Prakash Advani's Blog

I have been using 64-Bit Ubuntu for a while and all the apps that I was using were available in 64-Bit version. Until I was to install Adobe Air. The binary provided on Adobe’s side is 32-Bit only. Found this nice blog post which explains how to make it work on 64-bit Ubuntu, this documentation is better than the suggestions given in Adobe’s knowledge base.

I have uploaded the file, You can down it from here if you need:

64-Bit version of Adobe Air for Ubuntu.

There is new patch for the X, which can improve the FPS (Frames Per Second) by upto 60 percent

This will benefit applications that use indirect rendering only which means it only affects applications which don’t directly write to the frame buffer. Which most of the high end games do, to get optimal performance.

It still a big improvement, read more.

After Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, OpenOffice was forked to create LibreOffice. Since LibreOffice is derived from OpenOffice, they have all the feature of OpenOffice plus more.

Here is full list of features and few useful ones:

• Import SVG pictures* into Draw and edit them interactively.
• Import MS Works, Lotus WordPro and Wordperfect files.
• Presentation view extension bundled by default.
• OpenOffice quick start available. This loads the basic libraries in memories thereby speeding up startup time.
• And lots of language packs.

Ubuntu 11.04 will bundle LibreOffice.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini agrees with me

Otellini said Nokia’s Chief Executive Stephen Elop received “incredible offers — money” from Google and Microsoft to switch.

“I wouldn’t have made the decision he made, I would probably have gone to Android if I were him,”

Otellini said Nokia would find it hard to differentiate using the Windows platform: “It would have been less hard on Android, on MeeGo he could have done it.”

After the Motorola Atrix which runs both Android and a Linux based OS, ARM showcased a TI OMAP4 based phone that runs Ubuntu and Android.

Todays phones have become powerful enough to as a phone as well as provide basic PC functionality. This should get more PCs accessible to People, as more people today have mobile phones than PCs.

This article has a nice list of 50 open source applications for science education.

Open Source: Astronomy and Space Exploration

1. Celestia

A perennial favorite, Celestia allows users to view the night skies from any point on earth at any time or to see how the sky would look from any point in the known universe. The interface is simple to use, and it uses real telescope imagery of stars, planets, asteroids, and other objects in space whenever possible. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

2. Stellarium

Stellarium is like having your own personal planetarium on your computer. In fact, it’s such an accurate depiction of the night sky seen with the naked eye or simple binoculars that it’s used by many planetariums. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

. KStars

KStars offers the same functionality as Stellarium, plus some tools for amateur astronomers, like an observing list, FOV editor, altitude vs. time tool, and more. It comes with a default catalog of all stars up to magnitude 8, but you can expand it with a catalog of stars up to magnitude 16. Operating System: Windows, Linux.

4. PP3

An excellent tool for teachers, PP3 creates star charts that are detailed enough for use in PowerPoint presentations or books. Note that in order to use it, you will also need LaTeX. Operating System: Windows, Linux.

5. Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts)

Another option for creating star charts, Cartes du Ciel uses data from 16 different catalogs. Don’t let the French name scare you off—there’s plenty of English documentation. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

6. Open Luna

If looking at pictures of the sky isn’t good enough for you, Open Luna is an open-source project dedicated to sending actual spacecraft into space and eventually the moon. The group’s first mission is scheduled to launch next month. Operating System: N/A.

7. DevelopSpace

DevelopSpace has an even more ambitious goal—developing the necessary technology to enable a one-way trip to Mars in the near future. Students and others who get involved can contribute directly to solving the technical challenges posed by a mission to Mars. Operating System: N/A.

See the complete list.

Nokia has been losing marketshare in the last few years and has been trying a few things. In 2010 Q4, They lost the title of being the number 1 smartphone to Android. This was after having this lead for 10 years.

They tied up with Intel for Meego, which is Linux based OS for smart phones and tablets.  Now their first device is cancelled.

They also open sourced Symbian, now they are  shutting down the site and taking off all the code from the website. You can still get a copy before the site goes offline next month as the code is open source.

They have now tied up with Microsoft for Windows Mobile 7 based devices. Nokia is hoping to beat Android and Apple with this strategy.

They recently released Nokia N8, which has the best specifications for its price but had poor software Symbian.

Here is some food for thought.

Intel’s Moblin project and Nokia’s Maemo were both great initiatives but struggling to get a popular device with the end user. So they decided to merge the project. Does merging two failing projects result in a successful one?

They also hired Stephen Elop  in September 2010 as the CEO who came from Microsoft. He decided to tie up with Microsoft for Windows Mobile 7. Windows Mobile is another struggling project. What would you expect, if he is expected to show results quickly and has exposure to Microsoft due to his past?

While its a good move for Microsoft as a leading mobile company has adopted their stuggling platform, Nokia is taking a beating. Nokia’s lost $5 Billion in market capitalisation since the announcement.

Microsoft has a history of forging partnerships where they benefit the most at the cost of their partner. They have very good lawyers, you see This alliance will surely benefit Microsof, the feedback given by various engineers at Nokia will help them improve their products.

Stephen Elop also owns US$ 6.79 Million worth of Microsoft stocks.. go figure!

While Nokia is hoping to compete with Google with this, they don’t realise that Android is not only Google. Its driven by the Open Handset Alliance which is lead by Google and over 80 companies are members. This include software developers, telcos, semiconductor companies and phone manufacturers such as ARM, TC, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung, LG, T-Mobile, Nvidia, Sharp, Toshiba, NEC  and Wind River Systems.

Instead of competing with these companies, they could have simply joined Open Handset Alliance. I would have purchased the N8 only it ran Android. It still has the best specs in the market but runs Symbian which is a crawl as compared to Android.

With Nokia’s Microsoft announcement, Intel’s Meego team is going to be single this valentine as their partner has found someone else.

Nokia is not relevant any more. Nokia for Me is NoGo.

We organised the Ubuntu Developer Day in Bangalore and received 350+ attendees. We had people travel all the way from Sri Lanka, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and elsewhere..

Most of the people were already Ubuntu users and I was happy to see the laptops people were using, all of them running Ubuntu.

This was Canonicals first event and presentations can be downloaded from: http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntudeveloperday

Here is some nice coverage we received.

First ever Ubuntu developer day in India renews tryst with Open Source

Nigel also did a nice blog post and so did Raghavendra .

Here are some photos of People, food and the goody bags

When I was looking at getting a new wireless router, I started looking at what users had to say about their experience. The first user reviews said the ASUS RT-N16 Wireless-N Gigabit Router is an excellent hardware with poor software. So it suggested to flash the firmware with DD-WRT.

So I decided to get this router and the first thing I did was to load DD-WRT.

Here is what I like about the router:

• 4  Gigabit Ethernet Ports 10/100/1000Mbps
• 1 WAN Port
• 802.11n (Draft)  supports 300Mbps wireless (your device also has to support this)
• 3 Antennas for extended range
• 2 USB ports
• Power adapter works on both 110/240 volts
• 480 MHz processor which can be overclocked to 533 MHz

The DD-WRT firmware is very easily loadable using the router browser front-end. Its an open source firmware, it makes the router fully customisable and is extremely easy to use. You can plug in a USB hard drive and convert the router into NAS server. Or can be used to share a printer. You can read the documentation here on how to load DD-WRT.

It can also be used to share 3G connection. You connect your 3G dongle on the USB and you need to do some scripting on the router. (If you are not comfortable with command line stuff, this is not for you). You can load the scripts through the web based front end and run them or you can also telnet/ssh to the router. There  are a lot more features you can explore once DD-WRT has been loaded, like you can convert the router into a VOIP server by installing Asterisk. Happy Hacking!

Motorola has finally launched the Defy in India. This is 3 months after it was launched in US by T-Mobile. Motorola is improving, some of their other phones, took 4-5 months to be launched in India. Lets hope they launch the Atrix sooner in India.

Here is whats cool:

• Waterproof, scratchproof, dust proof. Should I say child proof ?
• 3.7″ touchscreen  display
• 5 Megapixel Camera with Video recording
• MicroSD Card slot for additional Memory
• 3G with HSDPA 7.2Mbps
• WiFi
• MicroUSB for charging (This is soon becoming a standard)
• 3.5mm standard headphones jack
• AGPS and Digital Compass
• Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor
• Android 2.1 with Flash player, this will get upgraded to 2.2
• FM Radio

What would be nicer:

• Device should have shipped with 2.3 or atleast 2.2, no word yet on when it will receive 2.3 update
• Gyroscope for the gaming enthusiast
• Xenon flash for indoor night photography for the party animals
• HSDPA+ with 14.4Mbps
• AMOLED display.

Nevertheless its a nice phone for its price. Its available for Rs 18,900 at Croma.