Karin Chan

Ubuntu 12.10 Gets Option To Disable Online Search Results In Dash [Unity 6.8.0]

<div style="text-align: justify;">Unity 6.8.0 has been <a href="https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/quantal/+source/unity/6.8.0-0ubuntu1">released</a> in the Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal repositories today, along with updated default lenses, bringing many bug fixes as usual, along with an <b>option to disable online results from showing up in Dash</b>.<br /><br />Starting with the latest Unity 6.8.0, you can disable Dash online search results by going to <i>System Settings > Privacy > Search results</i>, and setting "When searching in Dash - Include online search results" to OFF:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3-O0ZKkzbA/UG4FBrVknpI/AAAAAAAAKfk/kp_vDp98u4E/s1600/unity-dash-privacy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3-O0ZKkzbA/UG4FBrVknpI/AAAAAAAAKfk/kp_vDp98u4E/s320/unity-dash-privacy.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The option was added to Activity Log Manager (the privacy tool that lets you disable various files or other items from showing up in Dash)  a while back, but it required Unity 6.8.0 along with updated lenses to work. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Suggestions still show up in the Applications Lens after turning the above option to OFF, but these aren't really "online" results as they come from the Ubuntu Software Center.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's how the home lens looks like, after setting the "When searching in Dash - Include online search results" option to OFF:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2TiL7MinjJ8/UG4FH_kKTcI/AAAAAAAAKfs/TlsZMNeZIA4/s1600/unity-home-lens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2TiL7MinjJ8/UG4FH_kKTcI/AAAAAAAAKfs/TlsZMNeZIA4/s320/unity-home-lens.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />And when the option is turn ON (this is the default behaviour):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYLsMD4gAho/UG4GeyCQoAI/AAAAAAAAKgU/IdMnN6sZ1tU/s1600/unity-home-lens_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYLsMD4gAho/UG4GeyCQoAI/AAAAAAAAKgU/IdMnN6sZ1tU/s320/unity-home-lens_2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The solution to disable online search results in Dash used in Ubuntu 12.10 is far from ideal, since you can't simply disable one online lens or scope and continue to use the others, but it was implemented in a hurry because of user <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-lens-shopping/+bug/1054746">complaints</a>, so it's understandable. <b>For the next Ubuntu  version, we might see a lot more options that lets you control what shows up in each lens, like the mockups you can see below:</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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1vEdB_mII5E/UG4GVa7cqKI/AAAAAAAAKgE/dIQz8k913Oc/s1600/unity-settings-panel-files.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1vEdB_mII5E/UG4GVa7cqKI/AAAAAAAAKgE/dIQz8k913Oc/s320/unity-settings-panel-files.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mockup</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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bYEOLkvyQNo/UG4GWDhKl3I/AAAAAAAAKgM/V8_iqg4AJB8/s1600/unity-settings-panel-home.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bYEOLkvyQNo/UG4GWDhKl3I/AAAAAAAAKgM/V8_iqg4AJB8/s320/unity-settings-panel-home.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mockup</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Mockups via Sam Hewitt @ <a href="https://launchpad.net/~unity-design">unity-design</a> mailing list</i></div>

Ubuntu 12.10 Gets Option To Disable Online Search Results In Dash [Unity 6.8.0]

Unity 6.8.0 has been released in the Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal repositories today, along with updated default lenses, bringing many bug ...

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`My Weather Indicator` Gets New Forecast Map, Improved Geolocation

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQDi8QP2OCQ/UGwat8-G81I/AAAAAAAAKeo/d04QpI395MQ/s1600/my-weather-indicator.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="my weather indicator" border="0" height="194" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQDi8QP2OCQ/UGwat8-G81I/AAAAAAAAKeo/d04QpI395MQ/s320/my-weather-indicator.png" title="my weather indicator" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>`My Weather Indicator`, an appindicator which displays the weather on the Unity panel</b>, has been updated to version 0.5.3.2 yesterday and comes with an interesting new feature: <b>a weather forecast map through the OpenWeatherMap service.</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a>The new weather forecast map displays the following information as an overlay:<br /><ul><li>Radar (USA and Canada)</li><li>Clouds forecast</li><li>Precipitation forecasts</li><li>Current weather</li><li>Stations information</li></ul><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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7UgOwUsi2ts/UGwa2ZovgyI/AAAAAAAAKew/N7ShytwUl5k/s1600/my-weather-forecast-map_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="my weather indicator forecast" border="0" height="219" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7UgOwUsi2ts/UGwa2ZovgyI/AAAAAAAAKew/N7ShytwUl5k/s320/my-weather-forecast-map_2.png" title="my weather indicator forecast" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weather forecast map</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-andkxR_4yFM/UGwa3VYHBBI/AAAAAAAAKe0/PM9s8Ygbxc8/s1600/my-weather-indicator-forecast-map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-andkxR_4yFM/UGwa3VYHBBI/AAAAAAAAKe0/PM9s8Ygbxc8/s320/my-weather-indicator-forecast-map.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest version also comes with a modified geolocation service, which now uses two services so now if one of them fails, the second one is used as a backup. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's also worth mentioning that <b>My Weather Indicator has received many changes for the past few months</b>, including wind conditions, new weather services like World Weather Online and Open Weather Map (and also the removal of Google Weather, which no longer exists and Wunderground), auto location and more.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install My Weather Indicator in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The latest My Weather Indicator 0.5.3.2 is available in a PPA for Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal and 12.04 Precise Pangolin. Add the PPA and install it using 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 my-weather-indicator</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The PPA provides older My Weather Indicator versions for Ubuntu Oneiric, Natty and Lucid. Since it's not the latest version, so you may encounter bugs and obviously, you won't have the latest features (make sure you don't select Google as the weather service as it doesn't work).</i></div><br />Report any bugs you may find @ <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/my-weather-indicator">Launchpad</a>!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>this appindicator has been created by Lorenzo from <a href="http://atareao.es/">atareao.es</a>, check out the latest version release notes in Spanish, <a href="http://www.atareao.es/ubuntu/conociendo-ubuntu/la-prevision-en-un-mapa-o-my-weather-indicator-0-5-3-2/">here</a>.</i></div>

`My Weather Indicator` Gets New Forecast Map, Improved Geolocation

`My Weather Indicator`, an appindicator which displays the weather on the Unity panel , has been updated to version 0.5.3.2 yesterday and co...

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How To Reset Compiz And Unity In Ubuntu 12.10 Or 13.04

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cePJrY2joeo/UGrqcExqnxI/AAAAAAAAKd8/ERARvFfHhto/s1600/reset-unity-compiz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="unity" border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cePJrY2joeo/UGrqcExqnxI/AAAAAAAAKd8/ERARvFfHhto/s320/reset-unity-compiz.png" title="unity" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.10</b>, Compiz (and Unity) are using Gsettings instead of Gconf and because of this, <b>the "unity --reset" command used to <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/how-to-reset-unity-launcher-icons-or.html" title="How To Reset Unity, Launcher Icons Or Compiz In Ubuntu">reset Unity in previous Ubuntu versions</a> doesn't work anymore</b>. In case some settings are messed up and you want to reset Unity and Compiz to their default settings, here's a new way of doing this that works with Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal and 13.04 Raring Ringtail.</div><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><h2>Reset Unity & Compiz in Ubuntu 12.10 or 13.04</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The first method is using a tool that tries to replicate the old "unity --reset" behaviour. Add the PPA and install it in Ubuntu 12.10 using the commands below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:amith/ubuntutools<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install unity-reset</code></pre><br />The above PPA doesn't yet have packages for Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, but you can manually <b>download and install the Ubuntu Quantal deb in Raring</b> - download it from <a href="https://launchpad.net/~amith/+archive/ubuntutools/+build/3910667/+files/unity-reset_0.1-8_all.deb">HERE</a>.<br /><br />Or get the script from <a href="https://github.com/phanimahesh/unity-revamp">HERE</a>.<br /><br /><b>Then, reset Unity using the following command:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>unity-reset</code></pre><br /><br /><b>The instructions above are preferred to reset Unity in Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04!</b> The second method might not work in all cases but it can be used if you don't want to add a PPA or the above method doesn't work for you.<br /><br />Firstly, install dconf-tools:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install dconf-tools</code></pre><br /><b>Since Compiz in Ubuntu 13.04 and 12.10 is using Gsettings (dconf), you can reset Compiz and Unity using the following command:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>dconf reset -f /org/compiz/</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The old "unity --reset" command used to restart Unity too, while the command above doesn't. So <b>to restart Unity after running the above command, use:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>setsid unity</code></pre><br />You can also run the following command to see the Compiz settings you have:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>dconf dump /org/compiz/</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And a final note: the old "unity --reset-icons" command which resets the Unity Launcher icons to default still works with Ubuntu 13.04 and 12.10.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>first method thanks to foss.freedom; second method via <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12222839">Jeremy Bicha</a></i></div>

How To Reset Compiz And Unity In Ubuntu 12.10 Or 13.04

In Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.10 , Compiz (and Unity) are using Gsettings instead of Gconf and because of this, the "unity --reset" comma...

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Easily Create Animated GIF Images From Videos With Video2Gif

<div style="text-align: justify;">There are <a href="http://askubuntu.com/questions/107726/how-to-create-animated-gif-images-of-a-screencast" rel="nofollow">various</a> <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=747523" rel="nofollow">ways</a> of creating animated GIF images from video files under Linux, but most require cutting the video into images, then combining the images using GIMP or some other tools, but here's an easy way that only requires selecting the video, and optionally, changing the frame rate: <b>Video 2 Gif</b>.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tekPMoKFSqI/UFHEkuLdY1I/AAAAAAAAKFo/TE_j9OIZFjY/s1600/video2gif.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="video2gif" border="0" height="175" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tekPMoKFSqI/UFHEkuLdY1I/AAAAAAAAKFo/TE_j9OIZFjY/s320/video2gif.png" title="video2gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Video 2 Gif is a python tool created by Lorenzo from <a href="http://www.atareao.es/">atareao.es</a> which uses Mplayer to convert the video to GIF and lets you configure the start and end frame, video size and the frame rate</b>. It doesn't have many options, just the basics that allow you to create an animated GIF image from a video in seconds.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To see GIF created using Video2Gif from an YouTube video, click <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s6aB-D5hZQY/UFHXPJAL5OI/AAAAAAAAKGM/eUH287pKYDs/s1600/RObotzi_S01_Ep.15_Kidnapare.gif">HERE</a> (I've used 3 frames per second). The quality isn't great, but you can get better quality by using a higher frame rate (though this will increase the GIF file size). The GIF quality also depends a lot on the source video, so you'll get mixed results, depending on what video you use.</div><br />Before downloading and using Video 2 Gif, make sure you have mplayer installed:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install mplayer</code></pre><br />Then, <b>download Video2Gif from here: <a href="http://webupd8.googlecode.com/files/video2gif_0.1.tar.gz">English</a> | <a href="http://www.atareao.es/ubuntu/software-para-tu-ubuntu/como-crear-una-imagen-gif-animada-de-un-video/">Spanish<br /></a></b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once downloaded, extract the archive, double click "video2gif", select "Run" and you're ready to convert a video to GIF. The tool doesn't have a progress bar so once you click "OK", wait until Video 2 Gif closes!</div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Thanks to Lorenzo @ <a href="http://www.atareao.es/ubuntu/software-para-tu-ubuntu/como-crear-una-imagen-gif-animada-de-un-video/">Atareao.es</a> for Video 2 Gif!</i></div>

Easily Create Animated GIF Images From Videos With Video2Gif

There are various ways of creating animated GIF images from video files under Linux, but most require cutting the video into images, then ...

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Fuduntu 2012.4 Released With New Default Applications And Theme

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://www.fuduntu.org/">Fuduntu</a>, a Linux distribution forked from Fedora, has reached version 2012.4. This release brings a new default theme and wallpaper, new default packages and many other improvements.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zANc1AMfSDo/UGmpdqgdMrI/AAAAAAAAKdI/UITW1JHnUY8/s1600/fuduntu_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="fuduntu" border="0" height="209" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zANc1AMfSDo/UGmpdqgdMrI/AAAAAAAAKdI/UITW1JHnUY8/s320/fuduntu_1.png" title="fuduntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>Changes in Fuduntu 2012.4:</b><br /><ul><li>new default applications: LibreOffice, GIMP, Thunderbird and also, VLC has replaced Banshee as the default music and video player</li><li>optimized TMPFS mount points to reduce disk I/O, increasing speed and battery life</li><li>a new welcome screen "Elmer"</li><li>new default theme and wallpaper (along with new preinstalled wallpapers)</li><li>package updates: Linux Kernel 3.4.10, Chromium 21.0.1180.89, Thunderbird 15, LibreOffice 3.6.1.2, GIMP 2.8.2. Jupiter has been updated to 0.1.6, allowing for restore on resume from standby and updates to power management (tip: Jupiter is also available in a <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/03/jupiter-applet-officially-switches-to.html">PPA for Ubuntu users</a>)</li></ul><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGD1zelE900/UGmplBxqWhI/AAAAAAAAKdQ/vgnDKN5iDAo/s1600/fuduntu_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="fuduntu" border="0" height="209" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGD1zelE900/UGmplBxqWhI/AAAAAAAAKdQ/vgnDKN5iDAo/s320/fuduntu_2.png" title="fuduntu" width="320" /></a></div><br />Besides the changes above, it's also worth mentioning that starting with version 2012.4, <b>Fuduntu is now Mono-free</b>.<br /><ul></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Further more, a memory bug has been fixed and now Fuduntu can be installed on systems with only 386MB of RAM for 32bit and 512MB RAM for 64bit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For those not familiar with Fuduntu, this is a Linux distribution that was initially based on Fedora, that uses GNOME 2 by default, which provides rolling updates for non-GNOME2 packages, so you always have the latest version for various packages like Firefox or Chromium, VLC, LibreOffice and so on. It uses a GNOME panel on the top, Avant Window Navigator as the taskbar and comes with many under-the-hood optimizations intended to make the system very fast and to increase battery life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you're wondering about the name, "Fuduntu" is a fusion of the names "Fedora" and "Ubuntu". The name is intended to be "funny, while implying that the distribution fits in-between Fedora and Ubuntu. The fun uses of the name mean that it is successful, so go ahead, have fun with it" says the <a href="http://www.fuduntu.org/wiki/index.php/The_Name">Fuduntu wiki</a>.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fuduntu.org/get.php">DOWNLOAD FUDUNTU 2012.4 </a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://www.fuduntu.org/blog/2012/10/01/fuduntu-2012-4-release/">Fuduntu blog </a></i></div></div>

Fuduntu 2012.4 Released With New Default Applications And Theme

Fuduntu , a Linux distribution forked from Fedora, has reached version 2012.4. This release brings a new default theme and wallpaper, new de...

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Rhythmbox 2.98 Released, Install It In Ubuntu

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSg088YiSqA/UGmZP8My1zI/AAAAAAAAKcU/41avz7Z8v6Y/s1600/rhythmbox.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="rhythmbox" border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSg088YiSqA/UGmZP8My1zI/AAAAAAAAKcU/41avz7Z8v6Y/s320/rhythmbox.png" title="rhythmbox" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Rhythmbox 2.98 has been released yesterday, bringing a new dialog for importing music into the library along with some other small, but interesting changes and many bug fixes.</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Improvements in Rhythmbox 2.98:</b><br /><ul><li>New dialog for importing music into the library</li><li>New audio CD metadata lookup library, replacing libmusicbrainz</li><li>Improved transitions between album art images</li><li>Nautilus cluebar buttons now result in the right source being selected</li><li>Update notification buttons when playback state changes</li><li>Grilo plugin ported to grilo 0.2 API</li><li>Search musicbrainz for album art by album and artist name</li><li>Love/ban buttons visible in last.fm/libre.fm sources</li></ul>The complete changelog, including the bugs fixed in Rhythmbox 2.98, can be found <a href="http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/rhythmbox/2.98/rhythmbox-2.98.news">HERE</a>.<br /><br /><br />Here's the new dialog for importing music:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dsxS83Fa-BQ/UGmZVdtnoBI/AAAAAAAAKcc/0DJWVlHMZo4/s1600/rhythmbox-2.98.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="rhythmbox 2.98" border="0" height="207" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dsxS83Fa-BQ/UGmZVdtnoBI/AAAAAAAAKcc/0DJWVlHMZo4/s320/rhythmbox-2.98.png" title="rhythmbox 2.98" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Rhythmbox 2.98 in Ubuntu</h2><br />The latest Rhythmbox 2.98 is available in our Rhythmbox PPA, for Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal. Add the PPA and install Rhythmbox using the commands below:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/rhythmbox<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install rhythmbox</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Update: I've had to downgrade Rhythmbox from the WebUpd8 Rhythmbox PPA to version 2.97 for Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin because there's a bug which causes some Python plugins to crash Rhythmbox. This bug won't be fixed for Ubuntu 12.04 so this is the best solution right now. However, luckily, the bug doesn't occur in newer Ubuntu versions like Ubuntu 12.10.</div><br />And a note: the plugins available in the <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/08/rhythmbox-third-party-plugins-ubuntu-ppa.html">third-party Rhythmbox plugins PPA</a>, should work just fine with the latest Rhythmbox 2.98.

Rhythmbox 2.98 Released, Install It In Ubuntu

Rhythmbox 2.98 has been released yesterday, bringing a new dialog for importing music into the library along with some other small, but inte...

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