Quickly search, find and start any application with Synapse for Linux

Today, I want to show you an application for Linux, which at least in my eyes, is very helpful for you daily work. It is called Synapse and is an application launcher for Linux.
By using a specified key combination, by default ctrl+spacebar, you can open a smart-looking input mask. In this input mask you can enter not only the names of applications you want to start, but just about everything you can think of. When typing, Synapse scans your files in real-time and shows you all possible results.
If you enter for example the first letters of a songname,  so Synapse suggests you to either open the song in a media player, queue it up on the media player or to open the folder which contains the song.
Also every text you put into the search mask, can be used as query to Google. Programs may also be started. As you’ll have […]

How to manage autostart applications on Linux Mint?

Today I was faced with the question of how to manage the autostart of applications on Linux Mint. At last there’s no startup folder on Linux as it is on Windows.
To put it in a nutshell. To manage startup applications is as easy as any other experience with Linux Mint.

Press ALT+F2 (this hotkey opens the “Run command”-window)
Write “gnome-session-properties” into the run command textbox and press the enter key.

Linux Mint Autostart

How to build a 20$ low-cost OpenWrt router – Flash OpenWrt to TP-Link WR703N

TP-Link WR703NFor one of my projects I was looking for a router that runs OpenWrt. But the all time classic of these type of routers, the Lynksys WRT54GL, is definitely too expensive in my opinion and so I searched a for a cheaper alternative. And I found it.
The TP-Link WR703N is a really small router, which can be powered by USB and also can be flashed with OpenWrt.
An unbeatable argument for the TP-Link is in my opinion the price. So I think you will rarely find a new OpenWRT compatible router for less than $20. I bought mine on eBay for ~22$ including shipping, but at the moment the US prices are a little bit lower. I also added some pictures from the unboxing at the end of this blog post.
Where can I buy the TP-Link WR703N?

21,00$ […]

How to install Wunderlist on Linux Mint

Wunderlist LogoWunderlist is a tool for task management, which I use regularly. However, since I generally prefer native applications to web-based, the Wunderlist software also got it’s place on my Linux Mint system.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the Wunderlist client in Linux Mint’s software center, so I tried to install it manually, which ended in a big fail.
After intense googling, I found the a script on Pastebin and changed it in 03/2013. Although this was initially written for Ubuntu, it works fine under the Linux Mint environment.
For installation you just need to save the script in a file with the extension “. sh” and execute it in the shell by help of the following two commands.

sudo chmod +x installationsScript.sh
sudo ./installationsScript.sh

Linux Mint/Ubuntu Wunderlist installation script

#!/bin/bash
architecture=`uname -mrs`

#Download Wunderlist
if [[ […]

3 things you should know to speed up HttpWebRequest

HttpWebRequest LogoThose who work with the. NET framework and occasionally used the HttpWebRequest class, may have stumbled about the phenomenon that it seems to be quite slow in some cases. Especially if you use HttpWebRequest in combination with threading to get responses as quick as possible, the HttpWebRequest class quickly becomes a party pooper.
Initially you might assume that the problems rely on the Internet connection, but at least after a speed comparison with wget or curl, you should recognize that the “problem” must be at the. NET implementation.
No products found.In the following article I will focus on three points that can help you, to speed up the HttpWebRequests class.

1. Increase DefaultConnectionLimit
All instances of the HttpWebRequest class are using some properties of the ServicePointManager. One of these porperties of the ServicePointManager is the “DefaultConnectionLimit”. By default, this […]