Enable This Cool 3D Cube Desktop Effect on Ubuntu 21.10
Is this a blog or time machine? I ask because I’m we’re launching headfirst into 2009 and the era of showy, superfluous Linux desktop effects. We’ve seen wobbly windows, magic lamp effects, and beautifully blurred backgrounds all ported to GNOME extension. Now comes the showpiece: the rotating 3D cube desktop. Popularised by Compiz (and implemented into other window managers), the 3D cube desktop made workspace switching a blingy affair. Each dedicated workspace was moulded into a spinning cube, with each workspace a ‘facet’. In addition, the effect made application windows “float” off of the workspace in a a separate layer 
#Download #Themes #Compiz #DesktopEffects #EyeCandy #GnomeExtensions
Linux Mint’s (Ace) Sticky Notes App Works Great on Ubuntu
If you’re half as forgetful as I am then you’ll… —Nope, sorry; I’ve forgotten where I was going with this, so let’s talk about Linux Mint’s neat sticky notes app instead. I used to use real post-it notes in real life. A ton of them. I’d use them remind me to buy cat food, put the bins out, and unclog the sink. But most of my sticky notes ended up face down on my desk, dog eared and ignored (or, on more than one occasion stuck to the back of the cat 💁🏻♂️). These days I keep on top of
#Apps #HowTo #Cinnamon #LinuxMint #NoteTakingApps #StickyNotes #Xapps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/12/install-linux-mint-sticky-notes-app-ubuntu
Firefox 95 Enhances Security, Slack, and CPU Usage
Mozilla Firefox 95 is now available to download. The latest stable release of this flagship FOSS browser comes with a couple of interesting feature tweaks, improved online security, and lower CPU usage too. We’ll start with the most obvious change: the picture-in-picture button can be moved to the opposite side of embeds. Oh, I know: groundbreaking, right? 😉 Not exactly; while this isn’t the most consequential change in the history of the browser it is sure to be appreciated by those who make heavy use of this (handy) feature. Do you use Slack? Firefox 95 bundles a User Agent override
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox #Mozilla #PictureInPicture
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/12/firefox-95-released-with-improved-pip-mode
Blender 3.0 is Out, And It’ll Blow Your Socks Off
A new version of the free 3D creation software Blender is out and it looks phenomenal. Blender 3.0 comes with new features and updates like an upgraded ‘Cycles X’ rendering engine, 2-3 times better mesh editing performance, and much faster file loading times thanks, in part, to Zstandard compression. An open-source tentpole, Blender is the go-to 3D creation suite for creatives of all shades (animators, game makers, visual effects wizards) across all operating systems. Blender offers a complete end-to-end 3D pipeline, from modelling, rigging and animation, to compositing, motion tracking and video editing. Am I versed enough in the complexities
#Download #News #3D #AppUpdates #Blender #VideoEditors
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/12/blender-3-0-released-with-new-features
Vivaldi Web Browser Turns 5, Celebrates with New Features
If feels like only yesterday that I leaned back in this chair wondering how best to introduce you all to the ‘new’ Chromium-based web browser Vivaldi. Vivaldi 5.0 on Android introduces something of a first: a two-row tab bar Thankfully I didn’t need to think too hard. The brains behind the browser made a unique play from the off, positioning Vivaldi as the choice du jour for power-users left frustrated by the tightly-controlled experiences offered elsewhere. To celebrate its fifth birthday the browser makes a new update available, Vivaldi 5.0. Vivaldi 5.0 includes a couple of interesting additions (which I’ll
#Apps #News #Chromium #Translation #Vivaldi #WebBrowsers
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/12/vivaldi-adds-translate-panel-and-theme-editor
Xiaomi’s CyberDog Robot Runs Ubuntu
Ubuntu runs on all sorts of things, from gateways to games consoles, and now we can add robot dog to the list! Chinese hardware company Xiaomi recently unveiled an experimental four-legged robot called CyberDog. Their mechanical manifestation of man’s best friend isn’t just cute but state-of-the-art, easy-to-use, and affordable. “Face recognition technology makes CyberDog adopt pet-like features, such as following an owner…” And cost is a real motivator here. CyberDog costs from $1540 which, when compared to $74k for Boston Dynamic’s canine competitor, is pretty incredible. By making the CyberDog (comparatively) affordable to research institutions and startups Xiaomi wants to
#Hardware #News #Robots #Ubuntu #Xiaomi
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/12/xiaomi-cyberdog-runs-ubuntu
elementary OS 6 Intros a Simpler Alt Tab Experience
Switching between open windows in elementary OS 6 has changed. A recent update replaced the distro’s flashy (in both senses of the word) alt + tab experience with a simpler version. The new approach is more akin to the sort of switchers found in other Linux desktop environments and other desktop operating systems. To better illustrate the change here’s a gif that shows what window switching looked like in elementary OS 6 previously: And here is what window switching looks like after installing the latest updates: Simpler, right? Elementary devs say user feedback informed the change. Users found “ looking
#News #Alttab #Elementary #Pantheon
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/elementary-os-6-intros-a-simpler-alt-tab-experience
Microsoft Edge for Linux Has an Exclusive Easter Egg
Did you know that Microsoft Edge for Linux has a hidden easter egg featuring Tux, the Linux mascot? I certainly until didn’t until today — but is does! You probably know about Google Chrome’s dino runner game. The game appears when is the browser detects no viable internet connection (though the game can be played at any time by going to chrome://dino in a new tab). Well, Microsoft has its own boredom-buster built into its Edge browser. It comes the shape of an endless surf game inspired by the (classic) Windows game SkiFree. You can play the Edge surf game
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/microsoft-edge-for-linux-has-an-exclusive-easter-egg
Cutefish OS 0.6 Beta Released with Lock Screen Controls, More Settings
A new beta build of CutefishOS is available to download. We took a look at this promising (and then Ubuntu-based) distro a few months back and came away impressed. It’s not yet “daily driver” ready but it remains a great way to try the latest developments in the Qt-based Cutefish desktop environment on top of a more familiar apt foundation. In CutefishOS 0.6 beta the distro ships with a slew of new settings, including: Network proxy Sound settings Bluetooth settings 24-hour time option Power management Some new functionality is on offer too, such as being able to drag and drop
#Download #News #Cutefish
Pinta Image Editor Update Brings Feature Tweaks & Bug Fixes
The image editing app Pinta has a new bug-fix release out. Pinta 1.7.1 is intended as the final update in the GTK2-based series, with a GTK3 build (dubbed Pinta 1.8) said to be nearly ready for release. Building on the feature set introduced in last year’s revival release Pinta 1.7.1 adds a couple of notable improvements: Scroll canvas horizontally by holding shift and using mouse whee Swap primary and secondary palette colors by pressing x Zoom in and out without pressing the ctrl key Informative dialog when attempting to open an unsupported file format Use arrow keys to move by
#News #AppUpdates #ImageEditors #Pinta #SnapApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/pinta-image-editor-update-brings-feature-tweaks-bug-fixes
Is ‘jnrl’ the Best Journaling App for the Command Line?
Want to log your thoughts and memories without leaving the command line? A reader recently mailed in to tell me about an app called jrnl, a journaling app with a difference: it’s designed to be used from a terminal, not a web browser or mobile app. Now, journaling isn’t for everyone (I don’t keep a journal myself) but you can use this app as a general purpose notebook or jotter to log your thoughts, ideas, musings, experiments, and so on in. If I’d known about jrnl when writing my list of command line apps for Ubuntu I dare say I’d
#Apps #Journal #Jrnl #NoteTakingApps #TerminalApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/jrnl-is-a-command-line-note-taking-app
15 Best GNOME Extensions for Ubuntu (2021 Edition)
GNOME extensions are an easy way to add new features to the Ubuntu desktop, but with hundreds of add-ons to choose from, where do you begin? Make your Ubuntu experience faster, easier, and prettier with GNOME extensions Well, how about here, with this list of the best GNOME Shell extensions for Ubuntu. This roundup makes an ideal starting point for anyone looking to experiment with GNOME extensions on their Ubuntu install, regardless of which version it is. Better yet, this roundup is fully up-to-date for 2021 and only includes GNOME extensions that are actively maintained and work with Ubuntu 20.04
#List #BestOf #Gnome #GnomeExtensions
Find Files Faster with FSearch, an ‘Everything Search Engine’ for Linux
FSearch is a fast file search tool for Linux desktops inspired by the Everything Search Engine tool for Windows. And after spending several years in beta status, the utility has finally gone stable. “[Everything Search Engine] provides instant results as you type for all your files and lots of useful features (regex, filters, bookmarks, …). On Linux however I couldn’t find anything that’s even remotely as fast and powerful,” the developer, Christian Boxdörfer, writes on the project’s official webpage. Not wanting to create “yet-another” file-search tool for Linux, Christian tried out a slew of existing search tools for Linux, including standalone apps like
#Apps #FileSearch
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/fsearch-fast-file-search-tool-for-ubuntu-linux
Ubuntu Brings Thunderbird 91 to Older Releases to Fix Security Flaw
Thunderbird 91 is being back-ported to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. A security vulnerability affecting the Thunderbird 78.x series both builds offer is being actively exploited in the wild. But as upstream support for Thunderbird 78.x soon ends the flaw is unlikely be patched soon. For an Ubuntu LTS release that’s a major issue. So to ensure its users are not affected, Ubuntu developers are backporting the latest Thunderbird 91 release (which is an extended support release, thankfully) to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 21.04. This isn’t the first time Ubuntu has needed to do
#News #Backports #Security #Thunderbird #Ubuntu18_04Lts #Ubuntu20_04Lts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/thunderbird-91-backport-ubuntu-18-04-20-04-lts
Android Mirror Tool ‘Scrcpy’ Gains New Features, New Icon
Scrcpy is a super-useful Android mirroring tool for desktop PCs. The tool gains physical keyboards simulation and a high-res app icon in the latest update.
#News #Android #AppUpdates #Scrcpy #SnapApps
10 Cool Command Line Apps for Ubuntu
Command line tools might seem nerdy but they are often faster and more resource efficient than ‘full fat’ GUI alternatives. Plus — as you’re about to discover — they can be a lot more fun to use too. Whether you want to search the web, stream music, or subtweet your secret crush: you can do it all from the comfort of the command line and the frame of your fave terminal emulator. In this post I run-through 10 of my favourite terminal apps. These command line tools aren’t the only ones available for each respective task, but they are are
#List #Cli #CommandLine #TerminalApps
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/best-command-line-tools-ubuntu-linux
GNOME 41.1 Released with Bug Fixes, Bug Fixes, And More Bug Fixes
The first point release in the GNOME 41 series is now available for download. GNOME 41.1 is billed as a “boring bug fix” follow-up to GNOME 41 release that happened back in September. “All operating systems shipping GNOME 41 are encouraged to upgrade” to this release, GNOME devs says. GNOME Shell sticks band-aids on bugs affecting the GTK colour picker, scrolling behaviour in GTK apps, and inconsistent high-contrast switches. It also restores the ability for notifications to play a sound file, and once again only allows you to open one instance of the GNOME Extensions app. GNOME Settings app no
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/gnome-41-1-released-with-bug-fixes-bug-fixes-and-more-bug-fixes
System76 is Building its Own Desktop Environment
System76 has revealed it is working a new desktop environment not based on GNOME. The US-based company already maintains its own Ubuntu-based Linux distro called Pop!_OS. Presently, that distro ships with a modified version of the GNOME desktop called ‘COSMIC’ (all caps, not me shouting). Word of the project comes by way of System76’s Michael Murphy. He shares some of the rationale and motivation behind the fledgling new DE in series of comments posted on Reddit. And they sound pretty exciting. A new Rust-based desktop The formative versions of Pop!_OS were modest reskins of Ubuntu, but recent versions are distinctly
#News #DesktopEnvironments #Rust #System76
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/system76-is-building-its-own-desktop-environment
TUXEDO Nano Pro is a Palm-Sized Linux PC
They often say big things come in small packages, a saying the latest mini PC from German computer retailer TUXEDO proves to be correct. The TUXEDO Nano Pro (Gen 11) is a palm-sized computer that measures a mere a 110x118x48mm. Despite the petite proportions the device packs in powerful AMD Ryzen 4000U series processors, and has enough room for 2 RAM modules (up to 64GB) and 2 storage slots (1x M.2 and 1x 2.5-inch). Basically this thing is a tech TARDIS. Three processor choices are available: a quad-core AMD Ryzen 3 4300U; a 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 4500U; and an
#Hardware #News #Amd #LinuxPcs #Tuxedo
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/tuxedo-nano-pro-amd-linux-pc-specs-price
Ubuntu is Working on a New Firmware Updater App
Canonical is working on a new firmware update tool for the Ubuntu desktop. This new GUI utility is being built using Flutter and Dart, further cementing Ubuntu’s commitment to go all in on Flutter for future desktop apps. The tool will be distributed as a Snap and provide a Ubuntu-style front-end to the fwupd tool and the Linux Vendor Firmware Service. A clear-cut way to check for, manage, and install firmware updates is perhaps needed. It used to be possible through Ubuntu Software (before it was a Snap; it may still be possible too). However, on my Ubuntu 21.10 install
#Dev #News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/11/ubuntu-is-working-on-a-new-firmware-updater-app
