In fact the thing that caught my eye was that many of my icons (particularly Spotify and Banshee) in my normally beautifully clear Unity sidebar looked slightly off - that is a little pixelated and a bit rough.
Saturday, 24 October 2015
How to Fix Ugly/Pixelated Unity Icons in 15.04
The first thing I noticed upon upgrading to 15.04 wasn't positive.
In fact the thing that caught my eye was that many of my icons (particularly Spotify and Banshee) in my normally beautifully clear Unity sidebar looked slightly off - that is a little pixelated and a bit rough.
In fact the thing that caught my eye was that many of my icons (particularly Spotify and Banshee) in my normally beautifully clear Unity sidebar looked slightly off - that is a little pixelated and a bit rough.
After a little browse online, I discovered that I wasn't the only person to have had this problem and that thankfully this problem was patched in a Unity update.
What I did to fix this issue was re-install the package: unity - 7.3.2+15. 10.20151016-0ubuntu1 via the synaptic package manager.
I then restarted Unity via:
sudo service lightdm restart
To find my icons were all back to their original good-looking selves!
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Some Very Handy Terminal Shortcuts
Here's a handful of some really useful terminal commands that might make your life considerably easier.
Ctrl + a
Move to the start of the command line on the terminal.
Ctrl + d
Log out from the terminal (when the command line is empty).
This can also complete the current running process (for example, when decrypting in GPG).
!abc
Execute the last command in history beginning with abc.
tty
Prints the name of the terminal in which you are typing this command.
time
Determine the amount of time that it will take for a process to complete.
who
Determine the details of users who have logged onto the machine.
free
Raw information about memory on the disk.
Ctrl + a
Move to the start of the command line on the terminal.
Ctrl + d
Log out from the terminal (when the command line is empty).
This can also complete the current running process (for example, when decrypting in GPG).
!abc
Execute the last command in history beginning with abc.
tty
Prints the name of the terminal in which you are typing this command.
time
Determine the amount of time that it will take for a process to complete.
who
Determine the details of users who have logged onto the machine.
free
Raw information about memory on the disk.
Monday, 23 March 2015
Mythbusters - Is Linux hard to use?
Linux suffers a little bit of a perception problem. When most Windows or Mac users picture a Linux desktop they imagine something looking a little like this:
Big boring command lines and indecipherable text that only the nerdiest nerd could possibly interpret.
Friday, 20 March 2015
Firefox "Blocked: May Contain a Virus or Spyware" Quick Solution
Firefox download manager keeps blocking downloads that you know are safe, claiming that they might contain a virus or spyware.
There are two quick solutions.
The easiest is simply to...
1. Download the file in a different browser like Chromium or Chrome.
This is the best option if it's just the one file that's causing you problems but if it keeps happening over and over then this really isn't practical.
Also consider the future implications. It only tells you it's blocked the file after its been downloaded. Imagine you're five hours and 99% into downloading a vital 2GB file over a sluggish connection then suddenly that error pops up - you're gunna be mad.
2. Disable safebrowsing.
While this will get rid of the annoying warnings, it will also disable warnings when you're visiting dodgy sites, such as forgeries or phishing sites so it's not a decision to be taken too lightly.
On balance, for a Linux user with a bit of sense, I think it's not at all risky. However, if you're still worried consider downloading a good range of protective add ons such as Bitdefender.
Here's how to disable safebrowsing:
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled
4. Restart Firefox and download the file.
There are two quick solutions.
The easiest is simply to...
1. Download the file in a different browser like Chromium or Chrome.
This is the best option if it's just the one file that's causing you problems but if it keeps happening over and over then this really isn't practical.
Also consider the future implications. It only tells you it's blocked the file after its been downloaded. Imagine you're five hours and 99% into downloading a vital 2GB file over a sluggish connection then suddenly that error pops up - you're gunna be mad.
2. Disable safebrowsing.
While this will get rid of the annoying warnings, it will also disable warnings when you're visiting dodgy sites, such as forgeries or phishing sites so it's not a decision to be taken too lightly.
On balance, for a Linux user with a bit of sense, I think it's not at all risky. However, if you're still worried consider downloading a good range of protective add ons such as Bitdefender.
Here's how to disable safebrowsing:
- Type "about:config" in the address bar.
- Click ok to all the Here Be Dragons warnings.
- Search for and set the following two values to false:
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled
4. Restart Firefox and download the file.
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
List of Games That'll Run on Linux
Okay, so I'm not the biggest gamer (after all, I do run Linux) and I'll be the first to admit that gaming hasn't been a strong point of Linux operating systems with most games designed to run primarily on Windows then maybe on Macs with Linux a long forgotten afterthought.
However, I've noticing things are getting steadily better in particular with the gaming platform Steam beginning to accommodate Linux users. Here's a short list of the games you can run without a hitch on a Linux OS:
Besiege
Physics-based building game where you build medieval machines to achieve tasks, level villages etc.
Counter-Strike: Source
A classic and still very popular first person shooter.
Half Life 2 & Gary's Mod
Great first person shooter campaign (HL2) and its sandbox spin-off.
CIV:V
Incredibly expansive and complex strategy game.
I'll add to the list when and where I find them...
Edit:
Definitely worth checking the Steam Linux store for a comprehensive list.
In addition, a whole host of Windows games are playable with the PlayOnLinux addon.
However, I've noticing things are getting steadily better in particular with the gaming platform Steam beginning to accommodate Linux users. Here's a short list of the games you can run without a hitch on a Linux OS:
Besiege
Physics-based building game where you build medieval machines to achieve tasks, level villages etc.
Counter-Strike: Source
A classic and still very popular first person shooter.
Half Life 2 & Gary's Mod
Great first person shooter campaign (HL2) and its sandbox spin-off.
CIV:V
Incredibly expansive and complex strategy game.
I'll add to the list when and where I find them...
Edit:
Definitely worth checking the Steam Linux store for a comprehensive list.
In addition, a whole host of Windows games are playable with the PlayOnLinux addon.
Disable "Recent Items" Menu in VLC uBuntu
You may not always want the "Recent Items" menu to display in VLC, luckily there is a fast, quick and easy way to turn it off.
Simply go to Tools then Preferences.
Click Interface and then uncheck Save Recently Played Items.
Simply go to Tools then Preferences.
Click Interface and then uncheck Save Recently Played Items.
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Dad Tries Out uBuntu For The First Time - Youtube Video
An entertaining little video of a computer novices first time using uBuntu 13.04. Definitely helps dispel some of the myths that Linux is an unfriendly operating system.
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