''Moonlight Bay'' is a song I wrote back in the late eighties. I am pretty excited about being able to share it here. As of today it finally has a US copyright! Here are a couple of recorded versions featuring two different singers.

• lead vocal and intro lead guitar: Bill Hardwick
  
• backing vocal, lead guitar, and rhythm guitar: John Mata
  

• lead vocal: Chris Algiene
  
• lead guitar, lap guitar and rhythm guitar: John Mata
  

Back in the day Bill, Chris, and I spent day after day, and night after night working on music together. Musically our talents and chemistry together seemed to transcend us. I miss those days.

A good place to start a website is on your own personal server. So why not set up a local host on our own Ubuntu box and get moving? Open up the terminal and follow these three steps:

1. Install the MySQL server and client: $ sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client


2. Install php5: $ sudo apt-get install php5-mysql


3. Install phpMyAdmin: $ sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin


Okay, now you''ll need to create a directory where you can build websites within the server directory and give it permissions. Follow these steps:


4. $ sudo mkdir /var/www/directoryname


Okay, now you need to give permissions so that you may work freely in your new directory. As follows:


5. $ sudo chown yourUserName /var/www/directoryname

Now you are ready to create websites from scratch, or perhaps you''d like to install a content management system into your bewky born directory! Have fun!

On my notebook computer I have Virtual Box running quite well. On my desktop the results are quite different at this point. On attempting to start up a virtual machine the following pop up error occurs:

VirtualBox kernel driver not installed. The vboxdrv kernel module was either not loaded or /dev/vboxdrv was not created for some reason. Please install the virtualbox-ose-modules package for your kernel, e.g. virtualbox-ose-modules-generic..

VBox status code: -1908 (VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED).

Interface:

Result Code:	0x80004005
Component:	Console
IConsole {1dea5c4b-0753-4193-b909-22330f64ec45}

And here''s how it presents itself:


The error message tells me to install the virtualbox-ose-modules package for my kernel. To identify my computers kernel I will open the terminal and execute the following code:

• $ uname -r
  

And when I do I get the following reply: 2.6.24-19-generic

In the Synaptic Package Manager I search for VirtualBox and select to download and install the following:

virtualbox-ose-guest-modules-2.6.24-19-generic

Despite the fact that I have the driver installed now, the same error remains. I posted for help at the VirtualBox forum. This is how I learned that I should ensure that I have installed Install gcc, automake, autoconf, kernel-source. Then I had to actually uninstall the virtualbox-ose via the Synaptic Package manager. I then downloaded VirtualBox directly from the following web page: http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads. Once installed I was able to open the VirtualBox, then the guest operating system without the error!

I have an Nvidia video card. To get the most appropriate driver I will install and run EnvyNG-gtk, which can be downloaded via the Synaptic Package Manager. Once it''s installed, running it is a snap! Applications -> System Tools -> EnvyNG

I selected "Automatic Hardware Detection", then Apply.


Immediately after selecting apply the following window popped up. Once the operation was complete I confirmed and closed the application.


Now I can attempt to get my dual monitors working by using the Nvidia GUI. The previous operation installed the Nvidia X Server Settings tool which can be accessed at Administration -> NVIDIA Server Settings.

At this screen select X Server Display Configuration


At this screen select the "[Disabled]" monitor on the right, then select Configure below.


I prefer to have my screen extended over two monitors, so I chose "TwinView". Selecting "Seperate X screen" will result in a menu bar on each screen. In "Seperate X screen" one will not have the ability of dragging items from one screen to the other. I recommend "TwinView", then select "OK".


At this stage you should save the settings to the Xorg.conf file by selecting "Save to X Configuration File".


As shown below, select "Merge with existing file" and Save


The reason I have an error, "Unable to remove old X config backup file ''/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'', is because I can''t save the xorg.conf file unless I am in super user mode.



Thus, one should not launch the NVIDIA Server Settings application from Administration menu. Instead it the NVIDIA Server application should be opened using sudo in the terminal:

• $ sudo nvidia-settings
  

From the sudo command in the terminal the NVIDIA Server Settings application will launch in sudo mode. One can now follow the instructions as mentioned above, but this time there will be no error when saving to the xorg.conf file.

[ if you are installing Ubuntu for the first time, skip this first blip, with your Ubuntu disk in your CD drive boot up your system. click here for next step ]

My System76 has been freezing up on me at least once per day ever since I installed the latest Ubuntu, which is 8.04, the Hardy Heron. So after trying to troubleshoot the problem for a week or so with the help of support via the Ubuntu forums, the problem remains. So I will reinstall Hardy Heron.

Before I do I will back up the xorg.conf and the sources.list files. The xorg.conf file is already configured for my dual monitor set-up. And, the sources.list file has critical settings for getting drivers needed for the System76 hardware. To back them up I will open up the terminal and type:

• sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
  
• sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
  

With each file open I can "save as" and save it to my flash memory stick. Once I have reinstalled Ubuntu I will replace these two newly installed files with the two I have backed up.

As shown below, Ubuntu is running from the install disk. Double click the "install" icon on the desktop.


Next few steps are self explanatory...




At this stage I selected Guided - use entire disk.



Okay you are ready to go. Select "Install"

I really needed to have access to a Windows application that would not work using WINE. Using Sun''s VirtualBox I was able to install Windows and on it install the application. VirtualBox is a free program you can download, and with it you can install other operating systems in Ubuntu. I am not referring to a dual boot system, which is actually what I did for about a year while I was weening myself off of Windows. VirtualBox gives you the versatility to have both, or more, operating systems open simultaneously.

In Ubuntu you can install VirtualBox via the terminal using "sudo apt-get install virtualbox" or you can install it using the Synaptic Package Manager by doing a search for "virtualbox-ose".

Before you can install an operating system, such as Windows, you must establish a ''virtual machine''. To begin this process select ''new''. Selecting ''new'' will launch a ''New Virtual Machine Wizard''.





At this stage you assign the virtual machine a name. In this example I named it ''Vista''. Also choose the operating system type from the drop menu, then select ''next''.


At this stage you will use the slider to divide the RAM up between the host OS and the guest OS. As you can see I divided it in half.


Chances are you''ll need to create a ''virtual hard drive''. Do this by selecting ''New''.




At this stage you can either assign a fixed hard drive size, or you can choose to have it''s size expand as needed. Obviously, any hard drive space you give to the guest OS reduces available space on your host OS.


At this stage you must give your virtual hard drive a name. In this example I named it Vista. I also chose to start with a 20 GB virtual hard drive.




At this stage you should be able to select your virtual hard drive from the drop down list, then select next.




At this point you can place your Windows installation CD in the CD drive, highlight Vista, or whatever name you gave it, and select ''start''. If you have installed Windows before, you''ll find yourself in familiar territory from this point on.


As shown below, Windows Vista is running within Ubuntu.


Now you may want to also add the VirtualBox guest modules. This will allow you to have full screen resolution on your guest operating system, otherwise the default maximum is somewhat lower. With the VirtualBox guest Modules you can run Windows full resolution on one screen and Ubuntu on the other.