7 things to do after installing kubuntu

I installed Kubuntu and tried it for few days, here are some tips for you if you are planning to instal Kubuntu. Kubuntu is the distant cousin of Ubuntu and uses KDE as its desktop environment. Canonical doesn't pay as much attention to Kubuntu, Kubuntu is generally regarded as one of the worst KDE based distros. I've heard that OpenSuse is a better option to try KDE. Here are few quick things to setup in Kubuntu:

1. Install Flash 10
To install the official Adobe Flash plugin (Flash 10) for Firefox, install the adobe-flashplugin package:

sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin

2. Install Java 6.0
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin

3. Install GIMP: I don't know why KDE doesn't ship with GIMP. It is obviously the best image editor other than Photoshop. One of the reasons for this could be that GIMP is an GTK based app.
sudo apt-get install gimp
Initially GIMP will look ugly but we can change that easily later on.

4. Turn off Wallet: The wallet must be one of the most irritating thing ever made for PC. It keeps on nagging for your password after every 5 min. So here is how you stop it.
K Menu > Applications > Settings > Wallet Management
Now look in your System Tray (it is normally at the extreme right side on your panel) for one brown colored icon. Right click on it and select configure wallet and then uncheck Enable KDE wallet subsystem.


5. Play DVDs:
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

if this doesnt work for some reasons use this command:
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

6. Make GTK Apps Beautiful: If you try installing Gnome apps like GIMP, Firefox in KDE they will look ugly because they are based on GTK. To make them look like a normal (and beautiul) KDE app type this in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine-kde4
Now got to K Menu > System Settings > Appearence > GTK Styles and Fonts

Here select the option Use my KDE style in GTK applications
also select Use my KDE fonts in GTK applications

Now your Gnome apps will start looking pretty too. After using the above settings my GIMP started looking good before using that GIMP looked like some Windows 98 software :P
[thanks Tombuntu]

7. Add Avatar: You can add cool avatars for your account.
Go to Settings > About Me > Password and User Account

Well KDE 4.1 motto says 'Don't look back' well I have decided that from now on I won't ever try KDE. On the very next day Plasma crashed and I had to reinstall Ubuntu.

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Civil Servants Want Bonus Incorporated In Service Scheme

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- The Congress of Union Employees in the Public and Civil Service or Cuepacs, is seeking to incorporate the bonus element in the service scheme of civil servants to ensure it is paid annually.

Currently, bonus is paid at the discretion of the government based on its ability to pay, unlike in the private sector where it is an annual practice.

In good times, the 1.2 million civil servants have enjoyed a bonus of a month's salary or a minimum of RM1,000.

The congress is also proposing that the interest rate on housing loans be reduced from the current four per cent to one per cent annually.

These are among Cuepacs' new proposals to the government, as part of its review of the service conditions of civil servants, in a memorandum to be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak soon.

Cuepacs sources told Bernama today that the memorandum -- approved by the congress' general council meeting in Ipoh recently -- would also seek to change the "golden hand shake" payment from the present maximum 150 days to the actual number of unused leave the officers had accumulated.

The "golden hand shake" is monetary payment for unused leave accumulated by an officer throughout his government service.

Another major change Cuepacs is seeking is in the calculation of pensions.

It is proposing that the present pension formulae based on the last drawn basic salary be changed to also include all allowances.

What this means is that when calculating the pension, all housing, cost of living, meal, mileage, driver, hardship and entertainment allowances should also be added to the last drawn basic salary.

Cuepacs is also seeking a new benefit in the form of leave to look after a sick child, with the duration depending on the length of the sickness.

Another new benefit it wants is reimbursement for dental implants and eye treatment.

On the various service schemes, it wants the present matrix promotion system to be replaced with a linear system, with additional five incremental steps.

It also wants to create a sub-professional scheme for diploma holders.

The sources said Cuepacs leaders were optimistic that the government would consider their proposals with an "open mind".

"We realise that the proposals, if accepted in toto, will increase the administrative cost of the government tremendously, but what we are hoping is that our request be met in stages," they added.

-- BERNAMA

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Just a nine months after the Apple [AAPL] iPhone App store launched, Apple announced that they had hit 1 Billion application downloads from the App Store, today they have hit another milestone with a massive 1.5 Billion downloads.

“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up."

That is a serious amount of downloads, although it is still not clear how many of the downloads are for paid apps and how many are for free Apps.

The 1.5 Billion downloads is still very impressive, and Apple have sold a total of over 40 million iPhones to date.

Press Release

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The Brand Keyboard

Here is an interesting keyboard design from designer Ignacio Pilotto, which rather than featuring the alphabet it features brands replacing each letter.

"The repetition of the logos used by the advertising psychology, causes us to systematically recognize the brands, getting us to recognize the logos rather than our own alphabet."

It certainly is an interesting idea, it would probably take me a while to learn how to type on this thing, as I still spend most of my time looking at the keys when I am typing.

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PIKOM PC Fair 2009 (II)

PIKOM PC FAIR 2009 (II) LAUNCH ALERT (click here)

31 July - 2 August 2009 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

· KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50888 Kuala Lumpur

· Village Mall, Sungai Petani - Kedah

· Dewan Perbandaran Taiping - Perak

· Batu Pahat Mall, Batu Pahat - Johor

7 August - 9 August 2009 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

· Penang International Sports Arena, Penang - Jalan Tun Dr Awang, 11900 Relau

· Mahkota Parade Melaka, Melaka - Jalan Merdeka, 75000 Bandar Hilir

· Sabah Trade Centre, Kota Kinabalu - Sabah

· Berjaya Megamall, Kuantan - Pahang

13 August - 15 August 2009 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

· KB Mall, Kota Bharu - Kelantan

· Terengganu Trade Centre, Kuala Terengganu - Terengganu

14 August - 16 August 2009 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

· Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Johor Bahru - Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim, 80000 Johor Bahru

· Stadium Indera Mulia, Ipoh, Perak - Jalan Ghazali Jawi, 31400 Ipoh

Exhibitor Information - Venue Layouts

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KL Wedding Expo 2009

Do not miss this great opportunity to participate in
the city's most established wedding exposition.

The KL Wedding Expo is the best platform to promote wedding services to Malaysian pre-nuptial couples. In order to make sure that the quality of the exhibition for both exhibitors and visitors remained at the customary high standards like our past shows, the organizer will meticulously inviting the rare breed of high caliber wedding suppliers that visitors will hardly be able to meet them in any other typical bridal fair and gather them all under one-roof.

The Exhibition :	9th KL Wedding Expo 2009
Venue :	Hall 3, Level 3, Mid Valley Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia.
Date :	10th - 12th July 2009
Time :	11:00am - 9:00pm
Admission :	Entrance is FREE
Major Exhibit :	Bridal Boutique, Beauty & Health, Bakeries & Culinary Services, Décor & Rentals, Gift & Premium, Fashion & Flowers, Fashion Jewelries, Hotels & Restaurants, Honeymoon & Travel, Photography & Videography, Publications & Printing services etc.

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