Frank's empty space

New view enabled, adds eye candy

2011-04-08T08:31:00.001+02:00

Now you can see blogs in a new manner by adding /view to their URL: http://diyfrank.blogspot.com/view

This will enable a "sidebar" view by default and you can switch between the views from a dropdown on top. Quite nice, but requires a relatively new browser like Firefox 3.5+, Internet Explorer 8+, Safari or Chrome

Source

HD trailers in Front Row, revisited

2011-04-08T08:11:00.003+02:00

As an owner of a TV bigger than my laptop screen, I need HD quality when watching trailers in Front Row. After upgrading (or reinstalling, I don't remember) to Snow Leopard 10.6.6, the Front Row Trailers preference pane did not work anymore. Then I checked the link for an updated version (from my previous post). The link however was dead, and so I needed to find another alternative.

Thanks to Michel Merx, I could find the answer in the comments of the site!

So for future reference, to allow HD trailers in Front Row on SL 10.6.6;

Open Terminal.app and enter (copy paste should work)

defaults write com.apple.frontrow EnableHDMovieTrailers TRUE && killall FrontRow

The && killall FrontRow will stop Front Row if it is already running.

Thank you Michel and the internett

Installing OCCAS 5 on a Mac

2010-09-06T12:23:00.001+02:00

Oracle has released a new version of Oracle Converged Communications Application Server, or OCCAS. This time it is version 5 and it contains mostly bugfixes from version 4. One thing they forgot (again) is the Mac users, and we still have to go through a tedious process of tricking the installer to work. Anyway here's the solution (freely taken from other sources on the Internet, most notably here).

First problem is still that the installer does not recognize the installed JDK from Apple. This is because the installer is looking for a rt.jar in the JDK, but Apple does not have one. We can trick the installer by simply creating an empty file called rt.jar at the appropriate location (/Library/Java/Home/jre/lib), but the JDK does not have the jre/lib so that must be created as well).

The second problem is that the installer will complain about too little free disk space. To avoid this, you must add -Dos.name=unix to the parameter list of the java command.

Third problem is that the installer will crash in the final step where it is actually installing the software. This is due to memory usage and can be avoided by adding -Xmx512m and -XX:MaxPermSize=512m to the parameter list.

So in order to install OCCAS 5 on a Mac you must execute the following commands:

$ sudo mkdir -p /Library/Java/Home/jre/lib

$  sudo touch /Library/Java/Home/jre/lib/rt.jar

$ java -jar -Dos.name=unix -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m occas500_ja_generic.jar

That should do the trick! You may delete the jre/lib/rt.jar now if you like.

Now all we need is a Mac version of the JRockit VM, Oracle, please...

Getting the checksum of a file on a Mac

2010-07-09T09:37:00.000+02:00

This is just another post for my future reference. Perhaps someone else will find this useful as well.

Verifying the checksum of a download is a way to check that the integrity of the file has not been violated. If the checksum of the download matches the specified value from the source, you can be pretty sure the file is as it should be (not modified or tampered with).

I've been wanting to verify the checksum of downloaded files before, but never taken the time to find out how, or bother to download third-party software to do it for me.

Here are a few alternatives:

In Terminal.app you can find different checksums (source, thank you)

To find the md5 checksum for a file, type: $ md5 [pathToFile]
Another way to find the md5 checksum for a file, type: $ openssl md5 [pathToFile]
To find the sha1 checksum for a file, type:$ openssl sha1 [pathToFile]

You can create an Automator folder action to do the work for you (md5). Luckily Moebius Strip Software has already done that.
If you don't care to open Terminal.app, there is a third-party cocoa wrapper for openssl here that will allow you to simply drop the file into the window and the calculation of checksums (md5 and sha1) starts automatically.

keka - the free Mac OS X file archiver

2010-04-09T18:41:00.001+02:00

I have been looking around to find a good alternative to Apple's Archive Utility.app, with no luck.. UnRarX.app is great for unpacking archives, but as the 7zip format is getting more popular, I have to look for alternatives. There are many free and licensed applications ready to do the work, but very few of them have that instant action feeling. There is always something that should be done different..

Anyway, some time ago I found this program, keko. It was after I had uninstalled all the different archiving applications and I needed to unzip a 7z-file. I went to http://www.7-zip.org, hoping to find a new and improved version of whatever OS X application I had used before, but there was a new addition in the list, that's right, keko.

First impressions are very good, key qualities are

fast
intuitive
covers all the common formats

Give it a try!

http://www.kekaosx.com/en/

Arduino, Processing and Fritzing

2010-03-21T20:33:00.002+01:00

I just acquired an Arduino Pro board, and I have compiled a list of sites I frequently use for this. But first a small introduction:

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions. It is used by students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists for learning, prototyping, and production.

Fritzing is an open-source initiative to support designers, artists, researchers and hobbyists to take the step from physical prototyping to actual product.

All these programs run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Resources for getting started:

http://arduino.cc
http://arduino.org

http://processing.org
http://fritzing.org

Places to buy the boards, components and tools:

http://sparkfun.com
http://electrokit.se
http://futurlec.com
http://taydaelectronics.com
http://elfa.se

Let me know if you have an Arduino project going on!

What happened?

2009-12-15T10:42:00.000+01:00

I got a little busy earlier this year, interests (and priorities) shifted quite a lot, and I completely forgot to update the blog.

Still Alive

2008-10-24T10:43:00.012+02:00

Inspired by playing Portal on my xbox yesterday, I realized it was time for another post just to say I'm still alive!

I'm currently looking into Android (of course, who isn't) to see if I can make something fun with it. I've only just started, but the Hello, Android app is running. I guess I will see if I can make some time to write a useful application too. I don't really know what that should be, but I have some ideas. My guess is that you will see them here in not so long.

Another thing I'm looking into is LWUIT, the LightWeight User Interface Toolkit from SUN. This is very interesting as the user interface included as standard JavaME is butt-ugly and varies alot from vendor to vendor. Writing an application with LWUIT will/should ensure that it looks the same on all devices. In addition, there's an extra bonus of portability by using LWUIT. The only device specific class is the Display class, which instantiates LWUIT with Display.init(MIDlet). The rest can be written independently of JavaME, and thus moving to, say, Android (or Nokia N810) should be a matter of replacing the Display class with one deisgned for the target platform. As you understand by now, LWUIT (that's the last time you'll see LWUIT in this post, excluding that last one) seems to be a great step for mobile application user interface development!

Until we meet again

Nice shot for a cellphone camera

2008-09-06T16:29:00.001+02:00

I just took this picture with my phone, a SE K850i. It was so nice I had to share it!

Last day = Shopping spree!

2008-08-10T01:44:00.001+02:00

This is my last day here in Tokyo, so I have to do all my shopping now! After a night in Roppongi and Shibuya, my body and mind are telling me to stay in bed, but I have seen to many nice things to go home empty handed.

So I went back to Shinjuku and Akihabara to buy some nice cloths (including two Kimonos!) and electronic articles. I find the prices here to be most pleasing, as they are about 60% of the Norwegian ones!

There was one exception though; I wanted to buy a video camera, but Japan is using NTSC and Europe is using PAL.. And then there's the language; my Japanese is far from fluent (read: absent). The domestic versions where all NTSC and Japanese, except Canon's that has English menues. But without PAL I'm not buying. To satisfy my needs I had to buy an international model, which of course cost 60% more.. Then the price difference was no longer worth the hassle of a potensial warranty problem, sending the camera back for repairs etc.

Anyway, digital still pictue cameras are easier to find as only English menu is important. So I picked up a few slim ones.

And now my headache is starting to wear off.. Finally! I still recommend Roppongi, though

All together, this week has been awsome, and more pictures will come (in better quality).

Tokyo and the clean spot

2008-08-06T15:46:00.005+02:00

After four days in Tokyo there are a few things I noticed;

everything is very high-tech
everybody is extremely polite
everyone is very busy
nobody speaks English (ok, some do)
everything is very clean

And, amazingly enough, it's that last bullet I'll talk about in this post. Because, the first thing I noticed was how few garbage cans there where on the airport (Narita), and yet, there was no garbage around.. And out on the streets, there's not a leaf on the road. There's not even any graffiti on the walls! Well, there was one, but that was Hello Kitty, so I'll let that one pass.

Then I came to my hotel (clean and nice as most hotels), and after 12 hours on a plane, I felt the need to go.. I thought I noticed something different about the toilet, but I just figured it was a Japanese design; and that it was. Quite different from what I first imaginged though; the toilet had a control panel on the side, and the ring was preheated. Very nice indeed! It also had a, dear I say interesting, feature for the rear...

However, even when you design a fancy toilet with preheated seat and adjustable tushiwash (that's right), you have to think about the consequenses of misuse and/or malfunctioning!! Personally I don't think putting up a sticker with a warning; "To reduce the risk of electrocution or fire, do not splash water (or urin) on the main unit, control panel or power box.". Is it just me or is something terrible wrong here? "To reduce the risk of electrocution..."

Time for some toilet pictures;

The toilet with soft close lid, preheated seat and a sprinkler (two actually) for your behind (with adjustable pressure).

The control panel from which all good comes.

This is when the engineers should hear the bells ringing.. If you have a problem with people getting electrocuted, it is time to find a solution to remove it, not reduce it..

First day in Tokyo, Japan

2008-08-03T14:02:00.004+02:00

A couple of days ago, I was told that I was likely to have work-related travel to Tokyo, Japan. Kind as I am, I gently accpeted (read: was very, very happy). It has always been a dream to visit the high-tech country from which all that is good comes from! So, I booked the flight and the hotel, and I am now in Royal Park Shiodome Tower, with some Japanese brew and and a snack I don't know what is..

I have just finished a lambstew, with vegetables and rice, and I'm on my way out to take a look around.

Anyway, I thought I should share my view on Japan (literally) and so, here is a few pictures.

View from my room in the 30th floor

More of the view from my room (center of picture; Tokyo Tower)

View from restaurant at the 24th floor

HD trailers in Front Row

2008-07-05T15:38:00.008+02:00

In order to watch trailers in HD in Front Row, start Terminal.app and type (copy paste should work too) the following;

defaults write com.apple.frontrow TrailerBypass http://www.apple.com/trailers/home/xml/current_720p.xml && killall "Front Row"

Basically, what this does is to write a value (http://.../current_720p.xml) to a property (called TrailerBypass) used by Front Row (com.apple.frontrow) and then (&&) restart Front Row (killall "Front Row")

To undo the above type this in Terminal.app

defaults delete com.apple.frontrow TrailerBypass && killall "Front Row"

In some cases this is not reflected in Front Row, if so, start Front Row (cmd+esc) and exit again. Then try to enter the command again.

If you have trouble pasting it into Terminal.app, paste it to TextEdit.app and make sure it is on one line only.

Or as a last resort install "Front Row Trailers" which enables this same feature with just a few mouse clicks. (Don't take me wrong, this is a great app, I just don't like to install more than highly necessary).

References

Update: I can't make this work on my iMac 24", but still it works on my MacBook.. If someone out there knows a hint or two, drop a line in the comments.

Update 2: Ok, so I finally took a bite of the sour apple (oh, well, you know what I mean) and I installed the preference pane "Front Row Trailers" and now it works on my iMac as well.. Sweet stuff.

Update 3: Now the link in Update 2 is down, see my new post for more tips.

SunSPOT Alarm System

2008-06-06T19:59:00.005+02:00

In a research project I'm working on called ISIS, we are looking into how hard it is to integrate our research with "independent third party software". Since we don't have time to find such third party software (we have a workshop next week), I sat down to make the crISIS Alarm System. It is a highly pluggable module based alarm system, running in OSGi, where new AlarmModules may be created and by anyone, and they will pop up in the system automatically as they are deployed in the OSGi container.

So, sitting there, having two SunSPOTs and a base station on my desk, more or less screaming at me; WE CAN BE ALARM MODULES!!!

Not a bad idea, I thought. Some hours later, I have two alarm modules connected to my alarm system via the base station, running in OSGi, all without breaking a sweat (ok, that's lie). The SunSPOT now triggers when switch1 is pressed, or when it is moving, and it's communicating it to the base station through my lovely custom 'protocol'. I intended to use a listener on the accelerometer, but that proved to be too time consuming, so I ended up with a movement check (like the one in the developers guide).

So if you are interested, you may go to our GForge site and check out the code, or just test the alarm system, and who knows, maybe you will be creating your own alarm modules? In any case, if you want to try it out, you should also take a look at the documentation (I know, it's boring to read, but I have a lot of pictures in it!).

I'm using felix and knopflerfish when testing the bundles.

Drop me a line in the comments if you like it (or if you don't....like it I mean...).

SunSPOT Crash course!

2008-05-30T14:55:00.010+02:00

After I got my SunSPOT devkit, I did a lot of researching on the internet and I stumbled upon davidgs' blog about SunSPOT, and his latest post about getting 'SunSPOT Certified'. Of course, as davidgs also mentions, it's not really a certification, but you get a nice certificate! And the course is really useful for getting a basic understanding about what the SunSPOT is all about!

So check it out for yourself, and don't miss out on davidgs' blog!

Edit: Oh, and Roger Meike's blog. Meike manages the development of SPOTs at Sun Labs, and posts some interesting things as well.

N810 - First steps for Java developers

2008-05-27T13:19:00.007+02:00

This is mainly a post for my future reference.

To install many of the developer related software (like SSH and Java for instance), you need to activate the Red pill mode in the Application manager.

Red pill mode
Enable red pill mode in application manager;
1. Settings -> Application Manager
2. From the menu; Tools -> Application catalogue...
3. New -> Enter 'matrix' without ' in the Web address
4. Click Cancel
5. Select Red

As described here

SSH + root
Install OpenSSH (which includes both server and client) from Application mananger. When doing this, you are asked for a new root password. This should be a good password!

Java Virtual Machine
Install JamVM (which includes GNU Classpath) from Application manager. This will enable you to run Java programs by typing 'jamvm' instead of 'java' at the command line.

Enable su and sudo from user
1. Open x-term on device and type 'ifconfig' to get current IP address.
2. Start Putty or similar on desktop computer to SSH to the device's IP address.
3. Login as root using the password you entered earlier.
4. Enter 'passwd user' and enter new password for the user 'user'
5. Enter 'echo "user ALL = PASSWD: /bin/su" >> /etc/sudoers' to allow 'user' to use su
6. Optionally disable remote login for root by entering 'passwd -l root'
7. Now you may SSH to your device using 'user' and the new password. And whenever you need root; just type 'sudo su -'

Modified from here

OSGi
I tried Knopflerfish OSGi first, but it didn't work for some reason; however Felix from apache.org works very well:

1. On your device; open browser and got to felix.apache.org
2. Download latest versjon to some folder.
3. Enter 'gunzip -d felix-1.0.4.tar.gz | tar -xf' to unpack
4. Change directory to felix-1.0.4
5. Start Felix with 'jamvm -jar bin/felix.jar'

This is a start at least!

Nokia N810 + SunSPOT

2008-05-21T17:11:00.001+02:00

Ok! I received a few new toys today, namely Nokia N810 and SUN SunSPOT!

I'm not 100% sure what to do with them, but Java, OSGi and sensors strikes me as the most obvious playground. If anyone has any good ideas of what to do with them (especially the SunSPOTs), drop me a line in the comments.

I'm thinking virtual combination locks, remote controlls, gestures.. Sweet stuff!

Will report back as soon as I got something :)

Feist on Comedy Central

2008-05-04T04:54:00.003+02:00

Leslie Feist, one of my favorite artists, has had an appearance at Comedy Central. She did an interview and, of course, a song. In the interview, she claims Steve Jobs has the power to grant U.S. citizenship, which apparently was part of an iPod contract with Leslie. -Quite impressive, Steve.

See the interview and listen to the song.

Cacko on Sharp Zaurus

2008-04-17T17:50:00.003+02:00

I will not explain how to install cacko. However, I spent hours and hours searching for a download link that actually worked; and that is what I'm sharing today!

http://sharpromfeed.home.linuxtogo.org/download/cacko/rom1.23/

You're welcome :)

ICE modem (D-50) on Mac OS X Leopard

2008-04-14T18:55:00.002+02:00

As I just tried to install the D-50 CDMA modem from NMT (http://www.nmt.no) I ran into a few problems.

Good news; Installation of the actual driver went perfectly well.
Bad news; My MacBook froze after reboot (the reboot was probably not necessary, though)
More bad news; After opening System Preferences, the installation guide was not even close to what I saw.
More good news; However, here's what you do to make it work;

1. Open System Preferences
2. Click Network under Internet and Network
3. Select in the list to the left the entry that looks most like the modem (the one with a phone)
4. Add phone and username / password as described in installation guide (ok, this part was pretty close)
5. Click Advanced
6. Select the Modem tab
7. Select Vendor -> Franklin
7. Select Model -> CDMA
8. Click OK
9. Click Apply
10. Click Connect

Now you should be online!

This post is written while using ICE-modem for internet connection.

Good luck!

JavaME development on OSX

2008-04-10T09:43:00.006+02:00

Ok, it is time to write a halfway useful post. And sadly, this is mostly cut and paste from Moritz Petersen's blog entry. Well, it's actually a quote. I think it was hard to find it, so here you go;

The installation of the J2ME Wireless Toolkit on Mac OS X is quite simple.

1. Download the toolkit from the Sun website. Make sure to download the Linux version, because there is no dedicated Mac OS X version. But no problem: the Linux version will run on the Mac.

2. Open the Terminal.

3. Run the downloaded installer. You will be probably asked for the Java installation and a location where the wireless toolkit is to be deployed.

4. After the installation is finished, change into the directory, where you have installed the wireless toolkit.

5. Create a copy of the Linux directory and rename it to Mac.

6. Run the application by typing bin/ktoolbar.

So far so good. However, J2ME applications compile and build now, but I did not manage to run the emulator yet. The error message I get is “cannot execute binary file“. Does anyone know how to avoid this problem?

Ok, that's all good. I tested it and i worked fine on Leopard (with the exception of the emulator which I did not try yet).

Since I feel somewhat guilty now, ~~stealing~~ borrowing other peoples posts, I will add some myself.

At point 3. you will be asked for the location of Java. For newcommers to Mac, this might be hard to find. Well, here it is; /Library/Java/Home/bin

Also, instead of using the ktoolbar. I suggest you download the latest Eclipse and install it along with EclipseME. This combination is awesome when creating midlets!

Anyway, hope more people will find this information now that I also ~~duplicated~~ published it.

-- Frank

edit: in addition, to run the installer you must
$ chmod +x sun...bin
$ ./sun...bin

Eat this, KLM!

2007-12-15T07:51:00.001+01:00

Last night I consumed a considerably amount of fancy food, on your behalf! :@

So KLM is officially off my xmas card list

2007-12-14T22:43:00.001+01:00

After being 2 hours late from Barcelona, they couldn't hold my connecting flight to Trondheim 10 minutes... So now I'm stuck in Amsterdam over night.. At the Hotel Van Der Valk

Barcelona in December

2007-12-12T16:28:00.001+01:00

Not the worst place to be :-)

SIMS Meeting in Barcelona

2007-12-12T16:23:00.001+01:00

View from the hotel

We have just bought an apartment!

2007-11-27T09:23:00.002+01:00

Finally, after more than two years of searching and trying to buy, we get the perfect place to live! It's quite big, 70 sqm. It has two bedrooms, a big living room, separate bathroom and toilet. A fireplace!! Good size kitchen, two store rooms, where one (the bigger 18sqm) is newly painted and set up as a hobby room! :D I like!

You can see more here (Norwegian):

P1i blog test

2007-11-26T15:23:00.001+01:00

So, I guess this works ok?

Salt og pepper kunst

2007-11-18T22:52:00.001+01:00

Litt kunst på morgenkvisten

Nab4J - The Java library for Nabaztag/Tag (V2)

2007-10-04T14:54:00.003+02:00

Version 0.1 of the Nabaztag Java API is released. Most of the functionality is implemented, but not everything is working (e.g. the choreography, but I blame VIOLET for that).

Enjoy

Fraggin is over

2007-09-15T02:12:00.001+02:00

Waiting for taxi after a good evening with fragging and wii-ing and lots of alcohol units consumed!

Frag'n'w(h)ine

2007-09-14T23:09:00.001+02:00

Anders and Espen taking on rabbids during a frag'n'w(h)ine at tln :-D

Helicopter arrived

2007-05-13T12:11:00.001+02:00

My rc-copter was here yester day. I have tried it now and conclusion is; it's damn difficult to fly! :-S

I need to calibrate it, but haven't had time for that yet. :-)

The first sign of spring!

2007-04-21T12:53:00.001+02:00

Hestehov
Originally uploaded by frapaa.

Finally got my new camera! A Canon IXUS 75 :)

Great camera, great quality! Here is one of my first images; a colts foot (Hestehov). The first sign of spring!

Flickr

2007-04-21T12:47:00.001+02:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Blogger no longer in beta, they say..

2007-03-07T16:43:00.000+01:00

Ok, I wasn't even aware that it ever was in beta :) Oh well.. So I upgraded my blog to the new non-beta Blogger, and it seems like quite the same. Only, now I sign in with Google account instead. Google bought yet another successful internet firm :) Good for you!

And about all that money you got ther, Google, if you need a hand getting rid of them, let me know and I'll help you spend some of it! (got some student loan, and soon some home loan that is subject to your funding :)

Anyway, blogging is fun.. But why bother when no one reads it, and why would anybody read it when I write so seldom and about nothing useful.. ??

Well, whatever.. I'll just keep blogging and we'll see what happens..

-Frank

PS: To Blogger.com .. I clicked the "Flag blog" button, not realizing what it was, so if you see this, just ignore my flagging ;)

I bricked my wl-500gP

2007-03-07T12:22:00.000+01:00

After a failed upload of Olegs firmware, the router was bricked. Long story short; open router, short pin 9 with ground, upload openwrt and webif^2.

And what do you know, it works! All I needed was the tools shown in picture, and some Nonstop(chocolate).

Komtek kveld på Bar Sofa

2006-10-21T02:55:00.000+02:00

Her er jon arne i kjempehumør :)

Mr Anderson

2006-10-13T22:01:00.000+02:00

Vel fremme på eie ligger Neo og slapper av. Vi har spist kveldsmat og dagen har vært lang, så vi tar en tidlig kveld.

Da er det helg!

2006-10-13T15:38:00.000+02:00

Og jeg er på vei fra jobb (bildet). I helgen skal jeg være sammen med kjæresten min på Ålvundeid, eller eie om et vil :) Fikk ny PC i dag også! Bilder kommer etter hvert :)

Kjæresten min ;)

2006-10-12T21:53:00.000+02:00

Her sitter kjæresten min i sofaen i leiligheten i Trondheim.

Endelig ferdig med søknaden!

2006-10-12T20:54:00.000+02:00

Seks timer etter forrige bilde ble tatt er vi endelig ferdig med søknaden! Den ble levert kl 17:55 og fristen var kl 18:00 :)

Takk til alle som var med, og spesielt Martin som har ansvaret for dette!

Søknadsskriving!

2006-10-12T18:11:00.000+02:00

Her er Martin i full gang med siste innspurt før søknaden for neste års prosjekt skal leveres!

Ny telefon :)

2006-10-10T18:43:00.000+02:00

Da er den nye telefonen i havn og vi må selvsagt teste alle funksjoner som er å oppdrive :) Blogging står nå for tur!

-frank