Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

How To Change Notifications Position In Cinnamon

cinnamon bottom notifications

Cinnamon doesn't have an option to change the notification position on the screen yet, but you can do this by editing the theme CSS code (cinnamon.css theme file).

Fix MP4 Playback In Ubuntu 12.04 or 12.10 [Gstreamer Bug Affecting Totem, Minitube, Etc.]

mp4 playback gstreamer

There's a GStreamer bug (in the gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad package) in the latest Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin and other possibly distros that breaks MPEG4 (.mp4) playback for applications such as Totem, Minitube and others.

Luckily, there's a work-around for getting MP4 playback working (tested under Ubuntu 12.04) - renaming the "libgstvideoparsersbad.so" file:

Stop IM Spam Bots In Pidgin With These Two Plugins

If you're constantly getting automated instant messages from spam bots in Pidgin, there are two Pidgin plugins that you can use to block these spam messages or suppress repeated authorization requests which are usually sent from spammers.

pidgin spam bot

Calise Sets The Screen Backlight Based On Ambient Brightness


Calise (Camera Light Sensor) is an application that uses your computer's camera as a light sensor for obtaining the ambient brightness and then calculates and sets the correct backlight according to an user defined scale.

Calise features:
  • command line, GUI (with tray icon) interfaces and daemon mode
  • profiles support
  • DBus service optimized with automatic dawn/sunset recognition and weather information by using latitude and longitude.

Sublime Text 2.0 Stable Released - PPA Update

sublime text 2

Sublime Text 2 is a cool, TextMate-like text editor that runs on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX. After being in alpha / beta testing for more than a year, the first stable version has finally been released today.

Bridge: New Zeitgeist-Powered Related Activities Indicator

bridge indicator

Bridge is a cool new indicator developed by David Callé (who's also behind some great Unity lenses and scopes), that uses Zeitgeist to provide quick access to documents, files and websites related to your current activity.

Pinguy OS 12.04 LTS Has Been Released

pinguy OS 12.04 screenshot

Pinguy OS 12.04 LTS (based on Ubuntu 12.04) has been released today and it uses GNOME Shell by default, customized with quite a few extensions that give the latest Pinguy OS the same feel as the previous releases.

For the 11.10 release, Pinguy OS was labelled "beta" because its developer didn't consider it was mature enough. With the new 12.04 release, there's no more beta label and indeed, Pinguy 12.04 feels mature and stable, bringing you a huge list of customizations both for the user interface as well as under the hood (like zRam for instance).

Audacious 3.3 Alpha 1 Released With Improved UI, More [PPA]

Audacious is a lightweight music player that comes with a clean GTK interface as well as a Winamp-like interface which supports Winamp 2.x skins.

Audacious 3.3 alpha 1 has been released recently with user interface improvements, a more intelligent search tool, improved MPRIS2 plugin and other important changes.

New GIMP Plugin Registry Version Brings 8 Updated Plugins [PPA]

gimp plugin registry

GIMP Plugin Registry is a collection of GIMP plugins which includes GIMP FX Foundry and many other useful plugins.

Download The Official elementary OS Luna Wallpapers

elementary OS Luna wallpapers

The official elementary OS Luna wallpapers have been revealed today and you can download them right now. The pack comes with 22 gorgeous hi-resolution wallpapers which you can use to give a fresh look to your computer's desktop.

Lens Toggle: Quickly Enable / Disable Unity Lenses Without Removing Them

lens toggle

Ubuntu doesn't have a built-in settings GUI to disable Unity lenses and the only way to remove a lens from Dash is to uninstall it. If you only want to temporarily disable some Unity lenses, you can use an application called Lens Toggle.

PDF Data Extraction In Linux

pdf

This is a tip sent by WebUpd8 reader Stone Cut, on extracting images and text from PDF files. It's different from his previous tip and useful for other cases.

How To Get Rid Of Internal System Error Apport Popups In Ubuntu

Sorry, Ubuntu 12.04 has experienced an internal error

Apport is a debugging tool that automatically generates crash reports. In the final Ubuntu 12.04 release, Apport seems to be enabled by default (unlike in the previous Ubuntu versions) and at least on my system, I keep getting "Sorry, Ubuntu 12.04 has experienced an internal error" popups, which can't be reported, a few times a day (Apport bug already reported).

How To Install Oracle Java 7 In Debian Via Repository

Update: Java 7 is no longer supported by Oracle. The binaries are no longer available for download, but if you have an Oracle account, you can still download it after logging in. 

The Oracle Java 7 installer in this article will continue to work only if you manually download Oracle JDK 7 (version 7u80 for 32bit and 64bit or 7u60 for arm), place it in the /var/cache/oracle-jdk7-installer/ folder on your computer, then install "oracle-java7-installer" as explained below in this article.

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A quick tip for Debian users who want to install and stay up to date with the latest Oracle Java 7 (JDK7): the WebUpd8 Java 7 PPA works on Debian too since the package is just an installer and all you have to do is manually add the PPA repository to the Software Sources.

Fix GNOME Panels On Top Of Fullscreen Flashplayer Bug In Ubuntu 12.04 Classic GNOME Session

compiz classic gnome session bug

Currently, there are a couple of annoying bugs in the Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin Classic GNOME session when using Compiz:
  • For some fullscreen windows such as Flashplayer (this doesn't happen for HTML5), the GNOME panels are displayed over the fullscreen window, like in the screenshot above;
  • When a window is displayed on two virtual desktops, if the window loses focus, its position is randomly changed to somewhere on the first virtual desktop.

Unity Window Quicklists: Switch Between Open Windows Via Quicklists

Unity Window Quicklists is a python script that adds a feature to Unity which many Ubuntu users have requested: quicklists that let you switch between open windows of the same application.

unity window quicklists

Skype 4.0 For Linux Available For Download

skype 4.0 linux

Skype 4.0 for Linux, codenamed "Four Rooms for Improvement" has been released today, bringing some features missing from the Linux client as well as some other improvements.

Cinnamon To Get A 2D Session, Other New Features

The first Cinnamon version was released back in December and until March, the GNOME Shell fork used by default in Linux Mint 13 (Cinnamon edition) has seen many new versions, but there have not been any new releases since then. In case you were wondering, the development continues and the next Cinnamon version should come with some very cool improvements.

LibreOffice 3.6.0 Beta 1 Released [Ubuntu 12.04 PPA]

libreoffice 3.6.0

LibreOffice 3.6.0 beta 1 has been released with many new features and improvements, including contextual spacing for Writer, DOCX import improvements, support for importing Smart Art, label / business card wizard improvements, widescreen format for Impress slides and more.

How To Watch UEFA Euro 2012 Live (Online) Under Linux

uefa euro 2012 logo

UEFA Euro 2012, which takes places in Poland and Ukraine, has started for a few days and if for whatever reason you can't watch it on TV, here are a couple of ways to watch Euro 2012 online, under Linux.

Heimdall: Odin Alternative That Runs On Linux (Tool To Flash ROMs On Samsung Galaxy S Devices)

heimdall linux

Heimdall is a cross-platform (runs on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX), open source Odin alternative which uses the same protocol as Odin to interact with a device in download mode, that can be used to flash Android ROMs or Kernels onto Samsung Galaxy S phones.

Emesene 2.12.5 Released With Single-Window Mode

emesene

Emesene, a chat application that supports MSN, Gtalk, Facebook chat and Jabber has reached version 2.12.5, getting a tabbed, single-window UI, direct-connect for file transfers and more.

Alternative GNOME Shell Weather Extension

gnome shell weather extension

GNOME Shell Weather Extension by Neroth is a fork of the original GNOME Shell Weather Extension, which compared to the original, comes with multiple locations support, you don't have to manually enter a WOEID and bug fixes (the weather information seems to load a lot faster with this extension). It displays the current weather conditions along with a forecast for today and tomorrow on the top GNOME Shell panel.

How To Install VMware Player In Ubuntu 12.04


The latest VMware Player 4.0.3 fails to install in Ubuntu 12.04 (with Linux Kernel 3.2.x) due to a Virtual Network Device error, but you can get it to work using a patch. Here's how to do it.

Flowblade: A Cool, Non-Linear Video Editor For Linux

flowblade video editor

Flowblade is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux designed to "provide a fast, precise and as-simple-as-possible editing experience". The application can be used to join or cut videos, create movies from video clips, audio clips and images, add filters and more.

Because Flowblade uses a "film style" editing paradigm (clips are placed tightly after the previous clip automatically, or between two existing clips) like Avid Media Composer or Final Cut X, it will feel very different for those who have previously used other video editing applications such as OpenShot or Kdenlive for instance.

How To Install LightDM In Linux Mint (And Replace MDM)

linux mint 13 lightdm login screen

A few days ago, we've posted an article on how to install MDM (Mint Display Manager) in Ubuntu, and according to the comments, some Linux Mint users don't like MDM and further more, there's a bug and MDM crashes for some users, so here's the reverse too: how to use LightDM instead of MDM in Linux Mint.

Closable / Movable NotifyOSD Notifications Available For Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

patched notifyosd ubuntu

The patched NotifyOSD, which adds support for changing the notification bubble position on the screen, change font size, colour and many other settings, has been updated for Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin.

How To Get A List Of Open Windows On The Unity Panel

window list indicator

Window List is a small application indicator which displays a list of open windows on the top Unity panel. The windows can be activated by selecting them from the indicator drop-down list.

Airtime 2.1 Brings Real-Time Show Editing, More [Radio Software]

airtime 2.1 screenshot

Airtime, an award-winning, open source radio management software, has reached version 2.1, getting real-time show editing and live stream rebroadcasting.

Rhythmbox 2.97 Released With Improved Interface [Ubuntu 12.04 PPA Available]

rhythmbox 2.97

Rhythmbox 2.97 has been released a couple of days ago, bringing a new, more compact header layout which includes album art by default, along with a new podcast subscription interface and other minor new features and bug fixes.

Grive Update Brings Full Google Drive Sync Support


Grive, an open source command-line Google Drive Linux client is quickly evolving, and the latest version from GIT has solved the issues in the previous release available in our PPA: when a file is deleted locally, it's no longer ignored and it's deleted remotely too; also, the multiple file upload bug has been fixed.

Elegance Colors: A Cool, Chameleonic GNOME Shell Theme


Elegance Colors is a new, chameleonic, GNOME Shell (3.4) theme that can change colors according to the current GTK theme, wallpaper or an user-defined color, using a script that runs each time you login. The colors change immediately after changing the wallpaper or GTK theme (it may have a few seconds delay though).

5 Nice GNOME 3.4 Themes [Ubuntu PPA Available]

To install the GTK3.4 themes below in Ubuntu 12.04 (besides the last one), firstly add the WebUpd8 Themes PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
sudo apt-get update
Then use the command below each theme to install it.


Adwaita-X dark/light is a theme pack based on Adwaita, that includes GTK2, GTK3, Mutter/Metacity and Xfwm4 themes, in 2 variants: with dark and light window theme:

Adwaita X dark

Adwaita X light