Angelos Italianknows Blog

Monday, 13 April 2015

Building a voice actuated IOT controller

Ive been meaning to use one of my RaspberryPIs for something  "cool" recently.. And Ive decided to create myself a raspberry PI version of Siri.... Recently Amazon announced the Amazon Echo. A very nice looking package... However nothing beats homebrew right??

Initial research

Ive discovered three principle voice-control frameworks


  1. Jasper
  2. CMU Sphinx aka PocketSphinx
    and finally
  3. VoiceControl by Steven Hickson

Jasper

I like Jasper , it appears to be well thought out and appears to have a lot of extensions, compatibility with different voice recognition/ text to speech systems... 
Issues
- Documentation is a bit hit-n-miss
- Rather large and not sure why....

CMU Sphinx/PocketSphinx

I recently followed the tutorial by Wolf Paulus on his blog and got it all working. When compiling everything I had to ignore the "make check" step, it works regardless, and after I created some dictionaries then it all worked fine.. Except... I could only get it to detect words Id created using the dictionary approach, I couldnt get it to detect/parse a sentence which wasnt in the vocab list.. 
I kept getting "input overrun, read calls are too rare (non-fatal)".. From my googling at 2am I think this is because the PI has run out of steam.. Wolf appears to be using a PI v2 so I think Im gonna need to upgrade..... 

VoiceControl

Havent tried this one yet.. will do and let you know

Sunday, 12 April 2015

Getting Text to Voice from Google

I'm currently goofing around trying to get some voice recognition working on my Raspberry-PI and whilst trying to get  some Text to Speech working I stumbled across this little script which uses Google Translate to do the business. Very cute so i thought Id share!

Create a shell Script (e.g. speak.sh) and type these commands in



#!/bin/bash
say() { local IFS=+;/usr/bin/mplayer -ao alsa -really-quiet -noconsolecontrols "http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=en&q=$*"; }
say $*
Short, Sharp and Sweet...

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

How to get D-Link D615 D4 to work as a WIFI Repeater



How to get D-Link D615 D4 to work as a WIFI Repeater

(To be refined)




See http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Wlan_Repeater




Check the IP of router A by connecting to it by a cable (not wifi)...

for me this would be 192.168.0.1, a friend has it set at 192.168.1.254...

whatever it is, connect to it with Firefox...we will presume it's 192.168.1.254 here.

2) Check the range of DHCP, I will presume it's 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199 (max 100 clients)...the reason we check this is so that we can avoid this range when setting a static IP to our laptop/computer later.

3) Disable wireless security on router A (this will be re-enabled later). Note: This may not always be required, but apparently it is...and you're reading this guide so perhaps you should!)

4) Ensure SSID is NOT hidden (again this can be changed later).

5) Give yourself (laptop/computer) a static IP of (for example) 192.168.1.99, with Gateway and DNS set to 192.168.1.254...




6) Now connect laptop/computer to router B instead.

7) Ensure everything is reset to default. For the dir-615 I suggest once it's turned on and booted up, hold down the reset button for 5-7 seconds. This will also default the router to 192.168.1.1 with the dd-wrt firmware installed.

Note: the wiki suggests a 30/30/30 reset, well that was less efficient for me, and of course just took me to the emergency room on stage 3...perhaps something "deep" was reset in the first 2 stages?

8) Change router B to an IP of 192.168.1.253, Gateway and Local DNS to 192.168.1.254...click APPLY.

(note: these numbers are a bit backwards IMO, I prefer: A at .0.1, B at .0.2, and me at .0.3 but hey!)

9) Login to router B again at the new IP from (8).




10) Before we start setting up the repeater bridge, you might want to check that router B can see router A...

you can do this in any mode except for Repeater Bridge (lol), so just go to Status/Wireless, down the bottom of the screen you will see a button labled "Site Survey"...click it, wait, you should see the SSID and channel number for router A...along with a bunch of random neighbours.




11) Start setting up your (soon to be) repeater bridge by going in the Basic tab:

WAN, Connection type: Disable

Router name: whatever

Local IP: 192.168.1.253 Subnet: 255.255.255.0 Gateway 192.168.1.254 Local DNS: 192.168.1.254

WAN Port: Assign WAN Port to Switch: tick this

Time Settings: whatever

12) Click SAVE only - note, we apply the settings later so only click save for now...

notice how DHCP dissapears from the menu, this is because we can get DHCP from router A if we so please.




13) Go to the Wireless/Basic Settings tab (note how we skipped the rest of "Setup" tabs for now):

Wireless Mode: Repeater Bridge

Wireless Network Mode: I use mixed because I know both routers can handle b,g,n (802.11)

SSID: must be the SAME as router A

Channel: must be the SAME as router A

Channel Width: 20 MHz

SSID Broadcast: Enabled (disable later if you want)

Network Configuration: Bridged

Click Save




14) Go next to Wireless/Wireless Security

Security Mode: Disabled (we will enable it on both routers later)

Click Save




15) Go to Services/Services

Disable DNSMasq

Click Save




16) Go to Security/Firewall

First UNcheck everything except Filter Multicast

Now on SPI Firewall, set it to Disable

Click Save




17) Go to Administration/Management

At the bottom of the page click Apply Settings

Basically the instructions are correct except for

1. The DHCP bits dont disappear by themselves, you need to disable DHCP

2. You do not configure a seperate VLAN in the wireless bit..

Monday, 20 May 2013

VNC on Mac

MountainLion's inBuilt VNC server sucks.. Keeps crashing, not responding etc..

Solution, use a different one.. The best one Ive found is RealVNC, works a treat on Macs.. 

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Something geeky to try out

Hey all here's something geeky you can try out at work


On Windows
C:\tracert 216.81.59.173


On Linux
$ traceroute 216.81.59.173
The result
C:\Users\angelo>tracert 216.81.59.173

Tracing route to read.more.at.beaglenetworks.net [216.81.59.173]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     9 ms     3 ms     3 ms  10.121.104.6
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     8 ms     6 ms     7 ms  192.168.1.1
  4     8 ms     8 ms     9 ms  62.28.235.49
  5    13 ms    18 ms    31 ms  62.28.252.253
  6    64 ms    12 ms    13 ms  62.28.252.254
  7    18 ms    20 ms    19 ms  lis2-cr1-te0-0-3.cprm.net [195.8.10.157]
  8    70 ms    72 ms    71 ms  par1-cr1-gi2-0-0.cprm.net [195.8.0.234]
  9    77 ms    69 ms    73 ms  195.8.1.25
 10    74 ms    79 ms    69 ms  20gigabitethernet1-3.core1.ams1.he.net [195.69.1
45.150]
 11    61 ms    62 ms    61 ms  10gigabitethernet2-1.core1.par2.he.net [184.105.
213.102]
 12   288 ms   408 ms   310 ms  10gigabitethernet7-1.core1.ash1.he.net [184.105.
213.93]
 13   145 ms   292 ms   306 ms  10gigabitethernet1-2.core1.atl1.he.net [184.105.
213.110]
 14   231 ms   410 ms   305 ms  216.66.0.26
 15     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 16   174 ms   223 ms   305 ms  Episode.IV [206.214.251.1]
 17   224 ms   306 ms   305 ms  A.NEW.HOPE [206.214.251.6]
 18   221 ms   174 ms   234 ms  It.is.a.period.of.civil.war [206.214.251.9]
 19   174 ms   233 ms   304 ms  Rebel.spaceships [206.214.251.14]
 20   224 ms   306 ms   306 ms  striking.from.a.hidden.base [206.214.251.17]
 21   223 ms   306 ms   229 ms  have.won.their.first.victory [206.214.251.22]
 22   250 ms   305 ms   215 ms  against.the.evil.Galactic.Empire [206.214.251.25
]
 23   236 ms   306 ms   305 ms  During.the.battle [206.214.251.30]
 24   174 ms   237 ms   219 ms  Rebel.spies.managed [206.214.251.33]
 25   241 ms   305 ms   305 ms  to.steal.secret.plans [206.214.251.38]
 26   223 ms   305 ms   171 ms  to.the.Empires.ultimate.weapon [206.214.251.41]

 27   273 ms   307 ms   306 ms  the.DEATH.STAR [206.214.251.46]
 28   226 ms   306 ms   307 ms  an.armored.space.station [206.214.251.49]
 29   226 ms   307 ms   304 ms  with.enough.power.to [206.214.251.54]
 30   327 ms   306 ms   305 ms  destroy.an.entire.planet [206.214.251.57]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\angelo>tracert 216.81.59.173





Thursday, 14 February 2013

Creating a Media Server for home


Well recently I've managed to blag myself a nice little HP Microserver (N40L) for home server use from http://www.check.co.uk. Its a nice little server, not too powerful, not very noisy  and integrated raid 0 & 1.. Perfect me thinks..

Until now I've been running my trusty old Joggler running Xubuntu with a USB Hub connected to a printer, harddrive(s) and keyboard/mouse combo.. It worked well, but wasn't really powerful enough to do media transcoding , fast file transfers etc...

So now the Microserver... Which Distro??

Initially I thought Id try Amahi or OpenMediaVault, Amahi is now built on top of Ubuntu, which means I can install other products easily, and OpenMediaVault is built on debian.. I also tried Zentyal, which again is installed on Ubuntu Server 12.04LTS, and installs everything.....

Eventually after rebuilding the server many times I've settled on... ... Vanilla Ubuntu and installing the products manually. Why??


  • Amahi
    • Nice product, easy setup however most things I want it to do I need to "Pay" for a add on, even though the add-ons are opensource and free.. Now the way it works is that yes the add-ons are free, but the payment is to pay someone to write the packager and maybe a UI to administrate it, also to support the project itself.... Now Im not against that, or paying, but not when I can do it just as easily myself... 
  • OpenMediaVault 
    • Didnt go for this in the end as it was based on Debian, and I kinda like the idea of being Ubuntu based simply for the software centre support etc... 
  • Zentyal
    • I really liked this install, it had different versions (office, gateway etc) but no "home" install. The closest I could use was "office", however that wanted to install LDAP etc, something I dont need at home... Also when I tried to install it Samba wouldnt install properly (something to do with mismatched versions/dependancies...), I spent some time on trying to fix it and then gave up....
So yes eventually I settled on basic Ubuntu 12.04LTS(although I might upgrade that to 13.04 when its released soon)..
Current set of products installed
  • Ubuntu Server 12.04LTS, better than Ubuntu Desktop as it has less desktop software installed
  • Ubuntu Desktop , need this so when you VNC you have a gnome desktop or something 
  • VNC Server, for remote desktop
  • WebMin,  simple admin tool for adding users, groups, samba shares etc
  • Samba, for network sharing to windows devices
  • Oracle Java, needed by software like Serviio
  • Serviio, DLNA software, works a treat!, also needs a collection of renderers decoders etc installed
  • ssh-server, Already installed I believe,  but needed for ssh access
  • lm-sensors, to monitor the machine
  • ssmpt, simple emailer
  • Apache, already installed as part of server, but need to configure a "admin" landing page..
Future products
  • Squeezebox server
  • Maybe LTSP, Linux terminal Services, instead of VNCServer
  • transmission bit torrent client

My next blog posting will detail what software I installed, and basic configuration. Virtually all of it requires nothing more than a collection of apt-get's and the hardest bit was ensuring you have all the "pre-requisites" installed.. Thankfully simply googling "Install Product X" was sufficient for this..

The blog posting will almost certainly simply contain a list of headings, a link to docs to install that component and then some notes... I'm half tempted to write a script which will do all the apt-gets , installs etc....




Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Saturday, 14 April 2012

Getting Apps to autostart on the Looqs Meebox

 

The Looqs Meebox is a typical NAS and one of the things NAS’s do is they refresh their root (/) filesystem on boot, Its a kinda failsafe mechanism I guess… 

Anyway this means if you want too add any startup scripts/edit files etc on boot its a little hard.. However where there’s a will there is a way!

I noticed that although root (/) is in ram /system is mapped to the harddisk, I also noticed there are a number of files which are executed at boot.. One of these is /system/hddapp/etc/rc

Bingo, if you want something to start at boot time, or you need a filesystem modification done at boot (e.g. /opt linked to /mnt/ide/opt) then simply put it at the end of this file.

e.g. The end of my rc file looks like this

#Added stuff by Angelo
#re create /opt link
ln -s /mnt/ide3/opt /opt
# Start TwonkyServer
/mnt/ide3/apps/twonky7.0.5/twonkystarter -appdata /mnt/ide3/apps/twonky7.0.5/two


Enjoy.

Getting optware Looqs Meebox (easy method)

Ok a lot of people have tried to follow my recent notes on how to get optware working on the Looqs Meebox with a varying amount of success..  OK you need to have Linux/Unix skills.. Anyway to make things easier I've created a script which when copied onto the Meebox, and made executable, will do the biz..
1. Download this script
2. Upload it to your meebox
3. make it executable by issuing the following command
meebox> chmod +x setup_optware_looqs.sh

A list of apps can be found at http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Optware/Packages and to install an app

meebox> export PATH=/opt/bin:$PATH
meebox> ipkg update 
meebox> ipkg install

Done!


Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Getting Optware and Transmission working on the Looqs Meebox


AKA Making the Meebox 1,000,000 times more useful!
Someone asked me the other day how could one get a better BitTorrent client working on the meebox.. I started looking at creating a toolchain to do this, but quickly went to look at the optware set of packages..
What is Optware?  Well basically it was originally developed for the Linksys NSLU2 NAS device but since been ported to many devices and YES it works with our looqs NAS device.. You simply need to know which version of optware you need..

Setup instructions

1. As optware installs all its packages in /opt you need to make sure its got enough disk space.. The Looqs / does not.. First step is to create a directory on your hard disk and link /opt to this
meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/opt
meebox> ln -s /mnt/ide3/opt /opt






2. After some digging around it turns out this device is a vt4 device so the following script installs and configures optware






meebox> feed=http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/vt4/cross/unstable
meebox> ipk_name=`wget -qO- $feed/Packages | awk '/^Filename: ipkg-opt/ {print $2}'`
meebox> wget $feed/$ipk_name
meebox> tar -xOvzf $ipk_name ./data.tar.gz | tar -C / -xzvf -
meebox> mkdir -p /opt/etc/ipkg
meebox> echo "src cross $feed" > /opt/etc/ipkg/feeds.conf




3. DONE!





Installing Transmission


This was my original objective, so here are the steps to install transmisison, a common/very good Bit Torrent client

1. Use optware to download the transmission software


meebox> export PATH=/opt/bin:$PATH
meebox> ipkg update
meebox> ipkg install transmission


2. One this is downloaded you will need to add your ip address to th whitelist list, or disable it completely. This is done by editing the “settings.json” file on the NAS

Look for the following line in the settings.json file and make sure its set to false


"rpc-whitelist-enabled": false,

3. Create a directory for your downloads


meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/transmissionDownloads


4. Transmission by default will store its config files in /.config, we dont want this on the Meebox as the root filesystem is wiped between boots.. I recommend creating a directory to store this and by setting the environment variable TRANSMISSION_HOME it will use that directory

meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/transmissionConfig
meebox> export TRANSMISSION_HOME=/mnt/ide3/transmissionConfig

 

5. When transmission is first started it will create a set of config files which we will need to edit. Now its time to start and stop the daemon

 

meebox> transmission-daemon -w /mnt/ide3/transmissionDownloads
meebox> killall transmission-daemon


6. By default Transmission uses whitelists to ensure only recognised clients can access the server. Providing the NAS is behind a firewall you can disable this. Edit the file settings.json using vi

 


meebox> vi /mnt/ide3/transmssionConfig/settings.json

and change this line in settings.json from

"rpc-whitelist-enabled": true,

to


"rpc-whitelist-enabled": false,

 

7. To ensure transmission is started on boot, see this blog entry but ensure the environment variable TRANSMISSION_HOME is set!

 
8. We can start the transmission daemon, by runing



transmission-daemon -w /mnt/ide3/transmissionDownloads

9. Finally to access the UI use a webbrowser and go to http://NAS_IP_adress:9091/transmission/web/


Meanwhilst checkout these links

http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Optware/Transmission

http://ubuntu-for-humans.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/how-to-install-torrent-client-on-ubuntu.html

Enjoy

Running Twonky Server on the Looqs Meebox


Given that the Meebox wont stream to my XBox 360 I did some digging around and have been able to get TwonkyServer working.. It turns out that the nice chaps at Twonky distribute NAS versions of their TwonkyServer, all you need to do is work out what hardware you have..
Firstly, to find out the processor. Easiest way is to do a uname –a
meebox> uname -a
Linux meebox 2.6.15 #224 Tue Nov 3 21:07:04 KST 2009 armv4l unknown
meebox>


The arm41 kinda gives it away….Also the marketing fluff says its an Arm9 32bit, not sure why thee looqs thinks its an Arm41…

Next step, Little-Endian or Big-Endian, most ARM systems are Little Endian, and Sparcs are big endian…

meebox> echo -n I | od -to2 | head -n1 | cut -f2 -d" " | cut -c6
1
meebox>

This script returns 1 for little endian and 0 for big endian
Finally which version of libc

meebox> ldd --version
ldd (GNU libc) 2.3.5
$Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
$Written by Roland McGrath and Ulrich Drepper.
meebox>

So there we have it, little-endian, libc2.3.5 and ARM Processor.
Going to the twonky website you need to download this file http://www.twonkyforum.com/downloads/7.0.5-Special/twonky-armel-glibc-2.2.5-special-7.0.5.zip




Installation steps


Download twonky for ARM-Little endian http://www.twonkyforum.com/downloads/...

Unzip it on your PC

1. On the NAS telnet in and create 3 directories on the harddisk. One is to store the twonkyServer executables, one to store the app Data and one to store them all

e.g. for me

meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/twonky
meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/twonky/twonkyServer
meebox> mkdir /mnt/ide3/twonky/twonkyAppData

2.Copy all the files on the PC to the twonkyServer directory

3. You now need to change the permissions of the twonkyserver executables
meebox> cd /mnt/ide3/twonky/twonkyServer
meebox> chmod 700 twonkys* twonkyproxy twonkywebdav cgi-bin/* plugins/*


4. You can now run the twonkyServer using the FULL PATH and also by adding the –appdata flag tells twonkyServer to store its app data in the directory given (twonkyAppData) and not its default directory of $HOME/.twonky


meebox> /mnt/ide3/twonky/twonkyServer/twonkystarter 
-appdata /mnt/ide3/twonky/twonkyAppData


5.Finally to access the web interface use http://NAS_ADDRESS:9000/webconfig

Unfortunately everytime the NAS is rebooted step 4 needs to be re-executed. I need to work out how to edit the startup scripts to get this running on boot.. I think i simply need to edit the startup scripts but Ive heard many NAS’s wipe their root (/) filesystem on boot…

A todo…

Oh also worth knowing that TwonkyServer is not free, costs €14.95 (link), but when you consider that it works with most devices and many TVs actually quote TwonkyServer as a recommended DNLA server.
[edit] Whooo looks like twonky are offering a 50% discount!

Enjoy!

Looqs Meebox initial thoughts

 

Just over a week ago I managed to bag myself a Looqs Meebox from Amazon recently for a princely sum of £25 +p&p..

Product Description from Amazon

“Use MeeBox Router as your central data storage device within your home network. So all your multimedia files are accessible through your PC or laptop and network media players via Internet. In addition, the MeeBox Router has a 4-port Gigabit switch/router and an integrated WiFi 802.11b/g access point
Features - UPnP MediaServer - iTunes server - Bittorrent client - APM web server - Web file browser - Web photo gallery - Blog - Web forumSpecifications1x500GB HDD - 2x 3.5" drive bays - Capacity: Up to 2 x 2TB Hard Drives (4TB Max) - RAID0 & RAID1 support - FAT32, NTFS, XFS, ext2, ext3 Network - 4-ports Gigabit Ethernet switch - Gigabit Ethernet WAN port - 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi access point - Services: SMB, FTP, SFTP, SSH, Telnet, VPN, HTTP, MySQL, printer sharing 2x USB ports for expansion Processor - ARM9 32-bit CPU w/ 16KB L1 cache - 128 MB DDR SDRAM - 16 MB Flash ROM Power supply - Power input: 90~220V AC, 50/60 Hz - Power output: 12V DC, 4A - Max. usage: 23W Dimensions 433mm x 209mm x 50mm cm Warranty Information Warranty Period (yrs) 1”

IMG_20120411_094006

Feature wise its AMAZING, supports everything, NAS, SSH,OpenVPN, Media server (see amazon link), however the truth is that

- NAS Functions are slow when you consider it has a Gigabit switch embedded. 6MBs read/write vs 20MBs for a DLink 320.
- The media server (mediatomb) is ok, but its not fab as a DNLA Server, it is also not compatible with the XBox 360 Sad smile
- The inbuilt applications are all really really slow… Gallery/Wiki etc.
- The manual is good, but missing quite a few important points..

Most of these issues are mainly due to the fact that the processor is only running at 300Mhz, not lightning fast one would say..

However on the positive side

- Price! , amazing value for money..
- It does have a LAMP stack (Linux Apache MySql PHP) preinstalled
- SSH,OpenVPN Stack works well
- Busybox root access is out of the box, route to hacking?
- Printer server works fine
- Very low power

 

Was it worth the €200 Looqs wanted when it was on sale? NO
Worth £25? Absolutely!!!

Although I bought mine from ADMI@Amazon, http://aria.co.uk have also been selling them and they have a forum with a meebox owners club thread in their forum (link)

Monday, 10 October 2011

There are more touchpad apps than Honeycomb apps

 

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/20-good-apps-for-the-hp-touchpad/4907

Gosh, since I’ve received my touchpad, i’ve been quite impressed with it.. OK its gotta lotta rough edges, the browser is a bit shoddy, email is ok.. no scroll bars, and adobe acrobot needs a search button! but overall its actually quite , very good..

If only HP had come out with it a little cheaper (say £250), they would have sold LOADS.. Who knows maybe Meg@Hp is thinking this… Therefore the touchpad becomes a loss leader to create a new market… guerrilla style..

 

My current favourite apps  are

- SpazHD
- Facebook app (its really good)
- TuneIn
- Kindle

And soon Zinio will be my top favourite app

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

Android 2.2.2 for the Joggler

 

Oh well the android hacking on the joggler continues.. I’ve documented, and the community has tested, the latest version of the Joggler Android build (2.2.2-Mijuu 1.2.3)

http://www.jogglerwiki.com/wiki/Mijuu_Release_1.2.3/Android_2.2.2

Give it a go, personally I think Android is the best OS for the joggler if u want a finger controlled device.. If your after a little mini-desktop, and ok to add a mouse+keyboard then Ubuntu rocks.

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Gadgets Gadgets–O2 Joggler Android and alternative OS’s

 

All, as you know I love the chase, especially when it comes to hacking,modding gadgets..

Last year I bought a couple of o2 joggers, ok these things run Ubuntu natively with a custom flash UI, but the software they provide is basic to say the least.. As the device is a Intel Atom based device with a EFI BIOS its quite straightforward to replace the OS and boot from a memory stick…

So time to replace it.. So far I’ve found three alterntives

1. Leave the Stock OS, simply Pimp it, using Plug-n-Pimp (forum link)

2. Install Ubuntu 10.x or 11.x, (forum link)

3. Install Joli OS (forum link)

4. Install Android (forum link)

 

Now , I have two jogglers, one is running the stock OS downstairs, works a treat but its mainly a “Clock” with weather features Smile

The one in the office is my testbed joggler.. So far my views are

Ubuntu

Way more powerful and flexible than all the other OS’s however unless you put a mouse & keyboard it is really hard to use.. Also I’ve heard to run it properly you need to install the OS onto a harddrive.. bit much for little 7” toy.

Joli OS

Not really my cuppa tea

Android 2.2

Now there we’re talking.. touch os, runs lightning fast on the device Smile However it does have its niggles. Lots of programs wont work, mainly because they use the NDK (Arm not x86) and some also go into portrait mode.. not so good.. But theres lots that work really really well , like skynews, pulse, googlemaps etc ..

 

So for now Android is my OS of choice.. however Meego is also being ported and looks really good, a touchOS with Linux compatibility!

 

Here’s some screenshots (sorry for the dodgy colors my screen capture program .. is weird.. ) I’ll update them when I find a screen capture program which works on Android x86

20110616192842

20110616193200

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Android on the Joggler

 

Gosh the amount of Android and Linux distributions operating in my household is increasing crazyly!

 

My latest distro is putting Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) on my beloved Joggler.. Now the Joggler did have an Android build earlier this year but alas.. without soft buttons it didnt work well… but now thanks to some chaps in China we have Android 2.2.1 with soft buttons…

Works a champ.. actually if O2 saw this running Id betcha they’d grab all the jogglers they could find , stick android on them and flog them like hot cakes!

See my postings at http://www.jogglerwiki.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=122

Thursday, 21 April 2011

Windows 7 & CMD Line here?

 

Hey all , in the past I used to use a windows XP extension to open a command line in a particular directory from windows explorer.

I was just looking for this in windows 7 and apparently its “baked” in!

 

Simply find the directory using windows 7 explorer and the use “Shift+RightMouseClick” and hey presto a “open command window here” option appears!

 

image

Saturday, 9 April 2011

opensource drivers for Airlink webcams now available!

Hey all,

if your like me, and never happy with the drivers/firmware which resides in webcams, well rejoice! Airlink have decided to opensource all their drivers!!!!

I've just downloaded the one for the aic500, but alas its been ages since I coded at that level..
http://www.airlink101.com/gpl/aicn500w/

Friday, 1 April 2011

Two useful links (Continuous Integration for SOA and Custom BPM11g Worklists)

 

Every now and again I see some useful links which I think is worth sharing..

 

1. How to do continuous integration  (Hudson,CruiseControl + Ant etc) for SOA , link

and

2. How to create custom worklist pages, for the BPM11g product. link

 

both certainly worth looking at.

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

SOASuite 11.1.1.4 : Error Logging into BPM11g Composer?

Hey all, I’ve just installed SOA Suite 11.1.1.4 and noticed a few funnies which people might hit, thankfully each of them have an easy solution.

 

1. Some applications are installed but dont appear to work?

If when you install SOASuite you may notice that the following applications dont appear to work, however they do appear as deployments in Weblogic Server Console

e.g.  SOA Composer (composer), FMW Welcome Page Application (11.1.0.0.0) and some of the adaptors.

If they appear in the deployments list state as “installed” and not Active, then its likely that they haven't been targeted to a specific server.

image

 

The solution is to target the application the desired managed server , e.g. AdminServer in a development environment.

This is done by selecting the application, tab “Targets”, select all components, Button[change Targets] and select the appropriate server.

This change can be done without restarting the Weblogic Server

2. You might find that when you try to log into the BPM Composer at http://machine:7001/bpm/composer , the login screen will appear but you cant log in.

The error log might mention the following

image

 

The solution to this is two fold,

a) When creating the domain, avoid using 127.0.0.1 as the Listener address, or “Any Addresses”, if this is a development machine create an alias in your /etc/hosts file and then use this alias in the domain creation wizard.

e.g.   my host file contains an entry    

mypc     127.0.0.1

 

And in the Fusion middleware Configuration wizard

image

 

Twill then work!

 

if it still doesnt you can try setting the ServerURL attribute to http://mypc in the SoaInfraMBean instead of blank.

This is accomplished by using Enterprise Manager. Use the System MBean Browser to navigate to Application Defined MBeans->oracle.as.soainfra.config->[ server]->SoaInfraConfig->soa-infra.

Then changing the value of 'ServerURL' to http://mypc

 

Failing that give support a call….