Posted on Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 3:38 am
by pewterbot9
…is to have a good Samaritan nearby use the Heimlich maneuver on your desperate person. Better yet: don’t swallow it in the first place, so you’ll never *need* to hack it up! Take my nanowife, please!
:P
No, seriously folks, I just purchased my first cell phone. For two dollars and fifty cents…such a deal! I selected the sexiest from the lot of ‘em, at a thrift store on Duboce and Church: “Out of the Closet”. Now, all I needed was a phone charger and I’d be in business…which charger BTW, cost far more than the phone itself.
Now, I could finally learn what all this bruhaha is about re. “texting”. Downloaded the user guide, and…Wow, what a ridiculous waste of time, but at least I get the drift: treat your fingers like little slaves, working them to the bone till they’re all wasted from RSI and you’ll need to wear digit splints on your texting hand for the rest of your life…and you’re not even 30 yet! Or maybe even texting while crossing a busy intersection and–in your absorbed T9Word rendering–inadvertantly step on (and squash into its next life) a hapless black cat that had just veered off the sidewalk to avoid scampering under a ladder. Moving on…
Why did I buy a used cell phone? Why didn’t I just go the regular subscription route? Only because–as one who is dead set on never acquiring this new-age albatross to tether me down to a chattering network of inane blathering for a highway robbery sum–I also saw the good in acquiring a diminutive handset, just for the sake of 911…which number by law, every cell phone is required to access, *including* those that are not subscribed.
Mine is the Verizon LG VX4600, which debuted waaay back in 2003. It’s in excellent condition, battery just fine. But now that I own a cell phone, I want to *play* with it, outside and beyond the subscription realm. Or IOW, I want to learn how to *hack* the precious little silver hand robber.
So I’ve just begun the adventure, and would like to share the following cell hacking sites for others who may enjoy:
Cell Phone Hacks – How to hack your cell phone (Samsung, LG, etc)
How to Unlock Your Cell Phone for Free
Mobile Phone Resource & Community
Of course, I am limited from performing any hacks that require my own subscription, but *meh* I can handle that. Just think of all the money I’ll save! (‘Scuse me now while I figure out how to “sext” w/o a camera; maybe I can arrange smileys in some compromising position.)
:|
–
Zeke Krahlin
Free as in dandelion necklaces.
Posted on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 8:27 am
by rusher81572
I had an idea on how to make the upgrade process easier for my Fedora installation. I had Fedora 12 installed and wanted to upgrade to Fedora 13 with the same programs installed. The same concept can be applied to most distributions.
Instructions:
1. On my Fedora 12 box:
rpm -qa | cut -d – -f 1 > packages.txt
This command will print all the installed packages and remove the version information and architecture.
2. Install Fedora 13.
3. Copy packages.txt from Fedora 12 to Fedora 13.
4. Copy .repo files in /etc/yum.repos.d from Fedora 12 to Fedora 13.
5. yum install -y –skip-broken `cat packages.txt`
6. Done. =)
Posted on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 8:22 am
by rusher81572
My backup web server has a 8GB CF card. I want to reduce the number of writes to it as much as possible to save money and keep my server healthy. I added the following to my /etc/rc.local so that the logs files are created in RAM every time the server boots. The only downfall to this is that you will not have any logs if the system crashes to diagnose the problem, oh well =)
How it works:
1. Create the ram disk directory.
2. Mount the ram file system.
3. Erase old logs.
4. Use touch to create an empty log file in the ram disk directory.
5. Link the log file in the ram disk directory to /var/log
[ /etc/rc.local ]
#Creates a tmpfs RAM disk and mount it
mkdir /ramfs;mount -t tmpfs /dev/ram0 /ramfs;mkdir /ramfs/httpd
LOG[0]=messages
LOG[1]=secure
LOG[2]=maillog
LOG[3]=yum.log
LOG[4]=rpmpkgs
LOG[5]=dmesg
LOG[6]=boot.log
LOG[7]=spooler
LOG[8]=scrollkeeper.log
LOG[9]=cron
LOG[10]=Xorg.0.log
LOG[11]=acpid
LOG[12]=btmp
LOG[13]=wtmp
LOG[14]=httpd/access_log
LOG[15]=httpd/error_log
for ((c=0;c<=15;c++))
do
rm -f /var/log/${LOG[c]};touch /ramfs/${LOG[c]};ln -s /ramfs/${LOG[c]} /var/log/${LOG[c]}
done
Posted on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 5:51 pm
by pewterbot9
 Quoting Grant B:
Zeke brought this for show and tell today. It looks like a great deal at $49.99 & free shipping.
Thanks for your post Grant; it is an excellent deal for a budget handheld multimedia player, IMO. The shipping is free, only if you meet certain conditions, which I don’t. However, shipping fee for ground delivery is trivial, and the item was delivered just two days after my order!
He said for twice the price he couldn’t find anything with this screen size and features.
The brand name is Pyrus, and they do have various versions, but with a smaller screen. For example, if you also want the camera feature (or more storage space), the screen is only 2.8″. I looked at other brands in the below-$70 range, and did not find any screens larger than 3″ with such an excellent customer rating as this one (4.5 out of 5 stars average from 12 reviews).
If you find the files aren’t being recognized, he reformatted his SD card as fat32
One of the nice features with this player, is you can view the files w/o any proprietary application…any old file manager will suffice. That, plus the FAT32 format, makes it 100% Linux compatible. So you can simply click and drag your files over to the Pyrus player. Just remember to clear the trash folder promptly after removing older files, or your 4G drive will quickly fill up!
I think my Pyrus files got screwed up, due to Windoze Vista’s notorious mishandling of SDHC cards. (I was checking out this device in both Ubuntu and Vista.)
Suddenly on day 2, I couldn’t delete the files in trash, in fact I couldn’t even see the trash folder, though I had Nautilus (and Explorer) set to view hidden files. This corruption is common in flash chips, and the solution is almost always, to simply reformat the drive in question. However, I was hesitant, not knowing if Pyrus used any part of this partition for the OS.
(Let me take a moment now, to thank Charles and Michael at our last BUUG meeting, for their guidance in solving this problem…without their aid, it would’ve taken me much longer to discover the solution.)
After hemming and hawing, I concluded the logical likelihood that Pyrus’ OS was on a separate chip altogether…otherwise, there would be too many complaints and returned devices for the company’s own good. So I took the plunge and boldly reformatted the storage chip. To my happiness, all was copasetic, and I could transfer whatever files I wanted, once more.
For the technically curious: I did view the SD chip with gparted, and found no additional partitioning of that drive. But I did wonder if perhaps there was some proprietary setting that hid any possible extra partition, on which resided the OS, or part thereof.
Also, when I view device information (via gparted), model type is “emerson mp3″. This may prove useful for any hacking ventures.
with gparted but it worked great after that. It charges with the USB port but one minor limitation is you can’t use it while it’s charging.
The device does come with a USB cord, identical to the kind that come with most digital cameras. Rather than leave a computer turned on, in order to recharge my Pyrus overnight, I use a USB hub that comes with its own AC power supply…very convenient for all USB-rechargeable devices.
This player’s rechargeable battery provides approximately 3.5 hours of use before it poops out. A full recharge seems to take an hour or so…though I haven’t really paid close attention in this particular matter, yet. Seeing as I’m in the habit of just plugging it in to my netbook when I’m online at a coffeehouse…or just plug it in at night while I’m playing with my (desktop-replacement) laptop, or sleeping.
It seems to recognize more video formats than many of it’s competitors.
Pyrus boasts that it handles .mp4 and .wmv, along with all the other usual formats. For audio, it does run .ogg right along with .mp3…a plus in any Linux user’s book! Another plus, is that Pyrus automatically sorts all .mp3 files by category…based on any info embedded within these files. So you can view your audios by artist, album, genre, and so on.
All files are dumped in the root folder…except for any recordings you make, which are placed in a folder called “record”. Apparantly, Pyrus identifies format types by extensions, such as .txt, .avi and .mp3. The touch screen’s home menu is very attractive and uncluttered. Click on an icon such as “video” or “music” or “ebooks”, and only the files w/the appropriate extension will show up. There is also a file manager (“explorer”) that allows you to scroll through your entire list of files.
The videos display in excellent clarity, crisp and colorful…though you can’t view them at all in direct sunlight. The ebook feature is really text only…but that’s fine by me, as you can easily convert any ebook format into text with “calibre“, a Linux application available via the package manager. Recordings are somewhat low quality and only saved in .wav format, which is a real space hog. But it’s handy for recording quick reminders and shopping lists. The Pyrus also provides FM radio, also recordable (though not practical, due to the hoggy .wav format).
It also handles images: .jpg, .bmp and .gif only. This includes animated .gif’s, if that’s your cup of tea. You can rotate pictures, and zoom in or out…though this only works for .jpg’s and .bmp’s. (Pyrus claims only to support those two image formats, BTW. Also, for whatever reason it can’t handle “.jpeg” even though it’s identical in format to “.jpg”. You can just rename the extension before copying to the player.)
There is also a “game” section, where you can play either “snake” or “slide”…neither of which is worth your time: they’re poorly presented, at best. No way to add any additional games. But I didn’t choose a handheld player for games…or for any other features except video and audio, both of which are superb. The attractive bonus for me, is the “ebook” option.
You can bookmark your text files, and resize the font in three modes (small, medium, large). Also, you can play an mp3 music file in the background, while reading an ebook. But you can’t do same w/the radio.
Pyrus also has a simple “settings” section, where you can control the lighting, shutdown time, and even language (English, German, and the four major Romance languages). The player comes with a stylus, though no way to latch it onto the device. But I prefer to use my index finger, which works just fine. Also comes with a drawstring pouch, a useless manual, and equally useless mini-CD.
I originally sought an mp3 player, in order to listen to original progressive talk shows from around the country (in podcast form), and audio books. But when I began looking around for a good device at a bargain, I was impressed with some of the video options now so popular. Much more convenient to play a video from my handheld, than from a laptop, even my netbook, when riding public transit. The crisp 3.5″ screen is easy on the eyes.
I do not pay for any podcast subscription, as there are many free podcasts out there, both for music and for talk. If you really want bleeding edge songs and compositions, this is the way to go…as even the fee-based subscriptions are mostly mainstream these days. I use two different podcast aggregators, which provide a wide variety of subject matter from which to choose. They are “Miro” and “Gpodder“…both applications download your subscribed channels, that you may listen (or view) directly from your drive w/o the Internet.
Both applications can be installed via Ubuntu’s package manager, BTW. Miro specializes in video podcasts, but now includes an ever-growing list of audio channels. Gpodder has mostly audio, but is now adding video podcasts to its service. All podcasts provided are 100% free and legal…so no worries.
I’m also subscribed to a podcast web site, “Podcast Alley,” for additional shows that may not be listed in those two applications:
http://www.podcastalley.com
You can add any podcast channel from Podcast Alley, to your podcast aggregator of choice, via the channel’s RSS feed. Or, you can simply download their shows directly to disk. Whatever podcasts I want to listen to (or watch) via my Pyrus handheld, I simply copy to its 4G flash drive…or in the case of Gpodder, “export” them over.
Four gigabytes is more than enough to include a few full-length movies and/or TV shows…in addition to short videos, mp3 sound tracks, and ebooks. Anything I want to save in a permanent collection, is stored on my home computer. That way, I can freely delete shows/files I’ve already played from my Pyrus, and add new ones. For someone who doesn’t want a fee-based mini-media player, or a pricey phone service to go with it…yet would enjoy watching videos and listening to audio podcasts for a really great price, you can’t beat the Pyrus multimedia player. It’s all touch-screen based (except for a little button for image rotating/resizing), and solidly built with brushed-steel frame and back. A real delight for its purpose!
http://www.amazon.com/3-5-Large-Screen-Electronics-Multimedia/dp/B001HC6XMO
If anyone has hacked one, let us know.
I’m sure it would be a fun jailbreak, thanks to its basic design and low price. The 4G storage chip is sealed inside (not removable by normal means). The Amazon.com page for the Pyrus does show a flash card as something that is “Frequently Bought Together”…which is needlessly deceptive. Gives the impression that the Pyrus has an SD card slot, when in fact, it certainly does not. Almost definitely, this device runs on some variation of Linux. I mean, what else could the OS be…Windoze 7? NOT! :D
–
Zeke Krahlin
http://zekeblog.wordpress.com
Posted on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 10:44 am
by jdeslip
 I love Android. It is flexible, feature rich and becoming more polished every day. Development is happening at a breakneck pace. It uses Linux at its core and is mostly* open-source. The asterisk is because certain elements of a typical Android install are closed, like Google’s gmail and market apps (which both have OSS alternatives) as well as some manufacturer radio integration and device drivers. There are some people in the OSS community (the same people that would be angry at me for neglecting the “FL”) that deplore the fact that there are any closed elements in Android at all; to them, I say, “keep fighting the good fight, but I’m going to use and support the best option that is currently available.” Other people (for example the author of this ill-written post that made the front page of digg http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/60849), will claim it is not open-source because Google ultimately chooses which patches from the community get accepted or not. However, as AOSP developer Jean Baptiste Queru has said, this hasn’t prevented significant opensource contributions to Android 2.x. Open-source does not mean open-decision making (just ask Mark Shuttleworth); so, these accusations are just silly, and, concluding that there is little difference between the iPhoneOS and Android is absurd.
Anyway, I think, ultimately, the proof is in the pudding. If you need proof of Android’s open nature, I point you to the fact that it is popping up in all sorts of devices without Google’s name on them: Archos tablets with their own Market, the Barnes-and-Noble Nook and AT&T phones that replace Google’s services everywhere with Yahoo. This is the real value in Android’s openness – the ability of manufacturers to use it for whatever purpose they want. And, the source code being available sure doesn’t hurt Cyanogen’s ability to make amazing ROMs for the Android phones that many of us own and love – anyone with a G1 want 2.1 on their phone?
Android also happens to have the most open software-store in the mobile world (not to mention the fact that you can install software on your Android phone from any source outside the Market whatsoever). Which leads me to the other point of this post: I have written a couple Android apps and released the source. As a developer, I didn’t have to pay an large amount of cash for the SDK or sign the ludicrous developer agreement that Apple requires for their devices (including restricting the tools you can use to write your app and limiting who you can give it to and by what means). For Android, all I had to do was download the free SDK, try out a few example apps, and off I was (granted, the second app ended up being pretty involved). So, without further ado, here are the two apps I made:
1.SquirrelCam (Available now in the Market). The ledge off my office is home to a squirrel nest every spring. We set up a webcam that utilizes the Linux OSS project web-cam server to set up a live webcam stream. The only problem? It doesn’t work in any mobile browsers (and it wouldn’t be a very nice experience even if it did). So, I wrote a android app to connect to the stream, show live video and allow the user to save frames to his/her sdcard.
HomePage: http://www.jdeslippe.com/SquirrelCam/
Source/APK: https://launchpad.net/squirrelcam
2.EMusicDownloader (Coming to the market soon. For now, grab the apk file from launchpad). eMusic.com is an awesome DRM free music and audiobook store (I think they are the only DRM free audiobook store actually). To downloads albums and audiobooks from the site, however, you need a download manager – there are a couple open-source options for a Linux desktop. EmusicDownloader for android serves this purpose on Android phones. Allowing users to browse eMusic.com on the Android browser and then download their purchases directly to their phone using the app. And, because the files are DRM free, you can copy them to your PC at your convenience.
HomePage: http://www.jdeslippe.com/EMusicDownloader
Source/APK: http://launchpad.net/emusicdownloader
To conclude this Android lovefest, here is a list of some of my other favorite Android apps (not developed by me) for you to try out:
Shoot U! - A super fun game by Camel Games, my favorite Android game developers.
Dropbox – If you use it on your Ubuntu machine, you’ll love the Android app.
Astrid – Open-source todo list that syncs with remember the milk = awesome
AmblingBookplayer – Awesome audiobook player/downloader for Android.
GoogleVoice – If you don’t know what GoogleVoice is… go check it out now!
Google SkyMap – Best augmented reality app ever.
WordPress – Manage wordpress sites on the go.
WordUp! – Fun word finding game.
Listen – Awesome podcast fetching app.
Boxee Remote – Control your Boxee box with your phone.
OI-Filemanager – open-source file manager
Qik/Ustream – Stream live video from your phone
Picsay – Edit photos and add amazing effects right on your phone.
Fring – Make Skype calls over 3G.
Locale – Control your phone’s behavior based on all sorts of criteria.
Shazam – Everyone knows what this one is right?
ShopSavvy – Scan barcodes to get web/local prices and reviews.
+Many more. Come to this weeks BerkeleyLUG meeting on Sunday to see the full list.
Posted on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 10:38 am
by jdeslip
The people I meet are often befuddled by my level of interest and support for open-source projects and technology like Ubuntu and Android. I can sympathize, being around anyone who cares a bit “too much” about anything can make you uncomfortable. I write today mainly to organize my thoughts and hopefully illustrate the origin of (if not justify) the interest I have for all things open. As a scientist, I see evidence everyday about how the openness of ideas and technology have positively affected society and prompted further innovation. One person or company makes a discovery and other groups are able to refine the discovery and make new discoveries using the previous advancement. Keeping information, ideas, science and technology open is crucial for future development. This is not to say that people and corporations don’t have a right to profit off their hard earned innovations and particular implementations of an idea. But, no one should have the right to turn general ideas into personal or corporate property. As a whole, we benefit mankind more (and ourselves in return) when we develop, share, and collaborate freely. The next big leap forward may come from someone or some group halfway around the world based on something we share here. In my opinion, there is no company in the tech-world who puts itself at odds with this philosophy more so than Apple. Below, I discuss, in a way that I hope illustrates why I like open-projects such as Ubuntu and Android, my reasons for not using Apple products. The use of Apple as a foil in this article is in no small part due to the troubling actions they have taken this week to stifle competition in the mobile market.
1. Apple’s software is not open-source. (with a couple exceptions). This is not necessary a deal breaker for me (I do use a lot of closed-source software in niche cases when it does the job better), but it is important enough to make me prefer open-source projects 90% of the time. Most Apple software being closed-source means interested developers cannot look at the source-code that is used to run the various Apple programs including OSX, iTunes etc… Apple is by no means alone in this category; Microsoft, Adobe and many other companies also protect their code. Most people don’t even want to see the source code; it is likely too mind-bogglingly complex to the average computer user to do anything with. So, what is the big deal? Well, paying for closed-source software is a lot like buying a car where the hood has been welded shut. You are not allowed to tweak the engine or replace a faulty component. Sure, most people wouldn’t do that themselves anyway, but what if nobody could?! You couldn’t bring it to the mechanic to have a look at it. Car and driver magazine wouldn’t be allowed to review the engine design or do a safety analysis. On a literal note, if the software in Toyota’s braking system wasn’t closed, it is likely their problems could have been avoided – or at least discovered and patched much earlier. I choose to use open-source software whenever possible because I and millions of people around the world can look at it, learn from it, help improve it and make it more robust, and, most importantly, use it to start our own projects. Even if you don’t want to look at the code yourself, you have to admit there is something very powerful about this idea. The ability to use, contribute and improve existing software is a great stimulus for innovation. There would be no Amazon, Google, ebay or TiVo today if it wasn’t for open-source software called Linux. Apple OSX is, itself, built upon the open-source operating-system BSD; Apple uses this free and open-software generously but stingily contributes few improvements (particularly the UI) back to the community. Despite the philosophical appeal of open development, it is actually the results of this development model (and not the philosophy itself) that I really like. Because the Ubuntu operating system is open-source, it is able to fit my needs and wants in ways that Apple’s or Microsofts’ software could never come close to replicating. I can have the beauty of OSX, the flexibility of Windows and the power and performance neither could hope to have.
Despite my appreciation for open-sourciness, I do actually use some closed-source software. Like most practical people, when closed-source software fulfills a niche better than that of open-source projects, I will choose the one that does the job best. So, perhaps I have not yet completely justified my anti-Apple stance. Afterall, I said earlier that Apple was a worse fit than even Microsoft, and, so far, they are looking only equally bad.
2. Apple is not open-anything. Although Microsoft’s Windows is closed source, it (and Ubuntu of course) can at least be run on any hardware you like – from a virtual machine to a netbook to even a Mac. If you want, you can go to the store and buy an awesome new video card to spiff up your Windows or Linux computer without having to buy a completely new one. Apple OSX on the other hand can only be legally run on Apple hardware. In the above example about the car, now, not only can you not open your the hood of the car, but you can only use Apple tires and fill your car up at Apple gas stations (think iPod + iTunes). If you get a flat tire, you either have to pray that you are still under warranty and Apple feels like helping you or get an entirely new car. There are people (the “hackintosh”) community who disregard the law and put OSX on non-Apple hardware. Apple has made it clear, though, that this is illegal and has brought litigation against companies for doing it, even when they pay full price for the software. Which leads me to ask the hackintosh community: why do you support a company that treats you like criminals for using the software you purchased in the way you want? Apple consistently goes out of its way to break support for its products with 3rd party applications. If you want to use a different media player than iTunes, Apple has (and likely will again) break support for future iPods and future updates. In a move that is borderline monopolistic, Apple only wants you to put music and movies on your iPod through its anointed application, iTunes, where it can sell you DRM movie/audiobook (yes I know the books come from Audible and other stores use DRM) files that cannot be played on other devices or in other programs. When you upgrade to a different machine, you will find out that you didn’t actually own the movies/books/music you bought from Apple. Even if you do like iTunes, do you really think it is ok that nobody should get any choice? I don’t.
3. They are even closed about other software you can install. Want Google-voice on your phone? Want a Super Nintendo emulator? An app that shows some skin? A wifi detector? What about the ability to watch hulu on your new $800 tablet? (Even if you know html5 is better than the closed-off flash) You can if you are using Android; you can’t if you use an Apple iPhone of iPad. Why? Because daddykins Steve Jobs doesn’t think you need to. He knows what is best for everyone. Why continue to use (or worse develop for) the iPhone platform when Apple might pull your favorite app from the market at any time? As Molly Wood from CNET says, “it’s an abusive relationship.” Sure, you can jailbreak your phone to add a bunch of apps Apple doesn’t want you to, but then, once again, you are breaking the law and are at Apple’s mercy. To risk sounding like a broken record, why support a company that treats you like a criminal? I choose not to.
4. The final straw. Not only does Apple control exactly how you can use any Apple device, they now want to take away your choice to use any other device as well. This week they brought a lawsuit against HTC, the developer of the majority of Android phones, alleging 20 Apple patent violations. Many of these patents seem to be comprised of trivial ideas that should be non-patentable and/or ideas Apple itself stole from other companies. It is clear that Apple is scared of the consumer choice that competition brings and is scared of the innovation that is possible within the open Android framework. Patents were intended to promote independent innovation by protecting small inventors from being scooped by large established corporations. Apple is hijacking the patent system to protect the interests of their large corporation against any competition at all. This is an incredibly dangerous move* that could stifle innovation for many years to come. The real problem is in the absurd use of the patent system by many companies today; imagine how different the world would be if Henry Ford were able to patent every trivial part of the car – there’d have been no competition and no continued development (thanks BOL for analogy). If someone was allowed to patent all the ideas relevant to traveling by air, we might still be stuck with hot-air balloons instead of airplanes. While I could happily ignore complaints 1-3, since nobody is forcing me to use Apple’s restrictive products, this latest patent attack has really put Apple back right into my face. It’s apparently not enough for Apple to control exactly how everyone is allowed to use Apple products, they now want to tell you exactly which other products you are allowed to use as well.
In the important realm of science, technology and ideas, I believe that the continual conversion of ideas and development effort into the private property of companies like Apple is a great threat to continued free innovation if such a patent attack is allowed to stand.
*Edits:
Thanks to comments below (even those calling me a troll) for some corrections. I would like to point out these are my personal reasons for not using Apple products. I trust that everyone can come to their own decision about whether these points matter to them or not. As I said above, if it wasn’t for “the final straw”, I would happily go about my days ignoring Apple’s existence. It is only when they try to control the choices I have in using other products that they warrant my bemoaning. And, no, I don’t think Apple (or its employees) are evil. I am friends with some of them. I think their general philosophy is nearly opposite that of open-source, and their patent attack dangerous and self-serving. But, “evil”, nah…
precedent -> move (thanks Carl)
worse -> “worse fit” (for me that is, best not to use general statements)
Thanks to Phillip (misc BSD software), Jeff (opencl) and myself (grand-central) for pointing out open-source projects Apple has contributed to.
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