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Run Android apps on Linux: Boot the emulator quickly |
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| One of the great things about Android is the fact that anyone is free to develop applications for the platform. Google provide Android SDKs for Windows, Linux and MacOS, and part of the SDK is an emulator that lets you run the latest Android operating system from your PC desktop. The aim here is obvisouly to allow developers to test their applications without having to swap to an actual Android device, but it can also be used to run your favourite Android based applications alongside your traditional desktop apps. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:9303 | -mcasperson, June 28, 2011 |
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Install FB4Linux in Eclipse |
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| Flash development in Linux is often left to a generic text editor used with the free Flex SDK. It is certainly possible to code this way, but you do lose out on a lot of the functionality of a more specific IDE. The FB4Linux project provides a plugin for Eclipse that provides a similar environment to FlashBuilder 4. The only downside is that the installation instructions gloss over a few of the details required to get the plugin installed in Eclipse 3.5.2, which is the version of Eclipse that is available in the Ubuntu software repositories at the time of writing. This article shows you how to get FB4Linux up and running from start to finish. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:9294 | -mcasperson, July 27, 2010 |
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MCSE or RHCE: Experience and Opinion on each Certification |
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Almost any IT related job requires interacting with an operating system at some point, and between them Windows and RedHat Linux cover a large portion of the market.
Obviously your choice of certification will depend largely on the equipment you are working with, but with that disclaimer aside, which certification should you be most proud of? read more... |
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| | permapage | score:9133 | -mcasperson, June 29, 2011 |
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Quick Install: Screenlets in Fedora 15 |
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| Screenlets provides a huge variety of desktop widgets, including support for Superkaramba themes and Google Gedgets (through a converter). The project supplies a convenient package for Ubuntu users, but it appears that there is no RPM for Fedora users. But, with a few simple commands, it is possible to get screenlets up and running in Fedora 15. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:9102 | -mcasperson, July 8, 2011 |
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Ooo2gd and LibreOffice |
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Where cloud storage fails is when you just need to get access to one or two files, and your local application does not have any functionality for accessing files stored online. I find myself in this situation all the time with a few OpenOffice documents that are synced with a Dropbox account, but the Dropbox account itself is not synced with all the devices I use. Editing files in this siutation is a case of logging into Dropbox, downloading the file, making some changes, and uploading it again. It's a tedious process.
This is where the Ooo2gd (which stands for OpenOffice.org 2 Google Docs) extension comes in handy. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8980 | -mcasperson, June 28, 2011 |
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Installing Android x86 in VirtualBox |
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In a previous post I showed you how to install and configure the Android SDK emulator to boot up quickly. What you may have found out by now is that the emulator is incredibly slow. In fact it is only any good if you have the kind of PC that can render the entire Transformers movie in a few minutes.
If you are just interested in running Android applications on your desktop PC, a project called Android x86 provides a copy of the Android operating system compiled for x86 processors. The latest release is Android 2.2, which is a little bit behind Honeycomb (Android 3), but is still capable of running almost all Android applications. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8893 | -mcasperson, July 4, 2011 |
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Changing resolutions in Android x86 |
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Chances are, if you are installing Android onto a desktop system, you will want to make use of the higher resolutions that are available, since your desktop probably has a bigger monitor than the average mobile phone or tablet. Android is quite flexible in the resolutions it offers, and most Android apps can take advantage of higher resolutions.
(here are some high resolution prints) read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8862 | -mcasperson, August 29, 2011 (Updated: April 24, 2012) |
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Ubuntu Netbook Edition (Remix) Review |
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Ubuntu Netbook Edition (formally netbook remix) is a collection of applications that make Ubuntu more usable on smaller screens. But you don't have to be running a netbook to benefit. This article looks at how to use the best netbook remix features in a standard Ubuntu 10.04 install.
Although Ubuntu Netbook Edition is a separate distribution to the main Ubuntu desktop edition, it is actually quite easy to convert your existing Ubuntu install into the Netbook Edition. Or, if you are like me, you may just want to take the best bits of the Netbook Edition and use them on your desktop PC. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8840 | -mcasperson, June 16, 2010 |
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Copying a file to the clipboard in Nautilus |
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Hi - my name is Matthew, and I am a copy-and-paste addict. I have no idea how I would use a PC without a clipboard, and when I was on Windows Clipmate was one of my favorite utilities. I have tried over the years to find open source alternatives, but nothing has come close.
One script that I did come across recently allows you to copy the contents of files selected in the Nautilus Gnome file browser to the clipboard. This is great for copying things like code snippets and customized email signatures for those applications that don't natively offer that functionality. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8819 | -mcasperson, August 10, 2011 |
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Display Google Gadgets in Gnome 3 with Screenlets |
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| One of the cool features of Screenlets is the ability to display widgets from a wide range of tools, including Google Gadgets. With its simple conversion feature, Screenlets allows you to easily place Google Gadgets on your Gnome 3 desktop. The following instructions show you how this can be done. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:8768 | -mcasperson, July 11, 2011 |
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Placing system icons on the top bar in Gnome 3 |
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"System Tray" icons were a great idea in Windows 95, but over the years the concept has been abused. It's not uncommon to get a new Windows PC with a dozen system tray icons, usually serving no purpose other than to advertise the existance of the application to which the icon belongs.
Linux machines are not quite as bad, but this hasn't stopped the designers of Gnome 3 from hiding these icons in a hidden bottom bar that appears only when you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen.
If you still prefer to have these icons on the screen (and lets face it, the Gnome 3 top bar is mostly empty space anyway), you can use the icon manager extension to selectively move icons from the bottom bar to the top bar. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8763 | -mcasperson, July 7, 2011 |
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Create native looking Firefox web apps |
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HTML5 and Flash have been used to great effect in recreating traditional desktop apps that can be run through your web browser. Google is so confident that web apps can replace your desktop apps that it has released the ChromeOS, which is not much more than the Chrome web browser presented as a desktop operating system.
Firefox has long supported running web apps in a kind of desktop mode through projects like Prism, WebRunner and Chromeless. But a lot of these projects are either dead, in their early stages, or require a lot of mucking around to get running.
The good news is that it is quite easy to launch your favourite web apps in a chromeless Firefox 4/5 window with just a few simple steps. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8571 | -mcasperson, August 5, 2011 |
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Integrating Pidgin and Gnome 3 |
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| As a Linux user I know that I should revel in sparse user interfaces and command line driven applications, but for my day to day communications, I prefer Pidgin over XChat. It's just more pleasant to look at, and goes beyond just IRC chat. The problem with Pidgin and Gnome 3 is that it is hard to tell when someone is trying to get your attention. The little smiley face that gets displayed on the system tray icon is lost in Gnome 3, as the icons are now hidden in a disappearing bar at the bottom of the screen. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8463 | -mcasperson, August 12, 2011 |
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Using an ISA Proxy server in Linux |
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NTLM (NT LAN Manager) is a Microsoft authentication protocol. It is used extensively in older versions of Windows, and Microsoft has embedded the NTLM authentication into several communication protocols, such as HTTP, POP3 and SMTP. One benefit of NTLM authentication is that Windows users can get transparent access through an ISA proxy server. While the proxy does require a username and password, IE will happily send the users current credentials without any additional prompt.
Linux users don't tend to be so lucky. Most web browsers will support NTLM authentication when using an ISA proxy, but there are some cases, like when using the proxy settings in OpenSuse 11.2, where the lack of support for NTLM can effectively prevent internet access.
Fortunately there is a fairly simple way around this limitation. A small Python utility called NTLM Authorization Proxy Server can be used to ferry internet traffic between the OS and a ISA proxy server. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8384 | -mcasperson, July 7, 2010 |
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Rotating Gnome 3 background images |
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| There are a lot of desktop background switchers available, but Gnome 3 has changed it's interface just enough to stop most of them from working. But a little project from Dhananjay Sathe provides a fairly easy way to setup a Gnome 3 desktop background slideshow. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:8380 | -mcasperson, August 8, 2011 |
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Tribler BitTorrent client (Fedora 15) |
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Tribler is one of the more innovative BitTorrent clients available today. Tribler is developed at the Delft University of Technology and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and has introduced a number of impressive features such as truly decentralized BitTorrent downloading, and more recently algorithm changes that improve download speeds.
Tribler provides installation packages for Windows, MacOS and Ubuntu, as well as the source code which can be used on other Linux distributions. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:8363 | -mcasperson, July 14, 2011 |
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Compile Crystal Space in Ubuntu 10.04 |
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| If you are a budding game developer, there is a wide selection of 3D engines that you can use to get your ideas off the ground. The first step when using a 3D engine (or any library distributed as source code) is to compile it. Crystal Space is no different. The steps below will show you how to get Crystal Space up and running on your Ubuntu PC. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:8313 | -mcasperson, July 2, 2010 |
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Boot C64 games in Linux |
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It's lunch time, and you have 5 minutes to chill out and forget about those reports due by the end of the week. You could play some solitaire, but why limit yourself to the same old dull card games? Some of my favorite games were made for the Commodare 64, and to this day still provide a quick and enjoyable distraction for those otherwise dull desk based lunch breaks.
The good news is that don't have to remember a bunch of archaic commands to get your favorite C64 games up and running. Using the VICE emulator, it takes nothing more than creating a desktop icon to boot a C64 game. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8297 | -mcasperson, August 15, 2011 |
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HTTPS Everywhere: Firefox plugin |
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HTTPS Everywhere is an initiative by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that boosts the security of Firefox with a clever plugin that will automatically encrypt your communications with a number of web services that support HTTPS. This provides an automated way to move users from the insecure HTTP protocol, which is the default for many web sites (like Google and Facebook), even though they may also support HTTPS.
I personally applaud the initiative on a technical level, and if I was a Firefox user, I would install the extension in a heart beat. But, on a fundamental level, the extension will fail to make any real improvement in the security of the web for one simple reason – users are the biggest weakness in any security system, and there is no patch for users. read more... |
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| | mail this link | permapage | score:8277 | -mcasperson, August 9, 2011 |
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Better Google Tasks Lists |
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Ah, the humble task list. For such a simple concept, Google has made it surprisingly difficult to use their task list service. You can pull it up in Gmail, and add it as a widget in iGoogle, but there doesn't seem to be a standard way to use the task list on it's own. Even Android users have been left out in the cold with no kind of official task list widget or app.
Thankfully there are at least two ways to get access to more fully featured, stand alone Google Tasks lists. read more... |
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| | permapage | score:8261 | -mcasperson, August 11, 2011 |
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