Do you remember the Frankencamera? The API used for the Frankencamera has been released for the Nokia n900 Phone, making the phones camera programmable. For those with programming skills this could be a very interesting Journey. FCam API provides you with full low level control of your camera, enabling you to hack your Nokia N900 and program it however you wish.

What happens next?

Maybe nothing. The world may simply yawn and move onto other things. Another possibility is that hackers all over the world will begin tinkering with the FCam API and begin changing the way cameras function. All kinds of new unusual, handy and cool features could be developed as a result.

The impact of Open Source Technology

Companies can no longer lock their products down. There is always someone finding a way to jail break and customize the next gadget and making that information readily available. Technology is no longer limited to what is accomplished by small groups of programmers and technicians. The open source movement and like it or not, the Linux community have a lot to do with making all of this possible.

A portable App is a program that has everything it needs to run, all of it’s dependencies contained within itself. This means that a portable App that has been developed for Linux should work on any version of the Linux operating system. Another interesting thing about portable apps is that they are very easy to install. Installation is simply a matter of downloading the file and right clicking on it and going to properties and then checking the box to make the file executable. Once that is finished you should be able to click on the file and run the program.

There are not a lot of portable Apps available for Linux at this point in time. But a few handy programs have been developed that are worth taking a look at. portablelinuxapps.org provides portable apps for Linux as the name suggest.

A non portable app takes less space and system resources. But if you really need something that is not available for your distribution of Linux portable apps do provide a possible solution.

Gentouch 78 is an Android tablet manufactured by Augen which will be made available at Kmart of all places at the introductory price of 150 dollars. With only 800 mhz processor and 2 gb of space the specs on this device are not particularly impressive. But for only 150 dollars the price is appealing. If you are looking for a simple device to keep in touch and send emails on the go this could be a very handy device that could save you shelling out several hundred on an ipad or netbook.

The Augen Gentouch 78 is loaded with Android 2.1 and has access to the android app marketplace.

After discovering that the Compiz Screensaver had nearly dropped off the face of the internet I decided to do something about it. Besides someday I may need an install file to put it back on my own system if I change Linux distributions or something. So I gathered up the files that I had on my system that provided me with a successful Compiz Screensaver flying windows install and made a targzip file.

Here is the download link.

This article link provides installation and troubleshooting tips.

I recently go the Compiz Screensaver running on my Ubuntu Linux system. This is a somewhat experimental plugin and so this plugin is not included by default with Compiz. But for the more adventurous it may be possible to get this interesting addition to your compiz desktop functioning on your system.

With that said here is what worked for me:

First the Installation

Here is a command that you will need for installing the components needed by the compiz screensaver,sudo apt-get install compiz-bcop compiz-dev build-essential libtool libglu1-mesa-dev libxss-dev libcairo2-dev git-core

Here is my link for downloading the compiz screensaver. Unfortunately there is a problem with the most commonly used location with the pafy git link resulting in no make file so we have updated this posting accordingly.

Download the targzip from the link above. Extract it and then go to the terminal and us the cd command to get to the folder you extracted the targzip to.

So for example if it is in your home directory cd /home/foldername/compizscreensaver.

Once you have gotten that far you will simply need to type in make and hit enter and after that is finished then you will need to type in make install and hit enter.

If all goes well then you should be able to find the screensaver in your compizconfig settings manager (ccsm) in the extras section. You may need to reboot your system.

Once installed I ran into a couple of problems with the compiz screensaver, it was not kicking on automatically and the screensaver would sometimes quit displaying the swirling windows it would not lock the system or harm the system in any way it just would not always run properly.

Here is what worked for me:

I removed gnome-screensavers and xscreensavers which took care of the issue of the compiz screensaver not starting up. Apparently there is a conflict with those programs that cannot be resolved by simply disabling the screensaver but you actually have to remove those programs.

The next step is to go into ccsm and adjust a setting with the compiz screensaver. After clicking on screensaver go to the flying windows tab and then reduce the Attraction and Repulsion Ratio. The more I lowered the setting the more reliably the screensaver would run.

This is not a polished project so you can expect that things will not work perfectly 100 percent of the time, but this is what has worked for me. I hope this information is helpful to someone.

While Apple fans continue shelling out $500 for ipads, some folks in India have done something useful. They have developed a Tablet Computer that is planned to be available for 35 dollars. Now that is a Tablet Computer I would not mind trying out. Or free would be even better if anyone would send me one to write a review for. But for now many of us wait until hardware prices go down.

The great thing about this project is that even if this computer never becomes available here in the U.S. it does put pressure on companies to be more cost focused. For those of us who just want a basic system for being connected on the go and do not want to empty our bank account, this could be a good trend to get started. I would like to see affordable portable devices available. Why would I want to pay hundreds of dollars for something I am only going to use on the go. I use my home computer more that is where I would rather put my money.

This is possible with the use of open source software and Linux

Apple should be concerned about the iPood. Sea to Summit has released a product originally named the iPood which is about 100 times more useful than the iPod, that overpriced toy. This product is a Poo Trowel. Unlike the iPod the iPood follows guidelines from the ethical outdoor travel organisation Leave No Trace, enabling you to responsibly cover your waste when camping or otherwise on the go. So if the Poo inspectors show up no need to worry you are covered you have not violated any guidelines, Sea to Summit and Leave No Trace has your butt covered.

If you use your iPod on the other hand…. Okay so their really isn’t a Poo inspector but there are things that are just as ridiculous, like spending hundreds of dollars on an mp3 player just because it has an Apple Logo and yet people do it all the time.

The really funny part is that this product was on the market for 7 months before Apple caught up with them. So Apple lawyered up and the product is now called the Pocket Trowel. They can call it whatever they wish, in my heart it will always be the iPood. :o)

I need to be going now. I think there are some lawyers knocking at my door.

For all those people out there that do not even know they are using Linux on their smart phone this would come as a surprise. But it is still true nonetheless. Android  which is built off of Linux has already gained enough momentum that it has outsold the iPhone for the first time this year and Android phones are increasing by 160,000 activations a day.

While this going on companies are developing tablet computers, netbooks, ereaders and all sorts of devices to run off of Android or some other flavor of Linux such as Meego. Meego is another Linux operating system that we will be hearing more and more about.

To see this kind of success this early with Android gives us some idea of the kind of momentum that Android is capable of gaining as well as Google’s Chrome OS. Linux will soon not only dominate the smart phone market but also the netbook and tablet market and eventually even the desktop market.

Parted Magic is basically a live Linux Cd with software included that can make partitioning your hard drive partitions easy.

Newest features in Parted Magic 5.0

Linux kernel 2.6.34.1;
· Xorg Server 1.7.7;
· GParted 0.6.1;
· Added support for new languages (French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Russian and Brazilian);
· ClamAV 0.96.1;
· Bash 4.1;
· FreeType 2.3.12;
· Syslinux 4.01;
· SimpleBurn 1.5.1;
· module-init-tools 3.12;
· wireless_tools 29;
· wpa_supplicant 0.7.2;
· util-linux-ng 2.18;
· Added Gawk 3.1.8;
· Added psensor 0.2.6;
· Added Wiper 2.6
· Added lscpu utility;
· Added tk 8.5.8;
· Many bugs were fixed

Where can I get Parted Magic?

Here is a link to learn more about Parted Magic.

Finally, a company has come up with something revolutionary a Tablet computer that does not cost over 400 dollars! This product will be made available by Velocity Micro. They are preparing to launch two different products the Cruz Storypad which will be available for $149.00 and the Cruz Tablet which will be available for $295.00

Here is a link to learn more about this product which will soon be available.

Product Features:

• Crystal clear 4:3 ratio, 800×600 full color touch screen display – ideal for viewing ebooks and magazines, plus web pages and movies
• Google Android Operating System
• 802.11b/g wifi and full Web
  browser support
• High res video and high quality audio playback with no proprietary content restrictions
• Built-in Dictionary, Notepad, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Contacts, Games, and other useful apps
• Built in accelerometer, tilt activated
• Enough built in storage for hundreds of books
• USB and SD card slot for upgradable storage, including a 2GB SD card
• Up to 10 hours of use and over 24 hours of standby time, with a replaceable battery
• Access to over 2 Million ebooks via included Borders E-book library portal application
• Access to the Cruz Market™, an open content portal for downloading apps, magazines, and videos from a broad array of content providers.