Android NumberPicker
March 17, 2011If you need to use the internal NumberPicker widget in your Android app, DroidKit can make your life easier. This fork seems to be more current, though.
Before I came across the DroidKit library project, I had copied the source and resources into my app project and manipulated them there. It's not that terrible, but I wouldn't want to do that for every app that could use a NumberPicker. And with DroidKit, you don't have to.
The day Google called me
March 11, 2011I think today will be the only day in my life I can say Google called me.
October
October 01, 2010It's October. It's October? It's October.
Just yesterday it was the summer of 1996; now it's October, 2010. What the crap.
iTunes revisited
September 29, 2010Just for goofs I installed iTunes 10.0.1 and it works for me again. It turns out the problem with those several 9.x versions had to do with VirtualBox, which is the virtualization container I use to run Windows within Linux. VMware apparently does not have the same iTunes compatibility issue, but I never used it much because it's even more closed than VirtualBox (VirtualBox has an open source edition).
But I very rarely use VirtualBox or anything else to run Windows these days. The iTunes issue started about the same time my patience for Windows completely dried up. With a Linux solution for digital music purchases in place, I see little reason to keep the VirtualBox Windows image around. I used to help track down issues affecting Windows users in the open source projects I'm involved with, but that train has sailed. I don't have the patience for Windows.
Low compression
August 07, 2010I promise the airplane performs better if you don't blow a hole in the cylinder.
After removal, you could plainly see the large crack from the exhaust valve seat to the upper spark plug bore; as well as another running from the forward edge of the cooling fins, through the head below the upper spark plug, and ending near the exhaust valve guide. But the pushrods weren't bent and the cowling wasn't damaged by the flying metal.
Blag
July 24, 2010It turns out regular blagging takes more effort than I thought it would. I see it's been a week already. Time fries, I guess.
I would add that I'm still happy with the switch to Ubuntu. I just plugged in my MP3 player to charge it and see what was on it. I reached for my open bash shell to see what device name had been given to the player when I noticed Rhythmbox had already started dutifully to import the songs for me. Danke sehr.
Inside the goat
July 17, 2010For the interested, I've written a draft to describe how the goat is made.
Good review for Qwest DSL
July 17, 2010The other day we had Qwest DSL installed at work, and I'd like to share that it was a positive experience. The installation and setup appointment was scheduled within a few days of the original call, and the technician set up the wireless router for us. He was friendly and professional, and made sure any questions were answered before leaving.
Thanks, Qwest.
Ubuntu One Music Store
July 11, 2010I've just made a purchase from the Ubuntu One Music Store using Rhythmbox and PayPal, and it was awesome. And certain files including music purchases are synchronized automatically between my Ubuntu computers by the Ubuntu One cloud. Excellent.
More Ubuntu
July 10, 2010If a little Ubuntu is good, more is better. Now I have Lucid Lynx (10.04) installed on both the netbook and the main computer. I installed the i386 distribution even though the hardware is amd64 because I just don't feel like dealing with some of the 64-bit issues any more. Granted the amd64 support in Linux has come a long way since I bought this hardware, I don't have the energy to chase down working Flash alternatives.
And iTunes can still eat dirt. You can buy DRM-free (that's right, no DRM) MP3 songs (that's right, MP3) from the Ubuntu One Music Store. Chew on that, iTunes.
Damn you, iTunes
July 05, 2010If you haven't upgraded to iTunes 9.2 on Windows yet, don't. It's broken just like 9.1 is.
Some people reported success by disabling the Bonjour service, but that didn't work for me. I had to wait for 9.1.1 to get iTunes working again. If reverting back to 9.1.1 works, I'm not trying to upgrade for a very long time. This is frustrating.
Note: going back to 9.1.1 did not help. I knew after the 9.1 fiasco I should have left 9.2 alone. I only wanted to pick up one song anyway, but no, I had to mess with it.
Ubuntu Linux
July 04, 2010I've been using Debian GNU/Linux for many years, and I'm mostly pleased with it on the desktop. But on the netbook, even following Debian's tips for the Acer Aspire One, I've never been completely satisfied with the installation. I had OpenSolaris on it at one point for grits and shiggles, but that didn't last too long when I couldn't get used to the way software packages are handled on that platform. The Atheros wireless chip was handled out of the box, though, and that was great. It was a pain to get that working with Debian at the time, but I think the madwifi drivers are now part of the kernel tree.
Today I decided to try Ubuntu Netbook Edition, using the live CD. The wireless chip came to life, video looked good, everything appeared to be in order. After a quick backup of some personal files, I let the installer go to work and wiped out the Debian installation. At the very least it's a nice change of scenery, but I think it will be more than that. Ubuntu may even end up on the main computer, too.
The new goat
July 04, 2010Happy birthday, brother. Happy birthday, USA.
The new goat is about ready to launch.
What's all this crap about goats? Well, you had to be there. And you have to know Major Tom. If you weren't there and you don't know him, I can't help you.
