TinyURL bookmarklet in action
If you just want to try this out, drag the link below to your bookmarks toolbar, then click the new bookmark. I’ve only tested in Firefox 3.04 so far so your mileage may vary if you use another browser. Let me know in the comments if you find this useful or have any problems.
Read on for a description of how it works…
It’s taken me a while I’ll admit but I’ve just got around to releasing the sourcecode for the XBMChumby widget I wrote which displays the XBMC “Now Playing” queue on the Chumby. I decided early on that my very basic skills as a flash/ActionScript developer weren’t up to developing this to it’s full potential so now if anyone is interested in taking it further please checkout the code and get in touch if you have any problems building it etc etc etc.
The sourceforge project page is: https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmchumby/
…or you can point your CVS client at xbmchumby.cvs.sourceforge.net
After a couple of days playing with my new Asus EeePC 901 I was left more than a little disappointed: The innovative multitouch mouse pad was limited by the provided drivers - two-finger scroll would work but not pinch-to-zoom. The browser would crash if I tried using any flash recording in websites like youtube or ustream with the in-built webcam. The performance seemed a little sluggish when swapping between applications or even between browser tabs, and I’d describe the interface as something I’d expect to see on a kids “my first laptop” - poor quality icons and use of colour. I also found the default Xandros Linux operating system to be cumbersome - the update manager failed to install updates that it told me were available and it was incredibly difficult to install applications not listed in the update manager. Then when I told the thing to shutdown, sometimes it would but sometimes it would refuse to turn off the power and just sit there with black screen. I spent two whole hours installing seven different packages just to install Firefox 3, and then a further hour changing the Firefox shortcut in the application launcher to load version 3 instead of 2. I thought Linux was supposed to be user friendly these days!? I was left wondering whether perhaps these were just compromises I would have to accept for the portability and battery life that the EeePC could provide?
I’ve been paying attention to the market for portable internet enabled devices recently as I’ve been wanting a device that allows me to read news feeds, browse the web and manage emails while away from home. Most of the devices I’ve seen so far have been frustrating to use for one reason or another. I have a Windows Mobile handset which is fine for reading short plain-text emails or checking train times but anything else is likely to lead throwing either the handset or myself from the top of a very high bridge! At the start of the year I bought a Nokia N800 “internet tablet” but soon found that the screen was still not a high enough resolution, and there was a lack of thrid-party software (which was impossibly difficult to install anyway). I fount the N800 just too slow and clumsy when browsing web pages or scrolling through RSS feeds. I came to the conclusion that I don’t want to make do with a “mobile internet” experience, I want the full internet (including ajax, flash etc) but in a portable form-factor.
Six months ago a friend bought an Asus EeePC 701. He soon returned it becuase he found the keyboard too cramped and the 7″ screen too small, but I was sold on the concept. Asus have since saturated the market with a plethora of devices and model numbers which serve only to confuse the consumer but the latest model, the EeePC 901, is significantly improved from that first model and I think has the potential to be just what I’m looking for. The important features for me are:
In fact, it’s claimed that with some clever CPU performance management it’s possible to eek out 8 hours from a single charge.
So, just over a week ago I bought one, and put the N800 on eBay. I’ve been playing with the Eee901 for a while now, I’ve used it on the train, taken it when I went away for the weekend and shown it to several friends and colleagues. So far I’ve been very impressed with the hardware, design and build quality but disappointed with the Xandros Linux operating system. However, I made one big change yesteerday which has completely transformend the Eee901 and resolved almost all of my concerns. More on that in my next EeePC post…
In May this year I enrolled in a photography course at the Open University. I’ve been interested in photography for a while (I’m on my fifth digital camera in not many more years) but it was when I bought a Canon EOS 400d digital SLR a year ago that my interest became more serious. I had a look at the local college and looked into a couple of one or two day courses offered by local photographers but settled on the Open University’s Digital photography: creating and sharing better images (course code: T189) as being the best value and most comprehensive. It’s a ten week course (run twice a year in May and October) and the focus is a roughly 50:50 split between in camera techniques and the so-called “digital darkroom” of image manipulation on the computer. This may not suit everyone as some believe that a photograph should be taken correctly in the first place and any post-processing is “cheating” but it suited me just fine. The course is worth 10 Open University points (most OU qualifications are multiples of 20 points) but I intended to do the course to improve my photography rather than to work toward a recognised qualification.
tomputer
Software. Gadgets. Music. Rants. By Tom D’Roza
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