HOWTO: Run Dialog Box in Fluxbox (Debian)

Here I have quickfix for this ;) First make sure you have a program called fbrun installed. Check by typing "exec fbrun" in a shell. If it's not there, find the app and install it (learn to use apt-get).

Next edit your ~/.fluxbox/keys file, and add the following line which will bind the Run dialogue to Alt+R:
Mod1 r :Exec fbrun -font Sans-16 -w 500 -h 50 -pos 250 350

save and exit, then rightclick on your desktop, select Reconfigure, and you are done :)

Tip: When the dialogue pops up, notice that you can use the up/down-arrows to browse your command history.

If it doesn't work, post a comment, if it works, please post a thank you :)

Setting up NTP client in Linux (Debian)

This is fast and easily done..

Get root privileges:
su
Then install ntp
apt-get install ntp
Then edit the config file
nano /etc/ntp.conf
Add the following:

  server ntp.uio.no
  driftfile /etc/ntp/drift
  broadcastdelay  0.008
  authenticate no
Replace the red text with a server from your area or you can use the NTP Pool Project servers which you can find here and can read more about here. The one above is for Norway.
Now restart the ntp client;
/etc/init.d/ntp stop
/etc/init.d/ntp start

And you are done :)

How to add calendar in conky (Linux)

Simply edit your .conkyrc file and add the following line:
${font DejaVu Sans Mono :size=8}${exec cal -m | cut -c23-44 --complement}

Some explanation:
The Font - Yep, you have to use that font, otherwise it wont come out right.
"cal -m" - If you want Sunday to be the first day of the week simply remove the -m.

If you are having any problems, please post in the comment field (no registration required and I will try to help you out).

Thanks!

UPDATE (Debian Users):
Unfortunately "cal" doesn't support weeks starting with monday anymore. The fix:
apt-get install gcal
New line for conkyrc;
${font DejaVu Sans Mono :size=8}${exec gcal --starting-day=monday | cut -c23-44 --complement}

Alternatives to Spotify

After crawling the web for some time I found you some replacements and alternatives for Spotify. None of them could really handle with the functionality and ease of Spotify, and I'm not quite sure about how legal these streamers are, even though many of them seem to stream the tracks off from i.e. youtube.

For my own well being I think I will stick to spotify.

But here are the 4 alternatives to spotify:
http://streamdrag.com/
http://songza.com/
http://www.seeqpod.com
http://justhearit.com/

How to record streaming WMV/ASF/MMS videos

In this howto I will be using mplayer to do the trick.

If you are using Linux you need to install mplayer, in debian you can simply type:
apt-get install mplayer
Otherwise you can get it both for Windows and other distros right here. (This will work for Windows as well, but I will from here on only explain how it works in Linux).

Next you simply start dumping/recording your stream like this in Linux:
mplayer -dumpstream mms://**********************

Mplayer will now start dumping/recording your stream :)

Common problem:
Stream not seekable!
nop_streaming_read error : Resource temporarily unavailable

If this happens after a while you probably just have to start over again, I could not find any solution for this anywhere else. The same think happened to me while trying to dump/record a stream from Nrk, but I simply tried again a little later on and it worked like a charm.

Tips:
While recording you can easily playback the video. Simply play the dump like this:
mplayer stream.dump


Happy dumping! :)

Nikon D90 and Linux

Easy howto:
1.) Install digikam which is a great tool for handling your photos.
apt-get install digikam
2.) Launch digikam,
Import -> Camera -> Add Camera -> Autodetect

You are ready to go :)

Tips: Check my post here about how to get a D90 remote for only $3.88 including all shipping and handling(worldwide).

Canon MP620 with Linux (Debian)

First install cups:
apt-get install cupsys

Then go to the configuration page for cups: http://locahost:631
Select Add Printer, and when asked for Device type, simply select ipp. In the next step simply type the printers IP. If you are unsure about the IP, scan your network with nmap like this:
nmap -sP 192.168.1.1/24 (will scan entire C-class network)
and the IPs for the printer will show up.

Next step it will probably ask for what printer you have, and it also gives you the option to add a ppd(driver). Go to this page and download and extract the english ppd you need. Next upload the ppd, and your printer shall now be ready to go :)