Pithos is really lightweight and looks nice on most all desktops. Pithos has its own PPA which makes it easier to install in Ubuntu and other Ubuntu based Linux distributions such as Linux Mint, Elementary OS etc.

You will need a Pandora account first and then add some stations or favorite artists.

https://www.pandora.com

Now to install Pithos and receive any updates use their official PPA. Here are the following commands to install Pithos via these three terminal commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pithos/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pithos

If you just want to try out Pithos or it is not available in your Software Center you can install it via terminal using the command below:

sudo apt-get install pithos

If you arent using Ubuntu and instead using a different distro, the Pithos homepage has install instructions for other Linux distributions:

https://pithos.github.io

https://www.gog.com/games?system=lin_mint,lin_ubuntu,lin_ubuntu_18&sort=popularity&search=star%20wars&page=1

I know, I know… there are hundreds of awesome games to be played, not just Star Wars. So make sure to filter your search by operating system and pick Ubuntu.

GOG.com is also offering a FREE game (works on Ubuntu linux!) right now named “Xenonauts” which is a cool strategy game where you defend the world from aliens. You only have until June 6th 1pm UTC to grab this for free (regular price is $25 USD). If you make any purchases before June 18th you get points to unlock other games as well.

Listed below is a direct link to ALL of the games GOG offers that work on Ubuntu. 2,499 games (18 pages worth of games!!!) and you can filter the selection even more by the genre, price, etc…

https://www.gog.com/games?system=lin_mint,lin_ubuntu,lin_ubuntu_18&sort=popularity&page=1

Check it out!

https://www.gog.com/game/dungeons_2

Here is a link to all of their games available to linux users…

https://www.gog.com/games?system=lin_mint,lin_ubuntu&sort=popularity&page=1

The Papirus icon theme has several different variants depending if you want a light or dark theme. You can install Papirus from our official PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:papirus/papirus
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install papirus-icon-theme

There are several other distro packages available for installation such as Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Solus and more on the developers website at the bottom. You can contribute to the Papirus theme such as new icons for missing applications, symbolic links to an existing icon, resolving open issues, spelling, grammar, phrasing, etc. as well.

Dont forget that if you love it you can support this open source project by making a voluntary payment on Patreon to the author: https://www.patreon.com/varlesh

There is plenty more to learn about the theme here: https://github.com/PapirusDevelopmentTeam/papirus-icon-theme

I am an artist myself and have always enjoyed the Bob Ross painting series on public television here in the states. Have you ever wanted to do something similar in GIMP? Well, Ronnie Tucker, the author of Full Circle Magazine has put together a series called ” Bob Ross in GIMP”. Its a great tutorial for both enjoyment and to learn some of the many features in GIMP. Scared of GIMP? Fear no more… this will shake your fears away and get you comfortable. Check it out!


http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9A5BCF53661A9620&feature=viewall

It is surprising there are so many free applications that exist for all kinds of things in Ubuntu. For anyone studying electronics, gResistor may be quite helpful. It is a simple application that allows us to test the value of a resistor by its color code.

gResistor simply allows you to understand these codes which are are indicative of their resistance, tolerance and temperature coefficient. All you have to do is interpret the colors on entering the program. You may notice that the value of the resistance changes with the sequence changes that you select. This would have been so helpful in high school when taking electronics class back in the day.

Installation is simple in most any version of Ubuntu. Open the Ubuntu Software Center and search for “gResistor”. You can also install via terminal command by typing:


sudo apt-get install gresistor

This is a simple and light program that is most helpful. Have fun!

Im a fan of UbuntuOne cloud storage and have used Dropbox in the past. There is another site called Pogoplug. They normally offer a 5GB cloud storage account but for the next few days they have a 10GB free storage offer. They offer a nifty linux uploader tool, and android and iphone apps as well. Check it out at:

GNU Backgammon is a strong backgammon program (world-class with a bearoff database installed) usable either as an engine by other programs or as a standalone backgammon game. 

Let’s be clear, if you are a Backgammon player, if you approach the game in a very professional way, there is no software in the universe that is going to serve you as well as GNU Backgammon. The game, an official GNU distribution, is not just a Backgammon game for Linux, but also an engine which can be used by other softwares.

GNU Backgammon has both text and graphic support. The software has been developed with GTK2 support, which provides full integration with GNOME GUI. The software has also a 3D board, probably the fanciest board for backgammon ever produced! For those who feel old-fashioned GNU Backgammon can be played also on the terminal. GNU Backgammon uses a neural network to provide the best AI ever coded for backgammon games. Gnubg plays also on FIBS (First Internet Backgammon Server) and it is ranked in the first 5 position since its release.

If you like Backgammon, if you feel like improving your game and facing a very smart AI, Backgammon is a must have. The software offers many features to professionally approach the game, record your games, and go through your mistakes, in order to help you become a better player.

GNU Backgammon, like every GNU software, comes under a GPL license and can be freely modified and redistributed by the user.

Gnu Backgammon can be installed from the Ubuntu Software Center, typing “gnu backgammon”. If can also be installed from the terminal, by running:

sudo apt-get install gnubg

The website of the developer offers tarballs, pre-compiled packages and a lot of documentation papers which will help the user modify any aspect of the software.

For many who have never heard of the term “bitcoin” before I will break it down for you. A bitcoin refers to a decentralized digital currency created and traded using a client. Bitcoins offer low cost easy payments from one party to another with no centralized agent like a bank, government agency, etc. There are over 7 million bitcoins in existence. This figure is algorithmically determined.

As one friend put it to me, bitcoins are the perfect anti government, anti Fed, anti New World Order, anti Wall Street, anti…. (everything). One thing that is/was supposed to make bitcoins solid and secure from being devalued is that there is a finite amount of bitcoins (and i dont know offhand the figure). In sharp contrast to how the US government uses “quantitative easing” and continues to print money to fund all sorts of endeavors (from wars to social programs). With increasing amounts of cash, the value drops. This wasnt supposed to happen with Bitcoins.

Bitcoins are essentially “mined” using CPU and GPU processing from peoples computers. The faster your system, the quicker you can mine for a bitcoin. And since there are technically a finite number of “coins” to be mined, the more you get the more wealth you create. There are ingenious ways of mining coins, such as using multi core systems. One friend set up an elaborate set of computers complete with the highest end graphics cards in each. I think each computer had 3 or 4 video cards. The real power for mining bitcoins comes from GPU processing, not from a CPU. He was (and probably still is) running these computers 24 hours a day and his electric bill jumped an additional $250 USD per month. He then joined mining clubs and mining teams to further speed up his mining activities. At one point I spoke to him, his computers were “mining” over $5000 USD worth of bitcoins per month. (I know, not bad!)

One of the real beauties of Bitcoins is the anonymity of trading the coins and merchandise. While definitely not as anonymous as a pure cash transaction, bitcoins are still better than say other electronic payments systems (paypal, banks, etc).

 If there is no mass printing or quantitative easing of bitcoins going on, and its supposed to be stable, why is the value dropping? Back in June 2011 there was a major security breach on the bitcoin exchange (Mt Gox) causing the price of a bitcoin to plummet down to 0.01 USD. While order was eventually restored, and the price of the bitcoin went back up, this sort of hacking of the bitcoin model has left an uneasiness in the whole plan of things. The bitcoin reached approximately $33 USD in June, and now hovers at $2 in October 2011.

While our friend was making serious cash flow @ $15 per bitcoin he is now barely making ends meet at the current prices. If the price of bitcoins continues to drop, it could be curtains for the digital currency.

Are you a current or previous Bitcoin user?  If so, why?