Getting Rid of Web Ads

I recently found out about John LoVerso's Proxy Auto Configuration ad-busting trick and tested it. It's quite efficient and integrates very easily with the GNOME desktop. By using John's file and GNOME's Network Proxy Preferences dialog you could be browsing the web free of annoying ad banners.

In the System menu, choose Preferences, then Network Proxy. Select the Proxy Configuration tab, pick Automatic proxy configuration and enter the path to the "no-ads.pac" file you'll have downloaded from the page referenced above.

Screenshot of GNOME's Network Proxy Preferences dialog

If you're using Epiphany, that's it; you're done. If you're using Firefox, you'll need to change your connection settings to Auto-detect proxy settings for this network.

On a different and very anectodic note, if you happen to watch "Me and You and Everyone We Know" — and you should — the kids are using Gaim to chat.

Ubuntu GNOME vs. Kubuntu

Ubuntu is a fantastic Linux distribution focusing on desktop users and their needs. Because of this focus, it picked GNOME has its desktop environment and several GNOME developers now work for Canonical, the company responsible for Ubuntu.

In a recent visit to ubuntulinux.org however, I noticed that GNOME's name did not appear there much at all. It is in fact eclipsed by a large link to Kubuntu, a project to bring KDE to Ubuntu. While geeks won't really mind — GNOME and KDE have lived side by side for a while — it seemed like a lost opportunity for GNOME at a time when Ubuntu is drawing a lot of attention.

Screenshot of ubuntulinux.org with GNOME space vs. Kubuntu space highlighted

One tiny mention towards the bottom of the page... ;-(

Poster & Handout Source Files Released

Scribus source files for GNOME posters and handouts are available at /gnome/promotion/source/. All of it is hereby released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Those documents use the following set of typefaces. While some are free, others aren't unfortunately. ITC Mendoza, chosen to be the roman counterpart to Trebuchet—the typeface of GNOME's logo—might be the toughest one to substitute.