View and Edit *.epub files in Xubuntu

I use two programs to view ePub files: FBReader and calibre. Bellow you'll find a brief description of each one of them and instructions to installed them. If you're just looking for a simple and light program to view ePub files, my suggestion is to choose FBReader.

None of the announced applications support editing of ePub files, so I also suggest a third application, sigil.

View

FBReader

FBReader is an e-book reader for Linux/Windows XP PDA/UMPC/desktop computer. It not only supports ePub file format, but for instance it can also be used to open chm and rtf files.

A file can be opened in FBReader using the file manager. An other way of opening files is using the built-in library management system; FBReader looks for supported files in directories listed in the Book Path option.

Install FBReader

Open a terminal window and run:

sudo apt-get install fbreader

Once installed you can find it in the Applications Menu's Office group, as "E-book reader".

Calibre

Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application.

Besides providing an e-book reader, calibre also offers a library management system, e-book conversion, e-book syncing to devices, download news and convert it into e-book format and a content server to access you e-book collection online.

Install Calibre

Open a terminal window and run:

sudo apt-get install calibre

Edit

Sigil

Sigil is a multi-platform EPUB WYSIWYG ebook editor.

Install Sigil

Go to http://code.google.com/p/sigil/downloads/list and download the appropriate (x86/x64) *.bin.

Open a terminal window, change current directory to the above download's destination and then run:

chmod +x Sigil-*Setup.bin
sudo ./Sigil-*Setup.bin

Next the setup dialog will open, just click OK/Next/Yes to install accepting the defaults (sigil will be installed in /opt/sigil).

Uninstall Sigil

Open a terminal window and run:

cd /opt/sigil
sudo ./uninstall

References

http://www.fbreader.org
http://calibre-ebook.com
http://code.google.com/p/sigil

Overlay scrollbars in Xubuntu 11.10

Overlay scrollbars allow to save some screen space. Some say it's a usability issue because the target is smaller, so accordingly to Fitt's Law the time to complete the action will be longer. But I find no difficulty in using overlay scrollbars and I definitely enjoy the extra screen space (specially when using my Eee pc).

Not all toolkits implement overlay scrollbars, so at the moment, it isn't possible to get a uniform look from all applications (some will display the classic toolbars). But I understand that efforts are being made into developing support for other toolkits (xul , qt, vcl, swing , nux).
Clementine, Thunderbird and gVim are some applications that I use and don't display overlay scrollbars.

Install

Open a terminal window and run:
sudo apt-get install overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0

References

Overlay Scrollbars - Update @Canonical Design
Overlay Scrollbars on different toolkits @Blueprints for Ubuntu
Full Circle Magazine - Ubuntu 11.10 and Unity Special Edition, page 12

Install VLC 2.0 in Xubuntu 11.10

VLC 2.0 has been released. Faster decoding, support for more video formats, a reworked web interface, experimental BluRay Discs support are some the its highlights (click here to see a complete list of changes).

Install

Open a terminal window and run:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/vlc
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install vlc

References

WEB UPD8
VLC 2.0 Twoflower
Changes between 1.1.13 and 2.0.0

Install tilda (pop-up terminal) on Xubuntu

Tilda is a terminal emulator that can be accessed using one keystroke, popping-up like a Quake terminal.

Install

Open a terminal window and run:
sudo apt-get install tilda

Run

Hit Alt+F2 and type: tilda.
Once tilda is running, hit F1 to open the terminal pop-up.

Suggestions

1. Add tilda to startup and type this as the command: tilda -h
2. Open a new tab hitting Ctrl+Shift+T and change tabs using Ctrl+PageUp/Ctrl+PageDown
3. If you like the wallpaper, check out: Wilson's Sketch Blog

References

Tilda Documentation

Related Posts

Add application to Xfce/Xubuntu session startup

Set nautilus-open-terminal to open xfce4-terminal

The nautilus-open-terminal is a nautilus extension that allows to open a terminal emulator on the current opened folder.
When installed in Xfce the extension opens xterm. To modify it so that it opens xfce4-terminal instead, run the following line in a terminal:
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec /usr/bin/xfce4-terminal

References:

Setting nautilus-open-terminal to launch Terminator rather than gnome-terminal (Ask Ubuntu)

Avoid brightness reduction

By default, when the computer is inactive for 120 seconds the screen brightness is automatically reduced. This is a great idea, except that the brightness is also reduced when playing a video file with VLC,  suddenly everything gets darker and is annoying to move the mouse every 2 minutes to restore the brightness level.

So to fix this all we have to do is get rid of this option. Open the Power Manager Settings and then on the "On AC" and "On Battery" sections select the Monitor tab. Adjust the third slider all the way to the left, as shown in the picture bellow.

Related posts:
Edit Xfce Settings with graphical interface

Set Gvim as default text editor

If you want to open text files in Gvim via file manager, open the ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list and add the following to the [Added Associations] and [Default Applications] sections:

application/x-perl=gvim.desktop
text/plain=gvim.desktop
text/x-chdr=gvim.desktop
text/x-csrc=gvim.desktop
text/x-dtd=gvim.desktop
text/x-java=gvim.desktop
text/mathml=gvim.desktop
text/x-python=gvim.desktop
text/x-sql=gvim.desktop
text/x-tex=gvim.desktop

References:
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-actions-spec