The Four-eyed Journal » open-source

Becoming an Android fanboy

jhay — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:06 +0000

GPS set my home city to Manila even though Tagaytay City was much closer.

After a week of being away from this blog, I am now writing this update, well at least the draft, via WordPress for Android. Yes, that means that I am now an Android user, specifically by way of my newest gadget, an LG Optimus One phone.

Picked this baby up last Friday at Fone Style Accessories at SM Bacoor for just 11k. It’s the third day I’m using the LG Optimus One and there has been not a single moment that I regretted choosing it over the BlackBerry Curve 8520, which was my first choice after deciding that I would finally upgrade to a smartphone.

There are a lot of good phones running on Android nowadays so why I chose the LG Optimus One? The price-point was one of the top reasons, the 11,000 I forked over was money well spent. Running on Android version 2.2 or Froyo, while not the latest version, the LG Optimus One is already a good investment on its own.

However, what made the deal for me was the phone’s close integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps. Being a heavy user of Google Apps, the Optimus One was heaven-sent. My email and events are now easily managed from the tips of my fingers everywhere I go.

I tried to do the same thing with my SE K800i but the whole task was tedious, clumsy and did not work most of the time. After setting up and syncing my Google Apps accounts with the Optimus One, I installed Springpad which allows for easy note-taking while on the go. Taking notes might not be that fun an experience on a mobile phone but it’s the opposite on the Optimus One. It sometimes just beckons me to write down ideas that pop in my mind.

Another cool thing that I really like about the Optimus One is that it’s now become an extension of my notebook which runs on Ubuntu Linux 11.04. Both are Linux-based and open-source taking my open-source lifestyle on a full circle. In the following weeks, I’ll brave the attempt of writing my own Android app for more open-source immersion and goodness.

However, for all the great and awesome things I like about the Optimus One there are two things that I do not. First is Android’s battery usage issue. One day of actively using the phone to surf the web, send out tweets, download and install apps would easily drain the battery and thus requiring a battery charge every day.

The second thing is the Optimus One’s not-so-appealing headset. The construction and materials of the headset that came with the phone looked like LG didn’t put that much attention and thought to this element of the kit.

Overall though, I’m very much happy with the LG Optimus One. A feature-packed, Android-based smart phone that wouldn’t break the bank.

SPlayer – a worthy replacement for VLC - It even downloads matching subtitles for your movies

jhay — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:49:43 +0000

For so long, those who ditched Windows Media Player have used VLC as their default program for watching virtually every video file format out there. Simply because Windows Media Player sucks.

So ever since I was introduced to VLC more than four years ago, it’s also been the default video player on my PC. Though over the years, VLC has somehow become slow, bloated and crashed more often, especially when I skip ahead to scenes I like in a movie or video.

My secondary media player was GOM player, another free player that can be at par with VLC in terms of the wide range of formats in can play. Though it takes up less system resources compared to VLC, it doesn’t have the same set of features.

So I was looking for a media player that is free, has the same range of capabilities and features as VLC but with the light system footprint of GOM player.

I thank Ade for posting a link to SPlayer on Facebook, I’ve found what I’ve been looking for.

SPlayer - it's as flexible as VLC but as light as GOM player. (Click for larger view)

It’s sleek and modern interface is like embedding video from YouTube or Vimeo right on your desktop. It’s also free and open-source, which is always a great thing.

SPlayer does everything its official website says it does. Just control the grammar nazi inside of you when you visit and read the English texts because it seems that SPlayer is made in China, err by Chinese developers. I could be wrong though.

It plays HD video with great clarity. It even added more volume and clarity to audio of my copy of The Matrix, whereas with VLC, I had to plugin external speakers to my laptop just to hear the Morpheus dish out shit about religion and existentialism.

SPlayer is indeed light on system resources, starts faster and loads videos faster than VLC. The best part about it, is it automatically downloads a matching subtitle for your movie. That’s right, it does it on its own, saving you the annoying task of scrounging around the web for the right subtitle for your movie.

Take it for a spin, it’s a small 4.44Mb download and I’m sure you’d enjoy it.

Neo FreeRunner – iPhone for Linux fans

jhay — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:50:47 +0000

Despite the negative feedback, qualms and criticisms on the iPhone 3G from its price and cut-throat contract to its technical specs, I’ve read that some experts say that it will perform well and rake in more money for Apple. Why so? It’s from Apple, it’s an iPhone. Somehow, Apple has managed to imbued it with a tiny parcel of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field that it makes consumers shell out huge wads of money and surrender their souls to the devil, as some would say.

Love it or hate it, the iPhone is here to stay and make its huge mark in our times. It already has.

Fortunately, there are lots of other alternatives to the iPhone, from the well-known mobile giants like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others. Each has their own loyal fan base and so far, the principles of the free market economy are keeping things from being a complete anarchy.

But here’s one particular iPhone alternative that would appeal to a special fan base. The Linux zealots.

Enter OpenMoko’s open-source smartphone: Neo FreeRunner

The FreeRunner is based on a GNU/Linux, and it will initially ship with basic software to make calls, send and receive SMS, and manage contacts. But the company is encouraging users to write and install their own applications. (InformationWeek)

It’s technical specs are:

Size and Weight

4.75 x 2.44 x 0.73 inches
6.5 ounces (185 grams)

Display

Touch Screen
2.8″ VGA (480×640) VGA Screen

Speed

ARM9 @ 400 MHz
2D/3D Graphics Acceleration

GSM

Tri band 850/1800/1900 MHz
Tri band 900/1800/1900 MHz

Power

Removable 1200 mAh battery

Memory

128MB SDRAM
256MB NAND Flash
microSD Slot

Input and Output

Input and Output
2.5 mm audio jack
GPS external connector

Hardware Highlights

Wi-Fi (802.1 1b/g)
AGPS
GPRS (2.5G not EDGE)
Bluetooth 2.0
3axis Motion Sensors (2)

Software Highlights

Openmoko GNU/Linux-based
100% FOSS on CPU
GNU/Linux development tools

For now, it’s only available, or will work in US networks and is selling at $399 unlocked. It’s basically a smartphone platform for Linux fans and the open-source community to play around on or seriously develop applications that would further create tons of potential for the mobile platform and even the Linux desktop as well.

I wonder though, if and when would this be available here in the Philippines? I’m sure local Linux fanboys would love to tinker with this new phone.

My Ubuntu CDs have arrived

jhay — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:09:26 +0000

I’ve been down with the colds and school work, the usual culprit as to why this blog has been rather idle this past few days.

Also, this blog sports a new custom with lots of nifty features of which I’ll be talking about more in a later post. So please bear with me if the front page looks a bit pale and untidy.

Last night when I got home, my mother told me a package has arrived for me. Curious I was because I wasn’t expecting anything to come through the mail, though I’ve been anxious about my TLA check for October. It’s almost the end of November and it usually should have arrived last week. Hopefully, it wasn’t lost or worse, stolen.

Moving on, the package I’m talking about as mentioned by this post’s title is my 10 CDs of Ubuntu Linux ver 7.10. I requested for them almost two weeks ago and I’m quite surprised it arrived so soon. This is compared to my other requests of Ubuntu CDs before which took almost two months before arriving at my doorstep. Many many thanks to Canonical and the Ubuntu community!

The package contained the usual open-source goodness. Ten CDs of Ubuntu 7.10 and two sticker sets to spread and leave my Ubuntu mark. It was very tempting to jump right in and install Gutsy Gibbon but it was already very late in the night and I really need to recover lots of sleep and rest so I postponed this geek-fest until this Saturday. Why not tomorrow when it’s a holiday? Tomorrow is the birthday anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, and to commemorate his great memory and deeds, I’ll be attending a forum organized by Anakbayan tomorrow at Philippin Christian University – Dasmariñas. More about this after the event itself of course.

Going back, I also plan to install Ubuntu 7.10 on a separate hard drive so as to improve my PCs performance and for it to act as secondary drive to store or archive my precious data. We all know that with Windows, you’re always one BSoD away from disaster.

So right now, I’ll scour the net for good and reliable tutorials on how to dual-boot a system using XP and Ubuntu on separate physical hard drives. Though I have a rough and general idea on how to achieve this, based on my previous practice of dual-booting XP + Ubuntu on a single drive. Still, one can never be too careful. I’m confident that the ever-warm and loving Ubuntu community forums will be of great help.

Does anyone know of a good tutorial or how-to on how to do this? Do drop me a line in the comments below. Of course, I’ll document the entire process this coming Saturday. But first, I need to get a new hard drive, which is another story for another time.

Woot! Just ordered a Linux T-shirt!

jhay — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:55:01 +0000

One of the coolest things I could do thanks to blogging and the extra money it has earned me besides helping with the school expenses is to order things over the web. It’s a kind of ego-boost knowing that something that was once reserved for the elite would be accessible to commoner like my self, and at that I wish that every one else could do just the same.

Going back on topic, I’m talking about the second online purchase I made in my entire life, the first one was a set of small Moleskine notebooks, it is a “Linux User Ako Shirt” by tekingnoypi.com

Check it out,

Is it not one of the coolest things you could ever own?! I just confirmed my order and I’ll pay for it this weekend.

Wish though they had an Ubuntu Linux-flavored shirt that would be even cooler. Still, it’s open-source, and it’s Linux!

Can’t wait for it to arrive at my doorsteps!