Ubuntu Tips

Customizing the Ubuntu Login screen - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:11:01 -0600

I personally don't mind the orange and black themes of Ubuntu. If you do, however, you can quickly change the look of the Ubuntu login them by downloading new ones from the Internet or using some of the extra options in Ubuntu.

To download new themes, I suggest starting at Gnome Look. Gnome Look offers hundreds of new themes you can use at no cost to customize Ubuntu to look the way you want it. Once at the Gnome Look web site, follow these steps to get your new login theme(s) installed.:

Click GDM Themes from the options on the left of the screen
Browse around and find a theme you like. I like to start by looking in the highest rated or most downloads tab.
You can click any thumbnail (small picture) to see a larger view of a potential candidate.
Once you decide on a theme, look for the download option and click it.
Save the theme to a known location on your computer.
Close your browser and download windows.
Click System ---> Administration --> Login Window from the menus
Enter your password
Click the Local tab
Click the Add button on the right
Navigate to and click the theme you downloaded.
Click the Install button.
Your new login theme should appear (in alphabetical order).
Repeat steps 10-13 for any other themes you downloaded and need to add.
Now click the radio button next to the theme you want to use for your login screen
Click OK

The next time you login into your computer, your new theme will be used. See all these steps in action by watching the video below!

Make reading the web easier than ever - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:53:54 -0500

Although we now have 19" and larger monitors on most new desktop computers, the text seems to shrink. Why is that? It has to do with screen resolution (how much information can be displayed). Screen resolutions on today's monitors are up to 3X that of monitors we used just 6-8 years ago. We can see a lot more information, but often the text is too small to view for some computer users.

Never fear. Using this week's tip, you can easily and quickly enlarge the text of any web page using only your keyboard and mouse. This tip will work with any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc) and any operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, Mac OS X).

All you need is a mouse with a scroll wheel and your keyboard. This tip can be performed without the mouse as well, but I'll touch on that later. First, when you are reading a web site, particularly news web sites and blog type sites like mine, look for an indication of a printer friendly page. Often designated as Printer Friendly, Print this article, or simply Print, clicking this link brings up a version of the article you are reading that is much less busy and cleaner than how the article presents on the web page itself. This alone may make enough difference for readability.

However, you can quickly increase the size of the text you are reading by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse scroll wheel away from your body (towards the computer monitor). Amazing, no? Holding down the Ctrl key and spinning towards your body (away from the monitor) will shrink the text again.

The same result can be achieved by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the "+" or "-" keys as well. I think the mouse method is a little more intuitive and elegant.

Watch the short video below to see this tip in action and see the web as never before!

GOS Gadgets Operating System Preview- Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:16:05 -0500

GOS stands for Good Operating System and was the operating system of choice for WalMart's $199 Everex computer last year that they couldn't keep in stock. GOS is a customized version of Ubuntu Linux and like most Linux operating systems is free to use and works on almost any laptop or desktop built since 2000 or so.

In this week's video, I give you a quick overview of some of the features of GOS 3 Gadgets. You will notice an Apple like application dock complete with animations, the newest version of OpenOffice.org's word processor, spreadsheet and presentation manager, tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Docs, and desktop gadgets (thus the new name).

For me, the best part of learning more about Linux is that it truly is simpler to use than Windows and is much more secure without the need of becoming a computer security expert. Take a look at the video below to see what a truly revolutionary operating system can look like...for free!

Use Alt+Tab or Command(Apple)+Tab to quickly change applications - Video Tip

Rick — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:54:12 -0500

Thanks to long time listener and web visitor, Daniel, for suggesting this week's tip. I have been using this technique for more than ten years, but in order to learn it, you really must see it in action. Thus, it was a natural for our Video Tips, which are now almost 18 months old!

For Ubuntu and Windows users, you can quickly switch between open programs by pushing Alt+Tab on your keyboard. Macintosh users have a key called the "Command" key on their keyboards. By holding down the Command+Tab key, Mac users can switch between their open programs.

Why use the keyboard instead of your mouse? Time. I didn't run any official tests, but I'm willing to bet that it takes at least three times longer to look at your task bar or dock (how many of you know what that is?), hunt for the application you need to switch to, then click on that program than it does to use the Alt+Tab or Command(Apple key)+Tab technique.

I know this doesn't make much sense reading it, so click the play button on the video below and watch it in action! I show the Windows technique first, Ubuntu second, and end with the Macintosh tip. All told it's about 2.5 minutes...2.5 minutes that WILL change your computing life. Pass this tip on to ALL of your computer buddies.

Start programs automatically in Ubuntu - Video Tip

Rick — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:38:32 -0600

Windows user can use this tip to start programs automatically when they boot up their computers. This week I learned how to do the same thing with Ubuntu Linux (and its derivatives). Since my goal for this site is to impart all the knowledge I have in my brain to you, here is how to start programs on boot up in Ubuntu Linux:

1. Click System --> Preferences --> Sessions from the menus
2. Click the Add button in the Startup tab (should be already open)
3. Type the name of the program you want to start
4. Click the Browse button next to the Command box
5. Browse to the /usr/bin folder
6. Find and double-click the name of the program you want to start
7. Click OK
8. Click Close

Then next time you restart your Ubuntu machine, it will start the program you added. Of course, you can also uncheck the boxes next to programs you don't need to start automatically just as easily.

It's not as complicated as it sounds in writing. Watching the video below (2 minutes) will demonstrate the tip for you.

Ubuntu Keyboard Shortcuts

Rick — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:20:44 -0600

A show listener asked about keyboard shortcuts for Ubuntu Linux...ask and you shall receive, click here.

How to Create PDFs in Ubuntu

Adam — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:40:45 -0500

For those looking for a way to create PDFs in Ubuntu - this seems to be the most popular solution.

Ubuntu Take 2 - Follow up

Rick — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:17:19 -0500

Yesterday, I talked about my woes in getting a Linksys WMP54GS PCI wireless card to work on an almost 10 year old computer that I successfully installed Xubuntu (Ubuntu Light) on for a customer.

The "official" instructions on how to accomplish the task are lengthy and require many commands typed into a terminal windows (think DOS prompt). After many dry runs and dead ends, I found

Drag and Drop in Ubuntu Linux - Video Tip

Rick — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:25:29 -0500

Interestingly, because of the security setup in Ubuntu, drag and drop file management (ability to drag files from one folder to another) doesn't work without a little tweaking. I'm still learning the ins and outs of how Ubuntu is put together and how the all powerful "root" user corresponds to some commands or programs we want to run in Ubuntu.

Opening programs as the "root" user has the potential of creating some security or stability issues, but this small tweak seems to be universally accepted. To read more about drag and drop, the hack and how they relate to the Linux root user, read this forum thread on the Ubuntu Forum site.

What I demonstate in the video below is how to create a launcher item (shortcut) on your Ubuntu panel to open the file manager (Nautilus) in a mode that allows you to drag and drop files from folder to folder.

RIGHT Click any panel
Click Add to panel
Click the Custom Application Launcher button
Type a name for your new Launch icon
Type the following the command line: gksudo nautilus
Click the No icon button to bring up a list of icons you can choose from for your new launch button
Click OK twice
Click Close

Now your accessing your file manager (Nautilus) from this panel button allows you to drag and drop!

Easy WiFi with Ubuntu Linux - Video Tip

Rick — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:29:30 -0500

This week's tip addresses a rough area with Ubuntu Linux...using wi-fi (wireless) Internet. I have had some of the same problems utilizing wireless Internet as other people, so I set out to learn more about it and find as straight forward a solution as I could. What I found was called WiFi Radar. I wrote about it in Day 3 of my 14 day Ubuntu only series. In today's tip, I submit to you the video version of that tip.