What's my kernel version?

Quick tip: to discover what's your kernel version just type:

$ uname -a

Cheers

Avidemux

So here goes another software tip: Avidemux. It is a video encoder with some really great options and really easy to use. I particularly use it to encode videos for my palmtop, and it works great. It has some automatic encoders built-in, like an iPod encoder, which may come in handy if you own one.
So, to install it, easy as pie:

$ sudo apt-get install avidemux

Then to use it just right click the audio file and then "OpenWith...advidemux". The interface is very intuitive.

Cheers.

Japanese input

Hi! Or こんばんは!
I'm beginning to study japanese and found this great howto to get japanese characters input on Ubuntu without changing the whole instalation to japanese. The input manager SCIM has a handwriting recognition tool that ease a lot when you are looking for a kanji. Just follow this UbuntuForums topic:

HOWTO: Installing Japanese Input with SCIM for Hardy

If you use Gutsy you'd rather follow this one:

HOWTO:Japanese Input and Fonts in Ubuntu 7.10

では、また。

Songbird doesn't auto-update

If you installed songbird with a .deb package, there's a little bug with it. It won't update properly due to the permissions in songbird's folder.
To fix it simply type

$ sudo chown username /usr/share/Songbird -R

replacing username with your user.

Then restart songbird and go to help->Check for updates and enjoy the new 0.6 version!

Cheers.

Songbird + Last.FM

After a while bashing my head I got it working. In the end it was simple, only I had my localhost IP different because of an apache server. Anyway, there's a new songbird's extension that works great with last.fm's official audioscrobbler.


First of all, add last.fm to your repos:

$wget -q http://apt.last.fm/last.fm.repo.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

gets the key and then add the line

deb http://apt.last.fm/ debian stable

to the file /etc/apt/sources.list
After that simply install the SB add-on.
Here you can find the SB's extension.

OpenChrome Display Driver

Hi!
My notebook has a VIA VN896 video card and it have brought me a lot of problems. First of all, I can't run a Live CD more recent than Feisty, the X session simply doesn't start. OK, I have to use the alternate CD to install the system, not really a problem. For Gutsy, I had to install the system with 800x600 resolution, or again the graphical session didn't initiate. There is an open source video driver for Linux called OpenChrome, created to support 2D application for many VIA cards, because VIA itself didn't support Linux at all!! Hopefully this is going to change, VIA announced a web portal for Linux and released a driver for some video cards. After installing the driver came the battle against xorg.conf file in order to configure my driver. After a few tries and a few system reinstalls I got my system working. Terrible...

But today I reinstalled Hardy (was having some freezes with newer kernels) and for my surprise after installing the system with the alternate CD (didn't tried the Live CD, might have worked) my display worked fine with the default Vesa driver. 1280x800 resolution running nice... Then when I was searching for the OpenChrome driver to install it I found a script that automates all the process, really cool! And it worked nice and smooth, really easy to use!!

First of all download the script in the original Ubuntu Forums topic HERE. Then type:

$ sudo sh /where_you_put_the_file/openchrome_stable.sh

Answer the questions on screen. After the process is finished type to test:

$ grep openchrome /var/log/Xorg.0.log

(II) LoadModule: "openchrome"

To test 3D rendering (didn't work for me, I think it is because of my card) type:

$ glxinfo | grep render

direct rendering: Yes
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI UniChrome 20060710 x86/MMX/SSE2

The author of the script says 3D rendering might cause instability on some systems.
UbuntuForums topic

GnuCash

A quick tip for those who like to keep track of their finances: GnuCash. I read it is not as user-friendly as MsMoney, but it really handles everything I need it to. It generates automatic customizable reports and integrates really well with Gnome. To install it simply type

$ sudo apt-get install gnucash

You can find a really good tutorial in their webpage .As I said before, it is not "what you see is what you get", but once you get the hang of it (aprox. 30min) it is really fit!


Here's the tutorial



Cheers.