Tomboy is a smart little panel applet offering a note application for the GNOME desktop. Left-click the panel icon to open the Tomboy menu and select ‘Create New Note’. Enter the text of your note. Notes can be linked with each other by clicking ‘Link’. These links even survive renaming and reorganizing. A ‘Search Notes’ function located in the panel menu of Tomboy lets you search your notes. Web links and e-mail addresses can also be dropped onto Tomboy.

Dictionary (command gnome-dictionary) is a useful applet for checking the spelling and meaning of words. An Internet connection is required, because this applet accesses an online dictionary.

Figure 3.4. GNOME Dictionary

Enter the term to look up in ‘Word’. The menu under ‘Dictionary’ gives a choice between ‘Look Up Word’ and ‘Check Spelling’. By default, the query is sent to the dict.org server. To use a different server, select ‘Edit’+‘Preferences’. See a sample entry in Figure 3.4, “GNOME Dictionary”. dict.org allows you to choose between various databases for special vocabularies, such as jargon or computer terminology. Under ‘Default strategy’, specify what to look for the exact word, parts of the word, or the prefix or suffix. Under ‘Help’, access the online manual of the application with ‘Contents’ and information about the author and version of the application with ‘About’.

Gaim (command gaim) is a powerful instant messenger client. It supports various protocols, such as AIM, ICQ, GroupWise, IRC, Jabber, MSN, and others. Its most popular features include the ability to log in to multiple accounts on multiple instant messaging networks at the same time, automatic text replacement, and spell checking. Gaim has buddy pounces (known as “buddy alerts” in AOL Messenger), meaning that you can configure Gaim to notify you whenever one of your buddies enters or leaves a channel to which you are currently connected. Gaim can send you a message announcing this, play a sound, or execute a command.

On first start-up, create a list of your accounts on different instant messaging networks by clicking ‘Add’ in the ‘Accounts’ window to open the appropriate dialog. Select the protocol then enter your screen name, password, and alias. Check ‘Remember password’ and ‘Auto-Login’ if you want Gaim to log in automatically on start-up. To keep track of your e-mail while using Gaim, check ‘New mail notifications’. To select a buddy icon for your account, open a file dialog and choose one. Additional options, such as proxy settings and server addresses, can be configured after clicking ‘Show more options’. Once you have completed your account settings, leave this dialog with ‘Save’.

Figure 3.5. Gaim

As soon as you are done entering the account data, it is shown in the login window. To sign on, select your account from the ‘Account’ menu, enter your password, click ‘Sign on’, and start chatting.

Totem is a multimedia player for the GNOME desktop based on Xine. It supports playback of DVDs, VCDs, and audio CDs. Start playback of a VCD or DVD via ‘Movie’+‘Play VCD’ or ‘Movie’+‘Play DVD’. Totem offers menu support for DVDs under ‘Go’. Movie streams can be fetched via the network—just enter the URL at ‘Movie’+‘Open Location’. Take screenshots with ‘Edit’+‘Take Screenshot’.

In GNOME, manage file archives with File Roller. This application is able to handle archives of the following types: .tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .tar.bz, .tar.bz2, .tar.Z, .zip, .lha, .rar, .lzh, .ear, .jar, and .war. Easily view archive contents from File Roller with other applications without needing to decompress the archives. File Roller supports drag and drop, allowing you to drag file icons from the desktop or from the file manager (Nautilus) to the File Roller window and drop them there.

To create a new archive, select ‘Archive’+‘New’. In the next dialog, specify the directory in which to create the new archive in the left window. Enter the filename of the new archive in the input field below without the file extension. Then determine the archive type with the drop-down menu above the name field. Exit the dialog with ‘OK’ and return to the main view of File Roller. Now, add files to the archive by inserting files from the desktop or the file manager with drag and drop or by selecting ‘Edit’+‘Add Files’. In the following dialog, select one or several files (keep Ctrl pressed to select multiple files) or directories. If necessary, set the following advanced options for the archive:

After completing the selection and configuration, exit the dialog. The archive created is available for further processing at the desired location. To decompress an archive, load it to File Roller, click ‘Edit’+‘Extract to’, and specify the target directory.