I have always been fond of typography, but this is a special font: Font Awesome only contains icons. They may be simple icons, but they do look good. No suprises there: these icons were developed for the Bootstrap framework used by Twitter.
Archive for the ‘Software’ Category
Awesome Icons In A Font
Posted in Design and Art, Software on 15/05/2013 | Leave a Comment »
Netbook Now Running Ubuntu 13.04
Posted in Linux, Software, Ubuntu on 08/05/2013 | Leave a Comment »
Until a few days ago, the netbook was running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. But upgrading to 13.04 was not difficult, just time-consuming. First I had to upgrade to 12.10, which already brought a more responsive Unity interface. And today 13.04 had to prove its worth. So far, so good: being able to drag windows from one workspace to another was something I missed in 12.04 (or did I forget to turn a switch somewhere?), and that’s back now. And everything else – actually, that’s Chrome mostly – seems to run like before. What more can you want from an upgrade?
Garmin Does Not Like The Mac (2)
Posted in Apple & Macintosh, Software on 29/04/2013 |
I have already mentioned some of the problems I encountered while trying to use my Garmin Zumo 660 to the fullest extent possible, i.e. with all the available software on desktop machines augmenting the capacities of the GPS itself. On the Mac, Garmin makes it hard to do so. Here’s another example from a few weeks ago. When trying to install the Garmin Express tool, here’s what I got to see after acknowledging the licence agreement:
Garmin Express fails to check the current OS X version before continuing…
Once again, Garmin software engineers failed to add a simple test to their product, leaving me in an installation procedure with no options. Sad, no?
Luckily for me, I have since upgraded the iMac to OSX version 10.6.8 – not yet perfect, of course, but a necessary step on the way to OSX Mountain Lion. So now I’m in the process of upgrading all Garmin apps (again) – I hope to conclude that operation without further hitches…
Bootstrap Your Web App
Posted in Software, Software Development, Web Development on 26/04/2013 |
Last wednesday Adobe hosted a Belgian ColdFusion User Group meeting. Subjects of meeting were Less and Bootstrap. I liked the Bootstrap demos given by Guust Nieuwenhuis, all the while thinking about how Boostrap would have simplified my life (and that of my colleagues) while developing our intranet apps more than five years ago. .. but that was before HTML5 was there to build on…
If you want a quick intro to Bootstrap without going to a user group meeting, have a look at Matt Raible’s extensive Bootstrap overview (he describes the creation of this presentation app in his blog post of April 23, 2013).
Tips To Strengthen The Security of Your WordPress Site
Posted in Content Management, Software on 24/04/2013 |
Recently hackers have launched large-scale attacks on WordPress sites. If you run your own WordPress instance you could do worse than read SitePoint’s “WordPress Security“. Don’t just sit there, read it, and act!
Given the popularity of ‘mobile’ with the general public and the ubiquity of Git in the developer universe, SparkleShare should not come as a surprise. SparkleShare can be described as the functional equivalent of Dropbox and similar file storage providers. SparkleShare let’s you define a special folder or directory on your local machine that will be kept in sync with a designated server repository.
But there are also significant differences with Dropbox.
First of all, SparkleShare provides not just the client side of the tool, but also the server part, where you’ll be storing your files. This allows you to choose where your files will be stored: on your PC at home, on a company server, on a server hosted elsewhere: anything is possible – as long as you can install and manage a Git instance on your repository server.
Secondly, SparkleShare is not a polished commercial product, but an open source project. The project has made client versions available for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
But configuring the server may not be as easy as creating a user account, unless you will be using GitHub to store your files. I haven’t tried it yet, but the documentation seems scaringly thin for someone who has never used Git…
IE8 Keeps Embarrasing Me
Posted in Software, Software Development, Web Development on 17/04/2013 |
The following jQuery 1.6 code snippet works (or at least it seems to work) in Chrome 24 and Firefox 20, but not in IE8: IE8 keeps showing me the “missing image” graphic when the requested image does not exist on the server. Why?
$.ajax( $("#prod").val() + ".jpg", {
type: "GET",
data: "{}",
error: function() { $("#preview").html( "" ) },
fail: function() { $("#preview").html( "" ) },
done: function() {
$("#preview").html($("<img>").attr("src",$("#prod").val()+".jpg"));
},
success: function() {
$("#preview").html($("<img>").attr("src",$("#prod").val()+".jpg"));
},
}
If it wasn’t clear: I’m trying to check the existence of a JPEG file on the webserver before showing it in a DIV with the id “preview”, where the JPEG is named after the OPTION value in the “prod” SELECT. The code snippet should be packaged in a function called when the user changes the product selection, of course. I have tried a few variants of the code, having started with “$.get()“, but none of them worked as expected.
I have found a few mentions of IE8 trouble with the “$.ajax()” function, like these: http://forum.jquery.com/topic/jquery-ajax-ie8-problem or https://github.com/angular/angular.js/issues/1418. I’m yet to find an clear explanation for what might go wrong with my simple HTTP GET, however…
Do I really have to give up on jQuery in order to get it running on the admittedly antiquated IE8, and apply the solution presented on StackOverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2659208/ie8-jquery-ajax-call-giving-parsererror-from-django-for-json-data-which-seem? Or is there a better solution without jQuery?
Scripting News mentions Drew Houston and the role of MIT, and other examples of great software ideas like DropBox and Facebook that were conceived on university campuses. Dave Winer could have mentioned Dries Buytaert as well: the first version of Drupal was written when Dries was studying at the universities of Antwerpen and Gent (Belgium)…
The CyanogenMod OTA Updater… Does Work!
Posted in Android, Mobile Computing, Software on 10/04/2013 |
A few days ago, I mentioned having problems with the CyanogenMod OTA Updater tool. What I described happened just before “ivendor” released his Release 1 of CM 10 for the Samsung Galaxy S+. So I had to upgrade again… and this time the OTA Updater worked flawlessly. Here’s the proof, in the form of a series of screenshots:
CM OTA Updater – Update detected
CM OTA Updater – Downloading…
CM OTA Updater – Ready to install
CM OTA Updater – After the update
CM OTA Updater – View the downloaded ROM(s)
I still have no explanation for what what went wrong the first time; I can only affirm that it worked splendidly this time around. With just a few clicks, the update was downloaded and installed, and the SGS+ rebooted into the new version without further intervention. Easy as it may be to use ClockWorkMod Recovery, it’s even easier to use the CyanogenMod OTA Updater. Kudos to the developers!
The CyanogenMod OTA Updater Is Not Infallible
Posted in Android, Mobile Computing, Software on 05/04/2013 |
Six weeks ago, I installed CyanogenMod 10 on my Samsung Galaxy S Plus (SGS+). Not because I needed it for personal use, but mainly to use the machine to demo a few features during the workshops I give on mobile apps.
One of the nice features that CyanogenMod 10 brings is the OTA Updater. OTA means “over the air”; the OTA Updater will update you CyanogenMod 10 to newer versions without having to go through the complete update procedure for the first install.
Or at least, that’s how the OTA Updater is supposed to work. In my case, it didn’t work. Why? No idea. Was it because I was running beta 2, and needed to install beta 3 and beta 4 ? The OTA Updater told me it had (slowly) downloaded beta 3, but there was no trace of it after the download. Downloading beta 4 within the tool did not work, trying to do so immediately provoked an error message.
So I did the update – to beta 4 – the ‘old’ way. With ClockworkMod Recovery on the machine, that is actually almost as simple as the OTA Updater is supposed to be. Just download the required file on you computer, copy it to the SGS+, restart the SGS+ by booting into recovery, then tell CWM to install the downloaded file. Wait until CMW tells you it is done, and reboot the SGS+. Done. Who needs the OTA Updater anyway?
What A Way To Start Your Sunday
Posted in Patents, IP, Privacy and More, Software on 03/03/2013 |
I suppose we should be happy for Evernote to react so promptly and decisively, but here in Europe it makes for a lousy start of what is supposed to become a beautiful spring day: “Evernote resets user passwords after being hit by “coordinated” hack“.
Here’s another strange thing: although everyone agrees that you should not reset passwords by clicking on links in emails, the email warning from Evernote contained several links that could be interpreted as such. And those links are pointing to a server called ‘links.evernote.mkt5371.com‘… That made a suspicious at first, until I saw the story repeated on several news sites. Oh well – my password is changed; let’s hope Evernote strengthens its defenses against hackers!
My Samsung Galaxy S Plus Upgraded To CyanogenMod 10
Posted in Android, Mobile Computing, Software on 24/02/2013 |
I just finished upgrading my Samsung Galaxy S Plus (SGS+) to ivendor‘s latest version of CyanogenMod 10 for this machine. And by latest I mean really latest: the beta 2 was published only yesterday ;-)
You may know that this phone is no longer in daily use (there’s a SGS3 for that), but the SGS+ is still very usable. I hope to prove that by using it for a bit of application testing, screenshots for courses, etc. Android 4.1.2, in the form of ivendor‘s CyanogenMod 10, should help me keep up with essential apps on a more or less bare smartphone (at least compared to the Samsung TouchWiz environment on the SGS3).
CyanogenMod 10 on the Samsung Galaxy S Plus
For my own use, I’ll just add that I have to use the combination of the power key and the volume-down key to capture what’s on the screen – CM10 writes the PNG file into the Pictures/Screenshots folder on the internal memory card.
Raspberry Pi Tutorial To Get You Started
Posted in Software, Technology on 21/02/2013 |
The Raspberry Pi turns out to be a big commercial hit since it’s introduction, and a lot has been written about it. If you’re just familiarizing yourself with this computer, also have look at TechRadar’s Tutorial: Supercharge your Raspberry Pi. And then amaze the world – or just your friends – with your own appliance. Need inspiration? Read about a few more or less outlandish ideas on the Wired website:
- Raspberry Pi RC Race Car Is Controlled With Cheese
- This $35 DIY Computer Is Going to Sail Across the Atlantic
- Beer Maker Builds a Raspberry Pi Tap List for His Home Brews (I love the ‘raspbeery’ in the URL, by the way)
- Hacker Builds the Voice-Controlled Raspberry Pi R2-D2 You’re Looking For
And there are many more Pi projects to be found all over the Web, of course – this is just a tiny sample.
There’s already a lot of code available on the Internet, but a museum “publishing” a significant code base is a significant event. Program code becomes a object for study by historians: “Computer History Museum shares original Adobe Photoshop source code“.
I’m not sure, though, that this is effectively the first such case…
