It’s got a weird name, but I’ve found I really like it a lot. It looks really sharp, runs fast, and uses the desktop notification system as well. All around, really solid program. Add their PPA and you should be good to go. Here’s how to do it via the command line:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hotot-team
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install hotot
After that, just open ‘er up and check ‘er out!
Found out about this program here.
Well, tomorrow Ubuntu 10.10 comes out. In preparation, I always like to post up a list of all the programs I am presently using regularly. It’s actually a pretty small list this time:
That’s all the main ones! I’m planning on posting up a quick installation guide which will include installing these apps, so keep an eye out for that!
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).
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
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’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!
I’ve been ripping CDs onto my computer for the last six years. That said, when I started coverart was unheard of (at least for me…) – I was just amazed that it could figure out the CD and track names after I first put the CD in. Well, years later and multiple backups and installs after the fact, I finally have gotten sick of not always having coverart for my music. I read about a Windows program which could embed the artwork right into the mp3 file, and I knew that there had to be a Linux version.
Yep, there is. Actually there are several, but this is the most powerful – albeit with a few limitations.It’s in the repos, so just open up a a terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install easytag
yep, there ya go. Fire her up and find your music on your hard-drive. The only irritation is that you have the download the coverart for yourself and store it on your hard-drive and then retrieve it in the program. I heard of a program called albumart-qt (or something like that) which supposedly could download and embed the coverart all at once, but it apparently doesn’t always work consistently and the install seemed a little involved. That said, I like the ability to really dig into the tags assigned to my mp3s and decide specifically what coverart to embed in each file.
The only real irritation is that you can’t embed an image on multiple files at once – you have to select each mp3 individually and tell it to use a specific image. Irritating, but it does the job in the end – just don’t forget to tell it to save your changes!
What is Prism? Well, it’s created by Mozilla, the guys that make Firefox. Basically it is a dedicated window for a site. What is neat is that it runs off your desktop just like a program. So if you use Gmail for your email, then you could create a gmail prism thingy (not sure if I should call it a “program” or “shortcut”, because it is both and neither…I think), and when you launch it Gmail is opened up, in it’s own window. Now, if you combine that with gmail’s offline mode, you pretty much have the official gmail on your computer (not controlled by another program like Thunderbird or Evolution).
There is a Firefox Prism add-on which enables you to make any website you desire into an “application”. I’m nto too sure how effective this is. But, never fear, in Ubuntu there are several repo packages already created for specific prism setups. Just open up a terminal window and start with the classic install line:
sudo apt-get install
then follow it with whichever of the packages you want:
I installed both the gmail and chat ones, and they work great, and I think I’ll probably be adding calendar and docs (at least) as well. If you want to install it all, just string ‘em all together after the install command like this:
sudo apt-get install prism-facebook prism-google-analytics prism-google-calendar prism-google-docs prism-google-groups prism-google-mail prism-google-reader prism-google-talk prism-twitter
Enjoy!
Okay, I just stumbled across this. I haven’t had a chance to really try it out yet, but it looks pretty solid. Mozilla has been cooking up a calendar program. It’s cross-platform, and I think it interfaces with Google Calendar. Anyways, lots of of potential there. Definitely worth checking out, I say. I think it’s in the regular repos (I didn’t have to add any to install it…), but make sure you’ve got your multiverse repos activated, just in case. Then it’s a simple terminal command:
sudo apt-get install sunbird
That’s it! Enjoy. If I actually start using it more, I may post some more info on it…lemme know if you have any suggestions or comments about it as well!
I think I ran across this on some linux blog I read, but I’m not sure. Anyways, Tilda is just a little more customized ‘terminal’ session. The default hotkey is ‘F1′. So after you install it thusly:
sudo apt-get install tilda
you hit Alt+F2 and enter ’tilda’ in the dialogue that pops up (that’ll start the program running. The first time you fire it up, it’ll open up a preferences window. What I suggest doing is accepting the default settings, close the preferences window, and then hit ‘F1′. Now a terminal session opened up (probably) in a triangular area on the left of your screen. Right click in the black and choose “Preferences”. Now all the position and transparency changes you make can be seen immediately.
The transparency works especially nice with CompizFusion running, and it’s also got an option for “animated pulldown” in the Extras section of the ‘Appearance’ tab – you can set this so that the terminal session slides in and out, up and down, when you hit the hot key (a little more pleasing to the eyes that it just popping into existence…).
Anyways, if you use the terminal rather frequently, this is a nice ‘lil option to have at your fingertips…
Was trying to find a PDF editor and basically found these two: PDFedit and pdftk. There were recommended in this thread, as well as this one, on Ubuntu Forums. I installed PDFedit using this command:
sudo apt-get install pdfedit
And this should install pdftk:
sudo apt-get install pdftk
Just note that pdftk has no gui, but I think you can download one here. not sure how well it’ll work, but as far as I can tell, that’s about the only gui for it…
