techiehenry

Avidemux is a Video editor designed to run under Linux. I’ve been recently asked to explain how to install it in Linux based from the instructions in the website. However, since the user requesting the explanation is using Ubuntu, there is an easier way to install Avidemux without compliling or downloading anything from the Avidemux main site. I want to share it here as well.

Here are Ubuntu-specific steps on how to install Avidemux:

1. Open the Synaptic Package Manager:
In the Ubuntu menu, go to System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager

2. In the Synaptic menu, go to Settings->Repositories

3. A dialog box will be opened. In the ‘Ubuntu Software’ tab, check the following:
- Community-maintained Open Source Software (universe)
- Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse)

4. Click on ‘Close’

5. A warning dialog will pop up. Read it, and then close it.

6. In the toolbar, click on ‘Reload’. It will refresh the list of packages from the repositories. Just wait for a while.

7. After the list has been reloaded, click on the ‘Search’ button on the toolbar.

8. Type ‘avidemux’ in the search dialog box.

9. The list will display the search results. There should be one that is named ‘avidemux’. Right click on it to display a popup menu, then select ‘Mark for installation’.

10. Another confirmation dialog may open, informing you that other packages need to be installed. These are needed by avidemux, so just click on the ‘Mark’ button to close the confirmation dialog and mark those listed for installation as well.

11. Click on the ‘Apply’ Button on the toolbar to start installation. A Summary dialog will be displayed first to inform you what will be installed. Make sure that the ‘Download package files only’ checkbox is UNCHECKED. Click on the ‘Apply’ button to start the download and install process.

12. A progress dialog is shown. You will be informed if everything has been installed successfully.

13. After the download and installation process, you may run avidemux from the Ubuntu toolbar, in Applications->Sound and Video->Avidemux

NOTE: Everything is downloaded and installed. So make sure that you have a working internet connection before performing this.

I can’t help singing Tigger’s tune everytime I read about the name of this microblogging/social networking site.

The wonderful thing about tiggers
Is tiggers are wonderful things!
Their tops are made out of rubber;
Their bottoms are made out of springs!
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!
But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is
I’m the only one!

After several days I got an invite, and immediately I signed up for it, just to know what the hype is all about. What I saw is a site that is in some aspects a ‘mashup’ of Tumblr and Twitter. Like Tumblr, you can post links, messages, events, and files. Like Twitter, it’s more suited to short posts, and you get to network with a lot of people and converse with each other on a particular topic.

Here’s my Pownce page. I just signed up as a fan of Robert Scoble and Veronica Belmont. Maybe I’ll add some more later.

There’s just one caveat. Until the time of writing, you can’t just sign up and start pownce-ing. You have to get invited or you wait in line for your turn to get invited.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve read in several forums that somebody’s laptop had been stolen. Just to illustrate, try searching PhilMUG with the keyword “stolen”. You will get several results of threads talking about this issue — the most common occurrence being the laptop was stolen from inside a car that is left on a parking area of a mall or building.

Makes me think of not bringing my laptop wherever I go. I don’t feel safe anymore.

A recent digg post pointed me to an article listing the 10 Most Beautiful Social Networks.

I was not interested in another social networking site other than my Friendster account, but the way a user’s home page can be customized got me thinking of signing up with Virb. If you would take the time to look at the featured sites, they look clean and very organized. It may look like a pop-y, youth-oriented site — or a very professional yet attractive one.

However, there is one problem. I don’t have anyone else signed up with Virb, unlike my friendster account, which is getting close to 500 as of late.

Oh, well.

If you have noticed, I’ve placed a Twitter badge on my sidebar, so that every Twitter post I make would be shown here in the blog as well.

I’ve already had a Twitter account a few months ago, but I have never seen much use for it then. Now, I’ve got a better grip on how it could help me get better informed.

The original purpose of Twitter is to keep you and your friends in touch with each other. A novel idea indeed, with the fact that every Twitter post you make is sent (optionally) to each of the followers you have. Lately, keeping in touch had taken a different meaning.

Tech sites and blogs, like ArsTechnica, ZDNet, and CNET, as well as news centers like CNN, now have their own Twitter account. Every now and then they post links to news articles as they are added to their site. This is done for free, unlike the news services of telcos here in the Philippines where they charge you for every text news message you receive.

In effect, by following their Twitter posts, I get updated with news from CNN, and tech updates from CNET, ZDNet, and ArsTechnica. Since the messages come with links to the news articles, I get to read the ones I am interested in when I get in front of my computer — and delete those I really don’t care about.

Twitter isn’t really the only one that exist with this type of service — there’s Jaiku, and a lot of others. I suggest you try one of them, and get updated with what’s happening around you — all for free.