HOW TO set different wallpapers on each workspace in Ubuntu

I always wondered if it is possible to have different wallpapers on different workspaces in Ubuntu using GNOME just as it is possible using KDE. In tried out many tips given on different forums like installing a separate package called wallpapoz to do it or fiddling around with nautilus which often resulted in giving black screens... but the best method to have different wallpapers on different workspaces i found is the following ...best because it is really easy to follow and also as easy to revert back if u don't like it... so it goes like this...

A few things to note before we start:

• You have Ubuntu 8.04 running. (Though it should work with earlier versions as well. But I haven’t tried it.)

• You have installed Compiz Config Settings Manager. Check under System ->Preferences if Advanced Desktop Effect Setting/Compiz Config Settings Manager is there.
• It would be better if you have Avant Window Navigator and screenlets/desklets installed. (that would virtually eliminate the need for icons which u wont be able have after making the following changes.. PS: desktop looks better without icons and with these widgets n all)
  

Now just follow the following steps:

1. Go under System> Preferences> Advanced Desktop Settings/Compiz Config Settings Manager
2. 
3. Select Desktop Cube >Appearance> Background images or Wallpaper in the latest version earlier versionlatest version
   
4. Click New under background images and add all the images you want as background.
5. Alt + F2 to launch the Run Terminal.
6. Type in gconf-editor and press enter..
7. Go under apps > nautilus > preferences
8. Deselect ‘Show Desktop’.

yoyo..That’s it. Now just check out all the workspaces.

Important:
You will notice that you can’t right-click on the desktop and all the desktop shortcuts are no more there. But don’t worry they are not gone. You will have to go under Places > Desktop to see all the things you had on d original desktop. This is one thing you will have to sacrifice if you want to have different wallpapers on each workspace but as i pointed out earlier that if you have enabled Avant Window Navigator and screenlets, u will not miss them....

\m/ Enjoy different wallpapers on all your workspaces. \m/

If you have followed this post do write in your comments and send in screenshots of your desktops with different wallpapers..

HOW TO make a GSM data card (like Airtel, Vodafone data cards) work in linux

It all started when one of my friends Prakhar who has an Airtel data card wanted to shift entirely from windows to linux... but the only problem was that the data card wasn't working... we tried to make it work , tried googling to figure out on how to make it work but it was of no use..we could not get all d useful info in one place where the whole process was given to install it on linux.. then we went to our champ friend LYNUS (something is there in the same i guess)for help... he worked for around 2-3 hrs and figured out everything and made it to work.... :)

LYNUS at work- click here to download one of his projects

The process:

plugin the datacard and type : ls /dev/ttyUSB*
check if the following files are listed
/dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/ttyUSB1 /dev/ttyUSB2 /dev/ttyUSB3
if not then

Download the file : huaweiAktBbo.c
(http://www.kanoistika.sk/bobovsky/archiv/umts/huaweiAktBbo.c)
type lsusb and check the output ...

It should b something like this:

rishi@rishi-laptop:/proc$ lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 12d1:1001 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E620 USB Modem
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

line number 5 shows the vendor ID is 0x12d1 and product ID is 0x1001

now open the c file and search for
vendor = 0x12d1;
product = 0x1003;
and replace dem with your values...
vendor = 0x12d1;
product = 0x1001;
in my case

The libusb-dev package is required to compile the c file..
to install it Ubuntu or Debian users Type:
sudo apt-get install libusb-dev

Compile:
gcc huaweiAktBbo.c -o huaweiAktBbo -lusb
Run:
sudo huaweiAktBbo

Download the GUI from betavine:
https://forge.betavine.net/frs/?group_id=12&release_id=116
pick your choice from the list whichever is applicable for you and download the software..

chmod +x vodafone-mobile-connect-card-driver-for-linux-2.0.beta2-ubuntu-installer.run
./vodafone-mobile-connect-card-driver-for-linux-2.0.beta2-ubuntu-installer.run
On running the setup it might get stuck for a while downloading dependencies ... so get a cup of coffee and get back...if it is still not done then wait ..if dere is a message Installation complete den everthing is fyn..

once the software is installed then run it from the applications--> internet --> vodafone ...
a windows will pop up listing the devices found ..press ok if your device is listed ....den make a new profile ...

give a profile name... username and password (if it is not to authenticate your account den give some random values)...choose your connection type and authentication mode and den give the APN... for example , for airtel india users it is airtelgprs.com... check it with your service provider...
its done.. now connect and enjoy....


yoyo...happy surfing... :)

VLC media player 0.9.2 is out !!!!

VLC media player today is one of the most widely used media players...few of the main reasons for it being so popular are d facts that it is a free cross-platform media player which can play almost all formats for u without the need of downloading and installing additional codecs from here and there and can also be used as a streaming server, with extended features (video on demand, on the fly transcoding, ...) .... other features can b chkd out on its site...

After more than 2 years of development & 100,000,000 VLC media player 0.8.6 downloads, the VideoLAN team has released of VLC media player 0.9.2, codename "Grishenko"..

one of the areas where vlc was behind other media players was definitely its UI... it has improved it a lot in this release... some of the most notable changes in this release are: metadata support, new media library, album art support , fullscreen controller, better playlist management, last.fm support, new filters, decoders, etc...etc... for a comprehensive list of new features click here ...

Installation Guidelines for hardy users :

add the following in your software sources: "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/ubuntu hardy main"

then start the synaptic packet manager and update your apt cache by reloading...

then first remove the old version by searching for vlc and select completely remove option for vlc and vlc-nox

and then install the new version by selecting vlc and vlc-nox and apply the changes...
You should also install vlc-plugin-esd, mozilla-plugin-vlc and libdvdcss2.

for people using other OSes --> first uninstall the previous version of vlc installed on your comp and nly den install the newer version...

SongBird - The Open Media Player

Since the time shifted to Linux , i was looking for an equivalent of iTunes ..
i used Rhythmbox , Exaile, Amarok , banshee, audacious, etc..... but wasn't really satisfied with them...

Rhythmbox has no EQ and its interface is hardly customisable ... amarok is for KDE (which i don't like to use)... Exaile is supposed to be a clone of amarok for gnome users, but it is far from a finished product... other players too have their cons...

So i was searching for a better audio player for my system and then i came across Songbird..
Songbird promises to be the Firefox of media players. Songbird is an open-source customizable media player that's under active development.

The songbird developers are working on creating a non-proprietary, cross platform, extensible tool that will help enable new ways to playback, manage, and discover music. There are several features of which the team is proud of, but they are the first to admit that others need ironing out, are experimental, or are just plain missing. There's still a lot to do.

But the important thing is that it is being developed fast ... i installed the previous version (0.6) a months back and after upgrading to the latest version (0.7) i was really amazed with all the new features it was offering .... i must say i has most of the feautres from the best of the players like smart playlists, album art cover flow, last.fm, shoutcast besides having an amazing number of addons and extensions that are available to us...it has large support from the mozilla developers and others from the open source world..

And yeah one thing that i forgot to mention is about the OS support... it runs on all major platforms.. it has released versions for windows , linux, Mac OS X for both 32 and 64 bit machines..and IT CAN also play video files... ithas support for many formats like mpg, mp4, mov...and it will increase with time as more extensions are developed by its ever growing community...

So visit Songbird, look at the list of all the kewl features it has to offer till u download it and start using it ;) ..

Google Enters the Browser Wars with Chrome Beta

Google has released the beta version of its new open-source Chrome Web browser.

The download is available now via http://www.google.com/chrome/ in 122 countries and 43 languages. It will run on Windows-based computers running XP or Vista, but Mac and Linux versions are still in the works.

News over Chrome broke Monday after Google inadvertently published a Web comic book with details about the browser.

Now the question is ---> Will Chrome encroach on IE territory? Google officials took pains to not even mention t's name during Tuesday's press event, though Google co-founder Sergey Brin did acknowledge when questioned that if "IE9 was much, much better as a consequence of Chrome, we would consider that a success."

Larry Page, Google's other co-founder, dismissed the idea that Chrome was a reaction to IE8. "We started this two years ago," he said. "I think having a world in which the main sort of code that you're using is open-sourced and people can improve it and there's a healthy eco-system, I think, is very important."

Chrome alone will not be a major moneymaker for Google but if Chrome can improve the user experience, that will encourage more Internet use and ultimately create more revenue for Google.

"If we make our site faster by 20 percent, we can get substantially more usage and that generate directly into revenues," Page said.

Now the question arises that where does this leave Mozilla and its open-source Firefox browser? Mozilla and Google have coordinated on several projects and the two companies recently extended their economic partnership until at least 2011.

Rather than crush Firefox, Chrome could actually help its expansion, suggested Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google.

"Our hope is that by adding our voice, we expand the overall pie," Pichai said. "Our hope is that by adding our voice, more people realize there is a choice" in browsers.

"Firefox market share has been anything but static," Page said. "It has been increasing like crazy."

So why not continue collaborating with Mozilla?

"We did not want to impose our views on anyone else," Pichai said.

In a Tuesday morning blog post, Mozilla chief executive John Lilly wrote that Chrome's release will not significantly affect Mozilla's relationship with Google.

"Mozilla and Google have always been different organizations, with different missions, reasons for existing, and ways of doing things," he wrote.

Mitchell Baker, chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation, wrote in a separate blog post that Chrome will validate "once again the central idea that this tool we call the browser is fundamentally important."

Google's incentive for releasing Chrome is not to become the dominant browser provider, but to "take away the desktop ownership from Microsoft," McLeish said. "It's not a play into the browser market, but a building block for Google's other tools and services."

Mozilla should be worried about Chrome, which could see itself folded into the Google browser in future. "I think that what we will see is that Google will be able to take advantage of the 20 percent market share Firefox has gained."

For a quick look of chrome's features click here.