I've assigned keyboard media keys - play/pause, next, previous to VLC. Problem is, they only work if VLC window is in focus, which kind of looses the purpose, because I'd like to skip tracks while I'm working in other windows. Just to note - Windows 8 had this functionality.
Bottom line: is it possible to make media keys work in Ubuntu globally? My version of Ubuntu is 13.10 (Saucy Salamander).