http://linuxfud.wordpress.com/2007/02/14/how-to-reset-ubuntugnome-settings-to-defaults-without-re-installing/


How to Reset Ubuntu/Gnome Settings to Defaults without Re-installing
14 02 2007

As a new user, there comes a time (or there will come a time) when you are playing around with Ubuntu/Gnome, trying different themes, different engines, different window managers, etc, and all of a sudden you run into a problem that you can’t seem to find a way to fix it.

Computer FrustrationMaybe some of your customized settings are causing your gnome-panel to crash all the time or causing your windows and applications to look ugly, even having window buttons (close, minimize) disappear. You start Googling and spending a lot of time - sometimes days - trying to find how you can fix it.

You are frustrated (sometimes hitting your monitor/tower yelling some vulgarities at it as if it understands and you will kill it if it doesn’t fix it… there’s no Valentine’s love there, that’s for sure) and are ready to go back to Microsoft Windows.

But wait!

You keep thinking, “I wish I could just reset it back to its defaults, like a clean install, without losing all my applications and data.”

Well, you’re in luck. There is a way to reset your Desktop settings back to their defaults. If you keep in mind that everything in Linux is a file, all of its settings are files. All of Gnome’s customizations are located in their own specific folders. And these settings are user specific; they are in your Home folder. If you would create another user and log in with that user, you wouldn’t have any of the problems you are having in your own account. If you remove all these folders, you essentially remove all the settings. Therefore, we will remove the folders needed to reset Ubuntu/Gnome back to its defaults.

UPDATE (2008.01.30): Keep in mind that this will only reset your Gnome-specific settings. If you are having problems with your video card, display, x-server, etc., this WILL NOT fix your problems.

If you don’t have access to your graphical (GUI) desktop to delete these folders in Nautilus or you’re stuck at the login screen, drop to a terminal by hitting CTRL + ALT + F1, login to your account, and run this command:

rm -rf .gnome .gnome2 .gconf .gconfd .metacity

Get back to your GUI desktop by hitting CTRL + ALT + F7.

Login and VOILÀ! Just like the first time you ever logged into your Gnome desktop.

This is so well done.

http://www.aegisub.net/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html

This movie is so horribly bad, that I had to blog about it. It's an interesting premise that just fizzles away with wasted acting talent (no, Hayden, I am not talking about you) and a very ill-conceived plot.

Too bad. I mean that both ways.

So Kristi called me outside to look at a turtle that was stuck in a storm drain the other day. I figured it was a rainbow, striped or small pond turtle, so I grabbed a glove and went over to take it out. Actually, it was a 50 lb. female (likely) snapping turtle with a mean disposition. A neighbor works for the vet school and identified the best way to pick it up, by its tail. Luckily, a police officer was there to do the deed and pulled the turtle to freedom (it went back into its little pond).

I just installed FC9 on a machine in the lab. All I can really say is that the software is just plain beta. The most obvious and curious change (negative) was the use of the new gdm. I realize that the new gdm format is supposed to be quite poweful and extensible, BUT why take away the configuration tools??????????????? Why not just wait until there are a few well tested front-end applications to at least configure the greeter. This was a BAD move by RedHat. FC9 was billed as a viable alternative to Windows for non-power users. It's not and unless the FC release committee changes things, FC releases will be received with great skepticism as to their usability. This was a move to the past...

Free shipping.com = ripoff

5.99 per month to give you free shipping? Sounds like a great plan!  Except when you find out that they CHARGE YOU FOR THE SHIPPING AND THEN REBATE YOU AT THEIR CONVENIENCE.  So you pay 5.99 per month, then have to hope freeshipping.com actually rebates you.

There are a number of letters on the internet stating that freeshipping.com is charging OVER the shipping cost of your order,as well as random other fees.

I thought it sounded too good to be true.

IMPORTANT!  CENTOS and its monitor configuration program are a bit goofy when it comes to setting up dual head monitors.  It will try to use its own "nv" driver (from Xorg), which I have found rarely works.  The NVIDIA driver (downloadable) will work given the exact same settings.  These instructions should help those with setup frustrations.

The easiest way to setup a dual head on CENTOS with an NVIDIA card is the following:

1) Make a backup of the working /etc/X11/org.conf file (name it xorg.conf.original.singlehead)
2) Download the NVIDIA linux driver but do NOT run (you can't anyway with X running)
3) Go to the System Tools and select DISPLAY
4) SETUP a dual head with the configuration that you want and click OK to write out the xorg.conf file
5) Open a terminal and make a backup of the newly written xorg.conf file to xorg.conf.nv-driver.dualhead
6) Edit the xorg.conf file to change "nv" for the driver to "nvidia"
7) Copy the newly edited "nvidia" xorg.conf file to xorg.conf.nvidia.dualhead.useme
8) Delete the xorg.conf file
9) Kill X (CTRL_alt_bksp) - and wait for startup to fail
10) Hit ALT-F1 to enter new terminal and LOGIN as root
11) Install NVIDIA driver from NVIDIA .run package file (you have to chmod X it first)
12) Rename xorg.conf.nvidia.dualhead.useme to xorg.conf in /etc/X11
13) startx

Liam is such a great kid!  I am so proud of the boy!  He has hit the following milestones!

• Pulls to standing
• Sits up by himself
• Vocalizes with syllabic speech (in Haiku)
  
• Uses toys bimanually and interactively between hands
• Cruises on furniture
  
• Crawls everywhere
• Sleeps 12 hours (not in a row, but he is working on that)
• Plays peekaboo
• Smiles at self in mirror
• Splashes in bath

Ok, admittedly some of those aren't really milestones...and the Haiku might be a bit of an embellishment...but he is doing just fine. :-)

Kristi, Liam and I were taking a walk in the neighborhood last night and we saw a peculiar thing.  As we were rounding for home, Kristi looked off into the distance and said, "is that a camel?"  So I naturally said, " a camel? Can't be."  Sure enough, it was a camel. A dromedary camel was being walked by a group of teenagers in our neighborhood.  I would have paid 50 dollars for a disposable camera at that point. Wild.  A camel in Gainesville!