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July 15, 2007

Music in Linux without iTunes

Today I received an e-mail from someone asking how to get iTunes running in Ubuntu Linux. Rather than trying to help them navigate the mess that is running Windows-based Apple software in Linux, I instead offered some alternatives that I use myself. Below are my recommendations:

SOFTWARE

Rhythmbox - http://www.gnome.org/projects/rhythmbox/
- Supports DAAP music sharing
- Supports AAC encoded files
- Supports iPods
Notes: I use this program extensively at home, as it is very robust and has great features/plug-ins like DAAP.

Songbird - http://www.songbirdnest.com/
- Features gallore - http://www.songbirdnest.com/features
- Supports iPods (with plug-in enabled)
Notes: A new player on the block, but looks promising. Built off the same framework as Firefox.

Floola - http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/
- Transfer your music, video, picture etc library from any machine to any iPod and vice versa.
- Doesn't require your iPod to be registered with a specific machine in order to transfer files.

INSTALLATION

To install Rhythmbox:
- Should already be installed. You can find it under Applications > Sound & Video.
- If it's not installed, open Synaptic (System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager). Do a search for Rhythmbox and install.

To install Songbird and all audio/video codecs:
- Download Automatix2 from this URL: http://www.getautomatix.com/apt/dists/feisty/main/binary-i386/automatix2_1.1-4.11-7.04feisty_i386.deb
- Double click on the file to open a package manager. There will be an "Install" button. Click on the button to do the deed.
- Open Automatix from Applications > System Tools > Automatix.
- Click on "YES" when asked if you agree.
- Under CODECS AND PLUGINS, check the following: AUD-DVD, FLASH PLAYER, MPLAYER AND FF PLUGIN, MULTIMEDIA CODECS, SUN JAVA 1.6
- Under MEDIA PLAYERS AND EDITORS, check the following: SONGBIRD.
- Click on the green START button to begin the installations.
- You may have to answer "YES" or "NO" questions to finish the installation.
- Once the installation has been completed, you will be able to find the new players under Applications > Sound & Video.

To install Floola:
- Download Floola for Linux (GTK) from this URL: http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php?page=download
- This should save the file, Floola-linux.tar.gz, on your desktop. Right click on the file and select "EXTRACT HERE".
- This will place a folder on your desktop called "FLOOLA-LINUX".
- Open the folder and double click on the Floola icon. This will start the program.
- If you have your iPod connected to the computer, click on the "iPod Not Connected" message at the bottom of the page and it will connect.

Note: If you want to make it so that other people can use this program, do the following...
- Open a terminal window (Applications > Accessories > Terminal).
- Type in the following exactly as shown below (copy and paste if need be):
sudo mv Desktop/Floola-linux /usr/local/
ln -s /usr/local/Floola-linux/Floola /usr/bin/floola
- The first line will move the Floola-linux folder from your desktop into another folder called /usr/local.
- The second line will create a symbolic link (aka Shortcut) to the Floola binary into the /usr/bin directory, so it can be shared with others who may be using this machine.

From this point, you can create a customer launcher to start the Floola program from your machine:
- Right click on the desktop
- Select "Create Launcher..." from the menu that appears.
- Enter the following options exactly as shown below:
Type: Application
Name: Floola
Command: floola
Comment: Floola iPod Utility
Click on the "NO ICON" button to select an icon for the program.
Click on the OK button to finish the custom launcher.
- This will put a launcher on your desktop so you can start Floola easily. You can also start Floola by typing ALT+F2, which will bring up a "RUN APPLICATION" dialog box. Type in "floola" (without quotes and all lowercase) and click on the RUN button to launch the application.

Hopefully this information will be useful to others out there who're looking for a good iTunes alternative in Ubuntu Linux.

~out...

Posted by ed at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

Rain

When I was growing up, I hated rain. I'm sure that most kids my age thought the same thing. It kept me in-doors, away from my friends and didn't serve any real purpose ... at least in the opinion of a 10 year old, anyhow. As I grew up, my appreciation of rain didn't change for the most part. While I knew that it was a necessity for life, I found it depressing and an irritation when I had to go to the car to drive to work. Having to pull out an umbrella to keep from getting wet was a hassle, at best.

It's amazing how one's opinion of rain can change when you own a home.

Amanda and I have been at the house 5 months now. In this period of time, it hasn't rained much at all. As a matter of fact, I would say that I could count the total number of days with any kind of significant rain on one hand. I definitely haven't seen a day where it did nothing but rain all day, much less where it rained several days in a row. As a direct result of all this non-rain, my yard has been suffering greatly.

Initially, I attempted to water my yard twice a week to help offset the lack of moisture in the ground. I would water both the front and back 4 hours each on both Saturday and Sunday. I soon realized that this was a futile attempt to keep the ground saturated, as it would take a significant amount of water to do so in the hot spring and summer days. Therefore, I made the decision to water the lawn enough to keep the grass from completely drying out and dying.

And now that's gotten to be a bit of a challenge as well. It's been so damn dry and humid over the past two months that I would literally need to water my yard on almost a daily basis in order to keep any kind of moisture in the ground. The grass has turned yellow in quite a few areas and the only parts of the yard that are actually staying any kind of green are the shaded parts next to the house.

I pray for rain these days.

My neighbor, Scotty, said it best to me when I first met him: "Rain is free water". And boy, was he ever correct. After seeing my water bill come in from the attempts to keep my lawn hydrated, I see myself wanting it to rain more and more these days. Any time that it does rain, it puts a smile on my face. I'm in a better mood when I see rain clouds forming and when I actually see it raining, I'm half tempted to go out and just stand in it just so I can appreciate it better.

We're half way through the summer months now, so I feel like we're at the peak of the misery. I'm hoping at this point in time that we may begin to see an increase in precipitation and that my poor yard will once again begin to show some green. I'm hoping that before Winter hits that I will be able to enjoy my back yard a few more times ... having a bar-be-que with my friends and neighbors and such.

Here's to hoping.

~out...

Posted by ed at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)