Continue reading »]]> Sometimes I spend time testing things and during the tests I create completely useless stuffs. One of these is: http://myip.mornati.net

It’s a simple my ip website that gives you your current public ip adresses, whois information, detailed browser and os information and tools for developers.
For example, there is a page that return your ip adress in plain text (usefull for bash script usage) and another one providing detailes information in json (for more complex script).

There’s nothing more…

Continue reading »]]> After the latests Fedora updates I’m getting a boring problem with the unlock: I can normally login after the startup but not after a lock screen (CTRL + ALT + L for example).

Looking into log you should find something like the following:

Mar 25 13:33:15 notebook gdm-password][12579]: AccountsService-WARNING: Failed to connect to the ConsoleKit seat object: No space left on device

It’s a gnome-shell bug, as described here: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=872118
But in this way my desktop is completely useless.

I found two differents way to workaround/fix the problem.

1. Connect with root on a new terminal (CTRL + ALT + F2), and here kill the gnome-shell process.
   

   mmornati@notebook ~$ sudo ps aux | grep gnome-shell
   mmornati  1967  6.4  3.9 2041492 156052 ?      Sl   21:15   1:25 /usr/bin/gnome-shell
   mmornati  2127  0.0  0.3 739228 14552 ?        Sl   21:15   0:00 /usr/libexec/gnome-shell-calendar-server
   gdm       3531  0.5  2.0 1425268 78348 ?       Sl   21:28   0:02 gnome-shell --mode=gdm
   mmornati  4570  0.0  0.0 109184   884 pts/1    S+   21:37   0:00 grep --color=auto gnome-shell
   
   mmornati@notebook ~$ sudo kill -9 3531

   A problem with this solution is that we have to execute a manual task any time we want to unlock Fedora screen

2. A second method consists in changing a parameter of the inotify process to allow more watches users. I’m not sure, at the moment, if this could cause some others problems, but for me it works now.
   To this you need to create a new sysctl configuration file for inotify, for example inotify.conf with this parameter inside

   mmornati@notebook ~$ cat /etc/sysctl.d/inotify.conf 
   fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000

   A1l should work correctly now!

Enjoy

Continue reading »]]> You can use a RaspberryPI computer in many differents way. Personally I decided to use it as mediacenter with an XBMC program.

After the first installation I spent lot of time to configure any things in XBMC: share folders for videos, share folders for music, … So the problem I had was about the “update” process. The OpenELEC is based on a linux distribution but there is nothing to automate packages installation or update (I mean something like yum or apt-get), I it’s not possible for any system update to reconfigure anything.

I looked on internet and in the end I found a simple script that help you in the update process.

#!/bin/bash

# change working directory 
cd /storage

# location of the nightlies
url="http://openelec.thestateofme.com/"

# get base, revision and filename of last build
last_base=`curl -s $url | grep .tar.bz2 | sed 's/.*\(OpenELEC-RPi.*\).tar.bz2.*/\1/' | sort | tail -1`
last_revision=`echo $last_base | sed 's/.*\(r[0-9]*\)/\1/'`
last_filename=$last_base.tar.bz2

# folder name is set equal to base
foldername=$last_base

# get currently installed revision
this_revision=`cat /etc/version | sed 's/.*\(r[0-9]*\)/\1/'`

# check if currently installed revision is up-to-date
if [ $this_revision == $last_revision ]
then
    echo "System is up-to-date, no update required."
    exit
else
    echo "Update required, will download latest version."
fi

# clean up previously interrupted update
if [ -a $last_filename ]; then
    echo "Clean up previously interrupted update files."
    rm $last_filename
fi
if [ -a $foldername ]; then
    echo "Clean up previously interrupted update files."
    rm -rf $foldername
fi

# download corresponding file to working directory
urltolast=$url/$last_filename
wget $urltolast
echo -e  "Download complete\n"

# uncompressing the tarball
echo "Uncompressing tarball, files extracted:"
tar -xvjf $last_filename

# check if image folder exists, otherwise exit
if [ ! -d $foldername ]; then
   echo "Cannot find extracted folder."
   exit
fi

# check if .update folder exists, otherwise create it
if [ ! -d /storage/.update ]; then
    mkdir /storage/.update
fi

# move OpenELEC files (including .md5 files) to update folder
mv $foldername/target/* /storage/.update/
echo -e "\nOpenELEC files succesfully moved to update directory"

# clean up
rm -r $foldername
rm $last_filename
echo "Temporary files deleted"

# sync and reboot system to apply updates
echo "System will restart shortly"
echo "Enjoy!"
sleep 5s
sync
reboot

Sorry to the author because I can’t remember where I found it, and I don’t even know if it’s the original version or if I modified it. In any case it works perfectly.

What you just need to do is to copy it on your RaspberryPi/OpenELEC system and execute it. The script will check if a new version is available, it will download it and then reboot the raspberry when all is ready for the update (update will be automatically installed after the reboot).

How you can copy the script on your OpenELEC and execute an update? You can make an SSH connection to the RaspberryPi.

mmornati@notebook ~$ ssh root@192.168.0.25
##############################################
# OpenELEC - The living room PC for everyone #
# ...... visit http://www.openelec.tv ...... #
##############################################

OpenELEC Version: devel-20130119143821-r12975
OpenELEC git: 6bc259fb5cdf4f941e85e43132a0a31e211af937
root@192.168.0.25's password: 
root ~ #

Where 192.168.0.25 is the ip address of my Raspberry. I make the SSH connection using a Linux/Mac computer (where ssh is available by default on the command line); if you are on Windows, you need to use Putty to make the ssh connection!

The default username/password to connect to OpenELEC via SSH are:

username: root
password: openelec

After connection you can create your script where you want on your system (you are root so be carefull because you can do anything). Normally where you have a lot of free space is /storege, but if you are not sure, you can check it with a df -h:

root ~ # df -h
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
none                    185.0M     90.1M     94.9M  49% /dev
/dev/mmcblk0p1          124.7M     98.8M     26.0M  79% /flash
/dev/mmcblk0p2            3.6G    127.5M      3.3G   4% /storage
/dev/loop0               90.0M     90.0M         0 100% /
none                    186.5M         0    186.5M   0% /dev/shm

Then you can create the script file using vi, for example typing something like:

vi update.sh

And here you can paste the content of the script I put in this article.
After this you need to make the script executable and execute it, with:

chmod +x update.sh
./update.sh

You should have an output like the following:

root ~ # ./update.sh 
Update required, will download latest version.
Connecting to openelec.thestateofme.com (46.149.19.9:80)
OpenELEC-RPi.arm-dev 100% |*****************************************************************************************************| 92078k  0:00:00 ETA
Download complete

Uncompressing tarball, files extracted:
OpenELEC-RPi.arm-devel-20130228144321-r13387/
[...]
OpenELEC-RPi.arm-devel-20130228144321-r13387/target/SYSTEM
OpenELEC-RPi.arm-devel-20130228144321-r13387/openelec.ico
OpenELEC-RPi.arm-devel-20130228144321-r13387/INSTALL

OpenELEC files succesfully moved to update directory
Temporary files deleted
System will restart shortly
Enjoy!

Finished! After the reboot your OpenELEC is updated. You can check it simply with an ssh connection (after the connection you should see the version directly on your screen) or going in the settings in your XBMC.

Continue reading »]]> A useful thing you can do with an Android phone, that is actually impossible even to imagine on the iPhone, is to control it from your computer.
Two tools I tested to do this are: AIrDroid and Kies Air.

Both two application follow the same usage procedure: install an application on your android phone,  start it up (when you are connected to a Wireles network), connect to your phone address (shown on the application home page) using a browser… and enjoy your phone.

At the beginning I tested Kies Air, knowing it is a Samsung product and I’ve a Galaxy Phone, I thought was surely the best choice because was created by the phone manufacturer.

KIES AIR

The interface is pretty interesting. After the connection,with your browser you have an home page with all important things on your phone: latest call, latest message, music, …

Interesting because you have all things “in a click”; but to use all web application functions, you should install the Java Virtual Machine on your computer and linked it with your browser.

You can use the web application to send or retrieve files from your device, but you need java if you want to transfer more than one file at the same time. So it is impossible to have all functions on, for example, tabled browser.

On phone side, the interface is really simple because is just a server that allows you to connect to your phone. You start it up and when a client try to connect to your device a popup propose you a pin code you must insert to start the connection between the two devices.

I was pretty satify by this application that allows me to control my phone all day long, without directly using it! But I decide to test AirDroid because I read many positive comments on the Google Play.

AIRDROID

As I said at the beginning is pretty the same thing. The main page of the application shown just a dashboard with links to access to the differents areas: messages, photo, video, …

An important difference, I like, is that the application does not use Java so, for example, even the multi file upload works with any browser; you can connect to your phone via AirDroid using your iPad browser, and have access to all functions!

 Another thing I like is the ability to open a link on your phone simply pasting it in a text area on the desktop app.

And you have then, there are some others functions requiring a rooted device. An example is screenshot application.

CONCLUSION

To be honest, both two applications offer the same things and are valid if you just need to control base functions of your phone and transfer file without connecting it using the USB cable. Personally I prefer AirDrop because you can use it from any device and browser: no additional software is required (Java).

Then… chose your application and use the phone from your browser!

Continue reading »]]> If you have shutdown problems on your Mac: it never shutdown and is stack at on the grey circular icon. The problem could be your TimeMachine setting.

I just discovered that my MacBook had problems connecting to the network timemachine disk (it’s not the time capsule but  a Buffalo NAS)… No backup were executed, sometimes the system was unusable and cannot shutdown or restart (need to force the shutdown with the power button).
Well i don’t exactly know the reasons around the missing connection to the disk, but after a reset of my time machine settings, all back to normal.

So if you have some strange problems in your Mac, check your latest backup and try to force a new one by hand; if it cannot find/connect to your disk… you got it!

Continue reading »]]> A thing I used on my iPhone was the streaming of my photo, video and music on my media server (for me wasn’t an Apple TV but an XBMC on a RaspberryPi) using Airplay. So when I switched to Android I directly look to do the same. Naturally, knowing Android is an “open” system, it wasn’t to difficult to find the way to do it.

First of all we need to say we can’t stream AirPlay using the embedded android tools. Airplay is (normally) an Apple proprietary protocol and system, so you (normally) should use Apple hardware to have it.
After this little introduction, all of us knows that there are many systems/tools on the market that can reproduce an AirPlay server (XBMC for example) or AirPlay client.

For the Android I found DoubleTwist. Is not just a program that allow you to stream using AirPlay, but can let you to use your Andoird Phone like an Apple Phone (ok maybe it’s not so cool to use android as an iPhone, but if you can’t leave the Apple Style… here you can! ). For example you can synch your iTunes music and playlists to the Andoird Application (the player).

So, as you can see on the website and as you can understand by what we have said, you have a program for you desktop machine (Mac/Windows) that allow the interaction with the iTunes library, and an app for your android system. If you want you can just use the software on your android phone/tablet, that is a media player with AirPlay streaming function; the desktop app is necessary just if you want to sync your device!

Anyway, to start using Airplay on your device is really simple. In the android app settings, select to enable streaming (you need the paid app, with the free the function is locked)

Then, in the player windows you have a new icon, like on the iPhone, if an AirPlay server is detected on your desktop.

Clicking on it you have then a popup that allow you to select the target device.

That’s all!

A thing I want to say in the end, is that AirPlay it’s a good solution if you have an AppleTV as media center; for any other device it’s better to use something better (like DLNA). For example on the AirPlay protocol just the Apple allowed video formats can be streamed… so get better!

Continue reading »]]>

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 76,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

In 2012, there were 47 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 102 posts.

The busiest day of the year was October 21st with 707 views. The most popular post that day was Google Chrome for iOS.

Link to the complete report here:

http://jetpack.me/annual-report/26723616/2012/

Continue reading »]]> È qualche giorno ormai che ho fatto il passaggio da iPhone al galaxy Note 2. Non ho ancora avuto modo di testare a fondo tutte le funzionalità,  ma in questa prima settimana ci sono diverse cose che mi hanno stupito positivamente.  Fra queste il riconoscimento della scrjttura con SPen! Ricordo ancora con il mio primo palmare con Windows mobile, la fatica che feci per imparare come dovevo scrivere le lettere per fare in modo che venissero riconosciute dal dispositivo. Beh… qui non è più necessario: riesce a riconoscere anche la mia scrittura in corsivo (e bisogna dire che in quanto a grafia, non è che sia molto lontano dalla scrittura di un medico ).

Finalmente il piacere della scrittura a mano libera digitale

Stay tuned.

Continue reading »]]> I recently refactor the KermIT project to get a completely dynamic project and have the ability to add plugins.

Here I’m going to show you how to check for “installed plugins” and automatically configure the urls.
First of all you have to configure a Django app, named for example plugins and correctly link it up to your Django project. So add it to INSTALLED_APPS in the settings.py file and add it to global urls.py

urlpatterns = patterns('',

    (r'^plugins/', include('webui.plugins.urls')),

)

Then in the plugins app create a urls.py module like this one:

from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, include
import logging
from webui.plugins import utils

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

urlpatterns = patterns('',
)
installed_plugins = utils.installed_plugins_list()

for plugin in installed_plugins:
    try:
        urlpatterns += patterns('',
             (r"^%s/" % plugin, include("webui.plugins.%s.urls" % plugin)),
        )
    except:
        logger.debug ("Plugin %s does not provides urls" % plugin)

Where my utils.py is the following:

import os

def installed_plugins_list():
    path = os.path.dirname(__file__)
    installed_plugins = []
    for module in os.listdir(path):
        if os.path.isdir(path + '/' + module) == True:
            installed_plugins.append(module)
    return installed_plugins

How does it work?

Well, the utils module will list all packages inside the current one (the plugins in my example), then the urls.py module will just loop on this list and it try to include the submodule urls. If it works (no exception raised) all urls are imported using the plugin name (i.e. /plugins/puppet/*); if you have an exception (no urls configured for that plugin) you just have a log message.

Really easy, and I can assure it works!