Monthly Archives: April 2013

How to Configure Unity Workspace Layout in Ubuntu

Why would I need to change the layout? Every time I upgrade the desktop for a new Ubuntu version it defaults it to a 2×2 layout. I don’t have a monitor on top of another so why would I use vertical workspaces? It maybe has advantages for some else workflow. Not mine. I’m used to horizontal multiple screens. How can I define a new workspace layout? You can change several parameters with the Compiz Config Settings Manager. I found that some friends didn’t have it installed. So, just install it first. Call it pressing your keyboard Super key and typing compiz. When it appears click on it. CompizConfig Settings Manager window shows up. Now just select General / General Options /…

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Convert Excel Date into Timestamp

Excel stores a date internally as a number of days since January 1, 1900.For example: "June 9th, 2011 10:30 AM" would be stored as "40703.4375".40703 is the number of full days since 01/01/1900 and 0.4375 represents the time (10.5/24 = 0.4375). When you process dates read from an Excel spreadsheet (e.g. using PHPExcel) you often want to convert them into a UNIX timestamp i.e. a number of seconds elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 UTC. Here is a PHP code to do that: Although the code above is written in PHP the function should be very similar in any other language e.g. C# or java. If the provided date is earlier than 1/1/1970 then the minimal timestamp value will be returned. Alternative…

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