Ubuntu: Conky and Amarok 2

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Conky is a really neat programme when it comes to monitoring your system and displaying information on your desktop. I like clean desktops and who actually does implement that nicer than OSX? So check out Damien’s post over at MakeTechEasier to make Ubuntu (Gnome) look like Mac OSX Leopard.

But I am missing detailed information about the weather, the time and date, my CPU and RAM usage especially while using VMware and the detailed information about the current track I’m playing. Using Amarok 2 you have the on screen display option, but that mostly annoys me when it pops up and it only appears at the beginning of the track. So why not implement the desired information in Conky?

I started off to find information about Conky scripts in forums such as:

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After successfully creating my own

blogable.eu

Dear reader

I decided to buy a domain on which my blog is available from now on. Visit blogable.eu to write comments, ask questions or simply read new posts.

I’m looking forward to meeting you there.

André

Vista: Free upgrade to Windows 7?

The guys from TECHARP published a Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Program. This contains the information that Vista users can upgrade for free to Windows 7, beginning 1st of July. Not everyone can upgrade to everything and if youre using Windows Home for example you might not be able to upgrade at all, but if you ask me it’s a beginning.

Although I don’t hate Vista, as I never really had problems using it, I am looking forward to getting the free upgrade. I bought a new laptop a little more than one year ago and not being able to optimise it with good(?) software would have been a shame. While a free upgrade is already available – it’s called Ubuntu – I don’t see a reason to make fun of Windows 7 generally. I think every operating system has it’s flaws. At Appples WWDC 2009 Keynote, Bertrand Serlet showed that he thinks differently. This pretty much explains my point of view:

HTC Diamond 2: Hardreset

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Referring to my problem I encountered charging my mobile phone, I decided to follow the advice from the HTC support to hardreset my device. I really hate the idea, as I just finished installing the desired software and tweaking the mobile phone to my liking. Anyways. You have 2 options to hardreset your device (ALL your personal data and settings will be deleted):

1) Menu: Settings – More – System: Delete Memory – enter 1234 as secutity code

2) Switch your phone off – press both volume buttons for a few seconds – release and power your device on by shortly pressing the power button – directly press both volume buttons again and wait until a warning text appears – release the buttons again and accept the text by pressing the volume-increase-button

While this is an easy thing to do, the result is irrevocable. A good planning therefore necessary, except you don’t care about your files.

I started this process by making a full backup of my phone using SPB Backup. You never know. Next step for me was the installation of MS Outlook (which came as a 60 day trial verson with the mobile phone), to sync my data with the computer. ( I’m using Windows Vista + ActiveSync.) I started Office and configured it without email access, since it isn’t necessary for this. After the configuration process (including a new start of the computer) you’re able to decide which files/information you would like to sync. I marked everything possible and synced it to my harddisk.

My last step before finally resetting the mobile phone was saving my messages with the programme SMSSync. Tips on where to download and how to use it are available here.

HTC Diamond 2: Battery indicator charging issue

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My new HTC Diamond 2 (Topaz) works like a charm – or does it?

I have my phone about a week now and couldn’t complain so far. It’s a sleek design, it’s very responsive and fast for a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. The touchscreen’s sensitivity is as close to capacitive as it gets for a resistive touchscreen at the moment. Overall I’m impressed with HTC’s new flagship.

However, after charging my mobile phone fully every time it switched off for the first few charges to ‘train’ the accu, I started to charge it while being switched on. It’s the year 2009, one should think it’s possible to do so. Right? Right! But instead of charging to 100% over night, I found the phone continuously stopping at a random percentage with an orange led. This indicates that the mobile phone is still charging. Soft resetting it, with the charger still attached, will lead directly to a green charged-battery-indicator and a full charge in the system entry. Calling the HTC support Germany after searching the www didn’t help solving this issue either. The woman from HTC’s support-call-center asked me to hardreset the phone and see if it helps. Thanks for your help Einstein! Didn’t come up with that myself. I just thought a brand like HTC would react to the increasing number of customers complaining about this bug in various forums.

Afterall, I did hardreset my mobile phone. Read my Hardreset post on how to do so and what you might want to think of before you reset your device. This much I can tell you: Now I can see a green light at the end of the tunnel.

Youtube: Interesting…

While surfing the web and watching youtube videos, it doesn’t happen seldomly that I find weird, okay let’s just say interesting stuff. Because of this, I will add videos over time to this post. Have fun:

Dropbox: How to – Sync your files online and share them with others

My Blog moved to blogable.eu. Please visit me there for news, updates and comments. Thanks +  see you there

Dropbox allows you to store files online and sync them wherever you are. This is especially useful when you work on different computer and don’t want to run around with a USB stick. A downside with the USB stick is also, that only the computer you created the file and the stick have the newest version of that file. You would still have to copy it on every other computer you’re working on.

Getting started:

Visit Dropbox and download the software for your system (Windows, Mac and Linux are supported). Actually there’s no need to download as you can use a web interface, but for the ease of use I recommend you install the software.

Installation:

Windows: Run the freshly downloaded installation file. If you have a special folder for software on your harddisk you can choose that now. Otherwise simply click next. Once installed you can decide whether you want to use an already existing account or create a new one. If you have an account, enter your login details. If you’re new to Dropbox you will have to enter the necessary details to open up a new account. After agreeing to the terms and conditions you can choose the size you desire. Be aware though that only the 2 GB version is free of charge. Skipping the tour you can now decide where to put the folder for your Dropbox on your harddisk. Standard is your My Files folder. Finish and open your Dropbox.

Linux (Ubuntu): I will update this soon.

Usage:

Copy or move files and folder to your new My Dropbox folder. A blue symbol signals the automatically started syncing process while a green arrow confirms the successful syncronisation. Now you can enjoy your synced files wherever you are.

Sharing:

To share a picture, a spreadsheet or another file with friends who don’t have a Dropbox account, you have to copy or move your file to the Public folder. There, click with the right mouse button on the file you would like to share, choose the Dropbox submenu and select Copy public link. Paste this link in your next email for example to allow your friend to view or download the file.

Sharing a folder is another story and requires a Dropbox account. Create, copy/paste or move the folder you would like to share to your My Dropbox folder, right click and choose Share this folder from the Dropbox submenu. Login to your account and enter the email address from the user you would like to exchange files with. After he/she accepted the invitation to share the folder, every change made will be visible for both. By repeating this process many users can access and share files.

Hello World

Increasingly reading blogs, I got interested in the blogging-world and decided to start my own.

The name of my blog relates to an Australian person I met travelling, who used the word swimmable to express that the water she was swimming in was neither too cold nor to warm. Finding that amusing, I kept using that word and continuously added others at will, such as drinkable and eatable to express that I find something okay. (Yes I’m aware that these examples actually exist . ) Therefore I found it rather necessary to call this blog ‘blogable’, as it will contain topics I find interesting and worth blogging about. That said, topics I refer to as interesting are listed in the About section.

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I was excited to watch another episode of Southpark. Especially the Margaritaville episode sparked my interest as it explains the economic crisis.  And again the show didn’t disappoint me. It was hilarious. This episode also mocks Sur La Table, which the American retailer actually doesn’t seem to mind. They’re actually happy to see their  Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker 2000, a 550 Watt shaving and blending appliance, in that episode. You wonder why I’m writing about this now? Well… After I told you why I named this blog, I found it inevitable to give you  an example for the right pronunciation as well  :

Southpark – S013E03 – Margaritaville (Sur La Table)