Linux - Page 33 of 38 - Make Tech Easier

How to Easily Encrypt/Decrypt Files In Ubuntu One

Previously, we have shown you how to encrypt your files before upload to the Dropbox server. The method described in that article is using the Encfs method, which requires you to dabble with the command line. While you can use the same method to encrypt/decrypt your Ubuntu One folder, there is a simpler way to […]

How to Use Custom Tray Icons in KDE

KDE icons are generally very easy to customize, and there is a complete graphical interface in System Settings for choosing an icon theme or installing a new one. One thing you might notice, however, is that the standard KDE tray icons are all monochrome. When you start using non-KDE apps or lesser-known KDE apps that […]

How to Create Custom Wallpaper Slideshow in Ubuntu

If you are using the Gnome desktop and have played with the wallpaper (Appearance) settings, you will discover that there is an inbuilt slideshow feature that you can use to change the wallpaper at regular interval. While this is a useful feature, it is rather limited since it can only rotate among the default wallpapers […]

How to Simulate Left Mouse Click With Keyboard Shortcut in Ubuntu [Quick Tip]

The Problem: I am a keyboard person. I love to use the keyboard to navigate through webpage and scroll up/down the content. It becomes a hassle when I have to shift my hand to the mouse every time I want to click a link or select an item. The Solution: Need to bind a keyboard […]

How to Use Linux Mint Gnome Shell Extensions (MGSE) In Ubuntu

In our review of Linux Mint 12, we were impressed with the implementation of the Mint Gnome Shell Extensions (MGSE) and how it make the user-interface easy to use again. Now, if you are using Ubuntu and you don't want to go through the hassle of installing Linux Mint from scratch, here's how you can […]

Gnome Pie Is A Slick Application Launcher For Gnome [Linux]

There are thousand and one ways to launch application in Linux. You can use the Application menu, via the dock, use a app launcher like Synapse or Gnome Do or simply press "Alt + F2" and type the name of the application. Gnome Pie is yet another application launcher that allows you to quickly launch […]

A Guide to the KDE Notification System

KDE offers one of the most comprehensive and flexible notification systems (KNotify). In addition to system notifications, nearly every program has notification settings that are integrated into the larger desktop environment. Moreover, KDE's notification system is configurable for just about any type of user, including those who need specific accessibility features. Standard Notifications By default […]

More Gnome Shell Tips And Tricks

We have covered plenty of Gnome Shell tips here in Make Tech Easier, but we also know that those are not enough to satisfy all of you. So here you are, more Gnome shell tips and tricks for you. Install Gnome Tweak Tool Before we begin, it is best that you have Gnome Tweak Tool […]

5 Alternatives to Unity in Ubuntu Oneiric

With the past few releases, Ubuntu has been focusing more and more on their homegrown desktop Unity. Some people love it, but a lot of us don't. Fortunately, as with all things Linux, there are many alternative options. For those of us who just can't find a way to unite with Unity, here are 5 […]

How to Get Great Looking Fonts in KDE

Text appearance is probably one of the most underrated features of any computing experience. It is easy to overlook fonts because words are all around us, and we expect them to be pleasing to the eyes and easy to read, but probably only notice when they are not. In reality, a font can make or […]

How to Auto-login to Gnome Shell In Ubuntu Oneiric [Quick Tips]

In Ubuntu Oneiric, the default desktop session is the Unity Desktop (or Unity 2D depend on your hardware capabilities). If you have set the computer to auto-login to your desktop whenever you boot up, it will always login to the Unity desktop, even though you have installed Gnome-shell or classic Gnome. It doesn't matter which […]

Useful Ubuntu Unity Lenses For Ubuntu Oneiric

One of the best feature of the Unity desktop in Ubuntu is the lens. Lens are the search feature in the Dash. Different lenses allow you to perform search functions, for example, the Music Lens allows you to search for music that you have recently listened to while the Applications Lens searches for all your […]

How to Reactivate ALT + F2 Shortcut in Gnome Shell in Ubuntu Oneiric [Quick Tips]

If you have used Gnome Shell in Ubuntu Oneiric, one of the things you might realize is that the "Alt + F2" shortcut keys to open the Run prompt is no longer working. In fact, the "Alt + F2" shortcut keys was disabled for unknown reason. After the "Can't disable login sound" issue, this is […]

How to Optimize KDE Desktop Effects

Since its official inclusion in KDE, the Desktop Effects component of KWin has received mixed reviews. Many of the negative reviews point to performance problems, some of which are the result of the dramatically diverse offering of Linux drivers available for graphics cards. Not all graphics cards are equal, but one would expect them to […]

Can I Install Amd64 Ubuntu On My Intel 64-bit Machine? [MTE Explains]

If you have been to the Ubuntu download page, you will notice that there is a big list of ISOs that you can download. For the desktop version, there are always two versions: amd64 and i386. Which one should you download? Can I install the amd64 version of Ubuntu on my Intel machine? Let MTE […]

How to Remove Appmenu (Global Menu) In Ubuntu Oneiric

The appmenu (also known as the global menu) in Ubuntu Oneiric can be both a useful and annoying feature. When it is in action, it reduces the screen space required to render the menu bar. If you are using a computer with small screen, this is very useful for you. On the other hand, if […]

A Simple User Guide For Ubuntu Oneiric

Ubuntu Oneiric, while added much improvements to its Unity desktop, also brought lot of changes that make it more confusing and difficult to use. Users who have come from previous version of Ubuntu will find that some of their favourite applications are missing and replaced with another application that is either more resource intensive or […]

How to Batch Convert Documents at the Command Line

There comes a time when you need to convert one or more files to another format. Say, for example, you have a bunch of .rtf files that you want to turn into OpenDocument files. Chances are you don't need to do that too often, but when the time comes, opening each file in a word […]

How to Reverse The Mouse Scrolling Direction in Ubuntu (aka Natural Scrolling)

When Apple releases Mac OSX Lion, one of the changes is the switching of the trackpad/mouse scrolling direction. Instead of scrolling the mouse wheel down to move down the page, you have to scroll up to move down. Apple imported this feature from iOS and call this feature "natural scrolling". Not everyone love this feature, […]

How to Disable Login Sound in Ubuntu Oneiric [Quick Tips]

If you are one of the early users who have already upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric, you will discover that the startup login sound is activated by default. Worst still, there is no way that you can turn it off. The reason for this is because the login sound entry (in the Startup Applications) is […]

Create and Edit Web Pages on the Linux Desktop with BlueGriffon

One of the applications that's missing from the Linux desktop is a good WYSIWYG HTML editor. There have been a few, like NVU and KompoZer, but they haven't been actively developed for a while. Enter BlueGriffon. Built on top of Gecko (the rendering engine used by Firefox), BlueGriffon enables you to create web pages using […]

How to Play MP3s From The Linux Command Line

At first, this may sound pointless. After all, aren't there dozens of perfectly good GUI music apps out there? Haven't we all found something we like, or at least don't hate? Perhaps that's true, but how much happier would you be if your music app of choice used a whole lot less resources? Or what […]

How to Install Gnome 3 In Ubuntu

Even though Gnome 3 (aka Gnome shell) is still in beta, it has sure garnered a lot of attention from both Linux enthusiasts and power users. Most of us who are not happy with Ubuntu unity tend to install Gnome 3 and see how it fares against the Unity desktop. If you are one of […]

Living with Fedora - A Debian/Ubuntu User's Take on Fedora 15

I've been a die-hard Debian fan for about 10 years. That said, most of our Linux-savvy readers are Ubuntu users, so that's been my main desktop OS for as long as I've been a MakeTechEasier writer. Ubuntu has always been fine, and generally got the job done without hassle, however this past release (11.04, Natty […]

Manage Your Finances (Simply) in Linux with wxBanker

Money. It's something that most of us don't have enough of. And what we have, we want to hold on to and keep track of. For many people, an old fashioned spreadsheet is perfect for their needs. The rest of us need a little something more. Not with the features, of say, ,KyMyMoney or GNUCash […]

Posting to Tumblr From The Linux Desktop With Grumblr

In mid-June 2011, something interesting happened. The number of blogs hosted by a scrappy upstart blogging platform called Tumblr surpassed those of the venerable (and immensely popular) WordPress.com. That was an impressive feat, considering Tumblr was launched over four years after WordPress.com. The content on Tumblr consists of tumblelogs, which are somewhere between full-blown blogs […]

Ripping DVDs in Linux with OGMRip

Do you have DVDs that you want to back up or take portable? Of course you do. Well, ripping those DVDs doesn't have to be a major chore. In fact, ripping DVDs can be quite easy. If you're a Linux user, you have a number of excellent options. And you can turn to the command […]

7 Linux Shell Tips For Increased Productivity

Love it or hate it, the command line is here to stay. Sure, there are new options emerging like TermKit but it's unlikely that the command line will ever really go away. Those who take the time to master it can run productivity circles around their peers, but with the astonishing assortment of CLI tools […]

Using JShot for All of Your Screen Capture Needs

No matter who you are - software developer, technical writer, blogger, or just someone wanting to show off their cool desktop -- you need to take the occasional screen capture. There are a large number of commercial, free, and Open Source screen capture tools out there. They range from bare bones apps to ones that […]

How to Easily Create Quicklist For Ubuntu Unity Launcher

Previously, we have shown you a list of useful quicklist that you can add to your Ubuntu launcher. While they are useful, creating them is not a one-click affair. You have to copy the .desktop file over to your Home folder, make the amendment and restart Unity. What if there is an easier way to […]

Installing Software in Ubuntu with Eve Installer

If you use Ubuntu, or one of the many Linux distributions derived from Ubuntu, you're probably familiar with at least a couple of ways to install software. You might use apt-get from the command line. Or, you might use Synaptic Package Manager. Another entry in the installer sweepstakes is Eve Installer. Unlike other installers for […]

Adjust Ubuntu Unity's Settings Easily With GUnity

If you are using Ubuntu Natty, and the Unity desktop, you will surely know that there are very little configuration options available. If you wanted to make any change, your best bet is to install the CompizConfig Setting Manager and search through the vast list for the options that you want to change. If you […]

2 Ways to Make Ubuntu Notification More User Friendly

The Ubuntu notification bubble (aka NotifyOSD) is one thing that I love and hate at the same time. I love how it is able to show notification in a nice and elegant way, yet I hate that it didn't come with any configuration options for me to customize it. There's no way I can close […]

How to Install Plasmoids In Kubuntu (KDE)

I have just started using Kubuntu a week ago. Being a new user of the KDE desktop, I admit that I am have difficulty getting used to its terms. One of the thing I am always confuse is the difference between plasmoids and widgets. The two terms are used interchangeably and it took some googling […]

Take Your To Do List to the Command Line with iKog

I like a good GUI as much as the next person, but some things beg for a little more simplicity. One of those things is a to do list. Which is why I turn to the command line and a text file for mine. Of the several command line to do applications out there in […]

Virtualbox: How to Set 32-bit Display In Ubuntu Guest [Quick Tips]

I installed Ubuntu Natty on my Virtualbox (Ubuntu guest on Ubuntu host) and the first problem that greeted me when I boot up is the 16-bit display error message: The virtual machine window is optimized to work in 32 bit color mode but the virtual display is currently set to 16 bit. Please open the […]

8 Really Useful Ubuntu Unity Quicklists

One of the useful features in Unity (Ubuntu Natty) is the adding of quicklists to the application icons in the launcher. For example, you can right click on the Google Chrome icon and access the option to open an incognito window, or right click the Gmail icon and select "Compose New Email" option. For those […]

How to Multitask at the Linux Command Line with Screen

I'll admit up front - it's embarrassingly late for me to have discovered screen. Friends and coworkers have been suggesting it to me for years, but it wasn't until recently that I had a concrete need for it. Now I wish I'd had it all along. In short, screen gives you the equivalent of the […]

How to Batch Convert and Resize Images with Converseen

Converseen is a free and open source batch image converter and resizer. With it, you can quickly and easily convert your images to and from over 100 formats. It is based on Qt4, making it cross-platform, and it uses ImageMagick to handle the heavy lifting. Supported image formats include JPEG, PNG, EXR, SVG, Postscript, TIFF, […]

WriteBoard: A Free Note-Taking Web App That Supports Collaboration and Exporting

The first step in working on a project as a group is to collect resource material. This is often done by project members collecting relevant URLs and sharing them with each other. A highly effective way to get this done is through online note-taking applications that support note-sharing and collaboration. Not only do these apps […]

Quick And Dirty Scanning On The Linux Desktop

Even though we're supposed to be in the digital age, it's amazing how much paper and printed matter we still have to deal with. Contracts, receipts, photos, forms. It's hard to count how many trees have been sacrificed to print those kinds of things. If you want to try to go paperless, one way to […]

Open Source File Syncing And Collaboration With Sparkleshare

Whenever software development or any other type of project requires collaboration, the process of exchanging files, saving them, revising, and re-uploading can be tedious. Because of this, developers have created revisioning control systems. These systems have even been used for documentation in collaborative tools like wikis. Sparkleshare is an extension of these collaboration tools that […]

DexOS - The Tiny Toy OS That Runs Like a Game Console

Most of the time at MTE, we focus on tutorials, reviews, and other practical applications of modern technology. Occasionally, however, some neat new toy pops up that we've just got to share. Such is DexOS, and if you've got an affinity for custom operating systems or new ways of computing, you might enjoy tinkering with […]

How to Easily Resize Window In Gnome [Quick Tips]

How do you usually resize a window? Move your mouse pointer to the corner of the window and click to resize it, simple, right? Well, if you are using Gnome (Linux), resizing an application window can be a hit or miss affair. In some applications (such as Nautilus), the corners width are huge and you […]

Deja Dup Makes Backup A Simple Task in Linux

There are plenty of backup options in Linux. We have covered a few here, namely, back in time and Rsync. Deja Dup Backup is yet another backup tool, except that it turns the whole complicated backup process into kid stuff. If you are using Ubuntu, you can install Deja Dup Backup via the Ubuntu Software […]

How to Install And Configure Apache In Ubuntu

If you intend to set up a web server (or streaming server) in your Ubuntu machine, apache is one important module that you must install. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install and configure apache for your Ubuntu. Note: If you just want to have a quick setup of LAMP server, follow […]

Back to Basics with KDE 4

After our review of KDE 4.6, we received a great deal of positive comments, but not all of them were sparkling assessments of KDE’s functionality. For that reason, I have decided to get back to the basics this week with a little how-to guide for KDE 3 users who may be reluctant to switch to […]

How to Install VLC-Shares In Ubuntu And Stream Videos to Android

VLC, without a doubt, is the best media player around. Not only is it able to play almost any file format, it is also able to stream audio/video from the Web and transcode on the fly. VLC-share is a web implementation of VLC streaming and transcoding that allows you to stream (and transcode) your videos […]

Googsystray: Keep Track Of Your Google Apps Activities In The System Tray

While it may not have the world's catchiest name, Googsystray is a heck of a useful app. That is, if you use a lot of Google apps like GMail, Reader, and especially Voice. It doesn't just show you unread counts like so many other utilities, Googsystray integrates tightly with the Google services to give you […]

How to Remotely Control KTorrent

KTorrent is KDE’s BitTorrent client that has a uniquely useful plugin allowing users to connect and add torrents remotely using a web browser. In a previous post, we gave you a taste of what Ktorrent can do. Today, you will learn how to start Ktorrent remotely, add torrents from URLs or file uploads, and make […]