Creating A GIF Using GIMP

GIMP is the image manipulation tool of choice in the Linux world. I took some photos of myself using cheese. Cheese is the camera app on my desktop. I took 4 and do move or change pose or position for this to work.

Then open the first image in GIMP by starting GIMP then Cntrl-O, select the first image. Then type Cntrl-Alt-O, select the second image. This will create a second layer with the second image on it. Do this for the rest of the images. You can view the animation with Alt-R (filter) then choose Animation (I), then Play(P). You can adjust the fps and the speed of play. Save your work by going to File>Export then choose Animation in the next window.

Cheese took the original photos in 640×380 px. I prefer the gif image smaller so I had to use the Tool Transform tool and the Crop Tool in GIMP to adjust the images to my liking. The gif is running in 30 fps.

Major Updates For Libreoffice, Gnucash, Calibre, Firefox, qt5 libraries, webkit2gtk, Scribus

Major updates are available for Archlinux users. Updates include Libreoffice, Gnucash, Calibre and Scribus. Almost all the productivity apps I use.

qt5 libraries and webkit2gtk are included in these patches too. A download of just under 400 MB with the usual pacman command.

Update Mozilla Firefox 62 –>> 63

Archlinux repos released firefox 63 today.

This version of the browser offers improved protection against ad trackers. The ones that follow you from site to site are specially annoying.

Trying Out A Virtual Private Network

I started subscribing to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) recently. I took a premium service, which means they take your money, at PrivateVPN. I want a secure and anonymous service provider and also linux friendly. It should also include my android phone in the umbrella of devices to be protected.

PrivateVPN

Initially, there’s a glitch. It won’t let me connect to their servers. I’m using openvpn on my archlinux gnome desktop. I checked if I got all the required installation and configuration done. PrivateVPN on their website mentioned support for openvpn and linux. So I went to my logs next. The logs are mentioning error in authentication so I checked if I’m using the right credentials. After another try at connecting to their server, my logs now mention an authentication failure. I included this in my report to their support. After 24 hours, an email prompted me to try a test password. This test password connected me to the service.

There is a speed hit when using a VPN service so you should pick a server after trying several out. Pick one that’s fastest of course.

A VPN connects your home network to a public network, like a proxy service. VPN connects you to their network encrypted and hides your IP address in the process, unlike a proxy.

Torrent users are also protected if they are using VPNs. Streaming videos become possible because your geographical location is hidden. If you are using a VPN service, you can check how safe you are here.