Replace K-plussa bonus card with an app (beta for Android)

If you live in Finland you must have seen those K-plussa bonus cards. You have to carry card in your wallet and show it (via NFC technology) when buying something.

Yesterday I decided to download beta version of K-plussa card app for Android. Take a look. It's in the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plussa.plussacard

Off I went and tried newly installed app. I placed my phone side by side with NFC-based device in the nearest K-market. And indeed I got my bonus. If your phone doesn't do anything move phone a little bit so that NFC circuit (of your phone) is in the right position.

I guess the only downside is K-plussa card app is always there in the background of the memory of your phone. And NFC is also always on draining your battery (?).

I'm happy with K-plussa card app. One plastic card less in my wallet!

Raspberry Pi Zero is out!

A new Raspberry Pi Zero has been introduced. It's three times smaller than Raspi 2. When looking at the performance Zero has 1 GHz one core ARM processor and 512 MB RAM memory.

At the moment I have no idea how much Zero is going to cost. They are saying it's very inexpensive costing only 5 $ (excluding taxes?). However when Zero is shipped to Finland where I live the price will be... wild guess is 20-30 €?

No photo available, sorry!

Retro! vol 2

IBM XT booted! Two floppies (?) with IBM DOS 3.3 inside. Still have to find out if my PC has a hard disk inside. I've found floppy drives A: and B: . Forgot to try C: . Keyboard has those åäö-hats which are important for people like me living in Finland.

In the next issue: applications, floppies, which DOS runs on PC with 512 KB RAM?

Retro! vol 1

IBM XT. No idea if it works or boots. But it's there sitting on my table. So it needs to be tested. Nothing more to say at the moment.

In the next issue: keyboard, floppies, DOS operating system

Lue Raspberry Pi -juttuni eOppimiskeskuksen syksyn numerosta

eOppimiskeskus julkaisi syksyn numeronsa. Kirjoitin lyhyen jutun koskien Raspberry Pi  -tietokonetta. Lue se täältä: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/seoppi-2015-2-151124081843-lva1-app6891/95/seoppi-22015-26-638.jpg?cb=1448353247

Vinkki: paina Control ja plus (+) niin saat suurennettua juttu (joka on kuva) www-selaimessa.

Koko lehti, joka kertoo koodauksesta kouluissa, on luettavissa täältä: http://www.slideshare.net/eOppimiskeskus/seoppi-22015

Debian 8 (Jessie) on an old Asus EeePC 4G

Debian rules!

Debian Linux 8 (Jessie) came available this autumn. It still runs on an old PC, in my case Asus EeePC laptop, with only 4 GB SSD hard disk.

Get ISO

In order to install Debian you need to download the ISO-file and burn it on a USB-stick. I chose Debian Netinstall which is available here: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/i386/iso-cd/ . There are number of burning sofware out there. Use Win32DiskImager, UNetbootin on Windows or command dd on Linux to prepare your bootable Debian USB-stick.

Setup

Make sure you tap down Esc while powering your EeePC in order to boot from USB. Then, off you go and install Debian. There is nothing much to tell about this phase. If you are setting up Linux for the first time pay attention to every screen you see.

Aftermath

Since there is not that much space available, only 4 GB hard disk, you have to compromise. I decided to wipe out GIMP and LibreOffice. They both are too heavy for my old EeePC. This is how you do it what comes to LibreOffice:

sudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

After the uninstall of GIMP and LibreOffice there is more than 1 GB free space available for the forthcoming updates. I'm very satisfied with this result. My EeePC is still going strong!

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_PC

EeePC 4G meets Debian 8 (Jessie)

Building a Lego EV3 robot is time consuming but rewarding

It's been a long time since I've played with Legos. Robots are something everyone is talking about nowadays. With my colleague it took approx 4 hours to build a Lego robot. In the end of the day there was a remote controlled robot standing on the table. In addition, test code was driven. I'm very pleased Lego EV3 robot is now there up and running. Next, we need to figure out how to program our robot. There is a coding environment available for Mac and Windows for free. So why not listen to Kraftwerk's The robots ;P.

We are the robots!

The product of the year 2015 IMHO - Google's cardboard glasses

Three years in row I've been choosing hardware or software which have been useful for me during the year; Raspberry Pi (2012), Pebble Smart Watch (2013) and Android 5 (2014).

Year 2015 sort of "opened my eyes" when Google's cardboard glasses came available here in Finland. There are many 360 services available at the moment:

• It's possible to see Google's 360 channel on YouTube
• Music Television is going to broadcast live and 360 their annual gala later this autumn
• You can create 360 pics of your own with Google Camera app and send them to Google Street View

3D glasses have been around for a long time. This time is different. Now it's possible to create something own, not just enjoy 360 games and movies. What's best, you can look at your 360 pics with cardboard glasses immediately after shooting. That's why it's easy to announce Google cardboard glasses the product of the year 2015!

Cardboard glasses are inexpensive costing only ~ 6 €

Neverware's version of Chromium OS runs smoothly on my Acer ZG5 mini laptop

If you have a spare laptop/PC you can easily turn it into a Chromebook. Neverware's version of Chromium OS called CloudReady has a super easy built-in installer. Installing CloudReady on hard disk is a task with no pain.

First you'll need a USB memory stick with CloudReady (i.e. Chromium OS) inside. Follow the steps I took in an earlier blog post. Boot your laptop from the memory stick.

Once you get CloudReady up and running log in with your Gmail account. Click in the down-right corner and choose to setup CloudReady on hard disk. You'll be asked if you are 100 % sure. Yes, you'll want to install CloudReady.

The installation will take ~ 20 minutes. After that your laptop will boot and you can start using CloudReady.

I guess multiboot is not possible?

Turn your old Windows laptop into a Chromebook with Neverware's version of Chromium OS

If you own a spare laptop with Windows XP inside why not turn it into a Chromebook.

• First off, download Neverware's version of Chromium OS called CloudReady. It's free of charge for individuals.
• Unzip the file and write .bin to to your at least 8 GB  USB memory stick. Use dd command in Linux 
  • # dd if=cloudready-free-44.1.34.bin of=/dev/sdb bs=4096
  • Or Chrome Recovery Utility
• Boot your laptop from the stick. This way you'll get CloudReady up and running in live mode.

Now you can log in with your Gmail account and start to use CloudReady. But that's not all! You can install CloudReady on hard disk! I'll be telling how to that in my later post. So stay tuned for more information!

Arnold the Bat's Chromium OS

running on my Acer mini laptop

(CloudRaedy not there just yet!)

FullPageOS - a Raspberry Pi distribution to display a full page browser on boot

It's a distribution for Raspberry Pi aimed at info displays

In case you need a display which shows full web pages without any address fields then FullPageOS is for you. In addition, you can contact your display (and raspberry Pi) via ssh and change the contect remotely.

Ok, where can I get it?

The latest image based on Raspbian Linux can be found here: http://docstech.net/FullPageOS/ . Make sure the whole image is downloaded. I had to use wget since my browser didn't finish the job. If in doubt there is MD5 available to make sure the image is ok.

Image downloaded, then what?

Write the image on your SD-card. Use your favourite writer; for example Win32DiskImager in Windows, UNetbootin, etc. Make sure your card is big enough.

Boot your Pi and start configuring

To make wifi work edit the file fullpageos-network.txt which you can find in the directory /boot. In case you are using LAN-cable there is no need to edit fullpageos-network.txt.

Place the SD-card in your Pi and boot FullPageOS. Login via SSH using the following user and password; pi and raspberry. Now, configure FullPageOS like you do in Raspbian using sudo raspi-config.

Finally, edit the file /boot/fullpageos.txt which tells the OS which web address opens when Raspberry Pi and FullPageOS boot. Bear in mind FullPageOS let's user to browse any web page! Ok, there is no address field... which is not stopping anyone!

Tip: If you need to know your current IP boot process echoes IP on screen for a second. That's an easy way to find out whether you have an IP or not.

That's it!

Wait, does it work? Did you try it?

It does! I did! Look at the picture below!

Edit: Translation bar showed up. I chose "Never translate Finnish". Not showing anymore. I heard it's a bug. They are working on it!

FullPageOS up and running!

Connected via ssh 

My Raspberry Pi B (1st gen)

Android and Chrome OS are merging - a new Desktop OS will soon be here!

It's official! Android and Chrome OS, two operating systems made by Google, are merging.

What I have understood Chrome OS won't be there anymore but will be replaced with Android. Not 100 % sure though...

The new Desktop OS will be called Android and will be running on PC hardware. I guess Google wants to challenge Microsoft and it's operating systems Windows 7/8.1 and 10.

You have to wait until 2017. However, it's not that far away, is it!

Me and my Chromebook really look forward to see the new Android!

Edit: Android and Chrome OS might NOT merge? Not sure who to believe anymore.

 

Android 5 on Nexus 7 (2012) wifi

 

Chrome OS desktop 

How to make Lilypad blink an LED

Every time you start a new project with your Lilypad or Arduino make sure your hardware works. This is done by running "Hello world" -app.

Open your Arduino IDE (see picture below). If you don't have Arduino IDE, get it here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software. In case you are running Linux you might need extra elevation of rights (i.e. sudo su in Ubuntu) . Attach USB cable and Lilypad to your PC. Under Tools in Arduino IDE, you can check if the right Arduino/Lilypad model and port are chosen. Many times it happens your hardware seems not work. This is due to wrong hardware and port.

In Arduino IDE click File, Examples, Basics, Blink. Right after that, Save Blink somewhere else. Now, change the code. For example, reduce the blinking time from 1000 ms to 100 ms (see picture below; delay (1000). Finally, click an arrow which points to the right. It saves, compiles and sends the code over to Lilypad or Arduino. Thumbs up! Fingers crossed! If you are lucky you have your very first Lilypad app up and running!

Arduino IDE on Ubuntu Linux 14.04

Lilypad blinking internal LED

An AOSP version of Android 6 is now running on my Nexus 4

An AOSP version of Android 6 runs on my Nexus 4

Google didn't publish Android 6 upgrade for Nexus 4 in the beginning of October 2015. My bad. However, only a week later the first AOSP-version* of Android 6 showed up! You can download all files needed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/development/rom-6-0-android-marshmallow-pure-aosp-t3220900.

TWRP

Instructions say TWRP 2.8.7 (recovery tool) is needed. My version was older 2.8.6. There is TWRP Manager (root) in Play store. Thus it's easy to download and install the latest version of TWRP on your phone. See here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jmz.soft.twrpmanager. I guess Nexus 4 needs to be rooted in order to make TWRP Manager work. You have to find out how to root Nexus 4 for yourself.

Android 6 and Google apps

I downloaded aosp_mako-ota-eng.franzd.zip (= Android 6) and gapps-mm-fix.zip (= Google apps). Using a file manager app it was easy see where inside my Nexus 4 those two zips were. TWRP manager was able to flash both zip-files (first Android 6 and after that Google apps). No help from PC was needed. No USB cables. Nexus 4 only.

First boot

It took some time before Android 6 showed up. First there was no carrier. After reboot I was able to make phone calls. So now I have Android 6 up and running! Look at the pic below.

*AOSP = Android Open Source Project (= Google leaded project for Android)

My Nexus 4 running

AOSP version of Android 6

No Android 6 for Nexus 4? Now what?

Google told yesterday Android 6 is not coming to Nexus 4 . Don't worry. You can stick to Android 5.x or find an alternative ROM. It's not the end of the world.

In my case the above means I'm leaving Android and jumping to ROMs which are based on Android but have brand of their own. There are many ROMs to choose from: CyanogenMod, OmniRom, ParanoidAndroid, SlimRoms, AOKP to name some of them...

There are two you should keep in mind:

• First off, are you sure you know how to flash your mobile phone? If not, find a spare phone and make your homework. See how to flash Nexus 7 (2012): http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_grouper
• Secondly (and this not that bad), is your custom ROM able to update over the air (OTA)?

As there are more and more Android phones which will no longer receive updates custom ROMs are in very important role. I'm only hoping flashing an Android phone would become an easier task. At the moment, in my opinion, too much technological knowledge is required.

My Nexus 7 (2012) running CyanogenMod 12

Nexus 7 (2012) booting CyanogenMod

Sitecom WL-113 wifi dongle from year 2004 still going strong

Local flea market always has something interesting to offer. This time I picked up an old wifi dongle from Sitecom.

The crucial thing is which chip dongle is using. Sitecom has Zydas's chip inside. Good! For example Debian and Ubuntu support is there. See this: https://wiki.debian.org/zd1211rw. How do you find out if dongle is recognized on Linux? Open your favourite terminal app on Linux and type "dmesg" (without quotation marks).

Next I need to test Sitecom wifi dongle on Raspberry Pi 1 and 2. I'm pretty sure Raspi 2 is able to handle Sitecom dongle. Raspi 1 is a question mark. Will there be enough power for the dongle in Raspi itself or do I need to attach a USB 2 hub with external power?

Poor man's Desktop on Android - mouse and keyboard support via OTG-cable

Poor man's Desktop: Samsung Galaxy S4, an OTG-cable (On The Go), a passive USB-hub, a mouse and a keyboard.

Make sure all devices consume as little power as possible. Keep in mind not all Android devices accept peripherals. Edit: maybe an active hub with own external power is not a bad idea...

From now on it's possible for me to write text and use for example Microsoft Office almost the same way as on a normal Windows/Linux Desktop. Well, almost...

Samsung Galaxy S4 with mouse and keyboard support

Make sure all devices consume as little power as possible

Ubuntu 15.10 beta 2 available - 16.04 will bring us Mir

Ubuntu updates in every April and October. You can download beta 2 of Ubuntu 15.10 here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/15.10/ .

Next spring will be very exiting as we'll see a very different Ubuntu 16.04. Canonical ltd is going to offer Ubuntu with Mir, a next generation display server.  Until then I will stick to 14.04 LTS.

Firefox browser in mobile mode

(Control+Shift+M) on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Google Hangout Air - how to setup a public live session

I had already forgotten. That's why this blog post exists ;D. So let's see how to setup a public live video session which can later be seen via YouTube.

First off, go and get Gmail account. Secondly, make a Google search with the following words: google plus. Once you find Google Plus login using your Gmail account.

Inside Google Plus look for a "little cabin" icon up left. See picture below (in Finnish only, sorry).

Choose Hangouts.

Choose Hangouts On Air and Create Hangout On Air.

Name your session and choose Share.

Choose Start.

You can invite friends by typing in their email addresses. However, this time the whole world is your friend so there no need to do that and you can pass by this option.

Wait until all gets set!

You can start broadcasting live now!

In case you are absolutely sure, choose OK. You have 8 hours live time to spend! 

You can find the address of your Live session by clicking the the Link-symbol in the down-right corner.

When you are done, choose red button to close your live session.

Afterwards, look for your live session on YouTube. It takes a while before your video shows up. How did I find my sessions? I have a YouTube channel. All my clips are stored there.

Join Apple event with Windows 10's new Edge browser

Apple September event is held today. Not only iOS or OS X users may join but Windows 10 users as well. All you need to is open the following link with Microsoft's new Edge browser (on Wednesday at 10 AM PDT 2015/09/09): http://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2015/ .

Windows 10 on Acer W510