Ubuntu Maverick DLNA Server - MediaTomb (fix: for Samsung Devices)

To setup a DLNA media server (watch videos, music, pictures on a networked AV Device) on Ubuntu:

#apt-get install mediatomb
#/etc/init.d/mediatomb start

Using web browser, navigate to http://localhost:49152 and setup your paths to media files on your machine. Start viewing content on your TV / BD Players!

Further Help here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MediaTomb

For Samsung devices: they need a header hack so add this section to the Mediatomb /etc/mediatomb/config.xml (found here):

<custom-http-headers>
 <add header="transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming"/>
 <add header="contentFeatures.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_CI=0;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01700000000000000000000000000000"/>
</custom-http-headers>

What Android Is and Why its cool

What Android Is:
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/11/14/What-Android-Is


Why its cool:

Problems with Samsung 3D glasses losing sync?

Do you have a problem with your Samsung 3D glasses losing sync? I was having an issue where the glasses where losing its sync every few minutes (3D fading, switching eyes, etc) due to too much IR crosstalk and interference. I fixed it by doing the following:

- Cut a small section of electrical tape as big as the sensor on the front of the glasses (the little rectangle in between the eyes)
- Place the electrical tape over the sensor leaving just a small sliver of the sensor exposed on the bottom edge.
- Turn on and enjoy a stable 3D picture.

Create animated .GIF images with GIMP

Create animated .GIF images with GIMP
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Simple_Animations/

Googles response to Job's rant about Android not being open

http://twitter.com/Arubin/status/27808662429

Ubuntu on an Acer Apsire 1410 Laptop

http://www.linlap.com/wiki/acer+aspire+1410

Add USB Port to a WRT54G V1 or V2 router

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=64931

http://open-wrt.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23308

Add Medibuntu Repository to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat (BETA)

The Maverick repo isnt setup yet, so just use lucid for the time being.

sudo wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/lucid.list && sudo apt-get --quiet update && sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get --quiet update

Free Diff / Merge tools

http://www.webtechquery.com/index.php/2010/05/free-diff-tools-ubuntu-linux-windows/

Ubuntu - 10.04 Lucid Lynx - Bluetooth Music A2DP skipping

Just paired my HTC BTH-2100 headphones to my work laptop and after pairing / configuring the sound stream was greated with skipping / stuttering audio.

You need to enable BT Master connections to fix this by doing the following:
# sudo nano /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf
Replace "lm accept;" with "lm_accept,master;"
Save the file
# sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth stop
# sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth start


Android - CyanogenMod 6 (CM6) GPS Fix

Having some recent problem with the GPS locking. Found this post which talks about a way to reset the AGPS data on the phone for faster and reliable locking in the future.


http://wccftech.com/2010/09/09/solving-gps-nofix-problem-cyanogenmod-6-nexus/

Stream Videos to Android (Part 2) HTC EVO

Went a slightly different route but got reliable video streaming to finally work on my phone from my movie server at home:

Obtain Market App: VLC Stream & Convert

Start up VLC on host computer (On port 8091):

vlc -I http --http-host :8091

Start app VLC Stream & Convert

- Select Menu / Connect

- Enter your IP <hostname> and 8091 port

To fix audio lag go to: Menu->Settings->Stream rtsp->Synchronize on audio

Stream Motion Webcam out to Flash Video website

Use linux motion:

http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome

Use the video loopback plugin

http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/Motion/VideoFourLinuxLoopbackDevice

Setup vlc with FLV stream:

vlc -v v4l:///dev/video2 --sout "#transcode{vcodec=FLV1,acodec=mp3}:std{access=http,dst=0.0.0.0:8080/stream.flv}"

Obtain flash video app:

http://www.video-flash.de/flv-flash-fullscreen-video-player/

Hit website and whoila!

Create a PKCS .p12 certificate

Needed to import a certificate to use OpenVPN on Android.

Using Openssl:
openssl pkcs12 -export -in private-cert.crt -inkey private-key.key -certfile ca.crt -name "[friendly name]" -out new-cert.p12

Fifth Element: Who is Finger?

Just happened to be watching the HD version one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies "Fifth Element" and noticed again the scene where Corbin is talking with his boss "Finger".   At one point he picks up a picture of the mysterious person and it would appear that a bit of the picture is disclosed.   I took a few stills to try and get a glimpse of what the movie producers used as a picture. Looks like it was a legit picture, just never got to see it from the camera angle.

Here they are (Around frame 26,000 if you would like to peak as well):

Front side:

Backside (translucent).  You can almost make out someone with a handle-bar mustache.

Picture of Corbin Dallas at the time for a frame of reference:

CyanogenMod ROM coming to an EVO near you

http://twitpic.com/24li6n

2005 Acura TL Door handle cover

The 2005 TL appears to have a design flaw with the door handle cover coming off and getting lost.  If you are under warranty (which I doubt at this point) you can try to get them to fix it under "goodwill", however, for me it is worth the $12 to get it sent to you online from here:

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/acura/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?catcgry1=TL&catcgry2=2005&catcgry3=4DR+BASE+%28NAVIGATION%29&catcgry4=KA5AT&catcgry5=FRONT+DOOR+LOCKS+-+OUTER+HANDLE&ListAll=All&vinsrch=no&systemcomp=&prdrefno=157935&quantity=1&act=additem&hidSwitch=&hidIrno=&vinnoT=&trans=&trim=&view=normal&count=2

Door Cover defect service bulletin:

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B07-043.PDF

Watching Streaming Video on Android HTC EVO Phone

Trying to figure out a way to view live TV / Movies / Video from my A/V devices at home on my Android HTC EVO Phone.

To play a movie:

Start VLC client on Ubuntu:

# vlc -v video.avi -I dummy --sout "#transcode{vcodec=h264,venc=x264{no-cabac,level=12,vbv-maxrate=384,vbv-bufsize=1000,keyint=75,ref=3,bframes=0},width=320, height=180,acodec=mp4a,ab=64,vb=384}:rtp{dst=,port=4555,sdp=rtsp://server:4555/stream.sdp,mp4a-latm}"

Start Movie Client Stream on Android:
- Open browser
- Browse to "rtsp://server:4555/stream.sdp"
- Watch stream!

To Watch live TV:
vlc -v vlc -v v4l2:///dev/video0 :v4l2-standard=3:v4l2-standard=45056 :v4l2-chroma= :v4l2-input=1 :v4l2-audio-input=0 :v4l2-io=1 :v4l2-width=640 :v4l2-height=480 -I dummy --sout "#transcode{vcodec=h264,venc=x264{no-cabac,level=12,vbv-maxrate=384,vbv-bufsize=1000,keyint=75,ref=3,bframes=0},width=320, height=180,acodec=mp4a,ab=64,vb=384}:rtp{dst=,port=4555,sdp=rtsp://192.168.13.5:4555/stream.sdp,mp4a-latm}"

Start Movie Client Stream on Android:
- Open browser
- Browse to "rtsp://server:4555/stream.sdp"
- Watch stream!

I am seeing about a 1/2 sec lag on audio and am looking into that. Any help would be appreciated!

vlc -v v4l2:///dev/video0 :v4l2-standard=3:v4l2-standard=45056 :v4l2-chroma= :v4l2-input=0 :v4l2-audio-input=0 :v4l2-io=1 :v4l2-width=640 :v4l2-height=480 :v4l2-tuner=0 :v4l2-tuner-frequency=673250

--------
References:

Obtain Streaming Video Player (yxPlayer):
http://mobilesoft.kr/android.html

Try broadcasting from VLC:
http://www.videolan.org/doc/streaming-howto/en/ch04.html

Once I get a working solution, ill update this post.

Encode Videos for HTC EVO 4G

http://www.knowyourcell.com/htc/htc-evo-4g/evo-4g-guides/487469/how_to_convert_videos_and_transfer_them_to_the_htc_evo_4g.html

1987 Ford E150 - Reading Trouble Codes from computer

My Father-In-Law's van was having issues driving down here, so we decided to interrogate the computer about the issue. Here is how I did it.

http://broncozone.com/topic/14269-code-reader/page__p__74587&#entry74587

http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/

Install Android SDK Eclipse plugin on Ubuntu 10.04

Started to work on developing some Android applications on my Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) machine and ran into a few complications during installation of the Eclipse plugin. Started getting a dependency for "org.eclipse.gef" when trying to follow Google's instructions.

Here is how I did it:
- Ensure Eclipse is installed (sudo apt-get install eclipse)
- Run Eclipse
- Select "Help" -> "Install New Software..."
>>>Repeat the following for the list of repositories<<
- Select "Add"
- Enter the Name and Location of the following
Name: Android Plugin
Location: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
>>
Name: Data Tools
Location: http://download.eclipse.org/datatools/updates
>>
Name: Web Tools
Location: http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/updates/
>>
Name: EMF
Location: http://download.eclipse.org/modeling/emf/updates/releases/
>>
Name: GEF
Location: http://download.eclipse.org/tools/gef/updates/releases/
>>>
(You should now be in the "Install" Dialog after adding the above)
- Select "Android Plugin" from the "Work With:"
- Check "Developer Tools"
- Select "Next" button and follow to the end

Viola. Hopefully a working Android Plugin for you.

Amazon Customer Service Phone Number

Ever try to find an actual phone number for Amazon's Customer Service? Well here it is:

1-866-216-1072

Sprint's New Phone HTC "EVO" 4G now available for Pre-Order @ Radio Shack

Radio Shack now has the new Sprint HTC "EVO" 4G phone available for pre-order at Radio Shack. Yours truely headed down there this morning and signed up as well ;) Im not a big fan of Android, however, the hardware of this thing is just amazing. 8MP autofocus camera, 720p HDMI out, 720p recording, 1GHz CPU, 800x480 4.3" screen, 4G (4Mbps) data, 1.3Mbps Video Conference camera.

Details:
Launch Date: June 4th
$199 new / upgrade price (instant rebate)
$50 down-payment (You get a gift card that is redeemable on the phone purchase)
$20 discount on accessories on launch day



http://radioshackwireless.com/template/simpleautocontent.aspx?r=radioshack&pageid=7831

Star Wars Rap: Galatic Empire State of Mind

Galatic Empire State of Mind

"What happened to the fat one? I think he died of heart disease." :)

Use USB ATI TV Wonder 600 with Ubuntu (HDTV)

Guide to using the USB ATI TV Wonder 600 device with Ubuntu "Lucid" 10.04 (probably applies to other versions as well)


The easy way:
sudo apt-get install me-tv

Run Me-Tv:
me-tv

Select the "US NTSC xxxxxx" frequency file and do a scan.

Tada... ;)

---

The hard way

From: http://linuxhacksandfixes.blogspot.com/2009/11/watch-tv-with-ati-tv-wonder-600-usb.html

Install the Linux Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) applications:
sudo apt-get install dvb-apps w-scan vlc mplayer

Change into the /lib/firmware folder:
sudo wget http://steventoth.net/linux/hvr1400/xc3028L-v36.fw

Create Channels for USA:
scan /usr/share/dvb/atsc/us-NTSC-center-frequencies-8VSB -o zap -a 0 | tee ~/channels.conf

You will get a bunch of "WARNING" messages.. Dont panic this is just the program letting you know it couldnt find content on that channel (it scans all known US frequencies for TV channels)

Watch HDTV!
vlc ~/channels.conf

Just a quick note here as using this device was actually my first time watching Broadcast HDTV. Using the included antenna is absolutely terrible and you will find the video breaking up constantly unless you are sitting on the transmission tower. Unlike analog television of years ago, you will either get crystal clear picture or nothing at all. If you are serious about using this for on the go tv, get a good portable antenna (if you find one let me know).

Amazing Modern Warfare 2 knife throw!

One of those incredible game moments ;)


Modern Warfare 2 Amazing Knife Throw Kill - Watch more Game Trailers

Palm Pre Profile switcher

From the Link:

At this point Mode can control the following things:

- Wallpaper
- Instant messaging status
- Message sound setting
- Ringer mode and volume
- System sounds state and volume
- Display brightness, timeout and touchstone screen mode
- State of Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS/Data/USBnet connections
- Applications to be opened

The mode can be activated manually or to be set to activate automatically on trigger events. Supported trigger events are:

- Placing phone on touchstone charger
- Connecting phone on usb or wall charger
- Certain time on certain days (weekdays, weekends, every day)
- Based on location, if GPS is enabled

Available as a private feed for your pleasure:

http://forums.precentral.net/homebrew-apps/224544-mode-switcher.html

Apple iPad Envy? Better alternatives for less

For those who dont need to buy the brand, look at these other "Netvertibles" available (Thanks to Engadget for compiling what I was already looking for):

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/02/ipass-the-best-present-and-future-alternatives-to-the-apple-ipa/

Upgrade from the WRT54G Wireless Router to Asus RT-N16

Ever since switching from RoadRunner internet (8 / .3 Mbps) to ATT U-verse (12 / 1.5 Mbps) I have been getting some intermittent connection failures. I suspect that my 7 year old Linksys WRT54G used as my primary Internet QOS router may be at its limits under the bandwidth load.



Upon recommendation from several folks in the forums, I have purchased a Asus RT-N16 router which I intend to install Tomato on.

Ill update when it arrives.

XBMC - HDMI audio too fast

Noticed a problem with the XBMC box I have in the family room that the audio / video appeared slightly too fast. I took out my watch and timed a minute of video and found it to off by almost 10 secs. Searching on the internet led me to find that the sample rate of the HDMI interface of 48000Khz was not being handled correctly by the default XBMC config.

Doing the following fixed the problem:
-Setup an ALSA plugin to resample the audio
- Create a file /etc/asound.conf file (make sure the card and device numbers are correct for your system.. Run aplay -l to find the right settings)

hdmi {
type hw
card 1
device 3
}
pcm.hdmiconv {
type plug
slave {
pcm "hw:1,3"
rate 48000
}
}

- In XBMC -> Settings -> System -> Audio -> Device -> Custom -> enter 'hdmiconv'

- Reboot
- Fixed!

Filter Engadget in your RSS feed

Not interested in certain topics on the Engadget Gadget blog? Simply append the tags you wish to exclude by appending onto the following url:

http://www.engadget.com/exclude/apple,ipad,iphone,imac,ipod,mac

Smartphone Comparison Chart for the New Year

From: http://lifehacker.com/5441380/current-crop-of-smartphones-a-cost-and-feature-comparison?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lifehacker%2Ffull+%28Lifehacker%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Google release new "F' You iPhone" Phone

Google release new "F' You iPhone" Phone