Tonight has been released the first working Android Ice Cream Sandwich build for the Samsung Nexus S. The ROM is surprisingly stable, and the user experience is much smoother than the earlier SDK port builds. Indeed, these versions were unusable in my opinion.

Almost everything seems to work except the USB connection (I will have to investigate on that using the logs. One quick remark though, if the Wi-Fi connection fails, add your network manually and it should work perfectly.

I won’t make you wait any longer, you can download it from the XDA Forum.

Update: A patch for the Wi-Fi issue has been released last night, you can download it from here.

Latest Update: The V2 has just been released by kwiboo, it is available on the official topic.

After flashing, do not forget to apply the Gallery/Calendar patch. Also if you use an Echange account, you have to re-install the Email.apk available from the /system/app folder (use any root explorer to access it).

For a considerable performance gain, install the excellent Franco’s Kernel.

As some of you might know, I am a huge fan of the GTD (“Getting Things Done“) service Wunderlist. What I love the most is the fact that I can use it on every of my device, thanks to a compatibility with most of the platforms out there (desktop and mobile). For the curious out there, they actually use Titanium Platform to make it happen.

Unfortunately, the last version of Ubuntu, Oneiric Ocelot, broke this compatibility and the application refuses to launch. This is due to the usage of outdated library by Wunderlist, and the creation of a few symbolic links can solve that (so Wunderlist will use transparently the new versions, as it does not seem to make it crash).

As I was in a good mood tonight, I quickly wrote a bash script to help you doing that. The use is simple:

• If you haven’t downloaded it on your machine already, download the archive of Wunderlist, 32 bits or 64 bits depending of your version of Ubuntu (and the architecture of your PC obviously).
• Install all the necessary libraries for Wunderlist to work using apt-get: libcurl4, libnotify4, libffi6, libcrypto1.0, lissl1.0
• Download my little script
• Extract both archives and copy the wunderlist_oneiric.sh in the Wunderlist-1.2.4 folder.
• Open a terminal, cd to the newly created directory (Wunderlist-1.2.4)
• Allow the execution of the script executing chmod +x wunderlist_oneiric.sh
• Execute it using ./wunderlist_oneiric.sh (it is important that you execute this script inside the Wunderlist folder)
  
• Choose your architecture (i386 or amd64) and you’re ready to go. The script has to execute some commands as root, so your sudo password will be requested.

Once the operation is done, you can execute Wunderlist using the ./Wunderlist command. If you had a previous version of Wunderlist installed, you have to remove the preference folder located at ~/.wunderlist otherwise the application won’t start.

As usual, I can not be considered responsible of what could happen to you or your machine while using this script

Enjoy

Original i386 commands come from David Heddle on the Wunderlist Support Forum

For those who have installed XBMC Live using the method I described in my previous post (or any other method actually), you might have noticed that no Wi-Fi network interface is present. Let’s fix that!

In this post, we will install the driver for the Ralink RT3090 (that is embedded into the eMachines ER1401/ER1402). However, this method should work with other Ralink chipset, but you might have to build the package yourself (see here).

The first step is to download the DEB package containing the driver:

• Switch to the second terminal using the key combination: CTRL + ALT + F1, and log into your account.
• Download the package using the command: wget http://stat.case.edu/~jrt32/how_to_build_rt3090_for_ubuntu_lucid/rt3090-dkms_2.3.1.4-0ubuntu0~ppa1_all.deb
• An alternative solution is to upload it to your server using a SAMBA share.
• Install the package: sudo dpkg -i rt3090-dkms_2.3.1.4-0ubuntu0~ppa1_all.deb
• This driver installs a kernel module, thus you have to reboot to finally have access to your newly created Wi-Fi network interface.

After having tried a few media center solutions, I decided to go with XBMC Live for the eMachines ER1401 I bought recently (OpenElec can be an excellent alternative though if you don’t intend to install emulators to play old school games).

The eMachines does not embed a DVD Reader and I unfortunately don’t have an external one myself. I had to figure out how to install XBMC Live from a USB key and this post will give a quick tutorial on how to do it yourself.

To do so, we will need to download two files before we can start:

1. The XBMC Live ISO available from the official website.
2. A software to setup the USB key, either Unetbootin or LILI

I personally chose LILI on my Windows 7 machine as Unetbootin is not yet supported by Mac OS X Lion. The usage is pretty straightforward:

• Plug your USB key (a 4Gb one is sufficient)
• Choose ISO as source and select the XBMC Live ISO file you just downloaded.
• LILI automatically recognizes it. Once loaded, click on the lightning icon to write the content of the ISO and create a bootable USB key.
• Once the operation is finished, you will also need to copy the ISO file on the root of the USB key. You will understand why this is necessary later on. It can be convenient to rename it into xbmc.iso.
• Plug the USB key in your eMachines and start it.
• While the bios is booting up, press F12 to access the boot menu. Select your USB key.
• You will be presented with a new menu, select the “Install XBMC Live” option.

The installer is pretty straightforward, especially for people used to installing Linux distributions. However, after having selected your language and keyboard layout, the installer will complain that it cannot find the CDROM. We copied the ISO on the USB key for this purpose: we are going to mount this ISO as a virtual device and use it to finish the installation process. To do so, follow these simple steps:

• When asked for the CDROM, press CTRL + ALT + F2 to switch to the second terminal.
• Create a folder to mount the USB using the command : mkdir /mnt/usb
• Create a folder to mount the ISO using the command : mkdir /mnt/iso
• Mount the USB key in /mnt/usb: mount -t vfat /dev/sdXX /mnt/usb (normally sdXX should be sdb1 in our case, but adapt it to the device corresponding to your USB key)
• Mount the ISO: mount -t iso9660 -o loop /mnt/usb/xbmc.iso /mnt/iso

The ISO is now mounted as the loop device /dev/loop0 (a loop device makes a file accessible as a block device). The last step is to point the installer on our virtual device. Switch back to the installer using the key combination CTRL + ALT + F1 and select the following options:

• Load CD-ROM driver from removable media? <No>
• Manually select CD-ROM module and device> <Yes>
• Module needed for accessing the CD-ROM: none
• Device file for accessing the CD-ROM: /dev/loop0

You can now finish the installation process, reboot, and enjoy your newly installed XBMC. If you need further information, feel free to ask in the comments.

A few additional tutorials are coming in the next days, detailing how to output the audio on the HDMI port, how to setup your library to work perfectly with XBMC and how to transform your HTPC into a gaming platform using Rom Collection Browser. Stay tuned!

A big thanks to iPhase for the CDROM part of the tutorial.

Thanks to a friend, I have just found a nice deal for those who are lucky enough to live in the UK: the eMachines ER1401 for £129.99. The retail price is normally $399 so this is definitely a bargain. The configuration is perfect for a media center/Home Theater PC:

Of course, this is definitely not the best hardware configuration out there but I am really excited to start playing with it. According to the different reviews, it is a silent and lightweight product that renders smoothly movies in 1080p and is powerful enough to run old games.

I intend to install XBMC Live, controlling it using the Android application. Also, I will mod the distribution to support the emulation of old game consoles through additional plugins.

I will probably do some tutorials about the perfect setup in the next couple of weeks for a low-end HTPC/Gaming platform.

LinkedIn has a really nice tool to generate signatures for your email. This tutorial explains how to import it in Apple Mail (Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion). It seems indeed that Apple Mail is not as user-friendly on that point than Outlook, or Thunderbird.

If you have not generated your LinkedIn signature yet, you can do it on this page. It is a really nice solution to obtain a nice looking and customized signature. Mine looks like this one for example:

Once done, LinkedIn generates a few lines of HTML. We are going to use this code in the following procedure to import the signature in Apple Mail:

1. Copy/Paste the HTML code in your favorite text editor and save it as a HTML file (ex: signature.html). With any other email client, you just have to import this HTML file to use it as a signature.
2. Open Safari and drag&drop the newly created file.
3. Use the “File/Save As” command to save the page using a .signature format.
   

   Saving the HTML in a .signature using Safari

4. Open Apple Mail, go to Preferences/Signatures and create a new signature. Once done, close it.
5. Go to the folder: /Users/YourUsername/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Signatures (Mac OS X Lion) or ~/Library/Mail/Signatures for earlier versions.
6. You should have a .signature file in this folder. Use the name of this file to rename your generated signature file. Replace the existing signature file with yours.
   

   Apple Mail Signatures Folder

7. Open Apple Mail, go to the signatures preferences. You should notice that the signature is now your customized LinkedIn one!

If you found out an easier way to realize the same operation, do not hesitate to share it in the comments!

See you guys next time!

If you are concerned about your privacy on the Internet, you have probably noticed that removing an account sometimes constitutes an amazingly difficult challenge. Account Killer will help you doing so.

Surprisingly, every website out there proposes a few steps subscription to allow you to quickly register and start using their service. However, when it is time for you to go, they don’t want the party to end and removing your account can become a frustrating journey through tons of documentation, FAQ, and emails with the support service.

Account Killer proposes to rate websites regarding the easiness for the user to remove his account and delete his data. It also gives you instruction on how you can remove your account, from a simple form to phone numbers to call for the worst cases…

It is time for me to remove a few accounts I have out there that I never use, and next time I will want to try a service, I will primarily check Account Killer to know if I actually would be able to end the experience at one point.

Via LifeHacker

Until recently, I had never heard about Goldfish, a South African band mixing Jazz and house . However, their new track “We Come Together” comes with an amazing pixel video clip that caught my attention.

The clip is full of references to video games (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Gear Solid, etc.), Internet videos, etc. and it is a real pleasure to try to see them all. Moreover, the music is catchy.

Time to turn on your speaker, switch to full screen and enjoy:

If you want to know everything about the clip and especially the references, you can watch this excellent video revealing the 64 geeks references of the clip:

PS: Sorry for the first visitors who could not play the videos, the embedded links have now been fixed.

Update: Stephen Phillips has explained in the comments how to do the same manipulation through a GUI:

This is a great tip, but if you want a GUI alternative, you can use alacarte.

I found it on this thread:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=234691

As adrianx suggested, you can install with this command:
su -c “yum install alacarte”

This is the “Main Menu” program that installs by default in Ubuntu. I tried adding New Items with the program, and my applications showed up on the Applications pane of Gnome Shell.

As for the root topic, I am having to adjust to not using sudo in Fedora. I came from Ubuntu, and you simply prefix all commands with “sudo” and it gave you permission after you type your own password. In Fedora, the installation requires you to configure a root password. Then, you use “su -c” as in the install command above, and you type the root password. If you need to enter a number of commands, you can switch to root by simplying typing “su”, hitting enter, and typing the root password.

Hope all of that helps.

While package managers do all the environment integration work for you while installing a package, every software is not always available through them. If it is not, you usually have to download the application and install it manually as well as integrate it into your desktop environment. This post thus explains how to create a shortcut pointing on your application in the Gnome 3 Launcher.

I have started using Gnome 3 on my Archlinux at work and had an interesting experience while installing Intellij’IDEA (an excellent JAVA IDE). This application was not available through Pacman, the arch package manager, and I had to download the latest version on Jetbrains website. Having extracted and verified that the software was working properly, I wanted to be able to access it quickly through the handy Gnome 3 application launcher. This is, step by step, the method to do so (you will need root privileges):

1. Go to /usr/share/applications
2. Create a new .desktop file (typically the name of your application with the .desktop extension). A good idea can be to copy one of the existing files to use it as a template. I used the eclipse.desktop one myself.
3. Fill all the fields:

• Name: Application name in the application launcher. Ex: Intellij’ IDEA
• Comment: Comment explaining the purpose of the application
• Exec: The path to the executable of your application
• Terminal: If you want your application to be executed in a shell, set this value to true; false otherwise
• Type: Application
• Categories: The categories this application belongs to, separated by a semicolon. For Intellij’IDEA, I set this value to: Development; IDE; JAVA
• StartupNotify: Whether or not a notification should be shown when the application has finished launching. These notifications are displayed in the bottom of screen
• Icon: Icon file name without the file extension. The icon has to be copied in /usr/share/icons.

That’s all! This is how my Intellij IDEA desktop file looks like:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=Intellij IDEA

Comment=A Java Development Environment

Icon=intellij-idea

Exec=/home/jfmoy/Development/Tools/IntellijIdea/bin/idea.sh

Terminal=false

Type=Application

Categories=Development;IDE;Java

StartupNotify=true

This is the result I obtained:

Do not hesitate to comment or react if you have other tip and tricks for Gnome 3. I am also interested of what you think of this new version of Gnome and its new user experience.

As you know, Google works really hard to index and reference all the content on the web. New contents added every day might include some articles about you, your blog or one of your projects. It is always interesting to follow your reputation on the Internet but regularly searching for it makes it painful.

Google Alerts will help you following the contents that matter to you. This service is really easy to use: you choose which terms you want to follow, their type (Blog, News, etc.), how often you want to be notified and you are ready to go! You will receive regularly an email with all the new index webpages containing the search terms you mentioned. An easy and intuitive way to know and track what is said about you on the Internet.

I have started using a while ago, notably to follow Fraise’s reputation and it is very effective and very easy to use.

If you want to try it out, login to your Google Account and go to Google Alerts.