Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

`Caffeine` App Gets Its Indicator Back With New 2.8 Release

Caffeine is a tool used to temporarily prevent the activation of the screensaver / lock screen / sleep mode when using full-screen windows. The application is useful when using video players that don't do this automatically, when listening to music while not using the computer, etc.

With the 2.7.x release, Caffeine stopped using an Ubuntu AppIndicator, a feature that many considered essential, resulting in various forks being developed. 

Caffeine indicator

Well, there's no need for that any more because the latest Caffeine 2.8, released today, brings back the Ubuntu AppIndicator, which allows to inhibit the desktop idleness manually. You can continue to use Caffeine without an indicator: simply launch "Caffeine" from the menu / Dash. If you want to use the indicator, launch "Caffeine Indicator" instead:

Screensaver / Lock Screen Inhibitor `Caffeine Plus` Brings Back The Screensaver Toggle Option

Caffeine is a tool used to temporarily prevent the activation of the screensaver / lock screen / sleep mode when using full-screen windows. The application is useful when using video players that don't do this automatically, when listening to music while not using the computer, etc.

Caffeine Plus AppIndicator

The latest Caffeine version (2.7.x), released back in May, no longer comes with an Ubuntu AppIndicator so you can't manually toggle it on/off any more, feature which was considered pretty important by many of its users. If you're one of them, you can now use Caffeine Plus, a Caffeine 2.7 fork which restores the Ubuntu AppIndicator icon, allowing you to manually toggle it on/off.

Cinnamon 1.8 Gets Its Own Control Center And Screensaver, Easier Spices Installation


Cinnamon, the desktop environment used by default in Linux Mint, has reached version 1.8, getting its own Control Center, screensaver and more.

Cinnamon is a GNOME Shell fork which tries to offer the layout and customizability of GNOME 2: by default there's a panel at the bottom (but optionally, you can also get one on top like in GNOME 2) that supports autohide, it supports applets, a classic system tray and more.

Let's take a look at what's new in the latest Cinnamon 1.8!

Work Started On Cinnamon Screensaver (Forked From GNOME Screensaver 3.4)

Like we were telling you a while back, Linux Mint 15 will get a new screensaver, among other cool new features and changes.

The work on the new Cinnamon screensaver has started and the code is available on GitHub:

Cinnamon Screensaver
Cinnamon Screensaver / lock screen (work in progress!)

2 Ways To Temporarily Disable The Screensaver While Watching Videos

The screensaver / lock screen isn't temporarily disabled when playing videos in some applications or in a web browser which can be very annoying, so here are two ways to inhibit the screensaver while watching videos.

How To Get Electric Sheep To Work With Xscreensaver

Electric Sheep is a really cool screensaver which communicates with other computers that use the screensaver to generate complex fractal animations.

By default, Electric Sheep doesn't show up in Xscreensaver preferences / screensavers list, so here's how to solve this issue.

How To Change The GNOME Screensaver Lock Screen Background

gnome screensaver lock screen background

There isn't much info about customizing the lock screen appearance for GNOME 2 so WebUpd8 reader Oleg has sent us a tip on how to change the GNOME screensaver unlock dialog background.

QMLSaver Is A Nice Clock Screensaver For Ubuntu

QMLSaver

If you had trouble installing the Noflipqlo screensaver or simply didn't want to go through so many steps to install a screensaver, you can try QMLSaver. It's not exactly the same thing, but the animation is still pretty nice as you can see in the video below: