Podcasts with gPodder

    gPodder downloads free audio and video content (podcasts) for you Listen directly on your computer or on your mobile devices. If you have an android device you can follow my guide at Android Relish on Podax Podcasting & gPodder. In the guide it mentions the gPodder.net service and Podcast Directory, the desktop and mobile version can both be synced with the free gPodder.net service. The website has been unreachable once but aside from that there isn't a better place to discover and manage good podcasts.

 gPodder is available for Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, Mac OS X and mobile devices like the Nokia N810, N900 and N9. Some of the highlights are that it has support for RSS, Atom, YouTube, Soundcloud, Vimeo and XSPF feeds, as well as exporting to OPML which can then be imported on an Android device. Easily synchronize between devices with full gpodder.net API support. gPodder is also easy customization with its' choice of supporting Python as it's extension language.

Homepage: http://gpodder.org/
Download: http://gpodder.org/downloads
Documentation: http://gpodder.org/documentation
Source Code: http://gpodder.org/wiki/Git
Wiki: http://wiki.gpodder.org/

Tutorial for using the gPodder.net for syncing multiple devices.

Android Relish - Podax Podcasts & gPodder

Ubuntu - Mark Shuttleworth Keynote Speech

    Ubuntu is one of the most popular versions of Linux on desktops and laptops, and soon to be in your tv, phone, and who knows what else. Development of Ubuntu is led by Canonical, Ltd. a company owned by Ubuntu's "self-appointed benevolent dictator for life, South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. Canonical generates revenue through the sale of technical support and services related to Ubuntu, and since version 12.10, by displaying advertisements in Unity Dash, the default file manager in the standard desktop version of Ubuntu. According to Canonical, the Ubuntu project is committed to the principles of free software development; people are encouraged to use free software, improve it, and distribute it

    Ubuntu is a fork of the Debian project's codebase. The original aim of the Ubuntu developers was to create an easy-to-use Linux desktop, which has led to a large user base as well as helping people new to Linux switch over. On a side note Windows users can install Ubuntu right in Windows, Ubuntu will install into Windows as an application that will give users access to all the great and Open Source Software that only runs on Linux without having to leave Windows.

    Mark Shuttleworth Keynote from Ubuntu Developers Summit. Mark covers topics such as Steam coming to Linux, Ubuntu desktop for Android and What to expect on the server side.


Get Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Learn and Get Help With and Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community
Develop for Ubuntu: http://developer.ubuntu.com/

Mixxx - DJ Software Review

    Mixxx has everything you need to start making DJ mixes in a tight, integrated package. Whether you're DJing your next house party, spinning at a club, or broadcasting as a radio DJ, Mixxx has what you need to do it right.

    Best of all it's Open Source, free and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux!

Here is a quick 5 minute review of Mixxx by InfinityGalatic (who's been doing Linux App reviews on youtube). He is using the Ubuntu Linux Operating System which is also free and Open Source.



Links:
Download: Mixxx DJ Software http://www.mixxx.org

Download: Ubuntu Linux http://www.ubuntu.com

Old Post featuring Mixxx http://openrelish.blogspot.com/2011/10/dj-software.html

Django/Rails-Like Rapid Development for Ubuntu

Glade + Python is about as easy as it gets for doing Linux GUI development.

With Glade you build a XML-file describing a Gnome graphical user interface using a GUI editor.
http://glade.gnome.org/

    The boiler plate code for a Python GTK project would be some stuff like importing the libraries you need, loading the Glade XML file, creating the initial class for your application and then starting up the gtk.main()-style mainloop.

    Once that is done then it's mearly a matter of defining class methods and assigning them to your various buttons.

    This tool works perfect for the novice programmer just about anyone should be able to get from zero to 'hello world' GUI program in about 2 minutes. With full version control, build environment, and the ability to easily create installable packages.

    From there on everyhing from accessing the hdd, remote file systems, dbus for system events, gstreamer transcoding/encoding/decoding, telepathy for integration into online services, and all that happy stuff is just a few edits away.

Installation

$ sudo apt-get install quickly quickly-ubuntu-template

Begin Tutorial

$ quickly tutorial ubuntu-application

Resources

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Quickly
http://developer.ubuntu.com/resources/tools/quickly/
http://blog.didrocks.fr/post/Quickly-0.4-available-in-lucid!

New To Programming? Learn Python, which is a good choice for learning programming.
http://www.learnpython.org/
http://docs.python.org/tutorial/
http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/

Old articles about Quickly
arstechnica.com - quickly-new-rails-like-rapid-development-tools-for-ubuntu -2010
zdnet.com - unchaining-the-opportunistic-programmer - 2009

KDE vs Gnome 3 vs Unity

    Even though the terminal is where all the action is at, the GUI is what the majority of users deal with to interact with the PC and makes a big impact on how they use their PC. KDE and Gnome are the default choices most Linux distributions offer, while Unity is only on Ubuntu. A couple lesser known GUIs are XFCE and LXDE which are great for lower end, older systems. For example an install of Linux Mint LXDE on machines with half a gig of ram runs the machines run pretty darn well, and functions in a way that windows converts can handle without blowing their mind during the transition.

    When it comes to my desktop/workstation KDE is the option that I've decided to stick with, while on my laptop I've gone with Ubuntu's Unity. Tried using Gnome 3 with the Mint Gnome Shell Extentions, but just didn't like the interface. The Mint Gnome Shell Extensions provide a familiar feel to a new piece of software. Having two launchers seemed cluttered, not to mention couldn't adjust the properties to either bars. Just wanted them to auto-hide but couldn't tell them to. Also it seemed unorganized how it creates new virtual desktops on the fly, I prefer the four virtual desktops in a 2x2 grid pattern like in Unity. KDE approaches this differently in what is called activities. Instead of switching between virtual desktops the activity is more of a toggle, you set up the desktop the way you like it for a certain task, like video editing then save it as an activity. Then you would just choose the activity that you want to do and all the apps and windows will open. The activities do allot more then just remember what applications are open though, will save that topic for another post though. ( How to use KDE Activities)

 Here is a List of GUIs on the wikipedia, some of them are no longer active though.

    Like the rest of the Open Source desktop environments KDE is much more then a way to use the mouse to click an icon and launch an application, providing file managers, simple tools like a calculator and an interface to change the settings of the PC. KDE goes even further then most, not just with the amount of applications it provides but sheer amount of features and the way they are so perfectly integrated into the system is unrivaled. On top of all the features are the options, there are tons of them and they are easy to find, but not in a way that makes the system feel cluttered. In fact it the is very clean.

    While I like Ubuntu with Unity and the direction their heading, it just isn't the way I interact with a desktop with multiple screens. It's perfect on a laptop though, and will make a nice addition to the market space when Unity appears in televisions and android phones. Unity is also pretty easy to use as Ubuntu has been the Linux system that takes pride in ease of use and setup. Although with ease of use and taking away some of the options and simplifying things users lack the knowledge to fix or work around things that break. On top of that some of the ways that they make the system easier to use feels less safe from a security standpoint. First of all the installations are pretty standard among the install base, and as it becomes more popular it will become a bigger target that'll effect a bigger group, like the users with out of date packages. This shouldn't be a problem as Linux is pretty secure from the ground up, and gets security patches, updates, and bug fixes more often then the competition, but it's up to the user to perform those updates.


This video (not by me) shows the new features of KDE 4.8, but is gets no where near all of the awesome features of KDE. It will provide a good look into the KDE desktop environment though.


This is a video of the Unity interface from Ubuntu. This desktop environment is on its' way to your phone and television, and will be a nice change.


Love Linux Mint, just not a fan of Gnome 3, even with the MGSE (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions) Gnome 3 just wasn't for this user. This is a review of Linux Mint 12 that covers the MGSE (not by me)

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and share them.

Ubuntu Unity Not So Bad

    All across the web people are downing Ubuntu's new UI called Unity. They go as far as to say it's the worst thing ever, and other harsh words I'd rather not repeat. I Honestly think it's not bad at all, in fact I actually like it.

    Got to keep in mind that Ubuntu isn't aimed at power users but at everyone, and it shows. In the application finder it shows what apps you use the most, ones that are installed, and suggests new one that are available to download in a couple clicks. I can see why old Ubuntu and Linux users are upset, the applications launcher used to be really organized and quick to get what I was looking for, but with Unity if you know the name off the application you're trying to launch it is super fast to press the window button, and start typing the name of program, then select it.

Ubuntu's developers put allot of thought into Unity. They must have considered that most people have widescreen monitors, and as such the best place to put the launcher bar is on the side, and I agree with it goes good right there. I get the most screen real estate with Unity from the launcher being on the side and auto hiding to the window management. The window management is like a OSx in the way the to option like File, Edit, Help are on the top title bar all the time.

A brief feature walkthrough of Unity



    Any who, with Ubuntu's Unity, you either love it or hate it, although I'd say I like it, but not ready to commit to loving it quite yet.