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I went to my local Best Buy to pick up a Sandisk 2GB USB thumbdrive. I noticed there was programs already loaded on it for the PC, but I wanted all of my $20 worth on this drive.

When I came home and plugged it into my Powerbook (g4 550) it mounted two volumes; a “NO NAME” image and U3 image. U3 was where all of the PC software was. My first thought was to open Disk Utilities (in Apps folder) and just format the drive. The people at Best Buy said I can return it, so I had nothing to loose.

I come to find out that I couldn’t trash or format the drive because I didn’t have the proper permissions. I’m the one who bought the thing on my laptop, I have the permission. After that short outburst I put my thinking cap on.

I figured out that if you unlock the U3 application (apple + I or CTRL “Get Info”) I could open up the Finder window for that app. I clicked on the little lock (which was engaged) to unlock it and it worked. I then trashed the file and other folders on the drive. Then I was able to format the drive in Disk Utilities.

Now I have all 2GB of storage to work with and more important: NO Windows apps that will pop up when I plug my drive in at the office.

written by tom

On Sunday Facebook has launched their new “Facebook Connect” service which allows users to share their Facebook page with other online social media sites.  The idea of connecting many sites, such as Twitter, Digg, CBS with Facebook may seem like a great idea.  Before you make the jump for the sake of convenience use caution.

There are many sites out there that allow you share yourself with others online…Facebook, being one of the biggest.  You’ve Twittered yourself into a frenzy, Dugg stories that loved, and wrote reviews on CitySearch.  Now imagine with this new feature you’ve connected all of your “identities”.

A future employer can now connect to anyone of these sites to try and find information about you, which they have the means and right to.  Remember that bad review of the restaurant you made on CitySearch, it just so happens your asking for a job there and the manager is the one finding out about your online reviews.

There are a lot of cautionary tales out there, some true some not.  It is always good to know what you’re getting yourself into.  With data now free-flowing from site to site all over the internet it is very easy to find out who you are, what you do, who your freinds are, and how much you hate that restaurant.

written by tom

This page is meant to mirror http://www.kdrt.org/resources/Rivendell.

Introduction

The following packages for Ubuntu differ from the 0.9.80 version of Rivendell as follows:
- Ogg-Vorbis read/write support
- Mpeg read only support
- When using Ogg-Vorbis for the library format mpeg and ogg-vorbis files are copied in (no transcoding). All other formats transcoded to Ogg Vorbis.
- For more details see Compiling Rivendell with Ogg-Vorbis and Mpeg Support

Install Packages

Download and install the Desktop version of Ubuntu. (currently tested with Edgy.) Go do that. Come back here when you’re done.

If using gpio and/or a audio science adapter refer to http://rivendell.tryphon.org/wiki/index.php/Install_Rivendell_on_Ubuntu and install the gpio and hpklinux packages for Ubuntu.

Download and install libhpi_3.05.10-2_all.deb.

Download and install librhpi_0.94.8-0_i386.deb.

Download and install libradio_mad-ogg-0.98.0-0_i386.deb.

Download and install librivendell_0.9.80-0_i386.deb.

Download and install rivendell_0.9.80-0_i386.deb.

Tip: when installing the Rivendell package you will be prompted for a few options. During the install process click on “terminal” so you can see the configuration screens.

Another helpful thing you can do is fire up the terminal and configure debconf. To do that copy and paste the following into the terminal and hit enter.

sudo dpkg-reconfigure debconf

For the frontend choose either ‘gnome’ if you have the regular install of ubuntu or ‘kde’ if you installed kubuntu.
You can also set the priority level. The lower the level the more questions you will be asked when configuring software. More info can be found here.

Next run rdadmin (Applications->Sound->RDAdmin.) It will prompt for a user and password for installing the Rivendell database. Use root for user and leave the password field blank. Before doing this, you might want to read the Ubuntu documentation about setting a password for root in mysql.

Press ‘Ok’ and a dialog should come up saying “Successfully created Rivendell database.”

You’ll then get a login. By default Rivendell adds two users for you, admin and user with no passwords.

At this point you’ll want to read through the Rivendell Operations Guide. You’ll get a feel for the tools included with Rivendell.

Before you are able to record or play audio you have to configure your sound card. Most computers just have one stereo output and one stereo input. However, there are many soundcards on the market with multiple inputs and outputs.

Then setup your jack connections:

If you have only one soundcard with one stereo in and one stereo out then use this.

[JackSession]
Source1=rivendell_0:playout_0L
Destination1=alsa_pcm:playback_1

Source2=rivendell_0:playout_0R
Destination2=alsa_pcm:playback_2

Source3=rivendell_0:playout_1L
Destination3=alsa_pcm:playback_1

Source4=rivendell_0:playout_1R
Destination4=alsa_pcm:playback_2

Source5=rivendell_0:playout_2L
Destination5=alsa_pcm:playback_1

Source6=rivendell_0:playout_2R
Destination6=alsa_pcm:playback_2

Source7=alsa_pcm:capture_1
Destination7=rivendell_0:record_0L

Source8=alsa_pcm:capture_2
Destination8=rivendell_0:record_0R

If you have a card with multiple outputs and inputs try this one:

JACK Session Management
;
;  See the 'JACK.txt' file for details on how this works!
;
[JackSession]
Source1=rivendell_0:playout_0L
Destination1=alsa_pcm:playback_1

Source2=rivendell_0:playout_0R
Destination2=alsa_pcm:playback_2

Source3=rivendell_0:playout_1L
Destination3=alsa_pcm:playback_1

Source4=rivendell_0:playout_1R
Destination4=alsa_pcm:playback_2

Source5=rivendell_0:playout_2L
Destination5=alsa_pcm:playback_3

Source6=rivendell_0:playout_2R
Destination6=alsa_pcm:playback_4

Source7=alsa_pcm:capture_1
Destination7=rivendell_0:record_0L

Source8=alsa_pcm:capture_2
Destination8=rivendell_0:record_0R

Package notes

To add more audio and video playback capability use Easy Ubuntu.

written by tom

If I’m going to use this laptop as a “media hub” I want to be able to use another source of output rather than the speakers on the laptop.  Now, here’s the fix on how use your headphone jack as an output.  My current build of Ubuntu does not respond when I plug in headphones.

A problem with other laptop has forced me to use my Toshiba Satellite A135-S4656 as my “media hub”.  The laptop is running Ubuntu 8.04 (aka Hardy Heron).  So what am I to do about my music?  Luckily I had my mp3s backed up on a USB drive.  As for playback I decided upon Amarok.  As I’ve discussed in previous entries Ubuntu works very well, with some set backs.  One is the use of sound.

Here’s a somewhat easy fix to your problems:  Open up terminal and type in:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

You can copy this from your browser and past in terminal by hitting CRTL+SHIFT+V.

You’ll now get sent to the file for your sound preferences.  Head down to the bottom of the screen and place below the last line of code:

options snd-hda-intel model=lenovo

Save the file and reboot the system.  After you plug-in the headphones not only will you get sound from the jack, but the speakers will drop audio!  You can also control the system sound volume (albiet jumpy) using the wheel by the headphone jack.

Enjoy!

Credit: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=616845&highlight=ALC861VD

written by tom

Yahoo! has been making plans for sometime to allow developers in and help build software based on a the Yahoo! platform.

On Tuesday the “rewiring” will start.  Developers will now be able to create applications to work with many of Yahoo!’s current line-up of software, like Mail and Search. New capabilities will be built into the site, like being able to track your “friends” pictures and activities.

Some would say Yahoo! is getting into the game too late.  MySpace and Facebook, sites who dominate in social networking, already have millions of users and thousands of developers working off their respective platforms.

Yahoo! does already have a tremedous user base, going back to the days of the site just being a search engine.  As long as a user logs into Yahoo! the site can then track how they rated a book or movie or when they add pictures and send that information only to people who the users says is a friend.

Although many companies have similar types of sites that allow people to share photos, ratings of movies, e-mail, etc, Yahoo! hopes to put this all under the same platform, namely Yahoo!.  This would help drive traffic to the site, which inturn would help the sale of advertising and other sources of revenue for the company.

picture from http://www.dnjournal.com

written by tom

CBS has opened their own version of citizen journalism site. The user generated news site, CBSeyemobile.com also offers mobile applications that make it easier for citizens like you and me to submit photos and videos.  With pictures of cheerleaders and videos of usually half-naked “thezomgblog” commenting on politics it is clear that someone is asleep at the wheel.
Although users have their own idea of what “news” is, CBS is not giving visitors warnings about not-safe-for-work pictures.  Visitors can only see what is popular, not what is newsworthy.  This is a problem considering this is a CBS-branded site.

As the news media tries to reach out and let users interact, they also face the fact that they need a moderator.  Sites, like Facebook,  that seem to be totally user controlled do have moderators.  Perhaps in their need to jump on the user-generated news band wagon CBS has forgotten this key element, which could mean the death of this recently born site.

written by tom

Strike another one up for Apple.  A flickr user has pointed out on their page that Microsoft has published a picture on their website that was made on a Mac.  The digital fingerprint on the image shows that the image was made on a version of Adobe’s Photoshop on a computer running OS X, Apple’s operating system.

Since being pointed out an exploited online the Redmond-based software giant has pulled the image off the site and is using a PC-editied image.

This snafu is one of a few for Microsoft, who recently dumped the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ad campaign after two weeks.  It was reported that Seinfeld was paid $10 million for the contract.  Microsoft claims that they dumped the campaign becuase they “planned to”.  The current run lasted only two weeks.

written by tom

Upon the announcement last Tuesday that Apple unveiled it’s 2nd Generation iPod Touch users have been itching to buy them. Many users who are simply buying a replacement iPod (as in my case a 4GB Mini) are finding out that some of the accessories will either will not charge or will not work at all with the new iPod.

Case in point: JVC has a car adapter that plugs into the head unit of their car units. The JVC KS-PD100 will not work with the iPod Touch. This one piece of equipment became hugely popular over the past few years. Now, according to one Apple Support Forum has made quite a few people upset.

Other uses with expensive accessories, such as the Bose iPod Sound Docking. Although one Apple forum offers a little hope…at least you can hear audio from the 2GT.

The issue seems to be a new wiring configuration Apple has set-up with the new 3G iPhone and 2nd Gen. iPod Touch. It would seem these two forums are just the tip of the iceburg of the Apple/iPod fans who are not very happy with the new wiring scheme.

written by tom

We all know that immediate adoption of new products account for only a small portion of long-term usage.  With that said, a week after Google’s Chrome web browser was released it accounts for only a small portion (about 7/10 of a percent) of the market.

Current Firefox users have cited the lack of importable/usable plugins for the new browser as a reason why they will not make the leap from the Mozilla browser to Google.  Others (including yours truely) have noted that if Google tracks your movements beyond its search capabilities to all of your web browsing, you would be more suseptible to targeted advertising and “Big Brother” style databases storing your habits.

Time will tell how much of an impact Google will make on the web browser market, but after a week out, things are not looking too good.

written by tom

We all know that immediate adoption of new products account for only a small portion of long-term usage.  With that said, a week after Google’s Chrome web browser was released it accounts for only a small portion (about 7/10 of a percent) of the market.

Current Firefox users have cited the lack of importable/usable plugins for the new browser as a reason why they will not make the leap from the Mozilla browser to Google.  Others (including yours truely) have noted that if Google tracks your movements beyond its search capabilities to all of your web browsing, you would be more suseptible to targeted advertising and “Big Brother” style databases storing your habits.

Time will tell how much of an impact Google will make on the web browser market, but after a week out, things are not looking too good.

written by tom