Yahoo Messenger for Ubuntu

I presume most of you must be really missing Yahoo Messenger since you shifted to linux/ubuntu. Apparently there is indeed a Linux version of Yahoo Messenger. It can be found here. Now this one's the official release. However this release has loads of problems. First up, there's no specific software for Ubuntu and also, there's no 64 bit version of this unix version of yahoo messenger.

Fortunately though there's a way out. And this time its a proper app with no issues whatsoever. Its called Gyache. Its a great replacement for yahoo messenger, has loads of features. Spam blocking mechanisms are superb and more importantly looks and feels much like the good old yahoo messenger for Windows. Here's the download page. Try it out!

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Offline Blog Editor for Ubuntu

This is why I like Ubuntu, there's an app for almost everything! :)

Okay, so if you have a blog like I do, and you have limited bandwidth or if you just dont want to use your wordpress editor, there's a really cool Blog app called BloGTK Weblog Client (there are others such as Lekhonee etc. but none are as good as this one). This app allows you to post your blogs directly from your desktop.

To download it, go to Ubuntu Software Center and search for BloGTK Weblog Client.

Or if you want to use the terminal you can install BloGTK by typing the following command:

sudo apt-get install blogtk

You'll be asked for your password and the software will be installed.

Now coming to the configuring part. BloGTK is intalled in the Internet tab of your GNOME menu. Start the application. It looks like this:



In the BloGTK application click on the "Edit" menu and then on "Accounts and Settings". Now you'll get a window similar to the pic given below:



As you can see you need to set the options as the following:

Server URL: http://www.name of your blog.wordpress.com/xmlrpc.php
(This is of course for Wordpress, if you're using Blogger, your Server Address should be: http://www.blogger.com/api/RPC2)

Blogging System: Movable Type
(If you're using Blogger, your Blogging System should obviously be "Blogger"!)

Enter your username and password and leave all other settings untouched. Now when you're done open the "File" menu and click on the "Connect" option.

Thats it. Now write your post and and post it on your blog. Pretty simple eh? :)

Ubuntuzilla

Its very difficult to play around with firefox when you are using Ubuntu. For example, one cant install the latest version of Firefox unless Ubuntu approves it.

However Ubuntuzilla offers a squeaky clean bypass! Its almost flawless and I'm quite pleased with it. At last I can use the latest Firefox browser without any tweaking hassles.

Details on usage and other info on Ubuntuzilla can be found here.

P.S. - Firefox doesnt have a 64 bit version of its browser. Naturally, Ubuntuzilla doesnt work well with 64 bit processors. Check out the FAQ in the link given above.