Open-Source
Look out: Lucid Lynx
Mar 23rd
I’ve been expecting great things from Ubuntu. Here is the down-low: Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux that can be downloaded for free. It is open-source, meaning that it is designed to be greater with every additional user that contributes to coding, application development, etc. Not to mention there are no limits with what you can do — no secret processes running (ahem, “Trusted” Computing and Microsoft). The main thing holding me back from using it with my daily activities would be the hideous GUI (compared to OS X and Windows 7).
Not any longer. Lifehacker‘s recent post on Lucid Lynx contains screenshots that are mindblowing; they feature a new “Zune-themed” GUI, with a combination of purple, black, and orange touches. I really dig it.
Other than that, there a ton of features that should not be overlooked; new applications, new social networking capabilities, etc. I’ve only gotten a minor chance to look at this news, so by all means check it out! And download the VirtualBox image and test it for yourself (it can be found in the Lifehacker link).
For the cause. 
Better Playback and a New UI on your iPod Video 5.5G for Free: Rockbox
Apr 25th
My iPod Video 5.5G, which I got as a gift for Christmas a couple of years ago, has been good to me. It does what it was made to do — play music — very well, and it’s still playing videos and that nice game of Pong. However, there are times when I get bored with the relatively dull iPod UI, when I wish I had more games on it, or when I wish I could use my own equalizer settings to play my music the way I want to play it. The beauty of having a popular device, like the iPod Video 5.5G, is its community of dedicated hackers, working night and day to improve it. There are many alternatives to the original Apple firmware, but amongst the various ones, I believe that Rockbox is the most reputable and trusted, and also the one that appeals to me the most for its simplicity (sorry, iPod Linux).
Capabilities
Rockbox can do a boatload of things with the iPod that the original Apple firmware couldn’t — like using Windows Explorer to import music to your iPod (meaning you don’t have to go through iTunes to upload or download your music), more flexible customizability (you can tweak even the fonts you want to see), and a support for a huge variety of file formats (http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-h10_5gb/rockbox-buildap1.html). But amongst all these, I found the following to be the deciding factors for me:
1. Themes
There are 14 themes for the iPod Video in the Rockbox Themes Directory. Granted, a good portion of them don’t look too hot, but I think there at least one or two that are pretty eye-catching. It’s just a guess — since there used to be a lot more themes that looked a ton better — but I’m assuming that Rockbox developers removed them due to the lack of Album Art capabilities. Works fine for me. If themes are your major concern, then I’d consider using iPod Wizard to tweak the current iPod theme, and just leave Rockbox alone — but if you’re looking for more than just a theme change, read on.
2. Built-in Gameboy
What? You can play Gameboy on your iPod? Yes. For free. Rockbox can play Gameboy and Gameboy Color files by default (granted, Gameboy Color files might be a bit laggier if I’m not mistaken). All you have to do is a quick Google search for ‘Gameboy Color ROMs’ and a ton of results will pop up. I have two things to warn you about: these sites will be shady, and this is not legal if you didn’t already buy a version of the game. I’ve got a legitimate version of Pokemon Red, so I can play it on my iPod. By the way, always go with Charmander — I know it’s a pain in the ass to play against Brock and Misty, but it’ll pay off.
3. Equalizer
I think the factor that sealed the deal would be the built-in equalizer that Rockbox offers. Unlike the iPod default firmware, which only offers presets (such as ‘Bass Booster’), the Rockbox firmware offers pretty full equalizer that allows you to put more emphasis on different frequencies (I think that’s the word for it). A must-have feature for audiophiles or people that get really into their music (but if you were an audiophile, you’d already be ranting about the shortcomings of the iPod, so I can’t see why you’d have one — haha).
Installation
In the olden days, we had to drag and drop files that we downloaded and unzipped from our desktop to the iPod’s drive directory. Not anymore! With the release of Rockbox Utility, Rockbox is a lot simpler to install (not that it wasn’t simple before), so there’s really no need to write a tutorial (plus I don’t really enjoy writing tutorials that much — sorry folks, there are just too many pictures I have to create, then crop, then upload, and then link to — it’s a heck of a process just for a couple of graphics).
Take the Leap!
If you’re afraid because you haven’t done anything like this before, remember that you can always return to your old firmware via iTunes (the iPod System Restore comes in handy). It can be undone! Just remember — follow instructions to the word, don’t do anything stupid like pull out the iPod USB cord while transferring, and relax. But I’d like to say here that if you do manage to brick your iPod, I hold no responsibility for it.
Good luck.
Dream Come True: Google Android on the HTC Touch (Vogue)
Dec 11th
I could have only dreamed of this coming true — but here it is: the folks over at XDA-Developers (a bright bunch of people) have ported Google Android onto the HTC Touch (Vogue). Now I’m really not so sure why it’s called the HTC Vogue (probably differences in countries — Canada calls the Samsung Blackjack just the Samsung Jack), but that’s besides the point. Like…holy cow. It’s alive.
HTC Touch Vogue running Google Android
photo credit: Kai Hendry
Sure, it’s got a bunch of minor bugs and issues for now, but it’s still something to contemplate — once its issues and bugs are gone, I’m definitely going to have to give this a try.
Pimp Your Wii: Homebrew Apps Open Possibilities
Oct 29th
Never dreamed of the day you’d play a DVD on your Wii? How about playing any N64 game on your Wii, not just the ones on the WiiShop? And you don’t have to sell your soul for it? Not a chance, right? I was immediately interested.
Turns out there is a dedicated bunch of folks working on Homebrew firmware. Give me a minute before you start scoffing. Homebrew doesn’t necessarily mean crappy — I know that there aren’t too many great connotations associated with the word, but these people really know what they’re doing. Sure, it might screw up your Wii if you don’t do it right. I haven’t tried it yet either, but I’m planning on doing so once I get my hands on a copy of Twilight Princess (you need it to install the Homebrew). Once you install the Homebrew firmware (it will appear as a channel), there will be all sorts of applications you can “install” onto your Wii that will allow you to play DVD’s and even Gameboy on the Wii. Slick, right?
Once I get it up and running, I’ll be sure to introduce only the coolest apps. But for now, just wanted to throw it out there and thank the developers for creating an alternative. Thanks, guys!
A New Hope: Songbird 0.7
Sep 8th
I’ve always had trouble picking media player software. The issue with iPod support always made things much more difficult — I’m more fond of Windows Media Player 11, but iTunes had the iPod support, and thus I usually opened iTunes anyway. Problem with iTunes is that there was no free alternative — sure, I could’ve had access to my iPod in Windows Media Player 11 — if I paid $30 for an extra plug-in. I had looked at View.tv recently, but that had no album art. And what is life without album art?
Buzz around the latest Songbird 0.7 beta release grew, and I was interested. I did my research — and it had iPod support! I checked out some screenshots, and it looked comparable to iTunes. Little did I know that when I installed Songbird, I’d never turn back. I’m not writing a full review, but if you’re interested in some, here are a couple (surprisingly few):
- http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080822-hands-on-singing-along-with-songbird-0-7.html
- http://cybernetnews.com/2008/08/04/songbird-07-ditches-the-black-theme/
What I loved most about Songbird, similar to Firefox, was its add-ons. It does look great by default, as did View.tv. They both have iPod support. Neither had album art. Alas, that’s where the similarities end — with View.tv, you’re screwed. With Songbird, you’ve got the Album Art Manager, MediaFlow, and a truckload of other options that make up for its default setbacks. This, my co-op supervisor taught me, was the beauty of open-source: basically, as long as its got a fanbase and support, the sky’s the limit.
Reminds me of a certain media player, but I just can’t put my finger on it.
The main screen: an almost refreshingly basic view. To be honest, I’d prefer iTunes’ view by album, but I’m hoping for an extension that will solve that. Haha. Er, as for 50 Cent, all I can say is that was from a long time ago. I’m really not used to Songbird’s location of the Play button, but I guess it’ll grow on me naturally as iTunes did.
A built-in browser just for extensions. Beautiful, ain’t it?
Songbird’s got a built-in browser that is used for easy-installation of extensions. Seriously, they’re just as easy to install as Firefox extensions are. I’ve got to give kudos — after all, it’s still in beta.
And after downloading and installing our add-on, and restarting Songbird…
Mediaflow: Watch out, Coverflow!
I remember seeing a WPF Application for a Coverflow compatible with Windows Media Player 11 — although that was experimental and way long ago. I’ve since given up the dream. Alas, hope is not lost, and we’ve got the Mediaflow extension for Songbird. Isn’t she so perdy? If only the Album Art Manager could find all my album art…actually, it’s not fault of Album Art Manager, as its built-in feature that allows it to automatically download album art off Amazon is absolutely ingenius. My kudos to you, creator of Album Art Manager. You too, creator of Mediaflow. I can’t tell you how pleased I am, with iTunes: I almost forgot, but I had to manually grab the album art myself (until I became an iTunes customer).
I really hope Songbird becomes popular with the masses — for the sake of progression, and the benefit of all mankind. I really can’t see a reason for it to fail. I’ve only taken a look at its extensions: I haven’t even mentioned its compatibility with Last.fm, its lyrics feature, and the other themes out there. Not to mention it’s still in beta. I’m truly excited for Songbird 1.0 to come out — but with Songbird 0.7 already providing such stiff competition, we can only look forward to more innovative and powerful products from Microsoft and Apple to compete. Beautiful.
- Download Link: http://www.getsongbird.com/
- Songbird Blog: http://blog.songbirdnest.com/
Get Ready to cut Cable TV: A Look at Miro
Aug 29th
I’ve always been an advocate for cutting subscription costs out of my life: I guess I just don’t like the idea of having to constantly pay for a service — which won’t be there when you run out of money. The only essential I’ve never really even considered cutting was cable TV, perhaps because there’s really nothing like it. At least, there wasn’t — before Miro was introduced.
Miro is an application that is reminiscent of PVR: using the Miro Guide, you can subscribe to channels that you want to watch. Episodes will be downloaded regularly via RSS feeds, and quality is not compromised because the actual video is being downloaded, not streamed. Download speeds are impressive for me, but will depend on your Internet service’s download speed. The best part about having the videos downloaded is the ability to play them more than once and pause them when you need to. Just like PVR.
The GUI is impressively laid out: very simple, and colourful, but without overdoing it. The word I’d like to bring out is “pleasant” — in fact, it somewhat reminds me of Mac OS X’s GUI a bit.
The Search function also contributes to Miro’s wow-factor: it allows you to download videos from YouTube, Veoh, and other video sites. However, as of version 1.2, it was a bit slow when reloading different searches. The search function does allow you to save the results as a Channel though, interestingly enough.
And the videos: there is quality, and much potential. However, at the moment, the shows are somewhat less mainstream: I would expect that eventually, mainstream shows like Heroes and even music videos and all will be put on Miro, just as Joost is proceeding to do. Still, there’s plenty of fun and games with Boing Boing TV, GeekBrief, and even National Geographic.
I know I had taken an earlier look at Miro, but I totally felt like it deserved a second revealing. Alright, I’ll admit it: I forgot that I had already looked at Miro (grins sheepishly). Still, it’s a great piece of software and totally out of Beta, so you should give it a try! If you’ve got the storage and the Internet speed, then what are you waiting for?
Downloading and Installing Ubuntu 8.04
Jun 13th
The downloading and installation of a new operating system is definitely a major hill to overcome, mainly because of information overload. All of a sudden, you have to know about .iso files, bootloaders, burning software, partitions, and a ton of other jargon. With Ubuntu, you don’t need to worry about any of that. In fact, with a virtual CD/DVD drive, you don’t even need to worry about burning to a CD or DVD and choosing software.
If you really want to, Canonical (the corporate force behind Ubuntu) will send you a free CD, but the wait is 6-10 weeks. Don’t do it – rather, download Ubuntu from any server located near you. I used the Michigan server, but I believe that they’re all pretty fast. I was receiving speed rates peaking at around 700kb/s – the whole 600MB download finished in less than half an hour (I’d know, I was watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at the time). If you don’t have speedy Internet, you can just leave the computer on while you go to work or sleep and have Ubuntu download while you spend time elsewhere. That’s half the battle. Onto the fortress of installation!
Usually, installation is an easy battle with Windows – click a few buttons, check the Terms & Conditions, wait a bit. But with many distributions of Linux, there are text-based installers and command lines – and you don’t want to open the can of worms. Ubuntu is different; it uses the Wubi installer, making installation no more difficult than a regular piece of software. You can actually burn the Ubuntu .iso file you downloaded to a CD or DVD, and then stick it into your computer. You don’t have to reboot or shut down, just stick it in like you would a normal CD, and run it. Click a few buttons. Wait a while. Ubuntu will automatically begin installation and prompt a reboot – which will then continue the setup, provided you choose to boot into Ubuntu and not Windows XP or Vista by accident.
As the tech consumer’s blogger, I’m obligated to find an absolutely free method to installing Ubuntu – so put that Loonie or dollar bill away, folks – we won’t need a CD or DVD. Simply navigate your way to the ocean of Daemon and pull out your Excalibur – Daemon Tools Lite. Basically, what Daemon Tools does is mount the .iso file into a virtual CD or DVD drive. For example, if you had a Starcraft .iso, you could run the game just on your computer – without the physical CD required (I’ll let you decide whether that’s legal or not). Thus, following this principle, we can mount the Ubuntu .iso file and run it just like that. Usually, this scenario would not have worked with other Ubuntu versions, as they need a rebooting which means deactivating Daemon Tools along with your computer. But, because Ubuntu 8.04 allows for a simple installation within Windows, then you will be able to mount .iso file right from Windows. Read on, because the battle’s almost won.
When prompted to reboot, please save any other work you might’ve been working on and do so. After booting up, you will have the option of either loading Windows Vista/XP or Ubuntu (I used Windows Vista, but I’m not completely sure about XP – I’ll assume that they have similar booting options). Boot into Ubuntu and allow the setup to continue. Fifteen minutes later, you will have Ubuntu 8.04 working right on your computer – the whole process will probably take an hour, so I’d suggest turning on the TV, grabbing a book or playing some video games – just make sure the computer’s close by, because there will be some buttons that still need to be clicked.
Ubuntu: A Window to Open-Source
Jun 7th
Choosing a reliable, stable, and yet sensational operating system nowadays is hard work. There’s the alternative of paying a high premium for Apple’s Macintosh just for OS X Leopard; alas, for the budget consumer, there really is only two options: Windows or Linux. Team Windows is alluring in the sense that it can run on all PC’s, provide a genuine GUI experience without prior knowledge of coding, and is relatively affordable to purchase. On the other side of the court, we have Team Linux, the team with a content penguin for a mascot. While Linux is known for its ability to be indefinitely customized via commands and code, it is the very same ability that turns mainstream users off. Rather, it’s the required knowledge in coding and commands.
I’m no Linux fanatic – in fact, I had tried Ubuntu 7.04 on a virtual PC before. It was unimpressive – there were problems connecting to the Internet, and worse yet: the standard-aspect resolution didn’t fit the widescreen display on my laptop. For crying out loud, I couldn’t even figure out how to install Flash or those Windows fonts because the bloody tutorials gave me some code I couldn’t understand.
However, lately, I’ve been thinking of switching back to Ubuntu for a variety of reasons:
- I needed a new environment to get away from my formal work where I could perform some research – on anything and everything, from holistic learning to customizing Ubuntu.
- I wasn’t pleased when Vista’s Aero – which does look pretty, in my opinion – was turned off by Java to revert to Vista’s Basic theme. Sorry, I’m picky.
- I wanted to try Ubuntu to take advantage of the open-source liberty: free, both price-wise and limit-wise.
- My Co-op supervisor encouraged me to cultivate my interest in open-source technology – which I did, a bit too much. I had discovered Ubuntu 8.04 was released; this release was apparently a major one that finally featured a display manager and simple installation.
I took the jump – and I reaped the rewards. No driver installation – everything just works. I know this must be weird to hear, because typically OS X or Windows would convey such an image, as opposed to Linux. In the following series of posts, I will show you what I absolutely love about Ubuntu – but also, why I can’t uninstall Windows Vista yet.
1. Download & Installation of Ubuntu 8.04
2. The major issue: command knowledge and why you don’t need it to use Ubuntu.
3. GUI: ordinarily simple, but can be pushed to look much smoother and more modern.
4. Work: a lack of fonts, but otherwise online documents and Open Office make up for it.
5. Play: iPod Connection? Tons of free games – amongst my favourites are Gnotris.
6. Customization: Hack ubuntu, please.
7. Support: community support works!
8. Try it in reality, not virtually – it doesn’t do it justice and takes away from the Ubuntu experience.
Here’s some motivation to get you moving; a screenshot of the beautiful Ubuntu. Its visual effects are actually somewhat reminiscent of those of Mac OS X’s – speaking of which, is actually based on Linux FreeBSD, another UNIX-like operating system. Take that.
Download it here: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download