Google has a cool feature to let you sign into multiple accounts at once, but in practice it really sucks. Here’s why, and also a better way to manage multiple Google accounts.
It Sucks Because
- You have no easy way to manage what account links will open with (mailto, calendar, docs)
- You can’t (easily) have to inboxes open at the same time from different accounts
- All of your bookmarks, history, open tabs, plugins sync no matter what account you’re using
- Every account is subject to the same browser plugins permissions
- You are limited to a single private browsing window
- This method doesn’t work for all Google services
How to Make it Better
Chrome and Firefox have the ability to set up multiple user profiles. In Google Chrome go to the settings and click add a new user.
Once you do you’ll have new icon in the top left corner (at least in Chrome) with the icon for the new user. Click this drop down to select your new users and you’ll be prompted to sign into your Google account to start syncing your data. Each profile will be able to sync bookmarks, open tabs, search engines, passwords, and extensions individually so you don’t have to worry about opening your browser at home and seeing all your research tabs from work.
Using multiple profiles allows you to have multiple windows open each with their own Google profile signed in. Any mailto, calendar, or docs links will open in the browser window (and Google profile) of the last active window.
You now have the ability to also open multiple private browsing windows (one for each profile) for testing websites without cache, and logging in with additional credentials. Don’t want to test a new browser extension with your Google Apps domain admin user? Test it, and its security, on your personal account first without worrying about it stealing confidential information.
Why It’s Still Not Perfect
- No way to set a shortcut to control which profile opens initially (opens last used profile)
- No ability to selectively sync content between profiles*
- Multiple users are not supported on mobile browsers
- Switching users/windows may get confusing if you have a lot open
I have been using this method of managing my browsing habits and Google accounts for about a year now and I would never go back to the old multi sign on method. Got any tips for Google account management and browser syncing? Please leave them in the comments.
*I am able to sync selective content by using 3rd party services for my passwords and bookmarks. I use LastPass and Diigo under a single account and just install the extensions in each browser profile.
]]>Change touchpad delay after typing This has been super annoying because the default delay for the touchpad is 2 seconds! Here’s how to set it to whatever delay you want.
First, turn off the “disable touchpad when typing setting” in your system settings and then open a terminal and enter the following command.
syndaemon -d -K -i 0.3s
Change 0.3s to whatever you want the delay to be. For more info just run man syndaemon.
Install guake and other terminal shortcuts
Here are some gnome-shell extensions I found useful
Alternate Alt+Tab to cycle all windows
Alternate system menu (show shutdown option)
Maximus clone to remove boarders on full screen programs
Impatience to speed up animations
What are your favorite Gnome 3 tweaks? Leave them in the comments.
]]>Sorry for the sound quality. I had to use my digital camera for video (which is what I used in part 1) but for some reason there was a ton of static on the recording.
]]>As a overview we are going to:
1. Download the tools needed to compile software in Ubuntu.
2. Download the latest version of Lirc using CVS
3. Compile Lirc source
4. Test it real fast to make sure it works.
If you have Jaunty Jackalope (9.04) see the notes at the bottom.
1. Download the needed compiling tools.
sudo su
apt-get install libtool autoconf automake linux-headers-`uname -r`-generic cvs
This will download and install the compiling tools.
2. Download Lirc
First lets make a folder to put it in
mkdir ~/lirc
cd ~/lirc
Then we will download the newest source from sourceforge. We are using a tool called CVS to read more about it check out here.
cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/lirc login
cvs -z8 -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/lirc co lirc
Because we ran that command while in the ~/lirc folder everything downloaded there so we just need to run the commands to configure everything before we build it.
./autogen.sh
./setup.sh
In the graphical interface I selected Driver config > USB > mceusb2 (new)
Then continue with compiling
make
make install
modprobe lirc-mceusb2
Because Ubuntu does things slightly different we need to copy a couple files to where Lirc expects them to be.
cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/misc/lirc_dev.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/ubuntu/media/lirc/lirc_dev
cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/misc/lirc_mceusb2.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/ubuntu/media/lirc/lirc_mceusb2
Then we can continue with installing the new Lirc into the running kernel.
rmmod lirc_mceusb2
rmmod lirc_dev
lsmod|grep lirc
/etc/init.d/lirc restart
Everything should be compiled and in place now.
4. To test it out run
irw
and then push some buttons on the remote. You should see the commands you press displayed in the terminal. If you see that then you can just push Ctrl+C to stop irw and you should be all set to go.
I had to change this tutorial slightly from where I originally posted it in the Ubuntu forums so that it would be more universal. If you have problems please leave a comment and check out the original thread here.
I hope this helps.
For Jaunty (9.04) I did not need to install the headers (it actually failed because it was already the newest version) I also needed to install “dialog” and “build-essential”. I had to create the “/lib/modules/`uname -r`/ubuntu/media/lirc/” folder before I could copy the configurations, and the folder I created also changed slightly to cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/misc/lirc_dev.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`-generic/ubuntu/media/lirc/lirc_dev
cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/lirc_mceusb2.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ubuntu/media/lirc/lirc_mceusb2
More updates as I find them.
gksudo “gnome-open %u”
Now to open a file as root all you have to do is open the file location and drag the file to that shortcut. The system will probably ask you for your root password and then open the file as root.
A easier way is to browse to ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/ and create a new file called “Open as root”. Edit the file and put
#!/bin/sh
gksudo “gnome-open $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS”
inside the file. Right click on the file and go to properties -> permissons then check the box that says “Allow executing file as a program”. Now all you have to do is right click on a file you want to open as root, go to scripts and click “Open as root”.
I just wanted to pass these along cause I thought they were very helpful.
]]>1. Tweak your default account including setting dock, clearing cache, recent items, etc.
2. Restart and login to the machine as admin.
3. Issue the following commands in the terminal:
:~root# cd /System/Library/User Template/
:~root# sudo ditto -rsrcFork English.lproj/* English.lproj.bak
:~root# sudo rm -rf /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/*
:~root# sudo cp -R /Users//* /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/
:~root# sudo chown -R root English.lproj
:~root# sudo chgrp -R wheel English.lproj4. Restart, log in as admin and repair permissions before creating a new account to see if it worked.
Now all your new users that log into the machine (including mobile users) will have these same settings as your template user.
]]>To fix this you can simply delete the login.keychain file from the /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/keychains/ folder before a user logs in or you can just deleted the login.keychain from the /User/
I just wanted to help with this problem before too many people got stuck with this like we did.
Leave me a comment if it worked for you or if you have any problems. ]]>
The first I found over at Lifehacker and it is called NetDrive. It allows you to mount remote file systems (ftp, sftp, etc.) to your windows machine. You can download the utility here because I guess it isn’t developed anymore and somewhat hard to find.
Secondly there is a program called mRemote. I really want to give this one a try. It allows you to manage multiple remote desktop connections all from one program. The real cool thing is it doesn’t have to be the same type of remote desktop. You can use it for RDP, ssh, vnc, etc. It is open source so you can grab the latest version from SourceForge.
Finally there is a how to on Wired about Usenet file sharing.