Sean McNamara » Ubuntu

Earcandy in Ubuntu Jaunty

Sean — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:41:48 +0000

What is Earcandy?
EarCandy is a volume manager for PulseAudio that fades applications in and out based on your current activity. Meaning it can do handy things like muting your music playing when you decide to turn on a youtube video. EarCandy can sniff out applications to tell what kind of application they are

Some Screenshots:
.

Video of it in action:

How to install Earcandy on Ubuntu Jaunty
You can do this by using the following command:

sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

Then add the following to the end of the file:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/earcandy-devel/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/earcandy-devel/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Then you can install earcandy by using the following command!

sudo apt-get install earcandy

Got kUbuntu 9.04 on disc!

Sean — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:23:18 +0000

My address has finally been sorted, there was some confusion with the post man and where I lived since moving into the newly built apartment, but today kubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope” came through the door!

With its world-renowned Ubuntu core and the KDE 4.2 desktop, Kubuntu 9.04 gives users a well-rounded, feature-filled and elegant desktop.

Best of all these cd’s are free thanks to Shipit and ubuntu! Check it out here! I recommend anyone that has to fix computers to get themselves one, live cd’s really can be a lifesaver!

Ubuntu Cheat Sheets

Sean — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:15:30 +0000

Cheat sheets are handy, you ever get stuck you just look up at the wall where you have your cheat sheet right there providing you the answers you need! Moving to Ubuntu is a big step for alot of people, and cheat sheets can make that so much easier! So in regards to that, here are three ubuntu cheat sheets to make your life handier!

Download em, Print em and put em somewhere creative!

MoBlock – Peerguardian for Linux

Sean — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:39:59 +0000

With all the recent activity in Ireland with the MPAA you can’t be too safe anymore, you no longer know if someone from the MPAA is lurking in your computer watching everything you download and just waiting for the perfect time to send you that court summons. Program’s can be installed to prevent people like this getting access to your computer, on Windows you have PeerGuardian, for Linux you have MoBlock. We can’t really tell how effective these peer blocking tools are but in this day and age it’s better to have some security rather than no security!

I’m going to just focus a little more on the power of MoBlock though, which is rumoured to soon be the offical PeerGuardian for windows. Installation is a breeze if your using Ubuntu Jaunty, for other .deb users read here.
First open up a terminal and edit your sources.list you can do this by typing the following:

sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

This opens “kate” for you using admin privilages. Add the following to the bottom of the file.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jre-phoenix/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/jre-phoenix/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

You will also have to enable the universe module, this should already be enabled just look for:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty main universe

Next you’ll want to add the gpkg key of the program. To make it trusted, do this by typing the following into a terminal

gpg –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv 9C0042C8
gpg –export –armor 9C0042C8 | sudo apt-key add -

Then it’s a walk in the park:

sudo aptitude update

And finally:

sudo aptitude install moblock blockcontrol mobloquer

After it’s installed you will be guided through configuring moblock! Good luck!

Ubuntu Focus: Amarok

Sean — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:31:58 +0000

Amarok is an open source music player with a great intuitive user-interface that breathes new life into your music collection. Play lists are easily created through drag and drop – and the sound can be adjusted to suit you listening environment using the built-in 10 band equalizer. Amarok also lets you listen to internet radio (mp3 streaming) including music from last.fm.
Other features include automatic cover and lyrics download, dynamic playlists, visualizations and podcasting. An least but not last – Amarok will also synchronize your music to your iPod. For the more technical users a scripting interface allows you to extend the functionality of Amarok.

Amarok, definately the best media player I’ve used on Linux! Check it out!

Eytoy as a Webcam on Ubuntu

Sean — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:12:34 +0000

People say using linux is complicated. That just isn’t true anymore. Back when I first started using Ubuntu there was not much support for using the Eyetoy as a webcam. Now however using the eyetoy as a webcam is a walk in the park! Just open up a terminal window and copy the following into it:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ov51x-jpeg-source module-assistant
module-assistant a-i ov51x-jpeg

And Presto your webcam is working!