Why would I want to configure my systems sounds? My answer: why not? You can actually do this in Windows, but that’s for another day.

You could play ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles when you log on and ‘Hello, Goodbye’ when you log off. Hopefully you can choose some more personal songs, but I’m a Beatles fan, so why not?

Please note that the file needs to be .wav format.

Step 1: (In Gnome) System -> preferences -> Sound

Step 2: Click on the ‘Sounds’ Tab at the top. You’ll see a windows that looks like this:

Step 3: Select which option you would like to add or modify the sound to. Your options will look like this:

Step 4: Click ‘Select sound file’ to choose your personal sound clip. (Remember it has to be .wav)

(Optional): I know a lot of people who do not like having the system beep. If you click the ‘System Beep’ tab at the top, you will find the options that allow you to turn on/off the system beep.

One of my biggest pet peeves about Vista is that it asks you for permission to do just about everything.  I don’t really need to be notified that I’m about to execute a file and ask if it’s OK to continue.  Of course it’s OK to continue, I’m the one that told it to in the first place!!!

I understand that this is a security issue if you don’t have permission to run certain things, however, does it have to be so annoying?  Why couldn’t there be a ‘if  you don’t want to be notified again, click here’ option that only admins can access???

Anyway, if you are just as annoyed by the ‘User Account Control’ (thats what causes all the security confirmations) as I am, you are in luck, here’s how to disable it.

Method 1:

Click on the ‘Vista’ icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.  When the start menu pops up, click Control Panel.

Once the control panel opens, click the User Accounts button.

When the User Accounts window appears, click on User Accounts (yes again!, thanks Vista).

Now that you are finally in the User Accounts menu, click Turn User Account Control on or off located at the bottom of the page.

At this point you will be prompted with a confirmation dialog (imagine that!). Make sure to uncheck the check box to turn off the User Account Control.  Then, click OK

You will need to restart for the changes to take effect.

Method 2:

Start by clicking on the ‘Vista’ icon in the lower left corner.  Now, search for ‘msconfig’ and then click on the program at the top of the start menu.

Once the System Configuration window is open, click the Tools tab and then scroll down until you see ‘Disable UAC‘.  Make sure to click on this line as shown in the picture.  Then, click Launch to execute the command.

Once the command is finished you will see a command prompt pop up and tell you the operation was completed successfully. At this point you can close the command prompt and then click OK to close the System Configuration window.

You will need to restart for the changes to take effect.

As a college student, I like to be able to wake up, look at my computer, and instantly know what the weather is like outside. I know I could simply look out a window or even open a window, but I’d rather use the computer.

An easy way to find out what the weather is like outside is to open up your trusty browser and go to weather.com. However, those of us using Ubuntu or another distro with gnome can get the weather forecast in the top bar (without having to open a browser). Here are two ways of getting the forecast in the top bar:

Way 1:

• Right click in the top bar
• Select ‘Add to Panel’
• Scroll down and find ‘Weather Report’ -left click and then click ‘Add’

Now you should have a new icon in the bar. Just right click on it and click ‘Preferences’ to set up your location. Once that has been set up you should have something that looks like this:

Just left click on the icon and you’ll get current conditions (like humidity, visibility, and even dew point) as well as a forecast.

Way 2: (This is new to Hardy (Ubuntu 8.04) and puts weather info in with the date)

• Right click on the date and time icon (in the top right of your screen)
• Click preferences
• You should see the following box:

• Select either the ‘Show weather’, ‘Show temperature’, or both.
• Now click on the locations tab at the top to set up where you are; you’ll see that it looks like this:

• Just click the ‘Add’ button to select your location.
• The weather tab allows you to set up your temperature units (i.e. Celsius or Fahrenheit).

Now your bar should look like this:

Here is a screenshot of my desktop: I have both weather icons set up. I usually only have the first weather icon (way 1).  I like the first one just because I can left click on the icon and get more info. The second way (in the clock) doesn’t allow you to see that extra info.

It’s a link so click on it to get a better view:

Spaces, a new feature in Leopard, allows all Mac users to become much more efficient in their desktop space and usage.

As a Linux user, I use compiz-fusion with my 8-sided ‘cube’ so keep all of my programs organized and allow me to be as efficient as possible with my desktop space.

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How do you organize your apps?? I keep Thunderbird on one space, my instant messenger app on another, my music program on a third, and my internet apps on the rest.

Wouldn’t it be easy to keep all of these apps organized if I could just say ‘this app only opens on this space, and this other app opens on another space’? Well, you can do just that, and this is how to assign apps to open in specific spaces:

Step 1: Open ‘System Preferences’ (you can get to it my clicking the apple in the top left of your screen)

Step 2: Click Expose & Spaces

Step 3: Select the Spaces tab at the top (red) and then click on the ‘+’ symbol (green)

Step 4: After clicking the ‘+’ symbol a window will open that will allow you choose a specific application. Choose the one you want to assign to a specific space.

Step 5: Once you have chosen an application (and clicked apply) the app will be listed on the Expose & Spaces windows. In the picture above (the mail.app) is an example of an app that was chosen. Under the ‘Space’ bar you will be able to choose which space you want your app to open on. In this case the Mail.app will always open on Space 1.

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This post is the next in the series on the newest version of Ubuntu (Hardy Heron). Be sure to check out the most recent Linux Friday posts for other tips on the newest Ubuntu.

There are a few ways to install software in Ubuntu. The first being Add/Remove Applications. To open this window click Applications -> Add/Remove…

Here you can click and install software by category or by searching. As you can see you can sort the search results by the name of the application or popularity.

The second way to install software is using the Synaptic Package Manager. To open this window, click System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager. This has the same programs that are available in the Add/Remove Applications. The only difference is the package manager doesn’t have quite the same GUI that Add/Remove Applications does.

Be sure to enable all the standard repositories so you have more programs to choose from. To do this click Settings -> Repositories. Then under the “Ubuntu Software” tab, check all of the repos except for “Source code.” While you are here, go ahead and change the download server. Choose the server that is the closest to you or have it choose the fastest for you. This could significantly decrease your download time.

The next way to install software is via the Terminal. To access the terminal click Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal. Once the Terminal is open the command to install programs is ’sudo apt-get install’. So, type this command and then the name of the program or file you wish to install.

Of course this program must be in the repositories or you will get an error message and it will not install. To uninstall software via the terminal type ’sudo apt-get remove’ followed by the name of the package.

The last method to install software is by downloading a ‘.deb’ file. These are being more and more popular as Ubuntu continues to grow. To install the package simply double click on the file once you download it from the Internet. Then click the ‘Install’ button. You will probably be prompted for the admin password. When the installer finishes your program should be installed.

For more information check out these links:
How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu! – EXCELLENT GUIDE!
Installing software in Ubuntu
Install and Uninstall software in Ubuntu
Updates and Upgrades and Installing Software