Alireza Gharib Blog

Removing backgrounds from video in Kdenlive, the free, open-source video editor for Linux, macOS and Windows, is about to get a whole lot easier. Developers are adding a “modern background removal tool” that uses machine learning to create object masks so you can ‘cut out’ an object, person, or item in a video clip. Real-time…

Orbit by Mozilla is a new AI-powered assistant for the Firefox web browser that makes summarising web content while you browse as easy as clicking a button. After all, why read an article to understand what it says when you can read an AI summary rephrasing the article instead? 😉 Mozilla’s AI assistant Orbit is…

Loupe (aka Image Viewer) is GNOME’s modern successor to the venerable Eye of GNOME has picked up its first batch of image editing features. The features in question were only recently merged upstream, aren’t finished, and not yet included in a stable build. But they’re an interesting addition that furthers the likelihood that Loupe could…

We’re seeing something of a terminal emulator renaissance of late, with developers eager to reimagine, rethink, and rewire the humble console to leverage modern hardware, GPU acceleration, containerised workflows, and (in some cases) AI/LLMs. Ghostty, a new open-source and cross-platform terminal application created by Mitchell Hashimoto (co-founder of HashiCorp) is the latest to join the…

You may have noticed (or not) that if an app is pinned to the Ubuntu Dock you don’t see a shortcut for it in the applications grid. This approach is by design to avoid duplication since the dock is always visible (by default) so those app shortcuts are always in reach – each app shortcut…

Ubuntu Pro is an optional security feature that Ubuntu LTS users can enable to receive critical updates for an extra 25,000 packages which would otherwise sit unpatched. If you use Ubuntu 24.04 LTS you will have seen Ubuntu Pro security updates in Software Updater (or when running apt commands). And you will have noticed you…

A new version of OpenShot video editor is out (a video editor which doesn’t have the best reputation for stability hence the nickname OpenShut). OpenShot—more accurately, ChatGPT or similar—says “OpenShot 3.3 is here to transform your editing experience! This release is as powerful as it is beautiful […] Take your video editing to the next…

In deep mid-winter nothing beats curling up with a good book, in-front of a roaring fire – the crackle of all the unwanted Christmas tat your nearest and dearest bought you chars, melts, and burns providing a warm aural soundtrack. Thankfully, not everyone’s feeling as seasonably irascible as I am – like the folks behind…

Canonical and Intel have announced they’re making it easier for Ubuntu users to get cutting-edge drivers for Intel’s newest discrete GPUs. The effort brings “ray tracing and improved machine learning performance” for Intel Arc B580 and B570 “Battlemage” discrete GPUs to users on Ubuntu 24.10, building on that releases’ preexisting support for Intel Core Ultra…

A sizeable update to the free, open-source video editor Kdenlive is now available to download. Kdenlive 24.12 arrives stuffed like a seasonal bird with bug fixes, performance tweaks, and usability enhancements. Additionally, the editor’s developers have removed support for Qt5 so that, as of this release, it is entirely Qt6. Subtitling gets a big boost…