Download A Collection Of ~1000 Widescreen HD Wallpapers

(A few random wallpapers from the ~1000 widescreen HD wallpaper collection)

On the Wallch (Wallpaper Changer) Launchpad page I've found a link to a collection of around 1000 widescreen HD wallpapers and thought I'd share the link with you.

The wallpapers are nicely organized into categories such as: Abstact, Animals, Black&White, Dragons, One Color, Music, Technology, Cars and so on (there's a total of 20 categories).

You can use these wallpapers to automatically set a random wallpaper every X minutes using an application such as Wallch, Wally, Webilder, CreBS and so on.

Download the ~1000 HD wallpaper pack (436.4 MB)

Zero Ballistics – a rather addictive native 3D tank shooter

Zero Ballistics is a 3D tank shooter, a mix of FPS and “tank” (if that’s a genre) that is actually rather addictive, although unrealistic.
The multiplayer-only (although it has support for bots), cross-platform game, which is free to download and open source, was originally developed by QuantiCode in Austria a few years ago.
It sports some pretty nice 3D graphics and a semi-destructible landscape (trees can be destroyed and they fall over rather dramatically, but buildings don’t take damange) and has a few interesting features such as upgrades to your tank, multiple views and weapons and different game modes.

Unfortunately it’s not particularly tactical – so if you were looking for a realistic tank simulator then you’ve come to the wrong place.

“Zero Ballistics is a unique blend of multiplayer first person shooter and tank combat game. Easy to learn, difficult to master was our mantra during the development of the game. Set in lush alpine environments covering all seasons, playing Zero Ballistics is as thrilling as it is relaxing.”

- Zero Ballistics website

Getting started

Weighing in just under 60mb, the download was a breeze from Sourceforge.
After installation I ran Zero Ballistics, greeted by a nice menu I quickly found a hosted game with 5 other players – this isn’t Call of Duty: Black Ops so don’t expect millions of other players, but luckily it appears at least a dozen people are online at any one time for you to destroy and the multiplayer implementation is flawless.

Gameplay

Playing the game is easy, simply moving the tank around with the W, A, S and D keys and then controlling the turret view with the mouse seemed second nature. The graphics are nice for a 4 year old GPL game, and the resolution support is decent.
Gameplay is rather arcade-like with the tanks moving pretty quickly (everyone seemed to have six-wheeled LAV’s rather than full on tanks like the Abrams). Shooting the main turret is done with the left mouse button, machine gun with the right. It’s not entirely clear why a machine gun is necessary as it appears to have no effect on your opponents and there is a lack of infantry to gun down.
After a few kills I was presented with an upgrade screen which allowed me to choose to spend my points on my weapon, armor or speed, a nice touch.

“Explore 81 different tank setups to be ready for any given combat situation. If you want to be sneaky, use mines and the heal skill to wreak havoc among your unsuspecting enemys. You are more the frontal assault type? Combine the ram bucket and the flamethrower to eliminate your enemies up close and personal.”

Summary

Overall the game is pretty damn fun for a quick thrill, everything comes together rather nicely and presuming you can find others to play with, I’m sure some strategies would emerge.
However I’d love to see more work done on making the game a bit more realistic. All too often the battles would simply end in a cluster of tanks circling around trying to destroy each other at close range which felt like a waste when the levels are wide, open expansive spaces.
I suggest you give it a try and let us know how your thoughts in the comments!

How To Install Microsoft Office 2007 In Ubuntu (Under Wine)

Today I had to install Microsoft Office 2007 at work. I don't like it but I had to install it because I work with storyboards (created in MS PowerPoint) and apparently these look differently in OpenOffice/LibreOffice and Microsoft Office 2007+. Since some of you are probably in the same situation as me (one way or another) and have to use Microsoft Office, I though I'd let you know how to install and get it to work in Ubuntu - the process is fairly easy but it involves a little "trick" to get PowerPoint to work.

Install and get Microsoft Office 2007 to work in Ubuntu

1. Firstly make sure you're running the latest WINE:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.3

2. Go to Applications > Wine > Configure Wine and on the "Applications tab" select "Windows XP" under "Windows Version" and click "Apply".


3. Now install Microsoft Office 2007 - to be able to run the "setup.exe" installer, right click it, select "Properties" and on the "Permissions" tab check the "Allow executing file as program" box. Now double clicking setup.exe should open it using WINE. If it doesn't, right click it and select "Open with Wine Windows Program Loader". Now you can easily install Microsoft Office 2007.

4. At this point, PowerPoint will fail to start. To fix it, go to Applications > Wine > Configure Wine and on the "Libraries" tab, under "New override for library" type: "riched20.dll", then click "Add". Now click the newly added "riched20" file, click "Edit" and select "Native (Windows)".

Microsoft Office 2007 PowerPoint should now work

Create A Gnome Panel Icon For Triggering The Compiz Expo Plugin (Like In Unity)

If you've tried (or seen some video) Unity, you've surely noticed the Compiz Expo icon on the Unity dock (launcher). There is no Gnome panel applet to do this but you can do this thanks to xautomation. Here is how to replicate this behavior in any Ubuntu version, using the normal Gnome desktop.

1. Install xautomation and CCSM:

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager xautomation

2. Set a Compiz Expo plugin key binding:

Go to System > Preferences > CompizConfig Settings Manager and enable the "Expo" plugin. Then click it and on the "Bindings" tab, set a keyboard shortcut for the "Expo key" (first item on the list) - I've set "e" so that's what I am going to use for the commands in this post.

3. Optional: multiple desktop rows:

By default, expo displays one big wall, but if you want multiple rows (like in Unity - and in my screenshot), go to CompizConfig Settings Manager, click on "General options" and on the "Desktop Size" tab, set the "Vertical Virtual Size" to some number larger then 1. I've used "2" for both "Horizontal Vertical Size" and "Vertical Virtual Size".

4. Create a new custom application launcher:

Right click on a Gnome panel, select "Add to panel" and add a "Custom Application Launcher". Set the following image as its icon (this is the icon used in Unity, you can however use whatever icon you want):

(save it to your computer)

For your custom launcher name enter whatever you want and under "Command", enter this:

xte 'keydown Super_L' 'key e' 'keyup Super_L'

(This assumes you've used "e" as the Expo key binding under step 2, if not, modify it to whatever custom keybinding you've used). 

That's it! Save the custom application launcher and try it out.

Force quitting rogue applications could do with looking better.
According to you guys that is, who often send us your ideas on how unresponsive application notifications should be shown.

Alejandro send us his ideal design, pictured above, after becoming tired of having to run ‘xkill’ yet again after an application hanged.
On his design he says “I find it much more user-friendly and better looking than a pop-window.” Looking at the ‘pop up window’ style I have to agree…

How would you like to see Force Quit dialogues displayed?