Welcome to pr0g80X.vid, an almost monthly show about technology, Linux, open source and many other topics. The format of the show usually contains a news section, book review, showcase of small open source project and two large tutorial/howto sections.

While Pete is not wrong in describing the show as such, I would like to point out that Progbox is so much more. For me, Progbox is a shining example of citizen media at its best; somehow, Pete has managed to produce a show which is not only entertaining and easy viewing, but preferable viewing over anything currently shown on regular UK television.

Having said that, I know I do not represent your average television viewer, my absolute distaste for what currently passes as Saturday evening viewing [excluding Doctor Who!] lends proof to that; still, if Progbox represents the future of user created media, I am going to be a happy man, looking forward to a time when there is enough of the same quality viewing material to turn on, tune in and drop geek out whenever I like.

Why the praise? And why now?

I think it is all too easy to undervalue/underestimate exactly what is involved in creating something like Progbox. Having recently attempted to create a small screencast myself, I have acquired a new found respect for anyone who manages such an undertaking, it is incredibly difficult; not only do you have to deal with the technical details, but there are also the personal performance hangups to consider [and Pete also has the added complication of styling his hair!]

Finally, not only does Progbox advocate Free and Open Source Software in its content, but also in its existence; Progbox is developed with FOSS on Ubuntu.

So, congrats Pete, you are creating something which you should be exceedingly proud of!

Tags: advocacy, progbox, ubuntu, video

Also, while I am on the subject of the BBC, is it not about time the BBC made their online services more Linux friendly? As a fully paid up license holder I am somewhat frustrated with the BBC's continued support of Windows Media Player and Real Player media formats, neither of which are particularly well supported on Linux. In fact, these days I rarely use the BBC website as it frustrates me so :(

Tags: advocacy, bbc, rants, ubuntu

The complete Serbian set can be viewed on this demo page. The code to display the images is below, simply copy & paste into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/rs/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/rs/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The complete Russian set can be viewed on this demo page. The code to display the images is below, simply copy & paste into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ru/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.ru/get" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ru/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The complete Elvish set can be viewed on this demo page. You can help spread the word of Ubuntu to the oldest of all common races by copying and pasting the code below into your HTML/blog template:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ev/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Kaer Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ev/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Kaer Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Can of worms anyone?

Tags: advocacy, artwork, fun, images, projects, ubuntu

The full turkish set can be seen on this random rotation demo. As with all the translations I've made the images available from my file server, simply copy & paste the code below into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/tr/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/tr/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The full French set can be witnessed in this random demonstration. The code to display the images is below, simply copy & paste into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/fr/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Installez Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/fr/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Installez Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The full image set can be seen on this demo page. As with all the translations, I've made the images available from my file server. The code for the images is below, simply copy & paste the code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pl/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Rata Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pl/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Rata Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Also, believe it or not there are more translations on the way, I'm working my way through them and hope to post an update for each as I do. French and Serbian translations coming soon.

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The complete Romanian set can be viewed in this random rotation demo. As with all the translations I've made the Romanian images available from my file server. Copy & paste the code below into your HTML/blog template where you'd like the random image place to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ro/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Ia-ti Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ro/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Ia-ti Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

You can witness the entire Japanese set in all their glorious randomness on this demo page.

As with the other translations, I've mirrored Yuya's images on my file server, simply copy & paste the following code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the magic random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/jp/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/jp/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Also, I'd just like to say a BIG thank you to everybody who is helping out by translating the images and spreading the word — the translations and links are appreciated not only by me, but also by the webmasters and blog authors who are using the images and spreading the Ubuntu love. So, THANK YOU :)

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

You can see a Dutch Ubuntu randomness demo here. The code for the Dutch images is below, simply copy & paste the code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/nl/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Neem Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/nl/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Neem Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

Portuguese images

Anyway, while I've been tucked-up in bed and snoring my head off, Miguel Wahnon Monteiro has very kindly translated the Random Ubuntu Advocacy images into Portuguese. He is also hosting them from his domain. Thank you Miguel :)

I've also uploaded Miguel's translated images to my file server, to ease/share any load. You can see the demo here. The code needed to display the images is below:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pt/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Comece Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pt/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Comece Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Italian images

Also, Davide Pedrelli has been busy translating the images into Italian. He has also put together a couple of modules for the Joomla platform 1.0x. I'm not familiar with Joomla, but if Davide's site is anything to go by, I'm sure the modules work well.

As with Miguel's images, I've uploaded Davide's Italian versions to my file server. You can witness the demo here, and the code needed to display the images is below:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/it/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://www.ubuntu-it.org/index.php?page=Ottenere_Ubuntu" title="Installa Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/it/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Installa Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Finally, Aldo Latino has also translated the images into Italian, before converting them into a rather nifty animated gif. Nice work, thank you Aldo :)

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

Update

For the sake of posterity I've now mirrored Marcelo's Spanish images on my file server. You can see a demo here. The code needed to display the Spanish images is below, simply copy & paste it into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/es/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Descarga Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/es/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Descarga Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The images are based on a set of Ubuntu banners that I created last year. The images are exactly the same size, dimensionally, as the Christmas image, and therefore replacement should be a simple operation.

The image pool

Demo of random display

You can witness the randomness in action on this demo page.

Get the code

Copy & paste the following code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Image sources

The original GIMP files can be downloaded from:
http://crunchbang.org/misc/199_164_ubuntu_images.tar.gz

MD5: 13c01d306c1e0c5256b6b0f40b6ff788

Please feel free to modify/translate.

License

The images contain logos that may be trade marked and/or copyrighted. Please refer to the authors/policies for further details. Other than that, the images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales.

Updates

• 02/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Serbian Version
• 02/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Russian Version
• 01/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Elvish Version
• 01/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Turkish Version
• 31/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - French Version
• 30/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Polish Version
• 29/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Romanian Version
• 28/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Japanese Version
• 27/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Dutch Version
• 26/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Italian & Portuguese
• 26/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Now in Spanish

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

I asked blog/website owners in the Ubuntu community to help out by placing an image based link on their sites. Many bloggers and webmasters did just that and I'd like to thank them all for their support. Others went a step further and translated the image in various different languages. The image was also adapted to show support for the Kubuntu and Xubuntu flavours of Ubuntu. Again, I'd like to thank everyone who helped out.

Now, at this point I'd like to provide some idea of the impact the Ubuntu Christmas campaign had on Ubuntu downloads. Unfortunately I can't as I have no idea, and I'm not sure anyone at Canonical would know either. All I can provide are some basic figures from the server from which the campaign images were hosted on, here they are…

Total number of requests: 1,163,790
Total bandwidth consumed: 7.64GB

As you can see, the images were requested over a million times. That's quite an impressive figure, even if I do say so myself; I think I'll declare the campaign as a success ;)

Anyhow, I just wanted to provide this final update before I knock off to spend time with the people closest to me. Merry Christmas everyone, have a good one!

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

Tags: advocacy, ubuntu

You can see the full post over on the German Ubuntu users site. Nice work :)

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

After being translated into Spanish, the image has now been translated into German.

I've never been to Germany, but I know the Germans do Christmas in style — there's a Christmas Market in Lincoln every year and whenever I go I make a beeline for the German stalls. German stollen is delicious. Anyhow, thanks to Dee for translating the image.

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

I've also seen the image altered and translated into Spanish. This got me thinking about the importance of translation. It must have been tricky to translate the image using only the gif file as a base to work from. From now on I'm going to supply the native GIMP files for any Ubuntu community artwork that I produce — I don't know why I haven't been doing this already, doh.

GIMP file

You can find the GIMP file here: http://crunchbang.org/misc/ubuntu-christmas-source.tar.gz

Please feel free to use, modify, translate and redistribute.

Thanks to

Some websites [that I'm aware of] that are supporting the campaign:

• http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/
• http://www.cesarius.net
• http://ubuntu-unleashed.blogspot.com/
• http://ubunturoot.wordpress.com/
• http://marcre.es/

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu

The other evening I was sat talking to Becky about Christmas. We were discussing gift ideas for family and friends. As per normal I wasn't very helpful and my mind went blank. I'm not overly good at coming up with ideas for great Christmas presents.

Anyhow, last night I thought about it some more and came up with a cool idea [subjective.] It occurred to me that this year I could give my family and friends something really useful — I could give them an Ubuntu CD! So I visited the Shipit service and placed an order.

It then occurred to me that there may well be other geeks out there struggling to come up with ideas for gifts — so I started thinking about a Christmas marketing campaign for Ubuntu.

Out with the old, in with the new

Last month the Ubuntu Countdown to Gutsy campaign was excellent. I saw the advert on numerous sites and I'm sure it helped raise awareness. I think that now the campaign has finished the Ubuntu community should maximise the potential of the real estate it gained by replacing the countdown image. It's the perfect time to start a Christmas marketing campaign.

Now before I receive any shouts of, "It's only November!" I should point out that the Shipit service can take anywhere up to 6-10 weeks to deliver. Having said that, CDs and DVDs can also be purchased [to be given as gifts] via the Canonical Store. A pack of 20 CDs will cost you a whole £16.50.

Help the campaign get going

The whole idea for this campaign is in its infancy. If you'd like to help get the campaign going then please consider replacing your current Countdown Campaign code with the follow:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ubuntu.ossdeck.org/files/xmas.js"></script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="This Christmas, give someone Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://ubuntu.ossdeck.org/files/xmas.gif" alt="Ubuntu Christmas"></a>
</noscript>

If enough people put the image on their sites we may be able to convince the Ubuntu webmasters to create a dedicated landing page on the Ubuntu domain.

A final note

Believe it or not, Christmas happens. Every year people around the world celebrate, spend time together and enjoy themselves. Whether you call it Christmas, Crimbo, Xmas or the holiday season, it still happens. Whatever you call it, this campaign should not be about religion.

Peace.

Updates

• 09/11/07 - Spanish image and source file made available for more translations
• 11/11/07 - German and Dutch images available
• 11/11/07 - Kubuntu images available

Tags: advocacy, artwork, images, projects, ubuntu