Postings tagged with Rocks
GCC 4.5 - Awesome Release!
GCC 4.5 just was has been released yesterday. It's a really awesome release according to its summary of changes. My favorites:
- The -Wc++-compat option is significantly improved.
- Compilation time for code that uses templates should now scale linearly with the number of instantiations rather than quadratically, as template instantiations are now looked up using hash tables.
- Improved experimental support for the upcoming C++0x ISO C++ standard, including support for raw strings, lambda expressions and explicit type conversion operators.
- And last not least: A plugin system has been added! I predict we'll see really nice static code analyzers soon!
Awesome release! Really awesome release!
Qt 4.6 for Maemo: It works!
Today at work, David King kindly informed me that there was some new Qt package in extras-devel. This could only mean one thing - I immediately fired up my scratchbox environment and installed the packages, trying to confirm that this new version would run with Qlom. And in fact, it was surprisingly painless. Thanks to autotroll, a simple QT_PATH env variable did all the magic, hooray!
Both of us were impressed with the UI improvements. It's certainly a big step forward regarding the Hildonisation of Qt on Maemo5. The application menues look correct now. Button sizes, colors, animations, etc - it all comes together nicely, finally.
There are still some widgets that need more work, but for a tech preview this is a pleasant surprise.
On another note, the timing for the Miniature project could not have been much better. We immediately switched to Qt 4.6, and it even runs on the N900. It feels good to know that we can stop using hacks and that we can start to do (most) things properly, staying as cross-platform as possible. Needless to say, Quim was happy, too.
Miniature - it moves!
How it begun
When I read Quim's thread about the idea for a better Maemo chess app I knew I wanted to join the project. To me, it's all about the device and the sparkling Hildon UX. I really want a good chess app, for myself! I want to play chess online, everywhere! And I want to analyze games as (OK, maybe after =p) they happen. No more "I'll check this position later" (we all know this rarely happens).
So I finally started last friday. At this point, Quim and Andreas had already created a beautiful, content-rich wiki page. It took a while for me to digest it all, and I added information where appropiate.
Kick-starting the development
Andreas had registered a garage project, but we eventually decided to use gitorious for our repository. Gitorious' UI definitely improved over the recent months, and the possibility to have teams working on a single project - also known as not-so-extreme-dvcs-development - makes gitorious a better choice than github, at the moment.
Saturday night (what better things to do than coding some Qt - my soul will be forever lost) I had a first running example (see screenshot). Currently, Miniature can move between positions, using next/prev menu navigation (we don't need this functionality per se, but it's perhaps a good demonstration that the simple approach I took works).
So no matter the toolkit, no matter the outdated packages or the endless confusion I had with the various Qt repos at gitorious - this project is really fun! Hopefully we get to make a 0.1 release soon.
Well, and it is a phone!
So after months of denial it turns out, that the/we Maemo folks really built a phone!
Zweite Liga! Endlich!
Eisern Union, welcome to the second league! It took many attempts, but you guys were unbeatable this year! Seems you turned my into a football fan.
NXTalk
I've been visiting a Squeak meeting this weekend, and what impressed me most was the NXTalk talk (heh!) by Martin Beck. Yep, NXT. With other words, a stripped-down Smalltalk VM for your LEGO® Mindstorm roboter - fun!
Thanks again for forwarding the invitation mail, Nicolas.
The power of github
A lot has already been said about github, but I guess it can't harm if I make a list of my preferred features:
- Dashboard (need to be logged in to see): this is your personal start location. It contains many useful links and other automatically generated information, such as news from people you track ("follow"). It is the most prominent feature regarding the user-centered approach of github, and having it just feels so right to me.
-
Comments on change sets: Each line of code in a change set can be commented on. Don't fall for the comment box at the bottom, it's only a fallback if your browser isn't web2.0-ready. Click on the markers to the very left instead, and you get a pop-up window together with a preview feature for your comment (much better, isn't it?). Of course those comments tend to become less useful when change sets grow too large, so commit often (you should do that anyway). Also, if someone who is tracked by you ("followed") makes a comment it will automagically appear on your dashboard.
-
Diff view: An expedient diff highlighting makes it easy to track changes down to the letter. A red/dark red background indicates removed lines/characters, while a green/dark green background indicates the opposite. This is far better to read than the simple +/- in front of lines. One could argue about the use of red, instead of purple (in terms of a11y).
-
Source tree browser: a must-have in any [D]VCS web front-end, but what stands out is the simple hack that allows to mark lines (try SHIFT/CTRL to select multiple lines). The URL is modified to represent this selection (#L1-L4 would mean line 1-4 are selected), which comes in handy when discussing your code with other people.
-
Automated configuration of remote repositories: If you find it too hard to set up your own remote repositories with git (or perhaps you simply lack shell access to the remote server) then github will gladly help you out. Register an account, if you haven't already, upload your public SSH key and create as many (public, or private if you upgrade your account) remote repositories as you want. Others can instantly clone from such a repository - you do not have to wait for a BofH to enable it!
-
Fork queues: Simply put, this is github's killer feature. It makes collaboration sweet as apple pie. Once the number of project contributers grows beyond one you will find this feature invaluable to track their change sets. If a repository is forked, github will keep track of the association and report any change set that is committed to such a fork back to you. Even better, you can cherry-pick from their forks and merge their patches into your project.
They can? We can!
Perceive the result of the elections with great pleasure. Yes, they can!
Didn't know I am that attached, but had tears of joy when Obama's landslide victory was sure. Seems The States now have a president representing many positive ideas foreigners have about that nation. Let's see how this event inspires people: They can? No, we can!
Intrepid Ibex on Berliner Fenster
Berlin's underground waggons are equipped with LCD screens showing news headlines, event tips and local advertisements. This morning those screens catched my attention by suddenly showing a well known wallpaper, making me smile: "Intrepid Ibex - Ubuntu 8.10 - Available now for free - http://www.ubuntuusers.de/" (in German of course).
Well, done guys.
Looking forward to see other Linux related ads on Berliner Fenster.
Extensive Gimp tutorial on spiegel.de
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/tech/0,1518,565794,00.html (german only?) - already on the first page the article shows that this time, somebody did his homework, explaining the difference between stable and dev versions.
It then goes further into detail, in a way you would normally expect from your common computer mag.
I wish there were more articles like that in regular newspaper, if only to raise awareness of how good OSS has become over the years. So, what's next? A tutorial on how to use GNOME on your Office PC?
Back from Istanbul
Back from Istanbul. Wow, what an experience. What a vibrant city, thirsty for life! I still have short flashbacks blending memories from Istanbul into my consciousness. Strange experience. Obviously a sign for how much I enjoyed my time there. Quite a mistake to not convince Ulrike to join me for that trip. Awesome how happy Marc-André was when having me back. For the next three days it seemed like he didn't know if I was real or just some dream. Poor little guy: I could just watch photos on my camera or my mobile when I missed him, he couldn't.
Well, but thank you guys for bringing GUADEC to Istanbul. Seems I did a full 180° turn when it comes to this city. I wonder why X-Berg or Wedding aren't half as cool as this place. Well, maybe I just don't know the right places in those areas.
Summer Approaching
This is the first day this year I can work on the balcony.
Seems summer is approaching. Sweet.
Projector for GNOME Events Box
The GTK+ Hackfest has its first positive result already: The GNOME Events Box got a brand new DLP projector. Decision was made to buy one, since renting a projector for a week costs about 200 EUR, wereas you get entry level projectors for only 600 EUR. The Foundation's brand new projector was about 580,99 EUR - including shipment (projector with bag and cables, back side).
Incredible how much technology advanced since I had a projector into my own hands for the last time: It's "just" a 2400 Lumen projector, still it produces a clear and cripsy picture under day light conditions. Awesome.
I also like the fact, that Acer was that kind, to ship not only a German power cable, but also some british and a third one I cannot identify. It looks like an Euro plug with a third pin:
Update: Seems the third cable has a Swiss plug.
Marc-André Hasselmann
Heute Nacht um 0:11, nach fünf Stunden harter Arbeit, durften Ulrike und ich endlich unser Krümmelchen in die Arme schliessen. Der kleine Kerl ist total verschmusst und kerngesund, wog 3630 Gramm bei 53 cm Größe. Ich bin immer noch absolut hingerissen von Ulrikes Leistung und absolut vernarrt in unseren Sohn. Unglaublich welche Vielfalt an Freude, Nervosität, Gelassenheit, Überraschung, ... so ein kleines Wesen in so wenigen Stunden schenken kann. Es ist so wahr: Kinder sind unser größter und wertvollster Schatz. Jede Minute ohne Marc-André ist ein Wechselbad der Gefühle. Zum Glück kommen Marc-André und Ulrike wohl am Dienstag nach Hause!
Großen Dank an die erfahrenen und freundlichen Mitarbeiter der Geburtshilfe im Klinikum Berlin-Buch. Die dort praktizierte zurückhaltende, aber kompetente Umgangsform gibt Sicherheit und hilft sehr, das Neugeborene kennen zu lernen.
New Year
A new year started, let's see if it can match the last one.
It did a good start with finally bringing new anti-smoking laws into action. It was an really embarrassing situation, that you had to choose between entering a restaurant/cafe/ice-parlor or keeping your health. It was annoying that you had change clothes immediatly after leaving such a place. What gives smokers the right to dictate, which places non-smokers can enter? What gives them the right to injure our bodies? It's just sad, that Berlin's authorities don't have the guts to ignore a shrill minority speaking against that laws and give keepers another transitional period of six months. That's unfair towards the non-smoking majority, it's unfair towards the staff in such localities. This laws are known for several months now - that was enough of transitional period! Well, but what to expect from a senat, were even the senator of health smokes...
Playing with Reinteract
Found Owen's Reinteract Demo on Planet GNOME this morning and had to play with it immediately:
Source code: reshell.py and reglade.py.
Update: Some Steve asked for PIL support in Reinteract. The reimage.py module supports PIL images, GDK pixbufs, GTK widgets and file names. Screenshot.
Connected!
Cool, taschenorakel.de is connected to some real server again!
Welcome Back
Well, so I finally have a django based weblog running on taschenorakel. Still have to style it and most content of the old site is missing still. Did I ever mention you shall have recent backups arround?
Wondering when Strato will finally manage it to transfer my domains to this server. Requested the transfer from DeNIC transit just eighteen days ago. So it can be only a matter of months until I get my domains back.
