If you use Chrome or Chromium (and I highly suggest you try them out if you don’t!) here are a couple extensions for Gmail that I discovered that I actually use a lot. Not ground-breaking or breathtaking, but very useful:

Gmail checker – shows if you have any new emails and how many, and also serves as a shortcut to Gmail (opens it in a new tab)

Send from Gmail – does exactly what it says, it just copies the address bar of whatever page you are on and opens up a small gmail window to compose mail with that address in the email. It’s great for tossing pages at friends!

Okay, I’ve been hearing bunches about Lubuntu from various sources and wanted to try it out…without having to download an install disc and deal with all that. They finally released what was supposedly an RC (Release Candidate), so I thought I’d check and see what was in the repos. Yep! Definitely there!

you can install it alongside Ubuntu just like Kubuntu and Xubuntu (as I had hoped you would be able to):

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

That’s all ya gotta do to install it! I tried it out and it ran freaky fast. Not much on the eye candy – but holy crap, FAST! My system load wasn’t as light as I was hoping it would be, but I still had a bunch of programs open when I checked.

The only thing about installing it is you get this thing called OpenBox with it, some sort of window manager which can replace Metacity, so you could feasibly use it within Gnome, so on your login screen (where you choose your session type) you will now have choises for a “Gnome/OpenBox” as well as an “OpenBox” session. Haven’t tried those yet, though I will eventually, never fear…

I’ve been keeping my eyes on Lubuntu, the newest version of Ubuntu built ground up to run on older, less able machines (supposedly has a much, much smaller RAM footprint than Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or even Xubuntu). OMG Ubuntu noted that they decided to change to a new music player for their 10.10 release in the fall. They chose DeaDBeeF.

Weird name if you ask me.

If you want to check it out, use these commands to add the repo and then install (for 9.10 and 10.04):

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:alexy-smirnov/deadbeef

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install deadbeef

yep, check it out and lemme know what you think! I think I’ll stick with Guayadeque as my player of choice, but this isn’t too shabby…

Ubuntu Geek pointed this program out to me. I haven’t tried it with my iPod, but if I like the way it works with that, I may have found myself a new media player. The player itself is pretty slick, I enjoyed the layout, though I think some people might find it too busy or overwhelming. It runs off Java, so it is actually compatible with any system that can run Java (if I understand it correctly)

You can download an installation file here. If you want to install it in Ubuntu, grab the ‘Deb Package’. As a warning, my installation failed because I hadn’t installed Java in my system, so I would suggest using Synaptic or the Ubuntu Software Center to install Java first and then try to install the Deb Package.

The only drawback I can find in the player is that, (I believe) since it runs in Java, it really doesn’t interact with the OS, so any widgets which might allow you to view/control any media you might be playing won’t detect it. Overall, though, very nice player.

Okay, I’m just slightly addicted to music. I started collecting CDs as a young teenager (while I am not old – and am not telling my age here…I’ve spent more of my life collecting music than I have not….), and my present collection weighs in at just over 22 Gb. To make that amount of music a little more understandable: I could listen to my library for a little over two weeks and two days without repeating a single song. While Banshee and Rhythmbox and Exaile and Amarok are great music players, they all get a little slow working with all that music. And slow gets me a little frustrated.

But then I discovered Guayadeque. Wacky name but awesome, awesome little player. It is really light on the resources. And when I’m doing a search for an artist or an album it is freaky, freaky fast. I do highly suggest this player. Unfortunately it doesn’t have iPod support at this time, which means I’m stuck using Banshee for the time being – which isn’t bad, because Banshee is a pretty solid player. But I just love how Guayadeque works. It’s just stinking awesome.

It does do Last.fm scrobbling, which I like to use. And it’s lyric search function is pretty solid, though I’ve been unsuccessful writing those lyrics to the files of the mp3s, for the present time at least.

Anyways, to install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:anonbeat/guayadeque

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install guayadeque

And that’s it! Enjoy – and let me know what you think!

(originally discovered here)

Google tasks is a simple but powerful little task manager. I’ve started using it more and wanted to create a separate application to run it from so I don’t always have to fire up a browser to access it. Here’s what you need to know to do the same thing (and there are a couple of ways to do it!).

The first thing you need to know is the actual web address for the Google tasks:

https://mail.google.com/tasks/ig

Firefox and Chrome can both create standalone applications from websites (basically where a stripped down version of the browser opens the website in a window without all navigation stuff at the top – it looks like a program running from your computer).

Firefox

Navigate to the address above in Firefox and under the “tools” menu choose “Convert Website to Application”. Bam! There ya go. If you don’t want to bother firing up a browser you can open up Prism (if you’ve installed it) and use the address above. You’ll have to sign into Google the first time it opens, but from then on you’ll be good to go!

Oh, to install Prism use this command:

sudo apt-get install prism

Chrome

Navigate to the Google Tasks address above in your Chrome browser and then click on the “Control” button to the left of the browser address bar (directly left of the “tool” button) – the top option is the one you want: “Create Application Shortcuts…” This is really nice because it gives you the option of chosing to create it on your desktop or in the menu (or both).

In the end, I think Prism is a little bit of a lighter load on the system than the Chrome application, but it’s your call. There are various other ways to access Google Tasks, some of which can be found here.

I think this has been available for some time in a testing repository somewhere, but now it’s official. Download yer official copy of Google Chrome for Ubuntu here. I installed it and it even supports Xmarks (bookmark synchronization) – install that here.

Just installed it myself – loving it!!!! There is a way to install it through a repository, but I can’t, for the life of me, get that to work here on my wife’s laptop. Once I figure it out I’ll definitely post that….sometime….

Anyways, you can now enjoy aanother very secure and fast browser!

I’m a little irritated. When I read the stuff on Ubuntu One, I gathered that it would automatically sync up my Tomboy Notes between computers – without me doing anything. After making random notes on stuff on different computers and irritatedly realizing that the notes were not appearing on my laptop or my wife’s laptop, I figured I should try and see what needed to be done to make it happen.

Basically, it turns out that the synchronization works without any integration in Ubuntu One – at all. At least that I can tell. According to this post (which is, of course, almost six months old, but all that I could find on the web…) you just open up the Preferences in Tomboy Notes, click on the  “Synchronization” tab, make sure it’s set to “Local Folder” and then create a “Tomboy Notes” folder in your Ubuntu One folder. Then click “Save” and it saves the notes on the Ubuntu One server. (note edit below!)

and now I just want to gripe for a minute:

This, of course, doesn’t make the notes show up in the “Notes” section of the Ubuntu One website where you can view your files. I am exceedingly irritated by Ubuntu One – though I am grateful for another 2 GB of online storage/synchronization I can use. My Ubuntu One will NEVER connect automatically. AND there seems to be no documentation of any sort on the Ubuntu One website (that is obviously available) – I couldn’t find it anywhere.

okay, you can tune back in…here’s more relevant material to syncing across multiple machines:

This “workaround” approach to getting Tomboy Notes would work the same if you wanted to use Dropbox to sync them across computers. I use Basket Notes for all my class assignments and stuff (things organize more easily and cohesively in that program for me…) and I use Dropbox to sync it across computers – the main reason I don’t use Ubuntu One is that if I forget to start it up, then I could be using an un-updated note. Dropbox, on the other hand, is freakishly fast at updating and synchronizing stuff. Personally, I recommend Dropbox to everyone – even if you’re happy, you can’t argue with another 2GB of free online storage! (and yes, I’ll get a little extra storage if you use my link to sign up – so please do!!!!).

Edit: as per comments below, someone pointed me to some more official documentation on Ubuntu One here. Thanks! That’s what I was trying to find on the web…and in following the instructions in it, my notes actually did show up in my Ubuntu One account online. I’ll try these same instructions on another computer later and see if they sync up the two machines…it looks hopeful, though it seems as if I’ll have to tell it to synchronize the notes…which might get irritating…but hey, at least it’s working like it should right now!

Minitube is pretty cool, the idea to provide a more tv-like interaction with YouTube.

To get it first you’ve gotta add the repo, so in Karmic all you have to do is type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neversfelde/ppa

then reload your repos:

sudo apt-get update

And finally install:

sudo apt-get install minitube

Enjoy!

My laptop is pretty crappy as far as specs go, so finding a lightweight music player is essential if I want to enjoy some tunes while I do…anything…on it. Muine is about as simple as you can get. I think it scanned my entire 15GB collection in mere minutes. Then all I did was point it to an album and tell it to start playing. Nothing fancy, but it works!

to install:

sudo apt-get install muine

yep, that’s it! enjoy!