Installing LAMP on Ubuntu 11.04

Followed the instructions in this link to install LAMP.
If you get this message while restarting apache - “apache2: Could not determine the server’s fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.0.1 for localhost”
Type this in the terminal to fix the problem:

echo "ServerName localhost" | sudo tee /etc/apache2/conf.d/fqdn

and reload apache

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Back in Ubuntu 11.04 and loving it

After about a month and a half of Lubuntu (11.04) in my test notebook, the new shiny Intel core i3 HP ProBook 4230s, I decided to test Ubuntu 11.04 64-bit Desktop edition.

Having made sure there was a way to disable Unity, and revert back to the classic Ubuntu, I took the plunge yesterday.

It's really quite refreshing and liberating to be back in the Gnome interface.  LXDE has lost its allure for me - for now.

Everything just works: Huawei broadband modem (model E153) for the Internet, Bluetooth starts up, Weather indicator, having windows that actually remember my view settings, and yes - guilty as charged - my hunger for eye-candy is back with wobbly windows, transparent menus (care of Ubuntu Tweak), and some fancy wallpaper.

Question: Why did I choose 11.04 over the 10.04 LTS (long term support) version?
Answer: video resolution.

Testing the live CD of 10.04 ran Ubuntu with a resolution of 1024 x 768.
Testing the live CD of 11.04 produced a higher resolution - 1280 x 800.

I notice this pattern consistent with Linux distros (Centos, Fedora, OpenSuse, Debian...) based on kernel version 2.6.32 and 2.6.38, with the latter capable of producing the higher resolution when running the live CDs.

Some video to audio to mobile music player stuff

Having a video file downloaded from the Internet as mp4

Objective: to make it simply as an audio file, to be able to play in my phone.

Packages needed: handbrake-gtk, audacity

1. Open the mp4 file with handbrake (screenshot example)

2. Go over the Audio tab and change the following values:
Codec -> MP3 (lame)
Bitrate -> 320
3. Click the Start button to begin conversion to m4v (MPEG-4 video) format.
4. When the conversion completes, close handbrake app, open audacity.
5. Click File - Import - Audio
6. Select the m4v file created. Importing completes (screenshot example)

7. Click File - Export
8. Select the M4A (AAC) Files (FFmpeg) format, then click Save.
9. Exit audacity, no need to save the project.

Here are the sample files, notice difference in file types and sizes (screenshot example).

Proceed to upload the m4a file to your phone.