The oauthcalypse arrives & Gwibber is ready

Support for basic user authentication in many desktop Twitter applications will end at 8AM Pacific time this Tuesday morning, according to Twitter.

Applications which don't switch to the microblogging service's new 'O Auth' user authentication system, which is touted as being more secure as you only need to provide your password to Twitter, will all API requests met with a 404.

This result, dubbed the 'oauthcalypse' by many, will be largely irrelevant for users of popular Twitter-using applications. Developers have long been aware of the deadline and as such programmes like Tweetdeck, Seesmic & Gwibber have either already made the switch or are about to deploy support for it.

Gwibber & O Auth
To better demonstrate how much of a non-issue O Auth will make to your life we'll see how different adding an account in Gwibber is.

Instead of simply letting you dial in your username and password to set up a Twitter account Gwibber provides an 'authorise' button.

This button, when pressed, opens up the official Twitter page 'in app' to allow you to permit the application access.

Click 'Allow' and the window closes, taking you back to the application.

The switch may be a minor inconvenience to some but one worth it for the enhanced security afforded.

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Ubuntu One Contact sync gets better Android device support

Errata: This an updated version of our previous post on the Android Application which wasn't entirely clear about what was on offer. The Android application for Contact Sync is free - and always will be - rather the 30 day trial offering users free access to the sync feature - a staple of the Ubuntu One paid accounts -has been extended until October. Alongside that comes greater device support and and improved application.

The Ubuntu One team have just issued a piece of exciting news for Ubuntu One loving Android users out there: the free Ubuntu One Contacts Sync application now sports an improved interface and boasts even more support for popular Android devices including the Google Nexus One, Motorola Droid & HTC Dragon.

Naturally an Ubuntu One account is required to make use of the app - which can be found in the Android Market, just search 'Ubuntu one' - and the 30 day trial offer introduced in June has now been extended until October 10th.

If you've got a free account, loved the idea of contact sync but want to see whether it's worth it then why not take advantage? All you need is your Ubuntu One username and password and et voila - contact sync.

The team also invite the those with an interest in learning how the app works to “download the source code”.

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Ubuntu Ambiance theme for Windows XP & Wine

Often it's newer Linux users missing the familiarity of Windows that skin their OS to mimic that of another but here the tables are turned; fed up of booting into Windows and everything looking so different from the comfort of Ubuntu? 

Meet Light themes for Windows.

The awesome hands behind the skin are those of~Freddi67. Speaking to OMG! Ubuntu! about the reasoning behind the theme he said: -

 

"I think with Maverick's new polished style, it's good to have also a windows version of it. Be it for promotion, for Ubuntu-Transformation-Packs or Wine and VirtualBox.

Wine already supports visual styles on some controls (although this slightly influences performance). Maybe for the moment, the aesthetic aspects or secondary when we use Wine, but for attracting the new users in future we will need to offer an impeccable desktop appearance."

Download

• http://freddi67.deviantart.com/art/Ubuntu-Light-for-Windows-XP-177514325

Help wanted

As good as the port looks so far the author still has a few issues outstanding, noting on his deviantart page:

"This is a work in progress and there are still some bugs. If you have more knowledge of Windows Visual Styles, it would be great if you could help me"

• I couldn't get the progress bar to work
• In general windows uses smaller sizes of fonts and controls
• Some font colors still do not match
• Problems with the dark menu background (some apps override it and display both text and background white)
• An icon theme would be awesome, as well as Radiance and Ambiance Dark color scheme
• Although Wine supports partly Visual Styles on some controls, the transparencies do not work properly in this theme (magenta backgrounds)

Anyone with knowledge on working with Windows themes would certainly be welcome to join Freddi.

He has provided the source files here but notes that  ‘for editing, one needs StyleBuilder, for using the style one needs a UXtheme Patch’.

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This Sound Menu idea is way too cute not to want

I don't know what is left to say about the Ubuntu 10.10 Sound Menu that hasn't already been said so far - it's a menu, it's new, most of you love it!

This mockup by queckjap is both cute and fantastically representative for what the sound menu does with Rhythmbox.

Of course there are issues with this -Firstly the sound menu, even when playing music, still controls other applications. Turning the icon into a note could confuse people into thinking that it is solely for controlling the volume in of Rhythmbox and not system-wide. (e.g. muting the 'note' thinking they are muting Rhythmbox, cue panic when YouTube doesn't play sound...).

Secondly, as more applications begin using the Sound Menu - of which many running in unison - who decides what icon gets priority?

All that said the idea is still great to look at and something I wouldn't kick up a fuss about seeing implemented.

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KDE 4.5.1 Released

The release of KDE 'Software Compilation' 4.5.1 has been announced by the KDE team. The release comes less than a month after the release of the last iteration - KDE 4.5.0

What's new? Nothing jaw-dropping. KDE SC 4.5.1 focuses on delivering stability and bug fixes to the desktop, the full list of which can be read in the change-log.

As with most KDE upgrades the update will be installable via the Kubuntu Backports PPA shortly.

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Btrfs won't be supported in Maverick

The 'next-gen' BTRFS file stystem will not be supported in Ubuntu 10.10. The work needed to provide its inclusion will not be completed in time and, as such, has been deferred to Ubuntu 11.04.

It was hoped that support for BTRFS as an option would be available in Maverick with Ubuntu Foundations team member Scott James Remnant suggesting some months ago that it could even be the default file-system.

Whilst this decision may be criticised by those excited by the option of BTRFS it was evidently a logical decision.

 Tip | Jeremy

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Exaile mono panel icons

If you're an avid Exaile user but find the default tray icon a bit too colourful for your other-wise monochromatic panel then replace them with these mono versions created by Jaapz.

Download

• ubuntuone.com/p/ETB/

Once downloaded extract the archive somewhere accessible.

Install
In his mail to us Jaapz succintly explains how to install them: -

'To use them, just copy the 24x24 ones over to /usr/share/exaile/data/images/24x24 (and don't forget to backup the old ones for later use).'

If you need it step by step: -

• Press 'ALT' and 'F2' together
• In the window that opens enter the following
• gksu nautilus /usr/share/exaile/data/images/24x24
• Move the new icons from the 24x24 folder extracted earlier into the window that has opened
• Agree to 'replace' when prompted
• Launch Exaile 

Many thanks to Jaapz for making & sharing these ace icons :) 

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Check MD5/SHA256 hashes with a GUI tool

Ever needed to check a hash against an .iso or other download but felt put off by using the terminal to do it? Here’s a simple GUI utility for doing so by the name of ‘HashCheck’.

“This HashCheck script… checks MD5 and SHA256 hashes, two which are the most common.” states the developer on the project page. There isn’t more to pad this out with, so on with the show!

Install

Like pie installation is easy:

• Download HashChecker
• Extract the archive
• Double-click on the ‘Install’ file inside

Using

Using the HashChecker tool is also easy:

• Right-click on the file you wish to check
• Select ‘Scripts > Check hash’
• You’ll then be prompted to pick the hash type you wish to check (‘MD5’ or ‘SHA256’)
• The resulting hash cab then be opened in the text editor or displayed as message, allowing you to verify the match

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Opera for PPC Linux to be discontinued

Sad news for PPC Ubuntu users everywhere (admittedly we’re a minority, but we do exist!) Opera have announced that Opera 10.6x will be the last version of the browser to support the PowerPC architecture on both Linux and Mac.

This follows Mozilla’s announcement that Firefox 4 is ‘unlikely’ to support PPC.

The Opera team cite the reason that only 0.1% of all Opera use PPC - a figure I have no trouble believing since the Mozilla-based Camino browser is more popular with users of OS X PPC and for Linux users Firefox affords - and by relieving themselves of its burden they can “focus… on our high quality browser to make sure that it meets the need of the modern web browser user on the popular architectures.”

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