That’s right! You read the title properly… I’m using one Linux distribution to create a bootable USB stick of another distribution of Linux. It’s Linux-on-linux debauchery. In this instance I’m using Fedora 16, a 4GB USB stick, and an Ubuntu 11.10 ISO file.

Here’s roughly what you’ll be doing:

1. download Ubuntu .iso
2. install unetbootin-linux
3. install additional packages (if prompted)
4. run UNetbootin

Download Ubuntu ISO

This process is pretty straight forward. If you want to take advantage of the 4GB+ of memory your intended system has then download the 64-bit ISO. Visit the Download Ubuntu page and choose from its many distribution-platforms to obtain your .iso of choice.

Install UNetbootin

$ sudo yum install unetbootin

Install Additional Packages

When I first ran UNetbootin there were warning messages informing me of the additional packages it needed. In one instance it asked for p7zip and in another it asked for syslinux. So; pay attention to the start-up messages (if any) when you run UNetbootin.

Install syslinux

$ sudo yum install syslinux syslinux-extlinux

Install p7zip

$ sudo yum install p7zip p7zip-plugins

Execute UNetbootin

Now for the fun part, running the UNetbootin program. If you downloaded the latest version of the program make sure the period (.) starts your path or the file won’t execute. If you YUM’d the program then you should be able to simply type in the command. The program requires it be executed as root, so prepend your command with “sudo” or “su –c”.

$ sudo ./<path-to-file>/unetbootin-linux-568

$ sudo unetbootin

References

Not really sure I can justify the title of this post. Finch is a text-based instant messenger client for the command line interface (CLI). In this day and age you’re probably wondering why in the world would I want to instant message using the command line? Well hipster; I was tired of IMing on my phone when I had a perfectly good full-sized keyboard at my workstation… plus I wanted another reason to SSH into my home machine. So; I did a search on “linux instant message cli” and booyah Linux never fails.

With the restrictions I’ve had to endure at work (like doing personal stuff during work hours); I am really enjoying the simplicity of the command line interface. With PuTTY at my disposal the Internet is like “putty in my hands.” < ha! see what I did there.

Although there’s nothing special about CLI UI design the interface simply looks horrid while using Screen; it is managable, but certianly not the ideal environment to run finch. In a local terminal everything renders properly. The interface is just like Pidgin so it’s not hard to use at all. You can find more information about the keyboard shorcuts on Mehul Speaks‘ blog.

Installing Finch

I’m running Fedora so I simply ran a YUM command and off I was to chattin’ it up with my friends. This program is associated with Pidgin, which means I’m going to assume most repositories supports some version of this very handy tool.

$ sudo yum install finch

Resources

1. http://developer.pidgin.im/
2. http://mehulved.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/finch-im-client-for-command-line/
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj_3XmfGxzM - Finch: the little brother of pidgin, an Instant Messenger

I have a HTC Droid Incredible running the custom ROM CyanogenMod 7.1.x. For the most part it runs great, but there are moments when it feels like the Armageddon of 2012 is happening to my phone. No matter what application I open it will frustratingly crash in mere moments. What I’ve noticed is the catalyst to this crash-o-thon starts with some sort of “google framework” crash. Makes sense, break the framework and everything else should be coming down with it. Once that happens I will start to feel the instability of my rooted device.

The simple solution, yet temporary, is to clear the cache. I’m guessing there is some executed code or data that got corrupted, which in turn causes the apps to crash. The two types of cache that I clear are:

• cache partition
• Dalvik cache – a decent explanation of what this cache is can be found in the reference section below.

Assumptions

I’m constantly making assumptions about things — it’s become quite a skill. And I will continue my assumptions by stating that this process is for rooted users. I’m going to assume that since your device is rooted, it’s most likely that you have a custom ROM, which also means you have ROM Manager installed. The recovery section of this post is based on ClockworkMod (it’s a part of ROM Manager).

Cache-clearing Process

1. Hold down the power button of your device to get the “phone options” prompt.
2. Click “Reboot”, then choose “Recovery”. Click “OK”.
3. Your phone will reboot and you will soon be in the recovery screen.
4. Choose the option “wipe cache partition”. If that option isn’t there then head to “mounts and storage” and choose “format /cache.”
5. Next choose “advanced” (from the main screen) and then click “Wipe Dalvik Cache”.
6. Once that’s finished you can reboot the device.

I’ve noticed that once I reboot the device it seems to get stuck at the point where its trying to load the custom ROM. I would give it about 5 minutes. If nothing changes, remove the battery and boot the device again. Whatever the device tried to initialize the first time should be there and the device will boot just fine.

I mentioned earlier that this is a temporary solution. I don’t know the cause of the framework crash; it may be a combination of things, but at least you have a way out now.

Let me know if this process works for you OR if you have a better process. At this point I’m just a tinkerer of Android so I might be talking crap about the whole cache and corruption. I’d love to know.

References

1. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3844295&postcount=5
2. http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/76110-what-dalvik-cache.html#post710236
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_(software)

I was sorely disappointed with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra when it first released. I said to myself, “If they ever make G.I. Joe movie, it BETTER be good.” I wanted to slit my wrist the day I witness that movie [don't worry, I didn't]. Skimming Google Trends I saw “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and clicked on it. To my surprise this movie trailer is pretty good. I really loved the music, the costumes look revamped, and the action scenes look pretty decent. Then again; it is a movie trailer… I’m a little liery of Bruce Willis, but whatever man. I’ll give this movie another chance — one last chance!

I always struggle with quickly enabling MP3 playback on a fresh install of Fedora. There are legal reasons (which I’m not interested in) as to why Fedora doesn’t ship with MP3 support right out of the box. So; that’s what third-party repositories are for. Simply install the RPM Fusion repository and then install the “Ugly” GStreamer Plugin.

# yum localinstall –nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
# yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly

If you need other support you can always install all the plugins for GStreamer…

# yum install gstreamer-plugins-*

Another method is simply installing VLC. This media player is bursting at its seams with codex goodness.

# yum install vlc

You’re welcome!

Can a man’s love for the command line blossom like a rose or age like good wine? I do believe the answer to my rhetorical question is a resounding YES! Recently I’ve found myself choosing gnome-terminal to execute things rather than clicking in a series of menus on my desktop. Don’t get me wrong; a GUI is nice thing to have, but the efficency of the CLI is unmatched. Through a series of unfortunate events I’ve setup my Linux environment for Android development (aka how trying to fix a bricked phone). I’m working with a fresh install from Fedora 16 Live. What that means is A LOT of packages/libraries are not installed. Just the bare minimum to get me going.

Here’s a general overview of the process I took:

1. Download and extracted the Android Software Development Kit.
2. Installed the Eclipse IDE (roughly 68 packages).
3. Installed ADT plugins for Eclipse.
4. Ran ./android command from SDK “tools” directory.
5. It started the “Android SDK Manager”. I then installed:
   1. Android SDK Platform-tools
   2. The covented “Android 4.0″ platform
   3. 3.2, 2.3.3, and 2.2 platforms (just to show that I can be verstile)

WGET the Android SDK

I’m really enjoy the simplicity of the WGET command. While viewing the SDK page in Firefox I simply copied the link for the SDK file and pasted it into the terminal:

$ wget http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r15-linux.tgz

Yummy, Eclipse

I then used YUM to grab the Eclipse IDE and all its relevant components. Again; since this OS installation was pretty light I ended up installing 68 packages, such as: Eclipse, Java, etc.

# yum install eclipse

Once that was done I then installed the ADT plugin.

1. I opened the Eclipse IDE.
2. Clicked on Help > Install Software.
3. Added the following repository: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
4. Clicked “Select All” and went to town! It was odd, but I noticed I had to try a couple times. It was claiming to have dependency issues. So; I started clicking one-by-one. Eventually I was able to get all 4 packages installed.

Running Android

This following set is unnecessary since you can access the Android SDK Manager from within Eclipse (thanks to the ADT plugin). Originally;  skipped the ADT plugin step.

Now that Java is installed I can run the “android” command. It’s located in the “tools” directory of your freshly extracted tarball file “android-sdk_r15-linux.tgz”.

$ ./android

SDK Managment

The Android SDK Manager popped up with some packages to install. I chose what I thought were appropriate and wrote this blog post while I waited for the files to be downloaded and installed.

So; that’s pretty much it. At this point you’re ready to jump into the wonderment, which is Android development. Enjoy!

References

1. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Howto:_Install_the_Android_SDK
2. http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html

Well; not really kick start, but keep it going. The e-book series titled Fergyville is on its third installment. Support my wife’s project as she budgets for a kick-ass editor for this well-received series. You can find out more on the kickstarter web site.

Android enthusiasts know exactly what the title of this article is referencing. I’m hearing a lot about Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich. I remember when I first got my Android 2.1 phone (Motorola Droid), I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I knew 800MHz of processing power was too low, but I had to get my hands on one. And yes the phone was already out 6+ months — I had to get my hands on one! Cellular carriers were launching new Android phones left and right. At one point I was looking into getting the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

So many choices, but I’ve learned to be patient. I’ve gotten the Android-gitters out of my system so now I can wait for the right phone. I’m going to wait for Android 4.0 to be released before I even consider getting a new phone. It’s too close to choose anything else.

I learned something about myself today. I’m not sure what the full meaning of this revelation is, but on one hand it makes me look like a cool up-on-the-tech tech-guy. On the other hand it makes me look like a delusional technological nerf herder unable to interface with something the general public refers to as “common sense.” What is this discovery that I’ve made? I’ve learned how to communicate with my children through the process of toying with a voice-recognition software. :-/

Hardware

The voice-recognition software I’m referring to, purposefully miscategoriezed as “hardware” to fit my title, is an Android application called Speaktoit Assistant. I heard about it while driving home from work listening to TWiT’s All About Android podcast. The hosts fail whaled a demo of the Assistant application. Even though it bombed I was intrigued enough to install and try it for myself. At first I didn’t know  exactly what I was I supposed to be asking this piece of software. I pushed the voice input button and kind of gave my phone a blank stare. After gathering my thoughts I then tried some simple commands, after all, I didn’t expect this thing to really interface with me like I’ve seen in the movies. So; I said “Hi” and a mono-computerized female voice replied, “Hi there, friend!” I thought, “Oh really!? This is the first time we’re communicating and I’m already your friend.” I remembered in the demo that Assistant called the user by name so I asked, “What’s your name?” It replied, “My name is Sam.”

Wetware

I continued to speak commands at this program to see what the results would be. A nice thing about the interface is the visual feedback. In the lower-left corner you’ll see what the program thought you said after analysing the input. It wasn’t too accurate, but understandable; I was in my car so it’s probably picking up background noise. I played with it some more, each time adjusting my output to guarantee a more accurate input. I made a mental note that I couldn’t flat-out have a dialogue with Sam. I had to give her short commands. I recalled from the podcast that in their demo Sam updated the user’s Facebook status. So; I tried it. “Update Facebook status.” She then prompted with “What should I change your Facebook status to?” I paused, not knowing what to really have this program post for me. My mouth stumbled out some words, but it wasn’t recognizable enough for her to make any real sense of it. Sam confirmed if I wanted that poorly constructed message to be posted. I quickly said, “No, no.”

I tried it again; this time with more clarity and purpose. Success; Sam changed my Facebook status. In a small way — that  accomplished task — felt exhilarating. I was able to communicate outside of my car without typing anything. I know, this isn’t super rare, but my brain made a big deal about it. I then tried another popular service, Twitter. Again; successful post. I was really warming up to this concept of having a digital personal assistant.

Interface

I got into the house and laid down on the couch. My son finished his dinner and saw me playing with the phone. Not just touching the screen, but speaking directly to it. He kept starting his queries with “Hi…” or “Hey…” I told him that it would keep saying “Hi” back. I instructed him to make direct commands. He eventually adjusted, but it was very interesting for me to see my six-year-old son interface with Sam. It sparked something inside me. I’m not certain what’s going on, but I like the change in the wind.

I then had to convince my four-year old to finish eating her food and my two-year old to stop playing and eat her food. I noticed that I wasn’t my Oscar-the-grouchy self. I spoke in a calm fashion, being deliberate with my commands and not distorting my request by expressing my frustration. As I continued to communicate with my daughters I realized that they were actually doing what I wanted them to. It wasn’t a smooth process by any stretch of the imagination, but the progress was certainly more tangible than any of my previous attempts.

Before this experiment of testing the Speaktoit Assistant application I was very sceptical to voice-recognition software on a smart phone. I didn’t see the purpose. I occasionally use the voice-to-text function of my Android phone to post a status update or IM while in my car, but that was the peak of my interest. With this connection I’ve made, my interest in this type of technology is really taking root. I can imagine talking to my phone in order to hear what my schedule is, what tasks I have to accomplish and updating my social media platforms. Assistant certainly has a long way to go, but I like what I’ve experienced in its beta form. Check out Speaktoit‘s web site. They are doing a Kickstarter in order to gain more capital. I wish them success and you count on me evangelising their efforts.

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