Table of Contents

- Welcome From The Chief Editor

1. Take PCLinuxOS On Vacation With You

2. Inkscape Tutorial: Create Transparent Text

3. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Japanese Beef Tenderloin Curry

4. ms_meme's Nook: Linux Will Keep Us Together

5. Panopticlick: How Secure Is Your Browser?

6. PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight: Besonian

7. Tip Top Tips: Making A Clickable Thumbnail Image With bbcode

8. Game Zone: The West

9. Inkscape Tutorial: Creating An Interactive Object

10. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner (Bonus): Smoked Watermelon Salad

11. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

12. Screenshot Showcase

Welcome From The Chief Editor

WOW! I can't believe it's June already! Our new family member will be here in just over a couple of months, and there is so much stuff left to do. At this point, if days were 48 hours long, I still wouldn't have enough time to get all the things done that I want to be able to get done.

And, since the death bell has tolled for the 32 bit version of PCLinuxOS, that adds one more thing to my list of things to do (that I had kept putting off). Like many Linux users, I find great satisfaction in taking older, discarded computers and extending their life by running Linux -- namely, PCLinuxOS. I don't have to have the fastest, latest, greatest computer. I'm not a "gamer," so I don't even need "fast" graphics. When it comes to graphics, I'm perfectly satisfied with being able to stream videos at a reasonable bitrate (not necessarily the highest ... 360p or 480p is just fine in most cases) with minimal lag and buffering, or without them breaking up.

For most "normal" users, upgrading 32 bit versions of PCLinuxOS probably isn't as big of a task as it is for me. I keep and maintain about a dozen computers running with PCLinuxOS. Of those, half -- six, to be exact -- are most likely going to have to be retired simply because they have 32 bit processors. My dutiful netbook, running one of the early Intel Atom processors, is (sadly) among the casualties. I carry my netbook with me in a backpack that I carry to work. When things at the hospital are slow, I pull it out and use it to help pass the time between patient rounds.

I'm not bemoaning progress. I don't want to stand in the way of progress. But it really chafes my sense of frugality to have to prematurely retire those old computers that are running perfectly fine and performing their tasks dutifully and without failure. Even my old Android phone -- a Motorola Droid -- has been repurposed into a YouTube player for my 2 1/2 year old son, so he can watch "Bob The Builder," "Gumby," and the rest of his favorite shows. Frugality. In these times of governments adopting "austerity" measures, making the best use of what you already have just makes sense.

Sure, I could run a different Linux distro that still supports 32 bit processors on those computers. But I'm not just a Linux user. I'm a PCLinuxOS user. The loyalty runs deep. With PCLinuxOS, Texstar (and crew) has created a version of Linux that, in my humble opinion, is how Linux should be done. It has been tweaked to a very high level to provide the best user experience possible. I anticipate that if I were to try one of the other Linux distros that still supports 32 bit processors (and I have, both before I came to PCLinuxOS, and after, running them in a virtual machine), I would become (did become) frustrated with their lack of polish. It's that same polish that Texstar has meticulously applied to PCLinuxOS that I have become accustomed to seeing and using.

I know. I know. Things evolve. Things change. Time moves on. At the end of the day, I know that I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and just go ahead and retire those older computers. And then I remember reading about nine months ago about an old Commodore C64 computer that had dutifully managed a school's HVAC system for all these years would finally be retired. It probably would still be going strong today, had there been anyone left around who knew how to run and maintain that very old, popular in its day computer.

Yes, I'll get around to updating my computers to the 64 bit version. I know I can't do it at the end of the month, since I have to put out the magazine every month. Plus, with the baby coming, I'm making good progress on my remodeling project. Babies don't wait for anyone; they have their own schedule. Who knows ... maybe I'll get a sliver of time to start the update process before the next issue of the magazine comes out.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity and prosperity.

Take PCLinuxOS On Vacation With You

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Ahhh! Summertime (at least in the Northern hemisphere). Time for barbeques, swimming pool parties, camping, bicycling, fishing, going to the beach, spending time at an amusement park, and taking family trips. Here in the U.S., most people take a "vacation" from their job to enjoy these leisurely activities. In other parts of the world, they call it "going on holiday." Whatever you call it, it's a time that many people look forward to every year. It also provides a "reset" from the daily grind that we endure the rest of the year.

Certainly, you probably aren't too keen on being "out of touch" with certain aspects of your life, even when you're on vacation. So, take your PCLinuxOS laptop with you. Many will want to be able to check their email accounts. Others may want to keep abreast of the happenings in the PCLinuxOS forum before turning in at night. Still others will want a way to view their digital photos from the day, and to transfer them from SD cards to their computer. Still others may want to create a travel blog, summarizing their daily activities at the end of the day.

Although I don't travel often, I have carted one of my PCLinuxOS laptops with me every single time. To make things easier, I tend to pack everything in an inexpensive laptop backpack, where I can keep all of my computer accessories together and handy. Below are some tips for traveling with your PCLinuxOS laptop.

- Perform updates at least a couple of days BEFORE you leave on vacation. You can never be certain what your internet connection will be like at your destination, and you don't necessarily want to spend time at your destination applying updates on a slow or unreliable internet connection. Reboot your computer a couple of times after performing updates to make sure that everything works as it should. As careful and as good as the packaging team is, sometimes a seemingly simple update can break things that were working perfectly before.

- Be sure your laptop battery is in top shape. If it isn't, order a new laptop battery before you leave for vacation. And, be sure it's properly charged. In fact, it might be a good idea to have a couple of batteries -- one in the laptop, and a second one that's fully charged and ready to go in the event that your primary battery runs down.

- Insure that you have packed your AC adapter/charger.

- You might want to pick up a car charger for your laptop, especially if you are driving to your destination. It will help to insure that your battery(ies) are always charged and in top shape.

- If you are traveling abroad, be sure that you have the proper AC power plugs and power adapters for the area to which you are traveling. For example, the U.S. uses 120v, 60 Hz power, while Europe tends to use 220-240v, 50 Hz power. Plus, the plug configuration is WAY different, and can vary from country to country. Just take a look at this confusing list of the different types of plugs that are in use around the world. The image above gives you some inkling of the confusion that exists.

- Before you embark on your trip is the time to make sure that you have all of your accessories. I tend to carry a wireless mouse, a small backup wired mouse, an external USB SD card reader, a couple of blank USB flash drives, extra batteries for the wireless mouse, extra SD cards, along with the AC adapter(s). With most laptops having a touchpad, it might seem like overkill to have two mice. However, I hate touchpads, and I don't want to have to rely only on a wireless mouse that might fail (batteries go dead, signal interference, etc.) ... hence, the small wired backup mouse. The same situation exists with SD card readers. Most -- but not all -- of my laptops have a built in SD card reader. The external USB SD card reader insures that I always have a way to read the SD cards from my digital cameras.

- You'll also find extra camera supplies in my laptop backpack, like extra batteries for the camera(s) and chargers for those batteries (if applicable). There would be little that sucks more than being present for some pictures of a lifetime and having dead batteries in your camera.

- If your destination is one where the availability of a wifi connection is uncertain, you might want to think about a wireless 3G or 4G mobile wifi connection. Be cautious of data caps, however, and of roaming charges. Both can cripple your connection, as well as your finances.

- Be sure that you can afford to lose your laptop ... not that you plan to. You probably won't want to take your best/most expensive laptop. While there is the definite risk of having it stolen, chances are higher that it might end up broken or lost (left on a bus or taxi, for example). One idea is to buy a second laptop used, on the cheap, so that if anything happens to it (caught in a downpour, drop it in a lake or in the ocean, lost, stolen, etc.), you're not out all that much. If you go this route, get PCLinuxOS installed and all your applications installed a few weeks before your vacation. This will give you a chance to tweak and tune the laptop to your satisfaction. Another advantage is that this second, cheaper laptop does NOT contain any of your sensitive data files. Those stay at home, out of reach of those who'd love to get their hands on them.

- As an added "insurance policy," take an extra copy of the latest PCLinuxOS ISO on either a CD, DVD or USB flash drive. If something bad happens, you can at least reinstall the operating system and be back up and running within 20 minutes or less.

- If you're flying to your destination, DO NOT place your laptop in your checked luggage. Luggage handlers at most airports tend to treat luggage rather roughly, and including your laptop in your checked luggage is putting your laptop in the expressway towards certain damage. Instead, make it part of your carry on luggage, and store it either under the seat in front of you, or place it in your lap. Never store your laptop in the overhead luggage storage. Not only will you increase its chances for damage, it could also fall out of the overhead luggage area when other travelers are removing their luggage.

- Exercise caution when connecting your laptop to a "foreign" (unknown) wifi network. Avoid, if at all possible, connecting to open, unencrypted public wifi connections. If you must use an open and unencrypted public wifi hotspot, keep the time that you are connected to the bare minimum to get your task done. Be extra cautious about connecting to secure sites (like your bank and bank account) over open, unencrypted public wifi connections. Just don't do it. Most hotels and motels I've stayed at have secured wifi connections for their guests. Usually, all you have to do is ask for the password at the front desk. Even better yet, sign up for and use a quality VPN service for enhanced security and anonymity.

Follow these tips, and traveling with your laptop on your next vacation should be an enjoyable experience. Oh ... and we all can't wait to see pictures from your next trip!

Inkscape Tutorial: Create Transparent Text

by Meemaw

I saw another fun text effect that I want to do for you.

In Inkscape, import an image file that you would like some text in. I'm using a photo from a trip I took to Utah several years ago. This is Butler Wash, with Native American rock art. I want to put the text "Butler Wash" at the top.

Load your photo, then create your text. Change to the selection tool, and make the text the size you want. Now, make 4 copies of it using Edit > Duplicate or <CTRL> + D. It helps to make them different colors so you can tell them apart.

Change the top copy to black, change the blur to 0.5, then do Path > Outset two or three times, depending on how big everything is and whether you used bold text or regular. Move your black text to the right just so the next copy is visible, then lower it one level. Now you should have a different color text above the black text. With that text selected, hold down <SHIFT> and select the top level text, then choose Path > Difference. You should now have a blurred text edge with your third color showing.

Move the blurred text to the bottom of text stack (but above the image). Choose the top text and change the color to white, then do Path > Outset once or twice. Move it below the text it is above (1 level), select both and do Path > Difference on them. It will look like a white outline with your last color showing. With the white text outline selected, change the opacity to 30%, and move it down to just above the black blurred text.

Select the top text, and change it to white, then make a gradient (linear, from above the top of the text to about the center of the text so the white is barely visible at the top. Now you should have transparent text with a bevel, highlight and shadow sitting on top of your image.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Japanese Beef Tenderloin Curry

Japanese beef tenderloin curry

Ingredients

1 1/3 Lbs (600 grams) of beef tenderloin, cut into chunks

1/2 of red bell pepper, cubed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into pieces

2 big onions, sliced

1 japanese curry block

1 tablespoon of oil

3 Cups (700 ml) of water

Marinade:

1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sake

1. Mix marinade, add meat and refrigerate minimum 1 hour (could be overnight).

2. Heat oil in the wok and fry onions, add meat fry till it changes colour, add remaining vegetables, pour in water and add curry block.

3. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes till potatoes are boiled.

4. Serve on bed of steamed white rice.

5. Sprinkle with coriander. (optional)

ms_meme's Nook: Linux Will Keep Us Together

OGG                                                                       MP3

Panopticlick: How Secure Is Your Browser?

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

During these times, heightened security of one's personal data has remained at or near the forefront of many users' concerns. Whether it's concern over government collection of that personal data, or collection of personal data by even more nefarious entities, keeping your personal data secure is a huge issue. Even the tracking employed by various websites can reveal a lot about your interests, purchases and activities.

But, how secure is that one tool you probably use the most in your online interactions: your web browser? You might be surprised by what you find out. Thanks to a research project by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), you can easily determine just how secure your web browser is from tracking. Who better to lead the fight for our privacy than the very organization that is (and has been) at the forefront of the fight for our privacy. That research project is called Panopticlick.

The purpose of Panopticlick can best be summed up with this statement from the EFF:

Panopticlick is a research project designed to better uncover the tools and techniques of online trackers and test the efficacy of privacy add-ons.

Panopticlick isn't exactly new. The EFF started Panopticlick in 2010 to investigate how unique each browser is. It gathers anonymous information about the configuration and version number from your operating system, your browser, and your plugins. It then compares your configuration against their database of other users configurations, creating a "uniqueness" score. That uniqueness score reveals how identifiable you might (or might not) be while browsing the web. In 2015, the EFF added tracker blocking testing. This most recent addition gauges how effective those tracker blocking add ons, such as AdBlock Plus, Ghostery and others, are in helping to protect you from overly intrusive data collection.

Upon your visit to the Panopticlick website, simply click on the "TEST ME" button in the middle of your browser window. Never fear, as only anonymous data is collected (and since it's the EFF, I trust them when they say that only anonymous data is collected ... their hard fought and earned good reputation is at stake). It will then analyze how well your browser and add ons work to protect you from online tracking techniques and the gathering of private, personal data.

After churning through a few test screens, Panopticlick will display a summary of its results. Since I primarily use Firefox, the results displayed here are from that particular web browser. With it, I also use the AdBlock Plus add on. In the past, I've also used the Privacy Badger (from the EFF) and Ghostery add ons, plus a few other privacy add ons, but have since disabled them because I've found them to bog my computer down too much, or they blocked out too much content that I was interested in accessing. As much as I want to block the gathering of my web browsing habits and data, it's also important to balance it against the web browsing experience. When the tools make your web browsing experience suffer, those tools become a hinderance and stand in your way of getting things done and having an enjoyable experience.

Clicking on the "Show full results for fingerprinting" link below the chart will reveal just how much information is revealed when you visit a website. You will most likely be as surprised as I was. I won't show my detailed results here for two reasons. First, it's just too long. Second, your results will be different since you will most likely have other fonts installed (yes, fonts play a role in fingerprinting) and you will most likely have different browser add ons installed.

Why Panopticlick?

When you visit a website, a tremendous amount of data about your computer's configuration is available and is shared. This information (OS, browser, versions of both, installed fonts, installed add ons, etc.) can create a unique "fingerprint," which can then be used to identify you and your computer.

A LOT of excitement was generated a few years back when the major web browsers implemented Do Not Track. This, if implemented properly, should give users relief from being tracked across the web. However, this has not been the case, since honoring Do Not Track requests is purely voluntary. As a result, the list of websites that honor Do Not Track is rather short. Don't be disappointed to not find your favorite website on the list. It most likely isn't complying.

When it was first introduced, there was hope that it would give web users the same level of protection that the popular Do Not Call list is supposed to give to U.S. telephone consumers. However, despite repeated promises from the internet advertising companies, there has been no progress on the matter. In fact, progress has been virtually nonexistent, since standardization of Do Not Track has become deadlocked in the World Wide Web Consortium, despite repeated pleas from American and European policy makers to make it happen.

Then you have websites that could care less about tracking the visitors to its website, like The PCLinuxOS Magazine website. If only things could be that simple.

In November 2015, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) refused to make honoring Do Not Track requests compulsory. The agency was petitioned to require some of the web's largest firms -- Google, Facebook, Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and LinkedIn were given as examples -- to honor user requests to not be tracked.

Not All Browsers Created Equal

Like many users, I have several web browsers installed on my computer. So, to satisfy my curiosity, I loaded up the Panopticlick website in each of them to see how they performed. The results may surprise you.

Firefox, Chrome and Slimjet all performed the same, giving the same results as those displayed above. They all protected against tracking ads and blocking invisible trackers, but failed to unblock third parties that promised to honor Do Not Track, and failed to protect against fingerprinting.

Midori and Opera only protected against tracking ads. They allowed invisible trackers, failed to unblock third parties that promised to honor Do Not Track, and failed to protect against fingerprinting.

Probably the best protection you can currently get to protect yourself against fingerprinting is to use the Tor browser. Its features go a lot farther in providing the protection against fingerprinting. The trade off is that browsing with the Tor browser is significantly slower than using just about any other browser.

Summary

You have to applaud the EFF's efforts with their Panopticlick research project. It is hopeful that, as a result of their data collection, users can be provided with information about how to best protect themselves from tracking, and subsequently protect their data.

Without compulsory rules (technical and/or legal) about honoring Do Not Track, it's doubtful that it will ever fulfill its promise to internet consumers and users. In fact, without those technical and/or legal rules, Do Not Track is pretty much useless, ineffective and dead in the water. Until then, about the only hope internet users have are organizations -- like the EFF -- compiling a database of browsers and their add ons that provide the highest level of protection. So, your participation (by submitting data to the research project) helps the EFF provide the information that other users will rely on to help protect their privacy and browsing habits.

PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight: Besonian

as told in his own words to YouCanToo.

My name is Jeff Grant. As for my age, put it this way - I can remember the Nazi blitz on London - vaguely. I was married twice, and have two children from each of those marriages. I've been for fourteen years now in a relationship with a lovely lady called Anita who has two boys of her own from a marriage in which the boys' father died over twenty years ago. The name 'Besonian' which I use on this forum comes -- I think -- from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. And if my memory serves me correctly -- which it may not -- there is a short exchange in that play between two soldiers. And one says to the other, "Under which king, besonian, speak or die!" I believe 'besonian' is antique Italian for 'rascal', 'rogue'. And why it always stuck in my mind, I've no idea. But it did.

I live in an area of South London called Crystal Palace. Those who follow English Premier League soccer might be aware of our local team who are in the top half of the Premier League table. London generally has a lot of open spaces - parks etc. - but Crystal Palace has more than most. The largest of these by far are the grounds of what was once the actual Crystal Palace - a vast Victorian building composed of eleven million panes of glass and which housed the world's first international and permanent trade fair. It famously burned down in November 1936 and created such an inferno that every fire appliance across London was called to try to put it out. But it burned to the ground leaving only a tiny fraction of the actual structure standing. The park now contains, among other things, the UK's National Sports Centre, a maze, an open-air concert area by a lake, and another lake surrounded by life-size statues of dinosaurs (!) created in the nineteenth century.

I've lived here now for over ten years. I was born in Leicester, a city of some 330,000 people situated about a hundred miles north of London. But since my early teens I've always lived either in London or in the area immediately around it. I went to school at a small town called Egham just outside London, very close to the island in the River Thames where Magna Carta was signed, and subsequently took a degree in English Language and Literature at St Edmund Hall in Oxford University.

The urban part of the Crystal Palace area is centred around three roads known as The Triangle. It has an intimate, 'villagey' atmosphere. If you live here you soon get to know all the shopkeepers, most of whom own their own small outlet. The area is home to one of the most plentiful and varied collections of restaurants in the capital - Indian, Chinese, Thai, Brazilian, Venezuelan, Portuguese, Sardinian, North African, Colombian etc., etc. It's but a five minute walk - through another small park - from my flat (apartment) to all this food!

My partner Anita has her own flat just a mile away from mine. We live and work separately during the week but spend every weekend together and often days in between. Between us we have six children -- hardly 'children' any more. In descending order of age - the eldest, my Jackie lives in central France with her partner and my three grandchildren; my next one - Mark - is a Unix/Linux expert (he's worked with Unix since the early nineties) running the IT department in a Norwegian shipping company; the next one down - Alastair - teaches English in Buenos Aires; next is Sam who lives about five miles away from me in London, studying music at the School of African and Oriental Studies; next is Anita's Joe who is living at the moment in Ukraine; and lastly the youngest, her Ben who works in North London writing computer code and has a Masters Degree in philosophy at Oxford.

Technically I'm retired - by which I mean that the job I did for thirty years I now no longer do. But I do another - I write. After leaving Oxford I worked first in advertising and then in the film industry. In advertising I was a producer of TV and cinema commercials in three big London agencies. I did that for six years until I was offered a trial as a director by one of the film companies I worked with. For a number of years thereafter I directed cinema and TV commercials and Public Information Films. One of the latter, more years after its birth than I care to remember, is still garnering comments on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPMYRlvySY - then click on 'The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water) as the scariest Public Information Film to be transmitted on UK television - even tempting people on the net to make weird variations of it. From commercials I moved on to making longer films - mostly sponsored documentaries and corporate films for people such the Ford Motor Company, the Rank Organisation, the BBC, Central Television etc. Apart from South America, I worked on every continent -- and especially in the US.

But now, I write. And in fact, only a few weeks ago I published a novel - 'Albatross - the scent of honeysuckle' on Amazon. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Albatross-scent-honeysuckle-Jeff-Grant/dp/0993332803/ref=sr_1_44?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444485269&sr=1-44&keywords=albatross) And I'm already working on my next which has been gestating for about twenty years!

Neither Anita nor I have any pets. I love dogs and we'd both love a cat. But with both of us living in flats on the 6th floor of apartment blocks, it seems unfair to coop up an animal with no real hope - short of falling out a window - of ever getting a breath of fresh air. In addition to our London flats we have a house in central France only half an hour drive from La Souterraine, the town in which my daughter Jackie lives. We try and get out there for extended periods twice a year. We have a medium-size camper-van and these days always drive there. We get the cross-Channel ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe in northern France - a four hour crossing, the English Channel (or ‘La Manche' if you're French!) at that point being much wider than the famous Dover-Calais stretch. There's a unique freedom with a camper-van - you take your home with you wherever you go. On our drive down to our French house we stop where we fancy, make ourselves a meal, take a break and look around - the journey has become part of the holiday. The camper-van has also made possible many great holidays in various parts of the UK.

I do a lot of photography. I've done so since I was in my teens. I work exclusively now with a Nikon digital camera and lenses. Having spent all my working life using film, It took me a long time to be convinced that digital was as good and as versatile. I believe now that it is. But many feature films are still shot on celluloid, and indeed it may still have an edge in versatility. I've many thousands of photographs, and have in the back of my mind -- the only place where there's room for it -- an idea of having a local exhibition one day.

Another interest is bird-watching. In the UK it's a popular pastime for thousands. I'm not what they call 'a twitcher' - i.e. one who speeds off all over the country as soon as the news of some rare bird blown off-course by Atlantic gales is posted on social media, simply in order to see it and tick if off in his/her notebook. I'll sit in the garden in France for example, and simply watch the avian comings and goings - in one three week period last year I noted almost thirty different species either in our garden or overflying it.

I also play piano. If I could devote the necessary time to it, I'd be pretty good - though I say it myself. But writing's my first creative love -- I've been doing it since the age of seven! - so that's how the vast majority of my time is spent.

Linux - my first introduction to it was via my eldest son Mark, in the early 'nineties. He was working at a software company in London and was using this strange thing called 'Unix'. In his spare time he was tinkering with this other strange thing called 'Linux'. What he showed me intrigued me. I could see then its potential, but it seemed that until it was at least as easy to install as Windows -- and installing it was a bit of a nightmare - there was no way it was going to make any serious inroads into Microsoft's empire. We all know how different the situation is today.

Writing scripts for my work, I used the various versions of Windows as they came out. But it was not only the pain of dealing with constant malware, updates and having to search for drivers that bugged me, but what I saw as the often dodgy way Microsoft did its business. So I kept an eye on Linux through the years, trying various distros from time to time. None of them, for all sorts of reasons did it for me - they'd be difficult to install, or once installed things didn't quite work as they should or there'd be no driver for this or that. Until, that is, I burned to CD an ISO of PCLinuxOS and put that in the computer. Everything just worked! I was amazed and delighted. I played around with it for a long time, then set up a dual-boot situation with WinXP. Within six months I'd abandoned XP and was using PCLOS for all my work. And so it has stayed. I've never again had a need to use Windows. So my enduring thanks are due, especially to Tex - and to those other command line whizzkids who have helped me and so many others on the forum in times of trouble and confusion.

Finally - about four years ago I started a blog. For a long time I hadn't added to. But only last week I started it up again, one of the main reasons being to create some publicity for my book. If anybody among this illustrious band of PCLOS brothers and sisters is interested, here's the link - https://besonian.wordpress.com/

Maybe see one or two of you there sometime.

PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight is an exclusive, monthly column by youcantoo, featuring PCLinuxOS forum members. This column will allow "the rest of us"" to get to know our forum family members better, and will give those featured an opportunity to share their PCLinuxOS story with the rest of the world.

If you would like to be featured in PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight, please send a private message to youcantoo, parnote or Meemaw in the PCLinuxOS forum expressing your interest.

Tip Top Tips: Making A Clickable Thumbnail Image With bbcode

Editor's Note: Tip Top Tips is a new monthly column in The PCLinuxOS Magazine. Each month, we will feature -- and possibly even expand upon -- one tip from the PCLinuxOS forum. The magazine will not accept independent tip submissions specifically intended for inclusion in the Tip Top Tips column. Rather, if you have a tip, share it in the PCLinuxOS forum's "Tips & Tricks" section. Your tip just may be selected for publication in The PCLinuxOS Magazine.

This month's tip comes from PCLinuxOS forum member YouCanToo.

To make a clickable thumbnail image in the forum we need to use two common tags. Those are the

[url] [/url]                 [img] [/img]

tags. So let's get started. I uploaded the image I wanted to the myphotos.mypclinuxos website. I then used the supplied the bbcode for my image

to this code I added the following to the img part of the code. (width=350)

[img width=350]http://myphotos.mypclinuxos.com/images/youcantoo/trinitydesktop2.png[/img]

This will resize the image to a width of 350 pixels while maintaining the ratio of the height.

The image will now look like this when displayed, but at this point the image is still not clickable.

Here's where the url tag comes into play. Add the url tag before the img tag. It should look something like this. You will notice that the url tag contains the same information as that which is contained in the img tag. That is the actual url to the image.

[url=http://myphotos.mypclinuxos.com/images/youcantoo/trinitydesktop2.png][img width=350]http://myphotos.mypclinuxos.com/images/youcantoo/trinitydesktop2.png[/img][/url]

This now produces a clickable scaled image that looks like this:

Now, go ahead and click on the image in the forum. It should display the original image of 1024x576 pixels.

Game Zone: The West

by daiashi

About The Game

InnoGames' online role-playing game The West sees you start as a greenhorn facing the dangers of the Wild West. Create your own avatar and collect experience by completing tasks and doing jobs. Become a gunslinger by challenging other players to duels. Prove your skills in adventures, or just storm forts.

Follow the tracks of Jesse James and Billy The Kid: explore the Wild West, fight duels with other online players, conquer forts and experience exciting adventures. The West is a cowboy browser-based role playing game. You have individual character development in that you can choose what skills and such your character has as you gain points.

Compete with your friends in duels, achievements and crafting. You start out creating your character, and then it’s off to the tutorial. After that, the training wheels are removed and you’re off.

I was once involved in playing another browser-based game, Tides Of Fortune. I somewhat knew my way around this title, but The West is much more enjoyable and immersive.

System requirements:

Fully updated PCLinuxOS

Hardware:

Minimum:

OS: PCLinuxOS and Chrome browser.

About The Company

InnoGames is one of the worldwide leading developers and publishers of online games. The company hit 100 million Euros revenue in 2015 and has over 150 million registered players from all over the world.

More than 400 people from over 30 countries are currently working in the offices in Hamburg and Dusseldorf. Brothers Eike and Hendrik Klindworth start developing the browser game Tribal Wars with Michael Zillmer. The team is motivated by the idea of creating a game they would enjoy playing which would also offer an extensive, fun gaming experience.

What was originally intended to be a hobby project has grown much quicker than expected. After Tribal Wars was officially launched in June 2003, the number of players increased to several thousand by early 2004, which made the introduction of a second world necessary.

Due to the increased popularity of Tribal Wars, the three company founders decided to work full-time on the development and operation of browser games.

InnoGames was founded in early 2007 to handle the operation and continued development of its games.

Some Gameplay Screenshots

Getting It To Run

Open your Chrome browser/Web Store/Games. Search for The West, and add it to Chrome. It’s that simple. It will ask you for your Google login. I did so but did not accept anything else. Creating my account on the page took me to the game, and I was up and running.

Inkscape Tutorial: Creating An Interactive Object

by Khadis

It's not a new thing that the interactivity function will make designing more fun, but it is available in Inkscape. There are so many things that we can do there, BUT, it will need some JavaScript tricks.

In this article, I will show you the basic and simple steps about how to make an interactive object. My example is not very cool stuff, but at least, it will inspire you to make more creative contents. And, it might be useful to create contents for your blog/website, or to create a unique presentation. Let's check it out!

As usual, start your Inkscape. Then create a rectangle at any size and color you'd like. I used 15 x 8 cm rectangle and colored it with red.

Insert the text "Tell me a secret!" with any font you like. I used white Arial Black 36pt. Put the text horizontally center to the red main rectangle. Then, create 3 new white rectangles and arrange them as shown in the illustration below:

Create text fields labeled "Secret #1", "Secret #2", and "Secret #3" and put them above the 3 previous white rectangles. The temporary look might be like this:

Now, group the "Secret #1" text with the rectangle below it. Do the same step with "Secret #2" and "Secret #3". Later, let's call this set as "page 1."

Save your work as "interactive-1.svg."

Create other sets of pages. For "page 2" (saved as "interactive-2.svg"), I created this:

For "page 3" (saved as "interactive-3.svg"), I created this:

And for "page 4" (saved as "interactive-4.svg"), I created this:

Now, go back to the interactive-1.svg page. Select the "Secret #1" group, right click, and choose Object Properties. Find the Interactivity option, and in the onclick column, type this code: window.location='interactive-2.svg'.

Select "Secret #2" group, right click again, and choose Object Properties. Fill with this code: window.location='interactive-3.svg' in onclick column under Interactivity option.

Do the same action for "Secret #3" group by filling code: window.location='interactive-4.svg' in the column onclick.

To make every "secret" group (or now, it becomes a button) in every page is clickable, make sure to put the code in every button on every page.

Now, let's test our creation.

Close all Inkscape windows. Then, right click interactive-1.svg, and open with your browser (Firefox or Chrome).

There, you can try to click "Secret #1", Secret #2", and so on. Once you click the button, it should jump you to "Secret #1" page, "Secret #2" page, and so on.

Later, you can add a Back or Home button to jump you back to the main page.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner (Bonus): Smoked Watermelon Salad

Smoked Watermelon Salad

Cool and refreshing - a summertime treat.

Ingredients

1/2 seedless watermelon

1 cup (250 mL) wood chips for smoking

1/4 cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil

2 limes, juiced

1 teaspoon (5 mL) sea salt (use smoked salt if you have it)

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 cup (250 mL) crumbled feta cheese

Method

- Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes.

- While chips are soaking, cut watermelon lengthwise into two pieces and then cut these segments in half. You'll now have four large pieces of melon. This gives more surface area to absorb the smoke.

- Drain wood chips and place on a sheet of heavy duty tin foil; fold up edges to make a packet. Pierce holes all over the top of the packet. Place directly on top of burner of gas barbeque and preheat barbeque to very hot.

- As soon as packet begins to smoke (depending upon your grill, this could take up to 30 minutes), reduce heat in barbeque to medium (or, if possible, leave burner under packet on high and turn off other burners).

- Place watermelon, rind side down, direc

- tly on grill, as far away from the packet of smoking wood chips as possible (over one of the burners that has been turned off).

- Smoke for 20 minutes (by this point the packet will stop emitting smoke).

- Remove smoked watermelon from barbeque and cut rind off; cut flesh into 1/2 inch (2 cm) cubes.

- Gently place cubes in a colander and let drain for 10 minutes.

- Refrigerate until ready to assemble salad, no more than one hour before serving. Note that you can smoke the watermelon up to 24 hours prior to serving, as long as you have the means to refrigerate it afterwards.

- To assemble salad, place drained, chilled watermelon cubes in a serving bowl.

- Make vinaigrette by combining lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small jar with a tight lid and shake well until blended (this can be done ahead of time).

- Drizzle the watermelon with the vinaigrette and toss gently to combine.

- Sprinkle the chopped mint leaves over the watermelon and toss gently once again.

- Sprinkle crumbled feta over the top and serve, using a slotted spoon.

Makes 6 - 8 servings.

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Soduku

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Scrappler

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

PCLinuxOS Crossword Puzzle - June 2016

Vacations

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Vacations Word Find

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Screenshot Showcase

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