Motorola Atrix – Everything I wanted in a smartphone.

July 23, 2011 / posted in Android, Digital living, Laptop, Linux, Optimization, XDA / Comments Off

Atrix with Lapdock

About two months ago, I switched to AT&T (from T-mobile with my G1) and picked up the Motorola Atrix with Lapdock.  In short, let me say it’s been an amazing device and deserves better reviews than it has received.  What I’ll discuss here is the Laptop/Dock interface known as Webtop.

While the initial experience with the phone was nothing short of incredible, the lapdock with Webtop left something to be desired.  No Multi-touch or even edge-of-the-pad-scrolling on the trackpad, no applications beyond the pre-installed file manager, Firefox, and Facebook (which is really just Firefox without the toolbars), and no customizations allowed beyond a change of wallpaper.  It seemed like there would be little hope of changing much of this as well given the Atrix’s locked bootloader.  Until…

One day, the folks at Motorola unlocked the BL for the Atrix.  Boy-howdy, has this made the Atrix an incredible device.  The unlocked bootloader has allowed folks at XDA-Developers.com to tinker with the underlying system, allowing for ROMs as well as enhancements for Motorola’s Webtop.

Since Webtop is basically a modified version of Ubuntu 9.04 it’s possible to run Ubuntu applications compiled for the ARM platform – which is pretty much everything you’d find in the x86-based distro. You’ll just have to search through the Ubuntu 9.04 repository and find the applications you wish to run as well as each of their dependencies.  Unfortunately, for the moment, apt-get won’t let you properly install applications or corresponding libraries.  Running ‘sudo apt-get update’ will only return a request for an IP address and running ‘sudo apt-get upgrade’ may even break stuff, so for now, don’t try either.  But, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort of tracking down dependencies, you can install many of your favorite applications.

Currently, I’m running Firefox4, Bluefish web editor, GIMP, and Filezilla without problems (all at once!).  While the Atrix in laptop mode is no speed demon, it handles the applications well enough for practical use.  I also recommend using Sogarth’s webtop2sd app to do pretty much what the name implies and gives more room for applications.  The application’s defaults will take care of everything for you once the application is installed.

Unfortunately, the lapdock scrolling issue has yet to be solved.  In spite of the giant touchpad there is no multi-touch or even edge-of-the-pad scrolling.  I have yet to see if the hardware will support multi-touch, but I remain hopeful.  It would be the one enhancement to really make the Atrix+Lapdock a great device.

If you have an Atrix, you can really set your device free and make it a whole lot more usable with a little effort.  Configure things just right and you will probably be able to replace your netbook, but be prepared to have an external mouse or fight with archaic scrolling methods.

To check out more of what’s going on with the Atrix, go visit the folks at XDA-Developers.com in the Atrix section.

Add Google Plus to your website

July 21, 2011 / posted in Development, Web Design / Comments Off

In the world of Social Networking, Facebook and Twitter have a bit of new competition with Google Plus.  In spite of it’s newness, G+ has been able to grab more than 1.7 million users according to this.

Given Google’s track record, it’s reasonable to believe G+ will only gain popularity, making it more important for websites to have some G+ integration.  The simplest form of this is to add a link to your G+ profile to your homepage.

G+ has a really neat feature in the “+1″ button.  “The +1 button is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” according to Google’s page on the button. While the page gives you ways to add the button to your site, if you’re running a WP blog, you have the very easy option of using a plugin.

“The Google +1 plugin” by WPMUDEV, VeBailovity makes adding the +1 feature a breeze and gives you a handful of options as well.  It’s easy to install & activate and completely worth the effort.

Put Close/Maximize/Minimize where you want them in Ubuntu/Gnome

June 18, 2011 / posted in Desktop, Linux / Comments Off

It’s frustrating to set up and tweak a theme the way you like with preset Controls, Colors, Window border, Icons, etc provided in Ubuntu only to have one thing out of whack.  For me, that one thing was the Close/Maximize/Minimize buttons at the top of the window.

One of the biggest complaints I have read about Ubuntu’s fairly recent changes is the placement of the Close/Maximize/Minimize buttons from the upper right (ala Windows) to the upper left (ala Mac OSX).  While reluctant to accept the change at first, it slowly grew on me.  And why not, change isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Over time I’d make changes and tweaks to themes, but only using the presets defined in each set of Controls.  Often, this would result in those buttons moving from one side of the title bar to the other – much to my dismay.  Fortunately, the fix is simple:

  1. Alt-F2 > type in “gconf-editor” and hit Enter
  2. Navigate to Apps > Metacity > General
  3. Change “button_layout” from “menu:minimize,maximize,close” to “close,maximize,minimize:menu” or vice versa according to your liking, then hit Enter.  Your changes should have taken place instantly.
  4. Enjoy.

Unemployed and Making Life Better

April 17, 2011 / posted in Uncategorized / Comments Off

If I was an employer and came across your tweet on http://www.funemploymentdaily.com/ I probably would not hire you. Now you are probably thinking I am being too hard on the unfortunately unemployed.  But, before you judge, go look at the site.  With few exceptions, you will see the site’s collection of tweets are about excessive sleeping, folks’ lack of pants, and how they have misspelled their name on a resume. So, let me ask you, why should they expect to be hired?

The internet is not private and your next potential employer could see what you’ve written.  No one wants to hear you whine about things online (or anywhere else for that matter) without proposing solutions.

So, what to do?

  1. Quit Tweeting and Facebooking about how you spent all day in bed without showering and have eaten nothing but Cap’n Crunch for the last week.  You will not land your dream job by someone taking pity on you.
  2. Apply for jobs and work on your resume.  You can not get a job if you do not try to get one.
  3. Build on your skills.  Practice your welding technique, learn another language, study physics, or whatever else enhances the skills suited to your field.
  4. Get up, out of bed, shower, and try to make a normal day of things.  Moping around the house will not make things better, it will make you feel worse.
  5. Consider taking this time to break into that field you have always wanted to try.  Thinking of this time as an opportunity may allow you to do what you have dreamed of doing but never had the time to attempt.
  6. Take care of all those things you have wanted to do around the house.  Clean out the basement, attic, or spare bedroom.  Or, maybe take the time to fix the gutters or wash and wax the car.

In general, have plans, goals, and be productive.  Do not waste this free time.

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it ever time.” –Zig Ziglar

If you spend this time bettering yourself you will be more prepared for your upcoming interviews, you will feel better about yourself, and you will have more skills than you did previously, making you an even MORE valuable employee.

If you are unemployed, go make your life better.

Tame the Jungle Known as the “Bookmarks Toolbar”

March 21, 2011 / posted in Desktop, Digital living, General Tech, Laptop, Linux, Optimization / Comments Off
Get your bookmarks organized and optimized.

 

Bookmarks.  You have tons of them.  I know, so do I.  If you’re not careful, they can become a giant disorganized mess in a hurry.  The question then is, “How do I keep them organized so I can find what I’m looking for when I need to find it?”

Here’s what I do:

  1. Use folders. Right-click on the bookmarks toolbar and say “New Folder”, name it, then drag corresponding bookmarks to it.  Create a folder for each category of bookmarks.  You can even get creative and put folders in folders.  Make the organization work for your needs.
  2. Use just icons. If you’re frequently visiting a site, you’re probably already familiar with their logo and their “favicon”.  If you don’t know what that is, it’s the little icon next to the address of the site in the address bar of your browser.  Most sites have them as the icon makes it very easy to identify the site at a quick glance in your bookmarks list.  To use just the icon, make your bookmark just like usual on your bookmarks toolbar.  Once it appears, Right-click > Properties and under the “Name” field, delete its contents and save.  Your bookmark should now be reduced to just the icon.
  3. Delete unused bookmarks. Chances are, you have at least a dozen bookmarks you don’t need and won’t use – ever.  Go through them and delete.
  4. “Pin Tab as App.” Firefox 4, though still just in release-candidate status, allows the opportunity to make tabs more permanent.  When you right-click on a tab and select “Pin tab as app” the tab is then shrunk to favicon size and becomes located on the left side of your tabs.  By Pinning the tab you eliminate the need for the bookmark.
  5. Use Panorama. In Firefox 4, Ctrl + Shift + E will let you organize tabs into categories.  This video here can tell you about it better: TabCandy/Panorama

Following these suggestions as you create new bookmarks will really keep the bookmark jungle tamed.  Good luck and enjoy!

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