Category Archives: technology

how to crop an image with inkscape

The inkscape tutorials weblog has a great little tutorial on cropping / clipping images with inkscape. It uses a great little clipart from the open clipart library too!

http://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/inkscape-faq-how-do-i-crop-in-inkscape/

Touchpad Click and Edge Scrolling broken in Fedora 11?

In Fedora 11, default mouse settings (with regards to laptop and notebook touchpads) have been slightly changed. In previous versions of Fedora, tapping the touchpad to “click” and scrolling using the edge of touchpads was enabled by default. In Fedora 11, these options are now disabled by default. To re-enable these options:

1. Open the Mouse Preferences dialog either by choosing  System > Preferences > Mouse from the Fedora Main Menu or by running the following command from a terminal:

gnome-mouse-properties

2. In the Mouse Preferences dialog, choose the Touchpad tab, and enable the options you desire.

Mouse Preferences Dialog

Mouse Preferences Dialog

Control+Alt+Backspace shortcut does not restart the X server in Fedora 11

Note: This post documents a change that was introduced in Fedora 11 (F11). Special thanks to who-t for his help on this one :)

Previously, pressing the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Backspace forced the X.org server (the open source implementation of X11) to instantly restart, returning the user to the login screen. This functionality is useful on unstable systems where the X server frequently hangs, however, if the shortcut is inadvertently invoked, the user will lose anything not saved to disk.   In the version of X.org shipped in Fedora 11, the decision was made in upstream to make the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace shortcut disabled by default. To re-enable this option (on the Gnome Desktop):

1.  Open the Keyboard Preferences dialog either by choosing  System > Preferences > Keyboard from the Fedora Main Menu or by running the following command from a terminal:

gnome-keyboard-properties

2.  In the Keyboard Preferences dialog, choose the Layouts tab (labeled 1 in the screenshot below) and press the Layout Options button (labeled 2 in the screenshot below) to bring up the Keyboard Layout Options dialog.

Screenshot-Keyboard Preferences

Keyboard Preferences dialog

3.  In the Keyboard Layout Options dialog, unfold the tree item “Key sequence to kill the X server” (labeled 3 in the screenshot below), and mark the checkbox “Control + Alt + Backspace” (labeled 4 in the screenshot below)

Screenshot-Keyboard Layout Options

Keyboard Layout Options dialog

Update: X input hacker, who-t (Peter Hutterer) on the differences between Ubuntu and Fedora on this change:

The Ubuntu “dontzap” command has no effect on Fedora.

There are two parts to zapping: one is the permission in the server (Option DontZap) and one is the trigger (the Terminate_Server XKB symbol). To zap, you have to invoke the trigger and you must be allowed to zap the server.

In Ubuntu, the server by default does not allow zapping, but the trigger is in the default keymaps. Thus, to enable zapping it needs to be enabled in the configuration file (and the server requires a restart).

In Fedora, the server by default allows zapping, but the trigger is not in the default keymaps. Thus, to enable zapping it needs to be enabled in the keymap. This can be done at runtime.

Doing the equivalent to “dontzap -disable” in Fedora explicitly enables an option that’s enabled by default anyway, so it has no effect.

Create a Lightbulb Icon that follows the tango! guidelines.

Note: I originally wrote this post for the inkcsape tutorials blog, but i liked this tutorial enough to do a shameless crosspost here on my personal blog.

Here is another great inkscape tutorial from vectortuts, demonstrating how to create a vector lightbulb icon within the tango! icon guidelines.

This tutorial is a great overview on using inkscape for drawing icons.  For an overview on managing your workflow in inkscape while designing icons, see the previously posted tutorial, “creating icons with inkscape – a basic workflow.”

Also, be sure to check out the vectortuts website. Even though there are only a handful of inkscape tutorials posted there, if you have intermediate to advanced inkscape skills, you may be able to apply some of the techniques from the other tutorials hosted there.

Note: This tutorial only demonstrates the process to create the light bulb icon above. The image below is a random subset of images that are in the tango! icon library. To get the tango! icons, including icons in the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format, visit the download page on the tango! website.

screenshot

fedora 11 release notes test build

Work has started on the overhaul of the fedora release notes in preparation for the Fedora 11 release later in the year.  I have created a work in progress build of the release notes, based on the current content outlined in the release notes beats (basically the draft texts that go together to make the release notes.)

The test build can be found on my fedora people hosting here:

http://ryanlerch.fedorapeople.org/Release_Notes/

That page links to the built copies of the release notes (in HTML, HTML-Single, PDF, and a Desktop RPM) for anyone to view. I haven’t checked the source of this work into the Release-Notes git repo yet, but that will be happening soon. Please send any comments / ideas  on the fedora release notes to the fedora-docs mailing list.

New tutorials on inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com

I just posted 2 fresh tutorials on the inkscape tutorials blog! be sure to check them out and give them a go!

Playing with Spiros and Path Effects by Andy Fitz

Creating a Coffee Cup using inkscape by Peter Anglea

jumping on the bandwagon

okay, i have totally jumped on the identi.ca bandwagon. for all that don’t know, it is a FOSS alternative to twitter that uses Laconica. I’m not sure how much i will use it until it integrates better with some of the services that i already use (mainly twitter and facebook). Also, a firefox addon wouldn’t go astray either.

Feel free to subscribe to me on identi.ca:

http://identi.ca/ryanlerch

Also, yesterday i discovered this awesome little project / experiment by Chris Blizzard called whoisi. Check it out, and read what it’s about. My whoisi is:

http://whoisi.com/p/2674

Tagged identi.ca, social networking, twitter, whoisi

fresh inkscape tutorials at the inkscape tutorials blog

after a month or so of laziness, i have finally updated the inkscape tutorials blog with 3 fresh tutorials for all to try!

does anyone actually read / use the tutorials that i post over there? or should i not bother posting fresh inkscape tutorials at all?

creative commons salon 2

The creative commons australia is hosting the next ccSalon au at the state library of queensland.the followinf is an excerpt from the ccau invite:

creative commons australia (CCau) invites you to the second ccSalon, a showcase of the creative commons in australia.

the ccSalon is a public exhibition/performance/expo of how artists are using creative commons licences and material worldwide. the ccau event features creative commons licensed material by a range of australian artists, including a CC Film and Video showcase and an photo exhibition drawn from Powerhouse Museum, Sydney’s Photo of the Day series. Then get into the groove with music by Sydney performer, Yunyu and Andrew Garton’s Terminal Quartet.

ccSalon is a public event.

for more information and the program of events for the eveing,  check out the ccau website.

the photos used in this flyer are from .