Ubuntulady's Weblog

PROTECT-IP and SOPA Break the Internet

ubuntulady — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:35:50 +0000

Fight for the Future has put up a video that explains eloquently why PROTECT-IP and SOPA break the internet.

Please follow the link at fightforthefuture.org/pipa to contact your Senators.

Stop SOPA and Protect-IP

ubuntulady — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:07:34 +0000

Vote for the Net is a new campaign where Americans can sign a pledge only to support candidates who oppose SOPA and the PROTECT-IP Act. In the words of the pledge: “In 2012, I will only support candidates who stand for Internet freedom and who oppose the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and SOPA. I will work against any candidate, of any party, who votes to censor and stifle the Internet.”

This site is bipartisan – supporting both Democrats and Republicans who realize what these two acts – in the Senate and the House – would do to the internet.

Another call to action is at Don’t Censor the Net. This site explains how SOPA and PIPA would effectively kill any sites with user-contributed content. This would quite probably mean no Youtube or Facebook. (It would also most likely kill wordpress.com and other blog hosts.)

Many websites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit, will be going black starting at midnight January 18. Please join them in taking these two threats to the internet very seriously.

Technorati Tags: SOPA, PIPA, PROTECT-IP

Ubuntu Tweak 0.6 is Now Available for Precise and Other Ubuntu Versions

ubuntulady — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:49:18 +0000

Ubuntu Tweak version 0.6 is now available for Precise, although it is not in the standard PPA yet. There are two PPAs that are available: Ubuntu Tweak Testing Source and Tualatrix’s Next PPA.

Tualatrix’s Next PPA covers only Precise and Oneiric. It is the cutting edge, first testing PPA. Here are the commands to include it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/next
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

The Ubuntu Tweak Testing Source PPA (again for version 0.6) is available for Karmic, Lucid, Maverick, Natty, Oneiric and Precise. To include it, here are the commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-tweak-testing/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Since I wrote this post, Ubuntu Tweak 0.6 stable has been released (only for Oneiric at this time):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

(For Oneiric users) If you prefer to stay with the most stable version, you may wish to remove the testing PPA(s) so you only get the updates to the stable release.

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, Ubuntu Tweak, Oneiric, Precise, Karmic, Lucid, Maverick, Natty

Ubuntu Sources List Generator Now Available for Precise

ubuntulady — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:29:20 +0000

Ubuntu Sources List Generator is a quick and easy way to change your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Another use is to find which repositories are available in your version of Ubuntu and follow the directions to add them to Software Sources. This list of available repositories can be used with Lucid, Maverick, Natty, Oneiric and Precise.

Here is where we begin:

I have selected my country and Ubuntu version (Precise, even though it is not yet recommended). Then there are sections for the Ubuntu repositories and updates. After this come the third party repositories – such as the Google Linux, Mozilla Daily Build Team, Opera or Webmin repositories.

It is good when the Ubuntu Sources List Generator is available for the new Alpha release. You can upgrade to the new version, while knowing that Google Chrome, Opera or other creature comforts are available.

More repositories will appear on this page as they are readied for Precise.

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu Sources List Generator, Ubuntu, Lucid, Maverick, Natty, Oneiric, Precise, repositories

Google Easter Egg for the Holidays

ubuntulady — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:46:56 +0000

This is courtesy of the How-To Geek.

What you need to do is to type Let it snow into Google’s search box and hit return. Then you will see a flurry of snowflakes falling. Hit the “Defrost” button when the flurry is over and you will be able to see the entire screen again.

Technorati Tags: Google, Easter egg

Ubuntu Tweak 0.6 Is Close to Release

ubuntulady — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:28:50 +0000

Tualatrix has just announced on the Ubuntu Tweak Blog that Ubuntu Tweak 0.6 is close to being released. It is now available for Oneiric by opening the terminal or typing Alt + F2, and typing:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-tweak-testing/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

(I am still using the version for Oneiric, although I upgraded to Precise Pangolin yesterday.)

The major changes to Ubuntu Tweak include:

Support for three major desktop environments: Unity, Unity-2D, GNOME Shell.

More tweaks have been added – for instance, Unity Settings.

The usability of the Janitor has been improved.

Here is a shot of Unity Settings:

Please note: if you use the Unity launcher at the bottom as discussed by Web Upd8, there is a critical bug. When running Ubuntu Tweak 0.6, then going to Tweaks > Unity Settings, Unity crashes. The Unity Bottom Launcher must be removed before testing of Ubuntu Tweak 0.6.

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu Tweak, Ubuntu, Oneiric

PayPal Support Coming to Ubuntu Software Center

ubuntulady — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:23:38 +0000

Canonical has just announced that they are close to releasing PayPal support in Ubuntu Pay, the payment service behind the Ubuntu Software Center. Here is a glimpse of what it will look like:

Support for PayPal payments in Ubuntu has been requested for some time, especially by people who live in areas that are unsupported by the current Ubuntu payment service.

Canonical is planning to launch this new feature before Christmas.

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, PayPal

Change In Precise Release Schedule

ubuntulady — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:09:59 +0000

After the December 1 release of the first Alpha of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), Canonical decided to change the official release schedule and remove the Release Candidate version. It was supposed to be released on April 19, 2012 but is no longer present on the schedule.

Here is the current release schedule for Precise Pangolin (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS):

December 1, 2011 Alpha 1 release
February 2, 2012 Alpha 2 release
March 1, 2012 Beta 1 release
March 22, 2012 Beta 2 release
April 26, 2012 Final release

Since Precise is an LTS release, it will have at least 4 regular maintenance releases:

Ubuntu 12.04.1 August 16, 2012
Ubuntu 12.04.2 February 7, 2013
Ubuntu 12.04.3 mid-summer 2013
Ubuntu 12.04.4 January 24, 2014

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, Precise

Precise Pangolin Alpha 1 Has Been Released

ubuntulady — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:49:26 +0000

Precise Pangolin (Ubuntu 12.04 Alpha 1) has been released. As a pre-release, this Alpha 1 is not advised for use by anyone who needs a stable system or is not comfortable running into frequent breakage. It is however recommended both for developers and also for those who want to help test, report or fix bugs.

New in Precise Alpha 1:

It uses the 3.2.0-2.5 Ubuntu kernel which is based on the recent 3.2-rc3 Linux kernel.
Banshee has been removed as the default media player and replaced by Rhythmbox.

Alpha 1 is the first in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Precise development cycle. You can download the Precise Alpha 1 here:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/alpha-1/
(Ubuntu Desktop, Server, ARM)

Additional images are also available at:

http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu Server Cloud and EC2)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/precise/alpha-1/ (Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/precise/alpha-1/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/precise/alpha-1/ (Lubuntu)

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, Precise

Stop Internet Censorship

ubuntulady — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:17:40 +0000

From OMG!Ubuntu:

The “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) bill, combined with the PROTECT IP Act, will give the U.S. Justice Department the power to force ISPs to block access to any website that is suspected of hosting or linking to copyrighted material.

This means self-declared “rights-holders” will be able to go after the disputed sites’ hosting companies; search engines that do not filter them out; and payment services that support them. As the writer for OMG!Ubuntu put it:

“From YouTube to Wikipedia; if it’s accused then the lights go out.”

All of this will be without due recourse. Apparently, according to the MPAA and other outfits that back this bill, “innocent until proven guilty” is no longer in operation.

To make matters worse: because much of the internet’s hosting and hardware is located within the U.S., SOPA will cause the internet of the rest of the world to be policed by the U.S.

Thankfully, there is opposition. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia and other technology companies have sent an open letter to ranking members of the U.S. Congress, saying in part:

…the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of web sites. We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation, as well as to our Nation’s cybersecurity. We cannot support these bills as written…

The online campaign group Aavaz has an online petition which people from all over the world are being asked to sign. It will be delivered to the U.S. Senate before the bill is voted on later this month:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet_d/?ciSZkcb

Another way to fight this censorship is at americancensorship.org.

Please help us fight censorship before it is too late.

Technorati Tags: censorship, SOPA