You can download genoid theme here.

Install Firefox 3.6 on Ubuntu

1. Add the following Mozilla PPA by bringing up the terminal window:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main' /etc/apt/sources.list"

2. Next we need to add the GPG key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 247510BE

3. In order to install Firefox 3.6 type the following command.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

In order to start firefox 3.6 go to Applications > Internet > Namoroka Web Browser

Have fun using the new Firefox 3.6

Qwitik, is a cross platform twitter client and does the simple job of bringing twitter to your desktop. It’s available for both windows and Linux platform.

Installation

You can install it by downloading the 2 deb files namely.

libqtwit1
qwitik

Start of by double clicking and installing libqtwit1 file followed by qwitik.

Once installed you can access and start using Qwitik by going to Applications > Internet > Qwitik

Enjoy Twitter from your Ubuntu desktop.

Home Page

http://code.google.com/p/qwitik/

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac …) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

It can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks.

Installing VLC on Ubuntu using PPAs

Let’s see how to install VLC on Ubuntu (Jaunty) using PPAs.

Add the following lines to your Software Sources Third-Party Software tab.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main
 
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main

Adding the Signing Key

We need to add the signing key. You can do it by simply typing the following command at the terminal.

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D

However, if you are behind a firewall (like me the keys are not added as http://keyserver.ubuntu.com is blocked ) you can go the signing key page and copy the key into gedit and save the file by the name vlc.

Import the saved file into your Software Sources Authentication tab.

Installing VLC

Drop to terminal and type the following commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install vlc vlc-plugin-esd mozilla-plugin-vlc

Once installed, you can run VLC by going to Applications > Sound & Video > VLC Media Player

You can also make video files to open with VLC by default. All you have to do is to right click the video file, go to properties and select Open With tab and select VLC Media Player.

Links

VLC PPA page

https://launchpad.net/~c-korn/+archive/vlc

VLC Signing key page

http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xD739676F7613768D

Earcandy

Features

• All volume adjustments are fades
• Fade out music/video players on skype call
• Fade to music player with focus when more than one
• Fade out music player when video playing
• Push sound to USB headsets on plugin
• Categories to assign to clients
• Sniffs desktop files to guess application category … music/video/VoIP
• Simplified pref UI for creating rules
• Volume sniffing to fix youtube video issue
• PID matching
• Reset volumes for streams on exit (so streams dont get stuck at a low level)

Installation

Installation of EarCandy is fairly simple.

Adding the PPA to the software sources

1. In order to add the EarCandy PPA to software sources list open software sources by going to System > Administration > Software Sources

2. Go to Third-Party Software tab and click the add botton and add the following lines one by one

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/earcandy-devel/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/earcandy-devel/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Adding the OpenPGP keys

1. To add the OpenPGP keys of EarCandy, go to the OpnePGP signing key page (link in the link sections).

2. Copy the key (looks like the one below) on to gedit and save the file as EarCandy.

3. Go to the Authentication tab in Software Sources window and click Import Key File to import the EarCandy signing key you just created.

Installing EarCandy

We are now left with installing the application. To do so drop to terminal and type the following command.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install earcandy

This should install EarCandy. Once started it’ll run unobtrusively in the system tray.

Note: You’ll get an error like the one below once you start earcandy.

There’s a small bug and earcandy won’t launch as it’s path by default is /usr/bin/earcandy. However, the correct path is /usr/bin/ear_candy. You’ll have to change the path in the startup application menu to /usr/bin/ear_candy.

Links

PPA Page

https://launchpad.net/~earcandy-devel/+archive/ppa

Signing key

http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?search=0xE03A1B636105AA6F2002C0482D01D614E00F07B5&op=index

About the Bug

http://www.mail-archive.com/universe-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com/msg115858.html

Sometime back there was the private beta launch of the service called as UbuntuOne. Ubuntu One helps you store, sync and share. Sync your files, share your work with others or work remotely, all with your Ubuntu computers.

Let’s see how to install UbuntuOne on Ubuntu and get the magic working for you.

Getting an UbuntuOne Account

Well, because it’s cloud you’ll have to have an account with UbuntuOne. There are various plans you can avail. I chose to have the free 2 GB plans as I don’t have exaggerated amount of files to sync and share. All the details of other plans can be found Ubuntu One Plan page (mentioned at the bottom of the post).

Installing UbuntuOne

To begin with you need to have Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope). So if you haven’t already upgraded, this could be a good reason. Once you get the account, you need to sign in to install the software.

1. Download the deb file and double click it to install the PPA (link at the end of the post) on your Ubuntu machine.

2. Next step is to get the Ubuntu One Gnome client. To get the client click this link.

3. Next up is to start the client and to authorize it. To start the UbuntuOne client go to Application > Internet > Ubuntu One.

4. A web page will be opened asking you to Add this computer.

5. You should now see the UbuntuOne icon in the panel and folder named Ubuntu One in your home directory.

All you have to do now is to start saving files in that folder and your files will be shared/synced across other Ubuntu Machines.

Ubuntu One Plans

https://ubuntuone.com/plans/

Ubuntu One PPA Deb

https://media.ubuntuone.com/media/1677/files/ubuntuone-jaunty-ppa.deb

Installing DontZap

We first need to install DontZAP. Drop to terminal by hitting ALT+F2 and typing “gnome-terminal“.

Type the following command to install DontZAP.

sudo apt-get install dontzap

Now we need to enable the CTRL+ALT+Backspace functionality type the following command.

sudo dontzap --disable

If you want to disable the CTRL+ALT+Backspace functionality to kill X Server, use the following command at the terminal.

sudo dontzap --enable

Once you have enabled this command, you’ll have to log out and log back in to have the X Org recognize the behaviour.

PS: If you do not understand the implication of this please do not use this tutorial.

About Shutter

Shutter is a feature-rich screenshot program. You can take a screenshot of a specific area, window, your whole screen, or even of a website – apply different effects to it, draw on it to highlight points, and then upload to an image hosting site, all within one window.

Features

• take a screenshot of your complete desktop, a rectangular area or capture a website
• take screenshot directly or with a specified delay time
• save the screenshots to a specified directory and name them in a convenient way
  (using special wild-cards)
• Shutter is fully integrated into the Gnome Desktop (TrayIcon etc.)
• generate thumbnails directly when you are taking a screenshot and set a size level in %
• Shutter session collection
  • keep track of all screenshots during session
  • copy screeners to clipboard
  • print screenshots
  • delete screenshots
  • rename your file
• upload your files directly to Image-Hosters (e.g. http://ubuntu-pics.de), retrieve all the needed links and share them with others
• edit your screenshots directly using the embedded drawing tool

Installation

I am going to install the beta version of shutter but be advised that it could be unstable and hence you might want to install the stable version.

1. Open Software Sources by going to System > Administration > Software Sources and click the tab that reads Third-Party softwares

2. Add the following lines (one by one) to your software sources by clicking Add button on the Third-Party softwares tab.

Shutter Beta

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter-testing-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter-testing-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

3. You’ll also need the Signing key: 1024R/1C89E4E1. You;;l have to import the authentication key. To do so, go to the Authentication tab in the Software Sources Window and click import. Locate the downloaded key to import it.

For the stable release of shutter just add the following repos to your software sources:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

The signing key for stable version of shutter can be downloaded from here.

4. Close the software sources window and you’ll be prompted to reload the repo’s. Click reload.

5. Click here to install Shutter. If you can’t install it by clicking the link, open a terminal window and type the following:

sudo apt-get install shutter

If all goes well you’ll have shutter installed on Ubuntu.

You can start shutter by going to Applications > Accessories > Shutter – Screenshot tool.

Shutter not only does make the job of taking screenshots easier but has a decently nice editor for you to edit the screenshots on the fly. You can also execute plugins to watermark or for that matter add effects like drop shadow etc.

Have fun taking great screenshots.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter-testing-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter-testing-team/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Home Page

http://gejengel.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/web/index.html

Description

Gejengel is an audio player which focuses on performance and simplicity, yet with a nice set of features.
Some key features:

• Easy to use
• Properly handles compilation albums (even if album artist tag is not set)
• Lean and fast (low on dependencies)
• Gapless playback (even for mp3 by reading encoder delay, zeropadding from files)
• Various audio outputs (Alsa, Pulseaudio, OpenAL)
• Last.Fm scrobbling (optional plugin)
• Remote control through dbus (MPRIS specification) (optional plugin)

Installation

1. Download the 2 deb files gejengel and liblastfm1 .

2. We’ll have to install liblastfm1 first. Double click the liblastfm1_0.3.0-1~getdeb1_i386.deb file to install liblastfm1.

3. Once liblastfm1 is installed, install Gejengel.

Running Gejengel

You can start Gejengel by going to Applications > Sounds & Video > Gejengel.

You can change preferences of Gejengel by going Edit > Preferences.

We are done here!

1. First we’ll have to download the splash image package for Ubuntu. Bring up a terminal window by hitting ALT+F2 and typing “gnome-terminal“. In the terminal window type the following command.

sudo apt-get install grub2-splashimages

2. This will install the splash image package. Let’s check what splash images are installed. These images can be found at:

/usr/share/images/grub/

On the terminal type the following command:

cd  /usr/share/images/grub/
 
ls

You’ll see a list of available splash theme for grub 2.

The files are in .tga format which is a image format. Following is a thumbnail of all the files:

3. All you need is to zero down on the image you want to have as your grub splash image. I found them boring, so I created my own image.

• Downloaded an image from here. (Caution, this image could be NSFW)

• Using Gimp, I resized the image to 640×480 and saved it by name ubuntu-girl.tga (Unfortunately, that is the dimension supported by Grub 2. However, you can also use a larger dimension image but it’ll be cut at the Grub splash.
• I then moved the image to /usr/share/images/grub/
• Final image looks like this:

4. Now we have to tell Grub 2 to use this image. To do so, type the following command at terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme

find the line

for i in {/boot/grub,/usr/share/images/desktop-base}/moreblue-orbit-grub.{png,tga}; do

and replace it with the following

for i in {/boot/grub,/usr/share/images/desktop-base,/usr/share/images/grub}/ubuntu-girl.{png,tga}; do

5. All that is left now is to update grub 2 . Type the following command on terminal

sudo update-grub

Grub 2 will detect the new theme and you should see something like this

(This is a little old screenshot and here the background is named Aesculus hippo…. However it should be ubuntu-girl.tga)

All that is left now is to reboot the machine to check the new sexy grub 2 splash in action.