Removing Rythbox from the sound indicator in Ubuntu

To remove, or add another media player, on the sound indicator on Ubuntu do the following:

• Install Dconf-editor (use sudo apt-get install dconf-tools)
• Run it with Dconf-settings
• Navigate to com.canonical.indicator.sound interested-media-players 
• And delete the name of the media player you don't want to have, or ad the one you want.
  

Manually resync local time with Microsoft clock service

To manually sync your computer's local time with Microsoft's time server type the following (or create a batch file) in console window:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:”time.windows.com” /syncfromflags:manual
w32tm /config /update
net stop w32time
net start w32time
w32tm /resync /nowait

And that's it. No more problems. Just make sure you actually have connection to the Internet because it won't wooooooork.

Creating desktop launchers in Ubuntu 12.04

To create a launcher in the desktop download first Gnome Panel:

Sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-panel

and then type in this command:

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/Desktop/ --create-new

A dialogue box will appear. Add all information and press OK. Your new shortcut is ready.

Adding Java on Ubuntu

To add Java from Oracle and not the OpenJDK just type the following into a terminal window:

Sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

This will download a script that will install Java. The PPA doesn't actually contain files it self.

Replacing AutoCAD in Ubuntu

One of the task I had set on my self to do was to replace AutoCAD with a program that would run on Linux. After alot of searching I found one. It's called DraftSight (http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/overview/).

DraftSight is using the same engine as the AutoCAD alternative in Windows IntelliCad (http://www.intellicad.org/).

The only problem with DraftSight is that running the .deb file by itself is not installing it properly because there are some files missing that DraftSight is not installing by default. Those files can be installed as follows:

1) Open a Terminal window and type in:
sudo apt-get install libdirectfb-extra libxcb-render-util0

2) Install the .deb package using the force option. In this example we assume that the file is located in the Dowloads folder:
sudo dpkg --force-architecture -i ~/Downloads/draftSight.deb


And that's it. Draftsight is a very good AutoCAD replacement. And if you have been working with AutoCAD from the first days of its production (like I did, wow do I feel old now) you will be just fine because it even uses the same key commands as AutoCAD.

So go ahead. Give it a try. It's great!

Release and renew an IP address in Ubuntu 12.04

There is a very simple way to release and renew your IP address under Ubuntu.

To release the existing IP address type in a Terminal window:
Sudo dhclient -r


To renew the IP address type in a Terminal window:
sudo dhclient

And that's it. Simple.

Playing DVDs on Ubuntu 12.04

I finally did it. I have replaced 100% my Windows system with Ubuntu 12.04. I must say it wasn't easy. I had lots of troubles with even the simplest things that I was used to do in Windows, but at the end it was all good.

In the light of this I decided to write down the steps that I took to have the programs/function I had in Windows. Well this is step number 1; how to play DVDs in Ubuntu.

a) Open up a Terminal and type: sudo apt-get install libdvdread4
b) When it finishes type in to the terminal box: sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

And that's it. From now on, you will be able to play DVDs. If for any reason when you restrart the computer, you lost the ability to play them (like it happened to me before) run the step b again. It should do the trick.