Quickly Type Special Characters Ubuntu

Here are 3 simple ways to search, insert & quickly key in special characters in Ubuntu.

1 - Use KCharSelect / Character Map
Character Map is pre-installed in Gnome Desktop & located at Application  > Accesories > Character Map.

• Press Ctrl+F key to search special character
• Simply double click, copy & paste any special character you want to use.

Gnome Character Map

KCharSelect

KCharSelect is pre-installed in KDE.

• For Gnome users, use this line in Terminal to install:

sudo apt-get install kcharselect

• After installation, go to Application  > Accesories > KCharSelect to run this tool.
• Same as Character Map; double click, copy & paste any special character you want to use. 

2 - Compose Key Mode.
Ubuntu also has a composition table, a mapping from sequences of keys called key chords to individual special characters. The composition table for Ubuntu can be found here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GtkComposeTable. For frequent use of special characters, composition shortcuts is a faster alternative. This mode can be applied on most text boxes in Ubuntu ( OpenOffice, GIMP, Gedit, Firefox, etc )

Set Composition Key

• Go to System > Preferences > Keyboard
• Select Layout tab
• Click on Layout Option
• Click Compose Key position
• Tick any key you want to assign as Compose Key ( in my case : Right Alt key - image )

Assign Compose Key

How to use?

• Press 2 combination key after Compose Key

example : © ( Copyright sign )

• Press & release Compose Key ( in my case : Right Alt key )
• Press o key
• Then press c key

[ compose key + o + c = © ]
Special character © should appear

3 - Unicode entry mode
This mode same as Compose Key mode but with different activation key combinations. This mode also can be applied on most application text boxes.
You can find Unicode number or key combinations from Character Map or KCharSelect(see image)

Unicode mode - Sticky Notes

How to use?

• Press Ctrl+Shift+U key followed by Unicode number or key combination of special characters.

Example:
To type Sigma sign ( Σ )

• Press Ctrl+Shift+U to enable Unicode mode
• Type Unicode number of sign for Sigma sign - 03A3
• Then press Enter key

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Add Website Shortcuts on Desktop

How to create webpage launcher on Ubuntu desktop

Here are 3 ways to create desktop shortcut for webpage URL :

1. Launcher...
2. Prism
3. DeskCut ( Firefox Add-on ) 

The Launcher
Simply create launcher for wabpage URL. Set web-browser of your choice for the launcher to open the URL.

• Right click on your desktop
• Click Create Launcher...
• Enter name for the launcher

If you want Firefox to open the URL, fill in the the Command box with:
firefox http://websiteurl.com
For Chromium
chromium-browser http://websiteurl.com
For Opera
opera http://websiteurl.com

( see image )

Prism
Prism is an application that lets users split web applications  out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop.
Install Prism
Prism can be installed using Ubuntu Software Center or Terminal command:

sudo apt-get install prism

How to use:

• Run Prism from Applications > Internet > Prism
• enter URL and Name for the website 
• Tick on Create Shortcuts > Desktop

The shortcut icon will use favicon of website or any image that you select as icon once you double click the shortcut & Click Mark as Trusted

DeskCut ( Firefox Add-on )
Download from here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/66
Use:

• In Firefox, right click on website that you want to create desktop shortcut
• click on Create DeskCut

Done.
Unlike Prism, you'll need to manually select an image for the shortcut's icon
Right click > Properties to do so.

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Banshee with ClutterFlow plug-in ( CoverFlow clone )

How to install ClutterFlow 0.3.0 plug-in in Banshee 1.5.2 ( 1.6 Beta )

ClutterFlow is a CoverFlow clone for the Banshee media player. ClutterFlow uses the Clutter toolkit to harness the OpenGL powers.
Last weekend I tried to install this awesome banshee extension on my Karmic Koala.
And because I wanted to try the new OpenShot video editor, I made this short demo video:

This CoverFlow style plug-in is still in development, Banshee might crash at certain point while using this plug-in. Here's the installation steps:

Install Banshee
Banshee 1.5.2:

• Add ppa & install Banshee by running these command in Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:banshee-team/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install banshee

Dependencies
This plug-in require these dependencies :

Mono, Monodevelop, Clutter toolkit ; Clutter, Clutter-gtk & Clutter-sharp

• Install using this command in Terminal:

sudo apt-get install monodevelop mono-gmcs mono-utils mono-xsp monodoc-http libclutter-gtk-0.10-0 libclutter-gtk-0.10-dev gtk-doc-tools git-core

For Clutter & Clutter-sharp you need to download compile manually. Run these command in Terminal.

• Clutter:

git clone git://git.clutter-project.org/clutter
cd clutter
./autogen.sh
make
sudo make install

• Clutter-sharp:

git clone git://git.clutter-project.org/bindings/clutter-sharp
cd clutter-sharp
./autogen.sh
make
sudo make install

If all compiling process goes well then proceed to this steps:

• Download ClutterFlow 0.3.0 from SourceForge.net .
• Right click downloaded the tar.gz & select extract here
• Open Banshee extension folder using Nautilus by Alt+F2 and type

gksu nautilus /usr/lib/banshee-1/Extensions

• Move the extracted Banshee.ClutterFlow-0.3.0-binaries folder into /usr/lib/banshee-1/Extensions folder that opened by command above.

Done. Start Banshee. The plug-in is enable by default. The video above explains how to use it.
[ source : http://sourceforge.net/apps/wordpress/clutterflow/ | http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/01/coverflow-banshee-linux-ubuntu.html ]

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Batch Watermark script Ubuntu : Zenity + ImageMagick

Watermark entire image files in a folder with one batch process. As my weekend project, I wrote another simple bin bash script that apply Zenity as graphical user interface & ImageMagick composite command to overlay a selected watermark image on all image files inside a targeted folder.
This script might be useful for those who want to protect their digital photos or images using visible watermarking technique.
ImageMagick should be able to handle over 100 of image format but I've only tested this script with .svg, .png, .bmp, & .jpg files in my Ubuntu system.



Installation & use shown in this video:

Install script:
Make sure Zenity & ImageMagick installed on your system.

• You can install both apps by typing this command in Terminal:

sudo apt-get install zenity imagemagick 

• Download Batch Watermark script from here. [Download]
• Extract Batch Watermark.zip anywhere.
• Open Batch Watermark folder.
  
• Simply double click & run Install.sh file
  

or install manually by:

• Copy paste Batch Watermark file to ~/.Gnome2/nautilus-scripts
• Make sure permission to execute as program is given to script files. 
• Right click on script files > Permissions tab and check the “Allow executing file as program” checkbox.

 

How to use:

• Browse to directory or folder containing image files that you wish to watermark.
• Run Batch Watermark script. Right click > Scripts > Batch Watermark
  

• Browse & select an image file that going to be used as watermark.
• Select size of watermark image

• Select opacity of the image.

• Finally select position of watermark image.

When process is done, new set of all watermarked images with *_wm.* name prefix will be placed inside Watermarked folder.

Known problem:
Script fail to execute if directory of watermark source image have space in their name. Please let me know if anyone can fix this.

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Auto Shutdown Timer GUI Script : Zenity

Auto Shutdown Timer ( Sleep ) script for Gnome Ubuntu

Switch it off. Save energy & money by shutting down your computer automatically.
This is simple script that tell your Linux machine when to shutdown.
Since leaving my computer on for 24 hour, 7 day a week becoming a habit, I made 2 simple and easy to use scripts to shutdown my Ubuntu system automatically. Now I can fall asleep while listening to my favorite music without having to worry about shutting down my computer.
These scripts use Zenity interface & simple bin bash command.
There are 2 mode of shutdown timer in this script:

1. Schedule shutdown timer - shutdown at any given time ( in 24 hour format hh:mm )
2. Countdown shutdown timer - shutdown after given ( mm ) minute.

Screenshot

Select shutdown timer mode

schedule mode - enter time hh:mm in 24 hour format

 

countdown mode - enter countdown shutdown time [minute]

 Abort shutdown

Download

• Download Auto-shutdown.zip file here.
  
• If you don't have Zenity pre installed in your system, install using Terminal:

sudo apt-get install zenity

There are 2 bin bash script files inside the folder - Auto-shutdown & Cancel-shutdown

Install & Use

• Extract Auto-shutdown.zip to any folder.
• Right click, select extract here [image below]

• Cut & paste Auto-shutdown folder to ~/.Gnome2/nautilus-scripts [ example image below]
  

• Auto-shutdown script should be available on right click > Scripts menu [image below]
• You can run shutdown timer script by clicking on Auto-Shutdown or abort shutdown timer using Cancle-Shutdown option.
  

• Make sure permission to execute as program is given to both script files. 
• Right click on script files > Permissions tab and check the “Allow executing file as program” checkbox.

 

Note: This script is tested on Ubuntu Karmic Koala system. It might work on other Linux distros. I'm not a programmer & this is my first time writing scripts with Zenity interface. Any feedback, feel free to leave comments on comment section below.

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Find & Set Fastest DNS Server for Internet Connection - Namebench

Determine best DNS for your computer connection using Open-source DNS Benchmark Utility - Namebench
It hunts down the fastest DNS servers available for your computer to use. namebench runs a fair and thorough benchmark using your web browser history, tcpdump output, or standardized datasets in order to provide an individualized recommendation.

How to use Namebench to determine fastest DNS server for your Internet connection in Ubuntu?

• Download namebench-1.1.tgz
• Extract to any folder (eg. /home or ~/Desktop folder)
• Open Terminal 
• Browse using Terminal or cd to extracted folder. Example code:

cd ~/Desktop/namebench-1.1

• Run this command:

./namebench.py

• Wait till the end of test process [ image: test done : Terminal]

• As stated at the end of the test, Namebench generates .cvs & .html files in your /tmp folder. Here is the example of generated .html Nameserver test result looks:  

• Use this command if you decide to install permanently
  

sudo python setup.py install

In my case, Namebench claims Google Public DNS-2 is 118% faster than Open DNS -2. So it's time for me to switch.

How to change / set DNS server IP in Ubuntu

• Go to System>Preference>Network Connections 
• Select your active connection
• Click Edit button
• Select IPv4 Settings
• Select Automatic (DHCP) adresses only in Method drop button
• Enter IP address inside DNS Servers box with recommended DNS [ use comma "," for multiple value ].

Namebench also runs on Mac OS X & Windows, and is available with a graphical user interface as well as a command-line interface.

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Basic Calculator - Gambas

Basic Calculator - Gambas 2
Gambas is a free development environment based on a Basic interpreter with object extensions, a bit like Visual Basic™. I made this simple calculator in Malay language for testing purpose.

This basic calculator created using same simple Visual Basic Commands.
If you interested in interface development programming here is example code for the calculator that I use, click here if you're not sure how to install Gambas2:

or download the Gambas files and Kalkulator.deb here

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Gambas 2 - Visual Basic for LInux

Gambas is a development environment software based from basic interpreter and works just like Microsoft Visual Basic in windows. For those who want to learn interface programming in Linux, this might be the software that you looking for. These are simple steps installing gambas on Ubuntu Desktop

How To Install Gambas 2

• Search for "Gambas2" in Ubuntu Software Center or Synaptic Package Manager:

Application > Ubuntu Software Center > Programming > Gambas2

• or using command in Terminal

sudo apt-get install gambas2

Gambas 2 Screenshots

Gambas 2 contain all visual basic components which allow user to develop program by using visual basic environment.

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