How to get file seach working properly in Linux Mate Mint

Whoever decided to cripple the default search (mate-search-tool) should be shot out of a cannon. 
The default search searched through a database which was only update once a day via cron.  This can be evidenced by performing a seach and noticing that little in the way of HDD access is occuring (it not really searching).  Also there is not ovbious way to change the search preferences like in MS windows.
Why perform a search when it does not turn up 100% correct results.  The trade over speed and accuracy is idiotic and pathetic, even the MS file search provides better results.

Here's how to fix it.

open mateconf-editor and navigate to /apps/mate-search-tool/
check off; disable_quick_search, show_additional_options

now open mate-search-tool and take a look!  Looks nice and actually works, searches attached usb drives and the lot.

references:
man locate
man updatedb

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How to stop avahi-daemon from advertising on a network

The problem exists when a box decides to tell everyone on the network "hey, I have a VNC / SSH / Remote Disk connection, come and try me out!"  This can be evidenced by running the command 'avahi-browse -a' on the host pc with the services being advertised.

Some people go to lengths to kill of the daemon all-together, but there are some things avahi-daemon does with can be beneficial, other than advertising services.  Also killing off the avahi-daemon during runtime is difficult as alot of other things like talk to it.

All you need to do is modify the /etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf file.

uncomment and edit the line to read:
disable-publishing=yes

And then restart the service to make the changes stick
sudo service avahi-daemon restart

from the man page avahi-daemon.conf
disable-publishing= Takes a boolean value ("yes" or "no"). If set to "yes", no record will be  published  by Avahi, not even address records for the local host. Avahi will be started in a querying- only mode. Use this is a security measure. This option defaults to "no"

It's not all beer and skittles, clients looking for services on the host may throw up errors sometimes.

references:
man avahi-daemon
mon avahi-daemon.conf

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Disabling ebay auto-suggest easily and permanently using adblock

Ebay search auto suggest sucks, it is completely broken, often screwing up my typing searches, replacing words without my permission.  It is not all that useful and deserves a bullet in the brain.

There is a option to disable it "Hide eBay suggestions", but it is only cookie based and session dependent.  Not good enough.

Here is how to get rid of it for ever using adblock for good!
Add this line to your adblock plus block list: "autosug.ebaystatic.com"

If you don't have adblock you can certainly add the same domain to your hosts file, there is plenty of resourced on the inter-webs to show you how.

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Privacy Risk on new ebay.com.au website First and Last Name in Cleartext

The new ebay.com.au website has been released with much fanfare but the creaters of the website have now decided to embed the users first name and last name on most pages visited.  The test is delivered under plain http and can easily be captured over the air or wire using Wireshark.

Steps to replicate:

1. Login to ebay.com.au with correct credentials
2. Navigate to he home page
3. Hover the mouse to the top left hand corner under the "G'Day <First Name>"
4. Be greeted with a hover over panel with <First Name> <Last Name> in plain sight.

Conducting a Wireshark trace illustrates the issue.  A sting search in packet details for GH_alertData will display the first / last name.

Why is this bad:
Potentially a hacker can gain easy access to your first, last name and ebay id and use this info to produce a phishing email or collect this data for further attacks.

Where can this happen:
The most likely place for this to happen is over an unencrypted wireless network, i.e at the airport or the cafe.  Wired networks are also vulnerable.

What can ebay do:
Secure their website by using the https protocol for the entire website.

What else sucks:
On a internet connection that can stall, i.e 3G/wifi, the hover function can time out and throw up the message, "We're sorry, there was a problem retrieving this information".  Now the user can easily log out without refreshing the page.
Sidejack friendly...

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How to get rid of the Banner 'media contains digital photos' downloads bluetooth linux mate for ever [solved]

Problem:
When I look in my SD card, caja throws up a stupid blue banner saying "The media contains digital photos"

Cause:
Not entirely sure.  Related to gthumb-import.desktop, which has the text "Import with gThumb" which is in /usr/share/applications/gthumb-import.desktop
Nothing in mateconf-editor to tweak as well.  Bad coding...
Uninstalling  gthumb and any other image program got rid of the banner, but that is not desirable.


Solution:
Open/create the file /home/$USER/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list and add these lines (reference http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-actions-spec)

[Removed Associations]
x-content/image-dcf=gthumb-import.desktop;
x-content/image-picturecd=gthumb-import.desktop;brasero.desktop;

then update the mime database and killall instances of caja
sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime
pkill caja

Do not get happy and try modifying /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache as it will get overwritten without warning.
Reference: http://www.allquests.com/question/1705936/This-media-contains-digital-photos.html


Had a similar problem with the Downloads directory, same stupid blue banner again, "Personal File Sharing", "You can receive files over Bluetooth into this folder".
This time I uninstalled the bluetooth sharing agent:
mate-user-share
and did another pkill caja

in mateconf-editor the key /desktop/mate/file_sharing/bluetooth_obexpush_enabled looks suspicious

To all the retards that want these helpful hints, download Ubuntu please or better yet, purchase Windows / Mac OS.

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