Ubuntu Gutsy Update + VMware Server

Sorry for not posting anything for quite a while now. Been super busy with some other stuff.

Just wanted to vent a little. I believe yesterday, or the day before, there was an update to Ubuntu Gutsy. All is well, except when I tried to run VMware Server today, it wouldn't start! I checked the logs and said there was something to do with /dev/vmmon. After a quick Google search, I discovered that the new update had broken VMware Server! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! This sucks!

A solution I found was to not use the repository version of VMware Server, as it is old anyways. I'm not sure if I want to go through the trouble of reinstalling it manually on a 64-bit machine though... I guess I'll wait and see how long it takes them to fix it T.T


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OpenOffice Spellchecker

OpenOffice is a little biased when including language dictionaries for spellchecking. For instance, the Canadian English dictionary is not included by default. However, this can easily be remedied by doing the following:

1. File > Wizard > Install new dictionaries...
2. follow the wizard and install the appropriate languages you want
3. Close all OpenOffice programs
4. Restart OpenOffice

Now, when you go to:

Tools > Options... > Language Settings > Languages > Default languages for documents > Western

you should be able to select "English (Canada)" and it should have an "ABC" with a checkmark icon. This means you can now spellcheck in Canadian English!


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Ubuntu + AMD64 + Flash

Well, apparently, this combination just doesn't go well together. I'm running Gutsy right now, and having a horrible time with Flash. I've already tried using the install script given in the Ubuntu forums, only to have it half working. Sometimes, everything plays, sometimes, nothing plays. I can usually get YouTube working, but there are some Flash sites that just don't work.

I was recently trying to play a .swf file by simply dragging it into FireFox. To my dismay, I ended up with a gray screen. Sucks!

I finally found a workaround... at least for .swf files. I downloaded the Windows Flash Player 9 Projector content debugger (standalone player) from the Adobe site. I then created a launcher using the command:

wine /path/to/standalone_player

BAM! It works wonderfully. However, still no hope for the stuff that is online T.T


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