ionz149.com

So I finally grew a pair and did the upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04. All went smoothly but it took like damn near four hours for everything to be done. The new unity interface is still kinda lame (I used netbook edition of 10.10 and hated the sidebar launcher) and I still don’t dig the sidebar launcher thing even though it doesn’t take up the screen space like it used to since the windows now cover it. I immediately went right back to the desktop edition which they now call “classic.” My boot time is now more like 30+ seconds, which isn’t too bad since my first install of 10.10 had some missing file error that caused it to be around 20 seconds instead of the famous 10 second boot so I never had a chance to be spoiled by a quick boot. I also had to re-configure a few things to get everything back to how it was.

First thing I had to do was install CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) from the Ubuntu Software Center. I believe they got rid of whatever handled the effects in 10.10 and this is what you use now to manage all the effects. Although it doesn’t seem to apply the settings in some instances (?) The drop shadows on the windows look like crap and have a massive x-offset.

Second thing I had to do was the re-install the NotifyOSD Configuration since the previous version was just for 10.10. Simple instructions to do that are here. They also added the ability to turn the fade off on hover and to be able to click on the notification to close it. However it might be worth mentioning that “once you run NotifyOSD Config tool, these two last options (to prevent fading and to close the notification bubbles on click) will be removed from the ~/.nofiy-osd file so use NotifyOSD Config firstly and then tweak this or remember to add these options back to the file if you use the config tool later on.” In other words it might be easier to just edit the settings via the command line w/ gedit. If not you will find that every time you edit the file, kill the process and open the Notify config you will have the settings replaced by some odd default settings. I am not sure why this doesn’t come packaged with ubuntu in the first place but all in all it was a quick fix. Link: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/05/configurable-notifyosd-bubbles-for.html

I sort of wish I hadn’t upgraded as everything seemed a bit snappier and was less buggy in 10.10 but I’ll give natty a little time to grow on me.

Lots of good giant sized letters. Crazy color combos, some KOG boys, Zodak and a bunch more talented people who I did not know of. It was pretty awesome to watch. Pics at flickr. I tried to get each complete wall. Follow this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ionz149/sets/72157626551037307/ or click the photo below.

Ubuntu 11.4 was released today. I’m think I’m going to wait a little before updating my netbook but I am eager to give it a go.

- jesus freaks need to chill the funk out (mad props if we do die in a massive earthquake on may 22, 2011 tho)
- it’s earth day, stop handing me pieces of paper!!
- giant pictures of mutilated aborted fetuses are pretty metal
- hare krishnas make beautiful sounds and smile beautiful smiles
- god hates everyone except people who show their faith in him with hateful signs and banners and privately hired security
- I am all for population control

The man, if you don’t know get started here. Country Blues and Sugar Baby are prolly his most popular tunes but I also love Sammie. He had an odd choppy, clunky, somewhat staggered sound to his playing which is what initially attracted me to his music. Even though it sounds like hill billy music it possesses an otherworldly quality.

and a lil later in the game

So it’s been a while since I got my samsung vibrant android phone and I have come to rely on a bunch of really cool apps that make the phone even better.

For starters all the social networking apps are all pretty good. I also noticed all the companies seem to have their own apps ie: twitter app is by twitter, facebook app is by facebook, etc. All the Google apps are great too: Calendars, Gmail, Maps, Navigation, Reader, Talk (there’s many more!).

Barnacle

Barnacle is an easy way to get your wifi tether on. It turns your phone’s 3g signal into a wifi hotspot so you can mooch off of it with your laptop. There are other alternatives out there that claim to do the job better. Some are more advanced and require a lil bit more know how but this was easy as shit and worked as advertised upon installation.

DoubleTwist

It is itunes for android users. It is available for mac and pc but not linux (luhaaaaaaaame) It isn’t as nice but you’ll be fine. Install doubletwist on your machine and then download the app from the android market. Use as you would itunes. Done.

Dropbox

If you don’t use dropbox already shame on you! It is nice having a lil mini cloud with your shit on it accessible from everywhere. You can access dropbox from any browser. They also have an application for your computer so you can do everything you can do on the website but by just dropping files in folders, very nice. The android app simply adds the same function to the phone. With the app you can access all your files and download or upload to your dropbox.

ProfileChanger

ProfileChanger lets you set up schedules for your phones ringer profiles. For example I created a profile called “work” which I have set the phone to vibrate mode at 8:30 am M-F. Then I created one called “play” which I have set the phone back to normal mode at 5:00 pm M-F. This avoids me being in the office and having to not laugh when my phone goes “beeee beeeee ~ mail muthafucka!” Be sure to use the apps exit button to avoid turning off the app (it needs to run in the background)

Ringdroid

Very awesome, simple app. It’s a very basic editing app but it gets the job done. You can just use the first 5 seconds of a song rather than the whole song and save that as a mp3 and use it as a ring tone. Super handy if you have a bunch of music on your phone.

Titanium Backup

Use this to create backups and delete bloatware. Must be rooted though (go here if you aren’t rooted yet). I also believe if you purchased the paid version you can set your updates to automatically upload to your dropbox (Woot!)

I use plenty of other random apps too but these are the ones that I like most. Once I work up the balls to play with roms I will be attacking clockwork mod. Any cool apps you use? Sound off in the comments.