Qute: A Sleek, No-Frills Text Editor

Feb 29, 2012 GMT

Unlike other distraction-free text editors, Qute offers a writing environment that is both sleek and easy on your eyes. The editor features several rather attractive themes and a selection of high-quality fonts. But the pleasant appearance is not the only thing that sets Qute apart from other distraction-free editors. Qute supports Markdown markup for formatting text, and it does so in a somewhat novel way. When you create a new paragraph or click on an existing one, the editor displays it in the editing mode, so you can format the text using Markdown markup. When you are done editing the paragraph, double-click on it to switch the...

Simplifying Writing Workflow

Feb 27, 2012 GMT

Simplifying Writing WorkflowFrom time immemorial, I've been using OpenOffice.org Writer and then LibreOffice Writer as my writing tool of choice. I even wrote several custom macros and the Writer's Tools extension to make my writing workflow more efficient. But all these years, I've been using only a fraction of Writer's functionality 90% of the time. So I finally decided to leave the comfort of LibreOffice Writer and simplify my writing workflow by moving to a different tool set. After trying several text editors, I settled for Sublime Text. This text editor is not free, but it offers a slew of useful features like customizable keyboard shortcuts, code highlighting schemes, snippets, the...

Manage SQLite Databases with phpLiteAdmin

Feb 23, 2012 GMT

If you happen to use a web-based or regular application that relies on an SQLite database for storing data, you might appreciate the phpLiteAdmin tool. This lightweight utility consists of a single 150KB PHP script that requires no installation. Open the script in a text editor, and modify the $password and $directory parameters. The latter should point to the directory containing SQLite databases. Drop the script to the document root of your server, and point your browser to http://127.0.0.1/phpliteadmin.php (replace 127.0.0.1 with the actual IP address or domain name of your server). Despite its tiny size, phpLiteAdmin is a rather capable...

Convert Bookmarklets to Chrome Extensions

Feb 15, 2012 GMT

Tired of bookmarklets clogging your browser's bookmarks bar? The Bookmarklet to Chrome Extension Converter provides an easy fix to the problem. This simple webapp lets you turn any bookmarklet into a Chrome extension in a matter of seconds. To generate an extension from a bookmarklet, paste the bookmarklet's code into the appropriate field, give the extension a name and description, press the Generate extension button, then download and unpack the generated zip archive. In Google Chrome, switch to the Extensions section, tick the Developer mode check box, press the Load unpacked extension button and select the unpacked extension.Since the...

Digitize Notes with CamiApp for Android

Feb 13, 2012 GMT

Among solutions that bridge the digital and analog worlds, CamiApp is by far my favorite one. I stumbled upon CamiApp notebooks in the Tokyu Hands store in Tokyo. These notebooks are designed for use with the accompanying CamiApp for Android (which, according to the app's licensing info, is based on several open source components). The app lets you easily digitize notes using the Android built-in camera, and it does a good job of straightening and cleaning up the snapped images. You can then neatly organize the processed snaps using tags and descriptions. What's more, each sheet in the CamiApp notebook contains a so-called action marker: a...

SSH Tunneling on Android for Secure Web Browsing

Feb 08, 2012 GMT

When you are on the move, you can easily secure your Internet connection by setting up an SSH tunnel, provided you have a remote SSH server to connect to. Creating an SSH tunnel on Linux is a matter of executing the ssh -ND 9999 user@remotehost command in the terminal. But what if you are using an Android device when you are out and about? ConnectBot has got you covered. This SSH client app can be used to set up an SSH tunnel by configuring a so-called port forward. To do this, launch ConnectBot and establish a connection to an SSH server. Press then the Menu button and tap on Port Forwards. Press again Menu and tap on Add port forward....

Instant Remote Desktop Access with DeskView

Jan 30, 2012 GMT

VNC is a popular choice when it comes to remote desktop access and control, but it's not the only fish in the sea. In fact, if you want to establish a connection to a remote machine instantly and with a minimum of fuss, DeskView is the perfect tool for the job. The only requirement is that a Java Runtime Environment (e.g., OpenJDK) is installed on both the server and client machines. DeskView works through HTTP proxies, and the connection between the client and server is encrypted using the DES encryption. More importantly, the software requires no installation and it can run practically on any platform, so you can control your Linux machine at home from a Windows box.To run DeskView on...