For those not in the know, Automatix is a script that auto-installs a whole pile of Handy Stuff to turn your vanilla Ubuntu installation into a fully-operational battle station.
[link|http://tinyurl.com/lcoky|Here's] an Ubuntu Forums post about Automatix (yeah, I know, it's three weeks old). There's detailed info [link|http://tinyurl.com/fv6cu|here] about some of the more involved installations, particularly the multimedia codecs.