Neil's Open Source & Linux Blog

You might have a collection digital audio files -- such as MP3 files -- or a source of analog audio -- like the headphone output from your phone, tablet or computer, or a vinyl record, a cassette tape, VHS tape, or any other old school audio format -- and you want to share it with someone who has a CD player in their boom box or their car's audio system. Or maybe you just like making mix tapes and you want to update your game for the 21st century. In this post, I'll  cover: how to convert your analog audio to a digital audio format,  how to convert your digital audio into the specific format you need to make an Audio CD, the type of CD that will pay in a stand-alone CD player or the CD player in a car's sound system.  To burn an Audio CD, your track files must be in a specific WAV file formats (details below). Note that you could easily use these steps to convert existing digital audio, like AIFF files, to another format, like MP3s, or to covert analog audio to...

On my Apple blog I describe how to connect to Mac OS X computers with Ubuntu's Remote Desktop Viewer . Ubuntu's Remote Desktop Viewer ( Applications : Internet : Remote Desktop Viewer) is really Vinagre, A VNC Client for the GNOME Desktop . This VNC client supports connections to Mac OS X using the Mac's Screen Sharing service, Apple's built-in implementation of the VNC server protocol. The post includes step-by-step instructions on how to configure the Mac Screen Sharing server, and how to establish a connection with Ubuntu's Remote Desktop Viewer.

It looks like the best way to get my Creative X-Fi card to work in Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 is to install OSS4 .

If you use a Mac at all, you know the value of a handy search interface like Spotlight or Quicksilver . The Gnome Deskbar delivers similar features to the Ubuntu desktop, or any other Gnome desktop, for that matter. See also: Dick Wall's Blog: Deskbar - Ubuntu's answer to spotlight Katapult - KDE's answer to Deskbar

Great tips on how to install and customize Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), although a little slow to load with all the screen shots. It's a great way to get a sense of how to set up one of the best Linux desktops around these days. Some of my favorite tips include: powertop adding a new software repository adding the medibuntu repository

I performed a clean install on a dedicated hard disk. No problems there. I really like the clean desktop: no icons! Although the boot up time seems unusually long, Sound card drivers: Creative X-fi XtremeGamer 64-bit driver for Linux Error: neil@area-51u:~/Desktop/XFiDrv_Linux_US-1.04$ sudo ./installer [sudo] password for neil: This product only support 64-bit Operating Systems Setup will now exit neil@area-51u:~/Desktop/XFiDrv_Linux_US-1.04$ Here's why: Requirements: Linux x86_64 OS Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above. Still, this should work! neil@area-51u:~/Desktop/XFiDrv_Linux_US-1.04$ uname -a Linux area-51u 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Sun Oct 14 21:45:15 GMT 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux It's always something, on the bleeding edge...

Although I successfully upgraded my Feisty Fawn 7.04 installation to Gutsy Gibbon (7.10), I'm having some problems with desktop effects. Basically, none of the window manager elements appear. I've decided to do a clean install, so I'm downloading the CD image, but it's taking forever... The torrent files are listed at the bottom of the Gutsy Gibbon download page , but it turns out the that the torrent files take some time to download, too. In fact, the HTTP download from Columbia's servers is coming through at 140 KB/sec, or higher, whereas Bittorrent has topped out at, well, just about 130 KB/sec. Hardly much of a difference, but then I get spikes on the HTTP download up to 320 KB/sec. It looks like the issue is the torrent file in question. When I downloaded the AMD 64 bit torrent, I'm getting speeds of over 1000 KB/sec.

Since the keyboard commands for bash are the same no matter what platform you run your bsh shell on (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) it pays to learn a few choice command. Here's a great reference: The default shell on most Linux operating systems is called Bash. There are a couple of important hotkeys that you should get familiar with if you plan to spend a lot of time at the command line. These shortcuts will save you a ton of time if you learn them. Here is the List of Bash Shell Keyboard Shortcuts For Linux Users Ctrl + A - Go to the beginning of the line you are currently typing on Ctrl + E - Go to the end of the line you are currently typing on Ctrl + L - Clears the Screen, similar to the clear command Ctrl + U - Clears the line before the cursor position. If you are at the end of the line, clears the entire line. Ctrl + H - Same as backspace Ctrl + R - Let’s you search through previously used commands more , including Alt keys ... Read the rest of the listing at Bash Shell Keyboa...

System76 ships their own computers with: open source and easy to use Ubuntu Linux operating system including a cool Darter Ultra portable ($995 with a spiffy Intel Core 2 Duo). It's hard to find a good ultra portable.

I want to move my Halo files from my NTFS volume to a USB drive (2 GB Attache). Where are they? I figured it out, but I have to set up Desktop Search to index all the volumes -- right now it's just /usr. No wonder it doesn't find anything. So, I found the folder the old fashioned way and copied it to the USB drive, which mounted no problem, and also ejected without a hitch. That's cool.