Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mail merge in OpenOffice

I have tried some methods to make mail merge in OpenOffice but it failed and I think also that the step is too long.


This what I can do to make mail merge that works and very simple I think 
  • Make sure that OpenOffice Database have been installed
  • We have made two documents (main document in OpenOffice Word, second document in OpenOffice Spreadsheet) then Close and save our Spreadsheet document
  • From OpenOffice Word, choose Insert - Fields - Other. Choose Database - Mail merge fields - Browse (choose our spreadsheet document)
  • Then we will see our Spreadsheet file in Database selection
  • Then double click our Spreadsheet file, Sheet, then choose which column you want to insert. Then click insert. We will find the link in our OpenOffice Word document and then close fields window.
  • The last step we will combine the document. Still in OpenOffice Word, click Tools - Mail Merge Wizard - Next ... Next ... & Next again until at last step Save, print, or send.
  • Then click Save merged documents - save as single document - Save Documents - Finish
    It also work when I do in LibreOffice.





Thursday, October 13, 2011

How to Install Windows Fonts in Ubuntu?

Although we use linux and use OpenOffice or LibreOffice, some times we need windows fonts to some important things. Like Times New Roman, Arial, and the other windows fonts.

To do it, just open terminal then type,

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Then restart your Office (OpenOffice or LibreOffice) / close and run again your office. Then you will see new fonts in your office.

Other way you can install windows fonts manually,

Copy windows fonts from windows (usually in C:\Windows\fonts directory)
Then paste to your Ubuntu (usually in File System – usr – share – fonts)

If you can not paste it, you can open your file manager (nautilus) from terminal

sudo nautilus

Friday, May 6, 2011

How to switch to Gnome in Ubuntu 11.04

New version of Ubuntu have been released on 28 April 2011, this is the big new change especially in interface of desktop environment, its Unity.

When first time I try it, that's right very different from previous version.
Some people said that they don't like with unity maybe because it's new, different etc, but I thing every body have their own taste.

But if you have tried and you feel don't confortable with unity, don't worry because you can still use Gnome again. To do this is quite easy you just need to log out and then in the welcome screen before you sign in, you choose "Ubuntu classic".

Then you can work with gnome in ubuntu 11.04.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Creat an "Ubuntu Install" USB stick

Beside use CD Live Ubuntu to install Ubuntu we can also use USB / Flash Disk to install Ubuntu.

Maybe some reasons we have to use USB media to install Ubuntu because of our netbook or laptop there is not CD/DVD ROM inside, or maybe we want more practical to bring out Ubuntu OS in our packet, etc.

Some adventages from USB stick installation, we can use one media to have many OS inside we can switch one disto to other distro or older version of Ubuntu to newer version. To do this we can remove one disto inside USB stick then we can make it bootable again.

To make Ubuntu USB stick installation or make our USB bootable as follow:
First, make sure we have Ubuntu ISO file we can download directly from ubuntu website or copy from our friend. Then prepare USB stick at least 1 GB bigger is better.

Thenn chose System - Administration - Startup Disk Creator then browse your ISO file of Ubuntu and chose your USB stick then click Make startup disk then wait until it complete.

Now you can boot your computer from your USB or you can try some version of new Ubuntu like from live CD.

Have ubuntu speak to you

Have you ever think that your computer can speak? It's amazing just type some words or sentences then your ubuntu will say to you. It's quite simple we can use espeak.

Actually espeak work in partnership with Orca but we can call it directly from terminal or command-line, as follow:

$ espeak "Hello. I am new in here"

You can change "hello. I am new here" with other words up to you. By simply typing espeak, and then hitting Enter, whatever you type after this will be spoken. To quit, type Ctrl + d.

To switch voices, use the -v command option, but first you’ll need to find out the available voices, which can be done by typing: 

$ espeak --voices=en

For example, to speak “Welcome to Ubuntu Operating System” spoken in a Jamaican voice, you could type:

$ espeak -s 140 -v en-westindies "Welcome to Ubuntu Operating System"

In the above example we also added the -s command option, by which you can specify the speech speed in words per minute. The default value of 170 tends to be a little fast, especially when it comes to longer sentences.