Month: June 2008

Javascript Libraries Via Google

I just found some links about using Javascript hosted by Google:

I had been wanting to use jQuery with GreaseMonkey, but it seems to require that you have a web-accessible copy of jQuery.  I didn’t want to use other people’s bandwidth but wasn’t sure how else to do it.  Here are the instructions:

Hopefully, I can post an example piece of code soon on how to put the two together, but I am not quite there yet.  I hope the links help for now.

Troubleshooting: StayOnline Connections

While staying at a hotel, I had trouble connecting to https web sites.  Basically, I couldn’t log into anything: email, blogging, etc.  The hotel where I was staying had a company called StayOnline managing their network.

First, figuring out what network to connect to was rather confusing.  The card in the room said to connect to the SSID called “stayonline”.  But, that network did not exist.  Instead the right one was called “etwireless”.  When I called the support line, they answered LodgeNet.

Here is what I noticed:

  • I could connect to any website that did not use SSL — “http” only
  • If I rebooted to Windows, I had no problems.
  • In Fedora 9, when I went to any “https” it would just sit and spin.  The connection would eventually time out.

The solution is to disable TCP Window Scaling.  Run this command as root:

echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_window_scaling

I found this information from this post:

SSL Problems with StayOnline Hotel Internet Providers

The post mentions that they did not support Linux.  I have to give them credit.  When I told them that I have Linux, they did not turn me away.  I was a little perterbed that they did not know the solution.  This post has been out there since February.  It would be even nicer if they could fix the problem so that Linux user’s don’t have to worry about it.

Resources

Screenlets

From Desklets to Screenlets

I tried to install gDesklets, but I had trouble with them.  I found a post that explained how to do it in Ubuntu.  And, I found a package in the Fedora repository for yum.  But, I had the following problems:

  • I never could get the good weather applet to work.
  • I couldn’t get the shortcut key to work for bringing them to the front.
  • The icon displayed by the clock, but it didn’t seem to do anything when I clicked on it (either left or right click)

So, I decided to try screenlets instead.  Maybe I am a little impatient, but I had had trouble with them in Ubuntu too.  I thought a change of scenery might me nice.

Installing Screenlets

To save you a few steps, you might want to run the following command right now.  That will save you from the errors I got as I went through:

yum install python-devel gnome-python2-gnomekeyring

I found the installation instructions on the FAQ.  I found the latest download on the main page at launch pad. I downloaded it to my Download directory and ran the following in a terminal:

cd ~/Download
tar -xzvf screenlets-0.1.1.tar.gz
cd screenlets
sudo python setup.py install

I did get the following error:

error: invalid Python installation: unable to open /usr/lib/python2.5/config/Makefile (No such file or directory)

That was easily fixed by using yum to install python-devel (see this post).

At this point, screenlets was installed, but the next step was to configure it.  I ran:

screenlets-manager

That command gave me this error message:

ImportError: No module named gnomekeyring

This was easily fixed by using yum to install gnome-python2-gnomekeyring (see this post).

After fixing that, the Screenlets Manager opened, and that was all that I had to do.  I rebooted at that point, not that I had to, but I wanted to for another reason.  Amazingly enough, the screenlets was already running by the clock.  I didn’t need to do anything to get it to auto start.

Adding Screenlets

I chose to add the following screenlets:

  • Battery: Displays the battery status of my laptop
  • GMail: I added my email address, and it displays how many messages I have unread
  • Weather: I added my zip code, and it shows the weather for my area
  • SysMonitor: Displayed info about my computer
  • DigiClock: A simple digital clock

Displaying/Hiding

When I first added the screenlets, they were on the top all of the time.  But, I found that I could hide them by making them a widget and removing the Keep Above option:

right click > Window > Widget (checked)
right click > Window > Keep above (unchecked)

Then, I had to configure Compiz.  I opened the CompizConfig Settings Manager, and found Widget Layer under Desktop.  I checked this option, and then looked at the settings.  F9 was the shortcut key, and I added the bottom right corner as another option.

Installing More Screenlets

  • Download the screenlet you wish to install (you don’t need to unzip it)
  • Open the Screenlets Manager
  • Click the Install option on the left panel
  • Choose “Install Screenlet”
  • Browse to the location where you saved the screenlet
  • Find the new Screenlet in the list and start it

Here are the additional Screenlets I downloaded:

Gnome Do Issue

I installed Gnome Do and really like it.  Just one problem: the keyboard shortcut would not work!  Here is what I did to fix it:

Start Key (Super Key) Issue

From this thread, I found that I could create this text file —

File Name: $HOME/.xmodmaprc
Put the following two lines in the text file:

keycode 115 = Super_L
add Mod4 = Super_L

Run the following command in a terminal window:

xmodmap ~/.xmodmaprc

The Start key worked right away, but when I rebooted, it asked me if I wanted to load the file.  I put the file in the loaded column and it continued to work after the reboot.

Gnome Do Shortcut

I decided to change the command from Start + Space to Start + R (like Windows Start … Run).  Here is what I did:

I used Yum to install gconf-editor.  You may already have the tool, but I did not.

Then, I opened the Configuration Editor — Applications > System Tools > Configuration Editor.

On the left side, I opened the path: / > apps > gnome-do > preferences.

Then, I changed the key_binding on the right to <Super>r.

Resources

Umm… My Super Key Just Stopped Working…

Shortcut not launching gnome-do

Customizing Fedora 9

Now that my 3D driver is working, I can play with making things look nice (or, at least different).  Here are some of the things I did:

Installed the Zekton font.  To do so, I downloaded the tar file.  I unzipped it into my Download directory and copied the files to /usr/share/fonts/zekton.

I installed Emerald and got it working.  I lost track of the steps that I went through, and so, I am not the best resource for how to do this.  But, basically, I installed the emerald package from yum along with the compiz-fusion packages.

One package that was very helpful was the ccsm package.  It provided a menu by the clock that would allow me to pick Emerald as the Window decorator or restart it if something broke.  It also had a quick link to the emerald settings and the compiz settings.  To get it to start automatically, I had to add “fusion-icon” to the session (System > Preferences > Personal > Sessions).

Next, I downloaded and installed the Smoke theme.  I used the Emerald Theme Manager to install the theme, and then, I tweaked it a little:

  • Changed the Title/Text Font to “Zekton Bold | 10”
  • Changed the Minimum Title Bar Height to 9
  • Vertical Button Offset to 2
  • Horizontal Button Offset to 4

I tried to update the login screen, but that proved to be a little more difficult.  Here are some links that might help, if you want to try it:

Resources

Gnome-Look.org