Jon Rogers

I’ve been trying to use the BookSmart software from the quite brilliant Blurb.com on my computer running Ubuntu. Their BookSmart software is designed for Windows and Mac only, so I downloaded the Windows version and tried it under Wine. There’s a little trick to getting it to work without crashing once it’s installed.

Add application, then browse to BookSmart

Run winecfg (or find “Configure Wine” on your menu), then “Add application”. Browse to where BookSmart has installed, probably on your c_drive, then Program Files.

Use Windows 98 compatibility to run BookSmart.exe

Back on Wine configuration and you will see BookSmart on the list – change its Windows version to “Windows 98” (it will start as “Use global settings”)

BookSmart should now start up fine – it looks like fantastic software for the one purpose of designing photo books, although Blurb seem to be saying that there’s more they can do with it.

There was one more problem I ran into – I have loads of great fonts installed on linux, but none of them were available to me in Wine, specifically in BookSmart. Something I’d never done before was look in drive_c/windows/fonts – if I put the fonts I want in there I can use them as soon I start BookSmart.

When I’ve finished the book and received it I’ll put a review of the service and pictures. So far I am very impressed – the books seem to be of a very high quality, and the model of having the software to create the book if you want gives someone like me exactly the control I want and can’t really get with some other photobook services.

##UPDATE March 2011

help.ubuntu.com has a very helpful page on running BookSmart natively with Java that I got to work easily when I tried.

Celebrating Talk Like a Pirate day with a little extra swashbuckle

Ubuntu Netbook Remix - Karmic Koala

I’ve been using Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my Eee-PC 701 since before they released it, so well over a year now. Before that, I had vanilla Ubuntu installed, but always felt there had to be a better way to fit just a little more into the very few pixels that Asus had blessed me with. UNR stepped up to that task and I’ve enjoyed using it since. The ume-launcher app (which replaces the desktop with an application launcher) seemed a little heavy and slow for my poor little Eee, so recently I’d canned it and was solely using gnome-do for launching programs and opening folders.

Ubuntu’s six-month release cycle seems to come round very quickly, and October 29 is release day for the Karmic Koala – a.k.a. Ubuntu 9.10. With Karmic comes a new look for the ume-launcher and more lovely enhancements behind the scene. Let’s look at a few of them in the Alpha 5 release (testing). (You can also see all the images as a slideshow)

Installing Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Installation

Installing is as easy as ever, with Ubuntu’s graphic installation wizard that really anyone could do if they were a little bit brave and trusting. Faster than a Windows 7 upgrade (apparently, my RC has gone almost unused) and pretty too!

New ume look

The functionality of ume seems to be  the same, if a little re-ordered. Favourites is your “start screen” with your most used applications available at a click. You can add new ones and remove those you don’t want on the front screen as before.

Favourites tab on Ubuntu Netbook Remix screenshot

However, instead of links to the file system being at the right, using up valuable screen real-estate all the time, “Files & Folders” has now become another option on the menu on the right. This is definitely a bonus for us with the little screens.

Bigger icons and scrolling tabs

You’ll also see that the icons are much bigger, as are the tabs at the side with the section names, and the tabs now scroll. The use of partial transparency and gloss makes this look like a really modern OS, but distinctly Ubuntu with it’s orange-brown wallpaper.

Gnome panel looks much better in Karmic

The gnome panel at the top of the screen and window decorations have been touched with some beauty too – a new mash-up of dust and human, with the Humanity icons thrown in for good effect.

Custom theme improves Karmic

It definitely works – and looks less like linux, in a good way! Notice the subtle grey of the default tray icons like wifi, battery and volume.

Boot time

Booting Karmic Koala

Starting from cold seems a little quicker than 9.04 – although I may have got used to a desktop full of bloat. It’s been “pretty-fied” too, with a nice looking progress spinner. This is supposed to be the fastest booting Ubuntu yet – brilliant if you’re looking to get on fast without suspending and using battery. Although suspend and resume work brilliantly, instant on, a few seconds for wireless reconnection. Speaking of which, maybe it’s an illusion or perhaps a new driver, but wifi seems faster, or more reliable. Time will tell.

Internet and Cloud

Using Empathy on UNR

If there’s one thing netbooks are for it’s the internet. Firefox is here as usual, but for some reason not pidgin. I don’t know why Ubuntu has moved over to Empathy, but I do know it does google talk, but not facebook chat without some help.

UbuntuOne Settings

We also now have UbuntuOne, the new cloud storage app bundled. I’ve been signed up for a while but never quite decided what use it would be for me to have 1Gb of shared files between computers when I have a good synchronising strategy.

Conclusion

There are still some rough edges with the Alpha 5 release – most of which will be ironed out before the 01/Oct/09 Beta release, but if you want a perfectly smooth experience wait until the end of next month to grab the final thing! Ubuntu Netbook Remix will run brilliantly on your Atom based netbook with a 9-10 inch screen, and just as well on even the original Eee-PCs from back in the day. The visual refresh is welcome, as are any gains in speed with the better software that is coming out. You can’t do that with XP!

From my talk on Sunday about following Jesus’ command to love God and one another.

Before the beginning  there was nothing, only God. Complete in himself, the relationship of Trinity defined in love, but longing to extend that relationship. So God dreamed. People, giving themselves completely in love to each other and to God. Such a beautiful dream that it would be worth any cost. First to make a universe to contain the dream – let there be light! So God made humans, designed to be like him with a huge capacity to love and a desire to share it. At first it was good, very good, but that relationship was broken by jealousy, disobedience and hiding. God kept chasing, always giving love and receiving fragments back. When he saw only one man loving purely, God swept away the rest with a flood and saved just the one family. The dream slipped away again, so God again picked out one man to love especially. As Abraham grew in love for God, promises were fulfilled and his family grew to a nation. When they were captives, God rescued them. When they didn’t know how to be an independent nation, God gave them laws. When they needed a home, God conquered a country for them. But they kept forgetting him. They didn’t like being different, they wanted to replace God with a King – and God let them. Though a king could lead them away from God, he gave one to them. When the kingdom split, there were twenty kings in the north, not one of them led the people to love God more. Twenty kings in the south, only eight led the people to love God more. God’s people ignored the voices of his prophets, drowned them out with their own noise. We hear the haunting voice of God comparing his people to a wife who ran off to find other men, forgetting her first love. So God sent them to Babylon, so that they might find he was still with them, as his prophets told them. And some of them did. They noticed, they loved back.
God comes to his people in Jesus, after a long time of quiet, saying that loving is at the heart of knowing God. As they kill him, he keeps on loving, keeps putting others before him, keeps forgiving. And in his wake, a Spirit filled group of followers tell the world that they can know God, that love is the key. It’s so beautiful that they’re like a bride to Jesus, returning his love. John foretells in his Apocalypse that the story ends with the dream realised, God dwelling with humans, the end of hate, jealousy and pain, perfect love.
Hear, oh Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and Prophets are explaining these two statements.

Terrible customer service from @themusicking – 2.5 months is too long, even for a refund. @dolphinmusic were great, I got a mic the next day

Do I have the wherewithal to finish tomorrow’s talk, tidy the house, find the inlaws and remember to hang out the washing… we’ll see

I walked into a kid today. literally. his head, my jaw. almost knocked me down, a TA run out to see why he hit me.

Photos from Australia and Singapore on flickr – dm for a guest pass http://su.pr/1aVxSx

RT @malinki I missed international bacon day yesterday. This makes me sad.

Back in the UK – jet lag is not so bad really