but don’t have a convertible tablet PC? You’re in luck today, as Ubuntu Developers put together a handy-dandy video of the Ubuntu 10.10 interface running on their very own Dell Latitude XT2‘s dual-digitizer touchscreen. As you’d expect, the $2,400 convertible does a bang-up job as a tablet PC, playing Flash video and OpenGL games with ease, but the uTouch gestures appear to contribute to the overall experience by making window management a relative breeze. But in the immortal words of LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take our word for it — see for yourself right after the break, while we pray for Canonical to reconsider its stance on a dedicated tablet version of Ubuntu.

Continue reading Ubuntu 10.10’s multitouch Unity UI demoed on Dell, makes multitasking look easy (video)

Ubuntu 10.10’s multitouch Unity UI demoed on Dell, makes multitasking look easy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink HotHardware  |  Ubuntu Developers (Blip.tv)  | Email this | Comments