Convert CHM to PDF on Ubuntu

By default, you cannot view CHM file in Ubuntu. To view the CHM file, you can use GnoCHM. However, I found that GnoCHM is not so stable and crash a lot. Hence, another option is to convert it to PDF. What you need is the chm2pdf and python-beautifulsoup packages.

Install the packages

sudo apt-get install chm2pdf python-beautifulsoup

Convert the CHM file to PDF

chm2pdf --webpage --beautifulsoup filename.chm

You can even change colour, font, and margin of the generated PDF file. For more information on how to do so, please invoke

man chm2pdf

command on the terminal.

Determine CPU temperature on Ubuntu

Most PCs these days use ACPI. The ACPI shows information such as battery status or thermal information. Hence, to determine the CPU temperature on Ubuntu, you can use the acpi package.

Install the acpi package

sudo apt-get install acpi

Display the temperature

acpi options:

-b, --battery battery information
-B, --without-battery suppress battery information
-i, --capacity show battery capacity information if available
-a, --ac-adapter ac adapter information
-A, --without-ac-adapter suppress ac-adapter information
-t, --thermal thermal information
-T, --without-thermal suppress thermal information
-c, --cooling cooling information
-C, --without-cooling suppress cooling information
-V, --everything show every device, overrides above options
-s, --show-empty show non-operational devices
-S, --hide-empty hide non-operational devices
-f, --fahrenheit use fahrenheit as the temperature unit
-k, --kelvin use kelvin as the temperature unit

For example, to display information for every device, use the -V option.

$ acpi -V
Battery 0: Full, 100%
Battery 0: design capacity 7800 mAh, last full capacity 7791 mAh = 99%
AC Adapter 0: on-line
Thermal 0: ok, 36.5 degrees C
Cooling 0: LCD 0 of 7
Cooling 1: Processor 0 of 10
Cooling 2: Processor 0 of 10

View CHM file on Ubuntu

Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (CHM) is a common format for e-book and online documentation.

To view CHM file in Ubuntu, you need to have a CHM viewer installed. GnoCHM is one of the CHM file viewer, designed to integrate nicely with Gnome, using PyCHM.

GnoCHM CHM Viewer

GnoCHM can be installed by pasting the following command in the terminal.

sudo apt-get install gnochm

The shortcut will appear in Applications > Accessories menu as "CHM Viewer".

Access GnoCHM from the menu

This article discuss a simple way to view CHM file. If you know a better CHM viewer other than GnoCHM, please leave a comment.

Solar eclipse

Date: July 22, 2009
Time: 0930 GMT +8
Location: Dewan Kuliah 5, UiTM Perlis, Arau, Malaysia.
Photo courtesy of Syed Mohd Hijan Syed Hamzah.

How to use multiple windows in Vim

This article provides some tips on how to use multiple windows in Vim.

Start Vim with n multiple windows

1. n verticals windows.
   
   vim -On filenames
2. n horizontal windows.
   
   vim -on filenames

Note: n is the number of windows.

Close a window

1. Close the current window.
   
   Ctrl+W c
2. Close the current window. If it is the only window left, quit Vim.
   
   Ctrl+W q

Split a window

1. Split horizontally the current file.
   
   Ctrl+W s
2. Split horizontally and open a file.
   
   :sp filename
3. Split vertically the current file.
   
   Ctrl+W v
4. Split vertically and open a file.
   
   :vsp filename

Move the cursor between windows

1. Move to the right window from the current windows.
   
   Ctrl+W l
2. Move to the left window from the current windows.
   
   Ctrl+W h
3. Move to the top window from the current windows.
   
   Ctrl+W k
4. Move to the bottom window from the current windows.
   
   Ctrl+W j
5. Move to the next window below the current one. If no below window exist, move to the top window.
   
   Ctrl+W w

Rotate windows location

1. Move the current window to the right.
   
   Ctrl+W L
2. Move the current window to the left.
   
   Ctrl+W H
3. Move the current window to the top.
   
   Ctrl+W K
4. Move the current window to the bottom.
   
   Ctrl+W J

Window resizing

Resizing windows can be made by using the mouse as well as the following commands.

1. Make all windows equal in height.
   
   Ctrl+W =
2. Increase height.
   
   Ctrl+W +
3. Decrease height.
   
   Ctrl+W -

Note: Thanks to Ferd T-H, resizing could also be done by using

Ctrl+W < or >

Conclusion

I hope that these commands are enough for you to start using windows in Vim. However, if you know some good command(s) to please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

7 Habits For Effective Text Editing 2.0 video

Tips on using Vim effectively by the main author of Vim, Bram Moolenaar, who writes the core Vim functionality.

Python interactive help mode

Python provides an interactive help mode inside the interactive Python interpreter.

This tutorial provides some basic on how to use the help mode.

Enter the help mode

To use it, start the Python interpreter (or, IDLE), and then type help() and press Enter to start the interactive help mode.

Quit the help mode

To exit the help mode, type quit and press Enter.

List of Python keywords

To get a list of available keywords in Python, type keywords and press Enter.

To get help on certain keyword just type the keyword and press enter.

List of available modules

To get a list of available modules in Python, type module and press Enter.

To get help on certain module just type the module name and press enter.

List of available topics

The topics command gives a list of topics regarding Python programming language.

To get a list of available topics, type topics and press Enter.

To get help on certain topic, just type the topic name and press enter.