Opera for Windows and Mac both properly identify the platform they are installed on, but Linux is a little more challenging due to the overwhelming number of distributions. You can easily adjust your user agent string to accurately reflect your platform and help promote both Opera and your Linux distribution when you browse and post online.

Before and after Opera user agent string.

To change this so that it reflects your specific platform, simply:

1. Open “opera:config#ISP|Id” in a new tab.
2. Enter your distribution in the blank box in the format “Distribution/Version”.
   

   Modifying the setting for opera:config#ISP|Id

3. Click the Save button and restart your browser.

This should successfully change your user agent from something generic like..

Opera/9.80 (X11; Linux x86_64; U; en) Presto/2.6.30 Version/10.70

..to something a little more specific like..

Opera/9.80 (X11; Linux x86_64; U; Ubuntu/10.10; en) Presto/2.6.30 Version/10.70

Hope that helps! You can test your updated user agent strings in the comments below since they will appear above your comment. Or you can test it out at UserAgentString.com.

Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000

This software package contains drivers to a wealth of webcams and other video input devices, the Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 included.

The problem I had was that the built in microphone would stop working as soon as you turned on the camera. If you never used the camera and only opened a sound recording application then the microphone would work perfectly.

In the long mailing list discussions that let me to this post, we discovered that the bug was is in setting a GPIO register that instantly breaks communication with the microphone.

I’ve worked up a patch that I would like to get tested by others. Basically, the patch just includes conditionals that tell the driver not to apply this GPIO register change if the camera is using the OV7660 sensor.

What I would like to test is, does disabling for this sensor affect other OV7660 devices? If not, then this patch will likely go into the main Linux kernel.

If you’re using the Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 or VX-3000 and are having trouble with your microphone, could you please do the following?

Testing the Patch

1. Download my patched GSPCA: gspca-2.9.51-vx1000-patch-20100712.zip
2. Extract the zip file on your Desktop (so you have the folder “gspca-2.9.51-vx1000-patch-20100712″).
3. Open a terminal window and enter the following commands:
   cd Desktop/gspca-2.9.51-vx1000-patch-20100712/
   make
   sudo make install
4. Reboot your computer and test your webcam in an application such as Cheese (which can easily be found in the Ubuntu Software Center).

Make sure that when you start your webcam in Cheese that the microphone continues to work. You can verify this in the Sound Preferences window if you click on the Input tab (make sure you have selected “LifeCam VX-1000″  as your input device).

Let me know in the comments below or in the Ubuntu thread regarding this issue how it works for you!

In case anyone is interested, here is the “diff -uNr” for the original sonixj.c against my modified version:

--- sonixj-original.c	2010-07-10 05:03:02.000000000 -0400
+++ sonixj-patch.c	2010-07-12 17:52:20.000000000 -0400
@@ -1749,7 +1749,8 @@
 		reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x01, 0x62);
 		reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x01, 0x42);
 		msleep(100);
-		reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, 0x62);
+		if (sd->sensor != SENSOR_OV7660)
+			reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, 0x62);
 		break;
 	default:
 /*	case SENSOR_HV7131R: */
@@ -2317,8 +2318,10 @@
 		reg2 = 0x40;
 		break;
 	}
-	reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, reg2);
-	reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, reg2);
+	if (sd->sensor != SENSOR_OV7660) {
+		reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, reg2);
+		reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x02, reg2);
+	}

 	reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x15, sn9c1xx[0x15]);
 	reg_w1(gspca_dev, 0x16, sn9c1xx[0x16]);

UPDATE 2010-07-13:
As of today this patch is included in GSPCA v2.9.52+! It looks like my hard work paid off after all and now all Linux users, not just Ubuntu users, will be able to enjoy the fruit of my labor since GSPCA is merged into the official Linux Kernel.

The nice Ubuntu boot screen that you saw during the installation is now a low quality image and the resolution is wrong. Fortunately for you and I, there is a fix for this written by Marius Nestor at Softpedia.

I’ve taken the liberty to implement his steps in a single script that makes the work on your end a much easier task. Only use this script if you have not already attempted to follow Marius Nestor’s tutorial.

Warning: Use this script at your own risk.

Steps

1. Download the zipped script and extract it: plymouth-resolution-fix.sh.zip
2. Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory containing the script.
3. Enter the following command to make the script executable:
   chmod +x plymouth-resolution-fix.sh
4. Enter the following command to run the script (followed by your password):
   sudo ./plymouth-resolution-fix.sh

Be patient for this script to complete, it will let you know when it is. After its complete, simply reboot your computer to verify the results.

To Revert these Changes

If you’d like to undo these changes, you can download the following script and run it the same as you ran the first one. This will undo the changes made.

• plymouth-resolution-fix-revert-back.sh.zip

Example from my Last.fm account in Collage mode.

This python script, by Koant, has been around since at least 2008, but I’ve only recently stumbled across it. It’s easy to start using and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux users!

I’ll help you get started in Linux since that’s what I’ve set it up on. If you need more help or want more configuration options you should look to the information that Koant has posted on his website.

Install

1. cd
2. mkdir wallpaperfm
3. cd wallpaperfm
4. wget http://ledazibao.free.fr/wallpaperfm/wallpaperfm.py
5. chmod a+x wallpaperfm.py

Create Your Wallpaper

1. ./wallpaperfm.py -u YOURLASTFMUSERNAME

That’s the most basic set of options you can use to create your wallpaper (which you will find after running the script in the “wallpaperfm” folder that was created).

There are three options for the type of wallpaper created:

1. Tile

Albums are packed in side by side.

2. Glass

A few albums are highlighted on a glassy surface.

3. Collage

Albums are meshed together in a dreamy design.

To specify one of these modes, simply run the wallpaper script with the mode flag set to your choice.

• ./wallpaperfm.py -u YOURLASTFMUSERNAME -m collage

There are plenty of other settings you can specify such as size, canvas size, filename, profile period, final opacity, cache, excluded albums, local copy, etc.

Suggestions and Ideas

User Interface and Packaging

I’m sure that this script could be simplified further for Linux users (and more specifically, Debian/Ubuntu users) if a user interface were created. It actually seems like a rather simple task since the parameters for the script are well bounded.

Adding this interface to an installer package would also be a very simple task and would most likely get more attention to such a neat tool!

Cron Jobs, Regularly Updating Your Wallpaper

Another thing, if your music preferences are constantly changing like mine, you may be interested in updating your wallpaper in regular intervals. To do this you can setup a Cron job that runs in the background.

While this may sound difficult and confusing, its really not at all and this helps explain a lot. I can even walk you through the steps.

1. sudo apt-get install gnome-schedule
2. Open the application (in Ubuntu) through the Applications menu -> System Tools -> Scheduled tasks.
3. Click the New button and select the Recurrent task type.
4. Give the task a description.
5. Enter the command that runs your script. If you followed the steps above then it should be something similar to:

   /home/YOURUBUNTUNAME/wallpaperfm/wallpaperfm.py -u YOURLASTFMUSERNAME -m collage -f /home/YOURUBUNTUNAME/wallpaperfm/wallpaper

6. Set the Time & Date option to hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
7. Click the “Add” button to add it to your list of Scheduled Tasks and you’re done!

Have any other suggestions or tips? Leave ‘em in the comments!

"Share via microblog"

I’m not sure how long this little feature has been available, but it sure does make promoting your favorite applications a breeze for Ubuntu users!

Clicking the linked text, as you can see, brings up a box to post to your “Broadcast” accounts (as Ubuntu calls them, otherwise known as your social networks). Here is an example of what it posts.

You’re free to edit the message how you see fit, with the important part being the “apturl:rhythmbox” token. For the record, there appears to be a bug at the moment that resets your edited message back to the default, but this will most likely be fixed.

I’m a little confused as to how this will work, since Firefox supports apt:application by default and not apturl:application. Also, Firefox requires the text to be a hyperlink, like the following examples apt:application and/or apturl:application.

If you find your browser unable to handle such links, you can find information here that should help you get them working.

I suppose this is yet another way that Ubuntu is becoming “social from the start!”

My IOGraph in a Dual Screen (2.5 hours).

As you can see, most of my activity is in my second monitor (right) where my web browser rests, between the tabs and content towards the top. My coding habits and text editor occupy the first monitor (left) and show noticeably less mouse movement and more periods of pausing to work with the keyboard or read.

This application is Java based and runs in Windows, Mac and Linux! I’ll give you a quick run down on how to use this application in Ubuntu..

1. Make sure that you have Java 6 Runtime installed on your computer. If you don’t, open the Ubuntu Software Center and search for Java. You should find “OpenJDK Java 6 Runtime” near the top of the results. Install that before continuing.
2. Download IOGraph for Linux and save it where ever you like (I saved mine to the desktop).
3. Before you can open the Java application (a .Jar file), you will need to set proper executable permissions for it. To do this, simply right click on the file and select Properties. In the Permissions tab, check to enable the option labeled “Allow executing file as program” and click close.
   

   Allow executing file as program

4. Now to run the application, right click on the file again and select “Opera with OpenJDK Java 6 Runtime”.
   

   Open with OpenJDK Java 6 Runtime

Now that you’ve got the application running, you can minimize it and let it track your every move! If you’re having trouble, you may be able to find more help with .Jar files here.

The circles represent points where the mouse was left motionless for a period of time. The larger the circle, the longer it was left motionless.

Enjoy making art while you work and please share your results!

Get the skin!
I’ve created a simple script that extracts the installed default skin and modifies it with all in one quick run. This is very beneficial for me since I like to update my slightly edited skins by merging my modifications with the latest and greatest default skin with only a double click.

Now with a smoother tab bar background for Ambiance theme users!

Opera 10.60 with Ambiance

Opera 10.60 with Radiance

The only change to the skin (thus far) is the tab bar background which now allows for a smoother appearance between the tab bar and window title.

Ambiance Skin
Install Skin (Opera 10.54 and below, no longer updated)
Install Skin (Opera 10.60+, updated 2010-07-28)

Radiance Skin
Install Skin (Opera 10.60+, updated 2010-07-28)

Get the Speed Dial backgrounds!

These Speed Dial backgrounds are just slight modifications of the current default background. To install them, simply click on the image to open it, right click and select “Use Image as Speed Dial Background“.

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 325; Saturation: 40; Lightness: 0;

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 325; Saturation: 40; Lightness: -10;

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 180; Saturation: 0; Lightness: -65;

Gimp -> Posterize -> 6

Gimp -> Posterize -> 6 && Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 180; Saturation: 0; Lightness: -65;

Gimp -> Curves -> 24x217; 97x161; 217x37;

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 13; Saturation: 100; Lightness: -16;

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 10; Saturation: 80; Lightness: -30;

Gimp -> Colorize -> Hue: 55; Saturation: 35; Lightness: 0;

In the screenshot above, I’m using the second background. Feel free to post your results if you’d like to tweak the background to make it match closer!

In other cases its not so simple. Often times, when you want to take a screenshot of a menu, you’ll find that the screenshot tool cannot be called while the menu is open. You can get around this problem in most cases by installing Shutter.

While Shutter is a great tool with some very handy features for screenshots, it also doesn’t always work or is unable to capture some things (as far as I’ve found).

One solution that is very simple to use is a simple command line (link sent to me from a friend). If you hate command line tricks then you can easily make a Gnome button for this as well.

The menu that I was trying to grab a screenshot of was an Opera sub-menu from the O-menu icon (can’t remember which one for sure, but probably the Bookmarks sub-menu). Print Screen wouldn’t work, Shutter complained that it couldn’t detect any open or focused menus, so I resorted to the following:

$ gnome-screenshot --delay=10

Basically, this command calls the same program that is called when you press Print Screen, but since you’re adding a delay (10 seconds in this case) it has already been called before you open the menu..which rules out the problem of your keyboard Print Screen key not working.

While this seems to be a very simple command, which it is, I’ve benefited from it several times already. So if you ever find yourself having trouble capturing a particular screenshot, just pop open a terminal and use this delayed command!

If you’re looking for for an easier method and don’t mind a permanent button in your Gnome panel, just do the following:

1. Right click your panel and select “Add to Panel…”
2. “Custom Application Launcher” should be the first option in the list that comes up. Select it and click the “Add” button at the bottom.
3. Leave the “Type” as Application.
4. You can name this launcher anything you wish, maybe something like “10s Delayed Print Screen”.
5. Copy the command that I mentioned above into the field labeled “Command”. You can change the value from 10 to anything you want or need.
6. You can copy the name text into the “Comment” field as well since this is what you will see when you hover the button.
7. You could optionally edit the icon if you wanted, but its not necessary. Click close and you’re done.

Enjoy!

Example of a basic Conky setup.

Its called Conky and it can give you stats or information on practically anything imaginable. Its also easy to install!

Conky is by no means a new application and there are in fact hundreds of Conky configuration files scattered across the Internet that you could use to customize the way yours looks. With a good basic guide and some helpful tips on auto-starting Conky, I’ve thrown together a quick installation and setup guide with pictures!

Typically when you install an application such as this, you want it to auto-start. Auto-starting this application isn’t as trivial as most applications so I’ll walk you through that as well. I’ll assume your using Ubuntu of some sort, but if you’re not don’t worry…you can still install Conky with alternative steps and setting it up should not differ.

Install

1. Open the “Ubuntu Software Center” application (also known as “Add/Remove” in older versions) and search for Conky. If its not listed then you may need to find a package online.

   

   Find and install the Conky option entitled something along these lines: “highly configurable system monitor (all features enabled)“.

2. Create a file labeled “.conkyrc” in your home directory (usually saved as /home/username/.conkyrc) and make sure to include the period at the start. This will make the conky settings file hidden when you casually open your home folder so its not in your way. You may need to go to View -> Show Hidden Files or press Ctrl+H to view the file to edit it later.

   Open the “.conkyrc” file in a text editor of your choice.
   Paste the linked snippet into your “.conkyrc” file.

   

3. Create a file labeled “.startconky.sh” in the same folder as the previous file making sure to include the period at the beginning and the file type at the end.

   Open the “.startconky.sh” file with your favorite editor. Paste the following snippet into your “.startconk.sh” file:
   #!/bin/bash
(sleep 5s && conky) &

   


4. Save both files and close the file editor you were using. Now right-click on the “.startconky.sh” file and click Properties and select the Properties tab. Make sure you check the option to “Allow executing file as program” then click close.
   
5. Go to your startup applications program or System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications and add a new application with the command option as “/home/username/.startconky.sh” where user name is your home directory…as follows:
   
6. Click Save! Now the next time your restart your computer you’ll have some awesome stats that appear on your desktop!

After countless days spent and hours wasted over the past 4 months that I’ve owned this web cam, I had not been able to find a solution to see it work even once.

The problems I ran into were that the few solutions for this camera were specifically for 32-bit Ubuntu, while I’m using 64-bit Ubuntu.

Typically these days, this type of problem isn’t architecture specific in Linux, which means that fewer people have to battle the problems that are unique to x86_64 platforms. In my experience with Ubuntu, x86_64 application/firmware support 4 years ago was a joke. Today, x86_64 support is commonplace and practically a standard.

After upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04, I was able to see this support change yet again! Without configuring anything in Ubuntu 10.04 x86_64 the video feed from my web cam was working flawlessly (I tested using Cheese 2.29.90)!

There is the small matter of getting the mic on the web cam to work, but for now I’ve got an old mic that plugs into the ports from the motherboard. So I will have sound, just not through the web cam just yet. Hopefully I can find a solution to this as well, in which case I will be sure to link you to.

In the future, I’d also like to submit a patch or hack to enable the LifeCam Call Button like I did previously in Windows 7 so that you can configure what the button should do…take a picture, video, start a call or chat, etc.