RWDub's Reviews

Duolingo: learn a language while translating the Web

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:45:00 +0000

A great new concept in language learning is coming in June. Currently Spanish and German will be offered with others to follow. There are to videos below. The first explains about CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA and introduces Duolingo. When Luis explained about reCAPTCHA I felt better about having to use it.

"After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free."

Watch the videos below. Signup at Duolingo.com

HP Mini 1030NR SSD Fix

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Recently I was asked to fix a HP Mini 1030NR. After checking it over I discovered the SSD had failed. A quick search revealed that many people have had the same problem these same people had replace the SSD and had it fail again in a few months. Not wanting to waste the $50 to order a new one that might fail again in a short time I decided to go a different route. Next to the SSD is an internal USB port. This port is fixed to a plastic bracket limiting the size off the USB stick that can be used. For $16 I purchased a small thumb drive. Then I cut off part of the plastic bracket and part of the thumb drive. Since the SSD had failed I left it unplugged and reassembled the Mini.

Once it was back to together I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. This netbook is under powered and I am sure there is some speed loss running the drive off of USB 2 but for $16 it is now a very usable computer.

As a side note this is the first time I have used Ubuntu 12.04 and I am impressed. Looks and feels very smooth and polished.

Pebble E-Paper Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

http://getpebble.com/

Kickstarter campaign now closed. Preorder for $150.

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:41:00 +0000

I have been helping my sister get published on the iBookstore. Happy to report her first illustrated children story, "Thistle's New Wand", is now available at the introductory price of $.99.

Unable to Check for Updates iOS 5.1 Upgrade Fix

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:43:00 +0000

If you are running into the "Unable to check for updates" error when trying to update to iOS 5.1 try changing you DNS to Google Puplic DNS 8.8.8.8, 8.8.8.6 or OpenDNS 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220. I used OpenDNS and it solved the problem on an iPad 2 and iPhone 4s. Thanks to giosdeveloper.

Ubuntu 12.04 Beta

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Whitsun Gordon from lifehacker.com has written a quick post with a few screen shots and some observations. Ubuntu 12.04 will be released in April with long turn support (5) years. Read more here.

Ubuntu for Android (I could get excited with Android again)

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000

"Your next desktop could be a phoneWhy carry two devices, when you could carry only one? Your next high-end smartphone has far more horsepower than you’ll need on a phone, and more than enough for a laptop. So we’ve brought Android together with Ubuntu, the world’s favourite free operating system, to give you a full productivity desktop that fits in your pocket. Android for the phone experience, Ubuntu for the desktop, all on one device, running at the same time.So forget the office PC. Just dock your corporate phone and enjoy Ubuntu. Anywhere. One address book. One set of bookmarks. One place for your text messages and email. No more typing on a tiny screen when all you want is a keyboard and a mouse. Seamless integration of your desktop and mobile worlds. Brilliant."

The proceeding quote and photos are from Ubuntu. For more indepth detail click the link.

A while back I wrote about the Smartbook, a combination of a PDA, tablet, and laptop running Android and a mix of desktop Linux versions. At the time my wish was the involment of Canonical as I felt it would make Ubuntu stand out and put some money behind the effort. I would love to see one of the cell phone manufacturers get on board with Ubuntu. One device with accessories could become a tablet, laptop, or desktop running a full Ubuntu desktop. If this was done right I could see myself purchasing an Android phone.

Windows 7 Upgrade Installation

noreply@blogger.com (RcFliers) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Do you own a valid copy of Windows XP, or Vista? Did you purchase a Windows 7 upgrade only to find that you have to install Windows 7 over XP or Vista to get it to work? Well there is a way to get around all that. One simple registry hack will allow you to use your Windows 7 Upgrade disk to do a clean install. Read all about it here...

A few things I like about Ubuntu 11.10

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000

I have been using Ubuntu 11.10 for over a month, it seems like the popular thing right now is bashing Ubuntu because of Unity. Is Unity different? Yes. Does that make it bad? No. I have been an OS X user for years and see some similarity between it and Unity. Unity has made Ubuntu less like Windows and more like OS X yet keeping it unique. One of the reasons I do not have a problem with Unity might be my OS X background.

Feature improvments:
Dash Home. The Dash home icon on the launcher bar is in a better place. The search feature works well. (One of the things I love about OS X) Click the dash home and began typing, bang your application or file is found. (Need to be able to define words and do math to match OS X)

Update Status. With Ubuntu 11.04 I could never tell when I needed an update. 11.10 fixed this problem. Clicking on the gear in the upper right corner drops down a menu. One of the options is update status. If an update is needed a simple click opens the update manager.

Closing frozen applications. In the past frozen applications were hard for me to close. Now clicking on the x force closes them. (I have only had LibreOffice freeze up)

Appearance. This time I am using the background that changes throughout the day. Works well with no noticeable slowdowns.

Overall I like Ubuntu. For anyone with decent hardware wanting to get started with Linux, Ubuntu is a good way to do that.

More reading:
Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/whats-new
Ubuntu 11.10 Review : I take it back. Unity is cool.
http://lunduke.com/?p=1985

Microsoft Pinball For Windows Vista & 7

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Remember Space Cadet 3D Pinball that came with Windows XP? I was working on a friend's Windows 7 machine, wanting something to do to kill the time while I waited for the updates to download and install i opened the game folder and realized at once the game I wanted was missing. I then went hunting for Space Cadet. I was very happy to run across this site: http://mspinball.weebly.com/download.html

It is the same Microsoft Pinball we used to love. I have tried it on Windows 7 and had no problems.

MyWOD: Crossfit App for iOS

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:15:00 +0000

In September a friend of mine finally convinced me to try Crossfit. Once I got started I found out that I really enjoyed doing the workouts and then began looking for an iOS App. I wanted an App that would suggest exercises and track my exercises. I also wanted a tabata app (see video). Between my friend and I we tried 3 different apps and he bought a stand alone tabata app, then I found MyWOD. MyWOD includes suggested exercises, tracking and 4 timers, including a tabata timer. All this at a price less then the stand alone tabata timer.

MyWOD comes with a list of common WODs and a link to the Crossfit.com RSS feed. When you click on the Common WODs tab you will see a + in the upper right corner, from there you can add your own WOD. The My WODs tab tracks the WODs you have completed. This is done two ways; the first way is through My WODs, tap the + and manually enter the workout. The other option is to use Common WODs, tap the WOD then tap add to My WODs. There are two other categories, My Records and Max Weight.

I have also been impressed my the response of the developer. Twice I have written with feature requests and within 15 minutes received a reply with a promise for future updates. The first request was the addition of Road WODs and the second is the ability to sync between iOS devices. I have received the promise of both in future updates.

(Update) Two neat features I failed to mention: Number one, the timer continues to run when you leave the timer screen. This is great when doing a WOD for time that includes tabata exercises. You start the overall time then can switch to the tabata timer with out losing track of your total time. The other feature is the share button. I use share to email my buddies after completing a WOD.

(Update 3.0.61) Road WODs added.

http://web.me.com/jimmytangeman/theDreamWorkshop/myWOD.html
MyWOD can be downloaded from the App store for 99¢:

Screen Shots:

Ubuntu App Developer

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:19:00 +0000

With the recent development of my Brother switching his career from GIS/Cartography to Programing, and my good friend, Ken, over at Chapman Kids Blog, planning on Open Sourcing his BleAx program, my interest in programing and development has been peeked. When time allows I hope to try my hand at building BleAx on both Ubuntu and OS X Lion. With this new found interest anything about programing catches my eye. While reading the ubuntu.com site I found Ubuntu recently released Quickly to help developers develop applications for Ubuntu. Below is a video and link to get started.

http://developer.ubuntu.com/get-started/

Evernote - The Elephant of Task Lists

noreply@blogger.com (RcFliers) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:55:00 +0000

If you haven't heard of Evernote, you must live under a rock. Evernote is by far the best note taking, list keeping organizational program that I've ever used. It sync's between my PC, Mac and Android devices, and integrates with Google Chrome, and Outlook, and probably whatever you use for internet and email as well.

Head on over to the Evernote site and check it out.

Raspberry Pi: Arm Linux Box

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:05:00 +0000

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

For $35 this looks like a great option.

FAQs
When will the device be available to purchase?
We anticipate the device will be available to the general public later in 2011 – at the moment that looks like November.

How much will it cost?
We hope to be selling the Model A for $25 and the Model B for $35.

Can I join the mailing list?
You certainly can. Head to the home page, and you’ll see a form at the top right you can fill in.

Why doesn’t the Raspberry Pi include piece of hardware or sort of port?
Our main function is a charitable one – we’re trying to build the cheapest possible computer that provides a certain basic level of functionality, and this means we’ve had to make hard decisions about what hardware and interfaces to include.

How do I connect a mouse and keyboard?
Mice, keyboards, network adapters and external storage will all connect via a USB hub.

What display can I use?
There is composite and HDMI out on the board, so you can hook it up to a digital or analogue television or to a DVI monitor.

What about audio?
There’s a standard 3.5mm jack, or you can use HDMI. You can add any supported USB microphone via a hub.

Does the device support networking? Is there Wi-Fi?
The Model B version of the device includes 10/100 wired Ethernet. There is no Ethernet on the Model A version (which we expect to be taken up mostly by the education market), but Wi-Fi will be available via a standard USB dongle.

What are the power requirements?
The device is powered by an external AC adapter, and the Model A consumes around 1W at full load.

PocketSword Updated for iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

PocketSword is an iOS Bible App for the iPhone and ,with the latest release as of September 2011, the iPad.
PocketSword being my favorite Bible App, I am happy to see the iPad update. The App looks great but still is lacking the ability to keep notes.

Easily toggle preferences.

Search icon in upper left corner brings this page up.

http://crosswire.org/pocketsword

Invent With Python: a screen cast

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Below is a screen cast of "Guess the Number" game from the "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" book.

“Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python” is a free book (as in, open source) and a free eBook (as in, no cost to download) that teaches you how to program in the Python programming language. Each chapter gives you the complete source code for a new game, and then teaches the programming concepts from the example."

http://inventwithpython.com/

http://www.rwdubsreviews.com/2011/06/getting-started-with-python-for.html

Diaspora*: YouTube Video

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:38:00 +0000

I have a couple invites if you would like to join.

Fairware: Supporting Open Source Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:06:00 +0000

In the past year I have written a couple blog post about monetary contributions to Open Source projects. There are lots of great projects out there that have taken many unpaid hours to create. The question I had was how to contribute to them monetarily. Today I ran across what I think is a great idea, Fairware. Lifehacker.com had a post about a tool called PdfMasher, a program to convert PDF's to HTML. I was interested in PdfMasher so went to check it out. That is where a learned about Fairware. The following was taken from hardcoded.net.

Free as in speech, Fair as in trade
"Fairware" is a term I coined recently to designate open source development of software targeting a wide audience (typically published in the form of "Shareware" in the proprietary world) with expectation of fair compensation from users. It's a mix of two driving principles:

1. Intellectual property doesn't make sense (at least in the software world). The protection of intellectual property causes much grief all over the world, all the time. Software patents threatens developers at every corner, like land mines. Proprietary licensing makes developers create the same software over and over again in a silly competition game, making the end user suffer in the end (for not having access to the collaborative effort instead of the competitive one). Some users fall in the hands of some unethical software companies that will squeeze every penny they can from them, taking advantage from the fact that they're captive users.

2. Developers have to eat. It's hard for open source developers doing generic software targeting a wide audience to get compensated for their work. Sure, they may receive some donations from users, but certainly not enough to allow them to work full time on their applications. Because of this, they only work on their open source software in their spare time, and this generally reduces the quality of it. Chances are, if they could, they'd quit their day job and work on their software full time, creating a fair alternative to their proprietary competitors, slowly making intellectual property irrelevant, but money unfortunately flows towards these proprietary software developers, starving the overall open source effort.

Read the rest at open.hardcoded.net/about and a follow up post here http://www.hardcoded.net/articles/fairware-it-kinda-works.htm.

I am in the process of trying PdfMasher, Fairware gives me the opportunity to give back if PdfMasher meets my need. You might want to check out the other programs available from hardcoded.net, looks like they all are made for Linux, OS X, and Windows.

Getting Started with Python for Children

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Last month I was helping a friend find a programing language for a project he is involved in. While involved in the search I ran across this great book to teach children or anyone wanting to learn python. I downloaded the eBook and Python 3 for my nephews. I am waiting to see if they follow through with the program. If they do I have an idea for a small game they can code and service on the web. I have only gone through the first four chapters but am very impressed with the quality of the program. The information below is from http://inventwithpython.com/

Learn How to Program!

Free eBook Programming Tutorial
for Python Games!

“Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python” is a free book (as in, open source) and a free eBook (as in, no cost to download) that teaches you how to program in the Python programming language. Each chapter gives you the complete source code for a new game, and then teaches the programming concepts from the example.

“Invent with Python” was written to be understandable by kids as young as 10 to 12 years old, although it is great for anyone of any age who has never programmed before.

This second edition has revised and expanded content, including a Pygame tutorial library to make games with graphics, animation, and sound.

The book and the programs are open source, and are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license, meaning they are free to copy and distribute. See the license for full details. A print copy can be bought on Amazon.com

FingerPrint: AirPrint Utility

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:38:00 +0000

Another AirPrint utility for printing from an iOS device to a printer that is shared from another computer. FingerPrint works on both Mac and Windows. Cost $10.

Features
Works on both Mac OS X and Windows.
Simple user interface that automatically displays all printers connected to your computer.
Open files on your computer or send to your Dropbox folder. On your Mac, open up photos in iPhoto!
Uses Bonjour zero configuration networking to make setup simple and painless.
Runs unobtrusively in the background.

http://www.collobos.com/

AirPrint Activator: Printing without an Airprinter

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:37:00 +0000

A while back I wrote about Printopia a program that allows printing to any printer that is connected to a Mac from your iOS device possible. I have just ran across another program AirPrint Activator: AirPrint Activator also makes print to a non-AirPrint print possible. However AirPrint Activator is free. I installed it on my folks computer and so far it is working well.

"What is it:

AirPrint Activator is a small application that will enable a Mac OSX 10.6.5 + iTunes 10.1 hidden feature to allow your shared printer to be visible on your iOS 4.2.1 devices. AirPrint allow you to print from new generation of Apple iPhones,iPad and iPod Touch to a printer shared over your personal WiFi network.

You only need to run AirPrint Activator once. Once AirPrint has been turned on it will remain on even after a reboot."

Check out AirPrint Activator here: http://netputing.com/airprintactivator/

BleAx Comic Strip Program Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:15:00 +0000

The Windows beta version of BleAx is now available.
http://bettyblonde.com/bleax/2011/05/windows-beta-release-of-bleax-comic-strip-software-now-available/
"I have been running pretty hard at my day job, so I have not had much time to do anything other than get the minimum capability ready and make a Windows installer. A couple of notes on all this:
Yes, I fully intend to release the source code under an open source license as I have time to select one and wrap it into all the files.
Yes, I fully intend to do a Linux installer (deb)–again, it is time thing.
We have been using this to accumulate Kelly’s Betty Blonde drawings, but by no means have we wrung all the bugs out. Any notes in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
Go here to download the Windows installer: http://bettyblonde.com/bleax/downloads/"

Google I/O 2011 Keynotes

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:17:00 +0000

The following videos give a glimpse of what Google is up to.

BleAx: Comic Strip Aggregation Program

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:09:00 +0000

Screenshot of previous unreleased version.

Concept
The purpose of this program is to provide hand-drawn comic strip artists with tools to maximize the amount of time they spend drawing while minimizing the time they spend performing infrastructure tasks. Here are the steps we expect a user to take to create a comic strip and post it on the web:
1. Print out on template for each panel of the strip.
2. Draw the panels.
3. Scan all the panel sheets into a user specified directory.
4. Press the “Create” button to aggregate the comic and display it on the BleAx GUI.
5. If it is OK, press the “Upload” button to upload the strip to a user specified location on the internet.
6. Write a blog post and publish it from BleAx to a ComicPress themed WordPress blog.

The Screenshot and information above are from: http://bettyblonde.com/bleax/

Since 2008 I have enjoyed reading "Betty Blonde" a comic strip invented by talented young lady. The strip above is an example of her work. Her Father wrote a program to simplify the publishing of "Betty Blonde" to the web. After a couple of years the entrance into collage placed "Betty Blonde" on the back burner. Recently the decision was made to bring "Betty Blonde" back, along with this decision comes a rewrite of BleAx. BleAx is a great tool for anyone wanting to publish their comics to a website.
In the coming days BleAx will be released as an open source program for Windows and Linux. The developer is currently looking for beta testers. The Windows beta installer should be finished this weekend and the Linux version will follow soon after. Leave a comment on his post if you are interested. http://bettyblonde.com/bleax/ As of May 3rd the documentation is available for viewing and downloading. You will also find a link there to start following Betty Blonde.

Update from the developer: "I am going to make the source available this weekend (I hope) via subversion. I am using an environment that is completely compatible with Mac's. I just don't have a Mac on which to build and run it. The libraries and even the development environment (QT Creator) are all free, open source and they all build just fine on Mac OS X. If someone wants to build some binaries, I would be very happy to either host the binaries myself or point to whoever hosts them."

Blogsy: A Blogging App for the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Lyle Waldo) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:24:00 +0000

After using an iOS device for several years I have found very few things to complain about. However, one thing that had been lacking was a good blogging app. After trying a number of apps, ranging from terrible (crash as soon as it opened) to working but not enjoyable, I gave up on trying to blog from an iOS device. However I have now found an app that makes blogging on my iPad fun. Blogsy is the best app for the iPad that I have used thus far. I highly recomend it to anyone looking for a blogging App. This post and the previous post were both written on Blogsy, including the pictures and video. Blogsy has a number of great features, however they are better watched than read, so checkout the video below.

Notes: I have experienced a couple of crashes, so save your drafts now and again. I would also like to see an undo feature added.