Please post your simple tricks you know but others don't

[potong]

This is not a trick as such but rather "thinking outside the box" or should I say "thinking inside the box"!

Long ago I bought a 3-in-1 Lexmark printer/scanner. This works fine in windows but it could not be persuaded to work in Linux. I contacted Lexmark but they would/could not provide drivers for this model. So the 3-in-1 sat on the desk and dried up (BTW ink cartridges for this model were exorbitant).
Fast forward a few years: I am now using Puppy and I have a need to scan some documents but no scanner available. Well the 3-in-1 has a scanner but how to connect it to puppy?
I already have VirtualBox installed (for testing out new pups) so I popped in an old win2000 setup disk, created a win2000 virtual machine, applied the VirtualBox Additions to allow seamless desktop, installed the Lexmark printer/scanner software and then setup a shared folder between puppy and the virtual win2000 machine.
Now, with just a few clicks, I can use the scanner again and if need be the printer.
One proviso: the version of VirtualBox has to be the non-open source one because the 3-in-1 is connected via USB.

HTH

Potong

[Flash]

I discovered the same thing. Inkjet printers are the worst way to go unless you print a lot. If you don't, the ink dries out between uses. Expensive bummer. Laser printers are a better choice if you only print occasionally. They use dry toner powder, which should have a shelf life of pretty much forever.

Most of us these days have a digital camera with resolution high enough to make a dandy substitute for a scanner if your standards aren't too high.

If necessary, you can put the paper under a piece of glass or plastic to flatten it. Arrange things so the light source is far enough to the side of the camera that the reflection of the light source doesn't show in the picture.

[potong]

The Problem:

You want to print something off the web but you don't want to print adverts/sidebars/headers/footers etc.

If you're using Seamonkey, go to File/Edit Page, then in the new window, highlight the text or area you want to print and either copy or cut it.

Open a new composer page from File/New Composer Page and paste in you selection.

Continue copying/cutting until you have all the details you want and either save or print the result.


Bookmarklets are another way to go or if your a firefox person investigate Greasemonkey and/or Firebug.

HTH

Potong

p.s. Another excellent addon is Scrapbook for offline reading and it also includes a wysiwyg html page formatter

[Lobster]

→ °¿°

[efiguy]

Hi Group,

- In working on building a simple streaming TV PC to scanconverter, found that discovering the streaming url is somewhat difficult. There is much software to purchase, but I need to do this on the cheap, and all the urls seem to obfusicate the sources.
- So I put this methodology file together, as a "how to" - but actually looking for easier suggestions, or sources of any better techniques - [only 143 more urls to scan, if live long enough ;) ]

Thanks,
Jay

[chrome307]

Thanks Lobster for those special characters

[don570]

If you want a way to quickly launch the terminal...
Type in terminal

Code: Select all

geany /root/.jwmrc-tray

Insert this new line in the appropriate section

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<TrayButton popup="Run Terminal" icon="mini-sh1.xpm">exec:urxvt</TrayButton>

choose 'Restart JWM' at the menu
Test by clicking on new icon in tray
_________________________________________

I made a few other changes and the section now looks like

Code: Select all

	<!--	<TrayButton popup="Run commandline" icon="gexec.xpm">exec:gexec</TrayButton> 
	<TrayButton popup="Choose Default Browser" icon="www24.png">exec:browser-default</TrayButton>
	<TrayButton popup="Free space in drives" icon="mini-hdisk.xpm">exec:partview</TrayButton>-->
	<TrayButton popup="Run Terminal" icon="mini-sh1.xpm">exec:urxvt</TrayButton>
	<TrayButton popup="Run mhWaveEdit" icon="mini-record.xpm">exec:mhwaveedit</TrayButton>
		<TrayButton popup="Show Desktop" icon="mini-desktop.xpm">showdesktop</TrayButton>

Now there is now 3 icons for quick launch. Terminal, mhWaveEdit
and Show Desktop
____________________________________________

[don570]

Practice using terminal text editor e3
It could be useful if desktop doesn't come up when booting.

Start by opening a new file

Code: Select all

e3 /root/file_name.txt

or just

Code: Select all

e3 file_name.txt

To quit the program is the hardest part of program
ctrl-k then ctrl-q
You will be asked to save the document.

[PeacebyJesus]

The Problem:

You want to print something off the web but you don't want to print adverts/sidebars/headers/footers etc.
r

Or L. click before the point that you want to begin copying, then go to where you want to end and hold down the Shift key and L. click again. And if you want to eliminate pictures, etc, then go to your word processor and under Edit, choose Paste special (or unformatted text.) I use OpenOffice, and R. click on a Toolbar and choose customize Toolbar, and then hit Keyboard and then i change keyboard shortcuts so that a key such as F2 will launch paste special.

[ken geometrics]

Practice using terminal text editor e3
It could be useful if desktop doesn't come up when booting.

Start by opening a new file

Code: Select all

e3 /root/file_name.txt

or just

Code: Select all

e3 file_name.txt

To quit the program is the hardest part of program
ctrl-k then ctrl-q
You will be asked to save the document.

I use words to remember what the key strokes are

^K-B = blocK Begin
^K-E = blocK End
^K-C = blocK Copy
^K-M = blocK Move
^K-Q = blocK Quit

It is actually in many ways a good editor because the commands can all be done without moving your hands off the keyboard. When you select a block text, it says "yes sir that text is to be selected". It doesn't turn off the selection when you move the cursor etc. There is none of that "the editor knows better than the user" in the programmers mind.

[Hotdog]

Using your mouse to launch a program that just doesn't run the way you expect? Or, one that when clicked on seems to do nothing at all?

Try running it from a terminal and it will probably give an error message that you can use to start tracking down the problem.

[vovchik]

Dear efiguy,

If you want to disambiguate streams, have a look at this pet I posted about a month ago http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=73104.

With kind regards,
vovchik

[banger0250]

This is just to stop the ROX pupypin from starting up on the desktop. I needed this to play around with wbar && conky/lua. Open up your .xinitrc in a text editor and comment out these lines.

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#relocates right-side icons to actual right-side of screen...
#/usr/sbin/fixPuppyPin /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin #v1.0.7

#w468 on old PCs this sometimes does not start, see further down...
#if [ -f /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPan1 ];then
#rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin -r /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPan1
#else
#rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin
#fi

[amigo]

When preparing avocado slices, don't try to peel the avocado and then slice it. Instead, slice with the skin still on -it's easy to remove the skin from the slices afterward.

[trapster]

amigo - nothing easier than a big metal spoon to get the skin off an avocado

[disciple]

amigo - nothing easier than a big metal spoon to get the skin off an avocado

But have you tried amigo's method? I saw my uncle doing it the other day and was amazed. He does it with the avocado sliced into four - I'm not sure how the performance varies with the number of slices
It can take a bit of practise to get right - the trick is to turn the skin inside out as you peel it off.

[amigo]

As I said, the goal is slices of avocado, in which case taking the peel off first is a mistake -especially for thin slices. Yes, a big spoon works great for getting the flesh out, but slicing that slippery hunk cleanly is nigh impossble.

[tallboy]

I recommended some on-line reading in a post in another thread, and I don't mind repeating it. It is all about getting down to basics, read through some of these links, and you may just as well be the next Linux guru! Some of the commands don't function in puppylinux, because the puppy build is kept to a minimum, but they are all basic Linux stuff, and may all be installed by a little click.

You go to TLDP.org (The Linux Documentation Project), go to section Guides, and there you'll find - among other useful stuff - Mendel Coopers fantastic Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide, and for those who think they already know the basics; an Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide, and GNU/Linux Command-Line Tools Summary for the serious guru wannabes.

Learning to use the commands in a terminal window, and especially for those coming from DOS/Windoze, a simple UNIX/Linux thing like 'piping' the result of one command into a new command as many times as you want to, is a real eye-opener that make you see why UNIX in a terminal was such a heavy tool when it was released many years ago.

Tallboy.

[Amgine]

No real tips or tricks, but here is a link to some good e-books not all are on Linux, nothing on Puppy.

http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download

they ask for a password, if you sign up they will send it to you.

The password will be: makeuseof
But you can sign up for their news letter if you do...

[tallboy]

I hate using the 'save to CD/DVD' function that you get as an option when quitting a session when using a live CD/DVD. It always drag along some clutter that was not really intended to have around at next boot, and the extra files to be loaded, seriously slow down the whole booting process.

There is an elegant way to get around the problem, provided your .iso was burnt to a CD using the multisession option (I think all DVDs are burnt multisession when burnt by puppylinux).
You simply make an extra catalog on the multisession disk, and dump all your favourite pets and files into it. They are not made available on bootup, but can be accessed at any time by clicking the disk, and then you simply install what you need. I use it for Openoffice, emacs, Gimp, Dia, Scribus, Lyx and other massive programs that I use only sporadically. I only save the versions that I know work 100% in my dpup485, along with all the necessary dependencies and preference files, so I don't have to look around the net to find them. Having them available on the DVD make them install in seconds, and does not take up bandwith on a slow net connection.
You have to use the same catalog name every time, in the example it is named 'extras' - you can choose whatever you prefer, and the content will simply be updated whenever you save to it again. Important: a file will always be updated, it will NOT be available in several older versions, as in a normal 'pupsave'. If you want that function, use a new catalog name each save. In the code example it is written to a DVD, modify the code if you use a CD.

• Make a catalog /tmp/extras, and fill it with whatever you want stored; programs, catalogs/files, music, pics or today's bookmark collection. (remember to check file permissions)
• Open a terminal window, and write the same code every time you save to your DVD:

  Code: Select all

  growisofs -M /dev/dvd -D -R -l -new-dir-mode 0755 -graft-points extras=/tmp/extras

  (NOTE: the l in the line above is a small L)

Next time you boot your live puppy, everything behaves as normal, and if you need a couple of hundreds of megabytes of openoffice, you just click it to install it from your DVD.

I use this all the time, it works great!

The topic was also discussed in this thread.

Tallboy