Dolphin permission problems….

Dolphin, the new KDE file manager (entirely replaced Konqueror, which now serves as a web browser only) still has some teething problems. The main problem I was facing was, whenever I closed Dolphin I got this annoying error message:

After some googleing, I’ve eventually found the solution to my Dolphin problem

sudo chown -R theresa:theresa /home/theresa/.kde (replace theresa with your username)

That did it for me, next time I opened Dolphin, I had no such error message again. God Bless! 😉

the pivot effect with tft screens using ubuntu

Ever wanted to rotate your computer screen because a word document didn’t fit on a page? That’s now possible, if you’re the owner of a TFT screen with pivot function. It comes in quite handy if you’re reading an E-Book with a rather high resolution (e.g 120%). You won’t have to scroll to the end of the page, until the next page starts.

The best way to use the pivot function, provided that you have a Nvidia graphic card, is to install the restricted nvidia driver on ubuntu (this works smoothly on Ubuntu Feisty (6.04) and Ubuntu Gutsy (6.10)) – if you’re still using edgy you have to find the right driver for your kernel version.

After installing the restricted driver you have to open the xorg.conf file (located in /etc/X11/) – but heads up, ALWAYS backup your xorg.conf before you start editing….if you’re using an editor like Kate, then you’re on the safe side, because Kate automatically generates a backup file.

Importing emails in KMail.

Importing emails with KMail is easy – there are several ways to import email from different mail clients (e.g Thunderbird, Evolution, Microsoft Outlook Express, etc…)

Recently I tried importing my old (kmail) emails from my old Kubuntu OS. I made sure to back up the entire /.kde/ folder, but all you really need is this folder

~/.kde/share/apps/kmail/mail/ … this is where all your emails are stored

the ubuntu way to remote control your pc via bluetooth phones.

the reason I’m posting this blog is to remind myself what to do in case I forget the steps that need to be done in order to remote control my machine by using my bluetooth-ed mobile phone (or for yanks „cell phones“). 🙂

ok, let’s get started – it might look mega complicated, but in fact it’s a few steps and loads of text explaining why. so don’t panic 😉

this is a mini how-to for ubuntu/linux computers, windows and mac users may look out for a proprietary software called „salling clicker„. linux users don’t need to pay money for the same effect 😉
ok, so here’s a checklist what you need or already should have:

1. a bluetooth enabled sony ericsson phone e.g. W300i or V630i. why sony ericsson? because they come with a special application called „remote control“ that you’ll later need.
2. a bluetooth usb dongle …. can be found here: Amazon.com
   shouldn’t cost you more than a few $, pounds, €, etc…
3. ubuntu or any linux distribution installed

ok, after this is sorted, we move on to pair our phone with the computer.
first make sure the usb dongle is plugged into your computer and bluetooth is „switched on“ on your phone.

I’m testing this with Ubuntu 6.10 «edgy eft» so if you have a newer release e.g. «feisty fawn» configuration settings might look a bit different.