As a researcher, and as an early adopter, I find a major part of how I am able to stay on top of developing issues, or find unique solutions to problems others can not solve, is to be connected to a wide range of people, each with their own diverse background. Through mediums such as Twitter (shown in the app below) or Friendfeed, I am able to simultaneously filter information from the outside world and find specific data that only a few experts would be able to identify.

For these reasons I think that, like in the communities of previous generations, regular interaction is important to develop the required relationships. One big disadvantage however of being connected to such a large community is finding the right kind of people to get engaged with. As someone who values good content at a premium, I think it is also important to reward those people for the value that they add to your network. On this page I have started a list of people that to me, add consistent value to my feed. At this stage trying to filter down exactly why each person makes up an important part of my network of contacts is a task I will leave for another day, but in a world where many people are simply trying to increase the quantity of their followers, I will continue to focus on the quality instead.

Synaptic Package Manager

• GIMP
• Inkscape
• FileZilla FTP Client
• Amarok
• Audacity
• Wine
• VLC
• PulseAudio Volume Control (pavucontrol)
• Vuze (w/ RSS Downloader Plugin)

(Then to get the best of studio I also install)

• ubuntustudio-audio-plugins
• ubuntustudio-video
• ubuntustudio-audio
• ubuntustudio-graphics
• ubuntustudio-controls

From Website

• Picasa – http://picasa.google.com/linux/
• Truecrypt – http://www.truecrypt.org/

More Complex

• Gnome Do (Look here for complete tutorial)
  In a terminal write (Cut and paste entire section):
  gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring /tmp/gnome-do.keyring --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv A5D19FDCAA6ABB440CD3464628A8205077558DD0
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring /tmp/gnome-do.keyring --export --armor A5D19FDCAA6ABB440CD3464628A8205077558DD0 | sudo apt-key add -
rm /tmp/gnome-do.keyring
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
  Add following lines to Sources List then save
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude install gnome-do
  When you run Gnome-Do for the first time, I suggest you change to preferences to take advantage of the “Docky” theme, and add in what plugins you see fit.
• Ubuntu Tweak (Look here for complete tutorial)
  In a terminal write:
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com FE85409EEAB40ECCB65740816AF0E1940624A220
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
  Add following lines to Sources List then save
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu jaunty main
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

To install Flash for Ubuntu 64 I use the following to lines of script in a terminal to make the process a piece of cake. Thanks to http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/install-flash-10-ubuntu-linux-64bit.html (where you can get the full run down).
Code:
wget http://queleimporta.com/downloads/flash10_en.sh
sudo bash ./flash10_en.sh

Now seriously, it doesn’t get much easier than that.

As a means of making it easier for myself and other to install (or re-install) Ubuntu with their favourite apps, I am taking note of each problem and solution I find along the way of my latest installation of Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. I do not take credit for any of the fixes in this post, and have collected the information from various sources (which I will endeavour to note along the way).

N.B. While I have used these instructions myself and have done my best to ensure that they do not negatively impact your installation, I do not take any responsibility for unexpected outcomes. Please use this information with common sense, and if you don’t have any, please do not use any of the follow steps.

Installation

Step 1 – Adobe Air

Tweetdeck is an Adobe Air program, and as such, you must first install AIR. I have successfully used this site http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5925758 to install it a couple of times, so would suggest that you check it out first, but if you are in a hurry, try the steps below.

1. Download and install the ia32-libs package by opening your System -> Administration – > Synaptic Package Manager

2. Download the AdobeAIRInstaller.bin file from http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

3. You’re now ready to install Air so make the bin file executable open a terminal and use the following code
Code:
chmod +x ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

4. And now start the installation.
Code:
./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

5. After the installation is completed check and make sure that all the required 32-bit libraries for Adobe Air are present on your system. Type the following:
Code:
ldd /opt/"Adobe AIR"/Versions/1.0/airappinstaller
ldd /opt/"Adobe AIR"/Versions/1.0/Resources/"Adobe AIR Updater"
ldd /opt/"Adobe AIR"/Versions/1.0/Resources/airappinstaller
ldd /opt/"Adobe AIR"/Versions/1.0/Resources/appentry

6. Scroll through the lists and make sure that none of them say ‘not found’. As long as none of the libraries are listed as ‘not found’ then you should now be able to install and run any .air applications.

7. Finally thanks to a fix from antitezo http://bit.ly/HgxU simply use this code to enable web access for you adobe air applications.
Code:
sudo apt-get install lib32nss-mdns
sudo getlibs -l libgnome-keyring.so
sudo getlibs -l libgnome-keyring.so.0
sudo getlibs -l libgnome-keyring.so.0.1.1

Step 2 – Tweetdeck

Now all that is left is to download Tweetdeck from http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

Now run the TweetDeck_0_25.air file and follow the displayed steps.

Note: You are now able to install and run pretty much all of the other Adobe Air programs.

Hope you find these instructions helpful, and that they save you time digging through the Internet.

TrueCrypt is the first program I install on any computer. TrueCrypt, as the name suggests, is an encryption program that I use to keep my important files safe and secure. TrueCrypt can:

• Create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypt an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypt a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• and…. encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

If you have files you want protected, you NEED to download and install this program.

If you have not yet heard of Skype yet, I am concerned that you really need some IT support. To quote the skype site “Make calls from your computer — free to other people on Skype and cheap to phones and mobiles around the world.”

Skype is really easy to use and easy to download, and while it is not the only app out there that will let you talk on the net, it is pretty much the standard at this point.

Without a doubt digsby is something that EVERYONE with internet access should download. For many years I was a trillian user (and a very happy one at that) which is also a brilliant product, just digsby is better. Key features include:

• One combined buddy list for all your AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber, and Facebook Chat Accounts.
• Manage your Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP, and POP accounts right from digsby.
• Stay up to date with everything happening on your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts.
• You can place a widget on your blog, website, or social network profile so you can chat with visitors right from digsby.
• Full Feature List

You are also able to insert widgets into your website to enable instant interaction with any of your website users (like this one –>), in which as soon as you view this page, I can see you and more importantly, chat with you.

To get the latest version of digsby download it here