December 25th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you use the Abiword word processor, you know it’s a lightweight option (especially compared to OpenOffice or LibreOffice, both in terms of hard drive space, RAM and – yes – features), but for most people, in most circumstances, it should do a good job at letters, term papers, and whatnot. And if you’re concerned [...]
December 19th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you’re a Linux user who has chosen Google Chrome (or Chromium), as your web browser, one of the more annoying bugs is the Spacebar issue when using a Flash application or game. Many Flash apps/games use the Spacebar as a trigger. For instance, in Wide Out, a Flash game found in the ESPN Arcade, [...]
December 16th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
When sharing a number of documents, it’s nice to be able to combine those documents into a single file. Using ‘zip’ is one way to do this. For Linux users, the ‘tar’ command has long been the go-to archive utility. With the advent of more inclusive GUI archive managers such as File Roller, it’s incredibly [...]
December 15th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
In Xfce, a desktop environment for Linux, the clock applet allows for a great deal of customization. As opposed to some utilities, which only offer the ability to determine how your clock displays the date and time by choosing from a group of presets, the Xfce applet allows for full customization. How does this work? [...]
December 14th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
While many computers are used by a single person, still others are used by multiple people. In some instances (such as family computers), it’s likely that everyone simply uses the same account. If that’s the case, often the computer simply needs to be turned on and it automatically loads the desktop; no one needs to [...]
November 21st, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
One of the nice things about having a computer connected to the Internet 24/7 is that you can get almost instant updates whenever someone wants to get in touch with you. This is doubly true with Ubuntu, which has a built-in Messaging Menu that keeps you up-to-date with your new emails, chat requests and updates [...]
November 15th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you’re a Linux user who’s ever needed to get info on a particular music file (MP3, AAC, etc.), then the standard Properties window has an Audio tab that gives you quite a bit of information. Simply right-click the audio file in question, choose the Properties option at the bottom of the contextual menu, then [...]
November 2nd, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
There have been many changes made to the last couple of Ubuntu releases. Among them is that LightDM is now the new login manager. While the login screen is pretty nice, many users might want a way to customize it with their own wallpaper. Thanks to Claudio Novais, a new utility, called Simple LightDM Manager, [...]
October 29th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
When Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) was released at the end of October, it meant the end of the traditional GNOME desktop environment, at least by default. In its place is Unity, which includes a desktop environment, launchers, indicators and more. One of the nice additions Unity offers is a global menu, which means that instead [...]
October 28th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you keep your computer on all the time, and are looking for a nice way to wake up in the morning, it’s simple. All you need is your regular music player and the ‘sleep’ command. The ‘sleep’ command is a built-in tool (at least in Ubuntu), that allows you to set a timer for [...]