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Video Production in Linux …

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Another look at Gtk-RecordMyDesktop in Ubuntu 9.10

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Istanbul in Ubuntu 9.10 – Record your desktop.

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Ubuntu 9.10 Gtk-RecordMyDesktop – Bad quality sound …

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The wrong question about Linux on the Desktop …

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T40p and Windows 7

I have successfully loaded Windows 7 Professional onto my T40p Thinkpad, it took a LONG time, but at least it installed. After the initial reboot after installation I went to Device Manager to see what hardware was not installed. Audio adapter, Video adapter, Wireless adapter, Bluetooth adapter, as well as the UltraNav device drivers were all missing in action. So I set about locating all the drivers from the Lenovo/IBM website and downloaded the Windows XP versions since there were no Vista/7 versions available for download. I set all the downloaded drivers to run as if in Windows XP SP3 and installed the lot of them. Finally after over an hour and multiple reboots I had my hardware working – almost … I say almost because the ATI Catalyst Control Panel would not open due to compatibility issues and I could not experience Aero … and without Aero Windows 7 is just SP2 for Vista – ugh! So now I had Windows 7 installed and the hardware working to a usable degree, however I still had to install my Office suite of choice, a PDF reader, an Email Client (yep there is none by default now), an image editor and Anti Virus software. All in all it took me about 4 hours to:

1. Install Windows 7
2. Download and install device drivers and troubleshoot issues
3. Acquire and install basic software

Now … what happened with Ubuntu Linux.
I installed the latest Ubuntu 9.10 and after about 20 min was rebooting into the fresh install. Once booted up I checked out my devices for functionality. Wireless, Bluetooth, Video and Audio and UltraNav were all functioning with one exception – I could not scroll with the middle trackpoint mouse button .. wow! What’s more I could run the cool Compiz effects (including transparencies of course) with the click of a mouse button in the Appearance dialog. And … I am not done … remember those apps I had to install in Windows 7? … well Ubuntu already has OpenOffice (Office Suite), GIMP (Image editor), Evince (PDF Viewer), Evolution (Email and Calendar) and no need for Anti Virus software! All in all it took me about 1 hour to:

1. Install Ubuntu Linux / hardware drivers
2. Install VLC, Skype and a host of other free and so easy to acquire software

Why Windows is touted as an “easier” OS to use and work with is beyond me …

Recent Hardware issue …

I recently began experiencing sudden shut-off’s on my Desktop computer. The system would have trouble encoding video too and things seemed to be running slower and slower as the months rolled on by. Perhaps if i was running MS Windows I may have blamed this on a fragmented hard drive or “Windows just being Windows”, but I was running a tri-boot with Ubuntu Linux as my main OS and Windows Xp Pro and Windows 7 as the other two “guest” OS’s. So what was the problem!?

Well after a while I noticed that 8 times out of 10 if I would used the optical drive (DVD-RW/SATA) that the system would shut off. This got me thinking that it might have something to do with a power issue. Maybe the drive was shorting out!? Maybe the Power Supply was “kicking it”!? Could be a short in the SATA … could be a Motherboard issue … could be that my CPU is working too hard and excess heat is the reason of my troubles .. the list was getting longer …

I then got my Linux heat sensors up and running in my Gnome Panel and watched my CPU burning away at around 68 Cel. when idle and going past 74 Cel. when given any load. I knew right away that this was very very wrong and if I did not sort this out it would not be long before the CPU would probably give up its processing ghost.

Next thing I did was remove my optical drive and boot into Linux without it attached. First thing I noticed was my CPU temperatures were down to 35 Cel when idle – much better!

So that is what it ended up being – the optical drive! Who would have thought that an optical drive could be shorting out and driving your power levels nuts and thereby creating overheating and crashing issues…

Windows 7 – Latest User Feedback

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Dell Adamo XPS

I ran over a review by CNET.com on the newly released Dell Adamo XPS laptop. The system carries a 13.4″ LED screen, 1.4 GHZ Low Power Usage CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD drive. The device is also ultra slim and weighs a minimum of 3.2 pounds (twice as much as the Sony Viao X). And then there is the unusual design of the Laptop where the keyboard sits at an angle as you open it up.

Sure, Dell may have some innovation going on to make this thing possible, but in all honesty it has got to be one of the ugliest notebook’s I have ever seen. It is so incredulously bland and lacking in any kind of cosmetic appeal.

Now I am not one for deciding if a Laptop is “good” or not based on cosmetics, but when you are talking about Dell … well all they really have (or not) is their looks. I find it strange that with all the effort and money that must have been put into this system that they could not come up with something that also was just a little bit pleasing to the eye.

I also love how thin it is, and one right away sees this as Dell’s reply to the MacBook Air and Thinkpad X300/301, however this is a

Dell

and as such I would be very interested in knowing about the build quality of the item – who knows, maybe they got it right!?

In any case the price is definitely not to my liking – again – not for a Dell!