Chromium, the open-source project behind the popular Google Chrome Browser, is now in its Alpha development stage. We now have some options that allow us to change the default search provider or allow us to have th home button on the address bar (FTW!). However, and this could just be me, i can not get the start page to be the new tabs page, it always goes to the about:linux-splash page.

Thankfully, the solution is quick and easy:
Just add “chrome://newtab” after the chromium-browser command.
chromium-browser chrome://newtab
That really is just it and now it behaves a lot more like the Google Chrome browser on the other operating systems. Obviously this can be used to open Chromium to any URL you please.

I hope this has helped anyone out there who was getting slightly irritated with the default opening page.

Like most people, i have a busy life. I attend University for one, so that means i have to be at lectures, seminars, tutorials and practicals at certain times and do huge amounts of work when not at the University itself. I also have hobbies which keep me occupied and even when i don’t have overly much to do, or i need a break, i tend watch a good TV program likes Scrubs.:)

However, every now and again, when im out and about, i like to take a second, sit down and just watch the world pass by… how weird is that! It’s a really sobering thing to do… and it sort of feels unreal to me. You can just watch people walk by, see the emotions from their face and eyes and wonder what they must be going through. Sometimes we forget that these are other people, with emotions and life’s of their own.What i find odd the most though, is that looking at these people, you will probably never see them again, or if you do you won’t notice them. That always just stuns me.

I play this another way sometimes. When walking along, you can just lock eyes with anyone walking the other way, and if you focus you have a split second insight into their life’s. Like how they’re feeling, if they are in a rush, or even  if they are hungry (weird enough). The funny thing is, most people won’t even notice you, they like most will be caught up in their own lives. Some do notice me, and i always just give a smile and 50% do smile back which is a nice feeling.

I don’t really know where i’m going with this. I guess it always just makes me think more about other people.  Just remember, that whenever you talk to someone passing, a shop assiatant or whatever, you are just scratching the surface, if that. They have their own lives and issues, and sometimes a friendly smile or hello can do a world of a difference. Take an intrest, if they look troubled ask them whats up! So give it a go, and maybe tell me what you think about it or the reactions you get.

Keep it easy Internet
Luke

So i was Google’ing how to get rid of the hot corners in Gnome just a second ago, when i noticed something a little odd about all of my Google results, can you spot it below?

I went through the pages and after the next few were all the same i assumed it was just something up with Google, but i did want to be sure that it wasn’t just Google hating Gnome

Oh well must be just Google doing something then, it couldn’t possibly hate kittens and think they are Malware…. or are they…. :O

One more thing, just for a little fun….

Google can't even trust itself!

Thanks for reading!

Those of you who know me in real life will know i love Linux. I love how its quick and never slows down. I love the idea that almost everything is open-source and the fact that almost everything i could look at the code, add to or improve, although that would be hard to do with some of the great software out there.

However, something still isn’t right. I switch between Microsoft Vista and Fedora a lot, only using Vista for playing games, or if i really need Photoshop for something i can’t figure out how to do in GIMP. Its not the lack of games that i think is wrong, sure it would be nice if there were more commercial games for Linux, but it doesn’t bother me that much. Nor does the lack of support for some of the software i want to use. What bugs me is the look, let me explain…

When i use Vista, it looks sharp, professional and somewhat pretty (that’s when it finally is ready to use). Now this may just be me and what i like, but when i switch over to Fedora or Ubuntu, i just don’t really like the theme. It looks too… playful. It also feels like its missing something to me, like its a Beta version which hasn’t got its theme sorted out yet. Now i do realize that you can change the themes, in fact there are thousands of them to be had, and i have indeed changed a few things on my Fedora installation. its just every window manager i’ve tried just doesnt seem right, i can’t put my finger on it.

Fedora

Default Vista

However, what I’m getting at is that i have never felt the urge to change the theme on vista, or indeed XP, short of a new wallpaper. It just looks good in my opinion. Users migrating over to Linux are going to have a hard enough time adapting to a new OS, even though i believe it to be much simpler to understand that using Vista for the first time. First appearances are everything, and i feel that some of these great themes should be put to use, being the default on some of the popular Linux Distro’s. For example, i can’t speak for anyone else, but Ubuntu’s theme does my head in after a while, and the new dark theme is terrible. I know their colour is orange, but i just feel like i doesn’t do the operating system justice.

But this is just one guy’s thoughts and opinions, what do you think? Is the default Linux theme in most distros ugly and if so why? Or do you like any of the Distro default themes? Do you have any favorite themes? Let me hear what you think in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Howdy ho Internet! I’m back, but with a few changes. This blog will no longer be solely focused on the operating system Ubuntu (shock horror!). Instead it will be about me, my life, the things i ponder about and some questions i want answers to, from people like you.
Of course all the content will stay, and it will still have posts about Ubuntu and other Linux operating systems.
I will also be getting a new template and eventually making my own, once my exams are out of the way
So if you are reading this, Hi, sign up and hear what i have to say about the world, if not… i don’t really care Happy surfing!

I was just stumbling around the internet recently, as i always do when bored, when i came across one of those domain name placement sites, you know, the ones where they are really just plasted with adverts. Anyway, at a quick glance i noticed a humorous error, as you can see below:

McAfee Linux AntiVirus

Upon clicking on that link i was disappointed not to find the Antivirus i so desperately needed for my Ubuntu machine. Just thought it was funny to see thats all!

Just a quick note about Mr Ubuntu. This is my first post for a while, as you might well have noticed. Thats because i’ve been working on a new project called TechyNet which is taking a lot of my free time, that and starting university soon! But i will still try to bring you new and different Ubuntu happenings when i have time or find other things out.

Thanks,
Luke

Have you ever wanted to run a X11 program on a remote computer display whilst being connected to SSH? Maybe to have a program ready when you get home, play a prank or change to the next track from bed? Well i sure have! After researching this for a while i finally discovered how to accomplish it:

1) Login to your computer through SSH (remember to open the port through your firewall if you plan to do this from outside your LAN) in a terminal:
ssh user@host
2) Enter into the terminal the following:
DISPLAY=:0 <your command here>
Replace with the program you wish to run minus the < >.

Thats it! It really is that easy! Can you think of anything else to do with this command? If so then i want to hear from you! Just post a comment below.

Mr Ubuntu

How to install every dependency needed to build a program under Debian/Ubuntu.

read more | digg story

I’m not sure if you have experienced the same problem as i have done in the past on my Ubuntu desktop machine, but after i have played a YouTube video or two on Firefox, Rhythmbox or any other sound source such as Amsn or Pidgin would not play or make any sounds untill Firefox was closed again.

After noticing the problem a couple of times i headed straight for the sound preferences in the System -> Preferences Menu. I started off by experimenting with different playback devices and after a little trail and error discovered that after setting all the playback devices to ALSA, sound could be played from multiple sources!

Screenshot of Sound preferences

So if you’ve noticed this problem, try this quick fix and see if it works for you, and while you’re at it why not leave us a comment if you’ve experienced this problem, or maybe even if you haven’t!
Mr Ubuntu

Ok, so this isn’t really a tutorial or anything, but it really is just plain funny. Whilst browsing the web the other day i was redirect to a helpful site where it gave me a free virus scan, which was obviously very thoughtful of them…

To my suprise however, my computer seemed to have acquired 45 infected files:

This confused me a little seeing i was on my computer running the latest Ubuntu release which as we all know cannot get viruses! Gave me a good laugh though. Maybe Power Antivirus 2009 really is in 2009 in a time when Linux operating systems can get viruses… YEAH RIGHT! Needless to say it tried to offer me a solution of a weirdly named .exe which i politely declined.

Have a good week,
Mr Ubuntu