Google Earth with XGL

Download google earth for Linux here

Install google earth with this command :

chmod +x GoogleEarthLinux.bin
./GoogleEarthLinux.bin

Execute google earth with this command :

DISPLAY=:0 googleearth

I tried xnest but so far not successful :

Xnest -ac -terminate -geometry 1024x748+0+0 :3 &
DISPLAY=:3 googleearth &

Google Desktop Linux (gdlinux)

Download the gdlinux beta here

After it is installed, type : gdlinux to activate it.

GDLinux icon will be shown on the top panel like this :

Google Desktop Preferences
Before you could use gdlinux, you have to setup which folders should be indexed. Do not index all data on your hard disk, because indexing process is very slow, and indexes also take up some space (usually maximum is 10% of all your data).

In my case, I only put one folder : /home/thartono/data/shared to be indexed.

This folder is shared between my Linux system and the Windows XP VM (seen as drive z:).

Google Desktop and SeamlessRDP
One main benefit of this setup is that I could make a seamlessrdp script, so if I search for a file, for example "My Network Proposal.vsd" then I could just click on the file, and voila a Visio screen will pop up opening that vsd file (see picture below) :



Below is sample of the visio script file :

#!/bin/bash
echo rdesktop -A -s "'"c:\\seamlessrdp\\seamlessrdpshell.exe C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\visio11\\visio.exe \"$@\""'" thartono-wxp:3389 -u thartono -p xxxxxx >~/Desktop/rdesktop.cmd.txt
cat ~/Desktop/rdesktop.cmd.txt | sed "s_/_\\\_g" | sed "s_\\\home\\\thartono\\\data\\\shared_z:_g" |sh
rm ~/Desktop/rdesktop.cmd.txt

I know, my script looks messy, but it works for me..... :P

Login using ThinkFinger

Modify the file /etc/pam.d/common-auth

#
# /etc/pam.d/common-auth - authentication settings common to all services
#
# This file is included from other service-specific PAM config files,
# and should contain a list of the authentication modules that define
# the central authentication scheme for use on the system
# (e.g., /etc/shadow, LDAP, Kerberos, etc.). The default is to use the
# traditional Unix authentication mechanisms.
#
# thartono-original (below)
#auth required pam_unix.so nullok_secure

auth sufficient pam_thinkfinger.so
auth required pam_unix.so try_first_pass nullok_secure

#Add your fingerprint in the known fingerprint database
sudo tf-tool --add-user thartono

Now you could login using your userid and swipe your finger !

ThinkFinger Installation on Ubuntu Feisty Fawn

My PC (Lenovo T60) has a built in finger scan reader below the down arrow :


I want to be able to login using my fingerprint - so below what I did :

Download latest ThinkFinger (latest version was 0.3) to the Desktop :
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=179573

# Install Prerequisite
sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool libusb-dev libpam0g-dev 

# Extract

tar -xvf thinkfinger-0.3.tar.gz
cd thinkfinger-0.3
sudo mkdir /etc/pam_thinkfinger
./configure --with-securedir=/lib/security --with-birdir=/etc/pam_thinkfinger
make
sudo make install


#Acquire the fingerprint with the command 
sudo tf-tool --acquire

#Test your fingerprint
sudo tf-tool --verify Reference :
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ThinkFinger?highlight=%28thinkfinger%29