PDFmod

PDFmod is a simple tool with GUI to modify your pdf documents.

You can:

1) Rearrange pages of a pdf file

2) Combine two pdf files

3) Delete pages from pdf file

4) Rotate required pages

For more advanced exhaustive set of tools look at PDFtk (PDF tool kit).

PDFedit is an advanced editor which allows you to edit text in pdf files.

All the above softwares can be installed through package managers.

Safely store your passwords

If you are like me, scared of storing passwords online and looking for a safe way to store (remember) your passwords in your own machine, openssl offers a way.

1) Create a text file (eg name: passwords) with your passwords:

For eg.

google.com abcdef

blogger 123pqr

....

2) Encrypt using openssl

# encrypt

openssl aes-256-cbc -a -salt -in passwords -out passwords.enc

When prompted enter a master password

REMEMBER the master password at all times.

3) REMEMBER to remove the passwords text file !

rm -f passwords

3) Decrypt when needed

# decrypt

openssl aes-256-cbc -d -a -in passwords.enc -out passwords

That's it! Securely store your passwords and never worry about forgetting passwords again.

Don't Trash, Delete

Sometimes you might want to delete a file directly (like command line "rm") instead of moving it to trash.

To add that option in Gnome Nautilus file manager you can goto:

Places > Home Folder > Edit > Preferences > Behavior > Trash > Include Delete option.

Now you will get an additional delete option when you right click on a file/folder:

Gnome Gmail

If you would like to make Gmail your default Email Client in Gnome instead of "Evolution" or "Thunderbird", then you can use "Gnome Gmail"

After installing goto System > Preferences > Preferred Applications > Internet > Mail Reader

You will get a "Gmail" Option:

Now when you click on an email-link, your browser will open Gmail.

Test this link : abc@gmail.com

Mobile Media Converter

There are numerous applications to convert (audio, video) media files to different formats. There are command line options as well. These can be cumbersome to use at times.

Mobile Media Converter is an excellent application to simplify the task.

It has a neat user interface and it is very easy to use.

Download and try it.

Gnome: Mail notification

If you have the habit of checking your mail (specially Gmail) too often, then you should try mail-notification. It will notify if you have a mail on your desktop panel. You can set it up to show all your mail accounts on your desktop.

SSH: Login Without Password

Just have this in mind:

If you want to login from machine F to machine T through SSH, the "public key" of F should be in "authorized_keys2" file in T.

You need to have static IP/host-name on both machines for this to work

In machine F:

To create a public key for F, use the command: ssh-keygen -t rsa.

When prompted for paraphrase just click enter.

The created public key will be ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

In machine T:

Copy the contents of this (id_rsa.pub) file to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2 file in machine T.

If the folder .ssh does not exist, create it.

If the file authorized_keys2 does not exist, create it.

That's it!

Keyjnote: Great PDF presentation tool

If you use Adobe Reader to present your pdf, then you should try KeyJnote/Impression. It is a python script for adding eye candy to your presentation.

If you are interested check out a few youtube videos to see what it can do.

You can install it through your package manager. Search for "keyjnote".

After installation just type:

keyjnote pdf_file_name.pdf

During the presentation try pressing the following:

1) Enter - spotlight

2) Tab - slide arrangement

3) b - black screen

4) w - white screen

5) t - timer

6) z - zoom (where your mouse points)

7) q - quit

There are more commands on their website.

Using a simple .info script you can add more slide transition features.

Name your script as "pdf_file_name.pdf.info". Add the following for each slide in your pdf.

PageProps = {

1: {

'title': "slide1",

'transition': PagePeel,

},

2: {

'title': "slide2",

}

.......

}

Ubuntu: Synaptic without password

WARNING: It is not good practice to avoid entering passwords for applications. If you feel lazy (like me) do this, but only on your laptop. Do not use this on desktops, specially servers.

To use synaptic package manager without having to enter password you just need to add a line to /etc/sudoers file. Add the following line at the end of the file.

username ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/synaptic

"username" - is your username on the machine.

You can do the same to run any other application without having to enter your password.

e.g. You can add the following line to make application gshutdown work without password

username ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/gshutdown

Python: Add segment name to a .pdb file

Some times it is easier to view .pdb files with segment names in viewers like VMD.

Here is a python script you can use to add segment IDs to a .pdb file.

add_segid.py - Download

add_segid.py - View

help file