Go back to the old new tab page of Google Chrome

NOTE:
This method isn't available anymore. Try the new way to do so.


I usually use Firefox as my default browser, but I use Google Chrome mainly for Google services like Gmail and Google drive. Therefore, I feel convenience that many online applications can be shown as an app icon in the new tab page of Google Chrome.

Unfortunately, after I've updated Google Chrome to version 29, the new tab page is changed. We could find a search bar in the middle of the page and few recently viewed sites showing below. Notably, the shortcut of applications is gone, instead, an app bookmark is shown on the bookmark tool bar, which links to a page (chrome://apps) that shows the applications we've installed just like the old new tab page.

Some people may feel okay because they don't have many applications and it seems to integrate with Google Now (I don't see Google Now running on my computer, and I don't know why) which could be very useful. However, for me, I prefer the old one. So that's what I do to get my old new tab page back!

1. Enter "chrome://flags/" in location bar of Google Chrome
2. Press "F3" or "Ctrl + F" to search "Enable Instant Extended API "
3. Disable the option and click "Relaunch Now" button 

Finally, we can get our new tab page back!

Tune thouchpad for Linux Mint

Touchpad in linux works quite good actually, but there are still different from windows. I'm used to tap three fingers for right click, and two fingers for middle click. However, in default, right click is tapping three fingers and nothing for middle click.

The simplest way, which found on the google, is to create a script:

synclient TapButton2=2
synclient TapButton3=3

Save it and run it every time start up desktop.

Or you can modify/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf:

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "touchpad catchall"
    MatchIsTouchpad "on"
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Driver "synaptics"
    Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "on"
    Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "on"
    Option "CircularScrolling" "off"
    Option "CricularTrigger" "0"
    Option "TapButton1" "1"
    Option "TapButton2" "2"
    Option "TapButton3" "3"
EndSection

 I'm lazy to do that. 

Install Linux Mint 14 on USB Drive

I had tried to install Ubuntu on USB drive before, but it failed. I don't know why. Today, I installed Linux Mint on USB drive again and it success unbelievably. I don't know why either. And I found out that we could install on USB driver through Virtualbox. Virtualbox makes it more convenience to install because we can do another thing with computer while installing at the same time.

First of all, download Virtualbox, and a Virtualbox extension package is also needed to make USB work. Download the latest Linux Mint iso file. After those files are downloaded and installed completely, toggle enable USB 2.0 in Virtualbox >settings >USB and mount the iso file in the Virtualbox. Then we are ready to begin.

Boot the virtual machine with CD of Linux Mint, mount USB drive and click install.

The most important thing is here, choose your USB driver instead of hard drive to install, and remember to install the MBR on the USB drive as well.

The rest of steps are the same with installing linux on hard drive. After the installation finished, it's time to test the USB drive.

Notably, there is no way to boot virtual machine with USB devices directly, but we can make the USB device as a virtual hard drive, then we can boot from the USB drive. So here is what we going to do next. Go to Virtualbox installed folder in Command mode, and type the command:

VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename D:\VirtualBox\usb.vmdk -rawdisk \\.\PhysicalDrive4

Where "D:\VirtualBox\usb.vmdk" stands for your virtual disk location, and "PhysicalDrive4" stands for your USB drive (The number might be different in different computer).

Then, create another virtual machine with usb.vmdk, and it's done!

Here is the screenshot of my desktop after tuned:

NOTE:
The most worst thing of Linux Mint is that it doesn't install input method in default so we need to install it by ourself if we need one. Go to command line and install ibus.

sudo apt-get install ibus

Synchronizing Firefox

I love Firefox. I have been using it since Firefox 2.0. However, I haven't use synchronization because what I don't really need to synchronize all. What I need is synchronizing bookmarks only, and Xmarks do a very good job on that, plus, Xmarks synchronizes bookmarks between browsers. That's what I exactly need.

Months ago, I bought my first smart phone, Xperia pro. I start to use phone surfing websites. The biggest problem is the bookmarks on desktop were not available when I'm using phone. I did a little search on Google and it showed nothing about it until Chrome and Firefox for Android launched. I love these two browsers. I use Firefox the most, but I still use chrome a lot. These two browsers can both help me get my bookmarks on my phone because the bookmarks are exactly the same between Firefox and Chrome thanks to Xmarks. I tried Chrome at first because I'm a huge Google fan, but Chrome is too large. The phone kept showing "low space" which is really annoying. That's why I turn to Firefox.

Synchronization of Firefox is not the same with Chrome. Chrome synchronizes with Google account, but Firefox uses "pair devices" instead of account. The next following is showing how to synchronize Firefox between phone and desktop.

1. Launch Firefox on Android and press the menu bottom, choose "Settings" and "Snyc". Then, you'll see three code.

2. Launch Firefox on your computer and go to "Option" and "Sync". Select "Pair a device" and then you'll see three input boxes.

3. Entering the code on phone and press Next, and your Firefox is synchronizing.

4. Finally, you can see the successful connection on both phone and desktop.

A trip to Lie Ying Jian at Mei Ling

Lie Ying Jian means a tip of falcon, which is located in Mei Ling of Nansi, Tainan, Taiwan. It is named so because it looks like an eagle standing on the top of the mountain, and it is one of the most amazing scenes that I’ve ever seen in my life. I had heard so many people recommending this place as a best site in Tainan so I went there in a lovely afternoon.