The Linux Tutorial site aptly called How To Forge has it’s latest tutorial out now about setting up Ubuntu Studio 8.10. This is a sweet distro for the multi-media entertainment enthusiast that has all the pluses of Ubuntu along with the media maven’s dream in software for audio, video and all things in between.

From the How To Forge page:

This tutorial shows how you can set up an Ubuntu Studio 8.10 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge.

I’m thinking of trying this one next time on my Toshiba laptop. With the grandkids and all that goes on in their lives, the videos and photos alone would make it a valued asset.

Loaded up my trusty GMail and a new message at the top informed me that Google has now added several new themes for me to pick from for the background and overall look and feel of the online web-mail app. My first impression was: Wow! Wonder which one out of a few I’ll like?

As the screen-shot shows here, there are many to choose from. There are 31 in all to choose from! Impressive. I finally decided on Planets (guess it’s due to my lean towards Sci-Fi) and liked what I saw. Thing is, you can change them at any time. They’re not permanent so swap away at your heart’s desire. The good ‘ol Classic theme is still there too if you’re a purest and like the one that Google has had since the beginning.

Just go to Settings in the upper part of the app and then Themes is just to the right on the last tab I believe. All you lack now is deciding.

The only odd thing I’ve noticed so far is that this new feature isn’t offered in my other GMail accounts. Maybe it’s still being rolled out so I’ll give it some time to see.

So if you haven’t already noticed it, load up GMail and see what they have waiting on you. Might even call it an early Christmas present.

Guess it’s time I got on my soapbox for a moment because quite frankly, a few things have just gotten out of hand here. So, as I climb to the top of the proverbial box, I’ll take a moment to reflect on just what got me here.

We live in a wonderful country where people from all walks of life and from a lot of different countries live together in a somewhat decent harmony. Granted, some came here illegally but that’s another point that need not be discussed at this time. We have a long road ahead before we as Americans finally learn to accept each other for what we are and not what we expect each other to be. Once this is accomplished, hell, we might even get along with our neighboring countries across the globe much better. Wouldn’t that be great!

Where else would a country elect an actor as governor and even as president? Where else would push the idea of free enterprise so much to give it’s citizens the courage to go out and make a living for themselves whether by going into business for themselves or by being creative in say, the arts? more…

Yeah, my Linux machine finally gave it up. It was about 10 or 11 years old and had been a good machine for all those years when I abused it with Windows XP until I discovered Linux and the Open Source Community. That’s when I rediscovered the web so to speak. With Linux.

Well, the ‘ol girl was whining and making those odd noises we older folk tend to make when awakened from our slumber each morning. Coffee wasn’t getting her in a better mood either. Nor coaxing her into another day of exploring the feed-reader, email, design projects or anything else that came across the “desk” on any given day.

No, she was going out slowly but surely and there was nothing I could do to save her. She will be missed.

Now that she is gone, I’m left to do my daily tasks on my laptop that runs Vi$ta. On the one hand, I DO have a backup in the laptop but on the other, I sorely miss my Linux desktop. Another good point is that the laptop has 2 hard drives so I’m looking into installing Linux on the 2nd one.

Thing is, with Vi$ta, I’m a bit concerned how the two will “play together”. I’ve heard some disturbing stories about the 2 not recognizing each other or one thing or another like that.

Before any of you say to dump Vi$ta and just install Linux, hold up a sec. I still need a backup in case of trouble. That’s one reason why I still have the laptop in the first place.

If the cost to replace any parts comes in way less that the cost of just buying a new desktop machine and installing Linux in it, I’ll go that route but right now, the news isn’t that good. So for now, I’ll see about getting the two to play nice together when I install my next distro of Linux on the 2nd hard drive.

Let’s all take this opportunity to reflect on just what History has handed us and be thankful we were fortunate enough to see this happen in our lifetimes.

I’d like to take this opportunity myself and congratulate President-Elect Barak Obama and VP-Elect Joe Biden on their victory and thank Senator John McCain on his service to this great country of ours.

God Bless America!