Converting a Plain RPM Directory into a repository using YaST

 The following are the steps involved in converting a "Plain RPM Directory" into a repository using GTK-YaST on openSUSE 12.3, GNOME 3.6 :-

• Dump all the rpm files you have in a suitable directory under your "Home" directory. I have all my rpms in directory "~/Software/rpms"
• Press Left "win" key / Alt+F1 to bring up Activities window / launcher.
• Then type "install" and it will bring up an application called "Install/Remove Software". Click on that to open YaST Software Manager.
• Click on menu Configuration==>Repositories to navigate to "Repositories" window
• Click on the add button in this window and it will take you to "MediaType" window where you need to choose "Local Directory" and press on "Next" button.
• In the next window provide appropriate "Repository Name" and "Path to Directory" where your rpms are present. Also choose the option "Plain RPM Directory." and press on "Next" to complete the process.
• You will now find  the "rpms" repository in the main window of YaST software Manager.

Screencast showing creating local repository using YaST

Note:- The trick for converting Nautilus Pathbar to textual input entry is to press Ctrl+L

Configure Community Repositories in YaST, GNOME 3.6, openSUSE 12.3

 Community repositories (repos) in openSUSE are repositories that are essential repositories through which most of the software requirements can be met. Community repos can be configured using YaST Software Manager and the repos can be classified as:-

• Official :- These are basic repos which power the distro
• Main Repository (Oss) - This has free software. Packages don't get updated as this is kind of baseline stuff.
• Main Repository (Non-Oss) - This has Non Free software. Packages don't get updated as this is kind of baseline stuff.
• Main Update Repository (Oss) - All security updates and other patches Main Repo can be obtained from this repo.
• Update Repository (Non-Oss) - This is
• Additional Repositories :- These repos are as the name mentions are used to obtain software that are not part of Official repos.
• Essential Repositories
• Packman Repository - Contains lot of packages of type multimedia codecs (a.k.a. restricted codecs that cannot be distributed by the openSUSE), Games,Media players( VLC, Mplayer) and other utilities.
• Libdvdcss Repository - This contains a package which can handle proprietary/encrypted DVDs.
• More Repositoies
• openSUSE BuildService - Education - Contains cool software like Artha, Bluefish, Bluej etc...
• openSUSE BuildService - GNOME:Apps - Contains lot of cool GTK applications
• openSUSE BuildService - Mozilla - Contain latest versions of Firefox and SeaMonkey and Thunderbird.

 The following video / screencast shows the procedure to add community repository

How to Format USB drive using YaST partitioner on openSUSE ?

How to format USB using YaST partitioner on openSUSE so that we can use the same on both windows and Linux?

 This is a short screencast / video on a cool and easy way to format or partition a USB / pendrive drive using YaST partitioner on openSUSE 12.2, GNOME 3.4.2. I have used a Kingston, DataTraveler 108 of size 8GB in the screencast. If the USB drive is partitioned in the way specified in this video then it can be used both on Windows and Linux machines. I was able to successfully use the partitioned USB on openSUSE 12.2 and a windows 7 machine.

Muxing Audio stream of different play length onto a Video Stream

 I have been creating a some screencasts and posting the same on my blog recently. The list of videos have been linked in a separate videos tab. But whenever I uploaded the video onto youtube, it would complain that it is not able to detect any audio stream on my videos. That triggered an interest in experimenting with adding a sound track to one of my videos. I started searching on the net and tried to get some audio clips filed under "Creative commons" license. I found a webpage (Legal Music For Videos) which lists many sites which showcase good audio content. I narrowed down the choice of tracks to two of them and finally choose the first one.

• Free Music Archive: Professor Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu
• Sunil Anandatheertha"3tanams on Sarawasti Guitar Veena" [b024s] : Sunil Anandatheertha : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

 Now comes the hard part of muxing / mixing of the audio track onto videos. Two potential candidate emerged that can easily mix audio streams onto video files. Both are command line tools (mencoder , ffmpeg). I saw sample code for both of them here. I also found that in order to use mencoder(based on mplayer), i had to un-install mplayer2-as-mplayer as it conflicts with mplayer backend :-(. I did not want to do this and opted for ffmpeg instead.

The command to mix the audio into video is pretty basic

ffmpeg -i <inputVideo> -i <inputAudio> -c copy <outputvideo>

 I choose one of my recent videos and tried to add the sound track. I substituted the file names as appropriate and got the below command and it did produce a output file. But when i played the output video i found that audio kept playing even after the video had ended. I realised that this was due to the audio track length being greater than that of video.

ffmpeg -i YaSTAddCustomRepo.webm -i Dwaram_Venkataswami_Naidu.mp3 -c copy output.avi

 After making a few more search I found this page which talked about using the "shorten" option. I opened "man" for ffmpeg in GNOME "help browser" using command launcher (Alt+F2) and command "xdg-open man:ffmpeg".Demystifying Man explains various ways of using man command. I found that "shortest" option should be used in a manner as shown below and came up with revised code to convert the video.

-shortest (output) - Finish encoding when the shortest input stream ends.

$ffmpeg -i YaSTAddCustomRepo.webm -i Dwaram_Venkataswami_Naidu.mp3 -shortest -c copy output.avi

Demo video where i have mixed audio stream and video Stream of different playlengths. Since the audio is lifted from a Gramophone record it is course at some places.

Video demo on Addition Of custom repo to YaST installer

 This video demonstrates as to how one can add a custom repository to YaST Installer on GNOME 3.4.2, openSUSE 12.2.

Notes:-

• Always use appropriate repo version in YaST ( i.e. if you are using openSUSE 12.2, always use repos which have "12.2" string in their url)
• It is always a good idea to Turn off "Allow Vendor Change" in YaST when custom repos are used.
• Your system may get horribly broken if you perform "zypper dup" with custom repos on your openSUSE.
• Repository used in the video demonstration is :- http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/network:/utilities/openSUSE_12.2/

YaST Installer Video Demo

 This video demonstrates installation of software like Audacious using YaST installer on openSUSE 12.2, GNOME 3.4.2

zypper Usage Demo

Zypper is the default command line package manager on openSUSE. The following video demonstrates using zypper through gnome-terminal for :-

• Installation of various packages like audacious and audacious-plugins using "in" option
• Removal of packages using "rm" option . It also demonstrates use of -u param to automatically remove dependencies which become unneeded after removal of requested packages.

Adobe Flash Versus GNOME Totem Vegas on openSUSE 12.2 GNOME 3.4.2

 Totem, the good old Multimedia player from GNOME stable has become the new superstar in Linux world after it has come out with its own flash compatible plug-in that allows Linux users to play flash videos from major video streaming sites like youtube and metacafe. Vegas servers as a good alternative to Adobe Flash for playing flash videos in the aforementioned sites.

 The new Totem plug-in is called (vegas) browser plugin. Totem is multimedia player for the GNOME desktop based on GStreamer framework. The "totem-browser-plugin-vegas" allows one to play  Flash videos with virtually any browser like Firefox, Seamonkey, Opera etc. The advent of Vegas is good news especially since Adobe has stopped providing Flash Player for Linux.

Vegas Pluses

• Can be installed along side Adobe Flash.
• Works on variety of browsers.
• Supports fullscreen and non fullscreen modes.
• Can be easily disabled and enabled as described below.

Install Vegas

Various things to do before installing Vegas on openSUSE 12.2 are:-

• Configure "Community repositories" using YaST similar to what is described in this post.
• Finish the Multimedia related steps described in this post.

Install Vegas using YaST

 To locate YaST installer on GNOME 3.X desktop you can use the left "win" key or "Alt+F1" key combination to open "Activities" window. In this window you can start typing a search query like "install" when YaST installer will show up grouped under "Applications" as shown below.

 After opening YaST installer you can type in the search query in YaST as shown below.  After locating Vegas you can select the required software using the relevant checkbox . To complete installation you can press the "Apply" button.

Install Vegas using zypper.

 First we need to open command launcher using key combination "Alt+F2" . Then invoke the terminal using the command "gnome-terminal". After terminal opens, we can use the "zypper" command to install the relevant packages as shown below.

$sudo -u root zypper in totem*vegas*
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Resolving package dependencies...
The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  totem-browser-plugin-vegas
1 new package to install.
Overall download size: 56.0 KiB. After the operation, additional 71.5 KiB will
be used.
Continue? [y/n/?] (y): y
Retrieving package totem-browser-plugin-vegas-3.4.3-1.1.1.x86_64
                                           (1/1),  56.0 KiB ( 71.5 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: totem-browser-plugin-vegas-3.4.3-1.1.1.x86_64.rpm[done (58.5 KiB/s)]
Installing: totem-browser-plugin-vegas-3.4.3-1.1.1 .......................[done]

Notes:- "sudo" is command to execute a command as another user , "-u" option specifies the user which is "root" in this case, "zypper" is the command for managing packages, "in" option stands for installation, zypper allows wildcards like "*" while specifying package names.

Configure Vegas as Flash player

 To configure Vegas as the default plugin to handle flash content on your browser of choice, you may need to disable the Adobe flash plugin. You can easily do this using "Add-ons Manager" in Firefox and SeaMonkey as shown below.

 Similarly in Opera you need to open the "opera:plugins" page through the location or address bar and disable the relevant plugin.

Screenshot of Youtube video in Opera played using Vegas

Screenshot of Metacafe video in SeaMonkey played using Vegas

Short Video Clip comparing the working of Vegas and Adobe Flash

 This is a short screencast comparing video playing capability of Adobe Flash plug-in (Opera) and Totem plug-in Vegas (SeaMonkey). Screen capture done on GNOME 3.4.2 desktop using built in Screencasting tool. Control+Shift+Alt+R keybinding starts and stops the recording. The screencast was generated in "*.webm" format and is readily compatible with youtube. The video first shows SeaMonkey playing Metacafe and Youtube videos in fullscreen and normal mode using Vegas plugin . Then we switch over to Opera which plays same videos using flash plugin. The Screencast proves beyond a doubt that Vegas has good video playing capability and can switch quite smoothly between normal and full screen modes :-)

Rise of the Planet of the Birds

 Saw an interesting video in Dailymotion related to the intelligence and creative skills of Parrots(kea) and Crows (New Caledonian). I was amazed to find that the birds behave very smart when trying to get food from a closed box. They seem to exhibit high level of intelligence. Will there be a "Rise of the Planet of the Birds" in the near future ?
Parrots and Crows Show their Inventive Side WWW...

Meet The Sloths

After winning celebrity fans and a worldwide audience online, video Meet the Sloths is being aired as a full-length documentary.The sloths in the video Are too cute

What are PIPA and SOPA capable of doing to the internet

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

NOTE:-If video is too slow then use then click "HD",the HD mode will get switched off and the video will load faster

The above video explains as to how PIPA and SOPA can affect internet and affect the world as a whole.In short PIPA and SOPA can :-
==>Uploading a video with baby dancing to a tune over video sharing sites like youtube , metacafe etc can land one in serious trouble.
==>Not only that media companies can take down the site which allowed you to upload the aforementioned video
==>Encourage similar laws through out the world
==>Give an excuse the social networking sites  scour through your private content on pretext of searching for illegal or copyrighted content in your posts
==>Governments may  start preventing people from blogging, stemming from fear of the unknown

What every self Respecting kid needs ?

What does every self Respecting kid needs ?

A Magnetic Accelerator Cannon !!!!!!

Two Songs i like from Vaagai Sooda Vaa,Lyrics linked

Vaagai Sooda Vaa-Sara Sara Saara Kathu HQ Video Song

Lyrics of Sara Sara Saara Kaathu from Vaagai Sooda Vaa Sung By Chinmayee Lyrics By Vairamuthu Music By M Ghibran humming Pallavi sara sa...

Poraney Poraney HQ Song - Vaagai Sooda Vaa Movie

Lyrics of Poraney Poraney from Vaagai Sooda Vaa Sung By Ranjith & Neha Bhasin Lyrics By Karthink Neha Music By M Ghibran

Terminator Salvation Soundtrack 01 Opening

Correcting srt files

I had trouble loading '.srt' files even though,the video and the subtitle file were of same name except for the extension.I couldn't get any other subtitle file.Got vexed ,but finally found a cool tool "Subtitle Workshop" which works like charm with fixing the files. All you have to do is open the damaged file even though errors pop up.Then you need to save the file again voila,file gets fixed.

Check the tool here :- Subtitle Workshop

Frog Jesus

Today i saw Two interesting but completely unrelated things ,but had a common theme?
You ask what is it?
How apt is Frog+Jesus
While i was looking at these articles and video my brother commented as to how Jesus and frogs are related(Genuine Question).Well let us check it out

First Web-article:-

URL:-Frog Jesus

"He thought he could make a frog jesus... A nostalgic voyage takes a darker turn, exploring the naiveté of mankind through the eyes of a young boy. "

Second Web-article:- URL:-Crucified frog art returned to owner after Pope outcry "A modern art installation showing a crucified frog is to be taken down and returned to its Austrian owner after protests from the Pope. The work - by the German artist Martin Kippenberger, who died in 1997 - depicts a frog nailed to a cross with a mug of beer in one hand and an egg in the other. Curators of the "Museion" museum in Bolzano, Italy, are removing the work after Pope Benedict XVI condemned it as blasphemous. The sculpture will be returned to its owner, a Tyrol-based art lover In a letter written last month, Pope Benedict said that the sculpture "injured the religious feelings of many people who see in the Cross the symbol of the love of God and of our salvation, which deserves recognition and religious devotion." The museum, however, insists that the work is a self-portrait of the artist "in a state of profound crisis" and is not an attack on religion."

Now the answer,frog's look very similar to jesus when crucified.Well this is a very personal opinion.
Note:-No Frogs were harmed while writing this article :-)

Testing A New Media Player

Nowadays we find a lot of media players and codec+mediaplayer combinations that promise that they play all types of video/audio files.But in the end they just aren't upto the mark.

Here is a quick collection of various file formats that you can download and use to check whether a player indeed is able to play all file formats.

http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/AVI|_DivX.avi
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/BlackJackOP.flv
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/niceday.asf
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/niceday.rm
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/sample.mkv
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/sample|_iTunes.mov
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/sample-pitbull.s03e07.pl.webrip.xvid-h3nk.avi
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/Samurai%20X.mpg
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/szybcy%20sie%20sample.rmvb
http://cid-e9fb700d18b176ad.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Test/WindowsMedia.wmv

What I like about Safari

Yes , people finally safari browser is available for windows and it is damn fast and the UI is very good.I tested it out when it was in beta stages but it crashed a few times (probably because of my low virtual memory). Now in its latest supposedly 3.1 release it is awesome.

You can download it here : Download Safari

So the pluses are:-
==>Great UI
==>Great Speed
==>Good Spell and grammar checker
==>The pages look much better in it as the font-faces are pleasant.


Wait there is something more:Only for Geeks though:-

Go to Edit Menu==>Advanced Tab==>Check the check box named "show Develop Menu" and viola it is a web developers dream come true.


How to effectively use this advanced feature

Step 1;-Go to any web page,

Step 2 :-Click Develop menu

Step 3 :-Things you can do here are many like :-Set Default web browser ,make the safari identify itself as plethora of other browsers like IE7,IE6,Firefox,Opera etc:,also shows how the page will show up on your iphone,

Step 4 :-Then you can disable variety of stuff like javascript,cache,images etc:

Step 5 :-Most important feature is the web inspector through which you can see all the CSS(in-fact see the content),images,java script codes

Step 6 :-The Network Tab is of particular interest to all those video downloaders from sites, yes people it shows you the url of the video that is showing up in the web page,Just copy paste this video url in your favourite downloader and viola,instant video downloads

Saw an interesting video

Just saw an interesting video while browsing and thought that i would put it up here for others to see

How To Download Embedded Videos

Here are the series of steps one must follow to download embedded videos in sites.
Step 1:-
Install either firefox or seamonkey(I continue this tutorial with seamonkey here onwards)
Get Firefox at (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/)
Get Seamonkey at(http://www.seamonkey-project.org/)
Step 2:-
Get a good download manager like Freedownloadmanager(www.freedownloadmanager.org),DAP
Step 3:-
Open seamonkey and go to this url (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/addon/1865)
Install the extension and restart your browser
Step 4:-
Go to your favourite web page which plays embedded videos
Step 5:-
Open adblock from tools menu.
Step 6:-
Click add a filter and open the drop down menu in the new filter wizard
Step 7:-
Look for urls which end with .flv,.mkv,.avi or any other media file extensions etc:
Step 8:-
Copy that url and add that to your favourite download manager and start downloading your videos.

Happy downloading