Installing scrot

The tool that we are going to use is scrot. Scrot is a command line utility that allows you to capture screenshot from the terminal.

Scrot is in the Ubuntu repository, so you can simply install by clicking here, from Ubuntu Software Center, or in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install scrot

Capturing screenshots at regular interval

To use Scrot to capture screenshots automatically at regular interval, all you need to do is to run the following command in the terminal:

while true; do scrot -d int  'filename.jpg|png' -e 'mv $f /file/path/to/store/screenshots'; done

Here are a few parameters that you need to change:

• int – the number of seconds before each screenshot is taken
• filename – the filename of the screenshot. You can use variables like %Y, %m, %d, %H, %M, %S $w, $h to denote the year, month, day, hour, minute, seconds, width and height respectively.
• jpg|png – take the screenshot in either jpg or png format. Include only one, but not both.
• file/path/to/store/screenshots – the location where you want to move the screenshots to

For example, if you want it to take a screenshot at every 5 seconds and save it to the Pictures folder. This is the command to use:

while true; do scrot -d 5 '%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S.png' -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/'; done

Note: Press “Ctrl + z” to end the process.

Note: Depending on your monitor size and amount of resources in your computer, Scrot will take about 1 -2 second to complete each cycle. This means that when you set the interval at 5 seconds, the screenshot will only be taken at 6 -7 seconds. You might want to adjust the interval to compensate for this lag

After running it for 1 minute, this is what I found in my Pictures folder.

The above command will run the process forever until you stop it manually. If you want to get it to run for a certain count, say 100 loops, you can use the command below:

for i in {1..100}; do scrot -d 5 '%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S.png' -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/'; done

This will take 100 screenshots at an interval of 5 seconds.

Putting it in script

It is barely useful if you need to type the command everytime you want to run the process. The best way is to turn it into a script where you can run it anytime, everytime.

Open a text editor and paste the following commands:

#!/bin/bash
 
for i in {1..100}
do
   scrot -d 5 '%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S.png' -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/';
done

Save the file as auto-screenshot.sh in your Home folder. Grant it executable permission:

chmod +x ~/auto-screenshot.sh

Now you can run the process by using the command in the terminal:

./auto-screenshot.sh

Automating the screen capturing process

If you want to schedule the screen capturing process to run at a certain time everyday, the fastest way is to set a cronjob. If you prefer a more graphical approach, Gnome Schedule is one good app that you can use, provided you are using the Gnome desktop.

For further automation, you can even use CuttleFish to trigger the screen capturing process when a condition is met.

What other ways do you use to automate screen capturing at regular interval?

Image credit: Print Screen by BigStockPhoto

The post How to Automatically Take Screenshots In Ubuntu At Regular Interval appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Installing Appindicator support

Open a browser and go to the Gnome Extensions page.

Click the “Off” button to “On” to install the extension in Gnome Shell.

Once activated, you should see the appindicator icons in your system tray. (If you can’t see it, they are probably in the message tray which is hidden at the bottom).

I have tried it with several appindicators like Skype, Everpad, Psensor and Dropbox, and they all work fine.

According to the developer, the classicmenu-indicator is not working well. The reported problem was that it takes a long time to load and could cause Gnome Shell to freeze forever. Personally, it works fine for me and I have not experienced any issue (yet). However, your mileage may vary. Use it at your own risk!

Configuring the Appindicator support

If you have not installed Gnome Tweak Tool, install it with the command:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

Open up Gnome Tweak Tool and go to the “Gnome Shell Extension”. Click the Tool icon beside the extension.

In the Options section, you can configure the default position of the appindicator, whether they will appear in the top panel, message tray or hide completely. You can also change the position for individual appindicator.

Conclusion

Appindicators is one of the best feature in Unity Desktop and I am really glad that you can now use it in Gnome Shell too. Most of the appindicators should work in Gnome Shell. If you come across any appindicator that are not working, do let us know in the comments.

The post How to Enable Appindicator in Gnome Shell appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

In case you are wondering, the system language is the language that show up in the menu bar and everywhere in the system. It is, however, not the same as the input language, which is the language you use for typing. If you are passing your laptop to your Dad/Mum/Granny who are not familiar with the English language, you might want to change the system language to one they are familiar with so they can navigate around easily.

Changing the system language

In Ubuntu, open the System Settings and launch the “Language Support” option.

You will see a list of languages in the “Language for menus and windows” section. This list contains all the languages already installed in your computer. If your preferred language is in the list, you can drag it to the top of the list. This will set it as the default language for menus and windows. Click the “Apply System-wide” button.

If your preferred language is not in the list, click the “Install/Remove Language” button. This will open up a window with the full list of languages. Scroll down the list to find the language you want and put a check beside it. Click “Apply Changes”.

After the installation, you should see your preferred language in the list. Drag it to the top of the list and click “Apply System-wide”. Restart the computer and you should see the new system language in action.

More Language Option

Using the above method will only change the menu and window’s language, but it will not change the input method. For example, if you have changed to Chinese (like I do above), when you type in the keyboard, English characters will still appear instead of Chinese.

To change the input language, simply change the option for the “Keyboard Input” from “Default” to “IBus”. You should see a keyboard icon at the system tray. Click on the icon to switch the input language.

In addition, the numbers, dates and currency format will remain the same even though you have changed the system language. To change the number format to match the region you are at, go to the “Regional Formats” and select the format in the dropdown. Click “Apply System-wide” and restart the computer.

That’s it.

The post How to Change System Language in Ubuntu appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Until now, the Dash is using a lens system to manage your search. Install a lens and you can click on its icon to perform a search for a specific item. For example, installing the Google Drive lens allows you to search for files in your Google Drive account. With the Unity Smart Scopes, it will replace the lens system and allows you to search for anything, online or offline, directly in the Dash. The Unity Smart Scopes was supposed to be shipped together with Ubuntu 13.04, but because of stability issue, it was removed from Ubuntu 13.04. Instead, it will be included in Ubuntu 13.10. If you are one of those who love to try bleeding edge stuff, here is how you can install Unity Smart Scopes in Ubuntu 13.04.

Installation of Unity Smart Scopes

The installation is pretty simple. All you have to do is to add the PPA and upgrade your system. Here are the commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-unity/experimental-certified
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Note: If you run the last command “sudo apt-get dist-upgrade” and it prompts you to remove some packages, DO NOT PROCEED. It will/might break your system. It should only prompt you to install new packages and upgrade your existing packages. It shouldn’t remove anything from your system.

Usage

Once installed, it will restart the current Unity session. This might cause your system to stand still for a while (it did to mine, but your condition might vary). After that, you can press the “Super” (or the “Windows”) key to open the Dash and start typing the term that you want to search. The result should show up almost immediately as you type.

The best thing about the Smart Scope is that you can filter the results to get you want to find. When you do a search, the Smart Scope will make a guess of the things you are searching and return the results. If you are not seeing the things you want, you can click the “Filter Results” link at the top right corner of the Dash. There are two sections you can configure: Categories and Sources. Categories refer to the type of files it will return, such as Application, Music, Code, Graphics, etc. Sources refer to the source where the results are retrieved from, such as Amazon, Firefox bookmarks, Deviant Arts, etc. You can change the Categories and Sources to get it to refine its search.

You can also preview the result by right clicking it. The Preview feature is an existing feature of Dash, and it is applicable to Smart Scopes too.

Conclusion

The Unity Smart Scopes is very useful for finding stuff on your desktop and on the Web. It doesn’t support Google search though (and it will be perfect if it does). Another thing is that the Smart Scopes is only available for the Unity desktop. If you are not a Unity desktop user, you are not able to use this. The question is, will this make you want to switch to Unity desktop?

The post How to Install Unity Smart Scopes in Ubuntu 13.04 appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The tabbed inbox is not implemented by default. To activate it, you have to click the “Settings” (the wheel cog icon) and select “Configure Inbox” from the drop down.

A popup window will show up. Other than the Primary tab that is checked, you can choose to enable Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums tab. As you hover above each section, it will show a snippet of the existing emails that will in fall in the respective section. For example, when I hover my mouse over the Social section, it show up all my Twitter and Facebook notification emails.

After you have clicked “Save”. It will bring you back to the inbox. You should now see the new tabbed interface in action. If you have plenty of unread emails, you should also see the unread count dropped drastically (only the important unread email are used for the Unread count).

Configuring the tabbed inbox

To configure which emails go to which tabs, you have to go to “Settings -> Filters”. Create a new filter.

Fill in the input field that you want to filter and click “create filter with this search”.

Lastly, under the “Categorize as” section, select the tabs where the emails that match this filter will go to.

Restore to the classic interface

If you have tried the tabbed inbox interface and didn’t like it, you can get it to return to the classic interface by unchecking all the boxes.

However, if you are previously using the “Multiple Inboxes” feature to show multiple inboxes, you will find that it no longer work. To restore the multiple inboxes:

1. Go to “Settings -> Inbox”.

2. In the “Inbox Type” dropdown box, you should see the option “Default” selected by default. Click the drop down and change to “Priority Inbox”

3. Now, you can create up to 4 multiple inboxes. You can click on the Option link to configure the emails that show up in each inbox.

Conclusion

Personally, I have tried the tabbed inbox and I don’t really like it. I prefer to see all my emails in one whole list so I won’t miss out important emails. In addition, the inability to control which email go into which tab and create your own tabs make it a less useful feature than it seems. What about you? Do you love the new tabbed inbox interface in Gmail?

The post How to Configure The Tabbed Inbox In Gmail appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Setting Up

Open a terminal and install bsdutils

sudo apt-get install bsdutils

Once installed, you will be able to use two commands script and scriptreplay to record the existing session and play back the recording.

Usage

The usage is pretty simple. To start the recording, you just need to use the command:

script -t -a 2> /path-to/timing-file.txt /path-to/recording-file.txt

Remember to change the file path to a valid file location. For example, if I want to save the recording to my Home folder, this is what I type:

script -t -a 2> /home/damien/timing.txt /home/damien/recording.txt

The “-t” flag instructs the script to output the timing data while the “-a” flag instructs the script to append the output.

Once you entered the command, you should see the line “Script started...“. Everything that you enter in the Terminal (including its output) will now be recorded.

Once you are done with the recording, simply type exit to end the recording. You should see the line “Script done,...” that denotes the end of recording.

To view the recording, you can either open the saved file (recording.txt) in your text editor or use the command scriptreplay

scriptreplay ~/timing.txt ~/recording.txt

That’s it. While it is simple, it can be really useful for debugging, or even troubleshooting your friend’s computer by showing them what you have typed and the expected output they should see in the terminal.

Is this helpful to you? What other uses can you think of?

Image credit: Macro Of Digital Dictaphone by BigStockPhoto

The post How to Record Terminal Session in Ubuntu appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition launches today and it is available at $59.99. And that is if you get it elsewhere. We managed to find a deal where you can get 25% off and pay only $44.99 for the game.

Get it now!

For those who are not aware, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a beautifully designed adventure game that was released back in November 2011, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The Legendary Edition includes the original critically-acclaimed game, official add-ons – Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn – and added features like combat cameras, mounted combat, Legendary difficulty mode for hardcore players, and Legendary skills – enabling you to master every perk and level up your skills infinitely.

Other informations

• This game is only for Windows PC. Recommend OS is Win XP or 7
• You will need a Steam account to activate the game

Get it now!

The post Game Deal: 25% Discount For The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Download and Installation

You can download the ISO image from the Linux Mint site. Depending on your system architecture, you can download either the 32 or 64 bit version. The installation is pretty straightforward. Except for the graphical difference, the installation process is exactly the same as Ubuntu.

Once the installation is completed, reboot the system. The first to greet you after the bootup is the MDM login screen. The advantage of MDM over LightDM (the login manager used by Ubuntu) is that MDM is more customizable and since it is compatible with GDM themes, there are tons of beautiful themes that you can find online.

What’s new in this MDM login screen is that it comes with 3 different types of greeter. You can use the GTK greeter, or GDM greeter. There is also the HTML greeter where you can use HTML5, CSS, Javascript, WebGL to customize the layout and functionality.

The default greeter is the HTML. You can go to the “Login Screen” option in the Cinnamon Control Center to change to GTK or GDM greeter, and to apply new login theme.

If none of the themes in the list catch your attention, you can go to Gnome-look and download the theme you like.

MintSources: A better way to manage your software sources

The new Linux Mint 15 comes with a new MintSources application that replaces the “Software Sources” in Ubuntu. The MintSources adds more features to the Software Sources. You can now change the mirror of your Linux Mint (and Ubuntu base) repository, and also add new PPAs, additional repositories, authentication keys, right in the application. No longer do you need to hit the terminal just to add a new PPA and install new application. You can now do everything right from the MintSources.

The coolest thing that I like about Mint Sources is that it lets you know which mirror loads the fastest so you know which one to choose from the list.

There is also a Maintenance option where you can “Fix MergeList problems” and “Purge residual configuration”. Both options provide a one-click solution to clean up your system.

Desklets

Desklets are widgets that you can place in the desktop. There are 3 desklets installed by default (Clock, Digital Photo frame and Launcher desklets) and you can find more desklets online (as of this post, there are only 4 desklets online. Hopefully, the list will expand). I am not a fan of desktop widgets, but I guess a lot of people will love it, particular one that shows the weather condition.

Screensaver

Linux Mint now comes with its own screensaver, which is simply a clock widget floating around the screen. One feature that was added was the ability to specify your own message when the screensaver is active. A simple, yet useful feature.

Cinnamon Control Center

All the system settings are now accessible from the Cinnamon Control Center. The Gnome Control Center is no longer included. All the features mentioned above can also be accessible from the Cinnamon Control Center.

Conclusion

Functionally, Linux Mint 15 is similar to its previous version. Nothing much has changed that will affect your workflow greatly. However, it is those small details that make Linux Mint 15 shines. A lot of efforts were put in to improve the user experience and make it easier to use. I always think Linux Mint is great for Linux beginners and Linux Mint 15 further strengthens my view.

What do you think? Are you impressed by Linux Mint 15 as well?

Download Linux Mint now!

The post Linux Mint 15 Review appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The Gnome Encfs Manager is an easy to use manager that allows you to create and mount encrypted directory in Ubuntu. It makes use of the EncFS cryptography to encrypt the folder and comes with support for Gnome Keyring and appindicator. This is very useful if you are looking to encrypt your files in Dropbox.

Installation

Open a terminal and install from the following PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gencfsm
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-encfs-manager

Creating Encrypted Directory in Ubuntu

In the application, click the first icon in the menu bar. This will create a new stash.

Select the location where you want to create the encrypted directory. Note that the default is “~/Encfs/.Crypt“, but you can choose to change to another location. For this tutorial, I will be using the “~/Encrypted” folder.

Notice that the mount location is not the same as the Encrypted directory. The Mount directory is where you can access the decrypted file. It cannot be the same as the encrypted directory.

Lastly, enter the password and click “Create”.

Once the encrypted directory is created, it will show up in the application window.

Now, all you need to do is to save your files and documents into the Mount directory (in this case “~/EncFS/Encrypted”) and it will automatically encrypt the file. This is what you will see in both the encrypted folder and the mounted folder.

To unmount the Encrypted folder, just uncheck the “Mounted” box in the Gnome Encfs Manager window.

Configuring stash

When you configure the stash in gencfsm, you can get the manager to mount the stash on startup and whether to allow other users to access the stash. You can also get it to auto unmount when it is idle for a certain amount of time. The additional option include whether to save the password in keyring and to show this entry in the indicator menu.

Deleting your encrypted directory

To delete an encrypted directory in Ubuntu, you just have to select the entry in the Gnome Encfs Manager window and click the Delete icon. You will have to select if you want to only remove the entry from the manager or completely remove the encrypted folder. Note that if you select the first option, you can add it back later by following the creation method as mentioned above.

if you select the second option, you will have to check the next box “Yes, I am sure and aware that I could lose my data“. That warning alone should be sufficient to inform you the consequences of deleting the encrypted folder.

Last but not least, I would advise you to go to the Preferences section and set Gnome Encfs Manager to automatically start on login. You can also configure it to unmount all stashes on logout.

Conclusion

There are many ways to encrypt your files/folders in Ubuntu, and Gnome Encfs Manager is one of the easiest I have ever seen. There is little configuration required and it just works. If you have a need to encrypt your files, I would strongly recommend Gnome Encfs Manager. Try it out and let us know if it is useful for you.

Image credit: “confidential” Stamp On Folders by BigStockPhoto

The post How to Easily Create An Encrypted Directory in Ubuntu appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The “Sugar On a Stick” distro is based on Fedora and it is modified to run Sugar Learning Platform right from the start. Instead of the usual Linux desktop, it will boot directly into the Sugar desktop (with a BIG mouse cursor) which is full of graphical elements.

Getting started

To get started, simply download the Sugar on a Stick iso file and burn it into a USB stick. You can then stick the USB stick into your laptop and boot it up. The benefit of using a USB stick is that there is no installation required. It doesn’t affect your existing OS and you don’t have to worry about any partition issue. You just boot it up and you are set to go.

When it boots up, it will first ask for your name to login to the desktop. No password is required. Next, you can choose a color for the icon.

Once you have set it up, it will bring you to the desktop, which is mainly a circle of applications.

It’s all about the interface and the applications

As a OS for the children, I am sure it will have to function differently from the usual OS we are using. Most of the interface in Sugar is graphical, as they are easier to attract the attention of children. With close to 30 applications in the list. You can easily move the big cursor over the icon and click on it to launch the application.

There are a few applications that really catch my attention. The Speak application allows you to converse with the Speak robot. You type in your question, and the robot reply in speech. And the eyes move as you move the cursor. There is also a mode where you can hear what you type.

There is also a browser where the kids can browse the web. I am surprised that there is no parental control option or site blocking option in the browser as I am able to load whatever site I want. For a distro that is meant for children, wouldn’t it be better to have some sort of parental control option to prevent the kids from visiting undesirable website?

Other applications include:

• Dimension – A pattern game to place the cards in the correct boxes/sequence.
• Typing Turtle – A game to practice typing on the keyboard
• Abacus – yes, an abacus application, but there is no tutorial in the application to teach the user how to use an abacus. You can learn as you use, but it is not intuitive enough.
• Pippy – a programming platform that teaches the kids how to code Python.
• and many more.

Conclusion

Personally, I find the interface lacking and it could be more polished with more explanation and tutorials. However, Sugar’s Activities have already been used by nearly 3 million children in more than forty countries, so I am probably not the right person to comment whether this is a good or bad distro. Some of the applications are interactive and could engage your kids for quite a while. The good thing about Sugar on a Stick is that you don’t have meddle with your existing OS to get it running. All you have to do is to boot from the USB stick and you have full distro running in your laptop. It is best to let your kids try it out and see if they like it.

If this is not to your (or your kids) liking, you can also try out Qimo, DoudouLinux or even this software packages for kids.

SugarLabs

The post Sugar: A Linux Distro and Learning Platform For Kids appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

While there are tons of parental control software out there, the fundamental question you should ask is whether you should allow your kids to access the Internet at a young age. Some parents want their kids to start early so they can start to learn how the Web works and hopefully become another Mark Zuckerberg, while others prefer to delay the process as much as possible to prevent their kids from accessing inappropriate materials from the Web.

We know that there are areas of the Internet that can be potentially dangerous to young people, yet the aforementioned parental control software is supposed to help guard against those dangers, keeping kids way from “adult” sites. On the flip side, the Internet can also be educational. Gone are the days of hauling out the encyclopedia set or hitting the library to complete work for a school research paper.

There is definitely no right or wrong answer, and it is never an easy decision to make whether to allow your kids to access the Internet or not.

Now is your turn to tell us: at which age do you think is appropriate to expose the kids to the Internet?

Do you have an opinion? Be sure to tell us what it is in the comments! We’d also love to hear why you made the choice you did, and what makes your choice the best for your children.

Image credit: Child using a laptop computer by BigStockPhoto

The post At What Age Should Kids Be Exposed to the Internet? [Poll] appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

1. CPU-G

CPU-G looks almost exactly like CPU-Z, except that it works only in Linux. You can use it to view CPU info in Linux, as well as Motherboard, Graphic, Memory and general system information.

In Ubuntu (Quantal and below), you can add the PPA and install from its repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cpug-devs/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cpu-g

CPU-G allows you to view the information about your CPU, Motherboard, Graphic card, Memory and System. Most of the information are pretty straightforward (either you understand it or you don’t). You can view the CPU Vendor, Name, Core clock, cache amount, motherboard chipset and etc. For the Memory section, you can see the amount of free RAM that you can still use for other applications.

In the System tab, you can view information about the CPU architecture, your current operating system and kernel version.

2. I-Nex

If you find the information lacking in CPU-G, another application that you can use is I-Nex. It provides more information than CPU-G and display them in an easy-to-read manner.

To install in Ubuntu, add the PPA and install from its repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:i-nex-development-team/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install i-nex

In addition to the usual CPU information, it also displays the temperature of the current CPU. There is also an “Info” button where you can click to read about your CPU online.

In the GPU tab, other than the usual graphic card detail, you can view your current resolution and the available resolutions supported by the graphic card.

Other information that can be found in I-Nex include Sound, Drives, Web, USB Input.

I-Nex also allows you to generate a report of your current hardware configuration. Click the Printer icon at the bottom of the window and it will prompt you to select the stuff you want to include in the report.

Conclusion

To view CPU info in Linux, both CPU-G and I-Nex are capable of doing the job. However, if you prefer to have more information at your fingertips, I-Nex does a better job at showing more and relevant information in a well-organized manner.

The post Two Useful Apps to View CPU Info in Linux (CPU-Z Alternative For Linux) appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Login to your remote system, or open the terminal in your own computer.

Open the /etc/ssh/ssh_config file.

sudo nano /etc/ssh/ssh_config

and add the following line to the end of the file:

ServerAliveInterval 60

What this option does is to send a null packet to the server at every 60 seconds (of inactivity) to keep the SSH connection alive. You can experiment with the value, setting it to either higher or lower, depending on your system configuration. A value of 60 is a good starting point to start the experimentation.

Per user configuration

If you don’t have root access to the system or you just want to configure it for your personal account, you can edit the ~/.ssh/config file instead.

sudo nano ~/.ssh/config

If the file does not exist, this will create a new file.

Add the following line:

Host *
  ServerAliveInterval 60

Press “Ctrl + o” to save and “Ctrl + x” to exit.

Lastly, restart the SSH server.

sudo service ssh restart

That’s it.

The post How to Keep SSH Connections Alive In Linux appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The app linuxmessenger is a Linux clone of the Facebook Messenger for Windows. It allows you to login to your Facebook account and chat with your friends with a Facebook look-alike interface.

Installation

The installation of limuxmessenger is pretty straightforward, even though it doesn’t come with a PPA.

First download the zip file from its github page. Extract it to your Home folder. You should see a folder like “linuxmessenger-master”.

Next, open a terminal and type the following:

sudo apt-get install python-setuptools python3-setuptools python-qt4-phonon python-qt4-phonon python3-pyqt4.phonon

This will install the dependencies required by the application.

To test if the application is working, “cd” to the folder that you extracted and run the “fbmessenger” file.

cd linuxmessenger-master
./fbmessenger

If everything goes well, the main window will open and you can start to login and chat with your friends.

From here on, you can choose to run the installation and install it as a system app, or just execute the fbmessenger file everything you want to start the desktop client.

To install to the system, just run the command from the linuxmessenger folder:

sudo ./setup.py install

There is also a build file for debian and rpm based system, so you can install it on most distro.

This FBMessenger app comes with support for notifications, popup alert, friends request and chat sound and you can choose to turn them off if you want. The functionalities are pretty basic, but are good enough for a true facebook chat experience.

Personally, I am using Empathy to connect all my different accounts at a single place, but if you are mainly a Facebook messenger user, then this FBmessenger app will be a useful tool for you. The thing that it is lacking now is an app indicator or a system tray applet. With that implemented, this will be perfect.

The post Accessing Facebook Messenger From Linux Desktop appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

After the last successful Name Your Own Price For The Indie Gamer Bundle, StackSocial is coming out with another name your own price bundle, this time targeting adventure games.

The games in this bundle are:

The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic

4 Elements

Royal Envoy

The Tiny Bang Story

Storm in a Teacup

Gardenscapes

The total worth of the game bundle is $67 and now you can get it at any price you want. Here’s the deal:

1. Go to this link and check out the games.

2. Select the price you want to pay. There is the standard price of $30, or you can choose to beat the highest price or pay the average price.

3. Select the charity organization that you want to donate to.

4. Make your payment and start to enjoy your games.

That’s it. Grab your games now!

Note: All the games are DRM-free and compatible with Mac and Windows.

Name Your Own Price Adventure Gamer Bundle

Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, Make Tech Easier may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question.

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With a little improvisation and some MacGyver-style know-how, you can easily amplify your smartphone’s speakers using common items from around the house. As you can see in the infographic below, there are two methods, depending on where the speakers are located on your phone.

Smartphones with Bottom-Facing Speakers

To make a simple amplifier for a smartphone with bottom-facing speakers, you’ll need these items: tape, a Pringles container, a utility knife, a highlighter, a roll of toilet paper, a binder clip, a can of spray paint (optional), and of course, your mobile phone.

Steps 1 & 2: Begin by using the highlighter to mark an area at one end of the Pringles can – this area should be the approximate width of your phone so it will fit snugly. Then use the utility knife to make a rectangular cut according to the dimensions of your mobile device.

Step 3: Next, take the binder clip and position it near the center of the tube. Place the metallic clips onto the container so that binder’s opening area (used for binding papers) is facing away from the container. Tape the metallic clips to the tube so it stays upright when your phone is placed into it.

Step 4: Now, you can optionally spray paint the tube your color of choice. Be careful to do this in a ventilated area, and take care not to breathe any fumes. Wait for the paint to dry before moving to the next step.

Steps 5 & 6: Pull two or three 14-inch strips of tissue from your toilet paper roll. These don’t need to be precise, but you can measure them if you feel it’s necessary. Ball them up and put them into the opposite end of the tube.

Step 7: Insert your smartphone, hit play, and get ready to party.

Smartphones with a Rear-Facing Speaker

In order to construct an amplifier for phones with back-facing speakers, you’ll need to gather up some items: your phone, three bobby pins, a utility knife, and a plastic disposable SOLO cup.

Step 1 & 2: Start by bending two of the bobby pins out into a 90-degree right angle. Then bend them back in so that they will fit snugly around the bottom of your phone. Make sure one end is a little longer than the other.

Step 3: Cut a rectangle that’s roughly the dimensions of your phone’s speaker into the cup. Be sure to leave a little more room at the top according to where the speaker is positioned on your phone.

Step 4: Cut four little holes into the cup. The holes should be slightly less than the width of your phone.

Step 5: Put the two bobby pins from steps 1 & 2 into the holes according to steps A and B in the diagram below. Use the third bobby pin by running it through the top holes, bending it to securely hold the other two booby pins.

Step 6: Place your phone into the clips and hit play. Depending on the weight of your phone, you may need to weigh the cup down in order for it remain upright (Note: do not use a liquid). Once you’ve completed these steps, you’ll be all set to enjoy some great music with your friends.

DJ Miller is a graduate student out of Tampa, FL. He is an avid gadget geek with a passion for creativity and ingenuity. He first learned how to make this homemade speaker with his T-Mobile Smartphone and then realized it could work for everyone. You can follow him on twitter @MillerHeWrote.

The post How to Amplify Your Smartphone Speakers with Household Items (Infographics) appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Be it an online or a desktop app, there are plenty of office suites around that you can use as the Microsoft Office alternative. The difference between WPS Office and the rest of the office suites is the striking resemblance it has to Microsoft Office. Yes, it comes with the Ribbon UI, and even the shade and color are similar. In fact, I would call it a Microsoft Office clone rather than an alternative.

One advantages of WPS Office are that it doesn’t come with a hefty price tag (the basic version is free), and it has a Linux version. The disadvantages? It is in Chinese (but don’t worry; we have a fix for that).

If you access WPS Office’s English website, you can only download the Windows and Android versions. For the Linux version, you will have to go to its Chinese website to download the installer file. Currently it is only available in 32 bit, so make sure you have installed the 32-bit libaries (iab3-libs2) in your 64-bit machine. There is also a repackaged version for UbuntuKylin available for download. For those who don’t understand Chinese, you can go to the download page and download the package (rpm, deb or tar.gz) for your machine.

Changing the menu interface to English

After you have downloaded and installed this Microsoft Office clone, open a terminal and type:

cd /opt/kingsoft/wps-office/office6/2052
sudo rm qt.qm wps.qm wpp.qm et.qm

Now, restart WPS-Office. You will notice that all of the menu is now in English.

Features of WPS Office

Dual UI view

The default menu layout is the Ribbon UI, but if you prefer the old classic layout, you can change it with the “File -> Switch UI” button.

Built-in tabbed interface

When you open multiple documents, they are opened in a tabbed interface so that you can switch between them easily.

Is WPS Office a good replacement for Microsoft Office

WPS Office suit comes with Writer, Spreadsheet and Presentations. If you are in need of a note-taking app like OneNote or email client like Outlook, then WPS is not for you.

WPS Office allows for you to open and view the XML-based file format (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx), but it doesn’t support saving to these formats. So if you have a .docx document, you can open, view and edit in WPS Writer, but you have to save it in .doc format. In addition, WPS Office doesn’t support Open Document format (.odf, .odt). If you are fine working only with the .doc, .xls and .ppt format, then WPS will be great for you.

I have not done a deep testing to test the full functionality of WPS Office and whether is it compatible with the advanced features of Microsoft Office, but simple editing seems to be working fine, almost the same way as it was done in MS Office. According to the comparison sheet, this Microsoft Office clone does support features like Equation and Symbol, illustrations, Comment & Track Changes, Mail Merge etc.

As you can see, the usefulness of WPS Office really depends on what you need to do with your Office suite. If you can’t do without the Ribbon UI, can work with the old MS Office format and can stand a few Chinese characters in the app, then WPS office is a great option for you.

The post WPS Office: A Microsoft Office Clone For Linux appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Ubuntu Kylin is the official Chinese Ubuntu distro and it comes with features targeted at the Chinese market. China would probably be its biggest market, but any Chinese in the World will be able to use it, and love it too.

The History of Kylin

The Kylin OS was formerly developed by academics at the National University of Defense Technology in China. It was based on FreeBSD and was intended for use by the Chinese military and other government organizations. In 2013, the Chinese Government reached an agreement with Canonical for them to release a Chinese version of the popular Ubuntu distro and it will be used as a national OS.

For those who are not aware, the name “Kylin” was named after the mythical beast “Qi Lin”, a hybrid of a dragon head and tiger body which represents good omens, protection, prosperity, success, and longevity.

Testing out UbuntuKylin

UbuntuKylin is available for download at their homepage. The main differences between UbuntuKylin and the usual Ubuntu is that the default languages and user interface are in Chinese. The good thing is, if you are familiar with Ubuntu, you can get by the installatin without any issue, as all the steps are exactly the same.

Once installed, you can also switch the system language to English and use it like you normally do.

The theme used in UbuntuKylin is also different, and I think it is much more beautiful than the standard Ubuntu. (I always like Chinese distro, because they are always more beautiful and elegant. Deepin is one good example).

Here is the login screen:

The desktop:

File window:

For those who are interested in this theme, you can install the ubuntukylin-theme in Ubuntu 13.04.

sudo apt-get install ubuntukylin-theme

What’s new in UbuntuKylin

There are few things that are specially made for the Chinese market:

1. Chinese input

I have previously installed Chinese language input for Ubuntu and it is always a hit or miss. In UbuntuKylin, it is using “Fcitx” as the default Chinese input and I am glad that it worked much better than I expected. You can simply switch the the language input with “Ctrl + Space” and it includes Wubi, Wubi Pinyin, pen, Cangjie, breeze, Bingchan holographic, spelling as well as location coding table.

2. a Chinese lunar calendar

A must have for many Chinese.

3. a Chinese weather indicator

This is useful only if you are located in China as it doesn’t allow you to add location outside of China.

4. a Chinese music search scope

The good thing about this lens is that it provides a good and quick way to search for Chinese music from the Dash. The bad thing is that it doesn’t work outside of China.

Conclusion

For Chinese user, UbuntuKylin is really a useful distro with a strong and stable Ubuntu base and Chinese localization. I am always frustrated with the Chinese input in Ubuntu and the inability to search for Chinese music/video from the dash. Even the music store in Ubuntu doesn’t come with any Chinese music. With UbuntyKylin, these features are in place and they are pretty well done. Even if you are not proficient with the Chinese interface, you can change the system language to English, or whatever language you are comfortable with.

I am already planning to install this on my dad’s laptop (fyi, my dad is a 70 years old traditional Chinese man who just started learning computer recently, and he is currently using Lubuntu. No points for guessing who installed it for him).

UbuntuKylin

The post A Review of UbuntuKylin: The Official Ubuntu Distro For The Chinese appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The installation is very easy. Open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:leolik/leolik
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade

Instead of installing an additional GUI application just to customize the settings, you can open a text editor and paste the following settings. Save it as “.notify-osd” in your Home folder.

slot-allocation = dynamic
bubble-expire-timeout = 10sec
bubble-vertical-gap = 5px
bubble-horizontal-gap = 5px
bubble-corner-radius = 37,5%
bubble-icon-size = 30px
bubble-gauge-size = 6px
bubble-width = 240px
bubble-background-color = 131313
bubble-background-opacity = 90%
text-margin-size = 10px
text-title-size = 100%
text-title-weight = bold
text-title-color = ffffff
text-title-opacity = 100%
text-body-size = 90%
text-body-weight = normal
text-body-color = eaeaea
text-body-opacity = 100%
text-shadow-opacity = 100%
bubble-prevent-fade = 0
bubble-close-on-click = 1
bubble-as-desktop-bg = 0

The configuration options are self-explanatory. You can change the bubble width, gap, color and opacity and even set it to close on click.

One thing that is not covered in the settings is the position of the notification bubble. For that, you can issue the following command in the terminal:

gsettings set com.canonical.notify-osd gravity [number]

where [number] is any of the following:

1 - top-right corner
2 - middle-right
3 - bottom-right corner
4 - bottom-left corner
5 - middle-left
6 - top-left corner

Once you have done the configuration, restart the notifyosd:

pkill notify-osd

and to test it:

notify-send "custom message"

Here is a video of the customized NotifyOSD in action.

Enjoy!

The post Customize the Notification Bubble in Ubuntu 13.04 (Using Patched NotifyOSD) appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Turning off the various Window Effects in Ubuntu 13.04

Ubuntu 13.04 comes with a few Windows Effects like window maximizing when you pull it to the screen corners, window spread (to get an overview of all open windows) and HotCorners. One good way to disable them is using the Unity Tweak Tool.

1. Install Unity Tweak Tool by clicking this link, or with the command:

sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool

2. Once installed, open the Unity Tweak Tool and navigate to “Window snapping” under the Window Manager section.

3. Turn the “window snapping” option to off. This will prevent the window from maximizing when you drag it to the screen edge or corner.

Similarly, you can turn the “Window spread” and “HotCorners” options to off.

Note: While testing this out, I found that the system will become unstable occasionally when you turn off/on the effects. It is best to restart the computer after you have made changes to Unity Tweak Tool.

Turning off Window Animation in Ubuntu 13.04

If you want to disable the zoom effect when you minimize/maximize the window (and all other animations), you will have to install CompizConfig Settings Manager.

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Once installed, open CCSM and go to the “Effects -> Animations” section. Uncheck the box beside “Animations”. This will disable the zoom effect when you minimize/maximize the window.

You can also play around with CCSM to customize the window effects and animations, but be warned that a lot of the settings are interlinked together and turning an option on/off might affect other settings as well. Be very careful and play with it only if you have enough experience to deal with the after-effect.

Once again, restart your computer after you have made changes to CCSM.

Let us know if the abovementioned tricks work for you.

Image credit: Ubuntu Concrete Circle

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