Unity Youtube Search Engine and Player for Ubuntu

Now Search and play YouTube videos on Ubuntu with other lens. Searching and playing youtube videos on your computer is as easy as snapping your finger. The search results can then be ordered based on relevance, date published, number of views and overall rating. Once you click on the video, the video will be played back to you on your VLC Player.

To install execute the following scripts:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/lenses
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install lens-video scope-youtube

Once executed, you will need to log out and back in before you can use them. Open the Dash and click on the ‘Video Lens’ icon positioned towards the bottom of the screen.

unity youtube lens
Unity Youtube Search

To view the video you need VLC Player. Make sure you have the player.

youtube vlc player
Youtube Video on VLC Player

That’s it, Enjoy.

Unity Dash-based Calculator for Ubuntu

Unity Scope Calculator is the scope for Unity utilities lens that allows you to perform simple mathematical calculations directly from your Ubuntu Unity dash. It aims to provide you with a fast and convenient way to do simple mathematical operations  without leaving your desktop.

Unity Dash-based Calculator for Ubuntu
Unity Dash-based Calculator for Ubuntu

This scope uses the GCalctool which is the default calculator application installed in Ubuntu. Unity Scope Calculator uses basic mathematical operators such as ‘+’, ‘-’ , ‘/’ , ‘*’ , ‘%’ , ‘pi’ , ‘sin’ ,’cos’  , ‘tan’  etc. The results of the mathematical operations are instantly displayed in the Unity Dash.

To install, open terminal and execute the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:scopes-packagers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unity-lens-utilities unity-scope-calculator

Once installation is complete, make sure you log out and get back.

Ubuntu Heading to TVs, Smartphones and Tablets

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, announced at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Orlando, FL, that they will be taking Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.

Shuttleworth said, “This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it’s important for us to reach out to out community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.”

For more info. check zdnet

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich: Features

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, announced on October 19, 2011, brought Honeycomb features to smartphones and added new features including facial recognition unlock, network data usage monitoring and control, unified social networking contacts, photography enhancements, offline email searching, and information sharing using NFC. The company says 4.0 is a complete rethink of Android’s image and is part of a push to make the OS “Enchant me, Simplify My Life, and Make Me Awesome.”

1. Face Unlock: One of the outstanding features of Android is Face Unlock.As the name suggests, unlocks your handset based on facial recognition technology.

2. Android beam: Android is using NFC (near-field communication) so you can share apps, URLs, videos, and songs just by tapping Android phones together.

3. Advanced camera: It allows to conveniently filter, crop, reduce red-eye and many more image editing stuff. Improved auto-focus and integration with other apps.

4. Screen Capture: Its now easy to capture the screenshot of your android device. Just Hold down the power and volume buttons to snap a screenshot.

5. Redesigned UI: The new UI is much sleeker, makes the phone more visual and easier to use. The new system bar provides more control across the entire device and frequently used apps. Roboto typeface made it more attractive and professional.

6. Data Control: An inbuilt feature of Android is the new data control, which allows to manage, monitor, control the data usage. To make it more impressive, it comes with charts and diagrams.

7. Improved Text Input: The new one is faster and more accurate. It got a better dictionaries for correcting misspelled words, also shows wrong spelling with red underline. Copy paste became very simple and easy, as you can move around entire block of text.

8. People App: A new spin on the contact list. The phone’s owner has their own profile, and people’s contact details are sourced from Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Users can define favorite contacts, and individual people can be placed on the homescreen or in folders for quick access.

9. Favorites Tray: Users can stow their favorite apps, links, and folders into a new Favorites tray for quick and easy access.

10. Flexible Widgets: Ice Cream Sandwich’s stock widgets are re-sizable and more robust than previous versions. Also allow us to create folder and categories all apps, contacts etc…

How To Upgrade From Ubuntu 11.04 To Ubuntu 11.10

The latest version of Ubuntu 11.10 is out few hours back. If its a fresh installtion, you can download from Ubuntu Site or download from here

To upgrade from ubuntu 11.04 to ubuntu 11.10, follow the procedure

1. To start the upgrading process, Press ALT+F2, type update-manager –d and press Enter
Note: You can also you Terminal for the same.

2. This will open the Update Manager where an upgrade button will be visible with a message that the new Ubuntu release is available for upgrade. Click Upgrade to continue.

3. Shortly after continuing, Release Notes window will be visible. Click Upgrade to initiate the upgrade process.

4. Just before the upgrade, you will be asked to enter your password, after which the upgrade process will initiate.

5. During the process, it will list out install files, no longer needed files, no longer supported by canonical files, Remove files and upgrade files. Click Start Upgrade to continue. Update will take time depending upon your internet connection speed.

6. Once the the upgrade is complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.That’s it you have successfully completed the process.

Geekphilip tips:
1. Make sure, you take backup of your files
2. You can cancel the download, any time you like. When you try again, it will resume from the same location.
3. Make sure, you don’t halt the upgrade process once the installation process begins.

LibreOffice completes one year

On 28 September 2010, several members of the OpenOffice.org project formed a new group called “The Document Foundation”. The Document Foundation created LibreOffice from their former project, over concerns that Oracle Corporation would either discontinue OpenOffice.org, or place restrictions on it as an open-source project, as it had on OpenSolaris. It was originally hoped that the LibreOffice name would be provisional, as Oracle was invited to become a member of The Document Foundation. Oracle rejected offers to donate the OpenOffice.org brand to the project, and demanded that all members of the OpenOffice.org Community Council involved with The Document Foundation step down from the OOo Community Council, citing a conflict of interest. The Go-oo project was discontinued in favour of LibreOffice. Improvements made by the project are being merged into LibreOffice. Enhancements made in other forks are also expected to be incorporated into LibreOffice. Also underway is the reduction of Java dependency, with the goal of minimizing security issues and improving application stability.

As of September 2011, The Document Foundation estimates that there are 10 million users worldwide who have obtained LibreOffice via downloads or CDs. Over 90% of those are on Windows, with another 5% on Mac OS X. There are an estimated 15 million Linux users, with most having obtained the software directly from their distribution. This gives a total estimated user base of 25 million people.