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The current issue 12/2009 of the german »Linux Magazin« features several GPS related articles. On page 40 there’s one about Openstreetmap on mobile devices, especially the N810.
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Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category
GPS-Articles in the current issue of german Linux Magazin
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Electronic Concert @ ZKM Kubus
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
Expense-Recorder released
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Expense Recorder
Admittedly, it’s just a modification of the Waypoint Catcher. For me it’s useful anyway :) .
Qt 4.6 on the Nokia N900
Sunday, October 11th, 2009I just stumbled across this video about the perfect Qt4 support on the N900 via mapomatic. It’s a short video, but pay attention to the magnifier on top of Openstreetmaps at the end of the video. Cool stuff. Want to hack my own map app right now!
Maemo Summit is over – greedily waiting for the N900 to appear
Sunday, October 11th, 2009This year’s Maemo Summit is over, and Nokia gave away some N900 to the community. Unfortunately, Michelle Gallen was not pleased with the unboxing experience at all and complains a lot. Frankly, if you’re getting a Porsche, would you really complain that the ignition lock is on the left hand side :) ?
I hope the Summit results in existing software being improved or ported and new software to appear. If you are missing software, you can still hack it on your own, thanks to the open Maemo platform.
For details shared by attendees, refer to the #maesum hash tag on Twitter. You will find several videos about the device, even some shared by Nokia. I for myself prefered to get my hands on it instead of watching pr0n, but due to the enormous price tag of 600€ it will last a little while before I decide to get one. Truly, it’s no problem to resist preordering it. Really. Promised.
Fixing a broken Blumax GPS mouse
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Blumax Fixed
Recently my GPS mouse got bricked. Thanks to a hint of a friend, who sent me some IRC log, I was able to fix it easily.
EGNOS officially available
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Satellite (by user ivak of openclipart.org, public domain)
Since today, EGNOS is officially up and running. I’m pretty curious whether this will improve the accuracy of positioning data received by my GPS toys.
Waypoint-Catcher publicly available
Friday, September 25th, 2009
Waypoint-Catcher
I’ve just released Waypoint-Catcher into the world wild web. It’s a very basic application for the NOkia N810. It just allows to set a waypoint and to tag it with a name and comment. It helped me a lot with occasional mapping, so I hope it is useful for others, too.
Devotional Object: Openstreetmug
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Openstreetmug
At the last monthly meeting of the local geo enthusiasts on wednesday, Fred sold Openstreetmugs. “179 of the most important OSM tags” are printed on its surface, so it’s a must have for the 150,000 project members. “1.30 EUR of each sale go to FOSSGIS e.V.“, which will be the German OSMF chapter “real soon now™”. Get it now!
Ruby on Rails on the Nokia N810 – sqlite lib needed
Thursday, September 17th, 2009I’m currently playing with Ruby on Rails, just for my very own pleasure and joy. Admittedly, that’s only one half of the truth. Some ruby (respectively rails) knowledge will also help me during my “daytime job”. What I’d like to do for now is to develop some rails application for the Nokia N810.
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Fauna and Flora pics collected while mapping the Black Forest
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Pic of the Wildsee as seen from the hill above it
On my last holiday I mapped some missing trails and paths in the Black Forest, between Seibelseckle and Ruhestein:
Three times I have been asked by other tourists how to get to destination X. Three times I could answer the questions using openstreetmaps on the Nokia N810, and three times I gave away the german language flyers.
I’m still disappointed by the tracks that the WBT-201 records. The accuracy is horrible, and the bluetooth connection goes down frequently, though the devices are just a couple of millimeters apart.
Besides that, I took some pictures.
Here’s some dead wood, which was perforated by some “furniture beetles”:
Totholz
At the “Wildsee” (see the topmost image) I found those fungi:
Pilze am Wildsee
Here’s some shot of a woodland strawberry:
Walderdbeere
Besides fungi, I find lichen very interesting. Found on trees, those usually indicate a very good quality of the air:
Flechten
And finally, here’s the absolute highlight of the today’s tour – a viper:
Kreuzotter
The pictures of this posting are not public domain. If you are interested to reuse them, please drop me a line.
N900 and Maemo 5 officially announced by Nokia
Friday, August 28th, 2009Admittedly I’m a bit late, but Nokia yesterday have announced the N900, powered by the Linux based Maemo 5 operating system.
106 Kilometers mapping tour crossing three provinces
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009On a wonderful sunny and warm late summer day (it still is about 22°C in the middle of the night) I did a 106km mapping tour by bike:
Qtractor and instrument definition files
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Qtractor Main Window
After Simple Sysexxer is finally available for testing, I found some time to play with my instruments and Qtractor, an audio and MIDI sequencer.
New toy: The WBT-201 aka G-Rays 2 GPS receiver and logger
Friday, August 14th, 2009
WBT-201/G-Rays 2
As my previous GPSr surprisingly died, I needed a replacement. As I lost a track on my N810 every now and then, I decided to go for a receiver which also can do logging. Less surprisingly I bought a WBT-201 aka G-Rays 2 GPS receiver. Some other mappers use it, and I had the occasion to use and test it about one year ago. The size of the device is just the size of a match box, so it fits easily into any of your pockets.
Black Forest Mapping baffled
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Blumax
For some time now, I used this Blumax GPSr and I was very pleased with it. It is a bluetooth GPS mouse without any logging capabilities, but it always got a fix very quickly and always gave a good position, even under aggravating circumstances. A nice and small device which just does its job, nothing else.
Running a Firewire Audio Device on Linux
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
QJackControl Firewire Settings
Meanwhile I got the Phonic Helixboard Universal PHHB24U mixer connected to my Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope powered Dell Precision M 4300 notebook via IEEE 1394 (aka firewire). The basic setup is simple for an experienced Linux user, but not straightforward for an average computer user. So here are some hints what to do to get such a device up and running.
New mixing console arrived
Thursday, July 30th, 2009After my Behringer mixing console died I needed a replacement. I wanted to avoid a fully featured mixing console, as I do not need most of its features. Instead, I was looking for a small firewire breakout box with many (at least 16) line and mic inputs. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any device fulfilling my needs. So I ended again with a fully featured 16 (or 24, if you count the aux return ins) channel mixer with built in USB 2.0 and Firewire interface, the Phonic Helix Board 24 Universal PHHB24U. It is likely that it can be run in Firewire mode using Linux thanks to the FFADO project. It is, however, unlikely that the USB mode will work. I do not care much about the latter one, as I prefer firewire anyway. And BTW: It’s my first firewire device ever. So welcome to the defloration of my notebook:
PHHB24U Front Panel
Requiem for a Mixing Console
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009That is it: Requiem for a Mixing Console
All credits to Fons for the 32′ Bombarde in Aeolus :) .
(Hint: Firefox 3.5 plays ogg files autonomously)
Mixing Console dies
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
BehringerEurorackMx2804
While writing the last post, my Behringer Eurorack MX 2804, a 28 channel mixing console, died. It’s about 15 years old, and it was about 900 Deutschmarks as I bought it. Compared to the 8 channel Mackies and Yamahas, it offered more than great value for the money. I always loved it for it’s features (and trust me, 28 channels are not too much for a rack mixer), but I disliked it for the weird noise and hum it sometimes produced.
It really is a pity that it dies right now. There is currently no comparable device available on the market. I desperately wait for some Linux compatible firewire device to appear with at least 12 stereo line inputs and some mic inputs, to get my synths and other audio sources connected.
I guess I need to chose an el cheapo device for the interim period. RIP.