If you are like me, you probably installed Flash player from the repository, expecting it to work properly. Well, that just isn't the case. For instance, on YouTube or Hulu videos, I wasn't able to push the buttons without first right clicking, then left clicking twice. Weird, huh?

Here's how to get the Adobe Flash 64 bit Alpha for Linux working in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.

First, close Firefox. Next, uninstall the following packages if you have them installed:

sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-installer flashplugin-nonfree nspluginwrapper

Here's an easy way to combine two video files into one. I did this on Ubuntu, but this should work on most any distribution. First, you need mencoder if you don't already have it. In a terminal:

sudo apt-get install mencoder

After it installs, change to the directory that has the files you want to merge and execute the following command:

mencoder -forceidx -oac copy -ovc copy video01.avi video02.avi video03.avi -o merged_final.avi

I recently updated my main machine to Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04 beta. The version of Dropbox I had with Intrepid stopped working after the update. To get it to work I performed the following steps in the terminal. (The following steps work on x86. For x86_64, the steps will be the same, but using different files):

1. Download and install Dropbox deb (32 or 64 bit) for Intrepid if you don't already have it running. (Note: Don't restart Nautilus)
https://www.getdropbox.com/downloading?os=lnx

Installing the latest nVidia drivers (180.29) on Ubuntu Intrepid is quite easy. First, pull up a terminal (for gnome, Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and enter the following command.


sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list


You will be prompted for your password. At the bottom of the newly opened file insert the following lines:


deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/anders-kaseorg/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/anders-kaseorg/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main


This evening xchat-gnome decided it didn't want to open for me. Running in bash produced:


The program 'xchat-gnome' received an X Window System error.
This probably reflects a bug in the program.
The error was 'BadImplementation (server does not implement operation)'.
(Details: serial 548 error_code 17 request_code 145 minor_code 5)
(Note to programmers: normally, X errors are reported asynchronously;
that is, you will receive the error a while after causing it.
To debug your program, run it with the --sync command line

I was having some problems with my sound tonight on Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. I wasn't able to get Rhythmbox or VLC to play any audio. When I tried to to play a test sound in the sound administration I got this error:

audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink: Failed to connect: Connection refused

So I decided the culprit was PulseAudio. I'm trying to trace the root of the problem. I've more or less determined it is an issue with the deadly combo of Firefox/Flash Player/Pulseaudio. To correct the problem I simply opened up a terminal and ran