LightDM Session Locker `Light Locker` Sees First Stable Release

<b><a href="https://github.com/the-cavalry/light-locker">Light Locker</a>, the new session locker for LightDM forked from GNOME Screensaver, has reached version 1.0 (stable).</b><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">According to its <a href="https://github.com/the-cavalry/light-locker">GitHub</a> description, Light Locker aims to be simple, secure and well integrated with the desktop while not carrying any desktop-specific dependencies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Using it, LightDM will be used for screen locking so the lock screen will look identical to the LightDM greeter:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/light-locker.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbXjfs5AI0N6xedElWuWkw1Jhlw5qewguOa4b3q7ws7AROFZnmgpZCUzv01F2F2wi2sICL9kLnzULwenNbmvYP0TRo7_aNQC6NaB7JCflh2-BKcoTo8zpGdnsCjN-hPybpuJbf3cbeDg/s320/light-locker.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">But the good news is that all the reported bugs have been fixed so Light Locker should now work properly when resuming from suspend, etc.</div><br /><b>Note:</b> To use light-locker with systemd, you need at least lightdm 1.7.0. Light Locker doesn't work with lightdm version 1.7.5-1.7.9.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For more information about Light Locker 1.0, see the <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/106086509626546157534/posts/5hQVYARYCkh">release announcement</a>.</div><br /><br /><h2>Install Light Locker in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. </b>Before installing Light Locker, I recommend removing gnome-screensaver (for Unity / GNOME Shell with LightDM) to avoid conflicts:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. To install Light Locker in Ubuntu 13.04 or 13.10, use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:light-locker/release<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install light-locker</code></pre><br />If you're not using Ubuntu, grab the code from <a href="https://github.com/the-cavalry/light-locker">GitHub</a>.<br /><br /><b>3. Once installed, log out and log back in.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4.</b> Light Locker should now be used when locking the screen from the session menu or when resuming from suspend, but the lock screen keyboard shortcut won't work. This can be fixed by setting a custom keyboard shortcut for "light-locker-command -l" (this is the command used to lock the screen) or by following the instructions below. <br /><br />For Unity / GNOME Shell, run the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo ln -s /usr/bin/light-locker-command /usr/bin/gnome-screensaver-command</code></pre><br />For Xubuntu / Xfce, copy/paste the following command:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo sed -i '/xscreensaver-command/a \ "light-locker-command -l" \\' /usr/bin/xflock4</code></pre><br /><br /><h2>Reverting the changes</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If for some reason you don't want to use Light Locker any more, remove it using the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove light-locker</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">And if you've removed GNOME Screensaver, install it back using the command below:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install gnome-screensaver</code></pre><br /><b>Report any Light Locker bugs you may find @ <a href="https://github.com/the-cavalry/light-locker/issues?state=open">GitHub</a>.</b>

LightDM Session Locker `Light Locker` Sees First Stable Release

Light Locker , the new session locker for LightDM forked from GNOME Screensaver, has reached version 1.0 (stable). According to its GitHub ...

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Touchpad Indicator 0.9.5 Brings Important Bug Fixes

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Touchpad Indicator is an Ubuntu AppIndicator which, like the name suggests, allows you to easily enable or disable your laptop touchpad. This is useful if your laptop doesn't have a touchpad toggle key or if the key doesn't work.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/touchpad-indicator-0.9.5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="touchpad indicator ubuntu" border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNy9qddWjEDUTsaoycRj6qtEaDm6CzyWND_Lq1qS5qh2U37tKneGtXDheq8UxKZyqeVOL3CB73JnbF8mTANQqgKOswfmkqL2UjEglDkSYx9oGkIBroRAo58xmTeSNDo8E-3YnU6mDUOI/s320/touchpad-indicator-0.9.5.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The application comes with an optional keyboard shortcut to enable/disable the touchpad, can automatically disable the touchpad when a mouse is plugged in and more.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Touchpad Indicator 0.9.5</b>, release recently, introduces mouse wheel support for the AppIndicator so you can toggle the touchpad status by scrolling on the AppIndicator icon.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">That's the only new feature added in the latest Touchpad Indicator 0.9.5, but there are also many bug fixes: </div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">the touchpad is no longer reset to "on" when resuming from suspend;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">the autostart feature has been fixed;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">when using the "Disable touchpad when mouse plugged" option, if you unplug the mouse, the touchpad will now be enabled automatically;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">the keyboard shortcut should now work under Ubuntu 13.04;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">the bug that prevented some users from saving any changes made to the Touchpad Indicator preferences should be fixed;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">other bug fixes.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Touchpad Indicator is developed by Lorenzo Carbonell from <a href="http://atareao.es/">atareao.es</a>, who's also behind other popular AppIndicators such as <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/12/get-htc-like-weather-clock-widget-in.html">My Weather Indicator</a> or <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/google-calendar-indicator-adds-options.html">Google Calendar Indicator</a>.</i></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Touchpad Indicator in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To add the Atareao PPA and install Touchpad in Ubuntu 13.10, 13.04 or 12.10, use the commands below:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">There's also a package for Ubuntu 12.04 in the same PPA, but unfortunately it hasn't been updated to the latest Touchpad Indicator version, probably because of some dependency issues.</div><br /><b>Report any bugs you may find @ <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/touchpad-indicator">Launchpad</a>.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://www.atareao.es/ubuntu/habilita-o-inhabilita-el-touchpad-con-la-rueda-del-raton/">atareao.es</a></i></div>

Touchpad Indicator 0.9.5 Brings Important Bug Fixes

Touchpad Indicator is an Ubuntu AppIndicator which, like the name suggests, allows you to easily enable or disable your laptop touchpad. Thi...

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Metro: Last Light Linux Release Confirmed For Later This Year

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4A Games and Deep Silver have confirmed that a Linux version of <a href="http://enterthemetro.com/">Metro: Last Light</a> is scheduled for release later this year.</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Metro: Last Light (formerly Metro 2034) is a first-person survival horror video game in which the action takes place in the universe of Metro 2033 (a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky) and its sequels.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/metro-last-light.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Metro Last Light" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3zEA9XIWM6nu5NsTQqayqb7leval3E0YZNDE1_y-J1PRs4BtDyjrhB9nDefCOKSsVX6gGb-0rb5e1_UDyi_eglP5f0oh-Ew8At7FPMp6hJmcwYYXc2CDfVzmD0_QVAEJpOjhhyISUj0/s320/metro-last-light.jpg" title="Metro Last Light" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The news comes directly from <a href="http://enterthemetro.com/us/news/game_information/metro_last_light_is_coming_to_mac_and_linux_us/">enterthemetro.com</a>, which mentions that Metro: Last Light will be released for Mac on September 10th, 2013 via the App Store and Steam and that "<i>a Linux version is also in development, scheduled for release later in the year</i>".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"<i>Development was handled in house by 4A games, and we are very happy with the results. We hope that Mac & Linux gamers will appreciate our efforts to create the best possible version for their machines</i>", said Oles Shishkovstov, Chief Technical Officer at 4A Games. </div><br />Below you can watch the Metro: Last Light launch trailer:<br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7DUCA8wK9Ls" width="560"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DUCA8wK9Ls">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The game, released in May 2013 as a sequel to Metro 2033, is currently available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.</div><br /><div style="text-align: right;">via <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1l74oj/linux_version_of_metro_last_light_to_come_later/">Reddit</a> / image via <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/43160/">Steam</a></div>

Metro: Last Light Linux Release Confirmed For Later This Year

4A Games and Deep Silver have confirmed that a Linux version of Metro: Last Light is scheduled for release later this year. Metro: Last Lig...

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Rhythmbox CoverArt Browser Plugin Gets New Coverflow View, Rhythmbox 2.99 Support

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://github.com/fossfreedom/coverart-browser">CoverArt Browser</a> is a Rhythmbox plugin that lets you browse and play your music library using an album art view.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIVHOEBIIVCWa958MhIhqqOSYi9TDFtTwHmBU6WJwmcQHA13svSY2H7S9sREFZ7Qu5AKJf8OIufpZGK9ZJdc9DiVsW6RumRj5aao42DkMhzRQTZOjPV449_wnkfA8NrFkUw8LYja1Mf8/s320/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The plugin comes with many useful features which basically transform Rhythmbox into a new music player: </b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>configurable search (all fields, albums, artists, etc.);</li><li>display all your music or only the play queue, top rated, recently added or recently played;</li><li>it integrates with another plugin to allow downloading cover art for all your albums;</li><li>export albums art in the tracks, useful to display cover art on mobile devices;</li><li>an optional tracks pane is available so you can easily view the tracks available in an album;</li><li>can be set to start automatically when launching Rhythmbox;</li><li>higly customizable;</li><li>more!</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest <b>CoverArt Browser 0.9</b>, released today, brings important changes like a stylish <b>new coverflow view which supports 4 different styles</b>:</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow1.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rhythmbox CoverArt flow" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow1_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coverflow (regular)</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow2.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rhythmbox CoverArt flow" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow2_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coverflow (vertical)</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow3.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rhythmbox CoverArt flow" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow3_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carousel</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow4.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rhythmbox CoverArt flow" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverartbrowser-flow4_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roundabout</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">All the coverflow styles are customizable and you can set the width, scale, show or hide caption, select the maximum number of covers to display or background color:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverart-preferenes.png" rel="image_group"><img alt="Rhythmbox CoverArt flow" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/rhythmbox-coverart-preferenes_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Besides the new coverflow view, CoverArt Browser 0.9 also comes with the following changes:</b></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">support for Rhythmbox 2.99;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">support for Python 3 for the upcoming Rhythmbox 3.0; </li><li style="text-align: justify;">advanced options to control the icon-view spacing and selection padding - this can give a very different look to the plugin;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">toggle buttons to switch view as well as new Properties button;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">access preferences for both Search and Browser plugins via Properties button;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">play random albums from your current playlist & search filters;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">quick filter track artists via Properties button;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">track view can be toggled automatically on click as well as configured to manually open.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Rhythmbox python3 support is not available in the PPA packages to to use this plugin with Rhythmbox 3.0, you must install the plugin manually!</b></div><br /><h2>Install Rhythmbox CoverArt Browser plugin in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu Saucy, Raring, Quantal and Precise users can install the latest Rhythmbox CoverArt Browser plugin by using fossfreedom's PPA</b>, which by the way, contains many <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/08/rhythmbox-third-party-plugins-ubuntu-ppa.html">other useful Rhythmbox plugins</a>. Add the PPA and install the plugin using the following commands:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossfreedom/rhythmbox-plugins<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install rhythmbox-plugin-coverart-browser</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">After the installation, launch Rhythmbox and enable CoverArt Browser from the Rhythmbox Plugins dialog.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For <b>other Linux distributions,</b> see the installation instructions available on the CoverArt Browser <a class="external" href="https://github.com/fossfreedom/coverart-browser">GitHub</a> page.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Report any bugs you may encounter @ <a class="external" href="https://github.com/fossfreedom/coverart-browser/issues">GitHub</a>. </div>

Rhythmbox CoverArt Browser Plugin Gets New Coverflow View, Rhythmbox 2.99 Support

CoverArt Browser is a Rhythmbox plugin that lets you browse and play your music library using an album art view. The plugin comes with many...

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App Grid: New Lightweight Ubuntu Software Center Alternative

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>App Grid is a new lightweight Ubuntu Software Center alternative</b> that tries to make application discovery easier by using a grid view which includes app screenshots and ratings.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though this is the first public release, App Grid already comes with most features you'll need, like software search, app review and purchase and more. As for the design, the application reminds me of <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/see-whats-new-in-kubuntu-1304-raring.html">Muon Discover</a>, a Muon Suit front-end that tries to make it easier to find new software, a goal shared with App Grid.</div><br />Below you can see some App Grid screenshots:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="AppGrid" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ylyml6T14_G4SscJEAgwpl0FJLjyy5qG-t_5KxqBOF4S8tiINRrYCMnT7FQIXxZdldkWL4fFQb-19Hl2OXcMrX_pgm-q-0HIEGOfnOeQWxey4387j5vJma08f20mb75Df6k7T4ma4AA/s320/appgrid.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">App Grid - main view</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-category.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="AppGrid" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-category_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Games category</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">You've probably noticed that some applications have a green circle displayed around the application icon - that means they are already installed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The application page displays an install / launch / remove button, screenshots, a short description along with user comments. Clicking on the comments extends the section and you can filter them by rating, language, Ubuntu version or write a review:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-app.png" rel="image_group"><img alt="AppGrid" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-app_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-comments.png" rel="image_group"><img alt="AppGrid" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/appgrid-comments_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>App Grid features:</b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>discover new apps every time you open App Grid;</li><li>search, filter and sort to find exactly what you're looking for;</li><li>make informed decisions with our extensive detail views;</li><li>sign in with your Ubuntu One account to review and purchase apps.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b> <b>Below you'll find a technical comparison between App Grid and Software Center, done by the AppCenter developer </b>(the tests were performed on a Dell Mini 9):</div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">python3 vs python2;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">warm start to home screen is 2.7s vs 20s;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">warm start to details screen (eg opening an apt: link) is 2.3s vs 30s;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">full database build is 58s vs 6min24;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">initial database size is 36.7mb vs 96.5mb;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">memory usage after startup to home screen is 20mb vs 53.6mb;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">lines of code is somewhere around 5900 loc vs 56960 loc (incl tests etc).</li></ul><br /><b>Note:</b> AppGrid is currently proprietary. Its Launchpad page says "Other/Proprietary, I don't know yet" so the developer may change his mind.<br /><br /><br /><h2>Install App Grid in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><s>App Grid is available in a PPA for Ubuntu 13.04 only for now</s>. Update: the application is now available for Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, 13.04 and 13.10. Add the PPA and install App Grid using the following commands:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appgrid/stable<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install appgrid</code></pre><br /><b>Report any bugs you may find @ <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/appgrid">Launchpad</a>.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1l52za/initial_release_of_app_grid_software_center/">Reddit</a> / <a href="http://ubuntu-discourse.org/t/initial-release-of-app-grid/960">ubuntu-discourse</a></i></div>

App Grid: New Lightweight Ubuntu Software Center Alternative

App Grid is a new lightweight Ubuntu Software Center alternative that tries to make application discovery easier by using a grid view which...

+ Read more »

E-book Management App `Calibre` 1.0 Released

<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://calibre-ebook.com/">Calibre</a> is an open source tool to manage e-books, which features e-book syncing with popular e-book readers, library management and e-book conversion between various formats. The application is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The latest Calibre 1.0, released recently, features a new cover grid view of the books available in the Calibre library, a faster database backend and more. </b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-1.0_0.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Calibre 1.0" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qQxmKyj3C7cW-KXTPjZ-dEzs7ufOwagRCj8b320U7ab6oYTHpEoCVagQ-T_SssToTgQ54cZLhCBYpAbHJzXNBAbXpxdGXyzyDCjtlEzJc5CDEyzep0X-hL7R7q9tBW-MspiBDzvGHdM/s320/calibre-1.0_0.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">With Calibre 1.0, an optional <b>grid view</b> which <b>displays books by cover</b> has been added. To switch to it, click the grid icon in the bottom right corner:</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-1.0_1.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Calibre 1.0" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-1.0_1_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Calibre grid view</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The grid view is customizable via <i>Preferences > Look & Feel > Cover Grid</i>. Here, you can change the cover height and width, enable displaying the book title below the cover, set the cover cache size and so on.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another interesting feature that was added to Calibre 1.0 is called "<b>Virtual Library</b>". Using virtual libraries, Calibre can split big libraries into smaller virtual libraries. The virtual libraries are created based on a search expression and when using such a library, Calibre behaves like it only contains the matched books so the application only displays the tags/authors/series etc. that belong to the virtual library. To create a virtual library, click "Virtual Library" on the left of the search bar, then select "Create Virtual Library":</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-virtual-library.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Calibre 1.0" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-virtual-library_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calibre Virtual Libraries</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This can be useful to easily create a library with your favorite authors, unread books and so on.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, with version 1.0, Calibre can <b>scan your computer for all TTF and OTF fonts used in documnts and automatically embed them</b>. Further more, Calibre can "subset" fonts, meaning it can reduce their size by using only the glyphs present in the document. This option can be turned on via the <i>Look & Feel</i> section of the conversion dialog ("Embed referenced fonts").</div><br /><br /><b>Other changes in the latest Calibre 1.0 (compared to 0.9.0)</b><br /><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The database backend has been re-written from scratch and should be 2-3 times faster than the old one;</li><li>A new Microsoft word (docx generated by Word 2007 or newer) converter has been added to Calibre;</li><li>New metadata sources have been added, including Google Image search, Edelweiss and Big Book Search;</li><li>Re-written PDF output engine which should now support proper pagination, inserting headers and footers with templates, auto generation of a printable Table of Contents and more;</li><li>A new "Polish books" tool lets you perform various cleanup actions on ebooks such as embedding fonts, smarten punctuation, update the metadata and more. To use this tool, go to <i>Preferences > Toolbar</i> and add the Polish books tool to the main toolbar. This tool only works with EPUB and AZW3 formats;</li><li>A new ToC edit tool lets you re-arrange entries in the Table of Contents. To use it, go to <i>Preferences > Toolbar</i> and add the Edit ToC button to the main toolbar.</li></ul><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-metadata-sources.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Calibre 1.0" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-metadata-sources_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calibre metadata sources</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-polish-book-dialog.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Calibre 1.0" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/calibre-polish-book-dialog_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new "Polish books" tool</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Calibre in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander: </b>Calibre 1.0 has just been uploaded to the Saucy repositories so it should be available via Ubuntu Software Center in a few minutes.</div><br /><b>For older Ubuntu versions, you have two options:</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A. Using a PPA for Ubuntu 13.04 or 12.04 - the PPAs currently have Calibre 0.9.41</b> but hopefully they will be updated to the latest Calibre 1.0 soon.<br /><br />Using the current version in the PPAs, you won't get the new grid view but other features such as the new Virtual Library, Polish Books, Edit ToC or the new metadata sources should already be available.</div><br /><b>To install Calibre in Ubuntu 13.04, use the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/calibre<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install calibre</code></pre><br /><b>Or, if you're using Ubuntu 12.04, use the commands below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/calibre2<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install calibre</code></pre><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>B. Using the official binary Calibre 1.0 binary</b> that includes private versions of all its dependencies. This should work with any Ubuntu version as well as other Linux distributions as long as you have <i>glibc</i> 2.10 or higher and <i>xdg-utils</i> and <i>python</i> ≥ 2.6 installed. But <b>there is a downside: there is no uninstaller </b>so if you want to remove Calibre, you must remove the folder it creates under <i>/opt</i> as well as all the files it installs under <i>/usr/local/share/applications</i> and so on.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Before using the official installer, it's recommended you remove any Calibre versions you may have installed from PPA or official repositories:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove calibre calibre-bin</code></pre><br /><b>To install Calibre using this method, use the following command:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo python -c "import sys; py3 = sys.version_info[0] > 2; u = __import__('urllib.request' if py3 else 'urllib', fromlist=1); exec(u.urlopen('http://status.calibre-ebook.com/linux_installer').read()); main()"</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://calibre-ebook.com/download">Download Calibre</a> (for Linux, Windows or Mac OS X)</b></div>

E-book Management App `Calibre` 1.0 Released

Calibre is an open source tool to manage e-books, which features e-book syncing with popular e-book readers, library management and e-book ...

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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...

+ Read more »