Tag Archives: how-to

Software

Fix Compiz Fusion on Kubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu + KDE)

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Having trouble getting Compiz Fusion working on Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)? So did I and here’s how I fixed it.

I recently upgraded one of my Kubuntu Fiesty Fawn systems to Gutsy Gibbon (version 7.10). However, since it was a distro upgrade, not a new installation, the Compiz Fusion system wasn’t installed by default. Even after installing the compiz packages, things still weren’t quite right.

First, in addition to the compiz package, you have to select the compiz-kde package. For some reason, Adept doesn’t select it automatically with all the other compiz packages (even though this is Kubuntu, which uses KDE). Failure to install compiz-kde results in your windows not having any borders or widgets.

Second, install the compizconfig-settings-manager package. This is the configuration panel to access all the options for Compiz Fusion. Without this, some things just don’t behave quite right. For example, in the normal KDE desktop, I have focus follow the mouse. This doesn’t translate automatically to Compiz so you have to use the settings manager to adjust it. The tool also gives you access to all the Compiz plugins.

After all that’s done, restart X (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace) and log back in. Run the Compiz Settings Manager by going to the KMenu, Settings, Advanced Desktop Effects Settings. Adjust to your heart’s content.

There are still some quirks running Compiz on Kubuntu (such as the update manager icon sometimes appearing as a separate window rather than an icon in the notification area). But at least this gets it to be operational.

Have more tips? Post them in the comments.

Software

Firefox Tips for Removing Go Button and Restricting Image Loading

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Continuing the Firefox tips theme from the last article, here are two more hidden preferences in Firefox that are very handy. To access them, enter about:config in the browser’s address bar and press the Enter or Return key.

  1. browser.urlbar.hideGoButton
    In earlier versions of Firefox, it was possible to remove the Go button. Now, it’s part of the address bar. However, setting this preference value to true will make it go away to give you more room to see the URL in the address bar.
  2. permissions.default.image
    Firefox also used to allow you to prevent it from loading images on the page that were from a different server than the page itself. If you’d like to enable this security feature, set this preference value to 3.
Software

Firefox Tips for Spell Checking and Backspace Key

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There are a lot of hidden preferences in Firefox that are available by entering about:config in the browser’s address bar and pressing the Enter or Return key. Here are some tweaks that I find particularly helpful.

To change a preference in the list, double-click on it. To filter the list, type any part of the preference name in the Filter box.

  1. browser.backspace_action
    By default on Windows and Mac OS X, hitting the backspace key causes Firefox to go back one page in the browser’s history. Changing this setting’s value to anything greater than 1 (Firefox on Linux defaults to a value of 2) will disable this behavior to prevent accidentally changing pages while typing in a form or Flash program.
  2. layout.spellcheckDefault
    The default value of 1 enables spell checking in text areas. To have Firefox show incorrect spelling in text input fields of forms as well, change this value to 2.

Changes to these settings take effect immediately. The spell check one may require that you reload a page that was open before the setting was changed for it to take effect.

Software

Hidden Excel Shortcuts

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I’ve been using Excel since version 1.0 so I’m pretty proficient, but there’s so much functionality that’s been added over the years that it’s pretty hard to utilize it all. For example, here are two helpful tricks that I’ve never heard of before:

  1. Pressing Alt and the equals sign at the end or bottom of a row or column of numbers will insert a sum formula for you.
  2. Holding down the Shift key and then clicking on the File menu will reveal a Close All item to quickly close worksheets.

For some more useful tips, have a gander at Getting the Most Out of MS Excel at Web Worker Daily.

Software

How to Run Multiple Firefox Profiles Simultaneously

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As you probably know, Firefox supports the creation of profiles so that different people can have their own browser configuration (buttons, add-ons, font size, etc.). If you’re not familiar with this feature, see How To Manage Profiles at the Firefox help site. A feature that’s more obscure is that you can actually run more than one profile at the same time.

Why would you want to run profiles simultaneously? I use the feature primarily so that I can check that pages look correct on a clean Firefox profile as well as on my heavily souped up one with lots of add-ons. You might also find it useful to have profiles with different add-ons for different tasks and then start one or more as needed.

Normally, if you start Firefox when a copy is already running, it’ll just start another window using the current profile. To start a completely separate instance of Firefox, add the -no-remote option. In Windows, you can either do this by selecting Run from the Start menu and typing in the entire command, or add the option to the shortcut that you use to start Firefox. On Linux, just add the option to the command line or if you’re using a GUI (e.g. Gnome, KDE, Xfce) adjust the command assigned to the desktop or menu icon that you use to start Firefox.

For example,

firefox -p Profile_Name -no-remote

will start a new instance of Firefox with the profile named “Profile_Name”. If, on the other hand, you want to choose the desired profile from the Profile Manager window, use

firefox -profilemanager -no-remote

Now you can start as many different profiles as you like.

Have a novel way to make use of profiles? Leave a comment.