Dani Berg

I had some problems some days ago setting up 2 monitors to work in Ubuntu. One of my colleagues pointed out that he was using a Nvidia card and it worked out of the box in his machine. So, I took his advice and replaced the ATI hardware here with a Nvidia card. We took the Nvidia from a Windows user and left my old ATI there. Let’s face it. Microsoft scored. Both cards worked by just inserting the hardware and clicking the buttons “Yes” or “Next” in the Windows box.

Now my machine is running with 2 monitors on Ubuntu and with all fancy but cool effects from Compiz. We use 19″ monitors here. Hardware in Brazil is so damn expensive. Let’s say thanks to the government for all taxes and making the acquisition of TOOLS we NEED to WORK this HARD.

Anyway, I was curious on how people work with 2 monitors here. Right now, the best approach for me is to have Emacs on the left. On the right monitor I have the browser and the terminal. I leave the terminal maximized since it has transparency in it and it’s such a nice feature. I can type my bash stuff and still read what’s on the browser. Wohooo!! There’s just one feature missing in GNOME. I can’t set a different wallpaper for each screen. KDE has this option though.

Whenever I need to use another program or do some unusual task I go to a different Desktop. Two Desktops are enough for me. I can only do an unusual task at a time. I guess Rands is right when he says I Don’t Multitask.

After some time working this way I’m changing my mind about two monitors. I’m now willing to work with only one monitor. But it must be HUGE!!

Back from Germany! Had 15 days to rest. Lovely company, places to visit, great food and beer. Oh beer!! Das Bier und das Wasser. Neutral liquids. I wish if I will ever find a bottle of Erdinger here for only 85 cents.

Well, I must admit that it was not 100% fun. First my flight was canceled and I had to make a connection in France. Then they lost my luggage. Due to almost 8 hours delay I missed the chance to visit Switzerland. Aff. At least I had a book with me. For good or bad I improved my skills on security. PHP Pro Security is good reading by the way. Since I mentioned a book I can also recommend Beginning Linux programming although I’m still reading it.

Now! I didn’t know how tired I was until now. I’m feeling that batteries are recharged and don’t need to sleep for a long period. And that’s great

‘CAUSE I’ll will put on hold the AR development.

BUT I have a new side project with a great webdesigner.

Details about Vaporware some other day.

The main reason I’ll put on hold the AR project is time. I just don’t have enough free time for it now. Other than that it’s PHP code. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a PHP issue. The problem is that my “official” job demands most of my day into PHP. You know, nothing like a different project/language to keep you fresh and learn new stuff. Since the AR is not an online project no one will be hurt if I bury it into fridge for some time. Gesundheit.