Ubuntu Unleashed

Article and pics via David Siegel's blog:

It has been 41 days since we released GNOME Do 0.4.2, and today I’m honored to present GNOME Do 0.5: “The Fighting 0.5″. Without further ado, here are the main improvements and new features, accompanied by plenty of sexy screenshots (click for larger images).

First off, the Open with… action has been re-enabled!

The biggest new feature in GNOME Do 0.5 is our new preferences window and plugin manager. You can now browse, download, install, and enable or disable all available plugins from right within Do thanks to Mono.Addins:

You can also visit a wiki page with information about each plugin, and you can do plugin-specific configuration. This means no more configuration files, and no more editing preferences through Configuration Editor (gconf). As an example, here is the configuration window for the Files and Folders plugin:

We’ve added a plugin category called “community plugins” that contains cutting-edge plugins written by many different contributors. If a developer were to write a great new GNOME Do plugin today, we could have it in the community plugins repository and available to Do users everywhere by tomorrow. That being said, community plugins are not rigorously screened or held to the same quality standards as official plugins, so users beware.

One of my favorite community plugins is the new Skype plugin, which allows you to make calls, initiate chats, change your status, and more. The Skype plugin is also fully integrated with Do’s contact system, so you can simply type a contact name, and then chose to send an instant message to that person with Pidgin, email them, or initiate a Skype chat or call:

There’s an awesome new plugin by Jason Smith called “WindowManager.” It lets you manipulate and rearrange windows on your desktop. You can focus, shade, minimize, maximize, tile, and cascade your windows. This plugin is so feature-packed, I don’t even know everything it does yet! Check out these screenshots, then try the plugin for yourself.

Minimize all Firefox windows.
Bring a GIMP window into focus by searching for its name.

Alex Launi has done some amazing plugin work, making great contributions to the Twitter, File and Folders, and Pidgin plugins to name a few. He also wrote new Flickr, Gmail contacts, and Google Calendar plugins. Here’s a preview of his work:

Twitter plugin now supports replying to Twitter friends.
Set Pidgin status (also searches saved statuses).
Upload images to Flickr
Search and create events on Google Calendar

These are only a few of the new features and improvements in GNOME Do 0.5. We’ve also fixed tons of bugs, and we’re going to have some intensive wiki-updating sessions over the next couple weeks to bring documentation up to speed. There are a few more changes that just barely missed the cut, so you can expect to see a 0.5.1 release within a few weeks. Special thanks to Alex Launi, Jason Smith, Chris Halse Rogers, Jorge Castro, Jason Imison, Jason Jones, Jacob Andreas, Guillaume Beland, Ken Simon, Mathieu Cadet, Rick Harding, and all the rest. Ubuntu users may get 0.5 packages from our Launchpad PPA, and you can find source packages on our downloads page.

Finally, GNOME Do is free software, and we work on Do because we love it. Do is free to use, but if you could spare a few hundred yen to help us cover hosting costs and other Do-related expenses, please click the ugly yellow donate button at the bottom of the page and we will be forever grateful. Thank you and enjoy!

Howto Install in Hardy Heron:
Add these sources via System->Administration->Software Sources->Third Party-> +Add:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ubuntu hardy main

Click here to install within Firefox or sudo apt-get install gnome-do via the command line

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Did you ever try Apple's Time Machine for OSX? Well if you have and you like it, and switched from Apple to Linux you will want to give this nice little application a try, this application is currently being developed here at Google Code

How Does FlyBack work?

FlyBack is a snapshot-based backup tool based on rsync It creates successive backup directories mirroring the files you wish to backup, but hard-links unchanged files to the previous backup. This prevents wasting disk space while providing you with full access to all your files without any sort of recovery program. If your machine crashes, just move your external drive to your new machine and copy the latest backup using whatever file browser you normally use.

Note that this means you can selectively delete specific backups and still retain files stored in previous ones. (ie., you can delete tuesday's backup and keep monday's, without screwing up wednesday's)

Ways FlyBack Differs from Time Machine

1. There is no inotify mechanism in Linux, so FlyBack scans your entire directory structure when performing a backup.
2. No hard-linking

This morning I created a install package for everyone running gnome, it should work, let me know if you have any issues.

Lets get to installing shall we?

Click Here to install the necessary packages with apt-url or via Applications->Accessories->Terminal:
sudo apt-get install python python-glade2 python-gnome2 python-sqlite3 rsync python-pysqlite2

Click Here to download flyback to your desktop or any directory

Right Click on flyback.tar.gz and select "Extract Here.."

Once extracted enter the flyback directory

To Install double click install and select run, enter sudo password then click ok twice

To Uninstall double click uninstall and select run, enter sudo password then click ok twice

The slideshow is an good example of these steps.

Y can access Flyback via Applications->System Tools->flyback
-

(optional)Alternate svn install:

Make sure you have the following packages installed for your correct distro:

Debian:
sudo apt-get install python python-glade2 python-gnome2 python-sqlite3 rsync
Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install python python-glade2 python-gnome2 python-sqlite3 python-gconf rsync
Redhat/Fedora:
yum install pygtk2 gnome-python2-gconf pygtk2-libglade python-sqlite3

Then download via svn you will need to:
sudo apt-get install subversion
svn checkout http://flyback.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ flyback
cd flyback/src
To Run:
python flyback.py

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Explore the world of the entertainer project:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Entertainer aims to be a simple and easy-to-use media center solution for Gnome and XFce desktop environments. Entertainer is written completely in Python using object-oriented programming paradigm. It uses GStreamer multimedia framework for multimedia playback. User Interface is implemented with Clutter UI-library, which allows sleek OpenGL animated user interfaces. Entertainer also uses other great projects like SQLite, pyIMDBb and iNotify.

The ultimate goal of the project is to create the best media center solution available for any platform. This means that Entertainer should be the best looking, most easy to use and most feature filled media center solution available. Not the easiest goal to achieve. It's a long way, but we have a good start here!
If you are interested in participating in the project, please send me an e-mail to lauri@taimila.com.
RSS-feed of the developer's blog. Get the latest news of the project easily!

Here are some Features:

Movies and TV-series

Music library

Photographs

RSS-reader

Themes

Entertainer supports themeing! Make your media center look just like you. Creating themes is relatively easy.



Howto Install in Hardy Heron!
Open a Terminal via Applications->Accessories->Terminal
Grab the dependencies...
sudo apt-get install python-notify python-feedparser python-pyvorbis python-pyogg python-eyed3 python-pysqlite2 python-gtk2 python-glade2 python-clutter python-pyvorbis python-imaging python-pyinotify python-imdbpy python-cairo-dev gtk-doc-tools python-cddb subversion

Lets grab the source:
svn checkout http://entertainer-media-center.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ entertainer
Change to entertainer directory
cd entertainer
Lets copy the configs to our home:
cp cfg ~/.entertainer -R

Ok great! Still with me? word...

Lets set our media folders with this nice gui:
cd src
./entertainer-content-management.py
A window will pop up like this:
Click add in each tab to add your media folders, rss feeds, and weather!

Now once your done click close.

Lets execute the backend, which processes the media directories/gui:
./entertainer-backend.py
Once that is setup lets execute the Frontend which is our gui to play with :)
./entertainer-frontend.py

Now you will need the keybindings to play with the gui:

Entertainer can be controlled only with keyboard at the moment. Here is a list of all keys:

• F - Toggle fullscreen on/off
• P - Toggle pause/play when video or audio is playing.
• S - Stop playback
• H - Navigate to home screen. Press this anywhere and main menu will be displayed.
• I - Toggle information view when watching photograph in fullscreen mode
• 1,2,3,4 - Change video playback aspect ratio
• Arrow keys - Navigate menus
• Enter - Select current menu item
• Backspace - Navigate to previous screen

Please note that this is a pre-release and work in progress program, so it will have tons of bugs and will be slow, because it isnt optimized/finished yet.

Links:	Entertainer homepage Entertainer Code Page Entertainer WiKi! Entertainer on Launchpad!
Blogs:	Lauri Taimila's Blog Paul Hummer's Blog Joshua Scotton's Blog Matt Laymans's Blog

Please report bugs and issues at this link to help improve this awesome application

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Tired of how slow nautilus is? Check out PCMan File Manager its simply amazing!

PCMan File Manager - Simply Rocks, It is an extremly fast and lightweight file manager which features tabbed browsing and user-friendly interface and more...

Features:
Replaces Nautilus in Places Menu
Extremly fast and lightweight
Can be started in one second on normal machine
Tabbed browsing (Similiar to Firefox)
Built-in volume management (mount/umount/eject through HAL)
Drag & Drop support
Files can be dragged among tabs
Load large directories in reasonable time
File association support (Default application)
Thumbnail for image files
Bookmarks support
Handles non-UTF-8 encoded filenames correctly
Provide icon view and detailed list view
Standard compliant (Follows FreeDesktop.org)
Clean and user-friendly interface (GTK+ 2)

Story - Why Hon Jen Yee made this software via his site:

• Konqueror is absolutely a great file manager, so is GNOME nautilus, but the problem is, I don't need that much functionality. Since I'm using an old machine, what I want is lightweight, not all-in-one and very powerful. I've tried ROX-filer, which really rocks, but I cannot get used to its user interface. After trying XFCE thunar, I think it may be the best, but It really lacks something I desire, especially something like tabbed-browsing. I surf the web, try to dig in SourceForge and Freshmeat, but nothing special found. Some file managers are lightweight and fast, don't support i18n, though. So, the best solution I can figure out might be developing my own. That's why this project is started, and why it's named after my nickname on the internet, PCMan.
• The goal of this project is not to build a huge yet powerful file manager, but a slim and useful one. I'm not going to add too much functionality to this software. If UNIX has told us something, that must be "One program had better do one thing, and do its best." Let file manager be file manager, not a combination of web browser, media player, archiver, CD-burner, and anything you can think of. A file manager containing everything actually looks like nothing, and make the newbies confusing.
• I borrow the interface from Firefox, Windows Explorer, and nautilus, and try to aggregate their useful parts. Most hotkeys are compatible with Firefox, so users can get used to it easily. Files can be easily dragged to other tabs in the same window. You can open related folders in the tabs of the same window without making the task bar over-crowded, and keep your desktop cleaner.

• Currently, this software is still under development and there is still much improvement to do. Anyone intreasted in this project and wants to join us is welcomed. Any kind of contribution, such as testing, bug reporting, translation, patches, advertiing, and artwork are highly appreciated.
  

This morning I packaged the new PCMan File manager via checkinstall, so im not quite sure if it will work well on other users systems.

Here is how to install PCMan File Manager:
Download PCManFM Here to your desktop
Then double click the file and click install, once installed you can access PCMan File Manager via Applications->System Tools->PCMan File Manager

Please visit the developers site here for any updates/news, and source code

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Specto is a desktop application that will watch configurable events (such as website updates, emails, file and folder changes, system processes, etc) and then trigger notifications. For example, Specto can watch a website for updates (or a syndication feed, or an image, etc), and notify you when there is activity (otherwise, Specto will just stay out of the way). This changes the way you work, because you can be informed of events instead of having to look out for them.

Specto is simply a must have if you are not really interested in dealing with yet more, ad-filled RSS feeds, but at the same time, would like to be able to keep an eye on certain Web sites or manage a number of e-mail accounts.

Click here to install specto within Gutsy/Hardy Heron or simply search synaptic for specto or open a terminal and issue this command:
sudo apt-get install specto
Access Specto Via Applications->Accessories->Specto

Specto Homepage

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I just seen a nice little widget here on my rss feed this morning that is pretty nice, its called weatherbug, Now you can Receive all the benefits of live weather streamed to your Linux Desktop!

Lets install weatherbug:
Click here to download weatherbug to your desktop, then double click weatherbug-1.0-1.deb and click install after entering your sudo password

You can access WeatherBug via Applications->Accessories->Weatherbug

Optionally you can set it up to auto start by clicking System->Preferences->Sessions
Click add enter name weatherbug then enter command weatherbug, click ok, then close and it should load up on startup!

View my slideshow above to learn how to use it!

Official Support forum here
Get newer or updated packages here

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This morning I stumbled to a good /. article:
paleshadows writes "Pidgin, the premier multi-protocol instant messaging client, has been forked. This is the result of a heated, emotional, and very interesting debate over a controversial new feature: As of version 2.4, the ability to manually resize the text input area has been removed; instead, it automatically resizes depending on how much is typed. It turns out that this feature, along with the uncompromising unwillingness of the developers to provide an option to turn it off, annoys the bejesus of very many users. One comment made by a Professor that teaches "Collaboration in an Open Source World" argued that 'It's easy to see why open source developers could develop dogmas. [...] The most dangerous dogma is the one exhibited here: the God feature. "One technological solution can meet every possible user-desired variation of a feature." [...] You [the developers] are ignoring the fan base with a dedication to your convictions that is alarmingly evident to even the most unobservant of followers, and as such, you are demonstrating that you no longer deserve to be in the position of servicing the needs of your user base.'" Does anyone besides me find this utterly ridiculous?

I personally think this is rediculous on pidgin's part for not fixing these serious, popular issues and fortunately you can grab this fork with this much needed feature fixed.

Features:

• Every feature Pidgin has... plus:
• "Entry area manual sizing" a plugin by Artemy Kapitula that allows manual resizing of the entry area.
• An option to set the size of the buddy icons displayed in the chat window.
• An option to let the window manager place new windows.
• Two different ways of seeing that your buddies are typing.
• An optional send button for Tablet PC users.

Howto Install FunPidgin:

First lets remove pidgin, dont worrie about your saved passwords/convo's because funpidgin uses the same settings directory.
sudo apt-get remove pidgin-data pidgin libpurple0
Now that pidgin is removed lets install FunPidgin, click link or use wget:
wget http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/funpidgin/funpidgin_2.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb
Now lets Install:
dpkg -i funpidgin_2.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb
Or double click the file above where you downloaded and and enter sudo pw, then click install.

You can access funpidgin via Applications->Internet->Pidgin

Funpidgin also supports other operating systems:

• The Redhat package was built on Archlinux. For this reason it is optimized for i686. The package was made using the Checkinstall spy which simplifies the often tedious process of listing files and dependencies for an RPM. Again, you may have to uninstall a few existing packages or move a few files around on certain Redhat based systems.
• Fedora users will probably prefer the proper Fedora 8 packages recently contributed by William J Bacher. They provide the all the changes Funpidgin has made to the Pidgin codebase. The official packages for libpurple and finch can be used with these because libpurple and finch are still the same in Funpidgin as they are in Pidgin.
• The Windows installer was built using mingw and cygwin as per the official instructions. It should behave exactly like the Windows version of Pidgin.

Please support Funpidgin by making suggestions, and submitting bugs by visiting their site here

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Today, I was bored, and I decided to look around for a good video editor for linux, I dont know much about video editing and would like to learn a great deal more, here is a screenshot of CinelerraI just downloaded and finished installing cinerella, it looks like an old app, but I see that it is packed with plenty of special effects to add to your video's/movies. It looks a bit more powerful than avidemux. What I did was load up a divx movie and encoded the whole movie as a oil painting lol, it looks pretty cool, you can also add flames and other neat things to the video.
Here is some documentation to learn more about cinerella and what it does.

Here is an easy howto to install Cinelerra so you can be on your way editing videos...

For Hardy Heron add this repository in your sources list use the following terminal command:
sudo wget http://repository.akirad.net/dists/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/akirad.list

For Gutsy Gibbon add this repository in your sources list use the following terminal command:
sudo wget http://repository.akirad.net/dists/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/akirad.list

Installations from this repository need an authentication key. Add it by typing in your terminal the following command:
wget -q http://repository.akirad.net/dists/akirad.key -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update
Now lets install Cinelerra:
sudo apt-get install cinelerra-generic

Cinelerra must be set to work with PulseAudio. Open Cinelerra and go to Settings->Preferences->Playback->Audio Driver. Select ESound and set the following parameters:
Server:blank
Port: 7007

Now that Cinelerra is installed you can access it via Applications->Sound & Video->Cinelerra

There is some great howto's/tutorials for Cinelerra here

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Previously I did a very quick howto for installing google earth which includes a nice video here
I will show you a much easier way to install Google Earth in 3 easy steps:

1. Open a terminal, yes that black screen that may scare you or thrill you :)
Applications->Accessories->Terminal

Now copy/paste these commands:
2.
Paste this If you are installing Google Earth on Ubuntu Hardy Heron:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

Paste this if you are Installing Google Earth on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list


Paste this if you are Installing Google Earth on Ubuntu Feisty Fawn:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/feisty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

3. Copy/paste the last command that will update your repo's install the security key ring then finally install google earth :)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get install googleearth-4.3

You will be able to access Google Earth in Applications->Internet->Google Earth or press ALT-F2 and type in googleearth

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Picture and info from Gabriel Burts Blog:
Both MTP and iPod support album artwork, on-the-fly transcoding (converting between file formats), and video support!



Release Notes


Other features and fixes include:

• Fullscreen video playback (go to Now Playing and press f or hit the Fullscreen button)
• Extensions can be enabled and disabled in the new Mange Extensions tab within your Preferences.
• Banshee can be scripted using Boo
• Improved gstreamer error handling (for missing files, codecs, etc)
• A bug with play counts, introduced in Alpha 3, has been fixed
• Writing metadata to file was not working in the Alphas, is fixed
• Issues with the play queue should all be resolved
• Limiting smart playlists by file size or duration works
• Shuffle and repeat are automatically disabled while playing Last.fm

This release also features default smart playlists, created for new users and users with zero smart playlists. There is a more extensive list of predefined smart playlists, including the defaults, available in the New Smart Playlist dialog.

Howto Install Banshee 1.0 Beta 1 in Hardy Heron:
Add the apt sources.list entries listed below to your "Third Party Repositories" in System->Administration->Software Sources, and click reload when prompted.

Alternatively, you could just add the entries listed below to the bottom of your /etc/apt/sources.list file, then run "sudo apt-get update".

Hardy Heron Repository:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ubuntu hardy main

Gutsy Gibbon Repository:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ubuntu gutsy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ubuntu gutsy main

The latest release of Banshee is 1.0 Beta 1. To install it click here, or use the command:
sudo apt-get install banshee-1

Alternatively, you could install "banshee-1" through Synaptic Package Manager. The installation of Banshee 1.0 Beta 1 from this repository can co-exist with 0.13.x stable versions.

Ipod support in Banshee 0.13.2 requires manual installation of the podsleuth package:
sudo apt-get install podsleuth

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If you've been looking out for OpenOffice.org 3.0 or are just looking for a new software package to try out this afternoon, OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta has been released. OpenOffice.org 3.0 integrates ODF 1.2 support, Microsoft Office 2007 Import Filters, charting enhancements, improved note capabilities in Writer, new icons, enhanced pdf export, multi-monitor support for impress, and a start center. For Mac OS X users, OpenOffice.org 3.0 will now run without the need for X11 to be installed. In addition, there are bug-fixes and other minor features that make up this beta release.

OpenOffice 3.0 release candidate is expected on July 25, while the final release isn't expected until September 2, 2008.

Release Notes Here
Full Feature List Here

Download the Ubuntu Version here

Download the Linux rpm w/o Jre Here

Download the Linux rpm w/Jre here

Download for all other Operating systems and get extra info here

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Ubuntu Tweak 0.3.1 just released this morning which includes a check new version feature, which isnt needed if you use the repository below and a few bug fixes. More info from the developers site here

Along time ago I did a quick review of Ubuntu Tweak here and now I see that TualatriX has significantly updated it with many user interface and bug fixes and added 1 hot must have feature which gives you the ability to create shortcut hotkeys to your favorite applications, I setup alt-ctrl-del to open gnome-system-monitor and the terminal to I can open both these with a keypress.

Well what is Ubuntu Tweak?

Ubuntu Tweak is an application designed to configure Gnome in Ubuntu and provides features that would otherwise require you to edit config files and use gconf to edit some internal settings.

It provides many useful desktop and system options that the default desktop environment doesn't provide.

At present, It is only designed for Ubuntu GNOME Desktop, and often follows the newest Ubuntu distribution.

LICENSE

Ubuntu Tweak is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under th
e terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foun
dation.

Features of Ubuntu Tweak

• View of Basic System Information(Distribution, Kernel, CPU, Memory, etc.)
• GNOME Session Control
• Auto Start Program Control
• Show/Hide and Change Splash screen
• Show/Hide desktop icons or Mounted Volumes
• Show/Hide/Rename Computer, Home, Trash icon or Network icon
• Tweak Metacity Window Manager’s Style and Behavior
• Compiz Fusion settings, Screen Edge Settings, Window Effects Settings, Menu Effect Settins
• GNOME Panel Settings
• Nautilus Settings
• Advanced Power Management Settings
• System Security Settings
• Ability to Create your own Shortcut Hotkeys
• & Much more!
  

Howto Install Ubuntu Tweak:

Simply Click here and download the file or add the repository via System->Administration->Software Sources then click third party repositories and copy/paste these lines:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu hardy main
Reload the repository and simply click here to install within your browser if you have apturl installed
You can also search synaptic for ubuntu-tweak or:
sudo apt-get update && apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

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*update* New Verson of Virtualbox Just released! Click Here!
When I last checked Virtualbox did not update their repositories for Hardy Heron, its not a problem, their is a hardy package without a repository. I have created a howto last year on howto setup VirtualBox completely and to seamlessly integrate windows xp into your ubuntu desktop here

So lets install the brand new virtualbox package for Hardy Heron...

Lets Install the essential build utilities so the vbox kernel module builds.
sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
Install i386 VirtualBox without repository:
wget http://www.virtualbox.org/download/1.5.6/virtualbox_1.5.6-28266_Ubuntu_hardy_i386.deb ; sudo dpkg -i virtualbox_1.5.6-28266_Ubuntu_hardy_i386.deb
Install amd64 Virtualbox without repository:
wget http://www.virtualbox.org/download/1.5.6/virtualbox_1.5.6-28266_Ubuntu_hardy_amd64.deb ; sudo dpkg -i virtualbox_1.5.6-28266_Ubuntu_hardy_amd64.deb

Check Here for updated Virtualbox Packages since the repository isnt added yet

Alternate install with Gutsy repository as some people have suggested works fine, just copy/paste these exact commands into the terminal:
sudo sh -c 'echo "# VirtualBox repository for Ubuntu Gutsy
deb http://www.virtualbox.org/debian gutsy non-free" \
> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gutsy-virtualbox.list'
wget http://www.virtualbox.org/debian/innotek.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install virtualbox

Now you Must add your self to the vboxusers group:
sudo adduser $USER vboxusers
Adding user `ionstorm' to group `vboxusers' ...
Adding user ionstorm to group vboxusers
Done.

Setup VirtualBox USB Support:
USB is disabled by default, so you'll probably want to enable it. Otherwise you'll get an error when you go into the "Settings" of your virtual machine. To correct this, you'll need to edit the mountdevsubfs.sh file:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh
You'll see a block of code that looks like this:
#
# Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
#
#mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
#domount usbfs "" /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
#ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
#mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
Now uncomment the last 4 lines above to look like this:
#
# Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
#
mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
domount usbfs "" /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb

Ok now logoff, then log back in so the vbox driver see's you are logged in to the vboxusers group.

If the above doesnt work try rebooting, if that doesnt enable usb you can try this:
Grab the vboxusers group id:
grep vbox /etc/group
vboxusers:x:124:ionstorm
Edit the fstab with the group id # in bold:
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
Append this to the fstab then save/exit:
## usbfs is the USB group in fstab file:
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=124,devmode=664 0 0
Now lets edit the mountkernfs.sh file with the gid in bold:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/mountkernfs.sh
Paste the 2 lines below above the line: "# Mount spufs, if Cell Broadband processor is detected"
## Mount the usbfs for use with Virtual Box
domount usbfs usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb -onoexec,nosuid,nodev,devgid=124,devmode=664

You may not need to reboot, try doing:
sudo /etc/init.d/mountkernfs.sh

If not, reboot, and virtualbox should detect your usb devices!

You can follow my directions here to learn how to integrate Windows XP into your desktop!

Checkout the Official VirtualBox User Manual Here

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The Metasploit Framework is a development platform for creating security tools and exploits. The framework is used by network security professionals to perform penetration tests, system administrators to verify patch installations, product vendors to perform regression testing, and security researchers world-wide. The framework is written in the Ruby programming language and includes components written in C and assembler.

The framework consists of tools, libraries, modules, and user interfaces. The basic function of the framework is a module launcher, allowing the user to configure an exploit module and launch it at a target system. If the exploit succeeds, the payload is executed on the target and the user is provided with a shell to interact with the payload.

This is a tool that I pentest my lan with and can be used to hack remote computers/networks or whatever, I will show you how to get this setup and installed in Ubuntu Hardy very easily:

First lets install the Dependencies:
sudo apt-get install build-essential ruby libruby rdoc libyaml-ruby libzlib-ruby libopenssl-ruby libdl-ruby libreadline-ruby libiconv-ruby rubygems sqlite3 libsqlite3-ruby libsqlite3-dev irb subversion

Lets grab rubygems and install it because the ubuntu package is crap.

wget http://rubyforge.org/frs/download.php/11289/rubygems-0.9.0.tgz
tar -xvzf rubygems-0.9.0.tgz
cd rubygems-0.9.0
sudo ruby setup.rb
sudo gem install -v=1.1.6 rails


Now at last we can grab metasploit:
svn co http://metasploit.com/svn/framework3/trunk/ metasploit
Lets load cd to the metasploit dir, and update it, I do this before executing every time.
cd metasploit
Update Metasploit exploits/modules/payloads/package
svn up
Lets Startup Metasploit
./msfconsole

Learn more about metasploit here

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When I installed Hardy, I forgot to copy my awesome xorg.conf which held the configuration to enable all 12 buttons of my Logitech MX1000.

Lo and behold, a new method of configuring it has come about, albeit it was around prior to Gutsy.

btnx is the work of Olli Salonen. The program runs as a daemon, catching mouse events and turning them into either key presses or proper mouse events which the system can interpret. This eases the configuration one must do in order to enjoy the full potential of the high-end Logitech mice—a potential which, in my opinion, Windows cannot reach.

The installation process for btnx is pretty easy.

Read the full article here

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What is PyTube?
PyTube is a another kick-ass application that hasnt gotten enough spotlight, it completely rocks, check out some of its features:

Search & Leech Videos From Youtube
Leech Videos from Other Video sites
Re-Encode Videos to iPhone/iPod/3gp/mp4/ogm/mpg/gif/amv
Insert Audio into Video
Generate Ringtones
Merge multiple Videos together
Resize Videos for Ipods->High Definition
Rotate videos
Construct a List of all your Videos to share with friends

Easy Interface

Integrated Search

Multimedia Tools

Unlimited Downloads

Local Multimedia Encoding

How to install PyTube:
Click System->Administration and then open up software sources
Click Add and add:
deb http://www.bashterritory.com/pytube/releases /
Reload then click here to install
or sudo apt-get install pytube
Once installed access PyTube via Applications->Sound & Video->PyTube Multimedia Converter

Have fun
More information from the elite authors site here

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Why, the hell, another zip cracker? fcrackzip isnt just any other file cracker, it is quiet old (born in 1998) and I believe the last version was from 2004. However it is simple mentioned for being the first open-sourced zip-cracker out there.

fcrackzip searches each zipfile given for encrypted files and tries to guess the password. All files must be encrypted with the same password, the more files you provide, the better.

FCrackZip is The Ultimate password cracker for zip archives
fcrackzip is a fast password cracker partly written in assembler.
It is able to crack password protected zip files with brute
force or dictionary based attacks, optionally testing with
unzip its results.

It can also crack cpmask'ed images.

Homepage: http://www.goof.com/pcg/marc/fcrackzip.html
How to Install:

sudo apt-get install fcrackzip
Install with 1-click if you have apt-url installed and your using firefox!
Examples:
fcrackzip -c a -p aaaaaa sample.zip

checks the encrypted files in sample.zip for all lowercase 6 character passwords (aaaaaa ... abaaba ... ghfgrg ... zzzzzz).

fcrackzip --method cpmask --charset A --init AAAA test.ppm

checks the obscured image test.ppm for all four character passwords. -TP fcrackzip -D -p passwords.txt sample.zip check for every password listed in the file passwords.txt.

More info from the authors site here
Need to crack rar, 7z files? Check here for another tool ive unleashed

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A Brand new Google Earth 4.3 is in Town with Some Hot new features, check out this *HOT* Youtube video while easily installing this with my simple howto!

Easily Install Google Earth 4.3 by opening a terminal and issuing this one command
wget http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthLinux.bin ; chmod +x GoogleEarthLinux.bin ; sudo ./GoogleEarthLinux.bin
The above command will auto-install to /opt/google-earth and create a desktop icon for all users. Right after the install Click Start to startup Google Earth

Need a Userguide for all the features? Click here for that

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I use BitTorrent for downloading music, movies and linux distro's. Back in the day bitTorrent didnt exist and I relied on bbs and ftp, these are two direct, centrally located ways that I shared files in the past. I also have played around with XDCC's on irc, gnutella, which most people know as limewire. While I will always prefer the old ways, like dialing up to the local bbs and logging in to a ftp, or swinging by an xdcc channel, the new alternative is... "just ok for now" I hope it is better optimized, more secure, and more anonymous in the future. I have tried all the command line BitTorrent clients, and they are awesome with memory/cpu usage but that isnt the preferred way anymore, most resort to GUI clients, and there are a few to choose from that kick ass. Here is a few to think about:

What is Deluge?

Deluge is a full-featured BitTorrent client for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. It uses libtorrent in it's backend and PyGTK for it's user interface.

Deluge features a rich plugin collection; in fact, most of Deluge's functionality is available in the form of plugins.

Deluge was created with the intention of being lightweight and unobtrusive. It is our belief that downloading shouldn't be the primary task on your computer and therefore shouldn’t monopolize system resources.

Deluge is not designed for any one desktop environment and will work just fine in GNOME, KDE, XFCE and others.

Deluge is Free Software and is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

What about features?

Deluge has a wide-array of features, including:

• Web UI
  
• BitTorrent Protocol Encryption - Ability to force Encryption Inbound/Outbound, force handshake or full stream encryption
• Highly Configurable Network Settings - Tweakability
  
• Mainline DHT
  
• Local Peer Discovery (aka LSD)
• FAST protocol extension
• µTorrent Peer Exchange
• UPnP and NAT-PMP
• Proxy support
• Web seed
• Private Torrents
• Global and per-torrent speed limits
• Configurable bandwidth scheduler
• Password protection
• RSS
• Block List Importer - Import anti-P2P ip lists
• Desired Ratio Plugin
• Event Logging - logs blocked ip's network errors and network statistics/errors and other info
• Speed Limiter - Limit the speed per torrent upload/download
  
• Prioritize Files - Easily Select Downloadable files instead of every file in the torrent
• Network Health Monitor
• Torrent Creation
• Torrent Scheduler
• Low memory/cpu usage!
  
• And much more
  

How do I Install Deluge?
Click Here for one click Install if you are running Firefox with apt-url installed or:
sudo apt-get install deluge-torrent
How do I hack deluge to work on private trackers?
Check my older post that still works here on How to make deluge sp00f: http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2007/09/setup-and-spoof-deluge-bittorent-client.html

What is Transmission?

Transmission is a lightweight client, for people that do not care about extra features, that want just a standard BitTorrent Client.

What about features?

• Selective downloading and file prioritizing
• Encryption support, with option to ignore unencrypted peers
• Torrent file creation
• Peer exchange (compatible with Azureus and μTorrent)
• Automatic port mapping (using UPnP/NAT-PMP)
• MSE Tracker Extension support
• Fast Resume - with peer caching
• Auto-banning of peers who send bad data
• Sort and filter by tracker
• Single listening port for all torrents

How do I Install Transmission?
Click Here for one click Install if you are running Firefox with apt-url installed or:
sudo apt-get install transmission

What is Ktorrent?

KTorrent is a BitTorrent client written in C++ for KDE using the Qt user interface toolkit. It is maintained in the KDE