One of my presents from Christmas a few years back was a Sony smart blu-ray player. It was marketed as something that easily streams files from your computer. That is absolutely true for anyone that runs Windows, just point and click. With Ubuntu, it's a bit more complicated. Enter minidlna.

Installation

First thing, install minidlna. Open a terminal (Ctrl-Alt-t) and type this in:

sudo apt-get install minidlna

If you'd rather use the package manager, just search for minidlna.

Setup

The configuration file is editable by running this in the terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/minidlna.conf

There are 2 settings to note: media_dir and friendly_name. The names used are pretty explanatory. Here's an example of what to update:

# Path to the directory you want scanned for media files.
media_dir=/path/to/shared/media

# Name that the DLNA server presents to clients.
friendly_name=fileserver

Save and close the file. On the terminal run this to refresh minidlna:

sudo service minidlna restart

That's it! minidlna is all setup to server the files and folders in your media_dir.

When you start using ssh to connect to other linux-based computers, you're probably only going to a handful of machines. Easy enough to remember the username and hostname, but this won't do when you're working on 5 or more servers, especially if some offer ssh on a non-default port. ~/.ssh/config In this file, you can set all the options for each host, including the username, host or ip, port, even which key to use. Here's an example:

#Contents of $HOME/.ssh/config
Host dev
HostName 192.168.0.1
User dev-deploy
Port 2222
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa.deploy.key

Host prod
HostName www.example.com
User prod555deploy
Port 5899

Host www.example.com
User admin123
Port 5899

It's that easy! To use this config information, simply ssh:

ssh prod

Happy Computing!

A few days, I moved my desktop computer out into the living room. The computer has a tuner card that can receive digital broadcasts. I don't own a TV, so this is the closest I've got to one. I still have to set up lircd before I can use a remote, but I wanted something a bit easier Today, I discovered a new trick ... SSH X11 Forwarding. Now, I can play video on my desktop right from my netbook. It's wonderful and very simple! In the following instructions, the "A" refers to the computer playing the video and "B" refers to any other computer.

1. Make sure "X11Forwarding Yes" is in your sshd_config file on computer A. Restart sshd if you had to uncomment/add it.
2. On B, run `ssh -XC A`
3. In the ssh session, type `DISPLAY=:0.0`.
4. Now run mplayer or any other video player in the  ssh session and it will play on computer A.

If you want  to have a program run on computer A and use the screen on computer B, the process is very similar:

1. Make sure "X11Forwarding Yes" is in your sshd_config file on computer A. Restart sshd if you had to uncomment/add it.
2. On B, run `xhost A`
3. On B, run `ssh -XC A`
4. Now run mplayer or any other video player in the  ssh session and it will play on computer A.

Step 2 authorizes use of the current display by computer A and only needs to be run once. Also, note that the display variable doesn't need to be set when using B's screen. Mplayer works wonderfully when playing on my desktop, plus I control it via the ssh session. It has tons of keyboard shortcuts. The ones I use the most are space for pause and the arrow keys for skipping around.

Recently, I switched to AT&T DSL. I'm quite happy with the price of $19.95/month. Of course, there was a drawback; they block port 25, the port used to send email. I figured that out after an hour of searching. There are a few solutions for this. Here are my findings. Update: I use sendmail on a linux  server to run my email. Solution 1: Change the listening port This is the most obvious fix, and the one I implemented. You need to admin your own server to do this. Using sendmail, it's only 2 lines in sendmail.mc: define(`RELAY_MAILER_ARGS', `TCP $h 2525')dnl define(`ESMTP_MAILER_ARGS', `TCP $h 25')dnl The first line changes the smtp port to 2525, and the second line changes the outgoing smtp port back to 25. Without the second line, no email will go out. Note: when editing the sendmail.mc, you need to compile it by running make or m4 sendmail.mc > sendmail.cf. After compiling it, restart the sendmail daemon. DO NOT EDIT sendmail.cf! Solution 2: Use a proxy There are plenty of services out there that will proxy, or relay, for a fee. I am sure there are proxies that are free, but I wouldn't trust them to keep my information private for a second. This solution doesn't require you to have admin rights on the server and it is a lot easier. Each proxy setup is different, so follow the instructions they give. Solution 3: Don't send email with that account Not the best solution, but you can get a yahoo or gmail account for free. You can still receive email from any account. This is probably not acceptible for most people. Solution 4: Switch to another ISP This is always an option, even if it means downgrading to dial-up. The only reason why I am keeping AT&T is because of the price. Well, I hope that you found this information helpful. Happy e-Mailing.

What do you do when your internet connection goes does? Go get a board game or cards? Call your IT friend from work? Bang on the desk until the page loads? While most of these are good solutions, getting your connection running again is pretty simple. As long as nothing is wrong on your provider's end, that is. Perform each step by itself. Try to load a webpage after each step to see if it is working.

1. Check your connections.
2. Shutdown your computer and boot it up again.
3. Unplug your router, if you have one, for 30 seconds then plug it back in.
4. Unplug your cable/dsl modem for 30 seconds then plug it back in. Wait for the "Internet" or "DSL" or "Cable" light to light up.
5. Repeat Step 3.
6. Repeat Step 2.
7. Open Control Panel -> Network Connections and Delete the "Local Area Connection", then reboot.

If none of these steps fix your connection, there is probably a problem at your provider and you should call their tech support line. Hint: Print this page and keep it by your computer so you have it when the internet does go out. Also, write the tech support number on the print out for convenience.