Linux Command line Tip: Install Media Codecs for Ubuntu

So you're new to Ubuntu Linux. You just got it installed for the first time, but you are wondering how to enable DVD Playback, Flash capability, MP3, Quicktime, and other popular media formats. Never fear, here's a command to get it all up and running.

Open up a terminal window and type:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

You will be prompted for your administrative password, at which point it will begin to download all the required codecs, making your Ubuntu multimedia ready.

Mac OSX's Preview - hidden jems

For the most part, there are certain workhorse applications I use daily, such as Adobe Photoshop & Acrobat for heavy lifting on my projects. That said, for most of my other regular everyday computer usage, I don't require the power and overhead of those applications. Enter Mac OSX's PREVIEW.

The Preview application does quite a bit more than just reading PDFs or viewing common image formats. Most users never bother browsing through it's menus. In actuality, Preview is a very versatile little program. For instance, without having the Adobe Acrobat suite installed, you can Annotate PDF's, Delete Pages, Rearrange Pages, even Merge PDFs.

Most importantly for me though, are it's image editing capabilities. From basics such as Cropping, resizing, and rotation to color/exposure adjustments, and Alpha Mask Extractions. For producitvity purposes, it's capable of doing many of these operations in Batch mode as well.

An added benefit to using Mac OSX's implementation of PDF in preview, is that you are not subject to the same recent security flaws found in Adobe's PDF product. Don't forget there's also PRINT to PDF built right into the operating system.

Stargate Universe - Coming Soon

The most recent sci-fi production I have been involved with, is "Stargate Universe". My role was to build (model/texture) the main spaceship for the show called the "Destiny". The Destiny is an Ancient ship, where the main cast is stranded upon. The ship hasn't been revealed yet, but here's a 45 second promo video from Scifi.com that gives you a taste of what's to come. The show will premiere on Friday, October 2 in the US.

Video after the Jump

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Twitter for Research

We've all seen the pro's and con's of Twitter now. Sometimes it's difficult to even explain Twitter to someone new to it. Like most social media tools, if used correctly, it has a potential for massive harnessing of crowds and resources alike. I've been noticing the quick rise of information on Twitter alongside Google searching.

There is much to be discovered for both work and fun, but more importantly research and development. It's no secret, that the internet is possibly one of your most valuable resources for productivity in all facets of life, especially WORK and the growing amounts of mobile devices.

That being said, just as there are certain methods for better isolating your desired information on Google (see my Search Tips), there are also ways to narrow down desired information on Twitter. Constantly there are growing number of web based tools available for this. Here are two sites I have been using quite a bit lately for aggregating information.

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Andromeda CG Spaceships

These are pretty old now looking back, but I built the new versions of these spaceships for Andromeda's Season 4 and 5. I used solely Lightwave for the modeling and surfacing, and Photoshop to paint the texture maps.

Portfolio - Andromeda