Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners » Ubuntu Tips

How to print labels the EASY way! – Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:54:11 +0000

I know I'm late for this year's Christmas season, but you can learn and start using this tip TODAY to make next year's Christmas card mailings a breeze. Too many computer users have no idea what a database is, how to use it, and how to merge it with another program to create labels. Since printing mailing labels is only a once per year activity for many of you, learning how to do it again every single year requires too much time and frustration.

Set Firefox to recognize web mail for mailto links – Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:27:25 +0000

If you use a web based email system like Gmail, HotMail, or Yahoo email or any derivative of these, you more than likely run into occasions where you want to email someone from a web site. However, when you click the link (known as a mailto link), you get presented with an email system you [...]

How to set Puppy Linux to double-click instead of single click

Rick — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:32:22 +0000

I use Puppy Linux to troubleshoot computers and backup data from dead hard drives. However, by default, the system automatically opens a file or folder when it is clicked just one time. For me, it seriously slows down my work. I finally learned how to set Puppy Linux to double-click instead of single click for [...]

Make reading the web easier than ever – Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:33:54 +0000

Although we now have 19" and larger monitors on most new desktop computers, the text seems to shrink. Why is that? It has to do with screen resolution (how much information can be displayed). Screen resolutions on today's monitors are up to 3X that of monitors we used just 6-8 years ago. We can see a lot more information, but often the text is too small to view for some computer users. Never fear. Using this week's tip, you can easily and quickly enlarge the text of any web page using only your keyboard and mouse. This tip will work with any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc) and any operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, Mac OS X). All you need is a mouse with a scroll wheel and your keyboard. This tip can be performed without the mouse as well, but I'll touch on that later. First, when you are reading a web site, particularly news web sites and blog type sites like mine, look for an indication of a printer friendly page. Often designated as Printer Friendly, Print this article, or simply Print, clicking this link brings up a version of the article you are reading that is much less busy and cleaner than how the article presents on the web page itself. This alone may make enough difference for readability. However, you can quickly increase the size of the text you are reading by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse scroll wheel away from your body (towards the computer monitor). Amazing, no? Holding down the Ctrl key and spinning towards your body (away from the monitor) will shrink the text again. The same result can be achieved by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the "+" or "-" keys as well. I think the mouse method is a little more intuitive and elegant. Watch the short video below to see this tip in action and see the web as never before!

Portable Ubuntu lets you try out Ubuntu Linux

Rick — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:37:59 +0000

For a little over two years, I have been yammering on about Linux and Ubuntu. To get started using it, you need to either order a free Linux CD from the distribution of your choice or download a copy then learn how to burn a bootable CD from it. For many, this just isn’t going [...]

Money management using Linux / Ubuntu

Rick — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:34:35 +0000

One of my customers desperately wants to hang on to an almost 10 year old computer. His Windows Me installation started showing its age almost three years ago, but he persevered. He mainly uses email, Internet, a word processor and Quicken to write checks and track his income and expenses for his small business.

After much discussion, he decided that he wanted to try Ubuntu. His machine sports 256mb of RAM (hey that was a ton in 1999) and a 1.5 ghz processor, so it falls well within reason for Ubuntu. The installation went smooth and I added a USB 2.0 card to support his multi-function printer and external hard drive. Of course the Internet and email are no problem with Ubuntu, and he and his wife love all the included games.

Free Pocket Guide to Ubuntu

Rick — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:12:43 +0000

The author of Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference, Keir Thomas, made his book available for free in PDF format today (click here to download). If you tend to like your manuals and books in tangible book format, click here to get the $9.94, 166 page book version from Amazon.

How to Add or Remove a program in Ubuntu – Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:05:19 +0000

By now, you know that I have become smitten with Ubuntu (a Linux operating system). And in the right situation, I think it serves its users admirably. As packed as a new installation of Ubuntu is with productivity, graphics, Internet, and game software, you might want to add a new program. You cannot go to the store and purchased a new program and install it on an Ubuntu machine. Instead, you use the web and built-in tools found in Ubuntu to add or remove a program. The first method I explain in the video is how to use the Synaptic Package Manager found by clicking System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager from the menus. The second method involves clicking the Applications menus then Add/Remove. A high speed connection is really a must with Ubuntu to be able to try out some of the great software available and to get all of the available system updates as well.

Pandora Internet Radio – Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:03:58 +0000

Pandora.com qualifies for yet another Web 2.0 application. Pandora started as a project to find the similarities in music and why we like certain music and why we don't. The Pandora folks eventually made all their study of music into an amazingly customizable and accurate music service. To sign up is free although I recommend paying for the service if you use it a lot. Once you sign up, you start by building your own radio stations based on your favorite songs or artists. After you build your first station, Pandora starts to play songs related to the song or artist you started with when you built the radio station (which entails that you simply type the name of a musical artist or a song name and click Create).

As the songs play, if you tell Pandora whether you like the selection or not (via a click on a thumbs up or thumbs down icon), it will continue to more accurately pick music for you. You must see the short video below to see how it works, and better yet, give it a try to see why it is such an exciting and useful Web 2.0 application!

Customizing the Ubuntu Login screen – Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:11:01 +0000

I personally don't mind the orange and black themes of Ubuntu. If you do, however, you can quickly change the look of the Ubuntu login them by downloading new ones from the Internet or using some of the extra options in Ubuntu.

To download new themes, I suggest starting at Gnome Look. Gnome Look offers hundreds of new themes you can use at no cost to customize Ubuntu to look the way you want it. Once at the Gnome Look web site, follow these steps to get your new login theme(s) installed.:

Click GDM Themes from the options on the left of the screen
Browse around and find a theme you like. I like to start by looking in the highest rated or most downloads tab.
You can click any thumbnail (small picture) to see a larger view of a potential candidate.
Once you decide on a theme, look for the download option and click it.
Save the theme to a known location on your computer.
Close your browser and download windows.
Click System ---> Administration --> Login Window from the menus
Enter your password
Click the Local tab
Click the Add button on the right
Navigate to and click the theme you downloaded.
Click the Install button.
Your new login theme should appear (in alphabetical order).
Repeat steps 10-13 for any other themes you downloaded and need to add.
Now click the radio button next to the theme you want to use for your login screen
Click OK

The next time you login into your computer, your new theme will be used. See all these steps in action by watching the video below!