[Update](of the)[Update]

Remember my previous post? well, turns out my post before that is coming on:

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Fellow Python Enthusiasts

Ok so come Saturday, March 30th April 6th, a group of python enthusiasts plan to meet up to you know, share ideas, learn from each other and network. These “pythonistas” are based in Accra, the meet up is in Accra, but it is not limited to only “Accrarians”. I should have posted this earlier but I’ve been a bit lazy. Sorry. But pass through if you can; you never know.

Anyway, the meeting is at the Open University of West Africa campus in Osu. There are directions here, or you can simply call Victor Ofoegbu or Courage Mabrey on +2330200217650 and +233207508668 respectively; they’re actually nice, they won’t bite, ok maybe Victor would, funny guy. lol.

You can look up this page for more details.”

So yeah, do well to pass through. Its on this Saturday chale!!!

Fellow Python Enthusiasts

Ok so come Saturday, March 30th, a group of python enthusiasts plan to meet up to you know, share ideas, learn from each other and network. These “pythonistas” are based in Accra, the meet up is in Accra, but it is not limited to only “Accrarians”. I should have posted this earlier but I’ve been a bit lazy. Sorry. But pass through if you can; you never know.

Anyway, the meeting is at the Open University of West Africa campus in Osu. There are directions here, or you can simply call Victor Ofoegbu or Courage Mabrey on +2330200217650 and +233207508668 respectively; they’re actually nice, they won’t bite, ok maybe Victor would, funny guy. lol.

You can look up this page for more details.

Oh one more thing, I’m sure you’ve probably heard of these guys?

Yes? No? Well they’re an awesome organization who are all about the alternative -never the norm- and projecting Accra, showcasing the rich culture (troski life, music, fashion, that waakye etc) and all the aesthetics the city has to offer. You can check their blog.

So there’s this social thing they do together with their interns [me included] where they we take turns with cameras, learning how to take beautiful photos thereby creating content to share with everyone. Our little gig is aptly and funk-edelically called Foto Klub.

We’re taking shots around the lighthouse at Jamestown, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can always drop by and you know, interact. Begins at seven (7) am though, but you can always catch up nonetheless. We’re awesome people, like really. Heck ada brought you !ndie/Ind!e Fuse, Chale Wote and still bring The Talk Party Series which is on tomorrow at the Passions Cafe in Osu. I won’t be there sadly, but it’s all good.

:). Ok I’ve talked chao already, nti you dierr, just make it to anyone of the three hangouts.

Good evening.

Ubuntu Studio over Quantal Quetzal [and back]

In my enthusiasm to learn about coding, I naturally switched to Ubuntu 12.10, an environment which was mostly text editor based albeit with some eye catching GUI which Microsoft only managed to beat with their latest OS.

Ask me how my coding is going so far, damn I wish I had started way before. I keep stumbling but like any successful thing, it never is easy.

But then again, I am some kind of multimedia gb3! Translation, I do beats, I write, I recently started GIMPing [or more appropriately, grokking the GIMP], and I have plans of learning all I can about video production and of course, editing.

Beautiful Canonical, with every user in mind, ideally have another Linux distro under their umbrella named Ubuntu Studio, which obviously, caters to multimedia needs.

I managed to install it through the Software Centre, no hassle.

Only problem, I couldn’t experience it within Quantal. Hmm..

while looking online for Linux alternatives for Ableton Live 8, I read somewhere about LMMS (Linux Multimedia Studio) as a good alternative. Only problem, I couldn’t find it anywhere.

I didn’t want to have to go ‘sudo-apt get install” in the terminal when it should supposedly already come bundled with Ubuntu Studio. (I mean what’s the point?)

so of course I gave up for the meantime, after all, I had only installed Studio yesterday and the only sense of it having being installed came from my shutdown screen, it displayed Ubuntu Studio!

Then after Ubuntu Tweaking my Quantal for a while, I decided to switch users and use GNOME instead. And voilà! There lay my *precious* Ubuntu Studio logon option.

I was elated!

I selected it, typed in my password and was welcome to Ubuntu Studio.

I hated it!

The GUI was honestly, unappealing to me. I spent like 5 mins checking out what programs it had. Not much of a difference, except for the ugly. It was like I was sexing the same vagina, only this time, it belonged to an older version of my partner.

So I decided to check out my GNOME. Didn’t work. Switched to Ubuntu. Didn’t work. Switched to Guest Session GNOME. Beauty. Switched to Guest Session Ubuntu. Didn’t work.

What the hell!?? Now I was peeved.

I tried “sudo apt-get remove, sudo apt-get purge, sudo apt-get autoremove”, chale I tried plenty things. I went to all the forums, nothing they did seemed to work.

I knew I was doomed; at least that was the thought. I couldn’t imagine having to reinstall Ubuntu. Too much work, time, and having to backup.

Then I chanced upon this.

It did the trick, albeit taking some time and some meticulous observation.

Well I’m glad it worked! And I just wanted to share with the world.

Here’s a bit of what I had to do.

I Is Cuz We Is…(Quantal Quetzal)

I recently started using Ubuntu, perhaps the most popular Linux distro out there. i can’t say my experience was smooth. i have plunged myself into an absolutely new world.

Oh so badly i wanted to learn to program, yet here i am and i already wanna jump overboard and swim ashore to the cozy, relatively easy windows sands.

My installation of the OS didn’t go great, it just wouldn’t install on my rather crappy computer, in dual boot mode. as a last resort, i replaced my version of windows 7.

Oh did i mention i was stupid enough to turn the third partition of my hard disk into a bootable USB..big mistake! But that can be solved, there are a ton of tools i should be able to use, so no problemo there.

Using Ubuntu, i can just feel its benefits, although i am not sure i can put it in words. I feel like a geek, running commands from within the terminal, though it really is nothing considering i get how-to’s from the numerous forums dedicated to the distro. And the interface is sweeeeet, or as I love to write and *ahem* say, niiiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuce!!!!

Default Interface

The one thing i am grateful for is the Wine package, which enables me to run native windows applications on this Linux distro. awesome right??

Wine

I still get to use my Picasa, i can still use fl studio, i get VLC, and i should be able to more importantly, run Microsoft office. Supposedly because it still isn’t working. I’ll keep trying until i do, the office suite on offer doesn’t quite suit me so yeah.. LibreOffice is an okay alternative though.

So about a week of using Ubuntu, and i have a headache. am i unhappy? Hell no! I am just excited and totally adore the feeling i get when i finally manage to make something work. 

As at now, i am still familiarizing myself with the OS  learning as much of the ropes as i possibly can.

Starting off my programming adventures in Python, following Zed Shaw’s lessons, the native Python integration (both versions) is a definite plus for me..=D.

Then the most important asset of this OS i must say is the community behind it. Considering its open source and all, there is an awesomely dedicated team of developers and users ready to give a helping hand in times of trouble. And oh, did I also mention there’s an equally suitable alternative to your favorite apps? Only thing is the experience feels a bit different and needs some adjusting to. 🙂 

That is awesome, cuz it ensures you’re not stuck.

All in all, I’ll give my Ubuntu experience 8 out of 10 stars, just being me

1.5 if i have some problems because I’m stupid

10 for being a totally challenging experience.

For what other reasons can i rate it??

I dunno. drop a comment and tell me how else i can rate my experience, and oh,do tell me if you’re using the same OS, what your expectations are, and what experiences you have.

And oh, please tell me why you want to be, because of what everyone is. [that is basically what Ubuntu means. understand my title now? Go figure!!:P]

 

Flying With The Circus

So you’ve heard of MOOCs and wanted a bit of the pie. But here you are in Ghana, where everything is an exaggerated cost. From internet to clothes to whatever else you can imagine.

If you’ve patronised internet cafes for a long time, then you can agree that it isn’t a conducive environment for academic pursuits. [i often wonder how people are able to do their assignments using them]. Thus MOOCs would be a bit annoying and frustrating for you if you don’t have internet at home; and don’t even think of modems [unless of course you don’t mind the cost].

Oh well, so you want to benefit from the likes of Udacity, Coursera, CodeAcademy, Coursehero, edX, CodeSchool, TedEd amongst several (most of the above listed focus on computers b.t.w., mostly Python), but here you are without an affordable resource to access this wealth of knowledge.

well if you can, these few tips should help you get started.

tiGO

Buy a tiGO modem, or SIM if you possess either an Android or iPhone. Get a computer (laptop) with Wi-Fi (not necessary if you have the modem).

If you use either of the smartphones, then you should be aware of the tethering option by now. If not, Android, iPhone check your manual and learn how to do this. (Blackberry and Windows Phones inclusive). [you can also just opt for the usb method. long process]

Activate tiGO‘s internet bundle. You can either opt for the daily option,GH¢0.99, weekly, GH¢5.99 or the monthly, GH¢22.99.

You’re good to start learning your courses online now. If you don’t possess a computer however, but own one of these devices, you can still learn to some extent. Android’s stock browser as well as Apple’s Safari are pretty capable browsers and should allow you visit these sites, at least stream the videos effortlessly.

You would still need to get access to a computer in order to do some of the exercises though. ( My phone runs Gingerbread and browsers such as Chrome and Firefox aren’t available to my phone, I bet they’ll let you input effortlessly).

If you want to know more about MOOC’s, heck just Google it or check out one of the pioneers (first and later), or click here to read more, or here, or here or here or just frigging Google it!

oh did i mention you would be at an awesome advantage if you own a tablet?? 🙂

John, Victor and the whole team. Awesome!!

If you can’t afford any of these alternatives, then check out OUWA.