Visual Swing

I found a nice Swing Designer for Eclipse called Visual Swing:

Eclipse Zone: Visual Swing for Eclipse

This is a project hosted on Google Code.  So far, it has worked pretty nice.  It is by no means a commercial solution, but it definitely gets the job done.

I had a little trouble installing it from the Update Site.  The first time, I just downloaded the files and manually placed them in my Eclipse Home directory.  But, today I figured out how to get the update site to work.

Here is the update site I had to use:

http://visualswing4eclipse.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vs4e

Then, in the install window, I had to uncheck “Group items by category”.  Otherwise, it would say “There are no categorized items”.  Finally, the install window seems to have a refresh problem.  It was loading the items in the list, but it was not painting them.  I had to give it some time to load, then I had to resize the install window to make it repaint the list.

There is an outstanding bug on the Update Site: Issue #119.

Google Chrome on Linux!

I got Google Chrome for Linux!  From one of those ad links at the top of GMail, I clicked through to Chrome, and found out that they have a version that works for Linux.  I am actually using it now for this post.

First, they have a place you can enter your email address for notification when the full version comes out.  Currently, it is under development.

http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/linux.html

From, that page, you will find a link to the Early Access Release Channels, which has the links to downloading Chrome.  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find the link to the deb package that you can install.

Skype + PulseAudio

I have been fighting to get Skype to work so that I could make calls.  Getting PulseAudio to work with Skype has been a challenge. (“Back to Alsa”, “Sound in Jaunty”).

I recently found out that the latest version supports PulseAudio natively!  You can download it from here.  Currently, they are at version 2.1.0.47.

Previously, I had downloaded from the Medibuntu repository, which you can see here.  But, they only offer version 2.0.0.72.

One thing I noticed is that they recommend version 0.9.15 or greater.  You can check to see what version you have with this command:

pulseaudio –version

So, here is a screenshot of the audio setup screen for this new version of Skype.  Notice that PulseAudio is an option now.

Great Links for Firefox

I found some great links for Firefox.  I am having some trouble with performance.  When I backspace, it is painfully slow.  Here are some links that might help (I am still working through them):

Firefox optimization and troubleshooting thread

Command Line Options

I knew about the -P option to use different profiles, but that doesn’t allow you to have multiple sessions still.  But, I learned from this page that I could add the -no-remote option to run multiple profiles at the same time.  This way I can have two instances or sessions running at the same time.  I can separate multiple web applications.

Cairo-Dock

I just found a new application today.  I was looking for more applets for Avant Window Navigator.  Then, I stumbled upon this post which mentions Cairo-Dock.

So, I found this article that describes nicely how to install Cairo-Dock.

Here is a little tutorial that helps customize the look.  Here is another good starting point.

It will take a bit of tinkering with to get the way I want it!

Back to Alsa

I have tried to make Skype work, but I have finally given up on Pulse Audio.  My problem right now is that I can hear the other person, but I can’t make it loud enough for the other person to hear me.

These instructions I found here: Pulse + skype delay issues in jaunty.

This kills all of the currently running pulseaudio processes:

#killall pulseaudio

This uninstalls pulseaudio:

#sudo aptitude remove pulseaudio

It gave this output:

The following packages are BROKEN:
 ubuntu-desktop
The following packages will be REMOVED:
 linux-headers-2.6.28-13{u} linux-headers-2.6.28-13-generic{u} pulseaudio
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 76.5MB will be freed.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ubuntu-desktop: Depends: pulseaudio but it is not installable
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

Remove the following packages:
ubuntu-desktop

Leave the following dependencies unresolved:
libpulsecore9 recommends pulseaudio
Score is -81

Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?]

I went ahead and said yes.  Again, the output is:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
 linux-headers-2.6.28-13{u} linux-headers-2.6.28-13-generic{u} pulseaudio
 ubuntu-desktop{a}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 76.5MB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?]

Now, installing esound to replace Pulse Audio:

$sudo aptitude install esound

It gave this output, to which I said yes:

The following packages are BROKEN:
 pulseaudio-esound-compat
The following NEW packages will be installed:
 esound
0 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 28.1kB of archives. After unpacking 102kB will be used.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 pulseaudio-esound-compat: Conflicts: esound but 0.2.40-0ubuntu3 is to be installed.
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

Remove the following packages:
pulseaudio-esound-compat

Score is 119

Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?]

Finally, remove the pulse audio configuration file.

#sudo aptitude remove /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio

No, I can hear only out of one side of the headphones, and I still don’t have the volume for the Mic.  I think my biggest problem is that I can’t turn on the Mic Boost!  Here are some posts I have searched.

Ddell Inspiron 1720, Ubuntu with Skype & Mic problem please……

Bug #289419

This might have a solution!

So, now, I am going to try to go back to pulse audio.

First, remove esound:

#sudo aptitude remove esound

result:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
 esound
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Now, reinstalling pulse audio

#sudo aptitude install pulseaudio

Reinstalling one of the dependencies that I noticed it removed earlier:

#sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop

Now, installing the volume panel that is supposed to fix my problem (from here):

#sudo apt-get install gnome-volume-control-pulse

I rebooted just to make sure I was doing it right.  Then, I found the sound applet by the clock in the notification area.  I was able to right click on the sound icon and choose “Sound Preferences”.  On the input tab, the volume was set at somewhere between 50% and 75%.  When I adjusted it up, I had plenty of volume.

Google Maps on Android

I saw this post about Google Maps on Android, and I thought I would share my comments.  I had the opportunity to use my Google Maps for navigation on a trip a couple of weekends ago to Chicago.  During the middle of that trip, I decided to upgrade my Google Maps through the Market.  Here are some things I noticed.

• Before the upgrade, I could choose a destination from my history for getting directions.  That was handy because we kept going to the same places in various combinations.  After the upgrade, history was not an option.  I did find that if I could remember some of the address, it would autocomplete from my history and that worked good enough.
• I like the new feature where I can click on a location on the map and get directions from or to that spot.
• One feature I would like is the ability to add way points or adjust the route.  If we wanted to force a route or drive past a point, we would have to get directions in two separate steps.
• I had the opportunity to use some else’s iPhone also.  One thing I missed on the iPhone was the menu button.  When I look for settings or options on my gPhone, I typically press the menu button and find it there.  On the iPhone, it has to be somewhere on the screen because the phone had no menu button.  It just surprised me that I kept looking for a menu button.  I never did figure out how to turn the GPS on and off, but I did figure out how to get my current location and get directions.

Resources

Engadget: Google updates Maps through the Android Market

Great Link: Handling ^M

When working in a mixed environment, you are bound to run into those ^M characters at the end of your lines at some point.  Here is a great link describing how to fix it.  They talk about vi, but gVim works the same way.

Oracle Applications – Business & Technology: Removing ”^M” from SQL*Loader datafile

Adding Eclipse Project to Git

I did an earlier post where I did this, but I felt like it was sloppy.  Also, I did not add files to be ignored.  So, here is how to add an existing Eclipse project to Git:

Step 1:  In a terminal, change directories to your Eclipse workspace and project (assuming it is called my-project)

cd ~/workspace/my-project

Step 2: intialize the repository

git init

Step 3: add any files you want to ignore — consider any test data that might contain real production data and also consider connection information

vi .git/info/exclude

Assuming you have an Apache Derby database called db, you would exclude all of the database and the log with the following two lines:

db
derby.log

If you want to exclude Eclipse specific files, you may choose to add the following two lines:

.classpath
.project

Step 4: Add your files to your new Git repository

git add .

Step 5: Commit your files to the repository

git commit -m "My-Project inital code"

Step 6: Tag your code with a version

git tag v1.0

Update: You may want to tag this way so other developers see your tag (thanks Dominic):

git tag -a -m "GIT v1.0" v1.0

Now, your git repository is created and contains the code from your Eclipse project.

Resources

• Everyday Git with 20 Commands or So
• gitignore
• Update: git tag

CupCake is Here!

As I was driving home, my phone finally asked if I wanted to install an update.  I had been reading about Android 1.5, and I was ready for that update!  My understanding is that this is the update that was called Cupcake.

I noticed an immediate difference as the phone was starting up.  The logo screen was different as it booted.  I feel like I have a new phone because everything looks different!  Many people say looks don’t have any value, but it did something for me.  I haven’t had time to play with it much, but I did notice the Camcorder application and I had a chance to see the virtual keyboard pop up.