May 14, 2009
Finally a SIP/VoIP program for the Android OS!
Sipdroid is a great GPL licensed program that allows you to make and receive SIP and make VoIP from your mobile. The app is incredibly simple to use, which just requires you to enter your SIP credentials (server, login and password).
Once it is on, you will see a little green bubble on the status bar indicating that you’re online. After that, just enter the phone number you’d like or use the phone numbers on your contact list, remembering to enter the country code.
The only detriment for now is that it connects only through wifi, so no 3G data connections while you’re out-and-about.
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Posted in Mobile, Utilities 
2 Comments »
May 9, 2009
The last time there was an Android upgrade, I had to wait over 1 month to get mine. Fortunately this time it appears Europe had Android 1.5 launch date before users in the U.S. This is a much expected release because of the extensive list of new features.
Without further delay, here is the tour of what is new in Android Cupcake.
First, here is my home screen where you can add shortcuts, widgets and live folders:
We now have the new widgets Calendar and Music. In the “shortcuts” category, to be honest I had never used it before but here also goes a screenshot of what is offered:
I really enjoyed the calendar widget although I wish I could expand it a bit more to display more event information. Your music widget will display a cute little bar with the song currently playing or the option for you to select a playlist to start playing on your device.
Next cool feature is video recording!
The videos you record on the Android can be pushed directly to YouTube now with 2 simple clicks. A nice way for Google to tie its services well.
Next comes the soft-keyboard! I’m still struggling to get used to this new keyboard, it is so tiny compared to the ‘full sized’ one on the G1.
But, there is a very nice feature of suggested words. So, as you type the system tries to identify the word you wish to write and even if you get lost typing incorrect keys it still picks up misspellings quite well to suggest the correct word.
A nice little extra is automatic screen orientation. On the G1 you were able to get landscape view only once the keyboard was open. But, with new Android devices coming out soon without a keyboard, orientation was adjusted to how you’re holding the phone.
Last but not least, a few cosmetic changes were made. The background of the app menu is no longer transparent and the pull-down status menu had some minor visual improvements as well.
Unfortunately I couldn’t test the stereo bluetooth since the headset I used with my Nokia N96 was still not recognized.
Like mentioned, a whole lot of new things and that is not all, there is still:
- browser improvements (latest Webkit browser & Squirrelfish Javascript engines);
- Linux kernel (version 2.6.27);
- Upload photos on Picasa;
- native video playback (MPEG-4 & 3GP formats).
The complete change log can be found here.
Unfortunately not everything is perfect… Loading some apps and going back to my home screen takes a bit longer than before. Plus, for some reason at times the app list gets loaded on-the-fly and I have to wait a few seconds for everything to get loaded and sorted alphabetically.
Overall, Cupcake is an awesome release and Android is now in a much better position to be released on more mobile phones and (rumors have it) netbooks!
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Posted in Mobile 4 Comments »
May 6, 2009
Doing a basic screencast in Linux is pretty easy. The package recordMyDesktop can be found easily on the repository of many Linux distros (including Ubuntu 9.04 that I use).
With this package you’re actually getting the backend recordMyDesktop which is written in C and the frontend developed in Python (gtk-recordMyDesktop or qt-recordMyDesktop).
The feature list is simple but that is all I needed for a quick screencast demo I had to prepare this afternoon:
- record the entire screen or just a specific window;
- record audio (with channel and frequency settings);
- adjust fps;
- include mouse pointer, “follow the mouse” recording, include window decoration (or not), and tooltips.
The closing added bonus, it records directly in theora / vorbis!
Recording is done with a simple click on the “record” button and than on the panel you’ll see an icon where you can quickly pause, resume and stop the recording. Easy and simple.
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Posted in Audio and Video, Imaging, Utilities No Comments »
April 30, 2009
The eco-system around Pidgin is fantastic, below is yet another cool plug-in tip for it.
Pidgin-Twitter plug-in works with Linux and Windows for you to get back into posting to and receiving notes from Twitter (also works well with Identi.ca too!). Steps to get it working:
- download and install the plug-in the plug-in;
- go to Pidgin menu under Tools > Plug-ins you’ll find Pidgin-Twitter to activate and configure;
- place your username / password and define a couple of other options (such as show users’ avatars)
- Add a buddy to your GTalk account called twitter@twitter.com and choose to display it even when it is offline.
You’re good to go! Open the chat window for the buddy you just created and instantly it’ll display your messages.
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Posted in Messaging, Tips No Comments »
April 26, 2009
After a recent exchange of ideas about Abiword on identi.ca, I decided to take a closer look at it again. Although OpenOffice is currently my office suite of choice, it is a bit bloated and slow. So, what does Abiword have to offer?
- It is blazing fast;
- works in Windows and Linux;
- has all the main text editing and formatting functions one needs;
- saves and imports documents in multiple formats (Abiword’s own formats, .doc, .odf, .html, .rtf, .pdf, .docx, LaTeX, Kword and xml);
- has revision control;
- has spell checker and thesaurus built-in;
- and, has a plug-in architecture to improve its list of features even more!
It even has a collaboration function so you can share your document through Jabber or TCP connection (I haven’t tested it).
I have tried Abiword before but to be honest I didn’t know it had this many features. For this review I can say there are a couple of tools I might miss when collaborating a document with others, such as being able to track and manage document changes and notes.
Overall I really liked Abiword and will seriously think about using it more often.
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Posted in CD and DVD, Office No Comments »
April 25, 2009
The newest version of our beloved Linux distro Ubuntu was released on April 21st. Code named Jaunty Jackalope, Ubuntu 9.04 desktop edition brings some nice features:
- finally OpenOffice 3.0.1 installed;
- Gnome 2.26 with some improvements for multiple monitors setups, Empathy (multi-protocol instant messenger), Evolution (email client now with MS Exchange support), Volume manager (now integrated with PulseAudio);
- X.Org server 1.6 to improve support for some 3D video cards;
- new notification alert system specially designed for Ubuntu;
- Linux kernel 2.6.28 with ext4 file system support;
I’ve been using Ubuntu almost exclusively for about 2 years now. The improvements made since that time have been enormous and this release although not ground breaking has brought some very nice improvements.
On my desktop (the computer I’m using now to write this post) I just did a distro upgrade and with one click of a button the entire system took care of the entire procedure by itself. I left the computer on overnight but the reason it took so long was that most likely the Ubuntu servers and mirrors are extremely busy.
Now I’m already looking forward to Ubuntu 9.10 in October 
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Posted in OS No Comments »
April 22, 2009
Migrating from a proprietary licensed mindset into open source can be perceived as a pretty challenging task. It is incredibly common for me to see that branding power often blinds people in a way that the functionalities of a software are disregarded in favor of the comforting sound of a brand name.
What does all that marketing blah blah means?
At my work, all new computers have open source software on it. The email client, office suite, browser, image editor, project management software and programming tools are all installed in the new employee’s computer from his/her day one.
But, the adaptation isn’t immediate. The icon, the menu bar, the layout are all excuses for a fuss: “I can’t do this, I can’t do that, where is the icon for this!?” After some guidance and explanation of functions, everything is settled and peace restored.
In your company, if you’d like to start introducing open source programs to support the cause, to reduce costs, or even to have the possibility to tailor some programs to your specific needs, don’t worry it can be much easier than you’d think.
Open source is fit for whom?
For the generalist worker, open source programs will go above and beyond the level of functionality compared to proprietary solutions. It is realistic to say though that some employees will need complex tools to work at full speed. For these team members, proprietary software can be rightfully requested.
How would your company make the transition?
If you’re a part of a large company, make changes with one or two programs at a time. All new employees though make sure they start with the most number of open source tools as you’d like. During the migration process, hold workshops to guide the team and be available to assist at other times when needed.
Overall, be supportive of your team and don’t hesitate to make the move. In the end, open source at work is an easier work than you might have thought!
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Posted in Office, Tips 1 Comment »
April 18, 2009
I’ve just read in HowToForge a nice article about Piwik, an open source web analytics tool.
You can download Piwik and install it on your own server to gather analytics data that could replace your usage of Google Analytics. In my personal opinion, it is always nice to have two services running to make sure you’re getting the right analytics data or still have data in case something happens and one service breaks.
What seems pretty neat about Piwik is the fact that it works with plug-ins so you can add and remove functionalities that are suitable for you. The service runs on php and MySQL so it should be an easy install process, the site says less than 5 minutes. 
They’re on version 0.2 right now but give it a try, their online demo sems pretty awesome.
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Posted in Web services No Comments »
April 13, 2009
I’m an follower of GTD. Probably not the best one, but at least I try to keep myself as organized as I can in the stream of neverending to-dos.
Which is why one of the first applications I searched for to install on my Android device was a good task manager to sync with RememberTheMilk. I was quite happy to find the open source app Astrid. The program does exactly what I need:
Asstrid Android task manager
Syncing with RememberTheMilk is a breeze, the only problem is that all tasks go to my inbox and not the lists I have already defined. But, overall Astrid meets all of my demands
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Posted in Imaging, Mobile, Utilities, Web services No Comments »
April 12, 2009
D.O.A. (1950) movie
Found in the Internet Archive, D.O.A. of 1950 is a classic film noir movie.
Although I’m not a fan of old movies, this drama mystery was pretty worth it. The basic story is of a person who tries to investigate who murdered him. The story is pretty rich with very good moments of suspense and a nice character build-up. The victim who has received a deadly poison goes out to search for his own killer. During this process there are shootings, lots of detective-style work, romantic scenes and brave escapes.
This movie is now released under public domain for download (you can get it in the open source friendly .ogv format).
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Posted in Tips No Comments »
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