One-line text editor in your web browser

A colleague of mine gave me a tip for a basic, in-browser text editor. In a modern browser, enter the following in the address bar:

data:text/html, <html contenteditable>

At first it seems that nothing's happened. The browser pane is one large text entry field. It's a great way of being able to quickly copy snippets of text from a web page, or keep temporary notes. You can even bookmark the address so that you can quickly have a scratchpad available.

When I first saw this I was amazed! OK, maybe I'm easily impressed. :) I wanted to share it, so asked if I could mention it on G+. My colleague suggested that instead I link to the original page. When I searched for this, I had many hits returned, with the first being a blog post titled "One line browser notepad". The blog post's author described the method I mentioned above. I then went on to read some of the comments made in reply to the post and was amazed to see that there were at least 10 further enhancements and improvements suggested. I highly recommending you visit this blog post and try some of the methods.
For my purposes I settled on the example below. It goes a few steps further than the basic example, giving the tab a title, adding a [Save] button, increasing the text size, adding a favicon and setting the focus on the editing pane. One advantage of this solution over other solutions suggested is the ability to save the contents of the text box. It's not a fully-blown editor but you can at least save your notes if you want to do that. All credit for the code below goes to those who commented to the blog entry. It is entirely the result of cut-and-paste-ing some of their contributions.
data:text/html;charset=utf-8,<link%20rel="shortcut%20icon"%20href="http://g.etfv.co/http://www.sublimetext.com"/><title>Scratchpad</title><button%20onClick="SaveTextArea()">Save</button>%20<script%20language="javascript"%20type="text/javascript">%20function%20SaveTextArea()%20{%20window.location%20=%20"data:application/octet-stream,"%20+%20escape(txtBody.value);%20}%20</script>%20<textarea%20id="txtBody"%20style="font-size:%201.5em;%20width:%20100%;%20height:%20100%;%20border:%20none;%20outline:%20none"%20autofocus>%20</textarea>

Firefox plugin: Markdown Editor

In my ongoing saga to assemble a method of storing personal notes in a way that best suits me, I stumbled across a Firefox plugin named Markdown Editor. As its name suggests, it is a Markdown editor which can be used to edit locally-stored text files in Markdown markup.

It provides a split-pane view, with one pane being the editing pane and the other an automatically-refreshed HTML view. The editor is quite basic with undo, save and save as features.

If you use Markdown markup but don't want to use a standalone application, try Markdown Editor. It makes a very useful addition to Firefox. It's quite basic in its functionality at the moment and could perhaps benefit from some enhancements and new features.

Try it and see for yourself. If you do try it, please write a review on its Mozilla Firefox plugins page as so far there it has had very few reviews.

Firefox's recent changes have impressed me

I am impressed by recent changes and changes in progress to Firefox, namely:

• an optional PDF viewer written in Javascript;
• a new Downloads dialog box, with a matching Navigation bar button to show/hide the dialog. I definitely prefer this to having an entirely separate window opened (available only in the Nightly build at the moment);
• an option to open links in a Private Window. This is an improvement over the previous option, which was to switch the entire browser into Private Browsing mode (OK - I may have the name of that feature wrong) (available only in the Nightly build at the moment).

Yay Mozilla!

Note: I am well aware that these features have been available in Chrome for some time. I give Google credit for the excellent browser that is Chrome but my preference is for Firefox.

HOWTO: Search Pidgin's logs for a regular expression

I wanted to search all of Pidgin's logs for mention of a subject I remembered was discussed a few months ago.

From within the directory for Pidgin's log files - ~/.purple - I tried the following command:

grep -R <regex> *.txt"

Sadly this failed miserably so I asked for help. Immediately someone came up with the answer:

grep -R <regex> **/*.txt

Android app focus: Link2SD

Link2SD

Category: Utility
Cost: Free
Requires root access?: Yes

I have decided to highlight Android applications I think are useful, interesting or fun. First on the list is Link2SD.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5idWFrLkxpbmsyU0QiXQ..

Its main goal is to alleviate the problem of limited internal storage of an Android phone by allowing you to move user applications and their data to a micro SD card. Although there are several scripts to do the same for custom ROMs, they can be very ROM-specific and Link2SD is easy to use and has wider ROM compatibility. Link2SD's features also include the ability to freeze apps and automatically move them to SD storage.

If you find the internal storage of your phone is getting low, try Link2SD.

Google Hangout hints and tips

Overview

Google Hangouts are a free service provided by Google, which allow for video chats between up to 10 people.

To participate in a Hangout only requires a modern PC web browser, or an Android phone with the Google Plus app installed.

Installing the required bits and pieces

When you participate in a Hangout for the first time, the required plug-ins will be installed.

It is therefore recommended to attend a "fake hangout" with a friend before your maiden Google Hangout so the appropriate plug-ins are installed ahead of time.

On Linux, you will be asked to add a new repository, and may also need to perform an update after the repository is installed before you can install the plug-ins.

Microphone/Headset

If you are using the Gnome 3 desktop environment, setting your USB headset or microphone as the default device can sometimes be difficult.

Using Gnome 3 extensions will help you immensely to ensure your headset or microphone is the primary device during a Google Hangout.

Installing the Pulse Audio Shortcuts Extension

1. Visit https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/109/pulse-audio-shortcuts/
2. Install the Extension.
3. Install the suggested packages in the description of the extension (not doing this will make the extesion useless).
4. If the extension does not appear in the task bar, restart your Gnome 3 session
   Alt+F2, then type restart or r.
5. Plug in your USB headset or mic.

Setting your input/output device

1. Open the Volume Control menu in the task bar.
2. Select Pulse Audio Shortcuts, and then click Volume Control.
3. Click Volume Control.
4. In the volume control window, select Configuraton.
   Your Internal Audio and <Headset/Mic Name> will display.
5. Select the "OFF" profile for the Internal Audio device.
6. The USB headset is now the only device that will playback and send audio on your PC.

When you have completed the Google Hangout, unplug your USB device, and reverse the configuration in the Setting your input/output device procedure.

Hints and Tips

Wired vs Wireless

If possible, use a wired network connection because you're likely to get better video quality.

Testing... testing... Is this thing on?

Since a Google Hangout uses both audio and video sources, you need to check the audio settings of your desktop environment (DE) AND those of the Google Hangout.

1. Before starting the Hangout, check your DE's audio setting, making sure that the volume settings are OK and that your microphone is on;
2. Once the Hangout is started, click on the Settings icon and again confirm that your microphone is on.

Forgetting to do both these checks may result in an award-winning Marcel Marceau impression.

Add your national flag and screen name to your Hangout window

When you start a Hangout, there are many add-ons (called Apps) that will enhance your experience, particulary when talking with international folk, or in a full room.

Once such add on is "Hangout Toolbox". This app will superimpose your name (of your choosing) and your national flag as a "lower third" of your hangout view window.

This makes it really easy to work out who is speaking, and what their name is.

1. In a hangout session, select Add Apps from the left hand list.
2. From the list of available apps, select Hangout Toolbox and install.
3. Hangout Toolbox will display in your left pane apps list.
4. Click to open the menu.
5. The first menu is the "lower third" menu.
6. Set the following
   1. User Name
   2. Role (in the second field)
   3. Select Country (your flag)
   4. Set the slider to ON.

      Talk to the camera, not the screen

7. The configured options will display the info like you see in news broadcasts. Very cool.

Use Events to make fancy meeting invitations

Google Plus has an Events tab, and it is simply awesome for making meeting invites for work meetings.

You can create an event, and invite people you know on G+ directly. If the invitees accept the meeting, it will appear in their Google calendar as an appointment, and will remind them to attend.

When the user visits G+ to join the hangout, a "join now" button displays at the event start time.

Note
     If you are the organizer, you can not start the Hangout earlier from the invite. You must wait until the start time ticks over before you can launch the Hangout. Otherwise you get an "Untitled" hangout, which none of the other participants will know about.

Talk to the camera, not the screen

When you are the one talking in a Hangout, it is natural to want to talk to the person you see on the screen. This has a weird side-effect: you appear to be looking "somewhere else", not at the person.

Take a leaf out of broadcast television: the camera is the audience. Talk to the camera and engage your participants.

Linux+Browser+Laptop = Chromebook?

I recently tried and failed to boot Hexxeh's Lime and Vanilla builds of Chromium OS on my MSI Wind U200 laptop. While I saw it as a set-back it got me thinking: isn't Linux+Browser essentially an equivalent configuration?

I'm trying to achieve much the same functionality as is provided by a Chromebook:

An OS which boots quickly (up to 30 seconds) and presents the user a web browser in full-screen.

Extra details of what I'm seeking are:

• Built-in advertisement suppression. Installing an appropriate extension would achieve this goal.
• Multi-user support. Having multiple Firefox desktop icons would achieve this goal.
• Synchronisation of bookmarks, history etc. Enable Firefox's native synchronisation would achieve this goal.
• Printing support. Installing and configuring CUPS should achieve this goal.
• Domain blocking. Either "installing" an appropriate hosts file or doing this via my router should achieve this goal.

What I don't yet have worked out is the "wrapper" to all of this: a Linux distribution which boots quickly into the browser and only a browser, allowing the user to quickly and easily shut down the PC when they're finished.

My thoughts are to do a minimal Salix OS installation, probably Fluxbox edition, and instead of using GDM or similar, write an .xinitrc which starts Firefox immediately, perhaps followed by the "shutdown" command, so that exiting Firefox shuts down the PC without further user intervention. If this is to be a multi-user installation, I could have large desktop icons labeled with each user's name which start Firefox with their own profile.

I'll report my progress via follow-up posts here.