Frizzle Tech Blog

How I created my weekly feed digest

2011-02-27T00:10:00.000-08:00

So, if you read the frizzlefry blog, then you probably noticed I had an issue today that was all about my weekly shared Items in Google Reader. I have been thinking about reorganizing all of my shared feeds into a series of digests. The nice part, is that other people did all the work for me, so all I need to do is put their work together into a script I can run.

So, where to start? ok, first I want to parse out an Atom feed, so I chose the Universal Feed Parser which is a nice little utility to parse out RSS/Atom feeds among other stuff I'm not currently interested in. So, because the library I wanted to use is in Python, I decided that I was going to write a little python script to get the work done... I guess the language of a library is as good a reason as any to choose your language. '

Anyway, ok, so how does this thing work? really simple as it turns out...
To start off, I import the feedparser library, and create a feed object:


import feedparser

d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')

So, that creates a variable d, which is a feed object. All I want from the feed is the title and description, so I can access those simply by using:


import feedparser

d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')

d.entries[itemnumber].title
d.entries[itemnumber].description

However, I want to print out those values, which can be done with the print like this:


import feedparser

d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')

print d.entries[itemnumber].title
print d.entries[itemnumber].description

Next, I want itemnumber to mean something, so I'll put the whole thing together in a for loop that prints all entries like this:


import feedparser

d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')

for itemnumber in range(0, len(d.entries)):
   print d.entries[itemnumber].title
   print d.entries[itemnumber].description

Now, I wanted to make sure that I limit the list to only include items after a given start date that I could specify as a command line argument, so I added a couple more lines:


import feedparser

startdate = datetime.strptime(sys.argv[1],'%Y-%m-%d').date()
d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')

for itemnumber in range(0, len(d.entries)):
   print d.entries[itemnumber].title
   print d.entries[itemnumber].description
   if datetime.strptime(d.entries[itemnumber+1].published,'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ').date() < startdate: break

So, I created the startdate variable, which is a date provided by the command line in the format
--, then it breaks the loop if date published is before (less than) startdate.

Finally, I wanted to add some basic HTML formatting to make it easy for me to copy and paste the text into blogger... that lead me to my final version of the python script, which looks a little like this:


import feedparser
from datetime import date
from datetime import datetime
import sys

print sys.argv[1]
startdate = datetime.strptime(sys.argv[1],'%Y-%m-%d').date()

d = feedparser.parse('http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F11424318483849164397%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Fbroadcast')
print '<html><head><title>'

print d.feed.title
print '</title></head><body>'

for itemnumber in range(0,len(d.entries)):

print '<h1>'
print d.entries[itemnumber].title
print '</h1>'
print d.entries[itemnumber].description
print '<br /><br />Date Shared: '
print datetime.strptime(d.entries[itemnumber].published,'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ').date()

if datetime.strptime(d.entries[itemnumber+1].published,'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ').date() < startdate: break
print '<hr />'
print '<hr />'
print '<hr />'

print '</body></html>'

So, the first part of my script was done... I named the file GeneratePage.py, and proceeded to create three more files... the second file was SaveDate.py, which would simply output the date in the format I needed it using two lines:


from datetime import date
print date.today()

I figured the best way to track the previous time the script was run would be to save the date to a file, so I created a file called date.txt that contained only the string "2011-02-26".

Then I created a batch script that would tie everything together... the batch script looks like this:


#!/bin/bash 
D=`cat date.txt`
python GeneratePage.py $D
python SaveDate.py>date.txt

This script would set the date from date.txt to a variable called D. Then it would run the GeneratePage.py script while passing it the value of D. Then it would run the SaveDate.py script, with the output replacing the contents of date.txt.

At this point, the script could be run every week, and the output can be copied and pasted into blogger.

The next step will be to automate the process of putting the dialog onto the site, which will actually take a little effort, but I'm pretty sure someone else has already done the work for me, I just have to figure out who did it.

Oh, on one other note, in case you are curious why I didn't just redirect all the output to a file, it's because some of the feed items use Unicode characters that cannot be converted to ASCII... so Bash gets angry when you do that. I might be able to fix this easily, however, I really don't mind having to copy and paste the characters into the blog anyway.

Later,

SteveO

Managing your Droid Incredible with Ubuntu 10.04 Linux

2010-05-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! It sure has been a while since I updated this blog, but I think it's time I did. Last week I picked up an HTC Droid Incredible, which is the Verizon version of the Incredible, and I've found that nobody has really written about what you can do with this thing using Ubuntu (a Debian-based Linux distribution.) So, I'm here to tell you that you don't need a Windows PC to manage your device, and when I say that, I'm not implying you have to be a Linux expert or manually put all your files on the device. So, to avoid most of that cryptic Linux stuff, I'm going to almost completely avoid the command line (I'll tell you the command, but I'll also tell you how to do it without the command...except for DVD playback, you have to copy and paste that command.) I will also assume you have a default Ubuntu installation, so you may think I'm just being silly by installing some of this stuff.

Please note that I won't cover the mobile broadband functionality because the setup I have for it is very complicated and unstable at the moment. Once I figure out a simple way for people to get it working, then I will write a post about it.

The super duper quick version

For those of you who know Ubuntu/Linux well, just install and configure the Restricted Extras Packages, libdvdcss2, Banshee, and Arista with this command (All of it is in the Ubuntu Software Repositories):

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras kubuntu-restricted-extras xubuntu-restricted-extras libdvdcss2 banshee arista; sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/./install-css.sh

Then you're setup is done. Go to the section about Banshee if you want your device to display with the correct name and use the correct folder, and Arista is so simple, all you have to do is: choose a video file or DVD device as the source, select Ipod as your device, and Low as the Preset, then click Add to Queue (I can't really tell the difference between the low and high presets when using the device, but low uses half the memory.)

Codecs and DVD Playback

So, let's spend a little time getting your system ready, and then our entire experience will be a little nicer. First things first, you will want codecs for videos and music. So, open up the Ubuntu Software Center (Applications -> Ubuntu Software Center), then type "restricted" into the search bar in the upper right corner. You will see three packages that you want*: Ubuntu Restricted Extras, Kubuntu Restricted Extras, and Xubuntu Restricted Extras. I don't think you really need all of them, but I always just install all three, so I'm going to tell you to do the same.

* Please note that the Restricted Extras Packages and the libdvdcss2 package are not allowed in some countries. My primary audience is people in the US.

Ok, I kinda lied a little about the cryptic stuff thing... If you want to play back DVDs, you need to do one thing:

Press Alt+F2 on the keyboard, and the Run Application dialog pops up.
copy and paste this command into the Run Application dialog:
"sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2; sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/./install-css.sh"
Check the Run in terminal checkbox
Click Run.
A window with a bunch of text pops up, and I think you might have to hit "y" to accept the license agreement.

So, that wasn't too bad was it? Because of restricted licenses, Canonical can't just distribute the DVD playback libraries with Ubuntu, so you have to get that separately and accept the EULA (End User License Agreement.) Then you have to run a script that sets everything up for you; that is what the above command does.

Ok, now everything is set up, and you are ready to play all your music, watch movies, and all that kind of stuff.

Media Management Software

Now, there are two more programs that you will want: Banshee Media Player, and Arista Transcoder. Both of these are available in the Ubuntu Software Center, so just type them both into the search box (one at a time of coarse) and you have all the software you need. There is just one thing though, Banshee detects your Android Phone as a generic Android Device. I don't mind the picture of the G1, but I just want the program to use the default music folder (/emmc/MP3/ for internal storage, or /sdcard/MP3/ for the microSD card), and I want the correct name for my phone. This is actually a really simple thing to do. You just create a text file, and save it to the device with a very specific name.

Get Ubuntu to See your Phone

By default, my phone goes into charge only mode when I plug it into a USB port, which you can change, but I like it that way. So first, connect your phone to your computer. Now, on the phone, open the notification area, tap the USB Icon that says "Charging Only" next to it, then select Disk Drive from the menu that appears. Once your phone appears on your computer, you need to save a file into the root folder of the device.

The root folder would typically be called something like C:, D:, E:, etc... on a Windows computer. You can recognize it because it shows up as a USB stick on the Places menu and on the side bar in the file browser (or in this case the save as window.)

Also note that if you have a MicroSD card, that will show up as a separate drive/device, You can set the name for the phone and MicroSD card separately in Banshee by repeating the following steps with a different name for the memory card. You have to manage both of them separately. Most software in the Android marketplace will not recognize media on the phone's internal storage yet, but if you just use MP3s and Ipod-formatted videos, you can just use the default media software on the phone.

Get Banshee to show the correct Name for your device:

Now that your device is connected and Ubunti can see it, you can save a text file to the device. So, Open a text editor (Applications -> Accessories -> gedit Text Editor.) Then type two Lines (just copy the stuff between the quotation marks):

Line 1: "name=Droid Incredible"
- This name can be what ever you want Banshee to call the device
Line 2: "audio_folders=MP3/"
- This is an optional line; I chose to add it because I had already manually copied files to the MP3 folder, and now I wanted to keep everything simple.

Ok, now save that file as (File->Save As...) ".is_audio_player" and put it on the root of your device or SD card. (You need the period at the beginning of the file, and the file has no extension at the end)

Note that from now on, this file will be hidden, so to view the file in the file browser, you need to select View -> Show Hidden Files (or Press Ctrl+H.)

Ok, so now Banshee should show the name you specified, any music you have already put into the default folder, and sync new music to the folder you specified.

If you want a complete list of what you can put into the .is_audio_player file, you can refer to this page:

The Floccinaucinihilipilification Homepage - .is_audio_player file format by Darin Ohashi

Formatting Video for Your Device

So, after spending hours of trying different video transcoders, and different video players, I found that Arista Transcoder is the easiest option available. You just open the program, choose a source, choose a device, choose a preset, and add to queue. You can even queue up several video files and let them all go. Then, when all is said and done, you can put the media on your SD card or the internal storage and play it through the photo browsing tool that came pre-loaded on the phone.

The source is either a DVD drive or video file. For the device, just choose Ipod. For the preset, choose low. You can use High, but you will need to stop all non-essential processes or the video can go out of sync if you get an email or something. Plus, the High preset uses twice as much memory, and I think about 200MB is much more reasonable than about 500MB.

Using Banshee

Banshee is really easy to use. It will download album art, but it doesn't use the correct format for the HTC Incredible. If you really need your album art, I have been using Media Monkey on Windows to update Album art directly on the device, and that works pretty well... I'll have a Linux solution soon, but that's not really a priority for me.

I've also found that playlists don't quite work right "out of the box." I'll figure that out later, because I normally just press shuffle all, then stop looking at the device until I want to skip a song.

As far as video is concerned, you can just import everything to the library from the file menu.

At this point, you can use Banshee to sync all of your music and videos to your device in a very similar way to how you would sync everything with your iPod or other devices. In fact, you can even use Banshee to sync to your iPod! So, I hope this helps make every Ubuntu user that much happier with Android.

Check back soon to see updates on my favorite Android Apps, Linux tips, and general Tech stuff.

Later,

SteveO

Google Wave First Impressions

2009-07-23T13:50:00.001-07:00

So, I got an invite to the Google Wave Developer preview, and it's pretty cool. It looks right on track for a beta at the end of September. It was a little funny at first because you just get this information overload right away. Everything everyone was talking about flooded my inbox. This was because of a special dev channel that you can subscribe to right when you sign up for your developer account. Basically it's a constant stream of what the devs think is important to get done. There is a lot going on. Linking Wave to Google's App engine works pretty nice, and you can get a lot done with robots. So, dealing with the information overload lead me to use the search box a lot. There was no way for me to read all the waves, they all just kept going. Each wave would have a dozen or so people doing all sorts of things. One wave was a group of people collaboratively creating a book, and another wave was a list of robots. The most common waves I found were titled "test" because that was what the channel was for. Testing stuff that you are writing for Wave. Once you get used to the information just streaming in from everywhere, you start to like it. You can search for anything you want, and real time results of waves on your channels start flowing in. You can reply to waves, play games of chess, and even add hot spots to a map. The conversation really just flows smoothly. Now that I'm getting in my groove, I started to wonder what kinds of cool stuff I can do with Wave. I started looking for bots, and the robot wave just popped right up. I saw the Twitter bot, Tweety the Twitbot, and then added the email address (tweety-wave@appspot.com) to my contact list. The whole process to this point was just like any other bot (like smarterchild on AIM...) Now I can start a wave, and include tweety. From then on, anything you say in the Wave will end up on twitter. So it's important not to use multiple bots in one wave... like I just did... you end up tweeting things like $MSFT... anyway, that tweet was supposed to be a wave for Stocky (stocky-wave@appspot.com) who actually changes the text you enter into a stock quote (like you type "$MSFT" and Stocky changes it to this "MSFT (25.56)".) The bots are awesome! You can embed pictures, maps, surveys, polls, real time weather, HTML, and all sorts of stuff into a Wave.

Another cool thing I noticed right away is that everything can be minimized. With the announcement of the Google Chrome OS, I can see Wave as evolving into some sort of live desktop. You can have multiple waves open at once, and just switch between them. The full screen reading mode will also be pretty nice for my netbook. In final, my first impression is that Google Wave will revolutionize the way people communicate on the web. Everything is so easy to do. Want the weather? tell the weather robot where you want the weather for. Stocks? Directions? Microblogging? Actually that makes me think, how will this effect twitter? You have real time search, and a more interactive way to communicate with your friends! Anyway. I was really excited about Wave before, and now that I've gotten a taste of it, I don't think I can stop.

Social Media is definately the future!

2009-06-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

It should not surprise anyone that I've been inspired by another TED talk. I mean, every talk on the site is something worth watching at least once. This one is about social media. I have been following Andrew Sullivan on his incredible coverage of the protests in Iran, and I have been watching the #iranelection tag on twitter too, and I'm a firm believer that CNN doesn't stand a chance against this type of media. Sure, the video isn't in HD, and there isn't a reporter editing the footage and choosing which scenes to show you... it's just what is happening. The real coverage. It worked in China for the earthquake... it was used to make sure that the schools to replace those that collapsed were actually built to code... and it's the only media coming out of Iran while all the news stations are being cut out of the loop.

   I know you aren't going to get the best quality journalism from this news, but you aren't going to get good quality journalism until after the issue is resolved... the only thing that TV networks can ever offer you is coverage, and any monkey with a camera can do that. I don't mean to say camera men aren't talented because finding the right shot isn't easy, but most of the difference between a camera man and some ordinary person is that the camera man usually has better equipment.

   This leads me to my next realization, the future of print media. So, we all know the newspapers are having trouble re-acclimating to the digital world. When newspapers move to the internet, every article has to carry it's own weight... the atomic unit of sales changed from an entire paper, to an individual articles. Social media is really good a producing raw unedited footage of what is happening, and initial public reactions, however traditional media has this ability to censer the story, check the sources, and produce good quality media that requires investment to produce. We must not loose that.

   My question, how do we combine our social media and traditional media into a unit that works together? I like the concept of free licenses for social media (free as in freedom to reuse or remix the content for non-commercial or at least non-profit use), but the real question is how do you put a price on or handle purchasing licenses to the media? I feel the creator has more right to profit from their work than some media outlet using the story to attract viewers or sell papers.

Anyway, there is a lot that can be said for the way the world is shifting to the internet. Blogs, news aggregation, youtube, cellphone cameras, and personal video cameras are changing the way we get out news. Which I think is fine. I think that spreading the information is very important, but there is something to be said for the people who come in after the story is over.

The people who follow up the story with quality journalism (the who, why, what happened, and how it turned out.) The story that is documented for the historians to record, and the story our descendants will learn in school. We need to make sure that someone checked the score board and made sure they weren't mislead by someone with an agenda.

So, embrace the digital revolution, but don't forget your roots. Support quality journalism (like PBS.)

A call for opinion!

2009-06-17T10:47:00.001-07:00

So, I want to know what everyone thinks of the Wikidot site I'm working on. I want to know what you want to see on the site. Right now, it's my super-spam RSS feed, which has all of my activity from Hulu, Netflix, Wakoopa, Twitter, and my blogs all in one place. <p><p>Loading...</p></p>

The Smart phone competition!

2009-06-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

So, over on Gizmodo.com they did a review of the latest and greatest smart phones, and not much to my surprise, Windows Mobile wasn't on the list! haha. Ok, I am biased against Windows, which is the only reason I say that; in all reality, Windows mobile is a decent mobile operating system.

iPhone 3.0 VS Android 1.5

Anyway, the review put my favorite phone OS (Android) against my arch nemesis (iPhone). So I have to bask in this little bit of glory. Both phone operating systems are nearly the same in terms of highlighted features in the review, with the exception that Android doesn't work with iTunes, Android doesn't officially support tethering (even though the iPhone carrier doesn't support it), and Android supports both background apps and third-party Apps. I do have to say that I am disappointed that the review didn't mention that Android supports the ability for user's to add third party video codecs, which iPhone doesn't.

iPhone 3G S VS. HTC Magic

On a hardware level, the iPhone has multi-touch and a headphone port, and I have to admit I would really like to see both of those things added to an Android phone. The plus side is that anyone can make an Android phone, so one day it is possible to add multi-touch to a phone for Android. On the Plus side, the magic has a microSD card slot, which gives it the potential for more than 32GB of storage, and the Magic has a 3.2 mega pixel camera, which is slightly more than the iPhone.

Cost

So, both phones are "linked" to a subscription. The difference in cost between the two phones is fairly significant right off the bat. With a 2 year contract, the iPhone is either $200 or $300, while the HTC Magic is $150. The iPhone is permanently linked to AT&T, however the Magic is only linked to T-mobile for the contract, and after your contract, you can take an Android phone to another phone provider that uses SIM cards. Then in terms of your cost over the next two years, the iPhone's average cost is $290-$390 more than Android, and the maximum cost is $750 - $850 more for the iPhone. In fact, between the iPhone 3G S, HTC Magic, Blackberry Storm, and the Palm Pre, the average cost for the Magic is less than any other smart phone, and only the Palm Pre offers a cheaper plan if you compare the unlimited everything plans.

So, which phone do you think I'm going to get? To me it's pretty obvious because I decided I would get an Android phone last year, and I will honestly probably hold off until next year to get an Android phone just because I want to see if Verizon is ever going to jump on the bandwagon. I honestly have had some bad luck with T-Mobile over the past couple years, and I am holding out for multi-touch and an 1/8" jack.

Anyway, I am biased toward Android, and the iPhone is a really good phone; That's why they are my arch nemesis.

Smart power outlets? Awesome!

2009-06-09T10:53:00.001-07:00

So, I have to admit that this video does kinda seem like it's just promoting a product, but it's a totally awesome idea!

If you aren't there to use power, you can turn your outlets off!

Anyway... just some food for thought.

Earth Hour! Take part, and help a little bit...

2009-03-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

So, I have recently been talking alot about my own power usage over the past couple weeks, and here is your chance to do sometime! Tomorrow March 28th from 9:30 - 10:30 PM (your local time) turn off all your lights!

This movement is getting bigger, and while it isn't enough to solve the problem of using too much power, it definately helps a little bit.

I know it's not tech... but it's important!

2009-03-25T10:23:00.003-07:00

Go to Whitehouse.gov! Obama is hosting an experiment to try and get the American people involved in a nation wide town hall!

All you have to do is go to the site, vote on a few questions other people are asking, and maybe even propose a few questions of your own.

I think this is an awesome idea, and everyone needs to take part.

Thanks... and participate!

FYI, all of the hyperlinks go to this site.

Quick Post about Ligh bulbs...

2009-03-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

If you were to turn on a compact flocecent light, an incondescent light, and use my entertainment center normally for one year, you would use about 1,587 kWhs of electricity. If you were to break down which one used the most... you would get the pie chart to the left.

You would spend $80 more per year to use the incondescent light. And you would produce at least 696 more lbs of CO² per year with the incondescent light.

So, next time you think of how you can cut down on your power bill, just remember, compact florescent light my be annoying in the way they flicker when you first turn them on, but each one could save you up to $80 a year... now how many light do you have in your house?

that's all for now.

It's Obama on Jay Leno

2009-03-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

The Kill-A-Watt experiment

2009-03-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

So, as part of the requirements for the Tweet-A-Watt, I also purchased a P3 Kill-A-Watt (model#: 4400). So, before I open the thing up, I was curious what kinds of numbers it produces. So I started a few tests. I have completed the first test so far, and I have published the spread sheet that I am tracking the data in. So far, I am monitoring Wattage, Amperage, and I will be doing some quality of service(QOS) tests too... just for kicks.

And so far, I think the results have been interesting. So, most of this data should be self explanitory. I hope. I have completed one test, so the results should be fairly accurate for test 1, however, test 2 is still in progress, and because I haven't created a way for the Kill-A-Watt to transmit the data to my computer, the kW section has to be entered in manually. One more piece of data that is not clearly present in this chart is the cost per kilowatt. On a separate sheet (which I did not publish) I recored my power usage in kilowatt hours for the past six months, and compared that data to the dollar amount of my bill (data provided by puget sound entergy.) Then I took the average from the past six months, and came to the amount of $0.105695 as the average price per kilowatt hour. Then I used that number to get the price per watt hour, and then multiply that number by the watt hours that I use. As an extra and not yet useful piece of information, I have the % of my hourly average. This is also based on my Puget Sound Energy bill, except I divided the months into day (because each bill tells me how many days it covers) and then days into hours, and take the average of all six months. I imagine that this data will become more accurate over time, as I enter more electric bills into the table.

In the above table, you should see a section for QOS, however, until I create a database to log that data in regular intervals, the data provided is useless. It merely shows a snapshot that represents a small fraction of time.As far as QOS data is concerned, I am monitoring Volt, Frequency, Watt meter, Volt-Amps (VA), Power Factor (PF). I still don't know what the difference between the Watt meter and kW functions are; I assume is is probably the case that the watt meter uses a consistent amount of time, and the kW funciton meters kW hours over the total time that the unit was plugged into the wall.

Volt-Amps are constantly changing with the load put on the system. For most purposes they are the same thing as watts, however for determining power quality, they can be used to determine is you home handles low power loads better than high power loads.

Power Factor (PF) is usually expressed as a percent because it is a number between 0 and 1. It is the ratio of real power to apparent power, and is a fairly good indicator of the efficiency of your power grid. Normally a residential PF is higher, and commercial is lower. To compensate for a low PF, the utility companies will need to install additional equipment such as power regulators and capacitors.

So, now you know!

Anyway, as far as my power quality.. I know that I have seen the Voltage from the outlet my entertainment center is plugged into as high as 122 Volts and as low as 116 Volts. The frequency is usually pretty close to 59.9Hz, but I did see it dip to about 57Hz. My power factor is 88%, which makes me think my connection to the grid is fairly close to a power sub-station (like the one over by the Boeing plant), or at least is some what efficient. My Volt-Amperes seems to be fairly consistant around 120VA.

I know it really doesn't mean a lot now, however, I will be able to collect this data over time, and hopefully soon I will be able to create a picture of what normal power consumption is supposed to look like.

Anyway, more to come soon. I'm still troubleshooting the whole XBee software issue I guess I need to compile the driver as a kernel module, or recompile the kernel with the driver in it. So... I'll post some instructions for anyone who is interested in the project.

So, that's all for now.

Later,
SteveO

XBee Module - My 1st electronics project!

2009-03-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

So, I have to admit I was a little surprised that the kit I ordered wasn't already put together, however I guess it gave my a chance to learn hot to solder! So, I broke out my soldering iron and got to work!

The first thing I learned was that I had two problems. the gauge of solder I was using was too thick. I needed about a 23 gauge solder, but what I had was about 16 gauge solder. The second thing I learned was that the point on my soldering iron was too big, however a little work with a file, and I was able to take the size of the soldering tip down to what I needed.

As you can see in this picture, because the gauge of sodder I had was too thick, I ended up with these big ugly clumps of sodder at the top of the unit, and because the iron wasn't sharp enough, I was melting the silicon on the board when I soddered each point.

When I got to the 14 pins in the middle, and the 7 pins on each side, I had sharpened my soldering iron and gotten a smaller gauge solder. So there I didn't have the huge clumps of useless metal. I have a strange feeling that once I get around to testing this thing, the extra solder will need to be removed, but my friend didn't come over with his multimeter, so I haven't done that yet.

However, at the very least, I must have done something right, because when all was done, the XBee chip slid right into place, and the USB adapter worked fine.

Now, I guess the next step will be to get some form of software to work with the module. Then I will be able to flash the firmware, and start transmitting some data.

My next step is to get my second module in the mail (I know, I was stupid and only ordered one module so it doesn't really do anything yet.)

However, I do have my Kill-A-Watt, so that means I am one step closer to my goal of having a way to log my power usage into a database! The original project was called a Twit-A-Watt (post power usage to twitter, but I really didn't care about the twitter part. Just a way for me to see how much power I am using.

The cool part is that right now, I know that my DSL bridge and wireless router have used .02 Watts in the past 2 hours (.01 Watts/Hour.) I guess it's not as cool as sa hooking it up to my TV, but it is something.

Actually, I should probably just hook it to my TV and see what happens. OK, that's what I'm going to do now.

Oh, BTW, I have a few web pages that I want to note here so other people can do what I have done:

The web page for the original Tweet-A-Watt project

The general steps I have taken so far are:

And that's what I've done so far. Now, the actual Tweet-A-Watt project has some more to it than just what I've done, and on the original project's page they have a detailed list of all the small parts you need (diodes, capasitors, heat shrink, regulators, etc,) and that page is a good resource to figure out how to do everything except assemble the XBee adapter kit (however it does link to the site that contains the instructions.)

So, yea, that's what I've done so far, and now I have to work on the software aspect of getting the Xbee to do something (anything!)

So, that's all for now, and I'll keep updating as things move along.

Later,
SteveO

So, are they delaying digital or what?

2009-02-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my newest antenna; which is only to keep reminding you about the digital switch over that is coming! There has been a lot off talk about delaying the switch to DTV. Obama said delay it and the Senate agreed, but then the House said no. So, it looks like as of right now, right t his moment, February 17th is the day you need to be ready for digital. Which means that you will want to build an antenna.

I keep stressing the conversion to digital now because it is important to get ready before the analog signals are gone. Both because you can use the analog signals to help find reliable digital signals, and because nobody likes to not have the option of watching TV... even though Hulu.com is so much cooler. I also keep stressing to get ready now because we were told about this 10 years ago, and it is time to stop dragging you feet. Everyone has waited until the last minute to request the coupon for the digital boxes, and now there is a waiting list to get a coupon. You have until March to request a coupon, but you will have to wait to get one.

In the mean time, I've been hearing about more and more people who are silly enough to go out and buy there $40 and $50 DTV antennas when you can build a much better and more reliable antenna for under $10! I even build an antenna out of junk I found laying around the house that worked better than the one I purchased.

It is the time to be thrifty, and this is one of those situations where you actually benefit from not wasting your money by getting a better product. So, everyone keep in mind it is time to upgrade. Even if the revote that may take place this week happens, don't keep procrastinating. You can begin receiving the benefits now from DTV, so why keep wasting you time with analog?

Embrace the ditigal change!

How to get the channels you want from you DTV Antenna

2009-01-27T01:06:00.001-08:00

One thing that everyone who receives TV over the airwaves should start doing is working on setting up your digital TV experience before the digital switch! I have heard of a great many people having trouble picking up channels. It wasn't until today that I finally got Fox. So, I'm positive that I get every channel now, but if you are having trouble picking up a digital channel that you can get the analog equivalent for, then I have some advice on what to do.

Here are some tips for the procedure I used:

Tune your TV to the analog channel you are looking to get.

Just about every analog channel should have one or more digital channels.
Some of these are completely new channels, but others are just formatted to fit different TVs better

Move your antenna around your home while watching the TV to find the spot with best reception

This does not have to be the spot where you will eventually mount the antenna
The exact spot and direction of where you hold the antenna may change reception quality
Higher is not always better
Near a window is not always better.

I got the best reception in the middle of the room about 4.5 feet off the floor

Hold the antenna in place while your TV or converter box goes through the auto-program routine...
Check your list of channels, and take note of how many channels are available

Depending on your device, you may not be able to watch digital channels that the Auto-Program function does not find, even if you know the channel is there.
You may decide later that you cannot live without a channel you never had before, however it may take a long time to find a single spot that receives every single channel available.

If the channel doesn't come in, then repeat steps 2 - 4 until either it works or the TV defeats you...

it took me 3 days and 28 antenna designs to win...
I spent about 1.5 hours repeating steps 2 - 4 with my fractal antenna... then I won!

WARNING: The thrill of defeating the TV may make watching the TV seem less exciting.

Once you get all the digital channels you are looking for, tune your TV to the one that was hardest to get, and seek a spot to mount your antenna.

If you spend as much time as I have at this, you can visualise the wavelength of a digital TV signal; which is really kind of cool and sad at the same time...
while finalising your setup keep in mind that you want to make sure your TV works while you are sitting in your normal TV viewing spot... it doesn't do you much good if you can only watch TV while standing with your hand on the ceiling...

Other than that, I'm not sure what else there is to say.

Good luck, and embrase the Digital Revolution!

Digital Antenna Experiment - Part 3

2009-01-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll start with an action shot of my most recent design... and guess what; I finally get Fox!

That's right, this little baby picks up 23 digital channels (fox has a 24 hour weather channel too.) I think the best part is that almost every channel is high definition, and even though they pushed back the conversion to digital to June, I am much happier with Digital than I ever was with an antenna.

Anyway, I want to get into a little bit about how I made my antenna.

For this duct-tape beauty, I actually went to the store and bought some wire. That's right, this one isn't just peiced together with junk that I found around the house, or that people just gave to me for free.

I spent a whole $3!

All you need, is to go to your local hardware store and buy 28 inches of 6 gauge copper wire, and you might want to go to an electronics store and buy a TV-matching transformer. The rest you can peice together from whatever you want. it all depends on if you care about the way the thing works.

However, there is one important rule to follow... don't connect to two sides together with a piece of metal. It won't hurt anything, but your reception will go down the tube.

So anyway... back to the instructions.

Here is a breif breakdown of how to make this antenna:

Get your materials

32 inches of 6 gauge copper wire

you may want extra in case you make a mistake, get extra wire in 8 inch increments, each increment will allow for 1 mistake
The directions that originally inspired me to make this said for 18 gauge... I disagreed!

a TV (Impedance Matching) Transformer

I am told that you want 300 - 50 ohms

duct tape and electrical tape

(although some people say to use screws with washers)

A this piece of plastic about 4 X 8 inches in size

I broke one of those magnetic picture things that you get from the dollar store.

it wasn't one of the ones my sister got me...

Needle nose vice grips (I suppose you could probably use pliers)

You may want two pairs, but I made do with what I had

A good pair of wire cutters

or just ask the person at the hardware store to cut 6 - 8" strips

An 8 inch ruler

I used a carpenter's square

A protractor

Yet again the carpenter's square and a piece of paper...

A marker

Make your fractals

Cut an 8" piece of wire
Measure out and mark 1 inch increments in the copper

you may want to make a notch in the copper because the marker can rub off

Draw a straight line on a piece of paper, then use the protractor (or carpenter's square) to find a 60 degree angle, and draw a second line that passes through the first line at 60 degrees.

You now have a 60 degree angle, and a 120 degree angle on the paper

bend the wire at each inch marker using this patter:

bend the wire 60 degrees to the left
Then bend the wire 120 degrees to the right
repeat steps one 1 and 2 two more times
then bend the wire 60 degrees to the left

Now do this 3 more times so you have 4 fractals.

Make your dipoles (After all, this is a type of dipole antenna)

For this, you need to take 2 straight pieces of 6" to 8 " wire

I really don't know yet if it helps to use larger pieces of wire.

use electrical tape to fasten one fractal to the end of each wire

The picture best illustrates how this looks

Mount the dipoles and the transformer

Layout your piece of plastic, and draw a few lines on it so that the antenna looks symetrical.

There probably is more science to what works best, but if you use duct tape, then you can experiment on your own...

Connect one wire from the transformer to each dipole, and there you have it!

So... these are obviously simplified instructions. I've only built two of these so far, and I haven't figured out if it is better to use thicker or thinner gauge wire, but I have to say that copper seems to work better than a coat hanger!

I would also like to take this opportunity to note that the location of your antenna is very important. I have a 25 foot coax cable so I could move my antenna to the perfect spot. As you can see here:

I had to go all over the apartment before I found the "majic" spot where the antenna picks up all the channels and a spot where I could actually mount an antenna; I had done similar chores with all of my other anntenna's, but I just increased my cable length, and it was worth the extra couple of bucks to get a long coax cable.

So I plan to not mess around too much with my antenna situation for a few days... and maybe I'll actually watch a little of the TV I've worked so hard to get reception for... or maybe I'll just watch all the shows I've missed on Hulu.

but the important part is that now I have a choice between watching the shows whenever I want starting the day after they are aired on TV, or watching the shows at the mercy of the network exectutives!

Next time: After you get your antenna, you need to actually fine tune your stations...I'll talk about my battle to get Fox, and how I finally got it done.

Digital Antenna Experiment - Part 2

2009-01-26T01:54:00.000-08:00

Today's experiment was to try a Fractal Antenna. I have heard these are the antenna to have, and they really aren't that hard to make.

However, I did a really quick job on this one, so the angles weren't perfect. After playing with it a little bit, I think that it may be work purchasing good materials to make the antenna with.

For this one, I used two coat hangers, a transformer I had laying around, some random peice of plastic, duct tape, electrical tape, and two screws. As it turns out, I think next time I will replace the two screws with electrical tape.

I think that due to the large amount of wast that I had left over from the coat hangers, I probably could have used 1 coat hanger, but I would have had to straighten out the coat hanger completely.

So, I tried to follow these directions that I found on instructables.com but I didn't have all the stuff they said to use, and I was shooting for more of a $0 budget rather than $15.

I also opted against the reflector, but as soon as I find a scrap peice of aluminum, I will be right on that. (I may canabalize my Xbox case, there is a big peice in there... or I saw this chicken wire idea on YouTube.)

So, down to what this thing can do! Well, it still doesn't get FOX, but I can adjust the length of Coax cable that I have attached, and the antenna seems very sensitive to direction, height, and angle. Sometimes I can pick up the analog signal enough to get sound, but I haven't gotten the digital signal yet.

The real question is wether it is worth the effort. And I think the answer is yes! We have beaten the all mighty nail on the end of a Coax cable with this one! However, we didn't beat it by much. Today, while playing around with my antenna (AKA coax cable with a nail on the end) and I found that if I continually run the autoprogram feature, sometimes my antenna wouldn't pick up all the channels, however, the Coat-Hanger fractal antenna will consistantly pick up 21 channels (even though 9-2 and 51-1 are in spanish, 16-1 and 16-2 are the same, but in different resolutions, 9-3 and 28-2 are completely identical, and 33-4 is the worship channel.) So despite everything, I still have 16 completely unique channels that I can watch, including a channel for little kids (in the event that someone from my family actually comes out to Seattle with one of my neices of nephews.)

So, the coat-hnger fractal antenna is worth the time to put together in my book, and with a little bit of luck, I might be able to put one together that actually picks up FOX.

Digital Antenna Experiment - Part 1

2009-01-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

So, lately there has been a lot of talk on the Internet about digital antennas. So, after reviewing a few videos I decided to experiment a little bit with what I happen to have laying around the house.

I have the results summary at the end if that is all you care about.

Let my start by introducing the testing environment I have. My apartment is 25 feet off the ground, and I get the best reception about 7 feet above my floor. Ground level at my location is approximately 14 feet above sea level. So, I conducted all of my tests at an elevation of 46 feet above sea level.

Most of the channels I receive are broadcast out of Seattle, WA. This means that the signals I am receiving are 10 Miles North West of my location.

So, now we can talk about the materials I used in this experiment.

I had 3 types of nails, and 1 Screw

a 3" Galvanized Steel screw
a 3 7/8" 6 penny rusty steel nail
a 3 3/8" 6 penny rust-proof steel nail
a 3 3/4" Aluminium nail

I also had 2 - 5 foot lengths of coax cable, a Jensen model TV911 amplified digital antenna, and 2 - 7" deep tin cans

a 4 1/4" diameter can (Tin Can)
a 6 1/8" diameter can (Hershey's Chocolate Can)

In each experiment I tried adjusting the height of the antenna, direction of the antenna (which doesn't seem to matter), material of nail/screw. In nearly every case, I found that 46 feet above sea level was best for my location, however I could see this being very specific to my location. You may have better luck with a different height where you are.

My entire experiment in this set is to find out what the best combination of a Coaxial Cable, each nail/screw, and the tin cans. I have broken the entire experiment into 5 individual experiments. In my results, I ignore the analog channels because all the analog channels I receive are available in digital, however, the average number of analog channels I can receive is 3, but the maximum is 5 (with a rusty nail connected to the copper part of a Coax cable.)

Experiment 1 - Jensen Model TV911 Digital Antenna
     This Amplified digital antenna has the rabbit ears look to it, and also had an FM loop attached to it. I originally bought this antenna with my TV thinking that it would be best to get an amplified antenna. Boy was I wrong! I am lucky to get more than 3 channels with this antenna, and have concluded that it is the worst antenna used in this experiment.

Experiment 2 - 5 foot Coaxial Cable

     After my sheet disappointment with the antenna that I bought, I decided to just try plugging in a Coax cable to the back of my TV set, and use a safty pin to hold the end of the cable up as far as I could reach. This resulted in more channels. I was able to receive 10 digital channels.

Experiment 3 - Tin Can

     I received a tin can, that was used for some sort of food product. I poked holes in the side of that can at every inch marker from the botton, then on the bottom I poked a hole in the center and mid-point between the center and edge. I found that adjusting the placement of the screw did not affect the tin-can antenna's ability to receive channels, but a drastic improvement was found when I made sure that the copper and outer mesh of the coax did not touch. I also found that the reception was better if the copper was connected to a nail/screw, and the outer mesh was pressed firmly on the side of the can.

However, the best performance I was able to achieve with the Tin can was using the Anti-rust Steel screw, and I was able to 10 digital channels. This places the tin can at place number 3, even with a coax cable.

Experiment 4 - Hershey's Can
After repeating the steps I took with the Tin can, the Hershey's Can prouced similar results, but had the ability to receive 12 digital channels. This means that the Hershey's can is placed at the number 2 spot.

Experiment 5 - Coaxial Cable with a Nail
In case you didn't guess yet, we have a winner! A 6 penny rust proof steel nail on the end of a coax cable is the best Antenna I have tested so far! I was able to receive 21 digital channels using this method! (but for some reason I still don't get Fox...)

Results Summary
For those of you who skipped the rest to know what my resuts were, here is a recap:

#5 - A Jensen model TV911 amplified digital antenna (2 digital channels).
#3 - A coaxial cable pinned to the wall with a safety pin (10 digital channels).
#3 - A tin can antenna with a 6 penny rust resistant steel nail connected to the copper of a coax cable, and the outter mesh pressed against the outside of the can (10 digital channels).
#2 - A Hershey's can antenna with a 6 penny rust resistant steel nail connected to the copper of a coax cable, and the outter mesh pressed against the outside of the can (12 digital channels).
#1 - A six penny rust resistant steel nail connected to the copper core of a coax cable, and nothing connected to the outer mesh (21 digital channels).

My advice, just strip the end of a coax cable, and put a nail on it, then hold it up as high as you can. I also noticed that a longer coax cable gets better reception, so maybe a really long coax cable is all you need.

View Album

Get your own

Next time for part two will either be a pringles can antenna or a fractal antenna.

Take my survey!

2008-10-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Another Don't Vote video...

2008-10-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Is buying DRM content purchasing or renting?

2008-10-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

This wonderful xkcd comic just made me start thinking about DRM (Digital Rights Management) content. Now, at work, I happen to work for a music store that offers DRM and non-DRM content depending on what record labels will allow. However, the very concept of DRM removes the user's control over their own property. If you purchase content and the store you bought the content from either decides to stop renewing licenses, or if you purchase a new computer, change operating systems, decide to switch from an Ipod to a Zune, or make any decision based upon what you want as opposed to the store you purchased the music from... then you are screwed.

So, in order to protect you property, you have to use circumventive technology, which is a violation of the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act.) So, you are left with a choice, allow a system that enables media outlets to hit the switch to turn off all of the content you paid for, or stand up for your right to own property and break the law (in many cases).

It's a tough situation, but somebody has to stand up for individuals' rights.

Google Chrome

2008-09-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

So far I have been pretty happy with Google's chrome browser. My cube-mate and I have been arguing about which performance testing site is right, because it just seems everyone has chosen a side for or against the browser. Some sites say it is better, some say it is worse than either Firefox or IE. Personally, I have seen a drastic improvement with Java script speeds.

I like the idea that when one tab crashes, the whole browser doesn't crash (even though I heard a team of researchers somewhere found a way to force it to crash.)

I think it's good that Google is modifying section 11 of the EULA. The new EULA now reads:

11. Content license from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.

that's it. Plain and simple.

It seems to be fairly free of security vulnerabilities... aside from the file download vulnerability I heard about which was by design, but maybe somehow they will find a way to make it more secure.

I still hope to see a replacement for ubiquity in the browser, and I wish to see Google toolbar included as I mentioned here: http://groups.google.com/group/google-chrome-group/msg/5b91a279c06f72c7

I know as a beta project, this is not a final release project, and for the first browser Google released it is excellent! However, I have to admit, I was really looking for a browser to specialize in uniting Google services.

Google App Engine.

2008-08-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a Google Hackathon that focused on the App Engine API and hosting service. At first my learning curves were very steep; I rarely ever use python, but I have a little experience with the language. I was first thrown off because the app that we were using was built with Templates, and I haven't ever used them before. So, I decided I wanted to talk about Google's App engine, and some other time I'm going to talk about Python Templates.

The first thing you need to do in order to use App Engine is Install Python. This varies with different operating system, but basically it installs the same way any other program would be installed in your OS. Then you need to download the SDK, and maybe even sign up for an App Engine account. The best resource is the App Engine site on Google Code.

After unpacking/installing the SDK, you are ready to start writing your program. I created an RSS reader with a social twist. In reality, if you took Google Reader, and added an automatically generated feed of articles both you and one or more of your friends read, then offered to initiate an email conversation based on the shared articles.

The App Engine API allows you to utilize Google Accounts, which is how I authenticated users for my app. Another cool thing I learned about App engine, is that the SDK includes a development server environment that is great for troubleshooting your code before you deploy it to your app engine account. That's why I said that making an app engine account is the last and optional step. However, if you want to actually use your app, you should get an account. It is free after all.

The one thing that kind of caught me off gaurd, but at the same time was perfectly reasonable is the quota system. Apparently there are two quotas that are set for each app that you host with app engine: Number of users and allow processing power. I don't know the exact numbers because they can vary according to your account, and what you can arrange with Google, but the idea is that you are given X number of page views, and X milliseconds of processing time. If you exceed one of these quotas, then your app is disabled for the rest of the month. However, there is a plan to allow users to pay to have more views and processing power.

Over all, I have to say that the app engine APIs simplify the process of making complex user-based server-side apps. I plan to write up a documentation/tutorial on using app engine to create your own RSS reader, but first I need to finish some research to better explain why I did things the way I did.

until next time.

FOSS for Students...

2008-08-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

So, I've read a few of these articles about Free Open Source Software (FOSS) for students. I guess everyone else has summed it up, but here is my two cents:

(Please keep in mind the programming section is really my area of expertese.)

Tools for all students:

Open Office.org - It's pretty much a free version of Microsoft Office, and if you know MS office this will be easy. It also has many plugins for specific needs like linking quotes with bibliography data, then automatically using a given format.
Google Documents - For most of your word processing. spreadsheets, and Presentations you may want to use a program installed on your computer, but if you frequently work from public computers or write group papers, then you really want to use an online editor. That way all the team members can continually check eachother's work and everyone can work from the same document.
Google Calendar -This is my favorite tool for scheduling my time. If you get in the habit of doing things on a schedule, then an online calendar is the perfect solution. You can access your calendar from anywhere, and sync it with your favorite calendar programs. Even use it to manage invitations and RSVPs.
Gmail -Everyone needs email.
Google Reader - This is a RSS reader, nothing too fancy, it's good for keeping track of frequent Google searches, news papers, blogs, and an ever growing list of pod-casts and similar services.

Math and Science:

LaTeX - Essential for engineering, mathematics, science... anything where you repeatedly need funky symbols and advanced editing features. It requires a bit of learning, but you will save a lot of time in the end.
TiLP - Texas Instruments calculator emulator for your PC. That's all you need to know. If you want a second calculator, or you want to copy and past you calculator work into a text document, this is the best way... in my opinion.
Maxima - If you ever hear the words MatLab or Octave, then you want to learn Maxima. It's not everything MatLab and Octave are, but it is a little easier to learn, and most of what you learn will still apply.
Kalzium - A periodic table with a little extra. You can find examples of where you see each element, plus additional information on a second page. Great for Chemistry students everywhere.

Programming:

Emacs - An advanced text editor wich is totally worth learning. The advanced features require a bit of learning for all the shortcut keys, but once you get proficient with them you can accomplish a lot in a small amount of time.
VI editor - I have seen more textbooks listing this as the Linux editor. Emacs is a competitor to VI, both of them do the same thing in different ways.
GCC (GNU C Compiler) - A C/C++ compiler that I think is essential for any programmer to learn. Especially if you learn C/C++ in MS Visual Studio (you're too pampered). Real men do it in Notepad! (j/k, but it is good to learn.)
Eclipse - This JAVA based IDE is really the ideal environment to do JAVA development, but the IDE itself can handle any language (you just have to point it to a compiler/interpreter.)
Mono - Personally, I hate Mono, but I have to admit it is one of the best FOSS apps for .NET development.
Perl - If you can learn perl, you can learn any programming language... practically.

So, there are some apps I recommend/use a lot. I should note that many programming students will want to use the Math/Science tools as well.

Homeland Security has gone too far!

2008-08-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am really outraged by this new Homeland security policy. I know I don't travel outside the US... well, ever really, but I think that we the people of this great nation need to start banding together as a nation to prevent this type of abuse of power.

I understand that when going through customs you are subject to [bend over and] give up all your rights and have everything you bring with you inspected, but this policy goes far beyond inspecting what you bring with you. Plus, there is no good that can come from this policy. If someone wants to transport data that could be harmful to transport into or out of this country, they could use the Internet and render this policy useless. Not to mention, how long will it be before CD and DVD ripping software will be catagorized as a circumventive technology and then declaired illegal under the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Seizure of laptops on international flights poses a risk to anyone who saves personal data on their computer. I do not trust homeland security to do the right thing. Plus TSA agents are not highly trained experts.

I can't believe that we let this happen. First we allow congress to steal the public domain from us, and now we let homeland security take our laptops for no reason! I fear this policy could be used to enforce copyright laws that I feel are unethical. It is the job of the copyright owner to find violators of their copyrights. I also feel that copyright law needs to be reformed to a pre-1984 mentality (no reference to the book specifically intended.) [I feel] copyright laws should only apply to the commercial use of content covered by the copyright. For example, if I hold a copyright, that should only mean you can't publish and sell that content. However (ironically) in 1984 that changed to cover free distribution because the VCR manufacturers and retailers were found responsible for the violation of copyrights performed by the users recording TV shows. Anyway... back topic at hand.

I could understand if this policy applied to non-US citizens entering or leaving the country, but we are supposed to have rights. We are supposed to have the right to privacy, and I feel the government should not have the authority to allow an organization to violate that right.

I am not sure what we have to do, but something needs to be done. I would love to have some suggestions as to what should be done.

That's my two cents.

Home Made Games for Xbox360

2008-07-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

The XNA creator's club isn't exactly new, nor is the XNA Game Studio; The new info here is that Microsoft actually announced prices for XNA Game Studios! Here is an update of everything going on here.

For about $100 a year anyone can joint the XNA Creator's Club.
Club members can submit a game for peer review.
If approved by peers (via democratic process, I hope,) those games can now be distributed on Xbox Live's Marketplace.
The club members can choose a price between 200 and 800 Microsoft Points (or up to $10).
Microsoft will allow the member to keep up to 70% of the revenue (Microsoft will keep more that 30% if the game is prominently advertised.)

I read the USA Today article about it.

I like this news because it is one of all too few distribution policies that allows independent developers to sell their products to the main stream audience. Plus, it's something being pushed by one of the biggest players in the gaming industry.

Is P2P harmful to copyright holders?

2008-06-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have been reading this book Titled Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. The content of the book is very closely related to copyrights and piracy. What specifically grabbed my attention is the view of piracy as a beneficial free marketing tool for copyright holders, but before I talk about the interpretations and conclusions I drew from the book, allow me to talk a little bit about who exactly Lawrence Lessig is (as to avoid someone just pawning him off as insignificant based on my views.)

Lawrence Lessig (Wikipedia Link) is a Law professor at Stanford. He founded the creative commons and has written four books, that I know of, and I have read (or at least started to read) all of them with the exception of Codev2, which there is a list his books and a link to download Codev2 for free from Lessig.org. That being said I hold his work to be very good and insightful, but I like to think I don't judge people (I like to think I judge their work/actions.)

The subject at hand is the concept of P2P being harmful to copyright holders. After reading the first few chapters, you a presented with a generalized view of copyrights, in which Lessig mentions a system of lumping P2P users into 4 categories that would be needed to establish if P2P specifically is harmful. (I hope I don't violate a copyright by talking about it on my blog...) The categories are:

A. People who will download free content as a substitute for purchasing.
B. People who will download free content to sample it before purchasing.
C. People who will download free content because it is not commercially available, or financially feasible for them to obtain the content otherwise.
D. People who will download free content because the copyright allows it.

Lessig says that the way to establish if P2P is harmful you need to determine if the benefit from category B is less than the damage from category A. Also in his argument he notes a figure suggesting that at one point in time over twice as much recorded content was being downloaded than the record industry sold.

This is the point where I draw away from what Lessig said (I think) and I ask the question of analyzing category A a little more. If there are twice as many people downloading content annually than the number of albums the recording industry has every sold in a year(not to be confused with the change in records sales), then how many records would the record industry sell if pirates did not download free content? I think this is the only question that matters. The basis of my belief in this is re-affirmed in the book when Lessig talks about the difference between being illegal and being wrong.

Any moral philosophy class will start making you think about the differences between morality and legality. I feel it is rare we can find a subject like murder where it is both illegal and wrong. This is one of the reasons why laws often change with time (segregation, slavery, copyrights, ect.) I actually think it is a crime that Mickey Mouse has not yet become property of the public domain the same way that the works of other dead creators' works have been in the past, but does that make it wrong for me to disobey the law and use Mickey Mouse in a cartoon I created? Should Disney be able to sue me for using their creation that is now such an icon for children of my generation that the mere silhouette of Mickey instantly pulls up a relation to Disney and the mouse? After all, Mickey's first appearance with sound, Steamboat Willie, was nothing more than a pirated concept of the time.

I actually feel very strongly that piracy via P2P is not nearly as harmful as the RIAA makes it look to be. I also feel that all copyrights should expire after a reasonable length of time (probably around 10 years). Meaning that morally I do not have an issue with people downloading any content released before 1987 (21 years before this post) to avoid permanent monopolies on content. Meaning that a very large amount of older content should be considered property of the public domain making it legal for anyone to share. An example would be that Pink Floyd's original version of A Momentary Lapse of Reason and all albums published before it (basically all of their original albums) should be free for anyone to distribute as well as Metallica's first three albums. However, many older albums are re-mastered; This raises a question of whether or not these remastered works could be covered under a new copyright as original works. I admit that re-mastering an album takes a bit of work, and requires equipment most people can not afford or advanced technical knowledge or writing remastering software. Because these works are not original I don't feel they should be covered under a separate license, however it would provide a valid excuse for an exception to the rule; allowing publishers to provide new and improved content at a price, while the old content could be free.

Now that I have established my moral views, what about harm to the copyright holder? I recall the case with Jimmi Hendrix; where after Hendrix died the record label retained distribution rights, but the Hendrix family (namely his children) did not receive payment for their father's work. This is a case where I feel the creators of content are being cheated. If I record a song with a record label I would be paid a fee, set by congress, for each copy of the album that was sold. I have no control over the content from that point forward. Once it is recorded I get paid per album, then I get paid for each show I perform, but if I want to take my work, and start giving it away for free because I feel I have made the money I need off of the content, then I will have no authority to make that decision. The same is true toward the creator of The Simpsons; The Fox corporation actually owns everything. Even with the creator's permission, you can not distribute this content in any way (even if Simpsons happens to be in the background while you are shooting a documentary.

The argument I am starting to form is not a legal argument, but a moral argument. An argument of who has acted wrongfully: the copyright holder or the pirate. Certainly Shakespeare is considered the public domain, why should Disney, Fox, or anyone else be treated differently. The copyright should last a reasonable time then fade away to the public domain.

Regardless of whether the copyright is valid, enforceable, or even should be enforceable we need to come back to the argument at hand; does P2P harm copyright holders. Can P2P pirates be viewed the same as thieves that steal books or albums off of a shelves in stores? Absolutely not. When you steal a physical object, the entity the object was stolen from no longer has that object; unlike when you share something on a P2P network, nobody looses a physical object. This is because digital objects can be reproduced infinitely at no additional cost to the producer. Decentralized networks like BitTorrent and Gnutella or even semi-centralized networks like FastTrack (KaZaa) clients can distribute content highly efficiently. The user only has to leave the program running after downloading content to automatically share anything on the user's hard drive. Should there be a responsibility for the creators of these networks to scan million or even billions of computers regularly to ensure no copyright content is available? I guess the real question will come down to cost. While a networks like BitTorrent and Gnutella can't exactly be just shut down the same way as a centralized network like Napster, a semi-decentralized network like FastTrack can be shut down. What is the cost to society of shutting these networks down?

I view the claims of the MPAA and RIAA as typical rejections of new technology. These same arguments were made of Radio, Hollywood, and Cable TV; the copyright holders are not getting exclusive control of all distribution methods their content is being distributed with. In all past cases Congress has stated that there is not harm is playing copyright content over the radio without paying the copyright holder; the same is true for TV. Hollywood was formed under the premise that California was not policed, and the film makers did not want to pay Thomas Edison to use his video equipment; so they moved to California and waited for the copyright to expire. These foundations that form much of our every day life now, were once all just a bunch of pirates trying to use the work of someone else. Now, being played on the radio is the main goal for many record companies; TV is our source of entertainment and news. These older industries were forced to give content to the public domain in certain ways that would benefit society over the monopoly of a copyright holder.

I think that it is a greater crime to not allow P2P sharing of free and otherwise unavailable content than to allow a subset of P2P users to illegally download content as a substitute for purchasing content. I am sure that some of these people will not buy an album that they otherwise would have bought, but I feel more people will download content that they otherwise would not have bought; which means these people are not stealing profit from the copyright holder as much as they are enjoying content that exists in the world on demand.

Later,

SteveO

Android at Google IO!

2008-05-28T17:00:00.001-07:00

I like the new features that seem to be popping into Android as the development moves on. At first some of the features currently present in the mobile phone OS either were not present or appeared to be poorly implemented. Now the layout has become more in tune to the concept of "Natural Input", as opposed to using a keyboard and mouse, which is key to making a cell phone.

Here is a video I found, on download squad (via Google reader).

That's all for now.

Later,

SteveO

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS installation conclusion.

2008-05-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

After installing the system on both of my machines, I concluded that the installation was a success for myself, but the upgrade has some issues. Granted that I probably had some errors that other people will not have because I performed all of the operations right when the distribution was first released, and now there have been several updates to the upgrade tool. So, lets dive into exactly what I am talking about.

Dell Inspiron 5100:

This computer is currently running a triple-boot configuration. I have 4 partitions: Windows, root, home, and swap. The boot loader is installed to the MBR (Master Boot Record), and I performed a standard install and a Wubi install. Both of the installs are successful, however the ATI Mobility drivers are still not perfect. Because I am not allowing myself to perform command line repairs to any machines I have not gotten my S-Video port to work, nor have I gotten 3D acceleration to work properly. I admit that the fix for this is a simple one line edit to the x11 config file, but a novice user should not have to do that, so graphics are considered a failure.

Other than that the two installations came out nearly identical with a slight performance decrease in the Wubi install. I have to say the process is great for those that want to install an OS without knowing what they are doing, nor commiting to any permanent changes to the machine, but some users with older computers may run into issues. Typically you will want to have a minimum of 15 - 20 Gigabytes available on your machine. This way you will insure that you have enough memory to perform the install and work with some of the applicaitons, but more memory is always better. Over all, the Wubi install is easy and great, but I find myself caught up on the graphics issue.

Lenovo 3000 N200:

I have upgraded this machine a few times now. Normally the upgrade process runs fairly smooth, however after this upgrade I am seeing a decrease in performance, unstable applicaitons, and bugs that are popping up from apps that have been running fine for a while. Graphics performance on the Intel chipset are running fine, althought I hear that NVidia cards are the only way to go if you want S-Video functionality out of the box. I have a feeling that the upgrade process is less buggy now that a few of the bugs I ran into have been resolved as fixed on Launchpad.

Other issues I was having include a sound issue where the headphone port does not automatically mute/unmute the laptop's speakers. My usual fix of running a script that downloads and re-compiles the alsa drivers does not seem to work, but I don't actually want to go to the command line, so I have been living with it.

I have been contemplating re-formatting this machine and starting over with a fresh install to work out the bugs. I think that the released updates should solve all the issues I am having, but I have notices that bugs still seem to pop up with every ditrbution upgrade.

Other than that, I am happy with the changes. Exile is a great media player, and the "dynamic" playlist feature means that the music will never stop until I hit stop. Firefox 3 Beta 5 is quick and runs great, however I am having issues with google toolbar's incompatability. It was also disappointing to find out that many of the firefox plugins that I use don't work in the beta, but with firefox 2 installed I can get by.

In conclusion, The installation of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS seems to be more stable than the distribution upgrade. Most of the improvements in the OS invole look and feel or ease of use. The ditribution is getting closer to the goal of being a user friendly system for normal desktop users. There is a little room for improvement, but it is getting better.

So, that is a quick review of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. If you have any comments suggestions or questions, please give me something to write about that people want to read.

Later,

SteveO

Ubuntu 8.04LTS installation review.

2008-04-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

I just installed Ubuntu 8.04LTS on my Dell Inspiron 5100. The installation went smooth, but I was disappointed that Google Toolbar is not compatible with Firefox 3B5. Most of the hardware is working correctly, but my S-Video out does not work. This is common with fresh installs.

I also performed the new Wubi install. The neat thing about this type of install, is that you perform it from within Windows. I am not very familiar with that type of install yet, but it creates a large file in Windows rather than using a different partition. This makes it easier to test drive the distro before really commiting to the change (which means re-formatting your intire drive in some cases.) The process in this case is very easy to reverse because the Wubi install can be uninstalled from the windows control panel.

The result of the Wubi install is that the user can choose between Windows of Ubuntu when the computer is booting. The speed of the Wubi install is slower than a standard installation. I typically keep one partition for my OS files, a second for my swap partition, and another partition for my home directory, which runs quick. My hard drive also has a fourth partition that I run Windows on, just to keep around for work purposes.

In the other room I am currently upgrading my Lenovo to Ubuntu 8.04 from an installation I've been upgrading sense Ubuntu 6. That is my primary computer, and I use it for most of my day to day work. It has an 80GB hdd that is devided into 3 partition: swap, root, and home. That machine actually runs everything, but I will be testing out life without my Google Toolbar for a little while (at least no toolbar at home.) I don't think I could give it up for too long.

So far the install is going sort of slow. I have Qwest DSL, which is supposed to be a 7mb connection, but it doesn't ever seem to get close to that speed. I must admit I am comparing it to the Gigabit connection at work, but that is a different story.

It reported that more than 1300 files will be upgraded. Most of which would be un-installed first. I am not sure if the upgrade will actually mess up my system in any way yet; I have had issues with my S-Video out after upgrades in the past, but I am hoping that even though I am sure I know how to deal with the issue, I do not want to do it again.

So, I'll get back once I have my third version of Ubuntu up and running.

Linux in our lives.

2008-03-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

Linux on PCs

Over the years, more and more people have heard of Linux. I have been watching this OS grow from difficult to usable, and recently I have really started to think the OS has a chance. I suppose the thing that worries me is seeing Linux distributions like gOS being sold at Wal-Mart. I am excited to see Linux pre-loaded on a cheap PC, however I would prefer to see an original Ubuntu distribution rather than a modified Ubuntu distribution that puts such a large emphasis on web 2.0 services.
Linux needs an easy to use distribution that functions the way Windows users expect the machine to function. Then, the additional perks of having online repositories of free software and clearly written documentation in laymen's terms.

Linux on Mobile Devices

I have been happy to see the Nokia 770, N800, and N810 released with Nokia's mobile OS, however I would have liked to see more long term support for at least the proprietary portions of the system. I was also disappointed to see a lack of pre-loaded PIM software. It was easy enough to add repositories to allow easy installation of a fairly impressive software library. I personally enjoyed loading putty for the purpose of using my own encryption for my personal internet traffic through untrusted access points.
Another mobile device I have high aspirations for is the Neo1973. I hope to see the retail version of this device released in the next year; you can currently obtain a really nice kit including the developer model, a debug board, and their OS pre-loaded on the phone. I just wish I were sponsored so I could give a review of this, however I plan on continueing on this idea after I actually get my hands on one of the advanced developer kits ($400 USD).
I am looking forward to the Google Android OS to be released. I have been testing simple applications with the SDK using Eclipse. I have found that Oreilly's Eclipse Pocket Guide was very useful to quickly familiarize myself with the IDE; which I felt was easy to transition to from Visual Studio. The Android OS features a built in web browser based on Webkit, a Google Map viewer, and Contact List.

I think this post is horrendous... however I will try and improve over time.

I think my next post will be themed around social networking.

If you read this, tell me what you think/hate/like?/how stupid I sound.

Later,

SteveO

New Blog!

2008-03-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

I started this blog with the idea of having somewhere to just rant about tech news and that sort of stuff....

I will start ranting next post...

in a few minutes.

Later,

SteveO