Transpose, Transcribe, and Slow Down Music (MP3/WAV) with Slow MP3 - Ubuntu/Linux Mint

Slow MP3 is a tool written in Java that can play either MP3 or WAV files and allows users to do the following:

• Transcribe/Transpose song to any key

• Slow down tempo

• Loop song parts

• Identify notes and chords

Since this tool is written in Java, you need to have one of these packages installed in Ubuntu/Linux Mint:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk

or

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre

You can now download Slow MP3 to your home directory with these commands:

mkdir -p ~/Slow-MP3 && cd ~/Slow-MP3 

wget -c http://goo.gl/tnreI -O SlowMP3.jar

Start the application with this command:

java -jar ~/Slow-MP3/SlowMP3.jar

Slow MP3 Home Page

Fuduntu 2013.1

Lee Ward has announced the release of Fuduntu 2013.1, a new build of the rolling-release distribution which features GNOME 2 as its default desktop: "Fuduntu 2013.1 released. For those with hardware that use proprietary drivers, one of the first things that will be noticed after install is Jockey, the program that checks hardware and presents the user with the proprietary driver(s) needed. An example of this would be graphics drivers for NVIDIA and AMD cards. Since we're on the topic of installation, we would like to point out that, by default, sudo is now enabled for all new installs. Another noticeable thing will be the new dock. Unfortunately, AWN is no longer being maintained upstream and there are several bugs that have been left open. In addition, AWN will no longer build against the latest glib. After much discussion, the team decided to migrate to the Cairo dock. This is now installed by default." Read the detailed release announcement for a complete list of new features. Download from SourceForge: Fuduntu-2013.1-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso (959MB, SHA1, torrent).

Liferea (Feed Reader) Updated To V1.8.12 - Ubuntu 12.10/Linux Mint 14

Liferea is a popular feed reader (news aggregator) for Linux-based systems that has an easy-to-use UI (user interface) written in GTK and it can be integrated smoothly in Gnome-based desktop environments. Liferea supports many web syndication formats such as RSS, OPML, Atom, etc. It also allows users to read RSS feeds offline (offline reading).

Liferea has been updated recently to version 1.8.12 which is now compatible with the Tiny Tiny RSS news feed (RSS/Atom) reader and aggregator.

Liferea 1.8.12 Installation

Liferea 1.8.12 can be easily installed in Ubuntu/Linux Mint with the following commands from the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liferea/ppa 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install liferea

NOTE: PPA installation for version 1.8.12 is currently available for Ubuntu 12.10 and Linux Mint 14 only.

Liferea Removal

To uninstall Liferea from your system, enter these commands:

sudo apt-get remove liferea 

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:liferea/ppa 

sudo apt-get update

Capture, Annotate and Share Screenshots with JShot in Ubuntu/Linux Mint

JShot is a free screenshot tool written in Java that allows users to easily take screenshots of a selected region or fullscreen with the possibility to set capture delay or annotate pictures with text, arrows, rectangles, circles, and lines.

There are many other features that JShot offers for handling screenshots such as photo cropping, resizing, and rotating. It also allows to erase sensitive information from the picture with the blur tool. JShot comes also with a system tray launcher (JShot Tray) that will help users of the Unity desktop environment easily create screenshots from the system tray:

JShot can be even used as an uploader which will help you share your screenshots online via Dropbox, Picasa, Twitpic, Skype, Twitter, or even upload them to your server via the FTP Uploader. You can find full features for JShot here.

The latest version of JShot is 2.1.0.3 which we are going to see its installation in Ubuntu 12.10/12.04 and Linux Mint 14/13 or older.

JShot Installation

If you haven't installed Java in Ubuntu/Linux Mint, install openjdk-7-jdk or openjdk-7-jre to be able to run JShot:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk

or

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre

Download and install the application with these commands:

cd /tmp 

wget -c http://goo.gl/FFNlR -O jshotinstall.jar 

java -jar jshotinstall.jar

Then follow now setup instructions:

Search now the application in the Unity dash to start it:

Easily Password Protect Your Files/Folders in Ubuntu/Linux Mint

In this tutorial, we will explain for newbies how to easily password protect files or folders in Ubuntu/Linux Mint systems. You don't have to use any third-party software, we will just use the archive manager to compress the file or folder and lock it with a password so that you disallow unauthorized users from copying your contents.

Getting Started

Right click on the file(s) or folder(s) and select Compress:

In the window that will appear, select a compression format (7z, zip, tar, etc.), then click Other Options:

Enter any password of your choice, check on "Encrypt the file list too", then click Create:

You have now compressed and password-protected your file/folder. No user can now extract the archive file unless he/she provides the correct password:

More Advanced Options

If you want to prevent other users from deleting or moving the password-protected archive file you have just created, open the terminal and cd to where it is stored, then run this command:

sudo  chattr +i file-name.ext

To undo this, enter this command:

sudo  chattr -i file-name.ext

Slax 7.0.3

Tomáš Matějíček has announced the release of Slax 7.0.3, an updated release of the project's Slackware-based live CD: "A new version of Slax is available for download. This release adds several new features and fixes a few bugs as well. Probably the most interesting feature is PXE boot support and improved X auto-detection. All modern computers nowadays support PXE, which allows booting an operating system over network interface independently of data storage devices (like hard disks). Slax fully supports PXE booting now. How to do that? One computer will act as a server, so just boot Slax on it from CD or USB and make sure to have the appropriate boot menu option 'Act as PXE server' checked. Slax on the server computer will provide DHCP, TFTP and HTTP services to enable PXE booting for other computers on the network." See the full release announcement for a list of new features and changes. Download (MD5): slax-English-US-7.0.3-x86_64.iso (219MB).