THANE - cyclone hit Puducherry ( aka Pondicherry )

THANE - cyclone hit Pondicherry on 30th Dec,2011. Here are some pictures taken on the next day to show the Cyclone affected areas.

New Hardy Heron 8.04.1 update

after running 8.04 (Hardy Heron), I removed it. There are some nitty gritty things didn't appeal to me. Mozilla Firefox was not final version and it didn't do well. e.g. Private history cannot be cleared. it is not a major problem for me. But it is a bug, until I found out I can disable the whole history can be disabled. Basically, I don't like most visited site information and keeping the history garbage. I visit a few news sites, tech websites, forums, less than 10 websites. The java plugin was not working. etc.

Today, I downloaded and installed the 8.04.1. It installed nicely. The java plugin didn't work. I removed the icedtea plugin, but I kept the OpenJDK libs, because they are used by Openoffice. Then I installed the sunjava 6 runtime, and sunjava plugin for mozilla firefox. Now the java plugin worked nicely.

Changed the Mozilla Firefox configuration of richitem parameter from 12 to 0. So, now no more history of browsed sites, and site visited history.
Back to Normal.

Upgraded to the Hardy Heron ! ubuntu 8.04

Gimp 2.4.0 stable release

GIMP 2.4.0 is a stable release, finally got released. I installed the Windows version which also bundled GTK library together. So, you no need to download two files, and install GTK and then GIMP. I uninstalled the old GIMP and GTK, and then installed the new 2.4.0 version. It worked nicely.

In case English translation is enough for you, then choose the custom install, and deselect the Translations. This selection will install only English (which is default), and save some time.

a Gutsy upgrade

Today, I have upgraded my feisty (Ubuntu 7.04) to Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10). Instead of downloading the Ubuntu Gutsy cd and do the upgrade, I choose to use the Update manager, and selected the upgrade option displayed on the top.
It took around 5 hours, because it has to update all packages installed to gutsy version from feisty version. After upgrade of the ubuntu base, and the other applications update, new icons appeared on the menu.

It is running ok. advanage of upgrade thru updated manager is to retain all existing configuration, users, and other data.
In my view, it is better than downloading the image, and install from the CD - after all I have a 1MB internet connection.

I lost and found this blog again.

Today, I got back this old blog at last! phew!!! This is unexpected. I had a w.blog application which stored the old password, and found the correct password from there. After entering the correct password in blogger login panel to move to gmail, voila!! I got back by old blog again.

Ubuntu Dapper Beta few words review

I started Ubuntu Dapper Alpha 6, and then continue until Dapper beta. Automatic updates are working fine.

Ubuntu Screen Saver 1024 x 768 created using GIMP

  

  

Ubuntu vs Debian

Ubuntu is derived form Debian. But Ubuntu project is moving faster than Debian. Most of the packages get updated and tested with Ubuntu and then they are backported to Debian. Most of the packages which reach Debian test are now, being tested with Ubuntu and if they are working then it is ready for Ubuntu, but it may not be ready for Debian yet because it has to pass thru its quality engineering. The momentum of keeping up-to-date by Ubuntu is very attractive to users. In this way, Ubuntu will be a testing before it is added to debian.!

Review of Genius WizardPen 5x4 Tablet

Genius WizardPen 5x4 Tablet is from a same manufacturer who produces the Genius mouse. The table is 5.5" x 4" tablet with Cordless Pen Device. There is also another model which comes with mouse which is called MousePen. But I preferred to stay with the Pen only tablet.

Features which make me choose:

• Upto 4064LPI high resoultion which is good for for graphic artists

• 5.5"x4" working area. I feel this is nice size. If it is bigger then you have to move you hand more. If the size is less, it will be quicker move which make it difficult to change images. If you have a smaller size, you may magnify your image and work on it. I have a 17" inch monitor, I see that the image pixel detail level I see can be changed nicely with this resolution+size combination of the tablet

• Linux driver support is there. But it is not clearly mentioned in their main website. You have to search and find. The main site discuss about non-table drivers for Linux. However, http://www.genius-europe.com/service/faq/tuxtablet.htm provides tablet driver related info.

• This tablet model received Symbol of Excellence award 2002, whatever that means. May be, the award is given for its cell program feature in the tablet. I thought it is ok.

• I preferred battery less pen, but I guess, you can get that only with Wacom. The pen comes with battery preloaded. Anyway, I settled for battery powered cordless tablet pen.

Installation went smooth. I just connected the Tablet's usb connector cable into the usb port. It is recoginzed as a mouse. I already have a mouse. But both can move the same cursor. Then, In inserted the driver CDROM and installed only the driver. So, that I can configure the tablet, and also get the pressure senstive artistic feature. I didn't install other Pen-software and Corel Painter trail version. Then I loaded the GIMP 2.3.5 Development release, and open a blank image to test. the Pressure stroke feature is working FINE. Based on how much you apply pressure to the tip of the tablet pen, the stroke was lighter or darker.