Popular Mobile IM / VoIP App `Viber` Available For Linux

<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://viber.com/">Viber</a> is an application that sits somewhere between Skype and WhatsApp, which can be used to make free calls, send text messages, photos and video messages without having to register (all phone contacts that have installed Viber are listed as Viber contacts).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Initially, Viber was a mobile-only application but a few months ago, a desktop client has been released for OS X and Windows.<b> Earlier this month, Viber Media Inc. has released Viber for Linux as a public beta. For now, there are only 64bit binaries available for download. </b></div><br /><a name="more"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/viber-linux.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Viber Linux" border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzl4kkQ0lCwtAfYLPUNYA2qqCdGQKUWplHYEuWxrTKEyDB4udXQLvGEpFUOKRYcV8zCy8VN0fwtrbhceNqAoJeiJrVIJw6bRYESd7hzVjH-x6l-5-lpfiFmtAPu7evIhEth372hOsVzRs/s320/viber-linux.png" title="Viber Linux" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">On a first look, the Viber Linux client behaves pretty much like the mobile app: all your mobile contacts are displayed in the contacts list and you can text or call them and so on.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But there are some differences. Firstly, you can transfer ongoing calls from/to your phone: for instance, if you get a call on the desktop app, you can transfer the call to Viber on your mobile phone with a click. And secondly, the desktop application supports video calls (desktop to desktop only), a feature that's not yet available for the mobile app.</div><br /><b>Viber for Linux features:</b><br /><ul><li>HD quality voice calls;</li><li>video calls (desktop to desktop only);</li><li>text, photo and sticker messages;</li><li>group conversations;</li><li>full sync between the mobile and Linux clients;</li><li>transfer ongoing calls between devices;</li><li>no registration or password required.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://download.cdn.viber.com/cdn/desktop/Linux/Viber.zip">Download Viber for Linux</a> (64bit only for now!)</b></div><br />To run Viber on Linux, extract the downloaded zip archive in your home folder, then run the following command to start Viber:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>~/Viber/Viber.sh</code></pre><br />For feedback, see the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/110404948770388605701">Viber Linux Beta testers</a> G+ community.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1l3o57/native_viber_client_published_for_linux/">Reddit</a></i></div>

Popular Mobile IM / VoIP App `Viber` Available For Linux

Viber is an application that sits somewhere between Skype and WhatsApp, which can be used to make free calls, send text messages, photos an...

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How To Chat With Your Steam Friends From Pidgin

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://code.google.com/p/pidgin-opensteamworks/">Pidgin OpenSteamWorks</a> is a plugin that allows you to chat with your Steam friends from Pidgin</b>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Why use it? Well, if you're both a Steam and Pidgin user, you may find it more convenient to chat with your Steam friends from Pidgin, without having to open Steam, especially since the Steam Linux client is very resource hungry.</div><br /><a name="more"></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The plugin has initially used Open Steamworks, an open implementation of Valve's Steamworks API but that required Steam to run in the background so with version 1.0, the plugin has switched to the Steam mobile API so it's no longer needs Steam to work.<br /><br />The Steam plugin for Pidgin plugin is available for Linux and Mac OSX and there's also an older version available for Windows (however, the old Windows version requires Steam to run in the background).</div><br /><br /><h2>How to install and use Pidgin OpenSteamWorks plugin</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 and 12.04 users can install the Pidgin OpenSteamWorks plugin by using a PPA:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lasall/pidgin-opensteamworks<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install pidgin-opensteamworks</code></pre><b>That's it for Ubuntu users.</b><br /><br />Note:<i> I've tested it on Ubuntu 13.04 64bit only.<b> </b></i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions</b>, <a href="https://code.google.com/p/pidgin-opensteamworks/downloads/list">download</a> the .so file (libsteam-*.so for 32bit or libsteam64-*.so for 64bit) and copy it under one of the folders below:</div><ul><li><i>~/.purple/plugins</i> (if that folder doesn't exist, create it) for your user or </li><li><i>/usr/lib/pidgin/</i> to install it system-wide</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">You'll also have to download the plugin icons (icons.zip), extract them and copy the two folders (16 and 48) to<i> /usr/share/pixmaps/pidgin/protocols/</i> . And finally, you'll also need to install the json-glib library (the package name varies depending on the Linux distribution you're using).</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once installed, restart Pidgin, from its menu select <i>Accounts > Manage Accounts</i>, then click Add and under Protocol select "Steam" and add your username and password, etc.:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia20fA-rMZi1Xivo3JqkmfaYPyQnkI7-Abijl8AWnsdTCiMKHUQbOfsljXTtc8bK9kPelsgZgNMKauT8RTnFIj7U5TUFaJPf52-T2SNVVQ78hdS0BVi5a8RQTf10MvEcEAqVzK7O1EC6k9/s1600/pidgin-steam.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin steam" border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia20fA-rMZi1Xivo3JqkmfaYPyQnkI7-Abijl8AWnsdTCiMKHUQbOfsljXTtc8bK9kPelsgZgNMKauT8RTnFIj7U5TUFaJPf52-T2SNVVQ78hdS0BVi5a8RQTf10MvEcEAqVzK7O1EC6k9/s320/pidgin-steam.png" title="pidgin steam" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once you click "Add", you should receive an email from Steam Support with a code you need to enter in Pidgin to authorize it to connect with Steam:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRY3MxvzNuYVosvZZSeyJkrsjy_h5bOGYWxElleeiqSqKioXT2PeWqIwh5NSK47EuWWlKYUojxhMFFSPZddxxult80ntNEj3JAZW4EBrj9pJaonu5zduHLOC0Lf0z_pUNf1uMi5a2qKig/s1600/pidgin-steam-guard-code.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin steam" border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRY3MxvzNuYVosvZZSeyJkrsjy_h5bOGYWxElleeiqSqKioXT2PeWqIwh5NSK47EuWWlKYUojxhMFFSPZddxxult80ntNEj3JAZW4EBrj9pJaonu5zduHLOC0Lf0z_pUNf1uMi5a2qKig/s320/pidgin-steam-guard-code.png" title="pidgin steam" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Enter the correct code, click OK and that's it. You should now be able to chat with your Steam friends from Pidgin.</div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>seen on <a href="http://www.onli-blogging.de/index.php?/1265/Steamchat-in-Pidgin.html">onli-blogging.de</a></i></div>

How To Chat With Your Steam Friends From Pidgin

Pidgin OpenSteamWorks is a plugin that allows you to chat with your Steam friends from Pidgin . Why use it? Well, if you're both a Stea...

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Skype 4.1 For Linux Released, Adds Option To Chat With Windows Live Messenger Users

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Skype 4.1 for Linux</b> has been released yesterday. Unfortunately, there's no official changelog, but one new feature is obvious: an option to <b>sign in with a Microsoft account and chat with your Windows Live Messenger friends from Skype</b>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/skype-4.1-linux.png"><img alt="Skype 4.1 ubuntu" src="http:///netupd8.com/w8img2/skype-4.1-linux_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">When you start Skype 4.1 for Linux, you'll have two login options: one using your regular Skype account and another option to log in using your Microsoft (Windows Live Messenger) account. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you choose the WLM option, you will be asked to merge your Skype and Live accounts if you haven't done this already. This is only done once and don't worry, you can still sign in using your regular Skype account if you want: simply sign out and you'll get both login options again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once you've logged in using your Microsoft account, you'll be able to talk to both your Windows Live Messenger and Skype friends from a single interface.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/">Download Skype 4.1 for Linux</a></div><br /><br /><h2>Skype 4.1 Ubuntu fixes</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you get an <b>error when installing Skype 4.1 or you can't install it at all due to dependency issues</b>, firstly remove any previous Skype version you may have installed:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove skype skype-bin</code></pre>And then try to install the downloaded Skype .deb file.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If you're using Ubuntu 64bit and the tray / indicator icon no longer shows up</b>, make sure sni-qt is installed for 32bit architecture:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install sni-qt:i386</code></pre><br />For other issues, including green, scrambled or black video image, see the Skype 4.1 <a href="http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=rKXfyfC6">known issues</a>.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Thanks to bhaismachine for the tip!</i></div>

Skype 4.1 For Linux Released, Adds Option To Chat With Windows Live Messenger Users

Skype 4.1 for Linux has been released yesterday. Unfortunately, there's no official changelog, but one new feature is obvious: an optio...

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Stop IM Spam Bots In Pidgin With These Two Plugins

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If you're constantly getting automated instant messages from spam bots in Pidgin, there are two Pidgin plugins that you can use to block these spam messages or suppress repeated authorization requests which are usually sent from spammers.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl85shsAs39SVZXQ2JtEaoDY59VyS7kLmV_WiW4bM0uLFnMLGQaX3-vVyFnYbGc33dDp8dTUkZ652bGkWWazH8kcq2pkv4hlwEx9lSwbQ6Q4MHZI7aLSIqbkA1UUY2l7raVIYEJ3XSywZ/s1600/pidgin-spam.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin spam bot" border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl85shsAs39SVZXQ2JtEaoDY59VyS7kLmV_WiW4bM0uLFnMLGQaX3-vVyFnYbGc33dDp8dTUkZ652bGkWWazH8kcq2pkv4hlwEx9lSwbQ6Q4MHZI7aLSIqbkA1UUY2l7raVIYEJ3XSywZ/s320/pidgin-spam.png" title="pidgin spam bot" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><h2>Pidgin Privacy Please</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Pidgin Privacy Please is a plugin that lets you suppress repeated authorization requests, automatically block messages with an automated reply message, block messages or sender using regular expression, a bot check that lets you set up a question and if there's a real user and he replies to the automated question, he is unblocked, and more.</div><br /><br /><br /><b>Installation</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Ubuntu users can install Pidgin Privacy Please from the Ubuntu Software Center - click the button below to install it:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="apt://pidgin-privacy-please"><button class="thoughtbot">Install Pidgin Privacy Please</button></a></div><br />Or, alternatively, to install it from the command line, use:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install pidgin-privacy-please</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For other Linux distributions and Windows, download Pidgin Privacy Please from <a href="http://code.google.com/p/pidgin-privacy-please/downloads/list">HERE</a>.</div><br /><br /><b>Set up</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, you'll have to enable Pidgin Privacy Please - to do this, in Pidgin select <i>Tools > Plugins</i> and enable "Privacy Please". Then, you can configure it by clicking the "Configure Plugin" button.</div><br /><br /><br />On the first tab you can configure the auto-reply message:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlsvvMos4cArutndbuHp8bZTI56lwA9XACVsXCH2VuDsCRi7ShseUVUlC1lDlGp_22w-6qTPZFysDnda3GBTIJXV0OR3iR0_PcGl7TI0cOi7s9WV1WJUidhqbG8Tdi1M-7r5lbsoG4naL/s1600/pidgin-privacy_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin privacy please" border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlsvvMos4cArutndbuHp8bZTI56lwA9XACVsXCH2VuDsCRi7ShseUVUlC1lDlGp_22w-6qTPZFysDnda3GBTIJXV0OR3iR0_PcGl7TI0cOi7s9WV1WJUidhqbG8Tdi1M-7r5lbsoG4naL/s320/pidgin-privacy_1.png" title="pidgin privacy please" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">On the "Messages" tab, you can set up blocking rules for both the sender and messages using regular expression, or set Pidgin Privacy Please to block message from people not on your contact list:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFioLfcUcBTGVYdTpiBN3-xUu1VqswmYIeKqdb88oPLEVszp3JkzxY4AMyzGPqsUHDYLN1jH76J7cZ_BEBrU-oBkkZC6VV-4Bf4s4X-h71gWDzBeLOZVBaVQ7yNnXVEF67csCbTITSYNL/s1600/pidgin-privacy_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin privacy please" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFioLfcUcBTGVYdTpiBN3-xUu1VqswmYIeKqdb88oPLEVszp3JkzxY4AMyzGPqsUHDYLN1jH76J7cZ_BEBrU-oBkkZC6VV-4Bf4s4X-h71gWDzBeLOZVBaVQ7yNnXVEF67csCbTITSYNL/s320/pidgin-privacy_2.png" title="pidgin privacy please" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The "Authorization" tab can be used to enable suppressing repeated authorization requests, show user info on authorization request and so on:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWUyZ0IxxLKFQNn5gYbXcIMvuqDtAwBbJU1oDLMjQrtH3JLQp5NSzzAu8P-otk8mo24_yu0RtmhY-hdaMcOgaURKSAJVl3qe2j2AtZy0iOVI8pnCRcL3M2xXBC5V201cWnDCbVuZ4i4vT/s1600/pidgin-privacy_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin privacy please" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWUyZ0IxxLKFQNn5gYbXcIMvuqDtAwBbJU1oDLMjQrtH3JLQp5NSzzAu8P-otk8mo24_yu0RtmhY-hdaMcOgaURKSAJVl3qe2j2AtZy0iOVI8pnCRcL3M2xXBC5V201cWnDCbVuZ4i4vT/s320/pidgin-privacy_3.png" title="pidgin privacy please" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />You can set up a verification question on the "Bot check" tab:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BFF_kRivK7YSPYtAkXaMiHAFMjt8L2pER8edBosAawHf6o0Hk9j1ooSTz6CqYQfg_vIoP3YSEqYjYwyNgM3eBVopKXo9ETz0wBEVqAGs2QuwDNlsJDSdjlWtOsF31xdk9u_SiM1C7L8W/s1600/pidgin-privacy_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin privacy please" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BFF_kRivK7YSPYtAkXaMiHAFMjt8L2pER8edBosAawHf6o0Hk9j1ooSTz6CqYQfg_vIoP3YSEqYjYwyNgM3eBVopKXo9ETz0wBEVqAGs2QuwDNlsJDSdjlWtOsF31xdk9u_SiM1C7L8W/s320/pidgin-privacy_4.png" title="pidgin privacy please" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Bruce Ingalls, who has sent us this tip, doesn't recommend using the bot check feature because it looks like it blocks users, and does not give them a chance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br />And finally, on the last tab there are some protocol-specific options, like blocking Jabber headline messages or blocking AOL system messages:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7Mj0KbGdYzytp1LLdpSFIoemQytlC0uhKGhEiygRet7LXbpQ2_JJw__bDMD_IqWctqj5hPkl-oMeW-_MLV0i9IikQZlbEvQK-mTyIF_zfGg8aTJpL4H3UD02SQ44mtKYPmWkXwferLPW/s1600/pidgin-privacy_5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pidgin privacy please" border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7Mj0KbGdYzytp1LLdpSFIoemQytlC0uhKGhEiygRet7LXbpQ2_JJw__bDMD_IqWctqj5hPkl-oMeW-_MLV0i9IikQZlbEvQK-mTyIF_zfGg8aTJpL4H3UD02SQ44mtKYPmWkXwferLPW/s320/pidgin-privacy_5.png" title="pidgin privacy please" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><h2>Pidgin Bot Sentry</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Bot Sentry is a simple Pidgin plugin that lets you define a challenge question and set up the actions to perform if the challenge is met </b>(add the person to the allow list or add it to the buddy list). There's also an option that lets you configure the action to be performed when an authorization request is received.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This plugin is basically a simplified version of Pidgin Privacy Please, useful if you only want to use a challenge question and don't need all the other options available in the other plugin.<br /><br /><b>Do not use both this plugin and Pidgin Privacy please in the same time!</b></div><br /><br /><b>Installation</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Ubuntu users can install Pidgin Bot Sentry from the Ubuntu Software Center - click the button below to install it:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="apt://pidgin-bot-sentry"><button class="thoughtbot">Install Pidgin Bot Sentry</button></a></div><br />Or, alternatively, to install it from the command line, use:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install pidgin-bot-sentry</code></pre><br />For other Linux distributions and Windows, download it via <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/pidgin-bs/files/bot-sentry/1.3.0/">SourceForge</a>.<br /><br /><br /><b>Set up </b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once installed, open the Pidgin Plugins dialog (<i>Tools > Plugins</i>) and enable the "Bot Sentry" plugin, then click "Configure Plugin". Here, you can set up the challnge question and answer as well as the action to be performed on authorization request:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94SmzbV0uiOHTdzAy7EiAIELGXVYjM8UyR_WfyiPFfXtG4lXlQS-oQtywhUp0pzdecB7WrqMn1tBiUNl1NXvHKJALYpuI7aO4b2xPHvZIXBuJYwTalKNh4n0EpjBew7Q9TfIHPspZ7d-s/s1600/pidgin-bot-sentry.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94SmzbV0uiOHTdzAy7EiAIELGXVYjM8UyR_WfyiPFfXtG4lXlQS-oQtywhUp0pzdecB7WrqMn1tBiUNl1NXvHKJALYpuI7aO4b2xPHvZIXBuJYwTalKNh4n0EpjBew7Q9TfIHPspZ7d-s/s320/pidgin-bot-sentry.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Thanks to Bruce Ingalls for the tip! via <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quick-tip-stop-pidgin-spam-in-its-tracks-with-bot-sentry/">MakeUseOf</a> and <a href="http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/pidgin-privacy-please-helps-block-spammers-on-pidgin-im-spam/">AddictiveTips</a></i></div>

Stop IM Spam Bots In Pidgin With These Two Plugins

If you're constantly getting automated instant messages from spam bots in Pidgin, there are two Pidgin plugins that you can use to block...

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