Computer Science Stuff

When programming on the android I encountered a error called android.view.AbsSavedState which happens whenever you do any type of screen orientation or slide out your keyboard. So I decided the best way for me to avoid this error was to ignore any type of screen orientation.

add a couple of attributes in your manifest file
<activity  android:name=”(Put in your activity name if not already entered)”  android:screenOrientation=”portrait or landscape (choose one)”  android:configChanges=”orientation|keyboardHidden” />

place the following code into the class that extends Activity

@Override

public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {

super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
}

That it!

References:

1. http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#onConfigurationChanged%28android.content.res.Configuration%29
2. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html

Popularity: 1% [?]

I always thought that in order to really use utilize or to get what I want out of my phone that I needed to jail break or root my phone.  But there have been two applications that disapprove my thought process. I really wanted to be able to have multi touch and to tether my phone and computer without rooting the Droid and have been successful in my search. Check it out below

Dolphin Browser (Multi Touch)

Well here is something to rub in the faces of Iphone users. I always hear about how the Iphone has multi touch, but little do they know that even though android phones doesn’t come with multi-touch applications the hardware just supports multi-touch. So the only thing that needs to be done is on the software side. So one application who has accomplish this task is the dolphin browser. It works for the HTC Hero and the Droid phone. Here is a video of it.

PDAnet (Tethering)

For tethering for the droid I was always under the impression that I needed to root my phone to even come close to this but PdaNet has changed my perception. PdaNet has made an application for android and for windows and mac. PdaNet uses the application they created for your phone uses your phone’s internet connection and make it seem like the browser is using when in actuality it is redirecting it towards your computer. You can check out the site here. They also support Iphone, Blackberry, Palm OS and Windows Mobile phones.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This morning I was getting a ready for this meeting had which is a hour away. I’m running around making sure everything is good and studying the night before to make sure I’m on point with my information. I finally get there and find out the meeting is canceled after I get there and it was a ruff drive getting there. Turns out the lady sent me an email stating 2 hours before I got there that it was canceled. I didn’t find out because I have been having trouble getting exchange active sync for the server to work with the droid pre-built application for emails. So someone that I know has the android phone and suggested I use the program that he had that came with his phone for the HTC called work email. As soon as I downloaded and inputted the information for the server IT WORKED!!! I was so happy because it will keep me from missing very important emails and keep my constantly up to date.

So I wanted to share it with everyone so everyone don’t have to go through what I went through. Here is the download. After you download it make sure you have your information for the server handy and active sync for your account activated and you are good to go!

Popularity: 3% [?]

One thing that has been really bothering me lately is the slow development of software adaptation to hardware. We have all of this powerful hardware being sold on the market but the software or the operating systems we use do not tap into its full potential and could relieve a lot of users speed problems. And one problem I believe that can be easily relieved is better conversion of 32 bit architecture to 64 bit architecture. You are probably like what is 32 bit architecture or architecture at all.  Well the architecture I’m talking about deals with the principles of design and construction of the way your processor and operating is designed and when I refer to 32 bit or 64 bit anything it refers to the number of bits (the smallest unit of information on a machine) that can be processed or transmitted in parallel, or the number of bits used for single element in a data format. So the more bits that can processed at one time the better the performance. So 32bit < 64bit (64 bit is greater than 32 bit architecture), but here lies the problem

The problem

Now as a common user you are probably thinking what is 64 bit architectures and what does this have to do with me? Well let me tell you why? First off people are always worried about speed, reliability and as long as it does what I want that all that matters. But what if I told you if are a common user and you are buying a new laptop or desktop that I will guaranteed 9 out of 10 that it is a 64 bit processor. For instance one of the most common 64 bit processors out there are :

• AMD’s AMD64 extensions (used in Athlon 64, Opteron, Sempron, Turion 64 and Phenom processors)
• Intel’s Intel 64 extensions (used in newer Celeron, Pentium 4, Pentium D, Xeon, Core 2, Core i7, and Atom processors)

Now heres the kicker as a common user you are most likely using an operating system that is 32 bits. So if you are using a 64 bit processor and 32 bit operating system you are not fully utilizing your processor it is just doing 32 bit work. Also if you have a 64 bit processor, 64 bit operating system and 32 bit program you still are not fully utilizing your processor. So here is the equation for full utilization of a 64 bit architecture:

1. First have a 64 bit processor (32 bit processor cannot work with 64 bit operating systems)
2. Than a 64 bit operating system to put on 64 bit programs (you can’t put 64 bit programs on a 32 bit operating system)
3. Than install a 64 bit program

So processor > operating system > program

So if you have this equation you will have a even faster performing machine. Also 64 bit is backwards compatible meaning you can install something that is lesser on it like 32 bit programs on a 64 bit operating system or 32 operating system on a 64 bit processor. But that is not the case with drivers (How your computer works with your hardware: printers, webcam, fax machine, etc). Is that all 64 bit architectures affect?

RAM

Also 64 bit architecture affects up to how much ram you can use if you have a 32 bit architecture you can only access up to 4 Gigs of Ram but if you have 64 bit architecture you access over 4 gigs to 1 terabyte of memory. Imagine how many programs you can manage if you had that much MEMORY!!!!!!

Operating Systems

Some of the top 64 bit operating systems 32 bit equivalents so pay attention to the numbers. I also provided supporting information for each operating system and its 64 bit technology:

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard technologies

Vista and Windows 7

32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions

A description of the differences between 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista

Programming Guide for 64 bit Windows

Linux

Ubuntu: 32-bit v. 64-bit Performance

Ubuntu 64-bit More Competitive Against Mac OS X

Now you are on your way to 64 bit computing!!!

Popularity: 18% [?]

Ubuntu has been by far the most stable and user friendly linux os I have used thus far. As soon as it was fully installed it adapted to all of my hardware and provided such an enjoyable experience. It even features three different versions on the website for the desktop, server and netbooks! Let’s take a look at some of the main features:

1. X.Org server 1.6
2. Boot performance
3. Linux kernel 2.6.28
4. Ext4 filesystem support
5. Cloud computing
6. GNOME 2.26

All these components are not foreign to other linux distro but they are featured in this distro and has such nice integration in ubuntu. One thing that pops out is the boot time. When installed on my laptop it has a boot time of 20 – 25 seconds.

Stuff I like

I used the Desktop Edition 64 bit version, and the features that jump out me was how you can control the individual speed of each your processors if you have a multi-processor chip. The programs it comes with it, how it can control the brightness of my laptop (ASUS N50), when I needed certain plugins it downloaded them with ease. The linux kernel is definitely making great strides and is becoming more and more dependable for people out the box. This operating system runs pretty fast and efficient other that I have no complaints or do it?

Stuff I didn’t like

I didn’t like the fact that every time I would use hibernate I would get some error message. I also didn’t like that fact I couldn’t perform a software raid. Your best bet if you want to do this is to solve this hardware wise and buy a raid controller. One other thing I realize is that firefox 3.0 would crash a good amount which turned out be annoying from time to time.

Conclusion

I feel as though this is the best linux distro for a windows user or someone starting in linux and for 2009. Ubuntu support is great and continuing to show great strides. I would suggest for users starting out to use th 32 bit version to have more access to programs they would commonly use. I feel comfortable putting this linux on someone computer for their main os now. I still feel as though Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is still slightly better though, but that only because of the better support of hardware for computers. Anyways, look out fo 9.10 in October 2009.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Text to Speech in Android

Version of android executed in: 1.6rc2 in Windows

TOOLS we used:

Eclipse and Android library 1.6rc2

How it works:

1. In android 1.6rc2 the text to speech library is built in called android.speech.tts, here is link for the information http://developer.android.com/reference/android/speech/tts/TextToSpeech.html

2. Here is the code

package com.android;

import java.util.Locale;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech.OnInitListener;

public class TtS extends Activity implements OnInitListener{
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
private TextToSpeech mTts;

int MY_DATA_CHECK_CODE = 0;

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);

Intent checkIntent = new Intent();
checkIntent.setAction(TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTION_CHECK_TTS_DATA);
startActivityForResult(checkIntent, MY_DATA_CHECK_CODE);
mTts = new TextToSpeech(this,this);

}

@Override
public void onInit(int arg0) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
String myText1 = “Did you sleep well?”;
String myText2 = “I hope so, because it’s time to wake up.”;
mTts.setLanguage(Locale.US);
mTts.speak(myText1, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
mTts.speak(myText2, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_ADD, null);
}

}

3. To make it even easier you can use you can download the code and open as an existing project. Click here to download.

References:

1. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/09/introduction-to-text-to-speech-in.html

Popularity: 53% [?]

For the past 2 years I have been playing around with Opensuse and lately I have felt confident enough to fully switch my whole computer from Windows Vista to Suse 11.1. I actually have been spending all of today migrating all of my information and programs over. Now the question now is why did I do this? Kinda funny I finally switch from Vista for a couple of reasons:

1. Vista is such a memory hog and the 64 bit version doesn’t have enough 64 bit programs
2. I was using the 32 bit version of vista and I have 4 GBs of memory and it was only reading 3 GBs.
3. I feel now that suse 11.1 is the best version of suse released and KDE 4.1 is so nice (KDE 4.2 is a little unstable).
4. Linux runs so smooth compared to WIndows and really knows how to use dual core and multi core processors.
5. The Linux community is getting bigger and to find a solution to a problem is becoming more likely.
6. And I finally got Skype 2.0 video to run without distorted images, lol.

Now the last one is what sealed the deal for me because Skype is a program that I use alot. Now after months of researching I can finally unveil how to get it working.

First off let me reveal my specs.

Specs for my laptop

But the most important spec is my webcam which is a Sony VGP-VCC8. First thing first is getting the webcam detected by Linux which would be detected as video0. I’m using the Linux Kernel 2.6.27.19-3.2-defaultx86_64. There are two ways I know of to get this type of webcam working you can get Ricoh R5U870 Linux Driver and follow the instructions for compiling it or add the community repository for SUSE located in Yast for webcam drivers.

After adding this to your repository you will need to go to Yast > Software Management then install luvcview. After doing so open up the program luvcview. If you can view yourself pretty well on the screen, that means everything is good and we can proceed further, if not you go back to the website follow everything thoroughly and make sure you have your kernel headers installed from software management through Yast.

Moving on we now install Skype. After installing skype and creating account for ourselves or logging in we will go to options and proceed to video devices. You should see the Select video occupied by /dev/video0 and to the right of that see test.

Click on test if the image is distorted or blurry then you may proceed if everything is good then you are good!

If your lost with what is going on so far, I will take time out to explain. We have the webcam working properly on our computer because we saw our picture perfectly in luvcview. Now when we open up skype we see a distorted picture which means something is wrong with skype. Which means we need to configure skype correctly.

Now for the kicker

Go to /home/user_name/.Skype/user_name/config.xml

Open up the config file and input

<Video> <CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight> <CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth> </Video>

In between the <lib></lib>  and close out skype and open again and you will see the problem fixed. Shaggy? It’s fixed and you don’t know why. The reason is that Skype for Linux 2.0 video works in a resolution of 640 by 480. So improper resolution is the problem with skype not displaying the video correctly it took me a few months to figure this out and after you reading this it will take you less than a day lol. Leave comments about what you think.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Every now and then you need to tune up your programming skills. Even football players have to keep lifting to keep their level of strength.  So as a programmer what do you to keep your level of skill or raise your level of skill? Well I have the answer for you. These are a list of some very good websites to take your programming level too the next level.

• Facebook
• Ed’s Programming Contest Problem Archive
• ACM programming problems

These problems should definitely get your brain going, if these problems are not big enough for you, you can always solve this problem. Tell me how it goes, lol.

Popularity: 25% [?]

This is a simple survey where all you do I copy the questions that apply to you and post them as a comment.

Windows fans

I’ve been a Windows user for _____?

The best thing about Windows is ____

The thing I hate about the other OS’s the most is____

One statement to why people should switch to this OS.

Unix fans

I’ve been a Unix user for _____?

The best thing about Unix is ____

The thing I hate about the other OS’s the most is____

One statement to why people should switch to this OS.

Linux fans

I’ve been a Linux user for _____?

The best thing about Linux is ____

The thing I hate about the other OS’s the most is____

One statement to why people should switch to this OS.

Mac OS fans

I’ve been a Mac OS user for _____?

The best thing about Mac OS is ____

The thing I hate about the other OS’s the most is____

One statement to why people should switch to this OS.

Popularity: 20% [?]

As a developer it is always good to keep up with trends and have an understanding of the direction the field of computer science or web development is moving. Recently I have started to notice just how many thin client applications that are out there that do the exact same thing as many thick client applications. Now for those who don’t know what I’m talking about in terms of thin and thick client apps let me break it down a little.

Thick client applications are your traditional applications. These are the software that you go out and buy from the store then download onto your computer from a CD like Quicken or MS Office. Such applications are then stored on your personal computer’s hard drive taking up memory and runs completely on that computer’s resources. This also means that the security of the application is dependent on the local computer, which in most cases has a limited amount of users and access. These apps, because they are stored on a person’s local computer, are always readily available as long as there are no issues with the computer housing them. This also means that the only way to us such an application from a different computer is that it has to be loaded on that machine, and an individual would have to have there information on some kind of portable media so that it can be uploaded an reused. That means these kinds of apps are not very portable and in most cases can not be used with a mobile device.

Thin client applications are web applications. These are applications that can be accessed from the internet with out the use of a CD or any other type of media. These applications are purchased by paying for an account or subscription to a website which gives you access to the app, as opposed to purchasing it at a store. With the application itself being used from the web it dose not take up any space on the local computer, but still uses other resources from the local computer. Instead the app resides on a server somewhere that can be accessed by many users at any time, which means a need for greater security measures to be taken. Also thin client apps can be accessed by any computer or mobile device that has internet access making them very portable. With that said thin apps are only as fast and reliable as the user’s internet connection and the producer’s server. This also means that if either is not working correctly for any reason then the application could be unreachable or extremely slow.

Now with a better understanding and some background information of what is a thin client and thick client app, I go back to the original questing of which one is better? Well that’s a tough question because at the end of the day they both do the same job and usually cost about the same. Even though thin apps are easier to access and do not take up any memory of the local computer, thick apps are more reliable and usually a lot more secure. Thus I think the best way to answer this question is for users to first decide how big of an issue accessibility is. If it is a big issue for the user then yes, a thin client app is defiantly better. Yet, if that is not the case then maybe a thick client app is better. It all depends on what the user is looking for out of their apps. If you have any questions and want to know more about thick and thin client apps you can e-mail me at me_conwell@compscistuff.com.

Also a side note: Thin client apps are the basis of cloud computing, which is the idea of a computer running with its apps being ran from a remote server as opposed to on the local computer itself. This is an Idea that will be further explored in a later article so being on the look out.

Popularity: 69% [?]