2011/02/12

Computer Humor for the Modern Man - Linux and Lisp

Oh, you must mean GNU/Linux

Read your SICP

If you're interested in buying a copy of SICP, it's available at Amazon.

2011/02/10

Stuck Under My House - Glitch Screenshot (Alpha Testing New Game)

I took this when I got stuck under my house in Glitch. The game is still in alpha so it's expected that things would go wrong every now and then.

Other than lag and lag disconnects, this is the only bug I've encountered multiple times. Usually I can just jump on to land at a lower point but this one had no access point. I had to teleport out, something a newbie couldn't do. If I didn't have the teleport ability I would have been stuck until a developer got me out!

Glitch Screenshot - Stuck Under My House

Gaining root by Installing Drakaz Recovery on i7500/i7500L

This guide will help you get root access on your Samsung Galaxy i7500 or i7500L mobile phone. After gaining root you can do whatever you please to your phone, including an extremely easy upgrade to better firmware, such as Galaxo (Android 1.6) or GAOSP (Android 2.2).

Software

Before you begin you should start downloading these files:

Install Process

  1. Install New PC Studio (NPS).
  2. Extract Android SDK to an easy to access location.
  3. Enable USB debugging on the phone at Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging.
  4. Install the drivers for ADB. Some people have issues with ADB and Fastboot, this is mainly driver related. x86 operating systems should be fine after enabling USB debugging on the phone and connecting it to the PC. If there are issues you can try installing the modified SDK drivers. Driod Explorer may also be able to install the necessary drivers.
  5. Extract recovery-*.img from the Drakaz Recovery package to the Android SDK tools folder. For example, c:\android-sdk-windows\tools\.
  6. Copy RECTOOLS.tar.gz the internal SD memory (not the SD card you may have put in there).
  7. Open a command promt (Win key+R > cmd) and navigate to the Android SDK tools folder. Example: cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools
  8. Enter the command fastboot flash recovery recovery-*.img and you should now be prompted with waiting for device.
  9. If you are using an x64 OS, go into the Device Manager and select View > Show hidden devices in the menu. Try to find, under Other devices (or possibly another section), Android 1.0. If you find it then try to install the x64 drivers. If you can't find it then continue reading.
  10. Power down the phone and boot into fastboot by holding Dial + Power together. fastboot mode should display on the phone. If fastboot is successful, the cmd promt will update and after about 15 seconds the phone will continue to boot up.
  11. On an x64 OS this might fail the first time. The command promt won't update after you've gone through a cycle of entering fastboot mode on the phone. You will need to enter Device Manager and select View > Show hidden devices in the menu. Try to find, under Other devices (or possibly another section), Android 1.0. You can now update the device with the x64 drivers and repeat the previous step.
  12. Power down the phone and boot into recovery mode with Volume Down + Dial + Power held together. You should now be in the Android recovery menu.
  13. Do a Nandroid backup to save your current configuration, in case anything bad happens in the future.
  14. Select Fix packages permissions and hit the Home key when it prompts.
  15. Select Root this device and hit the Home key when it prompts.
  16. Reboot!

Links

Visit the LURKMORE Wiki page on the i7500 for more information.

2011/02/07

The Periodic Table of Controllers - Controllers Through History

I saw this on the net somewhere and thought it was pretty cool. It's a chart showing the button placements on game controllers, starting from 1972. I noticed that a lot of them look like funny faces.

The Periodic Table of Controllers

I believe it to be extremely interesting to see how controllers have managed to add so many buttons and yet never change from the format they originally started in. The only original style in the last decade has been the Wii controller, and that's due to the shape of the controller being a single-hand remote, instead of a game pad.

If you look closely you'll notice that the PSX controller is styled after the SNES controller. Ever since the PSX came out the other brands have tried very hard to be different and original. The PlayStation controllers haven't changed in three generations! The other brands also pretty much failed at all of their controller configurations when it came to real use.

2011/02/06

Caramel Has A Snow Day

Here's a picture I took a day or two ago. It's Caramel's paw prints in the snow!

Caramel's prints