The Catling Mindswipe

Happy Holidays to everyone! In this month's Full Circle Magazine, issue 68 is available from the main site: Ubuntu News. How-To : Programming in Python, LibreOffice, and Install 12.10 on an EEE PC. Graphics : NEW! Blender, and Inkscape. Web Dev : CRUD Part 4. * Book Review – Super Scratch Programming. Review: Linux Mint Debian Edition KDE. Closing Windows – Run An App On Startup. What Is – Raspberry Pi. SPECIAL Q&A with Didier Roche – How Ubuntu Is Made.

Canonical CTO Mark Shuttleworth doesn't post so often on his official blog 'Here Be Dragons', but a new posting on Wednesday, December 26th , 2012 outlined his plans for 2013. In a rejoinder to the massed criticism of Ubuntu, Unity and himself personally, the 'where we are' opener stated "it matters that we not exclude people from our audience." Apparently stung by the barrage of hate directed at the Unity desktop, he also declared "even in the rare case where the gift is received ungraciously, the joy is in the giving, and it matters that our efforts paid dividends for others." Which would indicate he's a little peeved by the criticism of Ubuntu's distinctive alternate desktop.

Firefox does an excellent job of storing the contents of data entry fields on web pages and the Location Bar and the Search Bar. Autocomplete drop down lists that appear so that it can prompt you with suggestions the next time you want, say, an address line, telephone number, post code or other common entries. It is a great timesaver. Sometimes, though, you need to remove an entry that is incorrect, old, private or just embarassing. To delete individual entries:

There's been a storm of criticism of Canonical's Unity Shopping Lens, amid concerns about security, privacy and the inevitable cries of "sell out" from the Open Source community. Canonical's Engineering Manager, Product Strategy, posted a response to the Hampshire Linux User Group: Yes, Canonical is a company which has outgoings including developer payroll and infrastructure costs used by Ubuntu, flavours and many derivatives (hello Mint users!). A significant chunk of the many millions of pounds spent on developing Ubuntu (and keeping Canonical afloat) comes from the deep pockets of one guy, Mark Shuttleworth. This is flat out not a sustainable approach and never has been seen as one. We've always been looking for ways to generate revenue, and already have many in place.

Mister Night Sky (for Sir Patrick Moore) December 2012 This began as a simple ‘Man in the Moon’ picture, then I added a satellite. A thought struck me that it would be nice if I included some Patrick Moore icons, so the realistic satellite was gradually replaced with one made from cricket stumps, a xylophone and a monocle. Patrick Moore encouraged me with an astronomy examination, when (for some unknown reason) most of my teachers opposed me taking it. He entertained me and my family at his home and paid my first subscription for the British Astronomical Association. He gave me his own copy of ‘The Amateur Astronomer’ from his book shelf, and signed it to me. Nice man. A gentleman. I will miss him every time I look into space. TCHE Thomas Everchild ( @Studio1919 on Twitter, also @PhantomFleet ) runs Studio1919 and Afterthought Productions.

Looking at this month's Linux Format magazine 's software DVD, they don't appear to have a lot of confidence in Ubuntu 12.10... "Ubuntu 12.10 plus! LXF Disaster Recovery Kit" It's the exclamation mark that gives it away. RC

Full Circle Issue 67: English can be downloaded from the main site. This month: NEW! Ubuntu News. How-To : Programming in Python, LibreOffice, and Create a Thief-proof PC. Graphics : Kdenlive, and Inkscape. Web Dev : CRUD Part 3. Book Review – Think Like a Programmer. Review: OS4 OpenWorkStation. Closing Windows – Installing Fonts. What Is – PGP Encryption.