How to Record Your Android Device's Screen From Ubuntu 13.04/12.10 and Linux Mint 15/14

In this tutorial, we will see how to record your Android device's screen using a simple Java application called androidscreencast, you can get more information about it here.

The tutorial is workable in the following Ubuntu/Linux Mint distributions:

• Ubuntu 13.04/12.10/12.04 or older
• Linux Mint 15/14/13 or older

Getting Started 

Let's first install some dependencies needed for the application to run properly. So, open the terminal and enter this command:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre android-tools-adb icedtea-netx

Connect now your Android device (Tablet/smartphone) via USB and run this command to make sure it is detected:

adb devices

You may see outputs similar to these if device detected:

List of devices attached 

c1607f713b068af device

Now install androidscreencast using these commands:

mkdir  -p ~/Android_Screencast && cd Android_Screencast 

wget http://goo.gl/LMbQb -O androidscreencast.jnlp

Start the application with this command:

javaws  ~/Android_Screencast/androidscreencast.jnlp

Wait for a a few seconds, then your Android device screen will appear on your computer:

You can resize the application window to increase the screen resolution of your Android device's screen. Click the Record button to start video recording.

Stream Video and Music from PC/Laptop to Android - Ubuntu/Linux Mint

In this tutorial, we will explain how to make it easy streaming music and video from a PC or laptop to an Android device (smartphones, tablets, etc.) over a wireless network. We have previously done a tutorial for streaming videos from PC to iOS devices, you can check it here.

We will use under Ubuntu or Linux Mint (13.04/12.10/12.04, Mint 14/13 or older) the VLC Media Player, and in the Android device we will use VLC Direct Pro which allows to stream media contents from your computer to Android, it can be also used to control your VLC media player remotely.

Getting Started

   
1. Installing VLC Media Player & Configuration (Ubuntu/Linux Mint)

Let's first install the non-free-codecs package under Ubuntu/Linux Mint to be able to play media files on your Android device. To do this, open the terminal and issue these commands:

sudo -E wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get -y  --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install non-free-codecs

Install now VLC Media Player with these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install vlc

Start VLC and enable the web interface by opening View >> Add interface >> Web:

Minimize the VLC window, then check your IP address of your wireless (wifi) internet connection in the network manager, or run simply this command from the terminal:

ifconfig wlan | grep inet

Your wireless IP address will be listed after "inet addr":

This IP address will be used later with VLC Direct Pro on your Android-based device.

   2. Installing VLC Direct Pro Free & Configuration (Android)

Search 'VLC Direct Pro Free' in Play Store and install it:

Launch the app now and in the setup wizard, don't tap "Next", just tap the "menu" button on your Android device and select Settings:

Tap now "Manual Configuration":

Tap "VLC Host":

Enter now the IP address of the wireless internet connection of your computer/laptop as explained above:

Leave VLC web interface port as is (8080).

Move back to the 'Preferences' menu and tap "Automatic Connection Wizard":

Tap "Start":

The app will now scan your computer or laptop to see if VLC Media Player is running. Once detected, tap the Target icon (top left corner) and change it to Android, then tap the Computer icon and browse your computer/laptop hard drive to locate the folder containing your media files to play them:

Your audio/video file will be now streamed to your Android device:

Enjoy!

How to Disable & Bypass Online Surveys

Many websites have annoying surveys which makes your online web experience sluggish and pathetic. These surveys prevent you to access content without filling them. Majority of these useless online surveys are from companies which require too much personal information and worst of all there seems to be no way to bypass them. It is highly recommended to never give away your private information to these unknown companies.

To disable these surveys there is a very simple trick that works most of the time to block these surveys to pop-up.
If you are using Firefox simply go to Preferences>Content and untick “enable javascript” and load the page on which surveys keep poping up.

 

On Chrome go to Settings>Under the hood and click on “Do not allow any site to run JavaScript” and load the survey infected page.

After website is loaded without surveys you can turn javascript on for full experience (it will be required of you have to login etc)
Note: This simple trick is tested to be working on majority of websites (Mgcash etc) with surveys but there is no guarantee.

How to Install Spec Ops: The Line on Linux

The following tutorial will teach Linux users how to install the Spec Ops: The Line game on their open source operating system.

Officially released at the end of June 2012, the ninth installment in the Spec Ops series, Spec Ops: The Line, is a third-person shooter video game developed by Yager Development and published by 2K Games.

For more details about Spec Ops: The Line, you can check out the official home page or the Wikipedia article.

Editor's note: For this guide, we have used the latest version of the PlayOnLinux application. We've tested the tutorial on the current 32-bit release of the Ubuntu OS, 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) with Wine 1.5.9.

Before anything else, please make sure you meet the recommended system requirements (especially the graphics card and CPU/RAM) for playing Spec Ops: The Line.

To install the Spec Ops: The Line game on your Linux system, follow the next step-by-step (with screenshots) tutorial.

Step 1 - Install PlayOnLinux

The PlayOnLinux developers provide binary packages and repositories for many Linux operating systems, including Fedora, Debian, ArchLinux, Frugalware and Ubuntu, as well as a universal binary package.

We can't write instructions for all these Linux distributions here; therefore, if you use one of the aforementioned OSes, go HERE for detailed installation instructions.

Step 2 - Install the latest version of Wine

The PlayOnLinux developers provide an easy installation process of any Wine version, stable or development. So, all you need to do now is to go to the "Tools" menu, select "Manage Wine version" and you'll see a new dialog showing you available Wine versions on the left side, and installed Wine versions on the right side.

Select version 1.5.9 of Wine from the left side and click the middle arrow button to install it and wait for the installation to finish...



Step 3 - Install Spec Ops: The Line

Assuming you have the PC DVD of Spec Ops: The Line, open the PlayOnLinux app and follow the first time instructions to setup the application (skip this if you fired up the app before). Once these are finished, you'll see the PlayOnLinux interface. Click the "Install" button...


Now click the "Install a non-listed program" link at the bottom of the window...


An installation wizard will appear, click the "Next" button...


Click the "Next" button again when asked what would you like to do, leaving the "Install a program in a new virtual drive" option selected...


On the next step type the game's name in the field and click the "Next" button...


Now make sure you check the "Use another version of Wine" box and click the "Next" button...


Select version 1.5.9-WorldOfTank of Wine from the list and click the "Next" button...


Now Wine will be configured and necessary packages will be installed, such as Mono and Gecko...




When the Wine version is fully configured, you'll need to select the Spec Ops: The Line setup.exe installer from the DVD...


Wait for the installation to finish! Choose the "Browse" option and choose the SpecOpsTheLine.exe file from the 2K Games/Spec Ops The Line/Binaries/Win32 folder. Close the wizard.


Now, you will see a Spec Ops: The Line entry in the main PlayOnLinux window.


That's it! Double click the desktop shortcut or select Spec Ops: The Line from the main window of PlayOnLinux and click the "Run" button to play the game. Enjoy!








If you encounter any issues with the tutorial, do not hesitate to use our commenting system below.