If you were on Windows, that would be fairly easy. Just hit a web search and install one of the many dummy SMTP servers out there.

But you’re probably on Linux (why else would you be reading this). And on Linux, there is no such app. You’ll have to hack your way out of this.

Well not anymore. Thanks to this awesome script by Stuart Colville, I was able to create a dummy SMTP server in Python. I’ve posted the code on github :

https://github.com/jevin/Dummy-SMTP

It’s really simple to use :

1. Download the .zip
2. Extract it
3. Make “listen.py” executable
4. Kill any process using port 25 (usually “sudo pkill sendmail” is enough)
5. Type “sudo ./listen.py” on your console
6. Tada! All emails sent will be dropped in the “mails” folder.

I’ve made this tutorial because there’s no installer for the Linux versions of Sublime Text. While that’s not a real problem, I feel there is a cleaner way to go around this. Also, this post will show you how to integrate Sublime Text to Unity (which, I’m glad to report, has now matured into a fully functional user interface).

So let’s get on with this. Here is my how to install Sublime Text on Ubuntu tutorial.

Step 1

Download the tarfile that suits you best and extract it. Here’s the command to extract tar.bz2 files:

tar xf Sublime\ Text\ 2\ Build\ 2181\ x64.tar.bz2

You’ll notice that I got the 64-bit version. The reason is that it’s lightning fast. So, go for that if you can!

Step 2

You’ll get a “Sublime Text 2″ folder after extraction. This folder contains all the files that Sublime Text will need. So we have to move that folder somewhere more appropriate. Yep “/usr/lib/” it is:

sudo mv Sublime\ Text\ 2 /usr/lib/

Step 3

At some point you’d want to be able to call Sublime Text from the Terminal by just typing “sublime”. To do that, we’ll just create a symbolic link in “/usr/bin” like thus:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text /usr/bin/sublime

Step 4

Now that our files are at the right place, we need to create a launcher in Unity. To do this, we’re going to create a .desktop file in “/usr/share/applications”:

sudo sublime /usr/share/applications/sublime.desktop

And paste the following content:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Sublime Text 2
# Only KDE 4 seems to use GenericName, so we reuse the KDE strings.
# From Ubuntu's language-pack-kde-XX-base packages, version 9.04-20090413.
GenericName=Text Editor

Exec=sublime
Terminal=false
Icon=/usr/lib/Sublime Text 2/Icon/48x48/sublime_text.png
Type=Application
Categories=TextEditor;IDE;Development
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow

[NewWindow Shortcut Group]
Name=New Window
Exec=sublime -n
TargetEnvironment=Unity

As you can see, these lines are quite straightforward. Go ahead and experiment a bit with them.

Step 5

Now you would probably want to open all text files with Sublime Text 2. The easiest way to do that is to open up the file associations list:

sudo sublime /usr/share/applications/defaults.list

And replace all occurrences of gedit.desktop with sublime.desktop.

Tada ! There you go. You now have Sublime Text 2 installed on Unity on Ubuntu 12.04, like a pro.

Here are some screenshots:

The plugin can be tried on this textarea:

It may not be apparent, but there are a quite a few things that have changed with this new version. Here’s the list:

• It automatically resizes your textarea; before you had an algorithm that calculated the correct width according to your font-size and cols settings. Now, the plugin does it automatically. Big time saver.
• It automatically sets the correct CSS attributes; before the user had to enter this manually in the CSS file. Now it’s done by the plugin.
• The plugin is fired when the page loads; a lot of users requested this feature. When you load a page with data already entered in the textarea, the latter will automatically resize itself.
• The plugin fires on more events; the plugin used to be fired when the user was typing. Now it does more than that.
• It no more pollutes the global namespace; if you’re not familiar with these terms, let’s just say the code will not conflict with other Javascripts.

You may have guessed it. The setup is now much faster. You simply download the plugin : jquery.autogrowtextarea.js and call the Javascript method. The code is :

<script type="text/javascript">
  $(document).ready(function(){
    $("#txtInput").autoGrow();
  });
</script>
<textarea id="txtInput" cols="40" rows="5"></textarea>

There you go. Enjoy! And do leave your feedback, please.

Licensing

A lot of people have been emailing/commenting asking about Autogrow Textarea’s licensing. I finally decided I to go with this one : Beerware License.

Pac-Man game on the Google homepage

This year Pac-Man is 30 years old. And this says a lot.We are talking of a time where people were rushing through the cinema halls to watch the premiere of Star Wars 5.

The game is in DHTML. Nothing fancy. But it’s quite a nice to have a go at it before hitting a search.

As you can see, this simple growth comes very naturally to the user. It can be useful for sites needing large user input. So if you would like to use this plugin, read the quick guide below.

• First, you will need to download this one file: jquery.autogrowtextarea.js.
• After downloading and importing the script you will need to add some CSS to your page, as follows.

  <style type="text/css">
    textarea
    {
      overflow:hidden;
      height:auto;
      width:326px;
    }
  </style>

  The overflow and height properties should remain unchanged. The width however is tricky. You see, textarea’s are not generated the same way in different browsers, meaning that each browser will set a different width to your textarea. To counter this, I have created a small script that will give you the right width to use.
  
  

  Columns:
  

  Font size(in px):
  

  Appropriate textarea width: -px

  I have set my width to 346px since I am using 40 columns for my textarea. It’s nice to point out that the default textarea font size is 13px.

• With all that done, you can call the plugin this way:

  <script type="text/javascript">
    $(document).ready(function(){
      $("#txtInput").autoGrow();
    });
  </script>
  <textarea id="txtInput" cols="40" rows="5"></textarea>

  Where “txtInput” is the textarea’s identifier and “autoGrow()” is the function that activates the plugin for the selected textarea.

As you can see, the implementation is quite straightforward. I am planning to include automatic width detection in the plugin, so you don’t have to generate the appropriate width every time. If you like this plugin and would like to suggest features, or report bugs, you are welcome to contact me.

Logitech G15

If you are on the market for a gaming keyboard, chances are that you’ve seen the Logitech G15. This is the reference in gaming keyboards for it was the first to have been commercially successful. The Logitech comes with loads of options, to name a few:

• LCD screen
• Ability to create hotkeys
• Ability to create macros
• Option to deactivate the Windows key

The last option really goes to show how much good work Logitech has put into that G15. As a gamer, you would surely know how irritating it is to press the Windows key accidentally in the middle of a game.

The LCD screen can be very useful for gamers. It can be customized to show lots of different info. From CPU/Memory usage to current playing track, without forgetting your HP. This keyboard is sure to please the inner geek in you.

Razer Lycosa

The Razer Lycosa is another good gaming keyboard. The design, coupled with the magnificent blue backlight, makes it look like it came from outer space. When you are face to face with this keyboard, you know its true gaming material. Among its options, we have:

• Non-slip rubber keys
• Ability to create macros
• 10 customizable profiles
• Hyperesponse technology

The Hyperesponse technology is sure to bring a smile on your face during intense gaming. This orders the keys to react faster to your movements. Couple this with some macros, and you are sure to have a nice time gaming.

The first thing buyers will notice about the Lycosa, is the lack of an LCD display. While I feel the LCD is a handy tool, I must admit that the philosophy behind the two keyboards are not the same. If you want good all-round computer gaming keyboard, then the G15 has to be your pick. But for some serious gaming, I’d have to go with the Lycosa.

To sensitize people on this matter, in a very unorthodox way, Forthehack has created Please Rob Me. Please Rob Me basically tracks and lists down information that people post on social networking sites about their leave from home.

Though Please Rob Me’s practice is quite unethical, at the bottom of it all, it serves to make people realise the trouble they are putting themselves into by unveiling their privacy on the web.

The Haloscan hardware and software is physically failing and we have no choice but to discontinue the service.

Haloscan users now have the choice to either switch to Echo, another JS-Kit project or export their comments freely from Haloscan to their original blog host’s commenting system.

For several years Haloscan has been a good alternative to bloggers (especially those using Google’s Blogger) looking for a better and more rapid solution to their blog’s original commenting system. Now that Blogger has implemented some changes to its commenting system and that JS-Kit has developed Echo, a better performing system, that amongst others, integrates with Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo accounts, Haloscan has become quite obsolete.

Sony just announced the new E Series VAIO. Big surprise concerning the laptop, its physical appearance and its price tag. Indeed, the new E Series will come in a series of flashy colors to choose from. Sony states “Caribbean Green, Iridescent Blue, Hibiscus Pink and Lava Black”.  Moreover, flashy keyboard skins and mouse covers are available too.

The best thing yet is the price. The laptops start at a little less than $800. This is bargain price if you ask me. The keyboard skins and mouse covers are at around $20 and $5 respectively.

And if you are still not persuaded, don’t forget that this laptop comes with the latest processor from Intel, the Core i5.

Right now, the laptop is available on pre-order only. And if you have a Sony Financial Services card, you will enjoy 12 months of free interest. Now isn’t that a deal?

So now, just some hours ago, Google has announced that it will no longer support IE6. Their message is clear, IE6 is preventing them from moving on and adding new features to their products. They state:

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

This is a real hit towards IE6. Personally, I really like the way things are going. It’s about time some giant organisation attacked IE6.

What are your views about this? Do you think Google is going too far?