Ubuntu Fast Flash Issue

I was horsing around with the Google+ Hangout function last week. In installing the required Google / Flash plugins via Ubuntu Update Manager, I managed to cripple my system.

I wiped Flash off of my machine, did a fresh install…the whole works. To no avail. The bug (and fix) were strange enough to warrant a write-up.

First, the symptoms were strange. Any Flash video would run super fast…triple speed. While watching Cubs replays in fast forward was sort of amusing, I couldn’t get audio to work either. All media was wonky, including streaming audio. I tried to play an MP3 from my hard drive…playback was nonfunctional. That sort of led me to the solution:

ubuntu audio problem
hmm

I disabled the HDMI audio function, restarted Firefox, and that was that.

Why audio settings would spawn that sort of malfunction is beyond me. I am going to submit a bug report on this guy…too strange to let slip.

Ubuntu + Microsoft = BFFs

Ubuntu’s maker, Canonical, has announced that Lucid Lynx will drop with Yahoo Search as the default for Firefox. Since Yahoo is powered by Bing, M$ is effectively in bed with a fricking Linux distro… World colliding

ubuntu FTW
For the Win, as always

Granted, it takes about 5 seconds to configure Firefox to use Google as it does in Koala, but it is a step in the right direction for Canonical… Contracts with Dell and now M$ via Yahoo will help gain market share. Maybe 2011 will be the year of the Linux desktop… Not very likely, but less M$ is a victory in my book. Addition by subtraction.