Check out the podcast here:
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/06/episode-82-june-17-20-2009/

and the video clip Nora mentioned here:

$ sudo apt-get install kino

then, connect your camera with the firewire cable and make sure the iee1394 module is loaded. Doing:

$ lsmod | grep ieee1394

should give you:

ieee1394              108288  4 dv1394,raw1394,sbp2,ohci1394

Now make sure the device /dev/raw1394 has been created. Doing:

$ ls -all /dev/raw1394

should give you something like:

crw-rw---- 1 root disk 171, 0 2009-06-10 09:56 /dev/raw1394

Also, make sure /dev/raw1394 belongs to either the disk or video groups. You will notice in the output above that my /dev/raw1394 belongs to the disk group, so it’s ok, but if this is not the case for you, then you can fix it by doing:

$ sudo chown root.disk /dev/raw1394

Finally, add yourself to the disk or video groups (whichever group you added the device to):

$sudo useradd -G [group-name] [user-name]

Now Kino should be able to recognize the camera and you should be able to transfer your videos to your computer!

Screenshot of Duke Nukem 3D on Linux with eDuke32

A long, long time ago in a country far, far away, I used to spend hours playing one of the first 3D first person shooter games that allowed me to do just about anything I wanted. It was so cool to be able to turn lights on and off, look at your own reflection in the mirrors (even if the reflection was carrying the wrong gun) and, yes of course, pee, if you felt like it. All of this was possible in the wonderful world of Duke Nukem 3D. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered I could turn back the clock to my teenage years and enjoy, once again, the full agency of my virtual presence in post-apocalyptic Hollywood, thanks, of course, to the magic of Linux.

The code that will make this happen for you is located on the eDuke32 wiki page. eDuke32 is an open source port of the original engine and it works like a charm. This is how you make it work:

1. Download and extract the most recent source package. It should be named something like: eduke32_src_YYYYMMDD.zip, where YYYYMMDD is the release date.
2. It is also a good idea to download the most recent patch, which will be named eduke32_src_YYYYMMDD.diff, into the same directory where you extracted the source code.
3. To apply the patch, do:

   $ patch -p3 < eduke32_src_YYYYMMDD.diff

   from the directory where you extracted the source code.

4. Make sure you have the required dependencies:

   $ sudo aptitude install libsdl1.2-all libsdl1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev nasm

5. Now cd into the eduke32_src_YYYYMMDD directory and type make like this:

   $ cd eduke32_src_YYYYMMDD/
   $ make

6. More detailed information is available on the eDuke32 site, the eDuke32 wiki and the high resolution pack site. Enjoy!

$ mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o joined.avi clip1.avi clip2.avi [...]

Extract a clip from a video:

$ ffmpeg -qscale 1 -acodec mp3 -ab 256k -ss [start time in hh:mm:ss] \
   -t [length in hh:mm:ss] -i video.avi clip.avi 

Dump the audio:

$ mplayer -vc null -vo null -ao pcm -benchmark test.avi 

Grab an image from a video:

$ ffmpeg -i movie.avi -ss [time-in-seconds] -vframes 1 -f image2 frame.jpg

Overlay an image on a video:

$ ffmpeg -i input.avi -vhook '/usr/lib/vhook/imlib2.so -x 0 -y 0 -i overlay.png' output.avi

Encode a Windows-compatible video:

$ mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4v2:vhq:vbitrate=1600
  -o videoout.avi videoin.xxx

with a separate audio file:

$ mencoder -audiofile audiofile.wav -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc
-lavcopts codec=msmpeg4v2:vhq:vbitrate=1600 -o videoout.avi videoin.xxx

There is also a good guide on how use ffmpeg to create FLV videos for posting online here:
http://scott.yang.id.au/2006/07/flash-video-ffmpeg-flowplayer/

To change the colour of the fast user switching applet, open the file to edit the colours with:

$ gedit .gtkrc-2.0

Then add these lines into the file (#FFFFFF for white):

style "modpanel" {
    fg[NORMAL] = "#FFFFFF"
}
widget "*PanelWidget*" style "modpanel"
widget "*PanelApplet*" style "modpanel"
widget "*fast-user-switch-applet*" style "modpanel"

Now run this code to reload the panels:

$ killall gnome-panel

(Taken from http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4315463&postcount=10)

Change desktop folder in Gnome

You need to edit the file ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs:

$ nano ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs

Modify the XDG_DESKTOP_DIR entry as needed. For instance:

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/.desktop"

Make Audacity work with Pulseaudio

Rename the file /usr/bin/audacity to /usr/bin/audacity.original:

$ sudo mv /usr/bin/audacity /usr/bin/audacity.original

Create a new /usr/bin/audacity file using:

$ sudo gedit /usr/bin/audacity

Then write the following lines into the file:

#!/bin/bash

padsp audacity.original "$@"

Save the file and make it executable:

$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/audacity

Enjoy! You can use the same trick with Skype and avidemux

Make Thunderbird the preferred email application for KDE

Modify the file $ ~/.kde/share/config/emaildefaults so it looks like this:

[Defaults]
Profile=Default

[PROFILE_Default]
EmailAddress=
EmailClient[$e]=thunderbird
FullName=First Last
Organization=
ReplyAddr=
ServerType=
TerminalClient=false

Change Icon Size in Konqueror

Under the [Settings] section in $ ~/.kde/share/config/konqiconviewrc modify the following parameter:

IconSize=48

Turn off the PC Speaker (Bell)

1. Uncomment the following line on /etc/inputrc:

   set bell-style visible

2. Restart

Custom Icons

A complete tutorial is available here

Here is what I did:

1. You can use xscreensaver-command -watch to monitor xscreensaver events, so you can actually run a program when xscreensaver is activated (for example, to disable compiz-fusion), and another one when it is deactivated (to bring compiz-fusion back). I modified the following script available from the xscreensaver man pages and saved it as ~/bin/fixscreensaver:

   #!/usr/bin/perl
   
   # Fixes xscreensaver when compiz is running
   
   my $blanked = 0;
   open (IN, "xscreensaver-command -watch |");
   while () {
     if (m/^(BLANK|LOCK)/) {
       if (!$blanked) {
         system "usemetacity";
         $blanked = 1;
       }
     } elsif (m/^UNBLANK/) {
       system "usecompiz";
       $blanked = 0;
     }
   }

2. As you can see, the script above calls usemetacity when xscreensaver is activated and usecompiz when it is deactivated. Save the following script as ~/bin/usemetacity:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   #killall gkrellm
   metacity --replace &
   #sleep 1
   #gkrellm &

3. Now save this one as ~/bin/usecompiz:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   #killall gkrellm
   compiz --replace &
   #sleep 2
   #gkrellm &
   #windowranger

4. Add ~/bin/fixscreensaver to the list of startup applications (System > Preferences > Sessions > Startup programs) and also make sure that ~/bin/ is in your $PATH environment variable.
5. Optional: If you use gkrellm, you should uncomment the corresponding lines in the scripts above. Those lines will prevent metacity (the default gnome window manager) and compiz-fusion from changing the position of the gkrellm window, which happens everytime you switch between the two because these window managers use different ways to describe desktop geometry.
6. Optional: You can also use the usecompiz and usemetacity scripts to manage any other application that misbehaves when metacity or compiz-fusion take over your desktop. In fact, I use the windowranger script below to automatically put windows back into their corresponding viewports since everything gets shoved into the first viewport once you go back into compiz from metacity (thanks for pointing it out darken). You will need wmctrl for this to work properly:

   #!/usr/bin/python
   
   import os, time, wnck, sys
   
   def dec2hex(n):
     #"""return the hexadecimal string representation of integer n"""#
     return "%X" % n
   
   def hex2dec(s):
     #"""return the integer value of a hexadecimal string s"""#
     return int(s, 16)
   
   def MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, xpos, ypos):
   
       time.sleep(0.2)
       os.system('wmctrl -i -r ' + wID + ' -e 0,'+str(xpos)+','+str(ypos)+',-1,-1')
       #time.sleep(0.4)
       #os.system('wmctrl -i -a ' + wID)
       if DEBUG: print "Moved to", xpos, ypos, 'n'
   
   def Place(x, y, wID, wclass, wtitle):
   
     fin,dout = os.popen4('wmctrl -d')   # output desktop geometry
     for line in dout:
       line = line[line.find('VP: ') + 4:len(line)]  # get current viewport offset
       line = line[0:line.find(' ')]
       offset = line.split(',')      # split in x,y viewport offset coordinates
       vpxpos = int(offset[0])       # convert into integer
       vpypos = int(offset[1])       # convert into integer
       absxpos = vpxpos+x            # absolute window position (x)
       absypos = vpypos+y            # absolute window position (y)
       wxpos = absxpos
       wypos = absypos
       while wxpos >= width:
         wxpos = wxpos - width       # relative window position (x)
       while wypos >= height:
         wypos = wypos - height      # relative window position (y)
       if (wxpos >= 0)&(wxpos <= 2): wxpos = 0
       if (wypos >= 0)&(wypos <= 2): wypos = 0
   
     dout.close()                    # close command output
     if DEBUG: print 'Position:', absxpos, 'x', absypos
   
     #Send Firefox to viewport 1
     if wclass.find('Firefox') != -1:
       # Flash fullscreen windows are titled 'Firefox' so we need to ignore them...
       if wtitle != 'Firefox':
         MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx1, wypos - vpypos + vpy1)
   
     #Send GYachI to viewport 2
     elif wclass.find('GYachI') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx2, wypos - vpypos + vpy2)
   
     #Send VirtualBox to viewport 5
     elif wclass.find('VirtualBox') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx5, wypos - vpypos + vpy5)
   
     #Send Amarok to viewport 6
     elif wclass.find('Amarokapp') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx6, wypos - vpypos + vpy6)
   
     #Send Azureus to viewport 6
     elif wclass.find('SWT') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx6, wypos - vpypos + vpy6)
   
     #Send Qbittorrent to viewport 6
     elif wclass.find('Qbittorrent') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx6, wypos - vpypos + vpy6)
   
     #Send Pidgin to viewport 7
     elif wclass.find('Pidgin') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx7, wypos - vpypos + vpy7)
   
     #Send Skype to viewport 7
     elif wclass.find('Skype') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx7, wypos - vpypos + vpy7)
   
     #Send Thunderbird to viewport 8
     elif wclass.find('Thunderbird-bin') != -1:
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx8, wypos - vpypos + vpy8)
   
     #Send all other windows in viewport 1 to viewport 2
     elif (wclass.find('Gnome-panel')==-1)&(wtitle != 'Desktop')&(wclass.find('Gkrellm')==-1)&(wclass.find('Launcher')==-1)&(absxpos < width)&(absypos <= height):
       MoveWindow(wID, wtitle, wxpos - vpxpos + vpx2, wypos - vpypos + vpy2)
   
     else:
       if DEBUG: print 'Ignoredn'
   
   #---------------------------- MAIN -------------------------------------
   s = wnck.screen_get_default()
   width = s.get_width()
   height = s.get_height()
   vpx1 = (width * 0);vpy1 = (height * 0)
   vpx2 = (width * 1);vpy2 = (height * 0)
   vpx3 = (width * 2);vpy3 = (height * 0)
   vpx4 = (width * 3);vpy4 = (height * 0)
   vpx5 = (width * 0);vpy5 = (height * 1)
   vpx6 = (width * 1);vpy6 = (height * 1)
   vpx7 = (width * 2);vpy7 = (height * 1)
   vpx8 = (width * 3);vpy8 = (height * 1)
   DEBUG = False;
   
   for arg in sys.argv:
     if arg=='--debug':
       DEBUG=True;
   
   if DEBUG: print 'Viewport geometry:', width, 'x', height, 'n'
   
   fin,wout = os.popen4('wmctrl -lGx')
   for line in wout:
     wID = line[0:line.find(' ')]                      # get the window ID
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wdesk = line[0:line.find(' ')]                    # get the window desktop
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wxoffset = line[0:line.find(' ')]                 # get the window x offset
     wxoffset = (int(wxoffset) / 2)
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wyoffset = line[0:line.find(' ')]                 # get the window y offset
     wyoffset = (int(wyoffset) / 2) - 24
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wwidth = line[0:line.find(' ')]                   # get the window width
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wheight = line[0:line.find(' ')]                  # get the window height
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wclass = line[0:line.find(' jsilva')]             # get the window class
     line = line[line.find(' jsilva'):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     whost = line[0:line.find(' ')]                    # get the window host
     line = line[line.find(' '):len(line)]
     line = line.lstrip()
     wtitle = line[0:len(line) - 1]                    # get the window title
     if DEBUG:
       print 'Class:', wclass
       print 'Host:', whost
       print 'Title:', wtitle
     Place(wxoffset,wyoffset,wID,wclass,wtitle)  # place window
   wout.close()

7. Enjoy!

1. Go to Tools > Options…
   

   OpenOffice tools menu with options entry highlighted

2. Select Language Settings > Writing Aids and click on the Edit… button
   

   Writing aids dialogue with edit button highlighted

3. Check the boxes for the Spelling and Thresaurus modules. This will enable the spellcheck for the language in the Language field, so you should repeat this process with each of the languages you want to use.
   

   Language module editing dialogue with spelling and thesaurus entries highlighted

4. You should now see the spellcheck symbol beside your chosen language in the language settings dialogue at Tools > Options… > Language Settings > Language. Enjoy!
   

   Language settings dialogue with spellcheck symbol highlighted

$ mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4v2:vhq:vbitrate=1600
  -o videoout.avi videoin.xxx

How it Works

You can determine the state of the lid switch by doing:

$ cat /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state

In order to turn on/off the backlight of the LCD panel, you can use radeontool. This tool is part of the Ubuntu distribution so you can install it with Synaptic (if it is not already installed). After installing both, the laptop-mode-tools (also part of Ubuntu) and radeontool packages, I created the following script:

#!/bin/bash

LIGHT=$(radeontool light | grep "looks on")

if [ "$LIGHT" = "" ]; then
        radeontool light on
else
        radeontool light off
fi

This script toggles on/off the backlight of the LCD panel. You can then use xbindkeys to assign a keyboard shortcut and control the LCD backlight at will.

Tweaking the Lid Switch Behavior

In order to set and maintain the state of the backlight when the lid is closed, you can create a daemon and call it with laptop-mode-tools. This is specially handy if some of your applications (usually games) like to turn the panel backlight back on when resetting the video resolution or when going into full screen.

Step 1

Comment everything on /etc/acpi/lid.sh and add the following at the end of the script:

LID_CLOSED=$(cat /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state | grep open)
if [ "$LID_CLOSED" = "" ]; then
  /usr/sbin/blightoffd &
else
  /usr/sbin/radeontool light on
fi

Step 2

Save the following script as /usr/sbin/blightoffd

#!/bin/bash

#
# Keeps panel backlight off when computer lid is closed.
#

LID_CLOSED=$(cat /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state | grep open)

while [ "$LID_CLOSED" = "" ]; do

  LIGHT_ON=$(/usr/sbin/radeontool light | grep "looks off")
  if [ "$LIGHT_ON" = "" ]; then
    /usr/sbin/radeontool light off
  fi
  sleep 1
  LID_CLOSED=$(cat /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state | grep open)

done

Step 3

Disable or uninstall both kpowersave and klaptop.

Making it all work with powersave

I installed powersaved which is great tool for enabling dynamic control of the CPU speed and save additional power. However, that bugger messed up the scripts controlling the lid switch events. Here is how to fix the problem:

Find the following line in /etc/powersave/events:

EVENT_BUTTON_LID_CLOSED="xxxxxxx"

and make sure it says:

EVENT_BUTTON_LID_CLOSED="ignore"

This will make powersave ignore lid switch events

GameBoy ukelele tuner screenshot

This weekend I went for a relaxing vacation in a cottage somewhere around Haliburton, Ontario. This is usually also a good opportunity for me to try and remember some chords on the Ukelele that my girlfriend bought for my birthday a couple of years ago. The only problem I have is that I don’t know how to tune the thing. Normally, I would go to a site like the online Ukelele tuner before I get started. But without a computer and internet access, I would be stuck with no way to tune the Ukelele in the cottage.

Luckily, after a bit of thinking and half an hour of coding, I came up with a tuner that I flashed into one of the Gameboy Advance units I have for the OpenEADL project (check it out). The tuner worked great, and because the Gameboy is so power efficient, I didn’t have to charge it even once in the whole weekend!

You can download the code for the tuner from here (I included the compiled ukelele-advance.gba ROM). If you want to know how to modify, compile and flash the ROM into a Gameboy cartridge, read this tutorial. You can also run the ROM in an emulator like VisualBoy Advance