TrueCrypt 5.0: Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Encryption

I have recently installed TrueCrypt 5.0 and I'm loving it. I used TrueCrypt for years when I was running XP, but, until recently, I haven't since switching to Ubuntu. At first, it was only accessable via the terminal and I just couldn't get it to work for me(ie, figured out). A couple months ago I found EasyCrypt which is a GUI front end for TrueCrypt and started using that. Now, with the introduction of version 5.0, TrueCrypt has a graphical user interface for Linux (along with a Mac OS X version) and it no longer requires EasyCrypt for a GUI.

TrueCrypt main features are:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
1. Hidden volume (steganography – more information may be found here).
2. No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).
• Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

I suggest it for all you sensitive data.

It took me some time, but I finally found a way to change the bitrate when ripping cds to ogg lossy. Mine had been 160 kbps and I wanted to up it to 256 kbps. If you want to change yours, this is what you do.

1. Go to Preferences in either Sound Juicer or Rhythmbox (I don't know about any other audio players) and select "Edit Profiles".

2. Select the Lossy and click "Edit".

3. In the Gstreamer Pipeline box is code that looks like this:
    audio/x-raw-float,rate=44100,channels=2 ! vorbisenc name=enc quality=0.8 ! oggmux

4. What you want to edit is the "quality=" number.

Here is the quality number and its approximate bitrate:

• q .1 = 80 kbps
• q .2 = 96 kbps
• q .3 = 112 kbps
• q .4 = 128 kbps
• q .5 = 160 kbps
• q .6 = 192 kbps
• q .7 = 224 kbps
• q .8 = 256 kbps
• q .9 = 320 kbps
• q 1.0 = 499 kbps

5. When you are done, click "Close" and your bitrate has been changed.

Use Ubuntu, check this out

Ubuntu User Map

Create an account (top of the page), using your Ubuntu Forum Name as user name.
Type in some coordinates of where you live. (Perhaps the nearest intersection.)
Pick your Ubuntu flavor.
Wait a minute or two and you'll be on the map.

Pretty Cool

It's be a year (to the day I believe) since I've installed Ubuntu on my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop and it's been a fun ride. So, if you have a few minutes, let my tell you my story.

Last winter we had a bit of snow here in Denver that left us with little we could actually do outside. After the first few weeks of January, cabin fever started setting in and I began playing around of the idea of putting Linux on my computer. I can't remember exactly how or why, but I ended up downloading Ubuntu 6.10 and tried the LiveCD on my laptop. It worked wonderfully and I decided to do a dual boot with XP so I could see how it actually functioned day to day. Well, I dun f***ed up the dual boot and ended with a PC that would do anything. Can you say nOOb!

I have been a practitioner of the backup for years, so after a few minutes of utter panic, I calmed down and remembered everything was backed up on an external drive. (OK, I did inevitably loose a weeks worth of emails, no great loss.)

As luck would have it, having been an experimenter and no great fan of MS, I had moved onto programs that where all cross-platform (Thingamablog, Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird) but one (MS Money). Thus, I thought, what the hell, maybe I should just install Ubuntu by itself. So I did.

It was shocking once Ubuntu was installed. I have media buttons on the front of my laptop, they worked. All my data for Thunderbird, Firefox and Thingamablog was easily loaded. All the function (Fn key) keys on keyboard worked. It was amazing to me, I never expected this all to work so well. I was sold.

I did have some problems, suspend had issues and there was the problem with no wireless. I spent some time on the Ubuntu forum and after some time of trial and error the wireless kicked in. Honestly, I still have no idea how I was able to get the wireless working, all I know is, boom, it worked one day and has ever since. Suspend came around after a month or so.

I spent the next few months perusing everything Linux. I learned cool commands to run from the Terminal. I played with installing and removing programs from the Add/Remove manager and the Synaptic Package Manager. I screwed things up and re-installed 6.10 a few times. The first time I did this, I was amazed by the fact that quite a few of the settings in my /home folder (set on a different partition, something I started doing way back when from my 2-3 re-installs per year of Windows to keep it clean) kicked right in. Things like Tomboy notes where all there, KeyPass knew where to look for its database, JAlbum and Thingamablog where able to start without having to re-install them. These kind of things where unheard of from my Windows days, it was re-install everything and update all settings to my liking.

Then, along came 7.04. I promptly upgraded to it. Oops. Then I downloaded and did a fresh install. Much better. The first few weeks it acted a little funny, issues mainly with suspend. Once a month went by it was smooth sailing. I spent more time on anything Linux or Ubuntu. I downloaded and tried other distros LiveCDs, spend more time exploring the Linux OS and even tried to help out on the forums (I never really did learn enough to be much help, but I tried).

With the other distributions, I found no reason the change. I was happy with how my laptop worked, so why change. I spent some time on Gnome-look and figured out how to change my splash screen, login in screen and themes. In all I was settling in quite nicely with my new OS and how it worked.

As October was coming closer I was getting excited with the prospects of 7.10. Once it was released I promptly upgraded. Oops. Then I downloaded and did a fresh install. Much better. The first few weeks it acted a little funny, issues mainly with suspend. Once a month went by it was smooth sailing (hmm, sounds familiar?) I played around with the new graphics for a while, installing software for widgets and desktop toolbars. In the end, I removed Compiz as I am happy a simple UI and don't need the fancy graphics. The Panel with shortcuts on it works just fine for me and I never really did like things all over my desktop (see). This also explains why I never switched to a KDE distribution.

Of course there was that Load_Cycle_Count issue. For me the fix was removing Tracker, something I didn't use anyway.

So now I am just waiting for 8.04 to come out. I've learned to wait for a month or so before I install the upgrade. Actually I will probably do a fresh install, I never have liked how upgrades go whether Windows or Linux. Once it is running I probably will not upgrade again, what, with 8.04 being a LTS version. For this laptop it should be just fine for it's life.

All in all, it has been a fun little adventure. I'll keep running Linux and helping all my friends with their Window boxes and laptops. I doubt I'll ever be one to get anyone to switch to Linux, Windows works for them and there is no reason tor them to change right now. Maybe when XP is no longer supported the time may come. However, I will do what ever it takes to keep them away from Vista.

I'll keep perusing Ubuntu forums and the various Linux sights - I especially loved finding the flame wars between Linux and XP/Mac, KDE and Gnome and the various distributions. The second two seem so ironic to me, isn't Linux suppose to be about choice? Occasionally I might throw my 2 cents in, but I think pretty much I just be user from here on out. I have found an OS that works and I don't have to worry about.

I am one happy Ubuntu camper.

Thank [Deity of Your Choice] For Choice - The Mental Proctologist

Lately I've been reading a lot of criticism about the number of Linux distros -- too many choices with too many interfaces and too much duplication in software application development. KDE, GNOME, Xfce, fluxbox, Enlightenment... it's all too intimidating -- too confusing for potential Linux converts. I'm not certain I agree, but then I'm trying to speculate about the perceptions of users less immersed in the Linux universe than I am.

Ubuntu Tweak off to a good start - Linux.com

For years, discerning Windows users have relied on Tweak UI, a semi-official Microsoft program for system settings not available on the default desktop. Now, in the same tradition and with something of the same name, Ubuntu Tweak (UT) offers the same advantage to Ubuntu users. Currently at version 0.2.4, for now UT is limited to features for GNOME and focuses mainly on changing default desktop and system behavior and how GNOME interacts with your hardware, but this small feature set is more than enough for proof of concept.

I haven't tried it yet, once I do I'll let you know how it goes for me.

Picasa 2.7 a slick upgrade on Linux - Linux.com

Google has released a public beta of its Picasa photo organizer for Linux. The new release adds some important features for image browsing, image searching, and creative image export. If you haven't tried it before, now is the time.

This beta release is a preview of Picasa 2.7, which will bring the Linux version of the application up to speed with the Windows edition. Picasa remains the only Google app which is unavailable for Mac OS X, a fact you can brag about to your Apple-loving friends.

It's a Matter of Choice - LoCo About Ubuntu!

Yesterday I realized that I have run over 30 different kinds of Linux on my laptop. My final choice? Ubuntu.

Not much of a surprise here, I guess -- seeing as my blog is called "LoCo About Ubuntu." For me, it's a matter of choice.

Linux for everyone - cpilive.net

Ubuntu Linux's Mark Shuttleworth talks of free software for the masses, cultural tidal waves and building rockets.

Mark Shuttleworth made news in 2002 when he fulfilled a lifelong ambition and became the first South African to travel into space, paying $20 million to be a civilian cosmonaut on an eight-day flight aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. In 2004, he founded Ubuntu Linux to bring the operating system to people around the world. He is also the founder of HBD Venture Capital and the nonprofit Shuttleworth Foundation.

You have pumped more than $10 million of your own money into the continuing development of Ubuntu Linux, and you have been on a personal campaign to bring a free, easy-to-use and reliable Linux to the masses around the world. Why?

In college, I was struggling to get my own personal computer hooked up to the university network. Then someone gave me a stack of Slackware Linux discs, and I found myself just enthralled by the breadth and depth of the tools that were available from Linux, even in those very early days. It’s like going from living in the desert to walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet. I went on to turn that interest in the Internet into a small business called Thawte [in 1995], which sold digital certificates that I created, initially at least, with cryptographic software that was available under an open-source license.

Read on ...

Review: Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon takes on Mac OS X Leopard for the OS of the Year - Linux Magazine

Today we have a technological cage match involving two operating systems, both UNIX- based, both mature, both with passionate detractors and even more passionate defenders, and both released just a week apart. I'm talking, of course, about Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), with its final release on October 18, and Apple' s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which was available for purchase on October 26.

The stereotype for each OS is well known: Mac OS X is elegant, easy-to-use, and intuitive, while Ubuntu is stable, secure, and getting better all the time. Both have come a long way in a short time, and both make excellent desktops. So we have two great desktop operating systems out at roughly the same time. Let's see how they stack up against each other.

Read on ...

Dethroning Ubuntu - What Would It Take? - Datamation

Many people are looking to Ubuntu to be something that it is not: A mass market ready operating system designed to work with the same level of compatibility as Microsoft Windows.

Where people get confused is in believing that if Ubuntu, king of the Linux distros, is not able to take the marketplace by storm, then something must be broken with desktop Linux. In this article, I'll explain what it will take to dethrone the mighty Ubuntu and gain a market share so large that it will eclipse anything seen by Ubuntu to date.

Read on ...

Vista versus The Gutsy Gibbon - Ubuntu 7.10 - Rupert Goodwins - ZDNet UK

I'm currently using seven computers. Well, not at this precise moment (just three, as it happens), but darn it if I'm not proud of the fact.

Of those seven, three run XP, one runs Ubuntu 6.06, two are now on Ubuntu 7.10, and one is Vista. Apple has invited me along to the Festival of the Leopard, so I have high hopes that I'll soon be adding OS X to the mix (I do have a Mac OS 8 box in the bedroom, but I only use that for Crystal Quest, so it doesn't count).

My XP systems, I like. Everything works with them, the one in the office lets me use the office Windows-only software (gnash) that controls the phones, and the two at home get loaded up with other bits of hardware and software that i can't be bothered to (or just can't) shoehorn into Linux.

My Ubuntu boxes, I love. The 6.06 computer is an ancient Compaq Armada with a 500 MHz PIII, a smear of memory, a shagged battery, and an unusually large hard disk that got transplanted in from a dead Windows laptop. It does various server tasks perfectly well, I VNC into it from around the planet to keep it on its toes, and I last reset it after around 190 days uptime. It's the heart of the Goodwinsian computer matrix.

Read on ...

I have had some fun with Ubuntu 7.10 these past few days. I initially did the upgrade rather than a fresh install. The upgrade went well but over the first few days little problems started cropping up. The final straw was my sound going south. Ya just got to have sound man. So today I backed up everything and did a clean install plus a little reorganizing my partitions. Everything seems to be working better now.

A few things are still kind of weird though.

• gDesklets with no longer load on startup
• I am unable to use the "Normal" visual-effects because certain programs aren't working properly with them. (Thingamablog being one of them.)
• When logging in I can't get the start up screen to stay black. Once I log in it goes to the Ubuntu tan color until the wallpaper sets itself.

Of course some things are working now that didn't work before such as my usb powered external hard drive With 7.04 it would not unmount properly, now it does. Who knows?!

I like the new Tracker Search Tool. It doesn't take up as much resources as Google Desktop Search did. Google was a dog when it came to viewing email. It would just bring my laptop to a crawl.

Overall I am pretty happy with the OS and am looking forward to 8.04 as the LTS version will have support for 3 years as apposed to 18 months.

10 Rocking Features in 10 Days - Countdown to Ubuntu 7.10

Shuttleworth on Ballmer - Linux-Watch

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has once more claimed that Linux and open source violates Microsoft's intellectual property and patents. Canonical's CEO Mark Shuttleworth thinks Ballmer has it all wrong.

From ZDNet Australia:

Ubuntu, Red Hat reject Microsoft patent deal

Red Hat, the largest Linux vendor, and Ubuntu-maker Canonical have both rejected calls from Microsoft to forge a deal similar to the one the Redmond giant signed with Linux distributors Novell, Xandros, and Linspire.

Read on ...

Via consumeraffairs.com

The news that Dell will begin making the fast-growing Ubuntu flavor of Linux available on some of its machines should be welcomed by consumers everywhere.

It not only makes a tiny dent in Microsoft's armor but also is one of the few times consumers can actually get something for nothing. Best of all, the something for nothing is, in this reviewer's humble opinion, a lot better than the high-priced spreads.

Though its name may sound odd initially, there's nothing odd about the way Ubuntu works. It is fast, lean and responsive, like a sleek jungle cat prowling through the South Africa outback.

Read on

Since switching from XP to Ubuntu, I have noticed my battery is lasting longer per charge. Whether this would be true for all Linux distro's, I don't know, but I have noticed it with Ubuntu. I also don't know why except it must not have as much overhead and demands that XP did.

I am having an issue with the sleep mode. I rarely shut down my computer now, I usually just put it into sleep mode. After doing this a half dozen times, the power comes on but I just get a blank screen. I then have to do a forced shutdown. I have noted that this happens to others with laptops via various forums. It will be interesting to see whether the 7.04 release will take care of this issue.

~update~

I have noticed if I unplug any USB devices - mainly my mouse - the sleep problems goes away.

I have been using two different backup options to figure which I like best. To begin with, I did like ntbackup on my old XP install. It was straight forward and I like it did differential backups as I have never been a fan of incremetal backups. With my Ubuntu distribution, I have been using both Keep front end for rdiff and Simple Backup Suite (sbackup). I have decided to go with Keep. My main objection with sbackup is that I have to go into root to look at the backups, Keep doesn't require this. I do miss being able to do a full backup and then weekly differentials though. I will keep looking for possible replacements.

Man, haven't posted in a coons age.

Here are a couple of new links I have found recently pertaining to the installation of XP and Ubuntu:

Installing Ubuntu: A comparison of Ubuntu 6.06 and Windows XP
http://rhosgobel.blogspot.com/2006/06/installing-ubuntu-comparison-of-ubuntu.html

This weekend, I reinstalled XP and Ubuntu.
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221756

~~

I have been running Ubuntu for a good month and a half and have enjoyed the experience. I have had a couple of problems along the way, but overall, everything has gone incredibly smooth.

Picasa started acting funny a few weeks ago. It requires me to change the permissions on 2 nvidia files after every shutdown. It also imports photos in reverse order of time stamp and photo number. Very bizarre.

Thingamablog still requires to be started from a terminal window.

I am still playing around with music files and my iPods. I have started copying my music onto my laptop with the intention of trying out Banshee's ability to sync with my Nano. Right now I am burning all my purchased iTunes music onto cd's so that I don't have to rely on a Windows machine to update my iPods.

I have liked using Tomboy for making notes and gFTP has worked fairly well for me as a replacement for WS_FTP.

I do miss not having Roboform anymore. I am using KeePass for my passwords, but it doesn't intigrate into a web browser. I guess I could memorize my passwords, but just think of all the brain cells that would require.

Having played around and messed up my first couple installs of Ubuntu, I noticed one quirk - When I re-installed and formatted my drive, there would still be some settings from my previous install. Nothing major, just little things, which makes me wonder whether the Ubuntu disk is really reformatting the drive or just re-partitioning it and moving some of the data.

Very strange.

Here is a wonderful article for those thing of moving to Linux/Ubuntu or moving someelse to it. It is worth the read

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=58862 

To me it is a bit humorous - I always considered myself somewhat of a "Windows Power User". I guess I wasn't - I did modify the registry by hand, was able to install drivers not just form cd's, ect... - I guess I could really be a geek. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

So, there are a couple of problems showing themselves with my recent Ubuntu install.

Wireless comes and goes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Haven't quite figured that one out. It does appear there are quite a few people out there like me having these problems, so, more than likely, I am hoping, this will get worked out in future kernel and Ubuntu updates. (That is a nice run on sentence!)

I am having some problems with Ubuntu and Thingamablog. Luckily for me, Bob, who wrote the program, keeps a constant eye on his forum and helped me out pronto. Bob, you rule!

Picasa is causing some problems also. I really liked it as a photo manager in windows and for some reason it is just not working for me in linux. I will have to hit the forums harder for help on that one.

But I still am enjoying playing with it. Must be all the snow we have here in Denver. Nothing left to do but put linux on your laptop

~ Update ~

Yea - Picasa works now. I just have to learn the terminal window more. I am making silly little mistakes in it that prevent things from working correctly

I have installed Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Elf" on my Dell Inspiron 6000 and it is working amazingly well. The wireless took a few tries to get going but once I installed Wifi-Radar and Network Monitor everything was working just fine.

I was amazed that the function keys and media keys worked from the get go.

As far as iTunes goes, I have another Windows machine that I use as a DVR and have put my music on that machine.

I was incorrect about the firewall and antivirus. It is suggested to use a firewall with Linux and the most recent Linux kernal comes with a firewall. I have installed antivirus for the main reason of not passing on viruses to other Windows users.

As far as financial stuff, I am just starting a new set of files with Moneydance. It is not free, but I like it's look and feel more than the other applications available for Linux.