If you've been looking for an application like Powertoys for Windows to tweak your Ubuntu. Search no more, meet Ubuntu Tweak. Essentially it's an application to reach once hidden settings to make Ubuntu more to your liking.
There are 5 main categories :

• Applications : here you can Add/Remove apps, manage your sources list and packages, nothing new as you can manage that from synaptic. The interesting part is you can install many applications not included in Ubuntu from 3rd party repositories like : Chromium Browser, Opera Browser, latest Firefox,  PlayOnLinux, Gnome Do, Google Repository, MPlayer among other things.
• Startup : manage your startup applications,
• Desktop : manage appearance,
• Personal : manage your personal preferences including templates, nautilus script, keyboard shortcuts
  
• System : manage default file opener, configure nautilus, power management, and security settings.
  

This post is meant to be an introduction to Ubuntu Tweak, not a thorough review. Download and play and see it for yourself.
You can download Ubuntu Tweak here. Pick the one that suitable for your Ubuntu version.


keyword : ubuntu tweak, powertoys-like

Now that the Koala is just hours from being released, here are point by point 10 things I love about Karmic Koala (while still in RC). Many points mentioned here is a comparison to previous Ubuntu. So embrace yourself, here we go...

10 things I love about Karmic Koala :

1. the code name itself : there's something cool and cute about it, karmic koala, compared to the not so catchy jaunty jackalope,
2. fast start up and shutdown,
   
3. easier to customize touchpad, e.g. : enable horizontal scrolling, disable while typing,
   
4. Intel graphic works without tweak, you know what I mean if you've tried Google Earth in 9.04.
   
5. new new-user friendlier software management, Ubuntu Software Center,
6. darker theme, personally I don't have problem with previous theme, even if I had it can be changed easily with few mouse clicks. But this new default theme makes Ubuntu looks mature.
   
7. although I had problems with network manager in 9.10 beta, things are looking up after the RC. There's an option to disconnect from wireless connection.
8. USB 3.0 support, thanks to the latest kernel. I don't have USB 3.0 devices yet but it's great to  have an OS that supports them. Did you know that Linux is the first to support USB 3.0 ? Cmiiw, even Windows 7 RTM doesn't support USB 3.0.
   
9. easier to enable ctrl-alt-backspace, not everybody needs it but for me it's a must have.
   
10. longer battery life, at least compared to jaunty.

Notice I didn't mention Ubuntu One and cloud computing, for someone like me who have limited  speed and bandwidth that cloud thing no matter how interesting it sounds, is almost useless. I do signed up an account for free 2GB though, just in case I find myself around fast hotspots.
Next time around, maybe I'll write 10 things I hate about Koala, just to make a balanced review, that is if I could find them :)
One more thing, please download Karmic via torrent to reduce main servers traffic and don't forget to seed. Enjoy Ubuntu!

Screen shots :

touchpad setting


Ubuntu Software Center

desktop wallpaper Dragon Crash by Hamsterfly.

keyword : ubuntu, karmic koala, review

Karmic Koala makes it very easy to customize touchpad and therefore makes it more useful. Now you can disable touchpad while typing to avoid your cursor jumping all over the place and/or enable horizontal scrolling with just few clicks. Believe me I've tried to disable my touchpad while typing in Jaunty and it involves editing files that's hard to pronounce. So lucky for all of us, it's far easier now, no editing (and magic spell) required.

• go to System -> Preferences -> Mouse
• then go to touchpad tab,
• here you can find option to enable horizontal scroll, disable touchpad among other options.
  

That's it. It's more and more human in every release :)


keyword : disable touchpad, horizontal scroll, ubuntu, karmic koala

There are at least two flight simulator applications that run under Linux i.e : X Plane and FlightGear which is a free and open source software.
FlightGear is available at Ubuntu repository and there's not installation method easier than this. Just fire up your Synaptic Package Manager and search for flightgear and there it is:

And 212 MB later, here it is :

oooops

It's quite big, about a third of Ubuntu live CD size, so prepare some snacks, in my case I let it ran overnight.


keyword : ubuntu, flight simulator

Laptops and desktops that come preloaded with Windows have badges that say what Windows version they have inside. If you already remove the preloaded and use Ubuntu instead, you need a replacement badge. Or if your PC came clean, like mine, and use Ubuntu you'll need a Ubuntu badge too.
What's the better timing than now? New Ubuntu Karmic Koala and a new badge like a match made in heaven :)
Here comes Ubuntu badge! From Zareason, a PC seller with Ubuntu preloaded.

Be proud and show it to the world
(click the pic for detail)

This shiny badge will only cost you $0.58 and what's more there's no shipping and handling cost, Zareason pay them as a service to the Open Source community. Sweet. I want one but unfortunately I don't have credit card.... oh well.
If you're planning to buy new PC (laptop, desktop, server) and not sure that Ubuntu would run perfectly on it , get one from them. Let them do the hard work of choosing the right hardware, like their tagline says : Building Linux hardware so you don't have to. The badge comes pre-installed.


keyword : ubuntu badge, case logo, powered by ubuntu

Note : I am not in any way affiliated with Zareason. And why am I writing this? Ubuntu.

In Ubuntu/Kubuntu 9.04 I like to have Ctrl-Alt-Backspace enabled to restart X server, which I found a quicker way to log off and log on since I use to hop around from Kubuntu to Ubuntu and back.
And I want it too in my Ubuntu 9.10. Fortunately in Ubuntu 9.10 the method is easier, way easier. No editing necessary like in 9.04. So there's how :
In Ubuntu :

• System->Preferences->Keyboard

• go to Layouts tab and click Layout Options button

• Select "Key sequence to kill the X server" and check "Control + Alt + Backspace".

I haven't double DE-ing my Ubuntu 9.10, I'll wait for stable release. If you want to know how to enable Ctrl-Alt-Backspace in Kubuntu 9.10 this wiki will help you.



keyword : ubuntu 9.10, kubuntu, ctrl alt backspace, enable

We have a shared Internet connection at home, with my wife's Windows XP machine as host, and two Ubuntu machines as clients. There's a little application called Proxy for Windows that makes Internet sharing easier.
And that's why I use proxy in the Ubuntu machines, and that's where the trouble begins, for Picasa anyway.

Here's the fix for Picasa behind proxy in Ubuntu 9.04 :

• fire up the terminal and type (or copy paste):
   /opt/google/picasa/3.0/bin/wrapper regedit
  this will open a Wine's regedit version, just like Windows'. It turns out that Picasa for Linux is not so native after all, it runs on Wine. So the next step can be used for Picasa for Windows too.
  
• go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings (see screenshot below, click for bigger image):
  - enable proxy by changing the ProxyEnable value to -> 1
  - add these new string values :
     - ProxyOverride -> leave it blank
     - ProxyServer -> yourhost:yourport
  
• close regedit and run Picasa
  

 

I have problem with Google Earth too, but I can't pinpoint the source. Since the same Google Earth version works just fine on my Karmic Koala beta with same proxy configuration on same laptop. Oh well, I hope next post will be the solution.



keyword : picasa | ubuntu | proxy
source : Picasa FAQ

Some photos I took a while back, did some resize and cropping and here they are : insect themed wallpapers for your desktop viewing pleasure.
Ubuntu has give me a lot, and this is one of my ways to contribute back. Hope you'll like it.

keyword : insect, wallpaper

Looking for Facebook client in Ubuntu that not only display but reply to your friends statuses? Then Gwibber 2.0.0 daily build is what you need.
Latest stable Gwibber is 0.9.2 (cmiiw) and Jaunty's default is 0.8.x, and it only display status, there's a reply button that does nothing (at least in my case).
Before you proceed and install this new and shiny Gwibber, remember this PPA provides the newest but untested build, so stability might be an issue here. Do not proceed if stability is what you're looking for. If you like to have the latest features  and don't mind about occasional freezes, then go ahead.
Add this to your software sources list :

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gwibber-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

You can change "jaunty" to karmic, intrepid or hardy depends on your Ubuntu. Then you can install it via your package manager. Click here for installation detail and signing key.
Here are what I found so far :

• sometimes Gwibber is not responding when updating streams,
• it won't use your old Gwibber theme,
• it now splits streams according to its related accounts i.e : Twitter's tweet under Twitter folder, not jumbles them together which was confusing,
• replying Facebook's status works,

List of supported protocols :

I've only tried Twitter and Facebook. And they both work.



keyword : ubuntu, facebook client, reply status, gwibber