A few tricks to maximize screen space

Here are a few short tricks for you to try out. These will help you maximize your screen space on Ubuntu.

Erm...what exactly do i mean? Well, how about you got rid of the bottom panel (if you're using some kind of dock you probably would have deleted it already but in case you havent then give it a try.

What else? You could try playing with the panel properties. Right click on the panel (top or bottom) and go to Properties. Select between Expand, Autohide and Show hide buttons (you can actually get the entire panel disappear, not deleted mind you, with that Show hide buttons option). Check out the following images to see the results:

Play around with these. The effects are breathtakingly cool!

Super Mario anyone?

Tired of playing the same old games in Ubuntu? Its quite a myth that Ubuntu doesnt have interesting games. Take a look at these really interesting, albeit highly addictive games already there in the Ubuntu Software Center.

1. Super Tux - Remember Mario? Yea the one which required you to insert a cartridge on a really (then) classy looking video game "console". Super Tux is Super Mario with Tux replacing Mario as the protagonist. The nooks and crannies and the hidden secrets remain largely the same. Anyone familiar with the old game will feel completely at ease instantly.

2. Super Tux 2 - This is another instalment of Super Tux. Brilliantly created and immensely addictive this game quite. Best of all this game has the add ons feature which basically allows you to add various levels to the game which the developer releases.

3. Extreme Tux Racer -  Extreme Tux racer is a racing game with Tux (you're on Linux, who else did you expect in the driver's seat?) in it.

The amazing gameplay of these games make them quite brilliant. It would be a huge miss if you didnt play these on Ubuntu. Every single game listed here is available in the Ubuntu Software Center. Simply search by using the name of the game and download!

Happy gaming!

Illumination Software Creator

No sooner did Ubuntu allow paid apps to appear on the Ubuntu Software Center than apps started pouring in! The new really cool software which I'm going to mention here is called Illumination Software Creator.

Its a one of a kind application in that it allows users to "create" applications not just for Ubuntu (Python/GTK Desktop apps) but also for Maemo (Nokia N900), Android as well as Adobe Flash ones. And the clincher? Well, here's the thing, you dont need to write a single line of code to create the softwares!

Here's what the description of Illumination Software Creator reads on the Ubuntu Software Center:

The idea is simple: Arrange colorful building blocks of functionality however you like to create your own, unique, piece of software. No reading large computer programming books. No steep learning curve.

Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, its a paid app. Its $39.85 for he full version. If you want to try out the demo version, for free of course, you can get it from the official website here.

Paid Softwares start to appear on Ubuntu Software Center

Its more of a taste of things to come. Paid softwares have started to appear on Ubuntu Software Center. The only one currently in the Ubuntu Software Center is World of Goo. This is one incredibly popular game and has quite taken the Linux world, which is mostly devoid of path breaking games, by storm.

Description:

The Wikipedia page of World of Goo reads:

World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game by 2D Boy, an independent game developer consisting of Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, both former Electronic Arts employees, released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and WiiWare. It was nominated for the Seumas McNally grand prize, Design Innovation Award, and Technical Excellence at the Independent Games Festival.

Installation:

The game costs $19.95 on the Ubuntu Software Center. Although this is not a free game, there is a demo of World of Goo which can be found here. The demo is, of course, free. So if want to make sure that you're spending money for the right game, do download the demo and try.

Upon clicking the "Buy" button (which has replaced the "Install" button for this game) on the Ubuntu Software Center, you'll led to your Ubuntu account page where after signing in, the payment gateway will be seen. Thereafter its pretty simple.

FocusWriter

Remember the much loved text editor WriteMonkey? Well if you've grown tired of running it using Wine, here's a Linux version which is more or less similar to WriteMonkey.

Its called FocusWriter and its got the same distraction free screen as WriteMonkey. The same typewriter sounds and the same flawless architecture.

Here's a screenshot:

How to install:

First you need to add the official repository. To do that add the following line to the Software Sources (if you need help adding repositories please check out this page: http://explore-ubuntu.blogspot.com/2010/04/adding-repositories.html)

ppa:gottcode/gcppa

Finally go to the Terminal and type the following:

sudo apt-get install focuswriter

Thats all. It should be available from the Office menu of the Ubuntu menu bar.