Modified Qtpfsgui 1.9.1 is up

I think I have corrected the issues with the first OSX version of qtpfsgui 1.9.1. There is a new disk image at sourceforge now, please go grab it and create some nice images :)

Take care

Apology: align_image_stack and qtpfsgui

Hi folks,

I am so sorry, but I managed to put the wrong align_image_stack binary into the disk image for qtpfsgui v. 1.9.1. I have a working binary on my computer (but obviously I had more than one...). The version in there now will crach and burn.

I will create a new disk image as soon as I can, hopefully today. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Take care

Qtpfsgui 1.9.1 is out!

Hi folks,

I managed to build the 1.9.1 a bit quicker than the 1.9.0 :) Hopefully, the problems with align_image_stack is resolved with this version, I haven't had the time yet to test it myself. User-experiences are welcome!

Take care.

Qtpfsgui 1.9.0 update

Just a short notice - there was a minor problem with the first 1.9.0 dmg I uploaded to sourceforge. A library that is not included on either Tiger or Leopard (as far as i know) by Apple, was dynamically linked into the app. I have now uploaded a new dmg where the libintl library (which was the problem) is statically linked into the qtpfsgui app.

Hope this fix some problems! Userreports are welcome, as always.

Take care.

Qtpfsgui 1.9.0 for Mac

I have managed to sort out most of the issues with Qtpfsgui 1.9.0 on Mac, and have uploaded a diskimage to sourceforge.

Please note:

• This version of qtpfsgui is not universal, you have to use an intel-based Mac.
  
• You should get the latest Qt from trolltech, at least if you run into problems
• I had some issues when testing autoalign features in the binary. I'm thankful for user-reports!

So, go ahead over to sourceforge, and grab the new qtpfsgui, and tell me what it can do for you!

Take care.

MacVim binary for Leopard

Some time ago, I build a binary of MacVim for Leopard, as I couldn't find one online. I suggested that I could make it available online if someone is in the need, but didn't got any requests until now.

As I now got a request, my build of MacVim is available! The version of vim in this build is 7.1.156. So far, that's good enough for me. If I upgrade later on, I'll provide a new diskimage! The binary was build on a MacBook Pro running Leopard. I have not made any attempt making a universal binary, so dependent on how the default build of MacVim is set up, it may or may not work on a powerpc.

If you find it useful, feel free to drop me a comment!

Take care,

Qtpfsgui news!

Hi folks! I have some good news for those of you who awaits the 1.9.0 release of Qtpfsgui for Mac OSX. For a long time I have had problems compiling the dependencies as I have moved to Leopard. Today, I finally got everything running, and will put a diskimage of the app on sourceforge quite soon. I just have to clean up a few things (dcraw and auto align stuff).

There is one caveat, though. I had to let my aim of doing a universal build go. For some reason, I am not able to compile the exiv2 library as a universal binary, which make it impossible for me to create a universal qtpfsgui. So if there still are PPC folks out there, you have to look elsewhere for a qtpfsgui. As I have very little time for this project right now, it might take a while before I look into the universal exiv2 again.

Take care!

Update on Nokia N82

This will be a short post! I said I was impressed with the performance of the N82 after just a few days use. I am still impressed. It's the best phone I ever had, hands down. It's that "just works" feeling. It almost never go in deep freeze (I can't remember now if it actually have happend at all?). Even the GPS works fine. I have used it for navigation a few times, and it helped me to get where I needed to be.

Is it perfect? No, there is no such thing! The only thing I don't like is the keyboard. It is not comfortable to type on. The result is that I rarely write more than a few words at a time. A long email is out of question, at least it has to be extremely urgent. Most of the time I have the Oqo at hand to deal with such situations.

I have seen complaints about battery life on this device, but I don't think it's a big deal. The device is very powerful, so it consumes energy in big chunks. Still, I get it to last a couple of days, even more if I have to. I think this is what we have to expect.

For me, the N82 and the E61i combined will be the perfect device right now. Or an iPhone with similar specs. Let's dream on.

If someone wonder what happend to the TyTN II, I can tell you it died just a few days after I handed it our to my boss. Suddenly, the keys - all of them - stopped working.
It's in for repair, but it doesn't look good for HTC.

Take care, folks!

Nokia N82 in the house!

I now have the Nokia N82! So far I am impressed. It is a very capable device. The camera is so much better than the E61i, the GPS works very well, and the HSDPA network is nice (and dangerous because of my dataplan). Besides that the device function very much as the E61i which I liked very much. From time to time I miss the keyboard of the E61i, but I have to give it more time to conclude.

The HTC TyTN II is now passed on to a colleague of mine. It worked relatively stable, I just had to reboot it a couple of times. The camera was not as good as on the first TyTN, but still much better than the E61i. I keyboard have an awkward feel - you're not certain you pressed the key, so from time to time I pressed twice by accident. The keyboard on the E61i is much better, but the TyTN II (as the first TyTN) is much more comfortable to hold in your hands.

While the TyTN II works much better than the first TyTN, at least in this short time I have used it, it is still not a device for me. I blame the OS most, but probably have to blame my willingness to adapt as well! More important though, is the fact that the TyTN II and the Oqo O2 is to close in functionallity. I chose to go for a smaller phone and the Oqo O2. Maybe I'll try to get my hands on the Nokia N810 as well, I think that will be a better inbetween device than the Oqo.

One last thing about the TyTN II. The GPS device and the Tomtom software works quite well. Together with the assisted GPS software that get some info from the internet to precondition the GPS, it very quickly locks in and starts showing correct location. I have one small nit though. First time you boot Tomtom you can select and download one free city. I, of course, downloaded Oslo, Norway, as this is where I live. But I got the impression that I could download other cities so far. So, when I traveld to Berlin last week, I thought I just could pay a few $10's and download Berlin. That proved not to be possible. I could have bought the full Western Europe for like $60. Problem was that this was a 1GB download - at the time I figured that out it was too late for such a big download over my ADSL, I would have been on the plane long before it could have finished. So I had to stay in Berlin using the old style maps. This was not as flexible as it should have been!

Stay tuned, I'll report on the Nokia N82 soon!

MacVim on Leopard

I had some issues with the Gvim from Macvim.org, related to the python-version linked in that version of Vim. There is also a version of vim delivered with MacOSX Leopard, but that version does not have the python bindings.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered the MacVim at http://code.google.com/p/macvim/, and when I discovered the python-issues today I figured I could try that vim. Unfortunately, the binary that is available there is built against python2.3 (Tiger), and I like to use the python2.5 on Leopard. Luckily, there are some nice instructions in the wikipages! Without much trouble, I was able to build my very own Leopard MacVim with python2.5.

If someone need a binary, just tell me - I can share!

Btw, if you wonder why I wanted a vim with python2.5, check this page: http://djcraven5.blogspot.com/2006/10/send-gmail-message-from-vim.html. Now I have libgmail in my python2.5 environment, a python2.5 enabled MacVim, and I can send email right from my editor. Neat!

I'm still here!

I have been kind of quiet lately. The main reason is probably that my wife and I have another child to take care of - those folks who follows me closely know that we got anoterh daughter on 8. october. She is sweet and cute and sleeps almost all day, as common for babies. Still, with more kids there will be some more work to do, and while we adapt to the new situations, there will be a bit less writing.

I have some things that I will write up on as soon as time permits. On the Oqo O2, I am testing Windows Vista now. I had some issues with linux, and wanted to test Vista such that I can make a fair comparision. I have run Vista for a full month now, and will write up on that. On friday I also got a brand new HTC TyTN II. This is a Windows Mobile version 6 device, and a nice followup to the HTC TyTN I have used in the past. I will check back on my earlier notes on the TyTN and see if this one is better. I am not supposed to keep this device for myself, as I just check it out for one of the bosses at Simula Research Lab. But that depends of course. If it's bad, I have to keep it, while if it is just good enough, I let the boss have it. If I enjoy the device very much, I buy another one for the boss and keep this one myself ;0

I am also awaiting the new Nokia N82, and will review that device when I get it.

One of the really bad things with the Nokia E61i is the camera. If the camera in TyTN II is close to that in the original TyTN, I might restart my photo-a-day project which I just closed down when the TyTN died as the E61i was just to bad.

I will be back soon! Take care.

Was I dreaming?

Some time ago I read about the new Sony Ericsson K850 phone. From what I remember, the phone was supposed to have edge, 3G and super-3G radio, and maybe even wifi. In additionit has a nice camera and other goodies. But maybe it was just a dream? Now the phone is in the stores. And from what I can tell there is no edge and no super-3G. Come on, Sony Ericsson - data connectivity is important to lots of folk these days. Even for uploading those 5megapixel pictures. And there are still lots of places with poor 3G coverage, so edge is still quite handy.

I was really hoping that the K850 could have been the phone that brought me back to Sony Ericsson, the brand I liked so much in the past. But there are too many errors with it now that it is on the market. So I think I just stay with the Nokia E61i for a while, or I switch to a N95 since I have the Oqo O2 for the occasions I need a keyboard.

Was I dreaming, or was the spec of the K850 changed on the official Sony Ericsson pages at some point in time?

[Update 27.10.2007:] According to reviews on Norwegian it/phone sites (amobil.no), the K850 actually got both Edge and super-3g. So I wasn't dreaming after all. I have to rush to the store to get one...

Ink blogging

Gartner: No New Unix Apps to Emerge After 2009

Gartner: No New Unix Apps to Emerge After 2009
This was a really strange post - to the extent that I really want to comment on it.

What is the definition of Unix? As far as most of the world is conserned, there is no such thing? You have HP-UX, I don't see that going away that soon. Then you have AIX which will probably stay with us for some years. Solaris, Irix, and probably a few more - some are quite dead, others live. If you make an app for any if these, wouldn't that be a unix application.

More important, you have MacOSX which is very much Unix. And you have all the freenixes, including Linux. For all practical purposes, you make an Unix app when you create anything for one of these platforms. I know that there are certain archaic rules that must be fullfilled before an operating system can get the label Unix, but when it comes to the applications, these days it usually only takes a recompile to get your app on one of those if you program with portability in mind.

Ah, enough. The original writer probably live in a Microsoft world and don't have a clue. It's Gartner after all. And I just wanted to write something tonight...

Ikke min oppgave, men noe må da lagres...

For de som ikke aner hva nam er, og heller ikke kjører mc, les videre eller gå et annet sted. Av og til faller noen utsagn i baren som bare bør tas vare på. Jeg er vel kjent med at dette er en oppgave som egentlig tilligger andre, og jeg er stort sett bare en lurker i baren. Men allikevel, noen utsagn må jeg bare lagre. 10. September finner altså Morten det for godt å uttrykke:

Søndag var jeg ute for å ta en liten tur. Nesten den første vårturen. Det viser seg at jeg har glemt å kjøre noe særlig i år. Faktisk har det så vidt jeg husker bare blitt en t/r til jobben etter at jeg skiftet batteri i vår.

Vel, vrir rundt nøkkelen og ser med glede at jeg har nok strøm på batteriet til å få lys i den røde dioden som sier at jeg har nok olje. Jeg prøver om lyset virker, og får da nullstilt instrumentpanelet. Heldigvis er Aprilia 250 uten startmotor. Den røde dioden klarer ikke å
holde på lyset samtidig som coilene skal få strøm, men den starter da likevel. Etter en grundig marinering av garasjen i totaksolje og uforbrentbensin kommer jeg meg avgårde.

Ned til bensinstasjonen for å få litt luft i dekkene, sjekker at bremsene fortsatt virker og at ikke drittungene har skrudd styredemperen min helt til. Ut på tur.

Ikke lenge etter at jeg kommer meg ut på veien legger jeg merke til at temperaturmåleren til kjølevannet viser litt rare verdier. Må RS250 er det en gammel myte som sier at kjølevannet bør ligge rundt 68 grader, og hvert fall ikke utenfor 60-75 grader. Detter krever en del tape på
radiatoren for å passe til varierende værforhold. Denne tappingen er noe man ikke skal holde på med alt for lenge uten at det blir litt hysterisk. Uansett - Responsen på kjølevanntempen er ganske rask. Kjører man opp en bratt bakke stiger den fort noen grader. Ute på E18 legger
jeg plutselig merke til at tempen nå er helt oppe i 83 grader. Jeg ventet at det var litt kaldere nå enn ved første tur i vår, så før start hadde jeg lagt en stripe tape midt på radiatoren. Kunne det ha blitt alt for mye tape? Så la jeg merke til at kjølevannstempen nå var blitt enda
mer følsom for hvor hardt motoren arbeider. Jeg gir bare litt gass, så fyker tempen opp mot 87-88 grader. Så slipper jeg opp, og raskt synker den ned mot 70 grader. Jeg vurderer raskt situasjoen og kommer på at David en gang hadde litt samme problem en gang han hadde luft på radiatoren. Det blir ikke ordentlig gjennomstrømning, så da kjører man jo nærmest uten kjøling. Det kan vel neppe være veldig bra, så jeg bestemmer meg for å kjøre inn på nærmeste bensinstasjon. I det jeg skal ta av legger jeg merke til at tempen nå er helt nede i 50 - urovekkende. Samtidig snur jeg hodet til høyre for å se i dødvinkelen. I det hodet vris tilbake sveiper øynene over det høyre lcd-panelet. Med litt liten skrift står det 67, en liten sirkel og så en C. Dette tyder på at tempen står på høyre lcd-panel og ikke på venstre. Ved nærmere inspeksjon ser detut til at det står km/h bak det store tallet på venstre lcd-panel.

Moralen er: Husk å lese bruksanvisningen før hver gang man opererer kjøretøyet.

(klippet verbatim fra no.alt.motorsykler, bare editert formatering og en opplagt trykkleif).

Hugin auto-align in Qtpfsgui

I am still working on the interface to the align_image_stack program in Qtpfsgui. The maintainer of the OSX-port of Hugin, Ippei Ukay, has been so kind to provide us with a statically linked version of the program that at least work quite well on my computers. I have some issues with making Qtpfsgui picking up the location of the binary automatically, but for now you can download the binary here, and place it in a directory usually in your PATH environment. The directory /usr/local/bin may be a good place to store it, but if that does not work put it in /usr/bin. Qtpfsgui v.1.8.12 should then be able to find and use the align_image_stack program.

[edit:] Remark, after you download the align_image_stack binary, you need to set the executable bit on the file. Open a Terminal and do 'sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/align_image_stack' (assuming you placed the file in /usr/bin).

In the future, the Hugin image aligner will be included with Qtpfsgui, so no extra work should be required to use it - I hope!

[edit2:] You may as well download the align_image_stack binary inside a zip-file - by popular request!
Take care

Two weeks with Ubuntufied Oqo O2

I have now spent about 2 weeks with Oqo O2, and most of that time with Ubuntu installed, so I guess it is time for a status update. I'll focus on the Linux issues with the device as other people are raving about how great the Oqo is - like folks over on gottabemobile.com and other places. I agree with all the positive comments, and like to emphasize that it's truly a portable computer - I carry it with me to places I didn't brought my other computers in the past. Which was the main point of buying it.

As I wrote in the previous post on the topic, Ubuntu works on the Oqo O2, and it works great too. As I have mentioned in a previous post, it take some effort to get there, though, but it is worth it. There are also a few things that still does not work, which I will mention further down in the post. But let's start with the stuff that works.

• Wireless network. Oqo O2 have an Atheros chipset for Wifi of the abg-kind. Ubuntu detects and set this up out of the box, using the ath_pci kernel driver. Remark that the restricted-modules kernel add-on must be installed, as the closed source firmware for the radio is in that package. Usually, reception seems to be on the bad side when looking at the bar-chart in the panel that indicates signal strength. But in practice I don't have any problem with the network connection. My guess is that power is turned down a bit to save the battery. But that is just a guess, and I don't know if it is possible to crank up the power in some way. And as I said, it has not been a problem so far.
• Bluetooth works without any problem. It is some kind of chip set attached to the usb bus, it shows up in the output of lsusb -v. The bluetooth support on Linux is still not perfect, like when I wanted to attach the iGo stowaway keyboard, I needed to edit some config files (according to howtos found online) - there is room for improvement. Now, I like to edit those files so it is not a problem for me personally. But it is a problem when it comes to acceptance of Linux among Joe average user.
  
• Keyboard. The Oqo O2 have quite a lot of special keys, which you get by using the Fn function key in combination with other keys. This includes screen brightness and volume adjustments and back lit keyboard. Most of these keys do work Linux. Some keys that don't work are screen rotation and zoom in/out buttons. I don't care much about those things anyway, but being able to remap the keys to something else would have been nice. So far, I haven't figured that out.
  
• Power management. CPU frequency scaling works great in Linux, and so does the speed scaling for the fan. These mean that most of the time I can run on 25% CPU speed and have the fan running on a low speed causing very little noise. And when I need more juice, the system responds quite fast.
• As far as I can tell, the Oqo O2 don't have a speaker. If it is there, I can't turn it on at least. But headphones can be plugged in to hear sound. I installed the audio driver for linux from www.viaarena.com (but not sure it is needed, as it took me a while to realize that I had to plug in headphones). I have not tested stereo bluetooth sound yet, as I don't own such headset yet. But I plan to aquire one such that I can test this - I think this will be a great plus in combination with thje Oqo.
• For graphics, I have tested a few different drivers. I have tested the drivers from viaarena, the OpenChrome driver from openchrome.org, as well as the via-driver in both Ubuntu feisty and Ubuntu gutsy (still in alfa stage). I have so far ended up with the generic vesa driver. There is a description on the ubuntu site on how to install the experimental OpenChrome driver from source. Bottom line is that there are issues with all of them unfortunately. I have to go deeper into this in order to do a proper review - hopefully I can do a separate post on this topic in the near future. What I can say so far is that the vesa driver does not have any dual-head capabilities, the driver from viaarena has (the package even include an application that can be used to enable/disable different outputs like vga, hdmi/tv-out, and enable or disable Xinerama - this works ok). But the computer occasionally went into deep freeze when using the viaarena driver, and it was hard getting back from suspend. The OpenChrome things I tested up to now seems to be the worst of both worlds.
• When it come to suspend/resume, I said in my first post that it works. I have to moderate that statement, unfortunately. Using the regular suspend on the log-off menu in Ubuntu, I can suspend and resume once. If I try to do it twice, the keyboard turn unresponsive, the fan goes to full speed, and the display stays on. Only solution is to press the power button for a while (10 seconds) in order to trigger a hard shutoff. From time to time, I also have to unload and reload the kernel modules for the wireless card to enable wifi after resume. A couple of times the computer also have went into freeze shortly after the first resume. So suspend/resume is really unusable in real life. Which is very very bad as this is very important for my intended use of the Oqo O2. I have had limited success with the s2disk from the uswsusp package (software suspend), which is a kind of hibernation. This only seems to be usable one time. The s2ram application for suspend to ram from the same package does not work on this computer. The hibernation option from the regular log-off menu in Ubuntu does not work either. So, there are a lot of room for improvement here.
• Wacom digitizer does not work. I can not find the device for it and doesn't know whether it is usb based or serial. I have posted a question to support at oqo to see if I can get more information on this. On the other hand, I can live without the pen although I use it a lot on my Fujitsu P1520 (which have the plain touch screen). I get back to this if I make it work or get some information.
  

If we ignore the bad things for a while, the Oqo in Linux is usable as a small, carry around computer. I even booted it and did some work on a turbogears/mysql application in the waiting room at my doctor the other day, using 3G from my Nokia e61i over bluetooth as network connection. But the vesa driver for graphics mean that graphics probably take more power than it should (more work done in the main CPU), and refresh is sluggish when switching between virtual desktops which really is a must on such a small screen. And the suspend/resume issue is more or less a show stopper. Since it takes more than a minute to boot the thing, the opportunity to quickly catch up on email may have passed before I get online. So I have to solve this somehow.

Hope you got some answers to your questions. If not, please use the comments, and I will try to answer (and test if necessary). If you have suggestions for some of the issues, please feel free to post those to - I'm happy to test things out!

Take care!

Qtpfsgui news!

Hi, Giuseppe figured out the problem with qtpfsgui 1.8.12 on OSX today, and created a sucessful fix. The 1.8.12 version now compiles and runs just fine on the Mac again.

I have uploaded the new version over at sourceforge, please grab it there. In the process of eliminating sources for errors, I have also upgraded my tool chain a bit. There are therefor now newer versions of most of the dependencies, but since most of these are linked directly into the binary you should not need to do anything. I have however updated my version of Qt. I believe that Qt is sufficiently backwards compatible such that this should not cause a problem, but if you get any problem running the new binary, please update Qt by downloading the newest version from this link. You may also visit http://trolltech.com/developer/downloads/qt/mac where the download-link for the diskimage can be found, as well as sources.

Now that 1.8.12 is out the door, I will look into the alignment functionality that Giuseppe have included, to see what kind of problems that pose on the Mac.

Take care.

Oqo-folks, I am impressed!

I have been using portable computers on a daily basis for about 10 years now. Yet, I have never before had a notebook that I was able to use comfortably outdoor in sunshine. I knew already that the screen on the Oqo O2 is bright, but doesn't realize before now how good it is outdoor!

Right now I am sitting on my veranda, and pulled out the oqo to see if I was able to connect my Canon 350D and get some photos off it. For a change, it is also nice summer-weather today, with bright sunlight. And I can use the Oqo O2 just fine. I can even keep the screen brightness on about 50%. This was totally unexpected. I expected it to be possible with some effort, turning with the sun and try to fine some shading, and so on. But I can just use it . Great!

Just had to tell you! Take care!

Ubuntu linux on Oqo O2

In short terms: it works! It even works well.

But if you want to test the same thing your self, you should know that there are a little more to the story. There were some issues during installation, and there are some during use. The main things during installation was:

1. Small screen makes installation harder
2. Necessary modifications to boot the machine right
3. Modifications for X.

While some of these points are rather important, I think it is a quite short list, shorter than I expected when I started on this task. Let's describe each issue in some more detail.

1. Small screen makes installation a bit harder. The reason is that the standard Ubuntu installer (at least for Feisty fawn, or 7.04 if you like) is optimized for larger screens. I'm not sure it is possible to use that installer on the small Oqo screen at all, and if it is it is at least not easy. Tick the checkbox for 'alternate cd' when you download the Ubuntu iso-image from www.ubuntu.com, as that gives you a text-based install instead. And don't be afraid, it is rather slick to be a text-based installer!

Boot from the alternate cd, choose to install the system. For partitioning, I just use the 'Entire disk' option as I like to wipe out the Windows, but you may have other preferences. The whole install takes about an hour and gives you most of what you need.

2. After installation is finished, you may not be able to boot into the new Ubuntu system. I couldn't at least. The reason is that the hardrive, or actually the ide controller, is not detected correctly by the kernel. What I recommend is to just leave the alternate install cd in the drive and reboot. Then you will choose the Rescue mode option, choose your root filesystem according to how you partitioned, and finally execute a shell in that root. Now you need to edit the file /etc/initramfs-tools/modules and add a line with 'ide-generic'. This will trigger that the module 'ide-generic' is loaded when grub boots the system, and your drive will be detected. After you close that file, you will need to run 'update-initramfs -u' to update the initrd file.

3. While you're in the shell in the root filesystem, you should also open the configuration file for the X server, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and add some necessary information for the screen. The lines you need to have in the "Monitor" section are:

HorizSync 30-92
VertRefresh 50-85
Modeline "800x480" 40 800 864 928 1088 480 481 484 509 +HSync

Also, add the mode "800x480" in the Modes line for the "Display" settings inside the "Screen" section.

These are all the changes you need. Exit from the shell, and reboot - remember to remove the install cd from the drive. You should now boot into the Ubuntu system and are ready to go.

As mentioned by others who have tried similar things, the mouse pointer will behave funny in the beginning. Most people belive it has something to do with the data from the touch scrollers. After a short while the mouse pointer settles down and you can use the system. The other thing that does not work out of the box is the wacom pen - so far I have not figured out how to configure that (If someone knows I like to hear!).

Things that do work out of the box: Bluetooth (I am writing this on the ThinkOutside iGo Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard), wireless network (I am connected to the wireless network in my house right now!), wired network on the docking station. Also, suspend/resume works - which makes the mouse problem after boot less important as you really shouldn't need to boot that often. Hibernate does not work out of the box, though, so I still have some research to do there. Maybe I just need to prepare a device or something, I really haven't used hibernation much in the past but see that it may be important on the Oqo.

Now, I will use the device for a while and write up things about my experience with it later on. I guess interesting things will be how I move data on and off the device to have what I need when on the road, battery life, applications, and so on.

Take care!