Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Gnome Subtitles 1.0 Ubuntu .deb Download

| Date: February 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, gnome subtitles, linux, movies, ubuntu

gnome subtitles 1.0

Gnome Subtitles is a subtitle editor for the GNOME desktop. It supports the most common text-based subtitle formats and allows for subtitle editing, translation and synchronization.

Version 1.0 has been released not so long ago and it's the fist stable release. The new version includes lots of new features and improvements, such as:

6 Amazing Gnome Shell Themes (And How To Install Themes In Gnome Shell)

| Date: February 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: eyecandy, gnome shell, linux, themes, ubuntu

Here are the first (probably the first ever) 6 Gnome Shell Themes (download link at the end of the post):


Marine Gnome Shell Theme:

gnome shell marine theme


Last Weeks Top Posts (Week 8, 2010)

| Date: February 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Install The Proposed Community Themes Package (.deb) From Ubuntu Lucid In Karmic

| Date: February 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: eyecandy, gnome, linux, lucid lynx, themes, ubuntu

ubuntu lucid community themes

We've seen lots and lots of proposed community themes for Lucid but only a few were actually included in the "community-themes" package in Ubuntu Lucid. In fact, most are updates like Kin, Night Impression, Impression, Hanso and Turrican (but the updates look amazing). But there are also 2 of the proposed community themes: Wasp and Sorbet (a borderless theme) and also the Homosapien Metacity theme.

Nautilus With Gnome Activity Journal (Zeitgeist) Integration [Mockups]

| Date: February 28, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome activity journal, linux, mockups, nautilus, nautilus elementary, ubuntu

Ian Cylkowski posted some AMAZING Nautilus mockups on his blog:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

His mockups are based on Nautilus Elementary mockup by DanRabbit.

The mockups look great but a default "elementary Nautilus" would confuse many people, with so many buttons missing and all. What I really like and find to be a great idea is the Zeitgeist and Gnome Activity Journal integration:

Findwild Is A GUI Wildcard File Search Application For Linux

| Date: February 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: find, findwild, linux, ubuntu

findwild

Findwild is a file search (search in files) utility allowing extensive wildcard selection and exclusion criteria which comes with a GUI interface and can recall past searches.

Confirmed: Ubuntu 10.04 Supports iPhone / iPod Touch Out Of The Box

| Date: February 27, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: iPhone, linux, lucid lynx, mobile, rhythmbox, ubuntu

Yesterday we wrote about a post on ubuntuforums where a user reported that the latest Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 supports his iPhone 3GS out of the box.

Just a user wasn't enough, as every journalist knows (I'm not one, but anyway) that you always need at least 3 sources to confirm a news story. But snyd23 confirmed this in a comment to our original post and now WebUpd8 reader rkv just confirmed that both Nautilus and Rhythmbox work with his iPhone without any additional applications / tweaking. He also sent us some screenshots:

Is Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) iPhone / iPod Touch Ready?!?

| Date: February 26, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: iPhone, ipod, linux, lucid lynx, rhythmbox, ubuntu

Robin Nixon, an UbuntuForums.org user has reported that the latest Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 3 worked out of the box with his iPhone and he was able to browse everything using Nautilus. He also reports Rhythmbox "working like iTunes".

Not only that, but his iPhone is not even jailbroken. In case you are interested, he uses an iPhone 3GS 32Gb with the latest 3.1.3 firmware. You can read about all this HERE.


Have you tried browsing your iPhone / iPod Touch with Nautilus in Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 3? If so, did everything work out of the box? How about Rhythmbox?

6 Heroes of Newerth Beta Invites (Real Time Online Strategy Game Based on DoTA) For WebUpd8 Readers [Windows, Linux, Mac OS X]

| Date: February 26, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: games, giveaway, Heroes of Newerth, invites, linux, macosx, ubuntu, windows

Heroes of Newerth is a real-time online strategy game based on DoTA, currently in closed beta. It runs on Windows, Linux (native!) and Mac OS X.

Before requesting for an invite, consult the minimum system requirements (they are kind of high).


We have 6 invites which will give away to the first 6 WebUpd8 readers which will comment to this post using a valid email address (it must be an email address because I must enter your email address on the Heroes of Newerth website).


Update: there are no more invites left

Lubuntu (w/ LXDE) 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 Released With 4 New Default Apps And New Artwork (Screenshots)

| Date: February 26, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lubuntu, lxde, netbook, ubuntu

lubuntu alpha 3 live cd screenshot


The most important changes in Lubuntu Alpha 3 are 4 new default applications: Chromium for the browser, gnome-mplayer as the default media player, Wicd has been replaced with the Network Manager and Pcmanfm2 as the default file manager but we've already told you about that about a week ago.

ManageTwitter Is A Great Way To Manage The People You Follow

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, social media, twitter, unfollow, web app

managetwitter screenshot


We've written about lots of Twitter web apps for managing you followers, but one by one they all stopped working. But a new such service has been launched: ManageTwitter and it's great at it's job: to unfollow people.

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 Released

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lucid lynx, ubuntu

ubuntu lucid lynx 10.04 screenshot

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 has just been released. We already went through most of the visual changes so there's no reason to do that again:



In case you were wondering, no - there's no new theme yet.

Technical details and download: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/lucid/alpha3

Banshee Media Player 1.5.4 Has Been Released

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: banshee, linux, music player, ubuntu

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
(image credits: Gabriel Burt, as Banshee 1.5.4 is not yet available in the PPA)


Banshee 1.5.4 has just been released and the new version features the release of Banshee Community Extensions as well as support for Nokia N900 phones and more.


The Banshee Community Extensions include Alarm Clock, Lyrics, Mirage (which calculates the acoustical similarity between songs) and several other extension. The most interesting is the Mirage extension which doesn't use the Automatic Playlist Generator anymore, and instead it is now integrated into the playback controller either by adding shuffle-by-similar or fill-by-similar:

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta 3 (32bit) Released [Ubuntu Installation Instructions]

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: adobe, flash, linux, ubuntu

Adobe just released the 3rd beta of their Flash Player 10.1 plugin.

To install this latest version in Linux, simply paste this in a terminal:

Google Chrome / Chromium "Wasp" Theme

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: google chrome, linux, theme, ubuntu, wasp

wasp google chrome theme

Wasp is one of the proposed Ubuntu Lucid proposed themes and it features a really nice Metacity theme which you can now "use" for Google Chrome / Chromium too, through a theme especially designed for it.


Download Wasp Google Chrome / Chromium Theme

[How-To] Listen to Pandora And Spotify Outside US / UK In Linux, Using TOR (With Country Specific Exit Nodes)

| Date: February 25, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, linux, music, pandora, pirvoxy, pithos, rkv, Spotify, tor, ubuntu, web

This is yet another guest post from RKV. We've seen how to get an invitation for free on Spotify UK and now that you have an account, you must log in using a UK proxy every 14 days or your account gets blocked.

To log in to Spotify (and while we're here, also for Pandora, with a different set of Exit Nodes) using an UK proxy, you'll have to configure TOR to use some specific exit nodes. Here is the exact step by step how-to for Linux (Ubuntu).

Move A Window To A Specific Monitor Using A Keyboard Shortcut [Ubuntu]

| Date: February 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, multiple monitors, ubuntu

multiple monitors ubuntu

Compiz has can be used to do basically everything using multiple desktops but unfortunately it doesn't includes any option for moving a window to a specific display (monitor) when using multiple monitors.

wayfarer_boy @ ubuntuforums.org has come up with a way to move a window to a specific display using xdotool and a script he created. Using his tutorial, you will finally be able to move windows between monitors using a keyboard shortcut.

You can find the complete how-to, HERE.

The Best Linux Web Browser

| Date: February 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: best browser, hive five, linux

WebUpd8 reader Rkv suggested more than once that we start a "hive five" post series, where the readers will be able to vote for their favourite application.

For the first post of this series we will ask our readers to vote for the best Linux web browser. Here are the 5 contenders:


Install Gnome Disk Utility (Palimpsest) 2.29.0 In Ubuntu Karmic

| Date: February 24, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome disk utility, hdd, linux, palimpsest, ubuntu

Install Subtitle Editor 0.36.0 In Ubuntu Via A PPA

| Date: February 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, movies, subtitle editor, subtitles, ubuntu

subtitle editor linux


Subtitle Editor is a GTK+2 tool to edit subtitles for GNU / Linux / *BSD. It can be used for new subtitles or as a tool to transform, edit, correct and refine existing subtitle. This program also shows sound waves, which makes it easier to synchronise subtitles to voices. There are a lot of changes from version 0.30.0 which is in Ubuntu Karmic (by the way, even Lucid has version 0.30.0 and not 0.36.0) and the latest version. You can see all the changes and features @ Subtitle Editor homepage.

How To Use TestDrive With VirtualBox [Ubuntu]

| Date: February 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, qemu, testdrive, ubuntu, virtualbox

TestDrive is an Ubuntu application that is especially designed for non-technical users to easily download and run the latest Ubuntu development daily snapshot in a virtual machine. We've covered TestDrive (as well as installation istructions) HERE.

TestDrive runs the daily Ubuntu .ISO in QEMU by default so if you also have VirtualBox installed, it is a bit messy as you will get the following error each time you try to run VirtualBox:

3 Linux Console File Managers You Should Try: Midnight Commander (MC), Last File Manager (LFM) And VIFM

| Date: February 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: cli, command line, file manager, lfm, linux, mc, ubuntu, vifm

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
(in the screenshot above, you can see Lfm on top, Mc on the bottom left and Vifm on the bottom right corner, all running in Terminator)


GNU Midnight Commander (MC), Vifm and Last File Manager (Lfm) are 3 visual file manager applications for the Linux console. All of these 3 applications will remind you of Norton Commander - with the main interface consisting of two panels which display the file system -, but each has something special. Read about these 3 great console file managers for Linux and let us know your favourite in the comments!


Install Terminator 0.90 Beta 2 In Ubuntu Karmic And Lucid From A PPA

| Date: February 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, terminal, terminator, ubuntu

terminator 0.90 beta 2

We covered Terminator 0.90 a while back so I won't introduce it again. The great news is that you can now install Terminator 0.90 beta 2 via a PPA:

Method 1 - the official test PPA:

Gnome Shell 2.29.0 Released [What's New And Screenshots Inside]

| Date: February 23, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, gnome shell, linux, ubuntu

Gnome Shell is the new core user interface for Gnome 3 which provides switching windows and applications but you've probably already heard of it by now so I'll skip the introduction. However, I would like to mention that this is still a VERY EARLY version of GNOME Shell and should not be taken of indicative of the final user interface or performance.



What's new in Gnome Shell 2.29.0 (w/ screenshots)


Sorbet - New Community Proposed Ubuntu Lucid Theme And Mockup

| Date: February 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: artwork, eyecandy, lucid lynx, sorbet, themes, ubuntu

Sorbet is a new Ubuntu Lucid community proposed theme with subtle gradients and light colors. The Metacity buttons are based on the Homosapien theme (it seems more and more themes go "Homosapien") and the theme itself is an "loose interpretation" of the new Ubuntu Single Sign On look.

This is how Sorbet looks right now:

WinFF Is A Great Audio / Video Converter With Presets For iPod-iTunes, Google Android, Blackberry, Etc. [Windows, Linux]

| Date: February 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: audio, convert, ffmpeg, iPhone, ipod, linux, mobile, nokia, ubuntu, video, windows, winff

winff 1.2.0

Winff is a GUI fronted for the very well-known FFmpeg, which works on Windows and Linux (unfortunately it doesn't work on Mac OS X).

WinFF converts multiple different files in the same time, can convert video to audio, convert between different audio formats with no external codecs required (other than ffmpeg, of course), includes lots of presets for converting video into formats for common devices such as iPod-iTunes, Blackberry, PSP, PS3, Palm, Nokia, Creative Zen, Google Android, Rockbox, DVD and so on.

PHP, CSS And XML Syntax Highlighting In Nano (Linux Text Editor)

| Date: February 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, nano, text editor, ubuntu

nano text editor

A few days ago I was telling you about using syntax highlighting in Nano (Linux command line text editor). Unfortunately Nano doesn't come with syntax highlighting for some of the most used languages such as CSS, PHP and XML by default.

But thanks to Sckyzo, you can have syntax highlighting in Nano for those too. The package which will be downloaded using the command below will download syntax highlighting plugins for: PHP, CSS, XML, xorg.conf and Generic .conf. To install them all, simply paste this in a terminal:

Firefox 3.7 Alpha Nightly Build Finally Adds Some New Theme Elements

| Date: February 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: firefox, windows

We've basically known how Firefox 3.7/4.0 will look like since... forever, but up until now you had to install a custom theme to get that look.

VLC 1.1.0 And gThumb 2.11.x Updated In The Web Upd8 PPA

| Date: February 22, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gthumb, linux, ppa, ubuntu, vlc

VLC 1.1.0 and gThumb 2.11.x, both from GIT, have been available for some time in the WebUpd8 PPA and both applications got an update recently (today for VLC and two days ago for gThumb). In this post just I wanted to remind you about the WebUpd8 PPA and also about the great features this two apps have compared to their stable releases.


Pino (Linux Twitter Client) 0.2.0 Released, Gets Experimental Identi.ca Support

| Date: February 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, linux, pino, twitter, ubuntu

pino 2.0


Pino, the lightweight Twitter client for Linux (Gnome) which we were telling you about a long time ago has just reached version 0.2.0.

New in Pino 0.2.0:

Last Weeks Top Posts (Week 7, 2010)

| Date: February 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Gnome Activity Journal 0.3.3 Released

| Date: February 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gnome, gnome activity journal, linux, ubuntu, zeitgeist

Gnome Activity Journal 0.3.3 has been released today. This version brings some new views as well as bug-fixes:

How To Install Go-OO 3.2 In Ubuntu Linux

| Date: February 21, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: go-oo, linux, office, openoffice, ubuntu

go-oo 3.2 ubuntu


Like you probably know, there are no official OpenOffice.org packages in the Ubuntu repositories for the latest version (3.2) and also no packages in the OpenOffice.org Scribblers PPA (for now at least).

We wrote about installing OpenOffice 3.2 in Ubuntu from it's official website but that's not the same OpenOffice.org as the one in the Ubuntu repositories because Ubuntu uses Go-OO, an optimized version of OpenOffice. Well, here is how to install this optimized version called Go-OO. You can learn more about Go-OO @ it's official website.

Ubuntu Finally Getting A New Default Theme Starting With Lucid

| Date: February 20, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: artwork, human, light, linux, lucid lynx, mark shuttleworth, theme, ubuntu

In a recent interview (as of yesterday, 19 February) for DellVlog, Mark Shuttleworth says Ubuntu will finally change the default theme from Human to a "light theme". Here is the entire interview:

Unfortunately there is no info on the new theme, but Lucid User Interface (since there is no Artwork drop) freeze will take place on March 4, so we should see it in action very soon!
Special thanks to AnotherUbuntu for the heads up!

Talika 0.22 Adds Grouping Of Similar Windows, Close Window On Middle-Click And More

| Date: February 20, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: applet, linux, talika, ubuntu

talika

Talika is a Gnome Panel applet which displays only opened windows icons, instead of the usual icon + window name way of displaying opened windows which we covered before.

The latest version (0.22) which was released today adds some really interesting features:

  • Grouping of similar windows
  • Closing window on middle-click
  • Better menu positioning on vertical panel
  • Improved icon quality

After installing Talika, don't forget to restart the Gnome panel or log out and log back in:
sudo killall gnome-panel


Download Talika (Ubuntu .deb and source files available).

Ubuntu Officially Switches To Nouveau As The Default Nvidia Graphics Driver

| Date: February 19, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: graphics drivers, linux, nouveau, nvidia, ubuntu

Ubuntu officially transitioned from -nv to -nouveau as the default driver for the Nvidia graphics cards. The main reason for this change is that nouveau is more actively developed than nv and is considered to be at least as good as nv. However, based on feedback, it seems there will be regressions on certain hardware that used to work on nv, but the Ubuntu devs are hoping for better results for the average user.

Bluefish Text Editor 2.0.0 Released [Windows, Linux, Mac OS X]

| Date: February 19, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bluefish, linux, macosx, text editor, ubuntu, windows

bluefish 2.2.0


After 16 development releases and 3 release candidates, Bluefish 2.0.0 is finally ready.

Bluefish is a powerful open source text editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners, with many options to write websites, scripts and programming code. Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages, and it focuses on editing dynamic and interactive websites. It runs on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows.

Version 2.0.0 has many parts re-written and many new features. See the changelog for complete details. Also take a look at the features page.


Here is an introduction video for Bluefish 2.0.0:

Make "rm" Move Files To Trash Instead Of Completely Removing Them

| Date: February 19, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: cli, command line, linux, rm, tips n tricks, trash, ubuntu

To get the "rm" (but you can alias some other command like "del" or keep the original "trash" command!) command to move the file(s) to trash instead of removing them completely, you must install the trash-cli utility and set an alias for "rm" to use trash-cli. But trash-cli also removes folders, even without using the "-r" (recursive) option, so in this post I will share a script created by grizzly which will only remove folders when the "-r" argument is used.


Here is the complete mini-guide to setting "rm" to move files (and folders) to trash:


How To Stream Videos (Any Format) To Your iPhone [Linux w/ WINE]

| Date: February 18, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: iPhone, linux, mobile, ubuntu, video, wine

stream video iphone linux wine


Today I read an article written at LifeHacker regarding how to stream any video to an iPhone using the Air Video Software.

Unsurprisingly, the software supports Windows and Mac only. I tested it out using windows, and it worked flawlessly. So I couldn’t wait to try to set it up using WINE on Linux.

Ubuntu Lucid Visual Updates: User Icon Added To The Me-Menu, Slightly Redesigned Login Box And More [Screenshots]

| Date: February 18, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: artwork, linux, lucid lynx, ubuntu

Today's updates brought a few visual changes to Ubuntu Lucid. Here are some screenshot with these changes. They aren't much, but still worth mentioning.



The Me Menu applet in Ubuntu Lucid now has an option to display the icon for the currently logged in user:

me menu ubuntu lucid

How To Get A Free Spotify Invite (For Any Supported Country)

| Date: February 18, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: invites, music, online, Spotify, web

spotify ubuntu wine

In case you don't know, Spotify is a new service (free or premium) which allows you to listen to music on your computer, mobile phone (iPhone, Android), create playlists and a lot more.

Spotify introduced invites for most of the countries it is available for. But there is a way to get an invite quickly and free (thanks to kimme!). Read on!

Jelli Online Radio Lets Users Pick Their Own Music [Social Radio]

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, jelli, music, online, radio, social media, web app

Jelli


Jelli is a really nice concept for social music: it is an online radio station for which the users decide which songs get added to any of the stations and the music being played is based on these "votes" by all the users online. To listen to a station, all you have to do is add the .m3u playlist to any music/media player such as VLC, etc. The website also comes with a chat for each radio stations, meaning it has basically every feature a social web radio needs.

Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04 To Get A 2D EFL Based Launcher

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lucid lynx, netbook, ubuntu, ubuntu netbook remix, une

ubuntu netbook edition efl netbook launcher

In an attempt to get Ubuntu working on any ARM based device (as long as there is hardware available), Ubuntu Netbook Edition (UNE) 10.04 will ship with a new 2D launcher which is a direct clone of the UI found in the Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix, although this one is based on EFL (Enlightenment Foundation Libraries) meaning that its fast on non-accelerated platforms.

Sikuli (GUI Automation Using Screenshots) Moves To Launchpad, Finally Works On Linux

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: Automatic, launchpad, linux, macosx, ubuntu, windows

Sikuli is a visual technology to search and automate graphical user interfaces (GUI) using images (screenshots) which we've covered not so long ago but which at the time of our post didn't work on Linux (but did work on Windows and Mac OS X).

Sikuli Script automates anything you see on the screen without internal API's support. You can programmatically control a web page, a desktop application running on Windows/Linux/Mac OS X, or even an iphone application running in an emulator.



Basically, you can use Sikuli to automate tasks using screenshots, like taking screenshots of buttons which you need Sikuli to press, etc. To understand what Sikuli really is, take a look at this video (everything is done automatically, by using a very simple Sikuli script):

How To Install OpenOffice 3.2 In Ubuntu (.deb Download)

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: .deb, linux, openoffice, ubuntu

openoffice 3.2

I initially wanted to wait for the PPA (OpenOffice Scribblers) to get OpenOffice 3.2 but it seems that takes way too much time and I'm not going to wait until Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (10.04) to install the latest OpenOffice 3.2 (even though Ubuntu uses OO-Go, an optimized version of OpenOffice), so I decided to download and install OOo 3.2 on my Ubuntu Karmic from its official website. The installation was very easy and fast so I wanted to share the steps with any WebUpd8 readers who don't want to wait for the PPA (which might take a long time) or Ubuntu Lucid to upgrade (well, actually do a fresh install) to OpenOffice.org 3.2.


Buzzzy Launches Google Buzz Search Before Google

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: google buzz, search engine, social media, web

buzzzy


Buzzzy is a new search engine for the new Google Buzz which might remind you of Summize, who created a realtime search engine for Twitter (and was later acquired by Twitter), except Buzz already has it's search engine - but that's only available for Buzz users and only if they are logged in (and quite slow I might add).


Buzzzy search indexes items from Google Reader, Twitter, FriendFeed and Buzz. The new social media search engine allows you to choose a timeline (last hour, day or week), the social media website to search (or all) and if the results should have media (images or videos).

Elementary & Humanity Lucid Pidgin Icon Themes

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary, eyecandy, humanity, icons, im, linux, pidgin, themes, ubuntu

pidgin elementary humanity lucid icons

StrangeQuark has released a package with elementary, elementary-circles and the latest humanity-lucid icons (which were released yesterday) icon themes for Pidgin. You can download these beautiful Pidgin icons @ gnome-look


For installation instructions, see our initial Elementary Icon Theme For Pidgin post.

Edit And Create Group Specific Menus With The New Edubuntu Menu Editor [Ubuntu]

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: edubuntu, linux, lucid lynx, menu, menu editor, ubuntu

Edubuntu (Lucid) got a new menu editor which allows menu customization, editing and sharing. The name "Edubuntu Menu Editor" is only for branding, but the menu editor works with every xdg-based menu.

Ubuntu Lucid users can install it with a single command:
sudo apt-get install edubuntu-menueditor

There is also a PPA for Ubuntu Karmic and Lucid users, so to add the repository and install edubuntu-menueditor, paste this in a terminal:

Use Syntax Highlighting In Nano Editor [Quick Linux Tip]

| Date: February 17, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: editor, linux, nano, tips n tricks, ubuntu

nano syntax highlighting


Nano is an easy to use Linux shell text editor. Here is a very easy to follow tip to get syntax highlighting in Nano.

Canonical Launches Ubuntu Single Sign On Service

| Date: February 16, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: canonical, linux, single sign on, ubuntu

ubuntu single sign on


Canonical has just launched it's Ubuntu Single Sigle Sign On service, who's goal is to provide a single, central login for all Ubuntu websites.

Ubuntu Single Sigle Sign On will replace existing Launchpad login but existing accounts will continue to work. The change will take place gradually:

RecordMyDesktop With The Latest Libtheora - Quick Fix

| Date: February 16, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: blogging, libtheora, linux, recordmydesktop, screen recording, tips n tricks, ubuntu, video

gtkrecordmydesktop


RecordMyDesktop is a desktop screencasting software application for Linux. It comes with different GUIs for Qt, GTK, KDE (RecorditNow).

RecordMyDesktop had a problem (actually it still does): a libtheora update broke it and it no longer works, making the video unplayable, even with VLC. However, there is a fix for this (the video will work in VLC and can be uploaded to YouTube, etc.): adding the "--v_bitrate 2000000" paramterer. Here is how to use it:


Cover Thumbnailer 0.7 Is Out, Now Works On Fedora, Mandriva And Other Distributions

| Date: February 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: album covers, cover thumbnailer, fedora, gnome, linux, mandriva, nautilus, ubuntu

cover thumbnailer


Cover Thumbnailer (which we've covered before) is a small Python script which displays music album covers in Nautilus, preview of pictures which are in a folder and more. Since we last wrote about it, Cover Thumbnailer got a GUI, and the latest version 0.7 which was released today finally brings support for other (than Ubuntu) Linux distributions.

Nokia And Intel Join Forces For A New Linux Based Mobile OS

| Date: February 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: intel, linux, maemo, mobile, Moblin, nokia

Intel and Nokia have merged their mobile operating systems: Maemo and Moblin (both Linux based) into a new OS called MeeGo which will be a free, open source and it will use Qt as the framework and toolset for application developers.

The new OS will run on X86 and on Arm based hardware. It will be developed as an open project hosted by the Linux Foundation.

Nokia revealed that the MeeGo platform will not replace Symbian, the OS currently used on most Nokia smartphones and refused to comment or reveal any hardware or carrier partners for the new platform.

For more info, visit the MeeGo website.

Backup Your iPhone / iPod Touch Music Collection [Ubuntu]

| Date: February 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: backup, iPhone, ipod, linux, stonecut, ubuntu

One more interesting thing you can do with the packages we installed in our previous iPhone article is to backup the music on your iPhone / iPod Touch back onto a computer again, for example, after a PC crash that rendered your hard disk with your music collection useless. This is not possible with iTunes if the new PC account hadn't been activated before. However, this procedure will only work for non-DRM'ed files.

Differences Between 3 Types Of Proxy Servers: Normal, Transparent And Reverse Proxy

| Date: February 15, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: internet, proxy, rkv, web

proxy types


What is a Proxy Server?


A Proxy server is an intermediary machine, between a client and the actual server, which is used to filter or cache requests made by the client.

This article is focused on the Different Caching Web Proxies.

Last Weeks Top Posts (Week 6, 2010)

| Date: February 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: top posts

Lubuntu Lucid Changes 4 Of The Applications Installed By Default

| Date: February 14, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lubuntu, lucid lynx, ubuntu

pcmanfm lubuntu lucid



Based on feedback, the Lubuntu developers decided to change 4 of the applications installed by default:


1. Browser: Chromium

This is a great choice for 2 reasons: it's fast and it's great for screen real estate. Since netbooks are one of Lubuntu targets (and old hardware computers), Chromium has a clear advantage over Firefox which needs a lot of customizations to be as efficient as Chromium from the screen real estate point of view.


Rhythmbox Radio Browser Plugin (Listen To Icecast and Shoutcast Radio Stations Directly In Rhythmbox)

| Date: February 13, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lucid lynx, radio, rhythmbox, ubuntu

thythmbox radio browser plugin


Radio Browser is a Rhythmbox plugin that shows the radio station lists of icecast and shoutcast directly in Rhythmbox, so you can easily search for internet radio stations in Rhythmbox and play them.

Warmth: New Beautiful Ubuntu Lucid Proposed Community Theme

| Date: February 13, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: artwork, eyecandy, gnome, linux, lucid lynx, themes, ubuntu

warmth Ubuntu theme


Warmth uses a blend of light and dark colors to draw the eye to the content of applications. The toolbars and menubars are dark, while the body of the application is light. It feels like a combination of the New Wave and Dust Sand themes and the Metacity reminds me of Homosapien.

Warmth theme supports Ubuntu Netbook Edition as well!

Quickly Package Software on Any OS With EPM

| Date: February 13, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: bruce, epm, linux, macosx, packaging, ubuntu, windows

EPM is great for creating packages for any Linux distribution, but also Mac OS X, Cygwin and Open Solaris. Basically after you compile a package, EPM takes your existing binaries scattered across your system, and archive them into a package.

REQUIRES
* Root command line on an Unix-like system, including Mac OS X and Cygwin
** Future article on Cygwin, and InnoSetup for MS Windows, as demand allows
* EPM 4.1+ http://www.epmhome.org/
* Virus-free system, built with your intended application
** You should distribute your app in /usr not the default /usr/local

iPhone USB / Bluetooth Tethering With Linux

| Date: February 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: Bluetooth, iPhone, linux, mobile, stonecut, Tethering, ubuntu, usb

In order for tethering to work, your iPhone must actually have the tethering option enabled. This depends on your network carrier and contract. For iPhone 3.0 OS you can also just install a so-called mobileconfig profile which enables tethering, but this in a gray zone legally. For later firmwares your iPhone additionally needs to be jailbroken and a system file patched which is surely not everybody's thing. Anyway, with that out of the way let's get to the actual setup.

Aviary Image Editors Are Now Completely Free

| Date: February 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: audio editor, aviary, image editor, web, web app

aviary


Aviary, an online suite of image editing tools has become completely free. Up until now, the premium service was $24.99 per year and without it you didn't have access to some of the more advanced features.

Eeebuntu 4 Beta 1 Overview And Screenshots

| Date: February 12, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: debian, eeebuntu, eeepc, linux, netbook, ubuntu

eeebuntu 4 beta 2


Eeebuntu, the Linux distribution for netbooks which won the Sourceforge Choice Awards: BEST NEW PROJECT in 2009 has released the first beta of the new version 4. For now only the i386 version is available. In case you plan on installing this beta, you should read the known issues firs:


  • On installing, when you get to the summary screen, you need to choose ADVANCED and select your HD install target. (it was thought that this was not enough to hold it back any further but will be fixed in final). - or this will cause GRUB install error.
  • Do NOT run update in live before you install, there is a python upgrade that will break the installer (again it was thought that was not enough to hold back the beta release).
  • In some cases you need root password in live to change things, you can set the root password by issuing #sudo passwd in terminal.


Like we told you some time ago, Eeebuntu switched from Ubuntu to Debian (Sid) and also it's no longer just for EeePC.



Eeebuntu 4 Beta 1 Artwork


OpenOffice 3.2.0 Officially Released

| Date: February 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, macosx, office, openoffice, windows

A couple of days ago we posted a link with some ftp link which already had the latest stable version of OpenOffice 3.2.0 but some were doubtful. Well, OpenOffice 3.2.0 has now been officially released and you can download if from it's website. For a full list of changes in OOo 3.2, see this page.

This is great news and means Ubuntu Lucid will come with the latest OpenOffice 3.2.0. Hopefully there will be an Ubuntu PPA available soon to allow Karmic users to install the latest OpenOffice.org.

A Few Ubuntu Lucid (10.04) Screenshots

| Date: February 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, lucid lynx, screenshots, ubuntu

This is the second post for which I have to thank Google Buzz (well, actually to Daniel Rodrigues): some screenshots with recent changes in Ubuntu Lucid. I was too lazy to take them myself at the time they were introduced, so with a bit of delay here they are:

RHEL: Chmod or Chown Issued By Mistake On System Folders [Fix]

| Date: February 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, red hat, rkv, server

Problem:
Permissions and Ownership on critical system files (in /etc/) directory modified. This may cause the system to not boot, lots of errors and Kernel Panic.

Cause:
Someone accidentally typed chmod -R 777 /etc.

Solution:
You may use the following solutions (if you use Chmod or Chown by mistake on System Folders and changed Permissions & Owners) to avoid the re-installation of whole RHEL O.S. This should work for any Red Hat Enterprise Linux version and what you have to do is reset the ownership and permissions of the files installed by RPM.

Homosapien Metacity Now Has A Customizer You Can Use To Easily Edit The Theme

| Date: February 11, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: artwork, homosapien, linux, lucid lynx, metacity, theme, ubuntu

homosapien metacity theme

The Homosapien Metacity theme (mock-up initially posted @ Ubuntu Lucid Artwork wiki) now has a Customizer which allows you to edit the base Homosapien theme so that it suits your taste.

Using the Customizer, you can change the colors, font size, padding, round corners, etc. The Customizer is web-based, meaning you can edit the theme right before you download it:

homosapien metacity customizer

Nautilus Elementary Gets ClutterFlow Integration And Configurable RGBA

| Date: February 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: clutter, coverflow, gloobus, linux, nautilus, nautilus elementary, RGBA, ubuntu

nautilus elementary

Update: this version of Nautilus Elementary if for Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. For Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, see: Install Nautilus Elementary 2.30 Via PPA Repository [Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Only]


This is the first post that I'm written thanks to the new Google Buzz. Well, more thanks to am monkeyd who told us about the recent changes (and also thanks to him we got everything up and running), but anyway.

Now back to the post. Nautilus Elementary got some really nice changes today. The most important one is the integration of Gloobus Flow. Other changes include RGBA enabling/disabling, icons for the zoom slider (which can also be enabled/disabled) and a new hotkey for toggling the menubar: F8.

The code hasn't been released in the PPA yet, so to install it, follow the steps below:

Add Thunderbird To Ubuntu Indicator Applet (Experimental)

| Date: February 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: appindicator, linux, mozilla, thunderbird, ubuntu

Thunderbird Indicator Applet Ubuntu

Update: there is now a PPA to easily install this. See: Integrate Thunderbird In The Ubuntu Messaging Menu [PPA]

Ruben Verweij is working on an experimental branch of the libnotify-mozilla extension for Thunderbird, which adds rudimentary support for the Indicator Applet.

Installing it is very easy. Simply paste this commands in a terminal:
bzr branch lp:~ruben-verweij/libnotify-mozilla/experimental
cd experimental/
./build.sh


How To Extract All Text From PDFs (Including Text In Images) [Ubuntu]

| Date: February 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, pdf, stonecut, ubuntu

The following tutorial will explain how to extract all text from PDFs (including text in images), by using a combination of Ghostscript and a command line OCR tool called tesseract-ocr. This is yet another guest post by StoneCut.


First we need to convert our PDF to individual image files (TIFF) so we can then OCR-scan them again. We need Ghostscript for that. It's probably already installed on your system but just to be sure you can run:

MultiCD Builds a Multi-boot CD / DVD With Many Different Linux Distributions And / Or Utilities

| Date: February 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: dvd, gparted, linux, live cd, multiboot, ubuntu

multicd.sh


multicd.sh is a shell script designed to build a multiboot CD / DVD image containing many different Linux distributions and/or utilities. You can use it for instance to burn Gparted Live, Clonezilla and Ubuntu, all on the same multiboot DVD. When booting the CD / DVD, you will be able to choose which Linux distribution you want to boot on.

Pidgin Plugin That Enables Invisible Status For GTalk (Google Talk) Users [Windows/Linux]

| Date: February 10, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: google, GTalk, im, internet, linux, pidgin, ubuntu, web, windows

pidgin gtalk invisible plugin


If you are using Pidgin and set your status to "Invisible", you aren't actually invisible in GTalk (Google Talk). But thanks to Fahhem's plugin, you can finally set your status to invisible in Gtalk. The installation is very easy and all you have to do is copy a file (.so for Linux and .dll for Windows) in the Pidgin plugins folder.

Google Announces Google Buzz - Social Media Comes To Gmail

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gmail, google, google buzz, internet, social media, web

google buzz


Google has just announce Google Buzz, "a new way to communicate within Gmail".

Key features (as presented by Google):
  • Auto-following
  • Rich, fast sharing experience
  • Public and private sharing
  • Inbox integration
  • Just the good stuff

[How-To] Recover LVM Partition On Damaged HDD

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: fix, hardware, linux, rkv, ubuntu

The following post was send by WebUpd8 reader rkv and it's a mix of story / how-to recover the LVM partition on a damaged HDD. Read on!

OpenOffice.org 3.2.0 Has Been Released

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: linux, macosx, openoffice, ubuntu, windows

OpenOffice 3.2.0 has finally been released with A LOT of improvements which you can find HERE. As an example, OpenOffice Calc and Writer start up time should be reduced by 46%.


The OpenOffice.org main website still points out to version 3.1.1, but you can download version 3.2.0 from HERE. I will be waiting for an OpenOffice 3.2 Ubuntu PPA (although if you want, you can download the deb.tar.gz which has Ubuntu .deb files).


[via caschy]

IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 Is Available For Download (Office Suite)

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: ibm, linux, lotus symphony, macosx, office, openoffice, ubuntu, windows

IBM Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2


IBM is working intensively on their free office suite called Lotus Symphony. The current stable version (which we reviewed HERE) is based on an obsolete OpenOffice.org 1 code, but the forthcoming version 3 will use the up to date code of OpenOffice.org 3. Recently, IBM has released the second beta of the new Lotus Symphony 3.

PLoP Boot Manager Lets You Boot From An USB Even If The BIOS Doesn't Support It

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: boot manager, hardware, linux, usb, windows

PLoP Boot Manager is a small program to boot different operating systems harddisk, floppy, CD/DVD or from USB. The interesting part about PLoP is that it can boot from an USB even without BIOS support so if you have an old computer with no BIOS USB boot support (and the same goes for CD/DVD) and want to install Linux (or Windows), you may want to give it a try. The boot manager itself can reside on a floppy, CD or on a network and you can install it on your harddisk. There is no extra partition required for the boot manager.

PLoP Boot Manager is not open source, but is free for personal and commercial use.


PLoP Boot Manager

Elementary Google Chrome / Chromium Theme

| Date: February 09, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: elementary, eyecandy, google chrome, linux, themes, ubuntu

This is a quick post: elgandoz told us that he created an Elementary theme for Google Chrome / Chromium. If you use the Elementary theme created by DanRabbit or the Elementary Mod we just posted, your browser will finally fit in with the rest of your desktop:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Download Elementary Chromium

Google Might Unveil Gmail's Social Features Tomorrow

| Date: February 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: gmail, internet, social media, web

The Wall Street Journal reports that a new Gmail module might be released which will integrate status updates as well as content from YouTube, Picasa and potentially other social media websites. WSJ is unclear as to when it will launch, though.

These Gmail social features might be unveiled tomorrow, as apparently there is an event where Google will let everybody know about "some innovations in two of most popular products", as TechCrunch reports.

The even will start @ 10 am and TechCrunch will do a live coverage.

Change The Default Nautilus Dropbox Status Icons With Beautiful Tango Ones

| Date: February 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: dropbox, icons, linux, nautilus, tango, ubuntu

Almost everyone uses Dropbox these days. If you care about looks, you will probably want to change the icons. Unfortunately, there is no way (that I know of) to change the notification area icon, but the default icons used in Nautilus to display the status of each file can easily be changed. Charles A. @ Dropbox forums posted some beautiful Tango icons and a script to install them:

dropbox tango icons


Lumus - Proposed Ubuntu Lucid Community Metacity Theme

| Date: February 08, 2010 | View Comments | Tags: eyecandy, linux, lucid lynx, themes, ubuntu

lumus ubuntu theme


Lumus is a simple and bright Metacity theme inspired by the Lynx. It was designed to be used with with Ubuntu's Human-clearlook theme.

What do you think of the Lumus Metacity theme?


Download it @ Ubuntu Artwork wiki | Browse the others Lucid proposed themes.
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