Ubuntu Tutorials

So this morning I started looking into greasemonkey based on recommendations of a few friends. I found a few useful scripts and I think I may actually keep it around. I did actually take one script that seemed pretty limited and improved upon it.

If you use greasemonkey you might want to check this out. (I don’t know if this already exists–it certainly may–but here it is anyhow).

Ever notice how Google supports https but doesn’t require it on more than the login page? This script will require any available Google App that supports https to actually use https. Currently this supports:

Gmail

Google Docs

Google Reader

Google Calendar

if you know of any other Google Apps that support https for the session let me know and I’ll improve this. Enjoy. I also have an idea of maintaining a growing list of other sites that support but do not require https.

Download : GoogleSecure – GreaseMonkey

You might remember a recent tutorial I did on securing VNC via SSH with the -via option of vncviewer.  Today I started looking into it more with one of my students and we wanted to make the -via option use compression.  By default it just creates a basic tunnel with SSH and doesn’t let you get much more specific.  We figured out how to make it follow more specific instructions!

update: the environment variable is valid in vncviewer version 4.1.2, but apparently not in Feisty’s current version, 3.3.7.  Solution 1 applies to Ubuntu, Solution 2 does not apply to Ubuntu (successful on RHEL5 and most likely recent Fedora series)

Solution 1:

vncviewer will look to client-side configuration files for its settings.  You can create a ~/.ssh/config file for any of your ssh connections and, which might look like this:

Host alias

HostName hostname

Compression yes

User username

…you get the idea.  This will connect to the HostName value when you “ssh alias”, using Compression and the User specified.  You can use any valid ssh value in this config (see man ssh).  Using client-side configuration like this can cut a long ssh configuration down to a much shorter one.  ie;

The vncviewer will look for this file when used in combination with the -via switch and use compression if set to on, as above.  Test it with and without the Compression value and see if you find a difference in performance.

Solution 2:

vncviewer uses an environment variable to start an ssh connection.  By default it looks like:

VNC_VIA_CMD=/usr/bin/ssh -f -L “$L”:”$H”:”$R” “$G” sleep 20

You can find this using one of the following:

env | grep VNC_VIA_CMD

or

strings /usr/bin/vncviewer | grep ssh

The second method of altering it’s connection settings are to update this environment value and tell it to use Compression.  This would be done using the following:

export VNC_VIA_CMD=’/usr/bin/ssh -C -f -L “$L”:”$H”:”$R” “$G” sleep 20′

(that uses single quotes around the entire value and double quotes on the embedded values.  This is important.)

So, if you do a lot of work with VNC I hope you’re using the -via option for SSH tunneling.  Now you can also compress your connection for better performance on slower networks.  What are your results here?  Do you notice much of a difference?  I have only tested this on a LAN so the speeds are fast in the first place.  Anyone want to share their results out over the public interweb?

Due to the many requests for details that I’ve recieved concerning the Firefox extension bounty I wanted to take a minute and outline the details.  It seems everyone thinks I’m being too secretive about the whole thing.  I didn’t mean for that to be the case I was just being brief with my post.  Here are the details.

I would like an extension that simply checks whether or not the current page is indexed on Google.  I know there are extensions that check for PageRank, which I suppose would be similar, but with this tool the important part is simply the indexing.  A page may be indexed but not have a PR value, and that is what I would like to find. Is the page I'm currently visiting indexed on Google?

To check whether or not a site or specific page is indexed in Google you can use the site: prefix to any URL.  An example would be site:http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/user-sitemap/ (results here).

I imagined a simple statusbar icon that would report a green color for a positive result or a red for negative.  Nothing more is needed but a small visual report based on a yes / no indexed result.

In theory it sounds fairly simple, I simply don’t have the time or experience with xul to build it myself.  I hope that satisfies all you curious cats out there.  I do have a few people that have shown some interest, which I’m grateful for.  At this stage I mainly want to get it done so whoever can throw somethingtogether first becomes my new best friend.

UPDATE: Jeremy pointed out that what I need is not a plugin but an extension (and there is a difference!).  If that changes anyone’s mind just drop me a note.

I’ve been sitting on the idea for a Firefox extension for a while now and I realize I just don’t have the time to do it. If you’re interested in helping me realize this extension I’ve set aside a nice shiny $50 for someone who wants to jump on it. Please email me for details if you’re interested (see contact page).

UPDATE: Install Opera 10 Web Browser in Ubuntu 9.10

I realize, in all of my posts, I’ve never outlined how to install the Opera browser. There are two methods you can use to install it, and both will be outlined below. Before I get into those steps though I have a few things to say about the browser.

First, I think the Opera browser is a really quality piece of software. In the “browser wars” I think it really has a lot to offer and I compare it, as far as standards compliance is concerned, at about the same level of Safari. I think, technically speaking, Opera and Safari are better browsers than Firefox. The usability and extensions of Firefox are one of the main things that makes it a good browser and so popular.

Having said that I should mention I use Firefox or Flock (based on Firefox) as my browser primarily for the great community around it and due to the great extensions. Also, most importantly, is the principle that Firefox is free software whereas Opera is not. For me, if anything, that is reason enough.

Without further ado here are the instructions for installing Opera on your Ubuntu machine.

Method #1

The easiest method is to visit the Opera website and use the download icon. When I visit that site it recognizes (or defaults) to a listing of Ubuntu compatible versions. Everything from Warty to Edgy are available. Simply select your version, download and install the package. Installing the package can be done using the Gdebi Package Installer (open with..) or using the command sudo dpkg -i opera*.deb (save to disk) after downloading.

Method #2

The second method is to download Opera from the Ubuntu repositories. This is probably the more trusted method, but many users prefer method #1 due to the fact that it can often be more up to date. As usual I will suggest that the official method, the official repositories, is what you should use. To install Opera use the following:

sudo aptitude install opera

Or, as always, you can use any GUI method such as Synaptic or Adept to install the opera package. What are some of your thoughts on Opera? Do you use it? If so, why? If not, why not?

technorati tags:opera, firefox, safari, install, dapper, edgy, hoary, warty

Blogged with Flock

UPDATE: Thanks to Daniel I have found a trunk build that offers the latest and greatest. I will now be using Flock again, just keeping up via the trunk until final release! I am stoked! There are some <napoleon>sweet</napoleon> new features that I’m sure a lot of people are going to enjoy!

As many of you know I have been a fan of Flock for some time now. I try to follow the releases in anticipation of it catching up with the Firefox 2 engine.. anyone know when that is going to be? In any event here is a quick post on the release notes and upgrade instructions for anyone interested in upgraded or installing Flock.

Download Flock (save to desktop)

Installation instructions found on my previous post here.

technorati tags:flock, browser, 0.7.10.1

Blogged with Flock

I re-found something today that I had forgotten about. It outlines a couple of quick methods you can use to speed up the Firefox engine and make pages load more quickly for you. I set this up again this evening and see a noticeable speed increase.

Here are five steps for speeding up your browser.

1. In your address bar visit: about:config
2. Find: network.dns.disableIPv6. Set “true”
3. Find: network.http.pipelining. Set “true”
4. Find: network.http.pipelining.maxrequests. Set “8″
5. Find: network.http.proxy.pipelining. Set “true”

This little trick has been around for a while. I wanted to get it out there for anyone that hadn’t known about it. Also make sure I write it down so I don’t forget it again the next time I re-install (which I do far too often).

technorati tags:firefox, flock, http, browser, speed

I was reminded about the new up-and-coming browser called Flock. I’ve been using it this week at the office and I am enjoying it so far. It is still new in development but it is very stable and has a ton of “social” features.

So far some of the things I’ve noticed:

• Faster than Firefox.
• Compatible with Firefox extensions.
• Built in Blogging, Flickr & News Feed features

I would suggest checking it out.

(note: I haven’t found a .deb package for those using Debian/Ubuntu. I’m using it on the XP machine at work. Hopefully someone can jump on this and get a package in the repositories pretty soon.)

In response to Doran’s post about foolin’ the robots I thought I’d share my strategy for the same. It seems to work pretty well & it can be customized to make it even more difficult for spam-hackers to foil. (disclaimer: I can’t take credit for making it up, just thought I’d share.)

For my method I use javascript. I call the javascript file in the header and then call the email using ‘< a href=“javascript:doMyeMail();>‘. This, of course, points to the function in the javascript file & renders the email.

If you’d like to take a look at one implementation check out my javascript file. You can see there how I’ve used it for multiple email addresses and basically what it does. Enjoy!