Whenever I need to reinstall the Enlightenment window manager on my laptop (generally after a fresh Ubuntu install), my fonts are HUGE. I always end up solving it, but I never remember how when it comes time to install again, and so far I haven’t written down instructions.
So, for the record:
To fix the fonts in e16, edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add the following line under Section “Screen”:
Option “DPI” “96 x 96″
Finis.
For an unknown reason, Firefox 3.5 crashed on me in Ubuntu 9.10. When I tried restarting it, a dialog popped up which read:
“Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.”
Neither of these suggestions worked for me. I even deleted all the Firefox packages on my computer, and reinstalled. I got the same dialog box when I opened my freshly installed Firefox.
I worked some Google magic, and found a help page for this problem on support.mozilla.com. It turns out that my Firefox profile directory (which wasn’t deleted when I removed Firefox) has a lock file that is supposed to be removed when Firefox starts. If the lock file exists when you try starting Firefox, you get the aforementioned dialog box.
Mozilla provides a number of different solutions for this, I chose simply to delete my default profile, and create a new one. I chose this because I had a new installation of firefox, and I didn’t have any important data to retain. If you want to restore your original profile, you should go here. Otherwise, follow these directions for deleting and creating your profile.
In a terminal, type
$ /usr/bin/firefox -ProfileManager
where /usr/bin/firefox is the path to your firefox installation. The Profile Manager will appear (provided Firefox is closed), and you can go from there.
I’ve thought of a solution for people like me, who want to learn new commands for the UNIX text editor, “vim,” but have a hard time digesting the pages and pages of cheat sheets all at once.
Why not get a random vim tip when I open a terminal? After all, half the time I’m specifically opening up a term to use vim. So instead of trying to learn all those vim commands all at one time, I can just learn a new command every once in a while, try it out, and it will be much easier to remember.
This is accomplished using the application “fortune.” So first you’re going to need to get fortune:
$ sudo apt-get install fortune
Now edit your .bashrc file (using vim of course)
$ vi .bashrc
and add
fortune;
to the bottom of the file. Save and quit. To test it, just open up a new terminal, and it should spit out a fortune at the top.
To add vim cheats to fortune, you can either make your own .dat file (directions here), fill it with vim commands, and add it to your fortunes directory, or you can download mine. Mine has a couple hundred commands, and I’ve combined several of them so you get similar commands in one “quote.”
Of course, you’re not ALWAYS going to get a vim tip with fortune, because there are tons of other fortune files, and it is completely random. If you DO want to get only vim tips, just delete all of the other .dat files (besides your vim fortunes) in your fortunes directory.
Today I was out running errands, and I made a trip to the library to drop off some movies. I rented Hidalgo, and found some great books: The Official Ubuntu Book, Using Linux (4th edition), Affordable Remodel, No-Fear Home Improvement, and The Designer’s Desktop Manual, the latter three of which I found on the New Books shelf. I love the smell of new books, and I love flipping through the crisp white pages. Seeing as it is in a public library, I know the book won’t be “fresh” for very long, so I always check the New Books shelf.
I spent a few minutes perusing the Internet/Computers section, and found a book entitled, How to do everything to fight spam, viruses, pop-ups & spyware by Ken Feinstein. This book had 234 pages, but glancing at the title, I figured I could sum it all up on one page. So I took a piece of paper I found in one of the other books, wrote on it, “Step One: Switch to LINUX,” and stuck it between the front cover and the first page–a little timesaving tip to the poor soul who feels the need to check out this book.
