After publishing my last article about my experience with Chrome OS, the first reaction I got was why I didn't just install CloudReady instead of dealing with such a complicated installation method. The answer is simply that I had no idea that CloudReady even existed. It seems I'm pretty new to the Chrome OS game...
Revive an old laptop with Chrome OS
If you have been using computers for a few decades, there is a good chance that you too have a few old desktop and laptop computers collecting dust in your house. They are too old to use and have little value, so selling them is not a worthwile endevour. You can't even give them to family members as even they find them lacking in power. Have you tried to use a 10 year old laptop with Windows 10? Not fun... Wouldn't it be nice if you could magically make the old hardware more powerful?
How to fix media keys not working for Spotify in Ubuntu/Linux Mint
Spotify is not a terrible service if you disregard the slow and buggy user interface. Using it is way better than hunting for all the music you like to organize them on your computer and as a plus, you can download your playlist for offline play on your mobile phone with the Premium plan.
Here is how to fix your net on your iOS/Android phone when in rural areas
Last weekend I tried to get some work done while staying in the countryside. I hooked up my laptop to the net using my Android phone as a mobile hotspot and did my thing just like in the office. However, during the breaks when I tried to browse Reddit or do anything net related on my phone, there was seemingly no internet available.
How to upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004 if the option is not available in Windows Update on your machine?
As of the writing of this post, Windows 10 version 2004 is the latest release of Windows 10 dubbed as the 2020 May update. While it was available to some through Windows Update since May, many still only see a notification that it will be available soon.
Prettify Ubuntu 20.04
The Unity desktop was quite a big step forward in usability and design back when it came out (at least in my opinion), but by the end of the decade, the reskinned Gnome 3 environment became quite dated compared to the competitors. There are things in both macOS (window decorations) and Windows 10 that I like way more, but I also want to keep Ubuntu for the speed and stability.
Using your Android phone as a webcam for Ubuntu 20.04 with DroidCam
During the current pandemic, the home office suddenly became the preferred mode of work. This, of course, caused a huge increase in webcam prices and shortages in supply. I ran into the same problem and my laptop camera was no viable alternative either with its subpar quality. Luckily, there is a way to use my better-than-average phone camera for conference calls with the desktop computer running Ubuntu.
Creating an installer for Windows from your JAR file to easily distribute your Java project
Your first Java project finally runs from the command line and you want to share it with your friends to show the spectacular progress you made. All you need to do is to create a compressed jar file and send it to them, right? Not quite as in case they have no Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed or have a different version from the one you used, all they will get is a criptic error message.
Setting up your AMD video card in Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 20.04 just arrived with fractional scaling of the desktop available from the settings. Yes, you have to turn it on first to be able to choose fractional scaling of 125% or 150%, but finally you don't have to edit gnome settings to do this. Also, this time it might work as intended too...
Exporting to WebP image format from GIMP in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
WebP is an image format employing both lossy and lossless compression currently developed by Google. It is great if you want that slight advantage when you look at your SEO scores, but not so great (yet) for Facebook share images. The problem is, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS comes with GIMP 2.8 by default and this version cannot export to the WebP format.