Miscellaneous Notes
Written on Mar 11, 2026
Until now, I have been focusing on specific things when I write. Today, I am focusing on many things at once. These are both hardware and software notes that do not really fit anywhere else. Some are things I need to remember, and some are things that are just nice to know.
Compact Bookmarks in Firefox
Compact bookmarks are not available by default in the Firefox web browser. In the web browser address bar, enter:
about:config
In the search box, enter:
browser.compactmode.show
Change it true. Next, right-click on the toolbar (but not on a tab), and click on "Customize Toolbar...". Find "Density" at the bottom and choose "Compact (not supported)". This will immediately make the bookmarks compact.
Enforcing Single Instances of Open Applications
I have a bad habit of opening applications that are already open. The changes I make keep it from happening. I cannot do it with all applications, but I can do it with the ones I use most often.
With the Firefox web browser, edit the launcher and change "firefox %u" to "firefox --new-tab about:newtab %u". When launched, it opens a new tab after restored tabs, if any.
With the Geany text editor, edit the launcher and change "geany %F" to "geany /path/to/file %F". When launched, it will open that file if it is not a restored tab. If it is already open, it will simply focus on that tab.
With the Nemo file manager, edit the launcher and change "nemo %U" to "nemo --existing-window %U". When launched, it will open another tab for the "home" directory.
Hibernation
While there are instructions available to enable hibernation, I prefer to suspend to memory when not shutting down completely. The option to hibernate sometimes appears in my power off menu. To remove it:
sudo systemctl mask hibernate.target
To enable or restore it:
sudo systemctl unmask hibernate.target
Hibernation might be okay on a hard disk, but I would not want to wear down a solid-state drive.
KDE Plasma Desktop Environment
My favorite desktop environment is Cinnamon, which is what I am using now. KDE Plasma comes second because I find it harder to configure. When I tested an earlier version of Plasma 6, the text under the desktop icons was in italics. I did not like how it looked, so I changed it to normal. I had to edit:
/usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.desktopcontainment/contents/ui/FolderItemDelegate.qml
I had to comment out this line, using // at the beginning of the line:
font.italic: model.isLink
I had to log out and log in to see the change.
Kubuntu is one of may Linux distributions that feature the KDE Plasma desktop environment. One individual created a script for it to get rid of snap packaging. It will also remove the snap versions of Firefox and Thunderbird. The next step would be to install flatpak versions if you still want those applications.
Another individual created a KWin script that remembers window positions on KDE Plasma with Wayland (instead of X.Org). It is something I might want to look into should I ever decide to use that desktop environment. I am waiting on a stable version of KDE Linux before even thinking about it.
Laptop Cameras
Keeping a laptop camera enabled all the time can be a privacy concern. If you have a desktop computer, and are using a USB camera, you can either unplug it or turn it off if it has an on/off switch. It is not that easy with most laptops. Some have sliding camera covers, but most do not. Some people cover the cameras with post-it notes or black tape.
I can disable the camera in software using Linux. I am not sure if I can do the same thing on Windows. In the terminal, type "inxi -G" to get the driver name. On my dead laptop, it was "ucvideo". To disable it, I used this in the terminal:
echo "blacklist uvcvideo" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-webcam.conf
When I rebooted, it was disabled. To re-enable it, I had to do this in the terminal:
sudo rm -v /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-webcam.conf
After rebooting, it was once again enabled.
Music Players I Examined
I used Rhythmbox for years, but I always had issues with the library. I examined several players to see which one I would prefer. I eventually ended up with "Quod Libet".
Audacious was available in the software manager and I found the equalizer presets here: https://gist.github.com/kra3/9781800
DeaDBeeF had to be installed from this PPA: https://launchpad.net/~spvkgn/+archive/ubuntu/deadbeef
The toolbar buttons were difficult to see, so I had to install this: https://github.com/kravich/ddb_customizabletb
I keep MP3 files for my music. To normalize them, I use "mp3gain" from the repository. In the terminal, switch to the directory with the files in it and run:
find . -name '*mp3' -exec mp3gain -r -k {} \;
Someday, when storage is less expensive, I may store all my music as lossless files and use a music player that works well with them.
Web Browser AI
There has been sufficient blowback about web browsers and AI that the people at Mozilla added AI controls to Firefox. I doubt Google will ever do the same with Chrome. You have to put in a bit more effort, but you can turn off AI in Chrome.
In the web browser address bar, enter:
chrome://flags
In the search box, enter:
AI mode
Disable each one and then close the web browser. The next time you open it, those AI controls will not appear.
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay