Reduce Linux Power Consumption with PowerTop

Since version 2.6.21, the Linux kernel has had a feature called tickless. This was implemented to help reduce the power consumption by keeping the CPU in low power mode for longer periods. Ever since I started using Linux I have been under the impression that because it's less bloated than Windows it would be much less power hungry. However from what I've heard and seen there doesn't seem to be any big differences. I have even heard people say that XP is less power hungry than Ubuntu for example.
I have never tried Linux on a laptop so I don't have any experience of this. Phoronix did a test last October to see the power consumption of XP, Vista, Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10, you can see the results here. It doesn't look very good for Linux. I'm sure there are some very lean distros out there that use very little power but they tend not to be very user friendly. All this however is not going to deter me from installing Ubuntu on the eee pc 1000.

To help Linux users reduce their power usage, a handy little tool called PowerTop has been created. This application will show you the software components that are preventing optimal usage of your hardware and make suggestions for both hardware and software configurations to reduce power consumption. You can get a hold of this program through synaptic. Once installed open the terminal and type in sudo powertop. I have included screenshots of the program with some power saving suggestions.







Link:
LessWatts.org - PowerTop

CERN Rap Video

This is so cool, just watch you might learn something about particle physics.

Lightning in Slow Motion

I used to own the LG KU990 phone and one of the things I miss about it is its camera. It had the capability to record at 120fps which I had a lot of fun with. Someone with a much faster camera than the LG KU990 has used it to capture some amazing footage of lightning. You can see the intricate details as the bolt comes zigzagging down. Check out the video below.



Source:
Todaysbigthing.com

Morpho Towers

I have just come across this video showing something called a Morpho Tower, this device, created by Sachiko Kodama, is essentially a computer controlled electromagnet with a liquid ferromagnetic material surrounding it in a bowl. When it's turned on the liquid climbs up the spiral cone to produce some very beautiful patterns. I don't know if this will ever be sold to the general public but I would buy it over the lava lamp any day. Check out the video.

EEEBuntu: Ubuntu for the EEE PC

Recently I have been pondering whether to buy the eee pc 1000 for university work. Being a massive Ubuntu fan the first thought that came into my mind was can I install Ubuntu on it. The answer is yes, however there are a few issues. People have been eeexperiencing(sorry I just had to do it once) problems with getting the wifi and microphone working. Although there are solutions for these problems, it is still a bit of a hassle. But do not worry, some good people have come together to create eeeBuntu. This is a modified version of Ubuntu, more suited for the eee pc. EeeBuntu comes in two flavors, one with GNOME and compiz fusion and the other with packages from Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It includes all the usual goodies found in the normal Ubuntu but with the added bonus of fixes for wifi and other issues. I don't think there is any serious improvements like better battery life or faster boot with this distro but I could be wrong. I'm going to give eeeBuntu a go as soon as I get my hands on a eee pc. For now check out the video below.




Link:
eeebuntu.org

Firefox 3 Randomly Closes when Using Flash

People have been having problems with flash in Linux for a while now, there seems to be major bugs with every release of it and Linux users usually end up suffering.

The past two or three days I have been experiencing a particularly annoying bug which causes Firefox 3 to randomly close when playing a flash video or game. The crash seems to happen as soon as the video or game has loaded and just before the video starts to play. This would happen with every other video. After spending ages searching through the net and going through Ubuntu forums I eventually came across a solution which seems to have worked. If you've been experiencing the same problem as me, what you need to do is open up your terminal and type in the following:

sudo apt-get remove libflashsupport

Hopefully that will work for you too.

Solution to Sound and Video Playback in Hardy

I've recently come across a solution to problems I have been having with sound and video playback in Hardy Heron. This annoying bug(s), most likely in pulseaudio, sometimes causes the media players like totem to not play videos properly. The videos just freeze after a few seconds or they keep playing but incredibly slowly. Strangely, the VLC media player seems to be immune to this, however even though it manages to play the videos it also doesn't produce any sounds. The solution which has been working for me now for a day and half, usually I get sound and playback problems several times a day, is to go to System>Preferences>Sound and under the Devices tab change everything to ALSA.

I'm Back!

After taking a long break from blogging to concentrate on my dissertation and exams, I finally have the free time to start posting again, so expect to see a little bit more activity on the site.