All posts by Peter Ridge

Peter is a product development and management professional whose career has spanned from computer hardware and software engineering to product packaging, print advertising and user experience design. He is a published author and has applied his skills to a variety of businesses from start up ventures to top-10 media companies.
Software

Fix Compiz Fusion on Kubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu + KDE)

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Having trouble getting Compiz Fusion working on Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)? So did I and here’s how I fixed it.

I recently upgraded one of my Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn systems to Gutsy Gibbon (version 7.10). However, since it was a distro upgrade, not a new installation, the Compiz Fusion system wasn’t installed by default. Even after installing the compiz packages, things still weren’t quite right.

First, in addition to the compiz package, you have to select the compiz-kde package. For some reason, Adept doesn’t select it automatically with all the other compiz packages (even though this is Kubuntu, which uses KDE). Failure to install compiz-kde results in your windows not having any borders or widgets.

Second, install the compizconfig-settings-manager package. This is the configuration panel to access all the options for Compiz Fusion. Without this, some things just don’t behave quite right. For example, in the normal KDE desktop, I have focus follow the mouse. This doesn’t translate automatically to Compiz so you have to use the settings manager to adjust it. The tool also gives you access to all the Compiz plugins.

After all that’s done, restart X (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace) and log back in. Run the Compiz Settings Manager by going to the KMenu, Settings, Advanced Desktop Effects Settings. Adjust to your heart’s content.

There are still some quirks running Compiz on Kubuntu (such as the update manager icon sometimes appearing as a separate window rather than an icon in the notification area). But at least this gets it to be operational.

Have more tips? Post them in the comments.

Software

Gmail Storage Space Counter Speedup

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I thought I was seeing things but the counter on the Gmail login page that indicates the maximum amount of storage space for your account is counting up faster than before. The Official Gmail Blog confirmed this on Friday.

“In April 2005, we started increasing Gmail storage as part of our “Infinity+1” storage plan. At that time, we realized we’d never reach infinity, but we promised to keep giving Gmail users more space as we were able. That said, a few of you are using Gmail so much that you’re running out of space, so to make good on our promise, today we’re announcing we are speeding up our counter and giving out more free storage.”

In addition, Google Apps will be getting a storage increase as well. Standard and Education Editions will be getting the same space as the non-Apps version of Gmail (instead of just 2 GB). Premiere Edition (the subscription based version) will go from 10 GB to 25 GB.

Since Yahoo! Mail has unlimited storage space, this is a welcome change even though I have yet to fill up my mailbox.

Hardware

Asus P5E3 Motherboard With Built-in Linux

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Just saw on CNET TV that Asus has a motherboard, the Asus P5E3 Deluxe, that contains a Linux operating system with Firefox (Web browsing) and Skype (Internet phone calls) in a flash chip right on the motherboard itself. No need to wait for a full system boot up from the hard drive to check your web mail or call a friend. The feature is called Express Gate and means that within five seconds from powering the system on, you can be in Firefox. How cool is that?

Since Express Gate boots from flash, it’s not only fast, but it’s pretty safe as well as a Web workstation. The system’s main hard drive is not accessible during express mode so it won’t get infected should someone bother to create a Linux/Firefox virus or Trojan. Another benefit is that shutting down is also fast since the operating system doesn’t have to do a lot of cleaning up.

The downside is the price. It’s only available in this high-end version of Asus motherboard. Hopefully, more motherboard manufacturers will be doing this and with more models in the very near future.

Software

TrueCrypt: Free Encryption for Windows and Linux

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I was recently asked how to password protect a USB memory stick (a.k.a. thumb drive, USB key, etc.) without having to buy software. TrueCrypt is a free and open source solution for securely encrypting data on any kind of drive including USB keys. In addition, it’s available for both Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Linux so you can share the secure data between operating systems.

With TrueCrypt you can either create a file of a specific size that will appear as a separate drive on your system (virtual encrypted disk) or you can encrypt an entire partition/drive. Of course, you can’t encrypt your entire boot disk because your computer still has to be able to load the TrueCrypt software to read the boot files.

A unique feature of TrueCrypt is that you can create a hidden area inside an encrypted volume that uses a different password. This hidden partition cannot be detected even if it’s analyzed byte-by-byte because it all looks like random bits. By storing your most important data in the hidden area, no one will know it’s there even if they force you to give them the password–you give them the password to the main encrypted area, not the hidden one.

TrueCrypt supports AES, Serpent and Twofish encryption algorithms.

Hardware

Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP-HC Spot Followup

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In my August post, Strange Spot on Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC LCD Monitor, I wrote about a spot of dirt or some kind of contaminant in my monitor’s LCD panel. After receiving a lot of visits from people searching about this topic, I figured I’d ask Dell about it and report back here on my blog. Here’s what Chris M at Dell replied:

“Your seriously considering exchanging a monitor over this minor issue? Your call. Any exchange done outside of the initial 30 days from the invoice date will be for a refurbished monitor.”

Seems he was a bit appalled at my question. Nevertheless, it’s good to know that it is possible to return the monitor if you have a similar spot and don’t like it. Note that he also states that you should do so within 30 days of purchase in order to exchange yours for a new monitor, not a refurbished one.

I’m not returning mine because of the fear that what I get in exchange might have dead pixels. The risk is probably low but Dell’s policy is to not replace a monitor with seven or fewer dead pixels. That’s a lot of potentially dead pixels to stare at.

Since my spot is near the bottom corner of my monitor, I can live with it. Dead pixels would be more annoying–to me, anyway.