20080225
Nokia Morphs the Future - Click!
The 21st Century. Still no flying cars. Still addicted to oil. Still addicted to greed and consumerism. Someone should really tell the people pulling the strings that the 1980s are over.Aside from Barack Obama's strong momentum to break the political machine that killed Kennedy that endangers everyone else, the people at Nokia have a plan to make science fiction become reality within 5 to 10 years with the Morph project. Morph will be the iPhone killer. (As if Nokia doesn't already have an iPhone Killer).
Check out this video.
Labels: morph, nanotech, nokia, phone
posted by Bushido Hacks 2/25/2008 08:15:00 PM (0) comments top
20071223
Safely upgrading PalmOS for the Treo
Palm recently had an update available for the Treo 680 that nearly scared me to death last night when the USB port on the older computer I use to sync with my PDA. Supposedly this update should improve battery life. (Tip: Hop onto eBay and look for a battery with double or more charge storage. The inital battery stores at least 1200 mAh (milliAmpere-hours). For all you physics majors out there, that is about 4320 coulombs (1 coulomb = 1 Ampere-second). The electronics industry likes to use mAh.) While it might be true, it actually adds alot of crap software to your PDA.Flashing your PDA is RISKY, as previously entries will show.
But the people who wrote the instructions for the update wrote four different versions of the instructions.
So here is what you should do.
1. Sync your PDA. Back up everything first. Back up any third party programs to your SD card.
2. Find a spare SD card. You don't need a large SD card. A 256MB will do, though you'll only need about 20 MB. Do NOT use the same SD card that you store your stuff on. It needs to be blank. You can find a 256MB card down at Target for like $10.
3. Go to the Palm website where the update is. Read everything.
4. Use the IT instructions. When you get to this page, use the instructions for IT and Enterprise.
5. Download the update file, extract files to spare SD card. This step is listed in the IT instructions, but it is important to list here considering the following step.
6. Reboot the PDA. With NO SD card in the PDA at all (you can still leave your SIM card in the PDA), take the battery out and put it back in. (That is if you have a Treo 680).
7. Plug-in AC Adapter. You are going to need it plugged in for this operation.
8. Put in the SD card with the update program on it. It should start automatically, but if it doesn't go back to step 6 and perform a hard reset.
9. Follow the rest of the instructions on the website.
10. When the entire update process is complete, remove the other SD card with the update on it. Put it some place where you can use it again when the next update comes out.
11. Put the SD card you use for your stuff back in, but don't put the programs that need to be on your PDA back on the PDA. They may be reloaded after the next step.
10. Resync your PDA with your computer. After you since, reinstall any outstanding programs that may not have been put back after syncing.
What I can't believe is that this update DID NOT come with a Java VM.
I plan to have more stuff to talk about after the Holidays. Fall has been sort of a dry spell here at this website, and after reading some of my old archives, I realized that many of the things that I talked about doing an am able to do now and am ready to explain here in the new year. I would like to get some wiki entries wrtten up for Eclipse, Android, Treo, and syncing on Linux within the next month or so. These are promises I would like to keep as they are what people really want. Not some discount for some sudoku game. (I never liked sudoku. Crosswords are better.)
So until next time, Merry Christmas!
Labels: handhelds, palm, phone, scary
posted by Bushido Hacks 12/23/2007 03:52:00 PM (0) comments top
20071113
Android Runs on Java and Under the Couch - Click!
I don't know why people still use Java. Even on a dual core system with pleanty of memory, Java love to suck up system resources until it putters at a Commodores pace. In addition, Java is an energy hog on portable devices, including Moto's RAZR.Here's something to think about: Why aren't portable apps being written in Python or C? I read about portable applications for mobile devices using open source software all the time. Why don't we see these things in other technology magazines other than Linux Journal or Linux User?
C is efficent. The codes can be ported to iPhone and Palm OS. But mobile application projects for C and Python came to a halt earilier this decade, primarily because Java became the only game in town.
Thanks to Apple, interest in programming mobile devices is on the rise again. Hacking the iPhone is the primary goal, but hopefully Palm OS and Blackberry users will join in. (This was one of Android's goals in the first place.)
Android runs under the couch like a Roomba Robot. Atleast I still have an SSH program.
UPDATE:
After some review of Android, I have decided to reconsider my stance on Java programming. Perhaps I will find what it is that Java does that make is so energy-innefficent.
My appologies for being dismissive.
Labels: brew, google, java, palm, phone
posted by Bushido Hacks 11/13/2007 02:01:00 PM (0) comments top
20061127
Book mark everything in this post
For those of you who have found my GCC & GLUT installation instructions extremely helpful, I thank you for your kind words and feed back.Sadily, I do not have the time nor the resources to show examples or syntax of C, C++, or OpenGL.
Fortunately, I have found these resources to be VERY helpful over the break.
- Fred Swartz has a copy of his C++ Notes available on his website. I'll add his page to my list of resources on the tutorial page later.
- Lars Haendel has many example of some advanced programming techniques that are very important if you plan on getting a real job as a computer programmer. His site deals with two topics that most C++ books and professors rarely discuss: Callbacks in C++ and Function Pointers
Other things I've picked up over the holiday include a few cellphone hacks for the RAZR. I was bummed out that I couldn't use that Blackberry I got on eBay. Never the less, I will be a sufficent backup device should my RAZR turn into a brick as I rage against Ma Bell. (Fight the machine! Woooo!)
First off, screw Ma Bell (Cingular) and her $2 ringtones and lack of work tools. According to Stephen Pierzchala in a May 2006 blog entry, the V3 has about as much processing power as one of the first 386 computers. This seems plasable considering that the Texas Instruments TI-83 graphing calculator could have easily replaced the command module on the Apollo spacecraft. I'm interested in doing the same thing to my RAZR that Pierzchala did, only without wiping the firmware. One program that I especially have my eye on is MIDPssh, a terminal emulator for mobile devices. Thus, over the Christmas break, I plan on doing some modding on my RAZR. A couple good RAZR mod sites are MotoModders.net and PlanetMotox.net. Hacker websites like Binary Revolution are also a good source for things that annoy the phone company.
Labels: blackberry, C++, hack, mod, OpenGL, phone, razr, tech
posted by Bushido Hacks 11/27/2006 09:33:00 PM (0) comments top
20061122
BlackBerry + AT&T = Paperweight
I just recently bought a really nice Blackberry from a reputable local vendor on eBay. I figured, a 7100g would be compatible with my service and allow me to spend time my time more productively. Not to mention, organize my life better at a time where I really need this technology.However, there is one problem. In the eyes of Cingular, this device which I paid a pretty penny for is nothing more than a paperweight.
To the vendor who I bought the device from, I appreciate your business and whole heartedly know that you did not know that this device, which I know for a fact went on the market sometime in late 2004 (I mean, so late in 2004, all the copyright information says 2005 on it). The seller and the buyer both lost in this transaction? Why? Because Cingular considers this device "obsolete".
Then I figured "OK, what if I set my phone profile to another Blackberry that Cingular has listed?" As it turns out, all that they had in their database that was compatible with their network either was obsolete or did not support tethering.
Instead of allowing users to access the affordable data services that Blackberry offers, Cingular--or should I say MA BELL a.k.a. AT&T-- has decided to nickel and dime this service not by the megabyte but by the kilobyte. If I am currently being charged $5 per month for 1 MB of downloads using the MediaNet service. That is Half of one cent per kilobyte. As we are romanced by the harpies of entertainment content and are given a greater amount of bandwidth, it is ignorant for AT&T to charge people for the amount of data that customers download. Here they are encouaging consumers to listen to music on their cellphones and telling them they can watch video and TV and listen to FM radio (what about AM?) and they want to squeeze us of every penny. My cousin had to discontinue her phone service when she got a $600 phone bill in her mail for using it too much. On the other hand, I'm being charged over $50 per month, barely speak on the phone, but can't use the phone for what I need it for: DATA!
My BlackBerry is NOT obsolete. AT&T's billing practices are.
AT&T says they are brand new and have changed. The only thing that has changed about them is the use of lowercase letters in their logo. They are the same AT&T that they were in 1984. They have reformed their monopoly but have found loopholes in the government that allow them to rake customers and employees while they get away with spying on people from our own country. Don't tell me "they're doing it to prevent terrorism" because that is a bunch of bullsh*t! If AT&T had done the right thing, they would have tracked who bought or sold their prepaid cellular phones which are nearly impossible to track allowing the REAL terrorists to use them as triggering devices causing incidents like those in Bali, Madrid, and London.
They have used fear to justify their cause and in return we gave them obedience. Why don't they send people to come to our homes take a leak on our backs and tell us that it is rain while they are at it.
I will find a way to use my new phone freely and as the Blackberry people had designed it to be used, whether AT&T wants me to use it like that or not.
It may be their service that I use, but it is MY phone. And I will use it as I wish to use it. Not as some media fun-box, but as a tool for organization as was the original purpose for purchasing it.
Labels: blackberry, hack, phone, tech
posted by Bushido Hacks 11/22/2006 05:30:00 PM (0) comments top
