Mr Nadella - Windows 10 arrives but they won't upgrade!

I've been asking people (at least 200 PC owners) who are currently using Windows XP or 7 (~60 % of Windows users) if they are willing to upgrade their PC's into Windows 10 for, let's say, 30 euros (€). No-one, and I mean NO-ONE has been interested in such move. 100 % will stay with their present operating system.

When told Windows 10 will look and feel very much like Windows 7 people seem to be very satisfied. They think it's easier to migrate to a new OS later IN THE FUTURE. How long will Microsoft wait? On the other hand when I showed Windows 10 User Interface with some portions taken from Windows 8.1 not everybody was excited. For example there are two ways to save files in Windows 10. That's not handy and convenient. It shows the lack of listening to people - once again!

It's not looking good, Microsoft. What I've seen and heard now, people are really NOT going to upgrade anytime soon. So Microsoft has to wait until 2020 when Windows 7 will receive no more updates. That's too late!

Start-button familiar from Windows 7 is back in Windows 10

Scratch sopii kaikenikäisille - näin pääset alkuun koodaamisessa

Koodaaminen on päivän sana. Sitä opetetaan useissa alakouluissa ja jopa päiväkodeissa. Scratch on ympäristö, jonka avulla kuka tahansa voi kokeilla koodaamista.

Scratch 1.4 -version voi asentaa tietokoneelle (OS X, Debian/Ubuntu ja Windows). Tiedostot on mahdollista viedä flash-muotoon. Jos esimerkiksi koodaat pelin, voit julkaista sen vaikkapa blogissa lukijoiden iloksi.

Scratch 2.0 puolestaan toimii ilman mitään asennuksia nykyaikaisessa www-selaimessa. Riittää, että luo tilin osoitteessa http://scratch.mit.edu/ . Valitettavasti vienti flash-muotoon ei onnistu Scratch 2.0:ssa.

Miksi ihmeessä pitäisi kokeilla koodaamista Scratchin avulla? Voit opetella koodausta. Esimerkeissä esitellään leikin varjolla ohjelmoinnin lauserakenteita.

Kuvassa on vedetty värikkäitä "palikoita" (=komentoja) päällekkäin sopivaan järjestykseen ja näin on koodattu toimiva skripti. Kun painan vihreää lippua, kissa alkaa tanssia edestakaisin. Samalla kuuluu rummun pärinää.

Robottiviikko 24.-30.11.2014 - robokanava tärkeässä roolissa

Viikolla 48 eli 24.-30.11.2014 vietetään Suomessa ja Euroopassa robottiviikkoa. Pääkaupunkiseudulla on tarjolla ohjelmaa ja tapahtumia koko viikon ajan.

Koska on käytävä töissä, osallistuminen tapahtumiin on mahdotonta. Vähänkös on ärsyttävää! Onneksi robokanava lähettää ohjelmaa. Voisin kuvitella, että videokuvaa voi tiirailla myös jälkeenpäin ja näin tietokoneen äärellä ei tarvitse olla live-lähetyksen aikana.

Mielestäni on hyvä, että mahdollisimman moni saa kuulla roboteista. Ikinä ei tiedä, kenen "lamppu syttyy". Robotit eivät välttämättä joka tilanteessa vie töitä vaan niiden avulla voidaan myös luoda työpaikkoja, kuten on nähty Ruotsissa Robotdalenissa.

Angry Birds Stella Launcher makes your Nexus 4 or 5 act like a Sailfish OS phone

Jolla has in association with Rovio (company behind Angry Birds) released Angry Birds Stella Launcher. By installing this app you can turn your Nexus 4 or 5 User Interface look like Sailfish OS familiar from Jolla phone. This *does not mean* your phone has Sailfish OS inside. No no. Android is still there.

Please keep in mind that if you install this software you do it at your own risk. I'm going to try it and flash my phone again to get rid of it completely. Read the FAQ from Jolla first. You can also search for videos in YouTube, like this one (in French). And finally you can find Angry Birds Stella Launcher at Google Play.

Jolla unveiled a tablet device which runs Sailfish OS 2.0

Jolla unveiled a tablet device at Slush event in Helsinki Finland. I don't know when it will be available. No schedule or tech specs were given. As you can see below tablet runs Sailfish OS 2.0. Jolla site has more.

Jolla unveil today Nov 19th at 10.35 at Slush event in Helsinki Finland - see it live!

Jolla will unveil something today on Nov 19th at 10:35 Finnish time. Will we see a version of Sailfish OS for Nexus phones? No, I don't think so. Some sort of Sailfish OS Launcher for Android? Nope. A new phone model? Maybe. So you'd better take a look at the unveil yourself live at: http://highway.slush.org/live/

Nokia is licensing - there will be no new jobs in Finland

Nokia unveiled a new tablet earlier today at Slush event. Nice. This time it took for Nokia to develop a tablet only six months from the beginning to release. Taiwanese company Foxconn came to help and is licensing the name of Nokia. N1 will be available before the Chinese new year.

This all sounds very effective and sensible. They say very tiny Nokia team behind N1 has been working hard and has now achieved their goal. A lot of speculation is on the air whether we'll see Nokia phones in the future (as early as end of 2016). So new Nokia really is going fast forward.

However, for us Finnish people Nokia will never be the same again. You see, licensing means manufacturing has been taken away from Finland all the way to Taiwan (maybe China, don't know for sure). In this little country Nokia had a huge impact - 10 years ago. Nokia paid a lot of taxes. Nokia created a lot of all kind of jobs. Neither taxes nor jobs will ever come back. Whatever logo there is behind N1 tablet; Nokia, Foxconn or no logo at all - it doesn't matter anymore.

Gmail now handles corporate mail (Exchange)

Google released a while ago Android 5 with a new version of Gmail which is compatible with Exchange-accounts. In my quick test Gmail worked just fine keeping Exchange- and Gmail-accounts separate. In addition Google Calendar was updated with Exchange server. So now I have both work and spare time accounts (Gmail and Exchange) running on one Android phone (Nexus 4).

Adding an Exchange-account

on my Nexus 4 and Android 5

Nokia unveils Z Launcher for Android and N1 Android tablet

At Slush event in Helsinki Finland Nokia unveiled Z Launcher for Android. It's free for anyone today and can be found at Google Play Store. In addition Nokia revealed a tablet N1 running Android 5 Lollipop (249 $ + tax).

Links:

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nokia.z
• http://n1.nokia.com/

Etkö pääse Slushiin? Katso verkosta suorana

MTV3 lähettää Slush-tapahtumaa suorana verkossa. Silver Stagella nähdään mm. Nokian julkistus kello puoli kaksitoista tänään tiistaina 18.11. Kannattaa siis suunnata seuraavaan osoitteeseen: http://www.slush.org/wp-content/themes/slush2014/assets/livestream/silver.html . Kokeile myös tätä osoitetta: http://highway.slush.org/live/ .

Nokia unveil - on Tuesday at eleven twenty five Finnish time at Slush event

A black box will open on Tuesday at 11.25 Finnish time at Slush event. After that we all know a bit more about new Nokia and it's re-written hardware. It's not a phone - for sure!

How to upgrade Raspbian from Wheezy to Jessie

There is a way to upgrade your Raspbian from Wheezy to Jessie. Just follow the instructions below:

• Edit file /etc/apt/sources.list with your favourite editor (for example Nano)

• Change the line that has "wheezy" to "jessie". In case there are many lines change them all.

After that give three commands as root:

• sudo apt-get update

• sudo apt-get upgrade

• sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Now type as root the following to find out which version of Raspbian you are running:

• lsb_release -a

That's it!

Nokia will unveil something on Nov 17th - not a new phone

Something's going on what comes to Nokia. Tomorrow on November the 17th we all know what it is. It's definitely not a new phone model. Nokia will have only a little to do with phones in the future. We will see licensed phones with Nokia's name on the cover coming from other manufacturers or operators. Then what is it? IoT-device (=Internet of Things)? What's your suggestion? Stay tuned for more information!

My Nokia 3310 still works just fine!

How to make an old A-Link wlan-dongle work on Raspbian

A-Link WL54USB is the name of the dongle. Dmesg said zd1211 firmware was not available. No driver was loaded. Now what?

After some browsing with search words debian zd1211 I found a non-free package containing firmware with driver was out there on the internet. All I needed to do was to check if file /etc/apt/sources.list had non-free software allowed.

No problem with sources.list. As root the command apt-get install zd1211-firmware did the trick. Raspbian has a graphical wifi tool ready on the Desktop. So in just a moment Epiphany-browser was opening web-pages. This hardware installation had happy end!

A-Link WL54USB

Jouluksi Android 5 ja synttäriksi ensi kesänä Windows 10 - veronpalautukset sukanvarteen

Ajat ovat nyt sellaiset, että on pantava sukanvarteen, minkä pystyy. Tämä tarkoittaa, että kaupassa käydään hakemassa lähinnä muonaa. Tietotekniset vehkeet saavat jäädä hyllylle. Onneksi Google ja Microsoft tarjoavat softaa, jonka voi tunkea vanhaankin rautaan. Ehkä ihan ilmaisia lounaita ei ole ja yksityisyys myydään jälleen kovaan hintaan vaan eipä tarvitse lähteä jouluruuhkaan eikä kolkutella edes verkkokaupan ovea.

Asensin juuri hetki sitten Nexus 4 -puhelimeen Googlen uusimman Androidin, versionumeroltaan 5. Olihan puhelimeni jo peräti (!) kaksi vuotta vanha, joten on kiiteltävä polvillaan, että näinkin vanhaa rautaa vielä tuetaan ;P. Uusin Android 5 on siis joululahja. Mikäli vaimo tekee pyhiksi kaloja niin se on siinä. Veronpalautukset laitetaan "fickaan".

Ensi keväänä tai alkukesästä saadaan tukku softaa Microsoftilta. Uusi Windows 10 julkaistaan. Sen asennan kannettavaan, jossa nyt on Windows 8.1. Microsoft on ainakin melkein luvannut ilmaisen päivityksen. Edelleen Officen beta-versio ilmestyy puolen vuoden sisään. Kolmas Microsoftin softa on Office for Android. Ilmoittauduin beta-testaajaksi. Toivottavasti pääsen mukaan.

Varmasti tällainen pihtailu huomataan softafirmoissa. Mitkä ovatkaan 2020-luvun ansaintamallit, kun mm. Windows 7:n tuki loppuu juurikin vuonna 2020? Ettei vain tulisi Windowsiin kuukausihinnoittelu! Selvää on, että nykyisillä malleilla ei voida jatkaa enää tulevaisuudessa. Vaan sitä ennen laitan veronpalautukset sukanvarteen pahan (softa)päivän varalta.

Android 5 Nexus 4 -puhelimessani

The product of the year is... Android 5!

Two years in row I've been choosing hardware or software which have been useful for me during the year; Raspberry Pi (2012) and Pebble Smart Watch (2013). This time the situation is different. I haven't purchased anything much lately.

Thank god, Google came to help. I have an old Nexus 4 smart phone (two years, is that old?) which now has Android 5 inside. The phone looks like a brand new to my eye. So it's easy for me to announce the winner!

And the product of the year is... Android 5! It was that easy!

Android 5 inside my Nexus 4!

Finally! My Nexus 4 now has Android 5 factory image inside!

Ok, folks! Google finally released Android 5 for Nexus 4. It took only 15 minutes to download and flash my phone. After upgrading Nexus 4 looks like a brand new. See pictures below.

 Hold down power + VolUp + VolDown

to enter recovery mode

 

Download factory image for Nexus 4
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

Type as root ./flash-all.sh on Linux

Nexus 4 now has Android 5 inside!

Sano @scas vaan - alan hemmot ilmoittavat ainoastaan Twitter-tilinsä osoitteen

Tähän asti olen tarjonnut sähköpostiosoitetta, kun on kysytty digitaalisen maailman yhteystietoja. Ihan viime aikoina olen huomannut, että Twitter-tili on tullut yhä näkyvämmäksi. Moni varsinkin sosiaalisen median ammattilainen haluaa, että yhteyttä otetaan Twitterin kautta. Tämä näkyy mm. niin, että PowerPoint-esityksissä on näkyvillä vain tuo Twitter-osoite.

Kun aikaan loin oman Twitter-tilini, en ollut varma, pitikö tilin osoitteen olla lyhyt tai pitkä. Päätin pysyä lyhyessä osoitteessa, josta ei voinut myöskään päätellä nimeäni. Toki voisin muuttaa osoitettani. Vaan olkoon. Se on @scas ja sillä siisti.

Näyttää siltä, että Twitter on tärkeä työkalu, koska yhteydenottoja toivotaan ammattilaisten toimesta juuri tuohon palveluun. Tämä siis tarkoittaa, että Twitter on koko ajan "päällä" eli sitä seurataan mobiililaitteesta jatkuvasti. Viestithän ovat vain 140 merkkiä pitkiä, joten turhia jaarituksia pitää välttää ja on kyettävä tiivistämään, kun lähtee viestimään Twitterin kautta.

Sähköposti oli pitkään itselleni se digitaalinen työkalu, jonka avulla otin yhteyttä muihin ja jonka avulla minut tavoitti. Sain ensimmäisen oman sähköpostiosoitteeni 20 vuotta sitten. Aika näyttää muuttuvan, koska huomaan käyttäväni Twitteriä paljon ja sen kautta olen jo saanut kontaktejakin.

Hesarin lisättyä todellisuutta (Augmented Reality) kokeilemassa

Huomasin Helsingin Sanomien perjantain (14.11.2014) lehdessä ilmoituksen lisättyyn todellisuuteen (Augmented Reality) liittyen. Kysymyksessä oli siis lehden oma tempaisu. Latasin ohjeiden mukaan Applen App Storesta Layar-nimisen sovelluksen iPhonelle ja aloin etsiä päivän lehdestä kuvaa, johon olisi liitettynä lisättyä todellisuutta.

Etusivulla komeili Elisan oravamainos. Kokeilin sitä. Kuvasin Layar-sovelluksella etusivun mainosta. Heti nappasi. Kännykän ruudulle ilmestyi lisäinformaatiota (katso kuvat alla). Saatoin suurentaa kahden sormen nipistysotteella mainosta. Kuvan skannaaminen (eli kuvaaminen) oli hieman hankalaa, koska kännykän piti osua koko kuvaan. Jouduin pitämään puhelinta kaukana lehdestä. Jos sohaisin vain osaa kuvasta, Layar tunnistanut kuvaa eikä siten näyttänyt lisättyä todellisuutta.

Mietin työmatkalla, innostunko käyttämään enemmänkin lisättyä todellisuutta, mikäli sellaiseen törmään myöhemminkin Helsingin Sanomissa. Ehkä käytän tai sitten en. Aamukahvipöydässä tulisi olla mukana kännykkä tai tabletti. Olen pyrkinyt välttämään juurikin tuota. Edelleen pohdin, että ehkä päivällä kännykkä olisi paremmin saatavilla. Vaan silloin lehti on puolestaan siivottu jo pois. Mielestäni riittävän iskevä sisältö voi houkutella lisätyn todellisuuden käyttöön. Kynnys nimittäin on korkea. Tähänkään asti en ole jaksanut kertaakaan kuvailla mm. QR-koodeja lehdestä. Sinänsä olen kyllä innostunut ko. tekniikasta ja sitähän käytettiin esimerkiksi Cheekin keikalla elokuussa. Lue blogimerkintäni liittyen Cheekiin ja lisättyyn todellisuuteen.

Hesarin oma mainos (14.11.2014)

liittyen lisättyyn todellisuuteen

Etusivua kun kuvasi Layar-sovelluksella

niin nappasi kiinni!

Nipistysotteella lisätyn todellisuuden

mainosta saattoi suurentaa

Nexus 4 still has to wait for Android 5 Lollipop

While almost all other old Nexus devices earned their copy of Android 5 Lollipop Nexus 4 still has to wait. Good news is Google has promised Android 5 will be released for Nexus 4 as well. Besides, iPhone 6 and Nexus 4 technical specifications are very close to each other (see this picture). In my point of views Nexus 4 and Android 5 belong together. So, sisters and brothers, be strong in faith! Sooner or later Google will release Android 5 Lollipop factory image for Nexus 4.

My Nexus 7 wifi (2012) and Android 5

Android 5 factory images are available for Nexus 5, 7, 9 and 10 (Nexus 4 not there just yet)

Google has released Android 5 Lollipop factory images for Nexus devices 5, 7, 9, and 10. Nexus 4 is not mentioned just yet.

So download your copy of Android 5 and start flash your device. In case you are wondering how to do it and where to start read my previous blog post. Happy flashing!

My Nexus 7 wifi (2012) and Android 5

My Nexus 7 wifi (2012) now has Android 5 factory image which leaked from Google earlier today

I couldn't resist it anymore. Android Police told earlier today (Nov 12th) Android 5 factory image for Nexus 7 wifi (2012) had leaked from Google. They also published two download links. I decided to give it a go.

I did eaxactly the same flashing operation as before with Android 4.4. It took some time before Android 5 booted. I guess Nexus 7 (2012) is not the fastest tablet around anymore.

When Google makes Nexus factory images available I will flash my Nexus once again. Just to make sure all is well. Meanwhile the leaked version of Android 5 is the best there is.

My Nexus 7 wifi (2012) is sooo happy now!

Info is telling there is Android 5 inside!

This is the last moment to make sure your Nexus device is ready for Android 5 Lollipop

Google has promised Android 5 Lollipop will be released tomorrow on November 12th as an OTA-update. Let's hope for the best! Meanwhile stand-by and make sure everything is ready. I assume factory images for Nexus phones will show up at the same time as the OTA-update.

In my case preparing means CyanogenMod was wiped out and Android 4.4.4 installed (flashed) on Nexus 4. I'm not going into details but only tell what's needed and what commands one can use. Make sure the following is available:

• USB-cable
• Ubuntu Linux
• Android-tools installed from repositories
• Factory image of an Android for your Nexus device

First off, power your Nexus-phone by holding down three buttons; power, vol down and vol up. After that recovery mode opens. On Linux, you'll type as root ./flash-all.sh which wipes out everything there is inside the phone. Wait. Your Nexus will boot and take you to Android. That's it. And now Google, give me high five ;P!

My Nexus 4 in recovery mode

Microsoft Office for Android team advises not to update to Android 5 Lollipop

Off I went and joined Microsoft Office for Android -preview program. Today (November the 10th) Microsoft sent me an email with the following text (below only one part of the message):

• "Please note that, for the preview, we are not supporting Android tablets running the Lollipop operating system.  You will need to avoid any system updates to the OS to participate in the preview program."

Ok. This means only my Nexus 4 smart phone will be upgraded to Android 5 Lollipop. My Nexus 7 (2012) with Android 4.4.4 is there waiting for Microsoft Office for Android (beta). Microsoft added:

• " If you are selected, you will receive an email from us telling you how to download the preview apps and an invitation to the program’s exclusive Yammer network where we host all program activity and engagements."

So it's up to them! #smiley

Editing a document with Word for iPhone

XDA offers Android 5 L images for Nexus 4 and 5

Android 5 Lollipop factory images from Google are not available yet. However Nexus 4 and 5 owners can try images from XDA. So open the following link and download your copy of Android 5 Lollipop: http://www.android.gs/nexus-4-and-nexus-5-receive-android-5-0-lollipop-unofficial-port/

AOSP-based homebrew Android 5 images start to show up

Google released Android 5 the 3rd of November. Because of bugs factory images are not available yet - not until the 12th of November. However the source code of Android 5 is there for anyone to explore.

Because of the available source code so called AOSP-based home-made images start to show up. If you want to look for pre-compiled Android 5 images take a look at Twitter and type the following simple search words: Android 5. In case nothing is found take a look at this Google+ -site: https://plus.google.com/+AndersonArag%C3%A3oDev/posts/BkELCnf8MHT with pre-compiled images for Nexus 4 and 5. Keep in mind you do everything at your own risk!

I do admit homebrew images are very tempting - especially at the moment when factory images are not available. Although Google delayed their schedule I'm going to wait until next week and download Android 5 factory images (for my Nexus 4 and 7). They have never let me down and have always worked fine.

My Chromebook welcomes Android 5 Lollipop

Microsoft Office for iPad and iPhone is free - no Office365 account needed anymore

Microsoft Office has been available for iPad and iPhone for a while. Sadly, it's been tied with Office365 account. Now those times are over. Only the ordinary Microsoft account is needed.

There are actually many Office suites for iPad and iPhone available for free in the App Store. You can choose between Google, Apple and Microsoft. So no wonder Microsoft made Office free for iPad and iPhone. For example in my situation I simply couldn't afford Office365 account. This is something Microsoft must have been thinking for some time. The decision is very nice for us consumers. Rumours say Android users will follow later.

But isn't Office the most profitable product Microsoft has? I guess so. It will be interesting to see if consumers choose Office Online and Office for iPad instead of buying Office 2013. Corporate users will probably continue using Office the same way as before - installing it on PC.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint

are available for free in the

App Store

Word starting...

Editing a document...

Wot? Nokia is developing an Android-phone which will be released in 2016?

The rumours tell Nokia N9-team is developing an Android-based phone which will be released 2016. That's when the agreement with Microsoft is no longer valid and Nokia is free to join the phone scene again. Ok, that's fine for us consumers. Go Nokia go!

The interesting thing is the scene *is different* from what it used to be. Symbian is dead and gone! Windows phone was a nightmare! Didn't Nokia learn enough from the first round? Aren't there already too many Chinese manufactorers with Android inside their phones? C'mon Nokia! Who cares if you come back with yet-another-Android-phone? It's too expensive anyway! Besides Firefox OS and Ubuntu Touch are there as well. So premium phones are the only choice of Nokia.

It will also be *very entertaining* to see how companies like Jolla and Microsoft react once Nokia Androids hit the market. Former workers of Nokia at Jolla competing against Nokia. Former Nokia workers at Microsoft doing the same thing. Hah!

Of course it would nice to see Nokia succeeding with phones again. It's *not possible* by developing just a phone. Something completely different is needed. Surprise me Nokia!

What if Microsoft purchases Cyanogen Mod...?

AOSP! Android 5 Lollipop is available... in a way

Android 5 Lollipop is the latest OS from Google for mobile devices. In case you want to install (or flash) your phone or tablet there is no easy way just yet. Ready-made factory images are not there in Google repositories. However, AOSP = Android Open Source Project -> Google leaded project for Android -> http://source.android.com/faqs.html#how-does-the-aosp-relate-to-the-android-compatibility-program has released source code for some Nexus models (not all are supported yet):

• Nexus 7 (2013) LTE “deb”
• Nexus 7 (2013) WiFi “flo”
• Nexus 7 (2012) 3G “tilapia”
• Nexus 7 (2012) WiFi “grouper”
• Nexus 10 “manta”
• Nexus 5 “hammerhead”
• Nexus 4 “mako”

So off you go and compile Android 5 Lollipop yourself! If that's not a good idea you'd better wait until official factory images are available here (for Nexus devices).

Android 5 Lollipop for Nexus 4 will soon be here!

An Official version of Android 5 Lollipop will arrive any day now. Yippee, my Nexus 4 is among supported phones! As soon as Android 5 Lollipop is downloadable I will update my Nexus 4 (and Nexus 7 2012 -tablet).

But aren't all people around the world trying to catch the latest OS from Google? For sure Android 5 Lollipop is #1 software on this planet right after release. Besides updating via OTA (Over The Air) won't be available any time soon. However the image of Android 5 Lollipop will be available! So go and get yours: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images (Android 5 Lollipop not there yet!).

That was the fun part of grabbing Android 5 Lollipop. After downloading an image you have to flash your device. This is easy for those who have tried different operating systems on, for example, Nexus 4. In case of no experience I suggest you wait until Android 5 Lollipop is available OTA. Then, all you need to do is push button on screen of your phone and wait. Everything happens automatically.

Please welcome Android 5 Lollipop!