Category: Tips & Guides

Guides or tutorials (computer related)

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How to make pidgin display Instant Messenger protocol ID

I heard some people complained that pidgin does not show the messenger protocol for the buddies associated with your account. Actually this feature was indeed incorporated in Pidgin, only it is not enabled by default.

To enable the it, you only need to go to Buddies->Show, and select Protocol Icons option. Pidgin should display messenger protocol icon on your buddies list.

Here’s a screenshot which explains the step

pidgin1.jpg

pidgin2.jpg

From the screenshot you can easily spot which buddies are from jabber protocol and Yahoo Messenger protocol. I hope this particular tip would be useful to you!

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How to Randomize login screen in Ubuntu (GDM)

There’s nothing wrong with the default brownish “Human” Ubuntu login screen, but sometimes your brain might get bored with the same login screen overtime. So in this post I’ll be showing you how to randomize the GDM login screen through these simple steps :

From Desktop, go to System->Administration->Login Window

gdm.jpg

Choose “Random from Selected” from the selector in the Login Window dialog. And check all the GDM themes that you wish to be cycled each start up.

gdm-prefs.jpg

That’s it! close the dialog and logout from your GNOME session, it should display random login screens each time when you switch on your computer.

Need more themes?
You can always find and install more cool themes from Gnome Looks !

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How to Enable More Compiz effect in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

One of the changes made in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon is Compiz enabled by default on installation. However the Compiz desktop effect setting are modest at best when enabled out-from-the-box in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon.

How to Customize Compiz effect in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
From Desktop, go to Applications->Add/Remove…, search for ‘compiz’ and then install the CompizConfig utilities.

CLI lover might want to “sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager”.

To customize Compiz effects, just go to System->Preference, and select Advance Desktop Effects Settings.

There you go, a simple guide how to enable Compiz setting manager for Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). From here, you can add and remove compiz effects according to your needs and processing power budget. Hope you’ll find it useful !

[tags]ubuntu,debian,compiz,linux,opensource,desktop,effects,graphics,opengl,glx[/tags]

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Install Ubuntu Theme for Windows

Love Ubuntu but can’t live without Microsoft Windows? Then this might be the solution for you. As funny as it sounds, there are people who took time the to port the Ubuntu-feeling for Windows users to experience.

Read How To Make Windows look like Ubuntu Linux article from The Indie Tribune for a quick guide to make your Windows look like an Ubuntu machine. Have fun!

[tags]ubuntu,gutsy,gutsy gibbon,gnome,windows,windows vista,vista,windows xp[/tags]

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Howto Send and Recieve files over Bluetooth with Ubuntu Linux

With advancement of wireless technology, bluetooth has become a de facto standard for transferring files (and synchronizing data) between mobile devices (PDA, smartphone) and personal computer.

In this post I’m going to show you how to send and receive files over bluetooth using obexftp and obexpushd package from OpenOBEX project.

Send files to mobile device
First install obexftp and obexpushd

sudo apt-get install obexftp obexpushd

Insert a bluetooth dongle and activate bluetooth on your mobile phone. Do a scan of nearby bluetooth device (your mobile phone) by executing :

obexftp -b

obexftp then will display the scan result on your screen, like this :

Scanning ...
Using  00:15:A0:53:6F:85   Nokia 6680
Browsing 00:15:A0:53:6F:85 ...
Channel: 10

Pick a file, and try sending it over bluetooth by executing :

obexftp -b 00:15:A0:53:6F:85 -p example.txt

obexftp will then send the file to your bluetooth device (address : 00:15:A0:53:6F:85 – taken from previous command). Make sure that you set the mobile device to accept the file.

How to receive files over bluetooth
Insert bluetooth dongle and turn it into discoverable mode

hciconfig hci0 piscan

Continue reading “Howto Send and Recieve files over Bluetooth with Ubuntu Linux”

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Search Ubuntu related information and How to with UbuntuWire.com

I just found out from Brandon Holtsclaw’s blog that he started a project named UbuntuWire for the benefit of Ubuntu users.

UbuntuWire is a specialized Ubuntu search engine which can help you find information related to Ubuntu operating system quickly without having to wade through countless unrelated websites on the internet. The search engine is powered by by Google Custom search and only takes result from reliable/official Ubuntu websites.

Alternatively you could try Uboontu which performs the exact same functionality as UbuntuWire but with different UI presentation.

Hope that would help you shorten your work when you’re searching for Ubuntu related information.

[tags]ubuntu,debian.linux,opensource,open source,gutsy,gutsy gibbon,howto,guide[/tags]