ZootLinux tech blog

Open Data and Public Transportation: A perfect match?

2012-01-02T20:07:00.001-08:00

A Case for Open Data in Transit from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Downloading and installing an old version of the Android Development Toolkit (ADT)

2011-12-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

If Eclipse is giving you grief and not allowing you to install an obsolete version of the Android ADT (example: installing ADT 15.0.1 in Eclipse 3.5, since later ADTs require Eclipse 3.6), here are some steps to help you install it:

Head over to http://developer.android.com/sdk/eclipse-adt.html#notes and pick which pick which version you want to use again.
Create your download url: http://dl.google.com/android/ADT-##.#.#.zip. Google uses the version number for the downloads, so if you need 15.0.1, your download would be http://dl.google.com/android/ADT-15.0.1.zip.
Install the new version as an archive (Help --> Install New Software ---> Add --> Archive)

This should get you back to developing!

Angry Birds on the Wimm One smartwatch!

2011-12-30T10:39:00.001-08:00

Rooted Motorola ACTV footage!

2011-12-25T10:54:00.001-08:00

Everdrive64 - Play roms on the original game console!

2011-12-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

Emulator action on the Eee Pad Transformer Prime!

2011-12-10T10:46:00.001-08:00

Sweet. Portable awesomeness.

October NEWLUG Presentation: Python Web Frameworks

2011-10-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Nathan VanGheem was kind enough to give a presentation on Python web frameworks this month. The presentation slides, video, and sample code are available here.

Python web frameworks

View more presentations from NEWLUG

Sample code from this presentation is available here:
https://www.box.net/shared/44dbmnyisp7e2jizet1h

Please consult the appropriate web framework documentation when running the sample code.

Building Community

2011-10-16T10:47:00.001-07:00

Here is an excellent community presentation by Mario Herger, courtesy of Slideshare.

Launching communities, letting others do the work, and taking all the credit

View more presentations from Mario Herger

Software Patents: An infographic

2011-10-03T17:33:00.001-07:00

Check it out:

Created by: MBA Online

Vader's Imperial March - a 3-1/2" Duet

2011-09-29T17:09:00.001-07:00

Jonathan's Card : A social experiment

2011-08-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

So, Jonathan Stark made this cool app that gave away free coffee at Starbucks. He took an image of his Starbucks gift card, and told people use it or reload it as they saw fit.

Some people gave away money.

Others got free coffee.

Still others (like me) made smartphone or web apps based on the image and API.

One dude decided to siphon money from the account and brag about it on his blog.

This card has its own Twitter and Facebook pages.

Alas, it wasn't meant to last. Jonathan's Card was deactivated on August 12, 2011.

The time has come for this wonderful experiment to make a transformation. Starbucks has informed me that they will be shutting off the card at 10pm ET tonight (Friday, August 12, 2011).

At least it was fun while it lasted.

EDIT:

As far as I can tell, there are five competing services that have sprouted up after Jonathan's Card was deactivated:

Adam's Card
Craig's Cup
Paying it Forward
DC Cup of Joe
Don's Bin

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adams-Card/179071545494267
http://www.facebook.com/Craigscup
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paying-it-Forward/118578998240458
http://www.facebook.com/dccupofjoe
http://www.wireshout.com/dons-bin

I'm not seeing any tracking options like Jonathan's Card, but I'm trying to pay attention to this.

The Developer Experience

2011-08-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent talk from WDCNZ about the developer experience, courtesy of Pamela Fox:

The Developer Experience (Large Video) from WDCNZ on Vimeo.

Here are the slides, courtesy of Slideshare:

The Developer Experience

View more presentations from Pamela Fox

History of programming: An infographic

2011-08-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this excellent infographic about the history of programming languages, courtesy of Rackspace.

Android History- an Infographic

2011-07-27T06:38:00.001-07:00

Infographic by Android Developers at [x]cubelabs

July NEWLUG meeting: Google+

2011-07-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the video from the July meeting of the Northeast Wisconsin Linux Users Group. The subject is Google+:

The slides (written by Vincent Wong) are available here.

Flow: ChromeOS on your own laptop hardware

2011-07-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

An enterprising young programmer who goes by Hexxeh has packaged up a pretty straightforward way to run the Chromium OS (The Open Source version of Chrome OS) on your own laptop. The site has packaged up a bootable USB image to allow you to try the OS on your laptop without having to mess around with your existing OS install.

Here is a video of an Eee PC loading Flow:

The website is http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ -- check it out!

Android running on a 32 inch multi-touch display

2011-07-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

It is really cool that a company came up with this. Perhaps we'll see more of this in the future?

WebOS developer tutorial videos: Give Enyo a try!

2011-07-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

Youtube user natemcintyre was nice enough to post up some developer tutorial videos for webOS 3.0, as the 3.0 has recently been publicly released.

Check it out:

Retrode: access old game cartridges with current devices!

2011-07-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Check out this video about Retrode, which allows you to access video game cartridges and controllers via a USB interface. It is a textbook example of a hacker-friendly hardware:

Debian Linux on an Archos tablet!

2011-07-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this video of Debian Linux being run from a Generation 8 Archos tablet (Archos 101 Internet Tablet):

MetaWatch : An Open Letter -- The Response

2011-06-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

I recently sent an open letter to the makers of Meta Watch, in the hopes of discovering more about the company's future plans for their watches, which are currently available for pre-order, and should start shipping to developers/customers on June 30th. David Rosales, the Director of Technology at Meta Watch, was kind enough to provide me with a reply. It is posted below:

Don't feel like an outcast. There are a lot of "dinosaurs" wearing watches. The industry sells well over a billion watches per year (note that I didn't say "devices"). The fashion watch category is at an all time high right at this very moment. What I would agree to instead is that "time" as the primary service a watch provides is not as relevant as the fashion today. Telling time is a convenience, but it's only one clock out of several dozen you have access to throughout the day (think microwave oven, DVD player, computer, phone, bank signs, car dash boards, etc). Most watches today are primarily status symbols (luxury) or accessories (fashion).

Digital watches are a little different. They are a minuscule minority of the luxury and fashion categories. Unlike these other watches, digital watches either have a very specialized functional offering (like sport timers), or they are dirt cheap, or both. Both types use battery and display technology that have not changed very much in 25 years.

We think there is a need for a new kind of watch. One that does not fit into today's watch categories.

First a little background:

I think we can all agree that the computing world has changed, but it's hard to see exactly how profound the changes are since we are right in the middle of it all. Smartphones have been around for 10 years (my first was a Handspring with a mobile phone add-on), but the convergence of real time web, cloud computing, fast packet switched mobile networks, mobile processors, device memory, touch interfaces, an explosion of powerful development frameworks (and developers to go with them) have finally created the right kind of user experience. We are now firmly within a new age of computing. The PC age has ended and we are witnessing the transformation to the mobile computing age. Instead of one computer per person, we now have dozens. In the near future there will be hundreds.

Here are a few axioms I believe are true. I think it will give you some insight into our philosophy for MetaWatch.

The computer (connected to a super computer) in our pocket we call a phone will make the personal area network a true reality (another 10+ year old technology finally coming of age).
Only a few of those processors we wear/carry we use will actually have displays. For the rest will use whichever interface (screen) is the most convenient for the type of task we want to accomplish.
The wrist is the most convenient, technically feasible, and socially acceptable location on the body for a wearable display.
Wearable technology will only succeed if it is fully integrated with fashion design. You carry a device, you wear fashion.
Great technology adds more value (aka convenience) than attention it takes to use it. It should not overstep it's main purpose.
The wristwatch is the worlds greatest glanceable display and the most successful wearable display technology (invented over 100 years ago). The 80/20 of a watch is 80(glance)/20(everything else).
The pocket watch did not jump to the wrist until people were pulling it out of their waistcoat dozens of times per day (convenience) AND it became socially acceptable to wear (fashion). The technology was available to have wrist watches for decades prior to both these events...

Now, I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability:

What is the platform roadmap? Is this the first watch in a long line of compatible watches, or a one-off watch that is doomed to obscurity?

Before I answer, I should give you more context. The MetaWatch platform is a connected watch development system. One of the reasons you do not see many people experiment with connected watch technology at a consumer level is that it is really, really difficult. It requires battery operated, ultra-low power embedded firmware, best of breed hardware, complex PCB design, difficult antenna engineering, industrialization, scalable manufacturing, fashion design and materials, regulatory certifications, embedded Bluetooth, etc. These things are very difficult and expensive to do. By providing a hardware and software platform that addresses these very difficult items, we are trying to foster an explosion of wrist based innovation. There is not one killer app for a connected watch, there are thousands. MetaWatch allows these innovators to build off of a platform instead of reinventing the wheel.
Now regarding the roadmap. We absolutely plan to continue to innovate. At this stage it is too early to talk about what we "think" the next iterations should be. Right now, we are concentrating on launching and listening. We do not plan to have only one platform launch in our history.
When you say "one-off watch" it makes me think that you have the wrong impression. MetaWatch is not a consumer product. Anyone who wishes to make a one-off product can without investing millions of dollars -- that's part of the whole reason we're doing this. The freedom to create "one-off" or private wearable devices has not been possible until now.

Are you planning on being the only manufacturer of Metawatch capable devices?

The short answer is "Yes", and there is very good reason for it. The industrialization and manufacturing is actually one of the bigger barriers for people to get started in wearable technologies. We have created the assembly line, supply chain, quality control, production tooling, regulatory certifications, etc. If you use the MetaWatch platform to create a product, then you do not have to go and create this infrastructure all over again. If you use the MetaWatch platform to create a product, then your order is aggregated with all the other orders for the platform, so you don't need to order tens of thousands of units just to get started. You can start with one and go from there.

Do you plan on making the watch customization and hardware-hacker friendly?

Every time you add something to the hardware, you go back to the full cost and risk of mechanical design, test, industrialization, tooling, certifications, etc. That's cost and risk you should be trying to avoid. The watch is wireless, if there's something you need that's not on a smartphone already, you can add it as a separate device to the wireless network. We are no longer constrained by over-packing everything anyone ever might need in to one box.

What does Metawatch plan to do to encourage its development community?

If you ever wanted to add a wearable display to your application, web service, device, or general project, then we mean this to be the best and easiest way for you to get that done. If you want to start a business around your development, you are free and encouraged to do so and you will leverage our manufacturing infrastructure. This is not yet about selling MetaWatches to the consumer, this is about removing the barriers to entry for people to experiment, play, and hack. This is more about fostering innovation. Broad consumer oriented production based on MetaWatch will come, but only when the user experience is of buying and using are right.

I hope that answered your questions well enough and I hope it gave you some additional insight into our thinking and why we are passionate about this. Thanks again for taking the time to reach out.

David Rosales
Director of Technology
Meta Watch (www.MetaWatch.org)
twitter: @davidro

ROSJava and Google Cloud Robotics

2011-05-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

The great thing about Google I/O is that they post videos about a variety of geeky subjects. The daunting thing about Google I/O is that there is soooooo much information available that some may slip through the cracks if you're not careful about it. Today, I found a video about ROS, the Robot Operating System, and some interesting information about robotics and cloud services.
Here's the video:

DHMN: Re-purpose with a purpose

2011-05-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent intro talk about hackerspaces and DHMN by Erin Quick-Laughlin. It provides a good base for future exploration and collaboration with the group.

DHMN_Re_purpose_with_a_Purpose

More PowerPoint presentations from Erin QuickLaughlin

Metawatch and the "Open Watch Platform" concept: An Open Letter.

2011-05-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I recently sent this message to the Metawatch people:

I am apparently one of the dinosaurs that has chosen to continue wearing a watch. The watches that I have worn in the past are a Casio Pathfinder and Pulsar PQ2001, and I am currently wearing a Pulsar PBL047 watch.

I chose these watches because of their metal construction. Athough I like their looks and construction, I am unhappy that I am unable to interact with them in a way that I can interact with my other digital devices. This is where I became interested in interactive wrist devices. I've used ThinkGeek's watch section as a barometer for the technological progress of watches and wrist devices over the years, and I have been eagerly awaiting a device that will allow me to interact with it in a more immersive fashion.

I have some questions about the actual Metawatch device. It appears that the current product line of Metawatches has taken the "Model T" approach to hardware.

You can have any color, as long as it's black (with a black leather wristband).

As I am a person who has worn tungsten or stainless steel watches for years, I am very hesitant to go back to a watch with a leather band. I am incredibly thankful that you plan on distributing your SDK along with the watches. However, I feel like I'm in the dark as far as your hardware is concerned. What is the platform roadmap? Is this the first watch in a long line of compatible watches, or a one-off watch that is doomed to obscurity? Are you planning on being the only manufacturer of Metawatch capable devices? Do you plan on making the watch customization and hardware-hacker friendly? At this point, all I'm looking for is a stainless steel band, but I assume that other hackers might want to add custom etching, LEDs, sensors, or other stuff. I'd like to compare this project to SonyEricsson's LiveView. I think that Sony tried to make an open(-ish) system, but after a few negative reviews and a level of market penetration that was not satisfactory to them, I think they wrote it off as a mistake instead of embracing its development as a revolutionary device. It's hard to get behind a device that I feel could be killed in one fell swoop by a single manufacturer. It's one of the reasons that Android continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Given the recently announced Open Accessories initiative, the hardware designed to interact with it is poised to make similar advances.

Being related to Fossil, I'm going to assume that you have a long history in the watch industry. However, you may have a slightly more limited history in reaching out to developers. Many brands attempt to cultivate their own development networks which contain the lion's share of the development information, such as HP or Motorola. Often these sites will contain more than just info about the SDK, but also information about application development, testing, and publishing. Usually information about obtaining development hardware is here as well, if there are any programs other than paying full price through normal retail channels. Sony's Device Loaner Program, Google's Android Dev Phones, HP's developer device program, and LG's Virtual Developer Lab are examples of development programs that encourage developers to obtain/use their devices. Another method is "device seeding" (giving free devices to developers to encourage development on said device), which you are probably familiar with since you attended Google I/O this year. What does Metawatch plan to do to encourage its development community?

Metawatch, you have the ability to be a pace-setter in getting tech-types to put watches back on their wrists. You can be the Google of watches and open everything up, bringing innovation and profits to all. It's your choice. I'm rooting for you.

I'll keep you posted about any replies that I receive.

Google I/O 2011 - Day 2 Keynote : May 11 - Chrome

2011-05-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the Day 2 Keynote from Google I/O 2011:

It still sucks not to get the freebies (except for Angry Birds), but the data presented by Google is good enough not to require them.

Google I/O Video- Honeycomb Highlights

2011-05-15T18:35:00.001-07:00

Honeycomb Highlights:

Honeycomb highlights slides:

Google I/O 2011, Android Honeycomb Highlights

View more presentations from Romain Guy

Google I/O Video - Accelerated Android Rendering

2011-05-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Accelerated Android Rendering:

Accelerated Android Rendering slides:

Google I/O 2011, Android Accelerated Rendering

View more presentations from Romain Guy

Android Animation Source Code is available here.

Google I/O Video - Fireside Chat with the Android team

2011-05-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Fireside chat with the Android team:

Google I/O 2011 Video - Android Protips

2011-05-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

Android Protips: Advanced Topics for Expert Android App Developers, by Reto Meier:

This I/O talk references the talk that he gave at Google I/O 2010, which is here:

Breakout sessions from Google I/O - Android Open Accessories

2011-05-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Google I/O 2011 contained a lot of breakout sessions and fireside talks having to do with the Android OS (Including Google TV). The sessions schedule is here. I had originally intended to embed them all into one huge post, but it quickly got out of hand. It turns up that all of the videos are available at the Android Developers page in addition to the YouTube GoogleDevelopers page.

Introducing Android Open Accessories and ADK:

Ghibli world, built in Minecraft

2011-05-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

Someone with a love of both Studio Ghibli and Minecraft has combined those two things into an impressive display of what sandbox games like Minecraft are capable of accomplishing.

I/O Boot Camp 2011 Videos are online!

2011-05-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

For those that weren't able to make the trip to Google I/O or the I/O Bootcamp that preceeded it, have no fear. The boot camp videos are making their way online!
Here is the Beginner's Guide to Android video:

The full playlist is here:

Google I/O 2011 : Keynote - May 10 - Android

2011-05-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the keynote from day 1 of Google I/O:

NEWLUG April 2011 Meeting: AJAX

2011-04-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello! Here is the April 2011 NEWLUG meeting video:

The slides for the presentation are here:

Ajax presentation

View more presentations from NEWLUG

Painfully long review of the Pandora Console

2011-04-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

This review is quite long (47 minutes), but I wouldn't call it painful. The reviewer is very funny, and has a British accent.

My favorite quote:
"Moving on, is the sticky wicket of price, because unbelievably, you have to pay for it. I know ... it isn't just delivered to your house by a naked woman. Bizarre. Clearly, we elected the wrong government if we're in this sort of bizarre situation."
A big thank you to Stuart Ashens for the lovely video.

Now THAT is a good Kickstarter video!

2011-04-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Check out this kickstarter video on the MegaBar.

I almost want to pay them even though I don't have a Wii!

Daniel Suarez talks about the Daemon

2011-04-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Daniel Suarez, author of Daemon and FreedomTM, talks here:

This interview was done previously to the publication of FreedomTM.
Read these books. They are great.

Getting Gamification Right : Sebastian Deterding

2011-04-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Check out this great video on Gamification:

Thanks to Google Tech Talks for the content.

Speeding up Javascript: Google Tech Talks

2011-04-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Zakas gives a talk about speeding up Javascript:

Google Tech Talks are very cool. Check out more of them here.

Lego Rube Goldberg Machine

2011-04-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

I get a kick out of convoluted Rube Goldberg machines. This is one of the better ones that I've seen, and it has the bonus distinction of being done completely in LEGO!

An introduction to Node.js with Ryan Dahl

2011-04-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to watch a talk about node.js from its creator? Yeah, me too:

Twitter Monkey!

2011-04-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Makers are great. Who else would make a monkey that monitors twitter for user defined search terms and goes bananas when the term is found?

Twitter Monkey from Pete Prodoehl on Vimeo.

New Linux Journal Article: WebOS 2.1 - Give It a Spin with Emulation Through the WebOS SDK!

2011-04-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

The kind folks at Linux Journal have published another article that I've written. Hooray! This article is about installing the HP/Palm WebOS 2.1 SDK for the purposes of trying out the operating system in Ubuntu.

HP may be on to something with WebOS, but the only way to figure that out is by having more people interact with it and figuring out if it is worth spending time using. Give it a whirl. If you like it, great! If you don't, that's cool, too.

HP's WebOS "Think Beyond" and "HP Summit" Video

2011-03-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here is HP's WebOS big technology reveal event (from Feb 9th, 2011):

Any opinions??
I really want to be excited. I really do. It seems like HP is trying to simultaneously get me excited about their products whilst ignoring all other similar products on the market. Time will tell if these products have the staying power that they need to survive and thrive in the current tech environment. I hope they do, since there are some really cool features here.

Here is the March 14th keynote video from the HP Summit:

This seems a little better. An HP public cloud, eh? That might be interesting.

The official Google Code blog: Google I/O extends virtually around the world

2011-03-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

The official Google Code blog: Google I/O extends virtually around the world: "In celebration of Google I/O 2011, many Google offices around the world, as well as GTUG partners and Student Ambassadors, are hosting free viewing parties of Google I/O sessions. If you can't attend Google I/O in person, these events are a way to connect with other talented developers and watch live feeds of the conference. "

Here are just a few of the locations hosting an I/O Extended event:
Africa
Cairo, Egypt
Asia
Manila, Philippines
Pune, India
Taipei, Taiwan
Europe
Aachen, Germany
Barcelona, Spain
Berlin, Germany
Brussels, Belgium
Bucharest, Romania
Dublin, Ireland
London, England
Madrid, Spain
Malaga, Spain
Istanbul, Turkey
Kyiv, Ukraine
Munich, Germany
Murcia, Spain
Vienna, Austria
Warsaw, Poland
North America
Boise, ID, USA
Charlotte, NC, USA
Maui, HI, USA
San Jose, CA, USA
Twin Cities, MN, USA
Washington, DC, USA
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
South America and Central America
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Combined with the Last Call for Google I/O, this announcement has really helped Google extend its reach beyond those that have the resources to travel to San Francisco on a whim. Check out the Google I/O Extended page for more details.

LCD Monitors - Explained

2011-03-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here is an incredibly detailed, straightforward explanation of how an LCD monitor works, courtesy of Bill, the Engineer Guy:

Comparing Pandora's LCD Screen to other devices

2011-03-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to have some perspective. Here is a little comparitive video by Kloplop321 showing the Pandora as well as some other digital devices:
Apple iPad
Apple iPhone 3GS
Palm Zire 72s
Dell Axim x30
Motion Computing Tablet M1200
Nintendo DS

Computer Hardware Chart

2011-03-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

Behold, Sonic84's excellent computer hardware poster.

Link to the full sized image here.

Apparently, a version 2.0 is in progress. Keep up the good work. This is great for people who work with a variety of different computer hardware.

Saab Announces new Android-based in-car OS - IQon

2011-03-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

The open nature of Android has left the door wide open for car manufacturers to embrace it as a car-based platform, and a major car company has recently taken the plunge. Earlier this month, Saab announced IQon (press release here), the car-based "infotainment" system.

Saab will release an API for third party developers, and these apps will be sold on Saab's own app marketplace. Interesting stuff. I will continue to follow this as time goes on.

So, as an app developer, what does this mean for you? The Saab Blog has some more information:

I feel proud that Saab is leading the way in developing the most advanced car infotainment system that’s out there. It will deliver the multi-media experience we’re all used to in the office, at home, or on the move with our smartphones. But what’s even smarter with IQon, is that we’re opening up what the car is doing, as well. We will be giving the global developer community access to more than 500 data inputs – everything from vehicle speed to steering angle or the sun’s position – and challenging them to come up with some useful and imaginative IQon apps, which can be downloaded from our Saab IQon app store.

Then there is all the remote diagnostics possibilities with communication to and from the car. As I see it, the possibilities are almost endless and we’re just starting to scratch the surface.

Everyone is asking me when we are going to start fitting IQon to our cars. Well, we’re doing it already with beta versions in some of our company test cars, and I can confirm that customers will get to experience the system in the next generation of Saabs. In a couple of months’ time, we’re going to put up an IQon Developer Zone on the web, which will give app developers the opportunity to get started. These are exciting times at Saab: a new company, new cars and new technologies like IQon. Watch this space for more news as we push the program forward.

It's probably too much to ask for a development unit... but it does bring up an interesting question: How do you design apps for a car if you don't have access to the data that the car would provide? This is an interesting challenge, and I look forward to the solutions.

Junkyard Jumbotron, courtesy of MIT

2011-03-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

The link to the Junkyard Jumbotron project page is http://jumbotron.media.mit.edu/

NEWLUG March 2011 Meeting: Plone

2011-03-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello, folks! Here is the March NEWLUG meeting video.

Subject: Plone CMS : Open Source Content Management
from plone.org:
Plone is among the top 2% of all open source projects worldwide, with 340 core developers and more than 300 solution providers in 57 countries. The project has been actively developed since 2001, is available in more than 40 languages, and has the best security track record of any major CMS. It is owned by the Plone Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is available for all major operating systems.

Last Call for Google I/O : A coding contest!

2011-03-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

Earlier, I had called out Google for not necessarily caring for the little guy at Google I/O and being more concerned about giving away free stuff.

Well, I'm not concerned about that any more.
Recently, the Official Google Code Blog had this announcement:

For those of you who were quick to register, we thank you for continuing to support our developer initiatives -- this year's I/O is slated to be one of our best yet. For the rest of our developers, we weren’t kidding when we told you we love our developers.
Starting Wednesday, March 16, we will be launching Last Call for Google I/O: A contest that spans 10 days, 10 developer challenges and 100 chances to win tickets to attend the now-sold-out Google I/O 2011.
Here’s how it works. We will announce a new challenge on the contest site on select dates at either 9am or 4pm PDT, that will last for 24 hours each. There will be 10 days of challenges with 10 winners on each day, spanning the following developer products:
March 16 - Android, 9:00 am
March 17 - Chrome, 9:00 am
March 18 - App Engine, 9:00 am
March 21 - YouTube APIs, 9:00 am
March 22 - Game Developers, 9:00 am
March 23 - Google Maps / Geo, 4:00 pm
March 24 - Commerce, 9:00 am
March 25 - Developer Tools / GWT, 9:00 am
March 28 - Accessibility, 4:00 pm
March 29 - Google Apps / Enterprise, 4:00 pm
Each of the challenges will focus on one of our developer products and has two rounds. Plan to be in front of your computers for the first half-hour that the challenge starts to complete a series of questions for Round I, which will qualify you for the main coding challenge in Round II. You will have a little over 20hrs to complete Round II.
We want to make sure that we provide the opportunity to attend Google I/O to as many developers as possible and hope you’re feeling up to the task. The contest is valid in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia with winners being announced on April 4. And don’t forget that we will be livestreaming the keynotes and taping sessions during Google I/O. Stay tuned!
For more information and contest rules, visit the contest site.

By Vic Gundotra, VP Engineering

Well played, Google. I am all about giving 100 winners of coding contents free tickets to Google I/O. That is AWESOME.

The contest page is here. Give it a try!

Building Communities : From BarCampMadison

2011-03-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

Check out this Bob Waldron presentation on building strong communities for hacker/maker spaces. This presentation took place on Aug. 28, 2010 at BarCampMadison.

Field trip: Sector 67

2011-03-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I had the pleasure of taking a field trip to Sector 67, a hackerspace in Madison, WI. On the day I was there, three MakerBot owners were there and decided to swap notes and stories about their 3D printers. Luckily, I was able to take some pictures of the action.

Some of the parts that have been printed from these MakerBots:

Some video of the three MakerBots together:

A heart-shaped gear setup, made by the MakerBot 3D printer:

XStylus review

2011-03-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you out there using the Pandora Console and Nintendo DS, here is a review of the XStylus, a convertible pen/stylus. The review comes courtesy of FoxBlock.

More information about it here: http://pandorapress.net/2011/02/14/help-fund-the-xstylus/
Kickstarter page: http://kck.st/XStylusNDSL
Official product page: http://www.greenbulb.com/products/xstylus.htm

Making more informed Linux hardware choices, courtesy of Phoronix.

2011-02-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

More information about version 3.0 of the Phoronix Test Suite and OpenBenchmarking.org from SCaLE, the Southern California Linux Expo. The accompanying Phoronix article is here.

Slides available here:

Making more informed Linux hardware Choices - Phoronix

OpenBenchmarking.org and PTS 3.0 - new advances in benchmarking

2011-02-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

I'm really pleased to see the launch of OpenBenchmarking.org. Read the welcome note from Michael Larabel, the Founder of Phoronix Media, Lead Developer Of The Phoronix Test Suite & OpenBenchmarking.org:

WELCOME TO OPENBENCHMARKING.ORG
26 FEBRUARY 2011

Whether you consider yourself a Linux hardware enthusiast, the normal Windows user wishing to transition to Linux, or the procurement officer of a Fortune 500 company, welcome to OpenBenchmarking.org. OpenBenchmarking.org is an open, collaborative testing platform for benchmarking and performance analysis. Regardless of operating system, there is nothing similar, and this is the largest public Linux hardware database, but it's much more than that; it's an adaptive, discovery platform with a focus on repeatable benchmarks, global comparisons, crowd-sourced / community testing, and a high level of interactivity. There are thousands of computer components being tracked in a variety of configurations and thousands of test results accumulating from different platforms whether they be desktops, servers, or even mobile devices.

There are a number of unique concepts demonstrated by OpenBenchmarking.org, including crowd-sourced benchmarking, the ease to which benchmarks can be repeated, results can be stored publicly or privately and shared throughout the world, and unique features for performance classifications and advanced hardware/software searches. OpenBenchmarking.org is designed to be very extensible to meet the needs of both individuals and software projects / organizations.

Arriving at this same time is the general availability of Phoronix Test Suite 3.0-Iveland. This release features integration with OpenBenchmarking.org for uploading and downloading test results, seamlessly obtaining updated/new test profiles and test suites, logging into an OpenBenchmarking.org user accounts, MIME OpenBenchmarking-format launching capabilities, support for attaching system logs and other hardware/software statistics, and other functionality. In addition, Phoronix Test Suite 3.0 offers enhanced result graphs, support for external result notification hooks, support for nesting the Phoronix Test Suite within Wine environments, recognition of new code compilers, client support for new embedded operating environments, and over 200 other changes since the release of Phoronix Test Suite 2.8 in 2010.

In exploring OpenBenchmarking.org, here are a few real-world examples to show off some of the areas of OpenBenchmarking.org:

Sample Searches: Radeon HD 4850, Intel Core i7 970, Ubuntu 10.10, GPU, AMD
Sample Test Results: A Proper Graphics Comparison, A Simple Test
Sample Test Profile Pages: Phoronix Test Suite, Nexuiz
Sample User Pages: Michael Larabel, Phoronix Test Suite

Over the coming days and weeks, OpenBenchmarking.org will continue to be tuned and a number of new features will continue to be introduced. You can view this first implementation right now as a "beta", but any and all feedback regarding OpenBenchmarking.org is welcome and much appreciated. In particular, there are major refinements coming very soon to the product search functionality, support for complex searches and sub-queries, enabling the upload of user test profiles and suites, further advancements to OpenBenchmarking.org Performance Classifications (OPC), support for embedding rich-format graphs externally, and much more.

Further in the pipeline is an external API, support for running Phoromatic over the OpenBenchmarking.org platform, better support for peripheral devices, the official roll-out of Phoronix Certification & Qualification Suites (PCQS), OpenBenchmarking.org Professional, and much more.

Please try out OpenBenchmarking.org and any questions or comments are much appreciated.

Michael Larabel
Founder of Phoronix Media, Lead Developer Of The Phoronix Test Suite & OpenBenchmarking.org

MacHeads - A documentary

2011-02-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't drunk the Apple Kool-Aid, but here is an interesting documentary about Apple Fans:

Watch more free documentaries

Google I/O is getting quite popular!

2011-02-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

RT @VicGundotra - Google I/O '09 sold out in 90 days, '10 in 50 days... #io2011: 59 minutes. Holy moly.less than a minute ago via webGoogle I/O
googleio

Could it be because of the free stuff that they give out at the conference, or because of increased interest in developing with Google products?

justinsb's posterous has an interesting suggestion: Don't give anything away this year. For someone who couldn't afford the trip, I agree. Keep the scalpers out, and keep the developers in.
His idea:

Announce that there will be nothing given away at Google I/O this year, offer free refunds to anyone that wants them, and open a waitlist. The scalpers will take their refunds, and the real developers will be able to get in.

If the only reason that you want to go is for the free stuff, go talk to Oprah.

Google: Don't be Oprah. Be better than that. Help out the people that want to LEARN.

Pandora Console Review

2011-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

Check out this new review of a Pandora Console:

Has it been worth the wait? That's for you to decide.

iNto64, the Portable N64!

2011-01-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Check out this video from MODDEDbyBACTERIA, who designed himself an N64 that he can hold in his hands!

He says it took him four months to make. Do you think it was a good use of his time?

Google I/O 2011 countdown has started!

2011-01-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

The Google I/O 2011 Developer Conference page is now up, and it features a very fun countdown timer, made possible by a Javascript port of Box2D.

You can't register yet, but that doesn't mean that you can't have any fun!

Check out the Google I/O page or the Google I/O twitter account for more info on this excellent developer's conference.

I sincerely wish that I would be able to attend this event in person, but sadly, I can't afford the trip, even though the rates are comically cheap for this conference, especially for students and teachers. How comically cheap is it? From the registration page:

Early Bird Price (until 4/16/11) $450
List Price (starting 4/17/11) $550
Academia (student, faculty) $150
BootCamp +$100 (all registration types)

Want to set up your own timer? Check out this blog post from Varun's ScratchPad for more info.

Computer Support (Dilbert Style)

2011-01-26T20:23:00.001-08:00

iControlPad website refreshed... orders to come soon?

2011-01-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

The folks at iControlPad have refreshed their website, giving it a much cleaner look than before.
Here are some pictures from the site:

There isn't much site text, so I will display it here:

The iControlpad BT is ready, ordering begins at the end of January.

Supporting any phone/console/computer with Bluetooth.
Android, iOS, RIM, Windows, Linux, MacOS.
Digital Dpad, two analogue nubs, 6 face buttons and 2 rear buttons.
Works on a non-jailbroken iPhone in keyboard mode.
Can charge your phone while you play via its own internal battery.
Side clips for most phones, more to follow.
Future proof - upgradable firmware, changeable side clips, solid hard wearing design.
Two years of design work by the people who brought you the Pandora.

3000 Units being delivered in February.
Subscribe to get an email when the ordering begins, or follow us on twitter.

There is also a link to sign up to receive emails from iContolPad. If you want more info, feel free to check it out!

Appcelerator acquires Aptana!

2011-01-26T17:36:00.000-08:00

This just in, folks....

It looks like Aptana, makers of one of the most popular web development IDEs, has been acquired by Appcelerator, a company specializing in web-based programs for iOS, Android, and the Desktop. This should make life interesting for mobile developers that are looking for a cross-platform mobile development solution.

The press release is here. A more interactive announcement is available on the Appcelerator website.

Here is the webcast announcing the acquisition:

Here are some slides from the announcement presentation:

Appcelerator Aptana Acquisition Slides

It sounds like a beta of the combined Aptana/Appcelerator app will be available sometime in Q1 2011. Keep a look out for more news about this!

iControlPad Bluetooth demo on Pandora and PC!

2011-01-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

For those that are not aware, iControlPad is a portable analog/digital controller designed for use with the iPhone and other mobile devices. To show what it is capable of, look at this video showing the use of the iControlPad with a PC as well as the Pandora Console!

Apple OSX running on a Nokia N900!

2011-01-08T14:34:00.001-08:00

Someone got Mac OSX running on a Nokia N900. Impressive!

Arduino: The Documentary

2011-01-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

Check out this wonderful documentary about the history of the Arduino development board:

Arduino The Documentary (2010) English HD from gnd on Vimeo.

Running Windows 3.1 on the Pandora Console

2011-01-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

It looks like there are two ways to run Windows 3.1 on the Pandora. Check it out, courtesy of EvilDragon and marovada!
Through DOSBox:

Through QEMU:

New Razer Switchblade Concept Video

2011-01-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Razer announced a new concept video for a portable device called the Switchblade. Check it out:

It looks very promising, but I've learned my lesson after following the Pandora project. I'll get excited once I can hold one in my own hands.

Gish ported to the Pandora Console!

2011-01-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Gish was ported to the Pandora by Pickle!

Sugru - Hack Stuff better!

2011-01-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Hack stuff!

OpenLase : Open Source Laser Projection

2010-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

Check out this awesome presentation on OpenLase!

Lasers are AWESOME!

Wow. I'm a geek.

Creating a SWT Shell that can be opened from another Java Class using WindowBuilder

2010-12-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

WindowBuilder (sometimes called WindowBuilder Pro) is an excellent add-on for Eclipse that allows you to visually build GUIs using SWT, Swing, and a variety of other frameworks including GWT. Google acquired Insantiations, the company that made WindowBuilder, in August of 2010 and recently announced that they are donating the source code and IP of the WindowBuilder project to the Eclipse Foundation. This will likely make WindowBuilder the standard visual GUI creator for those that use Java in the Eclipse IDE.

OK, now you know a little bit about the project. You may have discovered that when using the WindowBuilder wizard to create a new shell, the wizard always creates a shell with a main method. This is very useful for quick, one screen projects, but not for projects that require more than one window.

So, do you want to create a Shell that can be called from inside another class (say, in response to a button click)?

Here are the steps that I used to accomplish the task.

Use the SWT WindowBuilder Wizard to make a new shell, name it anything you want (NotMain, in the following case) modify the given code as such:

Remove from the main method:

Display display = Display.getDefault();
        Test shell = new Test(display);

Cut this code out from the main method:

try {
        shell.open();
        shell.layout();
        while (!shell.isDisposed()) {
            if (!display.readAndDispatch()) {
                display.sleep();
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

Change it to:

try
        {
            open();
            layout();
            while (!isDisposed()) 
            {
                if (!display.readAndDispatch()) 
                {
                    display.sleep();
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

Place that code directly after

createContents();

public NotMain(Display display)

Then, completely remove the main method. You should then be able to make all further modifications in the WindowBuilder "Design" window. You can remove the try/catch block, if you feel like it.

You’ll end up with something like this:

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
    import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
    import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
    
    public class NotMain extends Shell 
    {
    
        /**
         * Create the shell.
         * @param display
         */
        public NotMain(Display display) 
        {
            super(display, SWT.SHELL_TRIM);
            createContents();
            try
            {
                open();
                layout();
                while (!isDisposed()) 
                {
                    if (!display.readAndDispatch()) 
                    {
                        display.sleep();
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
    
        }
    
        /**
         * Create contents of the shell.
         */
        protected void createContents() 
        {
            setText("SWT Application");
            setSize(450, 300);
    
        }
    
        @Override
        protected void checkSubclass() 
        {
            // Disable the check that prevents subclassing of SWT components
        }
    
    }

Then, to call this shell from inside of a different class, write:

btn.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
                new NotMain(getDisplay());
             }
        });

(where btn is the name of your SWT button)

To change the shell to be application modal to the calling class, change your superclass call in your new shell from:

super(display, SWT.SHELL_TRIM);

to:

super(display, SWT.APPLICATION_MODAL |SWT.SHELL_TRIM);

There you go. Now, get coding!

Beginning Android Development

2010-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

This Android development video was published on the O'Reilly Media YouTube Channel in August of 2009, so it isn't the newest video, but it is quite comprehensive. Check it out:

Google Wave enters Apache Software Foundation's incubator program.

2010-12-07T04:42:00.000-08:00

Google Wave is dead. Long live Apache Wave. The announcement is here.

With this announcement comes a host of technical information and videos on the Wave Summit Talks page.

For example, here is a video about building and running a "Wave-in-a-Box":

This seems like the best possible result for a once-promising Google technology that has since fallen out of favor.

Google Nexus S, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) announced!

2010-12-06T19:20:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Google have introduced the new Nexus S phone along with Android 2.3, codenamed Gingerbread.

Android 2.3 Official video:

NFC (Near Field Communication) and the Nexus S:

Nexus S- Navigation:

Google Goggles:

Check out the Google Nexus Youtube page and the Google Android Developers Page for more.

Bluetooth Android enabled watch accessory announced by Sony Ericsson

2010-12-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Check out the LiveView, a new device from Sony Ericsson that is designed to work as a secondary display and remote control for your Android device:

It should be interesting to see what the Android development community can do with a device like this.

Zork Typewriter Hack

2010-12-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

It looks like someone by the name of Jonathan Guberman has hacked an Electric typewriter to play Zork. That is incredibly impressive.
Check out the video:

A new way to interact with fiction from Jonathan M. Guberman on Vimeo.

SNES controller modded to run on Android Tablet!

2010-12-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

Check out the enterprising mod by Collin Meyer to modify a Super Nintendo game controller to play emulated SNES games on a Dell Streak Android tablet:

He has also provided a HOWTO, for those that are so inclined.

Bravo!

Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Google Marketplace on Archos tablets

2010-12-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Archos has officially made Android 2.2 available for its generation 8 tablets (Archos 28, Archos
32, Archos 43, Archos 70 and Archos 101). The firmware is available here, or you can select Settings->About device->Firmware update.

Once you have upgraded to Android 2.2, you can also install the Android Marketplace, by following the directions in this forum post.

Also, here is a video showing off Android 2.2 and the Android Marketplace:

Pandora Console - More videos ...... and colored Pandora Consoles?

2010-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

Seeing as there are now 12 videos from the "one vid per day" collection in the original slew of videos post, I figured that I'd start a new thread with the additional videos. Also, these videos are embedded using the iframe tag, so you should be able to watch these videos using HTML5, if you desire.

As an added surprise, recently some pictures were posted of colored Pandora case samples. No word on the actual availabilty of colored Pandora Consoles.

Video 13 (Remote Administration):

Video 14 (Homebrew Games, Part 1):

Video 15 (Homebrew Games, Part 2):

Video 16(Websurfing):

Video 17 (C64 Emulation):

Video 18 (Audio Players):

Video 19 (Neo Geo Emulation):

Video 20 (Multitasking):

Video 21 (Sega Emulation):

Video 22 (Applications, Part 1):

Video 23 (Applications, Part 2):

Video 24 (TV out Quality):

Video 25 (GBA Emulation):

Video 26 (MSX Emulation):

Video 27 (GP2X Emulation):

Video 28 (VCS2600 Emulation):

Game Emulation on the Archos 70 Android Tablet

2010-11-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

Ever since the announcement of the eighth generation of Archos Tablets, I've been curious about the emulation and gaming capabilities of the platform. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Courtesy of Android Circuit, here are some videos that show off the Archos 70 tablet's ability to play games.

Emulators:

Emulators Demonstration on TV via HDMI:

Gaming (Avatar HD, Hero of Sparta, Angry Birds, Gameboid)

NEWLUG November 2010 Presentation: Mac OSX

2010-11-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the video from the November 2010 NEWLUG meeting, courtesy of the NEWLUG blip.tv channel.
Subject: Mac OSX
Presenter: Josh Goldman

Here are the slides from the presentation:

Mac OSX - Presentation for NEWLUG - Nov. 2010

View more presentations from NEWLUG.

This Week in Google: Android Tablets

2010-11-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of twit, here is an episode of "This Week in Google", presenting some hands on video and discussion of the Android Tablets:

Archos 43 video demo

2010-11-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some video demos of the Archos 43.

This review is mostly silent, preferring to use on-screen text instead of a running monologue like most reviews.
Here it is:

This next video is a two part review of the Archos 43, courtesy of khgexo:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Side-by-Side video comparison of Ipad and Archos 101 tablets

2010-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

The folks at cleverboxes.com recently posted a video comparing the Apple iPad and Archos 101 side-by-side. I won't spoil the results, but I will post the video here. Check it out:

Video of a Nintendo Wii controller controlling an Archos 43

2010-11-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

Upon first seeing the five new Archos tablets, one of the first things I wondered about was the ability to play games and emulators with them. It seems that we now have a part of the answer, as ObiWan22 has released video footage of himself pairing a Nintendo Wii Controller to an Archos 43 via Bluetooth. He indicates that this pairing should be possible for any of the Gen 8 Archos devices (Archos 28, Archos 32, Archos 43, Archos 70, and Archos 101) using an app called Wiimote Controller.
Here's the video:

Pandora Console: A slew of new videos.

2010-11-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

To help satiate the endless appetite of the Pandora pre-orderers for their consoles, EvilDragon has recently released some more videos.
Check them out!
Video 1:

Video 2:

Video 3:

Video 4 (ScummVM):

Video 5 (Bluetooth tethering via a Windows Mobile Phone):

Video 6 (MAME):

Video 7 (PND package system):

Video 8 (PSX Emulation):

Video 9 (MiniMenu overview):

Video 10 (N64 emulation):

Video 11 (XFCE):

Video 12 (Amiga Emulation):

PHP video tutorial

2010-11-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to learn PHP, but were afraid to ask?

Here is a video tutorial about how to use PHP, courtesy of the CEVO DevZone.

Comparison of Archos 5 and Archos 43

2010-11-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

The new Archos tablets are quite interesting. How do they compare to the previous tablets?
Let's take a look:

I'm leaning towards the new Archos 43, but the GPS feature of the old Archos 5 seems cool.

Archos tablets running Android 2.2

2010-10-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

The recent announcment of Archos and their five new Android tablets has really gotten me excited about the handheld category again. Check out a video of the Archos 43 and the Archos 70 running Android 2.2 (Froyo):

Sencha Touch - Cross Platform Handheld Development

2010-10-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

As time goes on, handheld development seems to be taking a bigger and bigger share of the computing world. That being said, finding ways to reach as many of the different handheld systems as possible can be a challenge. One contender for the solution: Sencha Touch.

Check it out, courtesy of Ed Spencer:

Introduction to Sencha Touch

View more presentations from Ed Spencer.

There is also an accompanying video explaining these slides here, available courtesy of Pivotal Labs. I couldn't find an embeddable link, but the video is available for download in MP4 format here.

Sony Playstation Phone?

2010-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, rumors started swirling about Sony Ericsson having plans to produce an Android phone with game controls.
Well, apparently, MobileCrunch, Engadget, Joystiq, and Gizmodo feel there might be some reality to this rumor.

This is the first Sony product that I've been excited about in a while. Bravo, Sony.

Check out some pics, courtesy of Engadget!

Ext JS Screencast- Data Stores and GridPanels

2010-10-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of learning how to develop and maintain web apps, and I found this tutorial very useful. It's about Data Stores and GridPanels in Ext JS. If you are looking into making web apps, ExtJS from Sencha is a very interesting choice. Check it out:

Ext JS Screencast - data Stores and GridPanels from Jay Garcia on Vimeo.

Turn off auto-numbering in Open Office

2010-10-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

I like Open Office.

I HATE auto-numbering.

Here is how to turn it off (courtesy of the OpenOffice.org Wiki):

How do I turn off automatic correction and formatting?

OpenOffice.org is configured by default to perform certain automatic formatting and correction as you type. This can be very useful, but can also lead to unexpected results.

You can learn to use this feature, or if you prefer you can turn all or some of the automatic formatting off. You can either:

Turn ALL off/on: under Format > AutoFormat > While Typing. (On recent versions it's Format > AutoCorrect > While Typing.)
Turn some off/on: under Tools > AutoCorrect.

The table below describes some of the default behaviours and which AutoCorrect setting controls them.

When I type	I get	caused by	Note:	module
DNA	And	the replacement table	(3) (1)	All
XImport	Ximport		(3)	All
coordination	Coordination	Capitalize first letter of every sentence	(3)	All
It was excl. on this day	The lowercase 'o' is not capitalized even though it is preceded by a full stop and the option "Capitalize first letter of every sentence" is selected in AutoFormat.	the exceptions table	(2)	Writer only
Hello _world_	Hello world	Automatic bold and underline	(3)	All
www.openoffice.org john@sun.com	www.openoffice.org john@sun.com	The URL recognition	(3)	All
1st, 2nd, 4th	1^st, 2^nd, 4^th	The AutoFormat of the cardinal numbers	(3)	All
1/2 1/4 3/4	½ ¼ ¾	The AutoFormat of	(3)	All
The man -- yes, him! The man--yes, him!	The man – yes, him! The man—yes, him!	Replace dashes	(3)	All
<2_spaces>	The second space doesn't appear	Ignore double spaces	(3)	All
1 bottle of milk	1. bottle of milk 2.	Apply numbering	(3)	Writer only
---===___	horizontal lines created	Apply border	(3)	Writer only
+---+---+	a table	Create table	(3)	Writer only
My title	My title	Use styles	(3)	Writer only
one	one> test	Replace bullets	(3)	Writer only
"	« or an other typographical quote	Custom quotes	(4)	Writer only
Int	Int\|roduction\| (the word is completed)	Word completion	(5))
1.1 in a table	01/01/03 (a date)	Number recognition	(6))	Writer only

↑ Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Replace]
↑ Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Exceptions]
↑ Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Options]
↑ Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Custom quotes]
↑ Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Word completion]
↑ Menu Tools-Options-Text document-Table-Input in table-Number recognition

Stack Overflow - forums done right.

2010-10-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, I happened upon a website called Stack Overflow, a free programming forum that is run by its users. It is collaboratively edited, using a karma system that allows you to perform more tasks as your reputation score increases.

Why should you care about yet another forum? Good question.

From the StackOverflow FAQ:

So What? Who cares? Isn't this just like a dozen other websites?

What's so special about this? Well, nothing, really. The only unusual thing we do is synthesize aspects of Wikis, Blogs, Forums, and Digg/Reddit in a way that we think is original.

Super User is that tiny asterisk in the middle, there.

But hopefully you'll see what we mean when you participate and experience it for yourself.

Why should you care about yet another forum? Good question. I've tried it out, and I have very positive opinions, overall. One of the reasons that it works so well is that it rewards people for being helpful. Most forums only keep track of the number of posts. Stack Overflow (and the sites in the StackExchange family of sites) employ a rather clever reputation system.

From the FAQ:

To gain reputation, post good questions and useful answers. Your peers will vote on your posts, and those votes will cause you to gain (or, in rare cases, lose) reputation:

answer is voted up +10
question is voted up +5
answer is accepted +15 (+2 to acceptor)
post is voted down -2 (-1 to voter)

A maximum of 30 votes can be cast per user per day, and you can earn a maximum of 200 reputation per day (although accepted answers and bounty awards are immune to this limit). Also, please note that votes for any posts marked "community wiki" do not generate reputation.

Amass enough reputation points and Super User will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions:

15 Vote up
15 Flag offensive
50 Leave comments^†
100 Vote down (costs 1 rep)
100 Edit community wiki posts
200 Reduced advertising
200 Create new tags
250 Vote to close, reopen, or migrate your questions
500 Retag questions
1000 Show total up and down vote counts
2000 Edit other people's posts
3000 Vote to close, reopen, or migrate any questions
10000 Delete closed questions, access to moderation tools

^† you can always comment on your questions and answers, and any answers to questions you've asked, even with 1 rep.

Another reason that this site is great is that it doesn't try to be everything to everybody. Stack Overflow only aims to answer questions relating to programming. What kind of questions, you ask? Yet again, the FAQ comes to the rescue:

What kind of questions can I ask here?

Stack Overflow is for professional and enthusiast programmers, people who write code because they love it. We feel the best Stack Overflow questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers …

a specific programming problem
a software algorithm
software tools commonly used by programmers
matters that are unique to the programming profession

… then you're in the right place to ask your question!

Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, as long as you pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.

What kind of questions should I not ask here?

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

What if you have a different type of question, or a question about the site itself? Well, they've thought about that, as well. There are actually a whole family of inter-related sites, each serving a very specific purpose. Quoting the FAQ again:

If your question is about …

Networking, servers, or maintaining other people's PCs and contains no source code, ask on Server Fault.
General computer software or hardware troubleshooting, ask on Super User.
Web design and HTML/CSS layout, and your job title is "designer", ask on Doctype.

If you have a question or comment about the site itself, each of the sites has a "meta" section that is separate from the actual questions and answers. This allows people that are only interested in the questions and answers to avoid site-related questions, complaints, and discussions. This doesn't seem like a big thing, but as a former forum admin, it's refreshing to know what to expect when you browse the site.

In addition to Stack OverFlow, Server Fault, Super User, and Doctype, there are quite a few subject specific sites available in the StackExchange Network, such as http://cooking.stackexchange.com/ and http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/ .

I am not on every StackExchange site, but if you're looking for me, look for Zoot. I recently started up an account, so my scores are pretty low, but in time, that may change.

Linux command line wallpapers

2010-09-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some excellent wallpapers of Linux commands, courtesy of a user named radicality on reddit. Click for the full resolution version, download them, set them as your wallpaper, and learn more about Linux!

answer is voted up	+10
question is voted up	+5
answer is accepted	+15	(+2 to acceptor)
post is voted down	-2	(-1 to voter)

15	Vote up
15	Flag offensive
50	Leave comments^†
100	Vote down (costs 1 rep)
100	Edit community wiki posts
200	Reduced advertising
200	Create new tags
250	Vote to close, reopen, or migrate your questions
500	Retag questions
1000	Show total up and down vote counts
2000	Edit other people's posts
3000	Vote to close, reopen, or migrate any questions
10000	Delete closed questions, access to moderation tools