Bulk converting Office documents to PDF
When you need to convert multiple documents to PDF for distribution (or from one Office format to another) there are a few utilities around. The most workable I found is the UNOCONV utility which is build on top of LibreOffice / OpenOffice. This uses the OpenOffice conversion facilities rather than a simple PDF print driver.
On Ubuntu it can be installed via Software Center or via apt-get from the core repositories.
Jitsi Ubuntu VoIP SIP Client
The latest instalment in my never-ending quest to find a decent SIP client (see Ubuntu SIP I & Ubuntu SIP II) I came across JITSI (http://jitsi.org/). Since the website looked very interesting and the project seems very well maintained (http://jitsi.org/index.php/Main/Screenshots) I decided to give it a go.

The installation is a breeze with a Ubuntu/Debian package available and the installation also adds the repository to keep the package up to date.
Installing Samsung Multifunction Printer - Ubuntu 11.10
Getting Multifunction Printers to scan under Linux can be a bit of a pain. The Samsung SCX-3400 I had to install recently was no exception.
Here are the necessary steps I had to perform:
- Ignore all Samsung Provided CD’s and downloads. They do not work under Oneiric Ocelot (11.10)
- Add Samsung Unified Driver repository http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/smfpv3.html
- Install Samsung drivers and libsane-extras
- Edit sane configuration files
vim /etc/apt/sources.list
#add the Samsung Unified Driver Repo
deb http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/ debian extra
wget http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/suldr.gpg
apt-key add suldr.gpg
apt-get update
apt-get install samsungmfp-data samsungmfp-driver samsungmfp-network samsungmfp-scanner samsungmfp-configurator-data samsungmfp-configurator-qt4 libsane-extras
The following sane config files need to be modified (add lines)
Connecting to Cisco Small Business VPN from Ubuntu
Connecting to IPSec VPN gateways has always been one of the more painful things to do. Unfortunately Cisco is not helping by being extremely sluggish on making their utilities available on most recent OS revisions (you can’t even get their QuickVPN client to work properly on 64bit Win7 yet). Operating System support outside of Windows seems to be pretty much non-existent (see https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2040595).
Shame on you Cisco !
Option 1 – running QuickVPN under using wine
Download the QuickVPN client
Android 4.0 screenshot functionality on Galaxy Nexus
One of the features I missed since the good old Android 1.5 days was the ability to take screen-shots on the device. Prior to Android 4 (ICS) the only workable way to create screen-shots was to connect via USB cable and use the Android SDK to make remote screen-shots.
On Android 4.0 all you have to do is press Volume Down Key + Power Key down at the same time and hold. You should hear the camera click (if audio is on) and Android will show a notification that the screenshot was saved on your device and you can now upload or transfer to your favourite service.
Installing VideoLAN VLC 2.0 on Ubuntu 11.10
With the release of the final VLC 2.0 player you need to add a back-port (the next version 12.04 will have it included in the main repositories) PPA to Oneiric Ocelot (11.10)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/vlc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc
Thanks to Nate Muench for providing this !
Finding a Notepad++ alternative / replacement on Ubuntu
One of the most important utilities on any computer is a decent text editing tool. Since there are as literally hundreds of text-editors out there you would think it is an easy task to find a similar one for each platform.

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) by Thomas HawkAfter years of trialing on various Windows platforms I have found [Notepad++](http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ “Notepad++”) to be the most useful of them all (closely followed by EMEditor which I used for years before Notepad++). Since I have now switched to Ubuntu completely it was necessary to find a permanent alternative on that platform since Notepad++ is only available on Windows.
Ten iOS apps I can not do without ...
Since it seems everybody has to do one of these “10 <insert marginally useful term> I can not live without” articles here is my take.
The 10 Apple iOS Apps I can not live without
Enjoy ! I hope you find them as useful as I do. :)
Mobile sensors and the “Internet of Things” in learning
With the Internet of Things slowly becoming mainstream the potential uses of this technology can also be seen in the Education sector. This blogpost is the first installment of a series of posts that highlights practical examples that can be used in teaching and training.
Part 1 – Environmental Noise Monitoring

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) by leeanderNoise pollution has been a serious problem in many large cities all over the world and with the help of common mobile devices (smartphones) this can be easily measured, monitored and compared with a large quantity of samples from other cities/regions.
Education and the Internet of Things
Here are the slides from a presentation for the South Australian Department of Education & Childrens’ Development – Luchtime Bytes Series.
The original copy of this blogpost was posted on http://www.brightcookie.com/2011/11/education-and-the-internet-of-things/
Getting a handle on Ubuntu mobile power management
To get an idea on the current power usage and some suggestions on how to improve power-management ‘powertop‘ is a must-have.
sudo apt-get install powertop
- Powertop Screenshot
Turning the Toshiba Z830 into a Ubuntu Ultrabook
[
](http://www.flickr.com/photos/leogaggl/6821823795/ “ultrabook by leogaggl, on Flickr”)
EDIT: Here are some tweaks if you install 12.04 (Precise Pangolin).
Since I will have to do a fair amount of traveling in the next year I was in need of upgrading my trusted workhorse of Toshiba Qosmio F60 to a more portable option that will be easier on the shoulders during long travels. After doing some research into which of the major manufacturers offer the best support for a Linux based Operating System it came down to a final two: the Intel i7 variants of Samsung Series 9 and the Toshiba Z830.

