HowTo:Download youtube and metacafe videos in linux

This guide describes how to download youtube and metacafe videos via command line in linux
Step 1
Install youtube-dl and metacafe-dl
for ubuntu users:
sudo apt-get install youtube-dl
sudo apt-get install metacafe-dl
Users of other distros can download them directly here and here

Step 2
Choose your video and type the following command followed by the url of the video.Say to download this video http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LnA0gffqpXE type the command
youtube-dl http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LnA0gffqpXE
For metacafe the same process applies
Say you want this video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-G3OFr6jJ2Ks/bryan_adams_please_forgive_me_studio_mtv/ type the command
metacafe-dl http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-G3OFr6jJ2Ks/bryan_adams_please_forgive_me_studio_mtv/

To cancel donwloading press Ctrl+C anytime

Step 3
Done! and the video is downloaded to your present working directory .

Also you can type the commands with -o option to rename them as they are being downloaded
Say
youtube-dl -o whatever.flv "http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LnA0gffqpXE"
for more info try metacafe-dl -h and same for youtube-dl

How To : Show Desktop icons in ubuntu after fresh install & hide ntfs drive icons on desktop

Part 1

You may have noticed that after a fresh ubuntu install there are no desktop icons not even the icon for computer and home folder? There is a simple solution to that problem

Open Applications>Acccessories > Terminal

Type in the following gconf-editor

Now,

You’ll get a window that looks like this

Expand the apps menu by by clicking the arrow on it

Now scroll down to a sub menu by the name nautilus and expand it and click on a sub menu by the name desktop

Check the entries as needed

computer_icon_visible Shows the Computer icon (yeah like My Computer in windows )

home_icon_visible Shows the home icon (Home where your documents & personal files dwell)

network_icon_visible Shows Network icon (similar to network neighbourhood in windows)Part 2

trash_icon_visible Shows Trash icon

Part 2

hiding mounted ntfs drives on desktop

Whenever your ntfs drive is mounted it shows up on desktop which doesn’t look good IMHO

to change that uncheck the entry volumes_visible in the same window in part 1

volumes_visible

Linux Tip : mounting iso files in Linux

Mounting iso files in windows requires you to install Daemon tools,alcohol software etc but things are different and better in linux.Say you have a file called myfile.iso now to mount it on your system all you have to do is make a folder for mounting it say you name it miso.Here are the commands…

**Create a folder called miso **

$mkdir miso

**(assuming both myfile.iso and folder miso are in the same directory) now mount the file called myfile.iso in miso**

$sudo mount -o loop myfile.iso miso

**if miso is in /mnt directory and myfile.iso is in the downloads directory of your home directory**

$sudo mount -o loop ~/Downloads/myfile.iso /mnt/miso

Congrats ! Your iso file is mounted in miso directory

If you don’t have root access that is sudo then you can try this command

$mount -o loop -t iso9660 myfile.iso miso

Enjoy!

Everex GPC back in business on Wal-Mart

            Well great news for linux fans all over as the $199 Everex Gpc is back at Wal-mart.The product page shows that it is in stock and that is indeed a great news for all linux and the new league of Everex gpc fans.According to Wal-mart officials this low priced wonder has been one of the top performing pcs at wal-mart in spite of its low specs and price.The funny thing is that another model called Everex Impact GC3502 by Everex again which comes with Vista Basic and double the memory and of course about 80 bucks more is selling quite less as compared to the 199 $ wonder.This can be clearly seen with the ad on Everex gpc TC2502 product page saying

“Step up to the Everex GC3502 for Double the Memory and Windows Vista Basic”

This little advert/upgrade option gives us a clear idea of the number of hits the page got and the number of pcs it sold.The 199 $ pc which comes with gOS (an Ubuntu Linux variant) and basic office and internet tools has won accolades from IT biggies like IBM.The Pc is shipped with basic tools like Mozilla Firefox, gMail, Meebo, Skype, Wikipedia, GIMP, Blogger, YouTube, Xing Movie Player, Rhythmbox, Faqly, Facebook and OpenOffice.org 2.2 (includes WRITER, IMPRESS, DRAW, CALC, BASE) which suffice the needs of a basic office and internet user giving it an winning edge over the competing and costly Microsoft Vista Basic.You can find out more about the PC in my previous posts. Also the impact of open source software seems to be more relevant these days with IBM announcing the launch of Lotus Symphony based on ODF(open document format) to tackle Microsoft.Is this the dawn of a new IT market war or just a distant dream only time will tell….

Reasons for success of the 200$ wonder-Everex gpc

[Linux-The winner takes it all]

           

                Everex gpc is no doubt a big success(read about it in my previous posts).In fact it is touted to become the linux version of mini mac.With very low specs as compared to other Pcs selling in the market today,Everex gPC which comes with linux pre-installed proved to be a mighty product by running out of stock within just one week of its going on sale at Wal-mart.But what makes it so special even though it comes with a not-as-popular-as-windows operating system called Linux?.

The reasons are pretty clear.A person who uses a pc for his office work,mail,music and NOT gaming would never want to spend around 300-400$ on a similar config pc with an additional feature called Vista OEM.Further costs keep on adding because Vista doesn’t come pre-loaded with Microsoft office and most important antivirus,antispyware and firewall softwares.Lets take an example of three people Person A,Person B,Person C who have the same usage like web,office and music and are planning to buy a PC for regular use with low-to-midrange specs.Say they all have a budget around 300-350 $ which is quite obvious….

1) Person A buys a PC with Vista Home basic say this Everex Impact GC3502(again from Everex with Vista Home Basic installed specs are almost same) being sold at Wal-mart (its not out of stock lolz)
Price:298$. Now since this person is trying to save money and his needs being less he’ll definitely won’t go for Professional Office 2007 he’ll buy Office 2007 Home and Student edition Priced at $140 again at wal-mart Product link.
Again this guy constantly surfs the net so he will definitely need a good antivirus lets say he goes for Bitdefender Priced at 40$ at wal-mart again Product link
Now the total cost of the pc helplessly becomes 298+140+40 = 478 $ which is almost around 500 bucks for a person with a budget of around 300 bucks !

Total Cost: 500 $ approx

2) Person B can simply go for the 1.25 Ghz Mac mini priced at 500 $ but again the price goes very high considering the budget so he decides to go for something other.

Total Cost:N/A

3) Person C the wise guy goes for the now famous Everex TC2502 priced at 200 $ . He has the same usage as person A but doesn’t need to buy any extra antivirus(linux being invulnerable to viruses) or any Office product(as it comes shipped with Openoffice).So overall price stays the same.Also linux is very stable and support is provided at the ubuntu forums.

Total Cost:200 $

So here it is obvious that Person C is the clear winner

Some more reasons for Everex gpc victory

The market of low-to-mid range PC products is very big.This is the area where Microsoft scores over Apple(which costs really high).In this market a hot new entry like the Everex Gpc has given the Microsoft a great competition.Microsoft products need constant updates and there are a lot of bugs which need fixing from time to time.Most recent being the patch Microsoft released this tuesday. Also with the rise in the popularity of gaming consoles and also release of playstation 3,Xbox and Nintendo Wii people have reduced the gaming on PC.People who already own a console would in many cases won’t need to play games on their PC and in such cases people go for a mid-end or a low-end PC.Already market being hot with the recent release of Apple Leopard.,people who can’t afford it are definitely looking for something new,useful,efficient yet cheap.Students and educational institutions see Linux as an ideal learning environment.Reports have confirmed that Vista is not hitting the market as expected to do and Microsoft are already making Vista SP1.These things have affected the market in such a way that now-a-days people have started thinking of moving to linux.Linux has developed a lot as compared to the geeky looking previous versions of linux.The users have started realizing the importance of opensource and free software with the prices of premium software rising high and as linux hits where MS lacks,not far will be the day when Linux will be the apple of your eye and window to the world !

image source:wikipedia

Wal-mart officials declare Everex gPC as one of the top selling PCs recently,Plans to restock

 

Well in my last post i had mentioned about a linux PC worth 200$ being sold out within just one week of its going on sale..Now its in the news again.Wal-mart officials have declared the Everex TC2502 Green gPC as one of the top performing desktop computers on Wal-Mart.com over the last few weeks.Not quoting the exact figures though the pc will be made available within a few weeks.If you still have no idea what I am talking about read my last post below.The gpc has been a great example of the Linux growth in the market in which itfaces stiff competition from giants like Microsoft and Apple.

Specifications of the gPC

Price: $199

Additional Preinstalled and Linked Software: Mozilla Firefox, gMail, Meebo, Skype, Wikipedia, GIMP, Blogger, YouTube, Xing Movie Player, Rhythmbox, Faqly, Facebook and OpenOffice.org 2.2 (includes WRITER, IMPRESS, DRAW, CALC, BASE)

Hardware Specifications: 1.5GHz, VIA C7®-D Processor, 512MB DDR2 533MHz, SDRAM, 80GB Hard Disk Drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW Optical Drive, VIA UniChrome Pro IGP Graphics, Realtek 6-Channel Audio, (1) 10/100 Ethernet Port, (1) DB 15-Pin VGA Port, (6) USB 2.0 Ports, (1) RJ-11 Port, (1) Headphone/Line-Out Port, (2) Microphone/Line-In Ports, (1) Serial Port, (1) Parallel Port, (1) Keyboard, (1) Mouse, (1) Set of Amplified Stereo Speakers

This PC can do almost everything a windows user can from latest web2.0 apps to officework except of course gaming which is not such a big letdown considering the price at which it comes… whereas a Vista OEM version with the same configuration will cost at least a hundred dollars more(it can’t run vista though).In fact now experts have already touted this green pc as the linux version of Mac-mini which is a wallet-friendly version of the costly Mac.The low cost yet high functionality is what makes this pc a market winner.

$200 Linux pcs sold out in one week!

 

        Well for all you linux fans out there this news will make you really happy!.According to latest reports retail giant Wal-mart started selling Ubuntu(gOS version) linux PCs(specs:1.7Ghz C7-D processor with 512 mb RAM) priced at 200$ almost a week ago and now this product has become so popular that its sold out!.Well these specs are really low as compared to the pcs in market today which come shipped with Vista but this pc is already out of stock barely a week after going on sale .This PC even though can’t run Vista but runs Ubuntu like a charm(thanks to the linux almighty!) and that is what makes it so special.It is also getting great reviews from customers.Its a surprise that in the age where most people are chasing Leopards and Vistas with dual/quad cores with Gbs of RAM,this small wonder is proving more useful yet cheap.The PC comesloaded with Openoffice and Google apps which makes it easy for windows users/switchers to work with.It comes with a 80 Gb hard drive,expandable 512MB memory and VIA C7-D 1.5 GHz processor and price 200$ which less than a whole windows vista home premium operating system and almost equal to the price of Windows Xp Home edition sp2.This a real proof for the term “linux is growing”,probably they should append “fast” to the end of that line!.Here is the link to the product page(out of stock at the time of writing.

Specifications

Additional Preinstalled and Linked Software
Mozilla Firefox, gMail, Meebo, Skype, Wikipedia, GIMP, Blogger, YouTube, Xing Movie Player, Rhythmbox, Faqly, Facebook and OpenOffice.org 2.2 (includes WRITER, IMPRESS, DRAW, CALC, BASE)

Hardware Specifications
1.5GHz, VIA C7®-D Processor, 512MB DDR2 533MHz, SDRAM, 80GB Hard Disk Drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW Optical Drive, VIA UniChrome Pro IGP Graphics, Realtek 6-Channel Audio, (1) 10/100 Ethernet Port, (1) DB 15-Pin VGA Port, (6) USB 2.0 Ports, (1) RJ-11 Port, (1) Headphone/Line-Out Port, (2) Microphone/Line-In Ports, (1) Serial Port, (1) Parallel Port, (1) Keyboard, (1) Mouse, (1) Set of Amplified Stereo Speakers

specs source:everex official website 

image source :wikipedia