Sword Bible on Android

This page has moved.  Please update your links:
http://linuxsagas.digitaleagle.net/2010/12/12/sword-bible-on-android/

I have been using the Sword Bible project for years, and so, it was only natural for me to ask if it exists on Android for my phone.  The short story is that a project exists at Google Code, but it doesn’t quite look like it is ready for prime time.

First, if you want to know a little more about the Sword project, you can read up on it at this Wikipedia article.  I think I first started with it when I bought a Bible program from our college bookstore.  Now, in Linux, I use a program called Xiphos, which is a Linux/Gnome frontend for the Sword Project.  The program used to be called Gnome Sword.  You can also find more information from the main Sword Website including a small list of sofware.

My first find was this post on Werx Limited.  The post mentions a project named Bishop, but that project is more of a tech test than an actual application for use.  So, I read through the whole conversation thread discussing Bishop and the development of an application.  To my delight, I hit Martin Denham’s message about his And-Bible project.

I haven’t had a chance to install it or anything.  For now, I just wanted to capture these links, but I hope to mess with it some more.  For now, I am just using Virtue Bible FE.  I will keep you updated.

Shutter Upgraded

I have been using Shutter a lot recently.  It is a great tool for sending screenshots — a picture is worth a thousand words!

This post is a little old, but it had a lot of great information in it.  After seeing it and looking on the Shutter website, I thought I should write another post on Shutter.

 

I just checked, and I have version 0.85.1 installed.  I just have the version installed from the 10.04 repository.  On 9/12/2010, they released version 0.86.4 according to this post.

So, I decided to try to upgrade.  The website has a nice instruction page to show you how.

Basically, I just ran the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shutter/ppa
sudo apt-get update

Then, update manager popped up and offered to update Shutter.

Here are the new features or changes that this gives me:

• 0.86.4
• 0.86.2
• 0.86.1
• 0.86

 

The coolest part is that I learned that I can drag a screenshot from shutter and drop it into GMail.  Before, I would have to copy the filename, and then I would have to insert an image in GMail, browse, and paste the path in the browse dialog.

 

Explorations in Ubuntu Unity Desktop Environment

I finally got my desktop in my living room working, and I thought I would try the Unity Desktop on it.  Here is a nice little article that gives you some information about it:

First Look at the Ubuntu Unity Desktop Environment

My computer is rather old, and I mistakenly thought it would be a good fit.  These descriptions threw me off: “Ubuntu Light”, “simpler Unity desktop”, and “stripped down Ubuntu”.  What I found instead is that the Light and simpler interface is designed to make it easier to work with in smaller screen environments, not necessarily light on the hardware.

Unity uses the Mutter Window Manager, which is a compositing Window Manager.  According to this article, the name comes from combining Metacity and Clutter together.  This article mentions the hardware issue: “Interesting as the new directions may be, some people fear that Mutter will not run on older hardware.”  I agree with the reasoning: “Almost any desktop or standard laptop built within the last 5 years has sufficiently good graphics.”, but that just means that it isn’t what I originally thought it was.

Now, Clutter caught my attention on a totally different angle.  “Creating fast, compelling, portable, and dynamic graphical user interfaces” sounds great to me.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see Java bindings.  On the wiki page, I only see Python, Perl, C#, C++, Vala, and Ruby.  The javascript option looked pretty interesting also.  I may have to do some experimentation with Seed.  For Java support, I found some references to jClutter, and I found someone else working on something.

Software to Watch: Memoranda

I came across this tool from SourceForge recently: Memoranda.  It is a great tool for managing information relating to a project.  It seems to work pretty good, although, I would prefer to keep my notes with my time tracking tool.

The feature I was looking for was the ability to paste screenshots into my notes.  Unfortunately, Memoranda did not allow screenshots in the notes.  So, I will have to find another example for that.

Software to Watch: Big Blue Button

I happened across some Open Source software called Big Blue Button.  It looks like it might be an alternative to WebEx, but you have to setup and host the server piece yourself.

I liked the page talking about the open source software that they build upon.  There were several projects I was familiar with and several that I hadn’t heard of.  I am always looking for new tools for the toolbox!

Why would I be looking for an alternative for WebEx?  Well, because of answers like this: no support for productivity tools.  Also because of no support for Ubuntu 64bit.  I can’t blame WebEx though — they only develop for where the market is.  And, to their credit, they have increased support for Linux.  I have it working now, and that is what counts.

More Resources

• Home Page
• Open Source Components
• Try It Out
• Overview
• Support

RapidSVN: GUI Tool for Subversion

This page has moved.  Please update your links:
http://linuxsagas.digitaleagle.net/2010/04/07/rapidsvn-gui-tool-for-subversion/

I just tried out RapidSVN to update a Gnome-RDP branch, and it worked pretty well.  I just installed it from Synaptic.

Here is the URL that I used to get just the branch:

https://gnome-rdp.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gnome-rdp/branches/experimental.diskaccess

I just used the checkout option from the Repository Menu to get the copy of the branch.

Then, I used Meld to copy my changes from my working directory into this branch.  Then, I used the Commit option in the Modify Directory.

Then, I found my commit online, and it looked like it did what I needed it to do.

Clonezilla

I have seen this tool before, but I haven’t had a chance to use it until today.  I wanted to backup my computer before I installed a new version on Linux on it.  It was very easy to use.

Link: Website

Screenshots

jTDS

Today, I was looking for a Sybase JDBC driver, and found this software project:

The jTDS Project

It is a open source JDBC driver for both SQL Server and Sybase.  I haven’t had much opportunity to use it, but it looks great.  They claim to be very fast.

I have started incorporating it into my query tool: Project Shaphan.

Here are some links and information to help you get started:

• FAQ
• JDBC URL information from the FAQ
• JavaDoc

Here is the code that I am working with to create a link:

		try {
			Class.forName("net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver");
		} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
			(new ProjectJobException(e)).displayException();
		}
		String serverType = optionsGUI.getServerType();
		String serverName = optionsGUI.getServerName();
		String portNumber = optionsGUI.getPort().trim();
		if(portNumber.length() > 0) {
			portNumber = ":" + portNumber;
		}
		String userName = optionsGUI.getUser();
		String password = optionsGUI.getPassword();
		try {
			connection = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:jtds:" + serverType + "://" + serverName + portNumber, userName, password);
		} catch (SQLException e) {
			(new ProjectJobException(e)).displayException();
		}
		ShaphanApp.getMainWindow().getSQLEditorsPane().setConnection(new ConnectionDetails(connection, ConnectionDetails.CONN_TYPE_SQL_SERVER));

IE Tester

This page has moved.  Please update your links:
http://linuxsagas.digitaleagle.net/2009/03/25/ie-tester/

I saw this link on a new IE Tester.  It looks like a really great idea.  I only looked at it quickly, but I think it only runs on Windows.  My big problem is that I don’t normally use Windows period and don’t have access to any version of IE.

Here are the links for the IE Tester:

• IETester: Develop/test your site in IE 6, IE 7 and IE 8 RC1
• Quoted Link
• IE Tester Homepage

Another option: run IE in Wine.  You can have multiple Wine homes in which you could load multiple versions of IE.  I know I have seen tutorials for loading IE6 in Wine, and I think just recently some tutorials for IE7 popped up.

Something to Watch: Plymouth

This is just a note to myself to watch Plymouth.  I saw that it is included in Fedora 10.  I am curious if it will make it to Ubuntu.

Resources

• Project Page on Fedora
• We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.
• Brainstorm Idea #11165: Improve Startup by implementing Fedora’s Plymouth