How to safely and completely remove Unity from Ubuntu

This has taken me some time to figure out, but this seems to work without any errors or leftovers from Unity whatsoever. It also removes the possibility of choosing "Ubuntu" at login by fault, and booting you into a desktop that won't start. YOU FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I have just copy-pasted this from my Tomboy notes, so it's written in short-hand and should therefore not be considered beginner-friendly, and SOME knowledge of the terminal/command line is necessary. Anyway. here it is:

Log out and choose Ubuntu Classic after choosing your username.

1. Software Center -> Remove Unity and Unity 2D
2. Synaptic -> search for "unity" and purge everything with unity in it
3. CompizConfig Settings Manager -> Window Decoration OFF
Window Decoration -> Change Command to gtk-window-decorator
4. Terminal -> sudo apt-get autoremove && sudo killall unity-window-decorator && sudo apt-get install fusion-icon && fusion-icon
5. CompizConfig Settings Manager -> Window Decoration ON
System -> Settings -> Start Up Programs -> ADD -> Name: Fusion Icon -> Command: fusion-icon --sleep 5 -> Comment: Start Fusion Icon with a 5 second delay on startup
6. Terminal -> sudo rm /usr/share/xsessions/gnome.desktop
7. Terminal -> gksudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/gnome-classic.desktop -> Change to Name=Ubuntu -> Save -> Exit
8. Terminal -> sudo mv /usr/share/xsessions/gnome-classic.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/gnome.desktop
9. Terminal -> gksudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/gnome-2d.desktop -> Change to Name=Ubuntu (No Effects) -> Save -> Exit
10. Right-click the Fusion Icon in the systray and check that Select Window Manager is Compiz and that Select Window Decorator is GTK Window Decorator

Mobile Media Converter

One of my biggest problems with video, has always been to recode it so I can take it with me on my phone. Granted, I don't watch much movies on my phone, but I like to have a few of them loaded onto it anyway, just in case I'm stuck somewhere without anything to do for a while.

As a result, I've tried using WinFF, and when none of the presets worked, I tried reading about 3GP and 3G2, the cellphone video formats, reading the FFMpeg documentation and making my own presets. Sadly, I couldn't figure it out on my own. I tried searching the Ubuntu Forums for an answer, and even asked in the official IRC-channel for FFMpeg. No answers were provided for the longest time. Then, a few weeks ago, I asked the question again, and this time, I got an answer that actually worked! Enter Mobile Media Converter.

This small application does a whole lot more than just convert everything (that MEncoder can handle) into 3G*-files. It's got support for MPEG, MP4, AVI, MKV, subtitles and more. Read the info on the website for a complete set of options. And it's cross-platform. Any platform I'd imagine, since the source code is available for those wanting to compile it themselves. Miksoft, the maker of this wonderful program has also made installers available for Linux (.deb-package), Windows and Macs.

As I don't have either a machine with Windows, or a Mac of any kind, I can't tell you how it works in those environments, but it's a joy to use in Ubuntu 10.10 at least. All you have to do, is drag-and-drop the files you want onto the program-window, subtitles included (I don't use subtitles for English, German or Scandinavian films, so I haven't tried this feature), choose codec/device to convert to, the output folder to save the recoded files, and hit Convert. The user interface is just that simple.

There are however, some "hidden" settings. If you look closely at the program window, you will find a small arrow to the right of the codec/device drop-down selection. Pressing this gives you the ability to change the quality of the conversion with 3 presets (Low, Medium, High) or change it the way you want by clicking the Advanced button.

In the lower left corner of the window, there is another small arrow. Pressing this brings up 3 buttons: About, button telling you if it's the latest version (and possibly download a new version when available), and what I guess is a Help-button. This didn't work for me.

When you hit convert, a terminal window appears, showing you the progress of the conversion process, errors that may pop up, and what is being done (eg: AVI -> 3GP and which streams are mapped to what, and resolution, codecs, quality, etc and so forth).

On my ageing Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705 with DC1.66GHz, 1GB RAM and Ubuntu 10.10, a 700MB AVI-file took about 25 minutes to convert to Medium quality 3GP for my phone, an SE U5i Vivaz. When I lined up 8 movies, ranging from 1080p MKV, to 240p FLV (Total size 12.2GB), the conversion process took just over 4 hours.

My conclusion is that MMC is an invaluable tool for people who want to have the possibility of watching a movie on a handheld device, but who, like me, can't figure out all the different options of FFMpeg or MEncoder.