Cyanogenmod 12 for Nexus 7 (2013), unofficial

Forum thread

Seems relatively stable as of the end of December 2014.
 

Google Authenticator migration

At the page below you can change the device on which the Authenticator runs. Useful when preparing to flash a new ROM on the main device.

https://accounts.google.com/b/0/SmsAuthSettings#devices

Restartless Restart

This add-on adds a menu option for restarting Firefox. Useful if you make a change in the config that requires a restart but want to keep all the tabs that are currently open.

Closing the windows manually would not keep the tabs the next time you open the browser.

This should be a standard option, in my opinion. Especially with the browsers that require restart for changes to take effect.

Restartless Restart :: Add-ons for Firefox

Disable or change AdBlock keyboard shortcuts in Firefox

Finally found out how to disable Ctrl+Shift+V hotkey / keyboard shortcut in Firefox. This shortcut is very useful as the default behavior of "Paste as plain text".

The options are hidden from the UI but accessible through "about:config" page. The key is "extensions.adblockplus.sidebar_key".

FAQ - User interface customization

Browser test results

Just ran a couple of browser tests on the same machine at work.

Browsers tested:

1. Firefox, Developer Edition, 36.0a2
2. Chrome, 41.0.2251.0 dev-m

Peacekeeper:

FF: 4709, C: 3960

Browsermark:

FF: 4674, C: 5684

 

Firefox wins Softonic's browser test

Softonic's Browser Comparison: Head-to-head with Chrome, Firefox, IE and Opera | Head to head | Softonic

Cyanogenmod 12 Links

Links related to Cyanogenmod 12, based on Android 5 Lollipop, for Samsung Galaxy S3 (I9300) are below:

• First Alpha build thread (Archi)
• Issue list 
• Archi Kernel
• GApps, or from Slim ROM, or minimal edition

CM links:

• semi-nightly build thread
• FAQ page
• Changelog CM12
• CM gerrit code review  

Temasek version:

• thread, contains detailed installation instructions

CyanogenMod 12 Changelog

Below is the link to the change log for Cyanogenmod 12. The coding seems to be going quite well according to the number of merged commits.

CM12 Nightlies Changelogs

 

First stable build of CyanogenMod 12

CyanogenMod 12 is based on Android 5, better known as Lollipop.

HTC One M7 receives Android 5.0.1 Lollipop via CyanogenMod 12 stable build

Google also has hinted that version 5.1 of Android could be released in February next year. This would iron out the v5 release.

 

Update Firefox Aurora on Android

Since Firefox Aurora is not available through Google Play, it has to be installed manually.

It can be installed from this link.

To check for updates and update to the latest version, open the menu, then Settings -> Mozilla -> About, and then tap the "Check for Updates" button.

Reference: Update to the latest version of Firefox for Android | Firefox for Android Help

Display a view from another area in ASP.Net MVC

Generally, the syntax to refer to a view in another area is:

return View("~/Views/YourArea/YourController/YourView.aspx");

c# - Return view from different area - Stack Overflow

 

Alpha build of CM 12 available for Samsung Galaxy S3

However, I do not recommend flashing as of yet.

[WIP] [Alpha 4] CyanogenMod 12 for i9300 | Samsung Galaxy S III I9300, I9305 | XDA Forums

 

Redis Commander

GUI client for Redis. Runs under nodejs.

joeferner/redis-commander

To set up, run

npm install -g redis-commander

redis-commander

Then open the localhost:8081 in your browser.

Lock screen rotation in Windows 8

To lock the screen rotation setting on a Windows 8 tablet, tap the screen rotation icon on the brightness level picker.

Screen AutoRotation - Lock or Unlock in Windows 8

 

Good overview of [Authorize] attribute in ASP.NET MVC

Jon Galloway - ASP.NET MVC Authentication - Customizing Authentication and Authorization The Right Way

Also, check the related articles, like Looking at how the ASP.NET MVC Authorize interacts with ASP.NET Forms Authorization (link).

Great KeePass extensions

Hopefully there's no need to explain KeePass, an absolutely brilliant password manager that holds steady at the top of this category of applications for years. It is a great group of applications for multiple platforms that all support reading and writing the encrypted password storage file.

KeePass features a plugin architecture, allowing other developers to extend the functionality through their own modules. 

Plugins - KeePass

Here are some of my favourites:

• KeePassHttp - fantastic link between browsers and KeePass. Note that separate browser extensions are needed to read entries through KeePassHttp. This is just a KeePass extension to listen for requests.
• KeeAgent (link) - SSH key provider. Emulates pageant.

Web Development conferences and events in Europe

Below is the link to conferences and events related to web development, happening in Europe now and in the near future:

Web Development conferences and events in Europe | Lanyrd

Disable the new Profile button in Chrome

If you are not switching profiles in Chrome browser, that piece of window realestate next to minimize and maximize buttons can be valuable. The profiles button will prevent that space being used by tabs, which can get really annoying. Fortunately, there is a way to turn it off.

Turning the button off does not take away any functionality. You can still switch profile as before, by opening the menu and checking or clicking the "signed in as..." menu item, and you can still open an incognito window.

Hope this becomes a standard setting in options.

 

How do I remove the 'default profile' button from Chrome? - Google Product Forums

navigate to about://flags and flip the flag for --enable-new-avatar-menu to off

Firefox Developer Edition

The new version of Firefox (35) is targeted more towards the web developers. It has development tools for FirefoxOS integrated.

From what I see, the performance is a bit faster and it loads quicker. 

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/

3rd party sync software for OneDrive

Since synchronizing with OneDrive on Windows 8.1 is now built-in into the system, one has to use Microsoft account to log into the PC. For those who do not like that option, there is an alternative:
syncDriver for OneDrive - OneDrive Client Done Right

However, I had issues with an account that uses 2-step verification. The sync would not log into Microsoft account with 2-step authentication nor with a separate app password.
Thumbs down for now.

Validators and Messages in AngularJS 1.3

Working with Validators and Messages in AngularJS

New batteries, using nanotechnology, charge rapidly

The batteries are using Titanium dioxide gel.

New batteries charge 70 percent in 2 minutes - CNET

a lithium ion battery that can get up to a 70 percent charge in just 2 minutes and can allegedly last up to 20 years.

{wrap} - Bootstrap Angular theme

Here is a Bootstrap/Angular theme that ties pretty much all the common UI elements out there into a seemingly coherent union. Widgets, calendars, form elements, and so on, are all made to look similar using Bootstrap styling and work with AngularJS framework.

Angle - Bootstrap Admin App + AngularJS - Live Preview - WrapBootstrap

Vote for editing countries in HERE Maps

Below is the link to the page where you can cast your votes for including the countries in the HERE's Map Creator. By opening a country for editing, the community will be able to improve the map data and speed up the map updates.

Country Coverage: Hot (94 ideas) – Feedback for HERE Map Creator (beta)

Nokia's HERE navigation available on Android

Here is the link to Noki's navigation app HERE. It takes you to the Samsung Store, which is currently the only place where the app is available for download:

App Download | HERE

The app's .apk file can be found on the Internet, too, for those who don't have a Samsung device (I do but with a custom ROM flashed, so no access to Samsung Store).

For those of you wishing to test the maps only, check it out online: http://here.com/

View Windows 8 activation period

Here are commands that display the current Windows 8 activation validity period.

I AM LIVING A PURPOSEFUL LIFE: How to Verify and Check Windows 8, Windows 7 or Vista Activation Status (Retail, KMS or MAK) by mahaar92

slmgr -xpr
slmgr -dli
slmgr -dlv

Polymer - a Web Component framework

Welcome to the future where web page elements are finally packaged as separate, reusable components.

New framework from Google makes it easier to create UI for applications on the desktop, web, and mobile devices.

 

Welcome - Polymer

Phones that last longer

http://m.blog.laptopmag.com/smartphones-best-battery-life

Link jQuery input and Angular

Another excellent tip on linking jQuery and Angular. If you are using various jQuery plugins (like datetimepicker) for the looks, it turns out they don't work with AngularJS bindings out of the box. Fortunately, the link is very simple.

Previously, I've written on how to access the full scope.

Here, I'll describe how to link Bootstrap DateTimePicker to AngularJS model. The documentation for the datetimepicker lists the event and handling of the events. The underlying date used by the picker is a Moment, so to get a formatted string, use .format() on the date property.

One way, but a difficult one, would be to do something along the lines of:

        $('.datetimepicker').datetimepicker(customDateTimePickerOptions)

            .on('dp.change', function(event) {

                var jElement = $(event.currentTarget);

                var element = angular.element(jElement);

                var controller = element.controller();

                var scope = element.scope();

                scope.$apply(function() {

                    scope.model.parameters.validFrom = event.date.format();

                });

 });

However, there we don't know which value to update. The fix, fortunately, is extremely simple:

        $('.datetimepicker').datetimepicker(customDateTimePickerOptions)

            .on('dp.change', function(event) {

                var div = $(event.currentTarget);

                var input = div.find('input');

                input.trigger('input');

        });

All that is required, actually, is to fire an 'input' event because this is what AngularJS expects. That way, you can simply use ng-model to bind the value of the input to the Angular model in HTML.

Source: StackOverflow, as usual.

Style Asp.Net MVC unobtrusive validation with Bootstrap

Another bridge to cross. There are multiple ways to do use the unobtrusive client-side validation with Aps.Net MVC (this is jQuery validation) but style it with Bootstrap, but the most elegant solution is in the article below:

ASP.Net MVC 5 – quick tip for unobtrusive validation and Bootstrap styling | danielwertheim

Daniel creates a (relatively) simple jQuery extension which does all the work in the background. All that remains is to add it to one of the script bundles. Thanks!

ng-grid / ui-grid

Apart from the angular js adapter for DataTables, there is a "native" angular js data grid project - ng-grid. There is a plunker that shows how it works with Bootstrap styling.

As of version 3.0, the project is called ui-grid.

Below are the links to the main site, documentation, download, etc.

ui-grid.info

angular-ui.github.io/ng-grid/

Download

Github

Introduction to Claims

ASP.Net (MVC) is moving towards claims-based authentication system. Here's some background reading.

An Introduction to Claims

 

DataTables in JavaScript

DataTables is a jQuery plugin that adds advanced interaction controls to HTML tables.
Interested to see how will it mix with Angular.
DataTables | Table plug-in for jQuery

Edit: Here's a project that links the two together - angular datatables

AngularJS Migration Guide 1.2 to 1.3

Here is the list of things to do in order to migrate Angular 1.2 code to 1.3. The later branch seems to be getting increasing amount of attention while 1.2 is pretty static already.
AngularJS Migration Guide 1.2 to 1.3

TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook

I'm starting to love TiddlyWiki. It's been a never-ending search for a decent tool where I could store some notes, organized by topics, and having links and relations among each other, that are also searchable. Basically, a personal wiki site for notes on certain topics.

First I used Redmine but this requires a decent infrastructure to run - Ruby + a whole host of dependent libraries, admin rights, etc. These are not available everywhere. And, it is especially painful upgrading these things.

Then I searched for node-based wikis. There are a few. Node is relatively easy to install and npm takes care of dependencies but this is still not ideal. The ultimate drawback is that none of the available wiki solutions include a simple text search. Ugh.

Using text files, spiced with Markdown syntax for decent visual effects when used in a Markdown Editor, was ok. The files are indexed by a desktop search engine and can even be searched. But, this is also not that great.

Finally, in comes TiddlyWiki. Technically, it is just an HTML page that includes all the grease (javascript, css, default content and templates). Therefore, it runs in a browser. The downside is that any change dumps a new file, when used like that. But the good devs of TiddlyWiki have used node-webkit to create a desktop version of TiddlyWiki. This is a customized browser that runs your wiki. Runs pretty smooth and the content is separate from the engine, which is great. This way it is also easy to save any changes, avoiding any browser-caused issues.

Markdown syntax is supported via plugin. The posts have to be marked as text/x-markdown type and then they get rendered properly.

So far this looks great and exactly what I was looking for.



TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook

The Definitive Guide to Object-Oriented JavaScript

OO JavaScript

Video:
The Definitive Guide to Object-Oriented JavaScript

and the accompanying web site:
Object Playground

Merge code in TFS by Workitem

Here are two ways to merge code between two branches in TFS, but only the ones linked to a specific work item



One is qbus vMerge extension (link) for Visual Studio 2013, and another is done in TFS manually in the Hierarchy window (link).



I can confirm that the extension works well so far and is really useful for pushing the changes from Dev to QA branch, for example.



Source: Merge by Workitem – Customer Feedback for Microsoft

Octopus Deploy

Octopus Deploy is a deployment solution focused on .Net development teams. The goal is to have an automatic deployments. The whole concept is very similar to integration server - a place where code is built, packed, and deployed. Except that Octopus takes care of the deployment of packages to desired destinations.

It achieves this by installing services (called Tentacles) on destination machines and one central point - the Octopus. The software releases are packed as nuget packages - a simple zip container with files + some metadata.

Octopus can deploy web sites as well as windows services.

A few tricks are required, though.

• Set the Web.config transforms build action to Content so that the transform files do get copied to the output directory. Only then Octopus can actually perform the transform process. More here.

Code Project Preparations

Configuration Transformations

One of the key things is to have configurations for different environments in the source code.

Web Config Transformation Tester is an online tool that helps to test configuration transforms. Alternatively, use Slow Cheetah, Visual Studio extension.

Build Process

Package Restore

See "Package Restore with Team Build" for instructions on how to build a solution that has NuGet Package Restore enabled. In brief, use the build.proj MS Build script as the destination project. Adjust the paths to your code's locations before hand.

OctoPack

OctoPack nuget package can be added to deployable projects to help out in generation of deployable packages. Then, add "/p:RunOctoPack=true" parameter to MSBuild to generate the packages. Additional parameters:
"/p:OctoPackPackageVersion=1.0.1" overrides the package version number which is, by default, taken from the project version.
"/p:OctoPackPublishPackageToFileShare=c:\packages" instructs OctoPack to copy only the resulting packages to the destination directory. This way you do not need any other output files.
OctoPack can also deploy directly to NuGet Server with "/p:OctoPackPublishPackageToHttp=http://my-nuget-server/api/v2/package".
See more at OctoPack GitHub page.

Resources

• Octopus Deploy
• Videos

Microsoft & agile

How Microsoft dragged its development practices into the 21st century (Peter Bright/Ars Technica) http://www.techmeme.com/140810/p10#a140810p10

Angular Modules

A great resource for AngularJS-related libraries: ngmodules.org

Popular Modules - AngularJS Modules, Plugins and Directives

 

Cool new games

The performance of browsers is getting to a point where playing a game online in a browser is no different to playing it the old-fashioned standalone way.



Heroes of Might and Magic is in beta. See http://heroes-online.com



BabylonJS has some demos on their site http://www.babylonjs.com



Also looking fun is http://www.goat-simulator.com/. Not JavaScript but looks open-ended and cool.

Mini-PC NUC - Core i5-4250U - Mini Barebone PC

Miniature-sized PC. Decent characteristics, price.



Mini-PC NUC - Core i5-4250U - Mini Barebone PC | MIFcom - PC Online-Shop

[Guide]APK Downloader Chrome Extension | ApkLeecher.com

APK Leecher has a Chrome Extension that allows one to download apps from Play Store.

As I am unable to download one particular (free) application, for some crazy reason like geographical location or whatever, although I have an account with the company, this extension should help out with that nuissance.



[Guide]APK Downloader Chrome Extension | ApkLeecher.com

Apk Leecher

Some Android apps have nasty limitations on Google Play store. One such app is Bloomberg+. While it is true that it has issues on different devices, it is also true that it does not work on a tablet after it was flashed with a custom ROM, which is an updated version of the official ROM. The app that worked fine does not worked after the identification of the ROM has changed. This annoying although it errs on the safe side for an average user.

The helpful site in this case is Apk Leecher. It claims that it downloads the files from Play Store. Well, I took the risk, downloaded the Bloomberg+ app and everything seems fine.

Linking Google site to a custom domain

As this process was a bit messed up in the past, here are the steps that currently work when mapping a site on Google Sites to a custom domain:

1. Create a site on Google Sites
2. Go to Google Webmaster Tools, Add a Site, type the custom domain name. This will provide instructions on registering the domain. Option of adding a TXT record is quite simple so I'll use that.
3. Go to your domain provider control panel. Add a TXT record for the custom domain. For the value, use the code generated above.
4. Back to Google Sites, go to Settings -> Manage Site -> Web Address. Type in the custom (full) address into the input box and click Add button at the top of the page.

That's it. The domain should be recognized immediately.
The instructions from Google are here.

reporting services - How to get rid of blank pages in PDF exported from SSRS - Stack Overflow

Here is a solution to remove a blank page at the end of SSRS reports.



reporting services - How to get rid of blank pages in PDF exported from SSRS - Stack Overflow: " set the "report property" called ConsumeContainerWhitespace to True (the default is false)"

Server naming scheme

Some hints on server naming:



A PROPER SERVER NAMING SCHEME

PayPal migrating to Node.js, talk

A talk on PayPal migrating to Node.js from Java



(1) Node.js: What companies are using Node.js in production? - Quora



In the first answer there is the talk video embedded.

angularjs - Using angular and backbone in the same app

Adding new functionality with Angular JS to a page with existing Backbone.js pieces, would sometimes affect the behaviour of  Backbone router. Simply adding target="_self" to links containing Backbone routes seems to do the trick.

Source: angularjs - Using angular and backbone in the same app - Stack Overflow

Some other suggestions:

• Replacing #! Routes with PushState Using Backbone.js - Artsy Engineering - using pushState to avoid hashbangs. This didn't seem to help in the case I had.

OmniROM 4.4 Nightlies Changelog - I9300

Here is the new link to the OmniROM nightlies for Samsung Galaxy S3



OmniROM 4.4 Nightlies Changelog - I9300

Integrating Angular with legacy code

A way to interact with Angular controller from "outside the Angular world". The quoted code can be called from JavaScript in a page. It, basically, gets the related scope from an HTML element and then the interaction is easy.

Integrating Angular with legacy code - JSFiddle:

angular.element($("#microController-div")).scope().incrementDataInService();

Even easier variant would be to avoid using jQuery:

var scope = angular.element("#myelement").scope();

Is HP finally coming out with memristors?

With 'The Machine,' HP May Have Invented a New Kind of Computer - Businessweek

Memristor is an extremely interesting concept and HP may have brought it to light. See previous article with a link to the presentation from HP Labs.

Visio-like diagrams in Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect diagrams are UML-based and server much better purpose than display-only information. However, that does not mean that they also can not look better.
Now, this refers mostly to Deployment diagrams, displaying the hardware layout at certain locations.

What I do to make the diagrams pretty as well as useful, is to create custom Stereotypes. Then, most nodes are assigned appropriate stereotype, like Server, Web Server, Database Server, and so on. Although stereotypes can be configured to carry a common graphics, I find it creates more troubles than it solves.

In order to display additional details in a diagram, open diagram properties, Elements tab, and enable Tags compartment. Sometimes Notes also come in handy.
This setting will display element Tags on the diagram. These are really handy on deployment diagrams as I tend to put most structured information there, like IP Address, URL, etc.

In the end, to display an icon on the diagram, each element has to be set-up manually. As mentioned, it is possible to assign a graphic to a stereotype and then have all Web Servers display the same icon but this will also prevent display of Tags that we enabled in the previous step. Setting up the graphics for each element somehow keeps the Tags displayed *and* shows the icon. The tags are displayed in a separate element that is linked to the node. Notes compartment, however, is not separated in the same manner and is not visible when a node has an image assigned.

This all refers to Enterprise Architect 8.0 so hopefully these issues are resolved in some of the latter versions.

Rooting Nexus 7 - WugFresh

Android 4.4.3 update has been out for a few days, it seems. Now, as the tablet is asking to update, the question is how to get the update and root the system again. One of the advantages of rooting is that certain apps (like Greenify) can get administrative access and close other apps, that you might not want running in the background.



It seems that the simplest way of rooting is to use Nexus Root Toolkit (link).



Source: WugFresh

AnguarJS Series @ Los Techies

Excellent AngularJS series from Los Techies - (link)

AngularJS eBook for .NET Developers

AngularJS for .NET Developers





(a continuously deployed ebook)



AngularJS eBook for .NET Developers - henriquat.re

Google Plus unlimited storage limit

Since I always forget what the actual free quotas are for Google+ free photo/video storage:



Your storage limit - Picasa and Picasa Web Albums Help: "Only photos over 2048 x 2048 pixels and videos longer than 15 minutes count towards your storage limit."

Zoiper for Windows

Zoiper, one of the best VoIP clients on Android, and my current favourite, is available for Windows, too. There is a free, community version and seems to work perfectly.



Download Zoiper 3, a free VoIP softphone :: Zoiper

The Best Free Antivirus for 2014 - PCMag.com

After defragmenter, it is time to refresh an antivirus.



The Best Free Antivirus for 2014 | PCMag.com



This year's choice seems to be BitDefender.

Best Free Disk Defragmenters Tested

It has been a while since I used or tested a disk defragmenter on Windows. However, as the system noticeably slows down, it is time to tune it again. Below is the link to a fresh test of the free defragmenters available.



Best Free Disk Defragmenters Tested | Gaming PC Builder



The current winner is O&O Free edition.

Unlock Android device with RFID

Xposed module for unlocking an Android device using RFID (link).

Another option is NFC Unlocker (link) but this requires modifications to the system as, by default, Android does not allow NFC radio until the device is powered on and unlocked.

Unlock your device with NFC

After initial hacks there is now an xposed module available for unlocking a rooted Android device.

(link)

You can now read 41.9% of all real German articles

Thanks to DuoLingo, with their method and availability of language-learning material, my knowledge of German language progressed so far that I've been pleasantly surprised by the following achievement:

"You can now read 41.9% of all real German articles"

That is quite impressive an impressive achievement since I'm only practicing as a hobby and I don't use the language in conversation much. However, I can notice progress in reading German texts and this progress is only inspiring to continue practicing and working even more.

Moving to Static and Keeping Your Toys - Harp.js

Raymond Camden's posts seem to be a great current source of info about Harp.js recipes. If you didn't know, Harp.js is a fantastic node.js-based pre-processor / web server. I currently use it to turn any directory with Markdown notes into a web site (locally) or compile the same into a static web site ready for deployment to any hosting solution.

An interesting, and for some important, aspect of using Harp.js vs dynamic content providers (solutions a la Asp.Net MVC, Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP, etc.) is how to keep some of the dynamic features even on a static (.html-based) web site. The article below is a good starting point and I'll be happy to chip in a few more related links.



Moving to Static and Keeping Your Toys | Flippin' Awesome

Additional resources

Search

Harp.js provides a JSON representation of all the files in the directory tree. This is an excellent base for a client-side site search. Some ready-made solutions are here:

• Tipue Search (link). This is exactly what is needed to provide search capabilities to a static site. A realtime search would be even better.
• Tapir (link). This is a hosted solution, however.

Free Zone - Free WiFi Scanner

Free Zone is an Android app with the largest database of free and open WiFi networks that I found. While I've seen other apps/sites, like Wlanmap which focuses mostly on Germany and Austria and have more detailed data, Free Zone covers a much larger geographic area and has a decent number of hotspots to display.

It allows caching of hotspot data, which is useful when you are travelling to a new location.

The content is submitted by the users so there's plenty of sources.



Free Zone - Free WiFi Scanner - Android Apps on Google Play

Harp, the static web server with built-in preprocessing

After reading a bit more into Harp documentation, I've discovered that it is a quite powerful framework. It supports some important features I was looking for:

• templating with EJS and Jade
• Markdown syntax for documents
• compilation into HTML for static sites
• contains a server for displaying the contents
• can be plugged into an existing Express site and be used only as a pre-processor

Harp, the static web server with built-in preprocessing



My demo project: Wiki on Node

The goal in this case is to find a node.js-based wiki engine that can be used to write hierarchical notes, a typical wiki site content, documentation, and so on. The content has to be searchable. The wiki is to be used locally, meaning on a local machine - no hosting and as less as possible dependencies, libraries, etc. The content is to be written using Markdown and as much as possible separated from the layout and styling. The wiki engine has to support serving other files, like PDFs or anything else, really.

After finding out that Harp supports compilation into static site structure, I'm thinking of replacing DocPad as the templating engine.

Markdown for Redmine

Finally, after trying out dozens of other wiki systems, I have found a solution to my original problem - Markdown wiki formatter for Redmine.



alminium/redmine_redcarpet_formatter



The installation is relatively simple:

• Install their custom version of redcarpet, see instructions under Caution. Run 'bundle install' before 'rake install' to download any missing packages.
• Follow installation instructions from point #2, checking out the source code, selecting the most recent tag
• Enable markdown in Administration -> Settings -> General -> Text formatting.

alexex/wiki

A nice file-based wiki, using Markdown syntax. Written in Python.

File links don't work, though. Good for note taking.



alexex/wiki

Smart Lock - Simple delayed PIN Lock Screen

Finally I've found an app that introduces a delayed PIN lock of an Android device. Makes me wonder why is such a simple feature lacking for so long.



[APP][18/6/13]+Smart Lock+V1.2.4+Simple delayed PIN Lock Screen - xda-developers



With Smart Lock, you set up the activation period and, after the screen has been off for that time, a PIN protection kicks in. The protection is provided by the app, it is not using the system PIN security. This implementation is a bit better since the default (system) PIN prompt also requires you to press Enter key, which is quite unnecessary.

Electric VW

And the rest is history

Electric VW Golf now on sale | Business Spectator http://feedly.com/k/1eemjWe

Hemingway app

Hemingway is a web application that analyzes your writing and gives useful advice.

Faxing without a fax machine

Adding to the previous article on sending faxes via VoIP, here are some links to services that send faxes over the Internet.

Articles:

• 3 Ways to Fax Without Using a Fax Machine - wikiHow

Services:

• Pay Per Fax (link) - pay per page sent
• Fax1 (link) - prepaid service, minimum deposit $10
• PamFax (link) - prepaid service, minimum deposit $15
• Free Pop Fax (link) - ?
• FaxZero (link) - only U.S. free fax, ads, limited number of pages

FAX over VOIP

As I am in the need of this archaic communication method (fax), here are some resources on how to link more modern methods of e-mail and Web to fax:

• How to FAX over VOIP on the Internet - Chris Pirillo
• How to Send Fax over IP, About.com 
• Fax over IP - FoIP, voip info

Software:

• T38 (link)

Free vector graphics

Below are some resources with free vector graphics. These can be easily imported into Pencil, an excellent free (Open Source) drawing tool.

• FlatIcon: Free vector icons | SVG, PSD, PNG & Icon Font | Thousands of Free Icons
• Vector.me
• Cliparts free

Updated post is available here.

Pencil Project

Here is a great Open Source tool for drawings, mock-ups, and diagrams. Really smooth and fast, decent number of stencils to choose from, loads of clipart available from within the program. Supports connectors and various shapes in a way similar to Visio. It can do straight or curved lines and connectors. There are stencils created from FontAwesome and FamFam icons. Clipart shapes are done in XML so they are realy light.
Rounded corners are as easy to make as pulling the radius dot on a rectangle.

Home - Pencil Project

OmniSwitch comes in OmniROM

Just noticed a new application being part of OmniROM. It is called OmniSwitch. Quick lookup brings surprise and joy! Check it out:



OmniROM Announces OmniSwitch, An Open Source App Switcher Available In The Latest Nightly Builds And Soon As A Standalone App



It is exactly the thing I was looking for recently but have not found anything better than Elixir 2's notification toolbar. OmniSwitch is a task-switcher application. It is activated by a swipe from the edge of the screen. The swipe area is completely configurable. It displays last-used apps and enables easy switching between them, which is really handy when doing real work on your phone, like logging in to web sites or copying content between two (web) apps. In addition to recent apps, it also displays your favourite apps. The list of these is also configurable.

There is a link to home screen, task-killer, and a few more details. This is quite enough to test replacing two other apps I was using - Recent Apps and Elixir 2 (for app shortcut toolbar).



Apparently, OmniSwitch could soon be released as a separate app, which would be handy for those who are not using OmniROM.



#Android

Piracast (Miracast on Pi) Beta Release

As Miracast devices are becoming popular for streaming the screen contents from an Android device to a large-screen TV or monitor, here is an interesting project that should turn a Respberry Pi device into a Miracast receiver.



Raspberry Pi • View topic - Piracast (Miracast on Pi) Beta Release

Code: piracast@github

Will 8.1.1 equal 7.0?

Microsoft backpedals: Windows 8.1 update hides tile interface by default | The Verge http://feedly.com/k/MBmS74

AngularJS for Legacy Apps

Here is a presentation on how to add AngularJS to existing applications (or legacy apps).



AngularJS for Legacy Apps



Apparently, it is possible to completely separate new Angular code from the existing code. It is also possible to interact between the two.

SIM Unlock Galaxy S3

This article contains links to resources in relation to SIM-unlocking the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Note that I'm doing this with a second-hand phone so there are no provider contracts involved.

There is software on Android available for unlocking the phone. However, this depends on several variables and may not be successful in each case.

I have not found a method that works!

SIM-unlocking is tightly related to your phone's IMEI. Hence, a very viable option is to pay ~€20 for unlocking at a local phone shop.

IMEI

To get IMEI, dial *#06# using Phone.

References:

• Easily SIM Unlock GSM Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300 & Galaxy Note 2 N7100 (link)
• Free SIM Unlock for Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 (Various Models) (link) 
• GalaxSim at Play Store (link) 
• [Q]I9300 network unlock on firmware version 4.3 (EFS v2) (link) 
• How to Network Unlock Your Samsung Galaxy S3 to Use with Another GSM Carrier (link) - this method uses phone code.
• How to Backup and Restore EFS / IMEI on Samsung Galaxy Devices – Did You Do It? (link)
• IMEI and EFS issues (link)

to Samsung Galaxy S3

Flash Stock ROM on Galaxy S3

Pay attention to select the correct provider for the stock ROM in case the phone is SIM-locked.
Flash the .md5 file with Odin.
Perform factory reset. Reboot.

Required:

• Stock ROM. Download from here. Select your provider.
• Odin

References:

• [FULL FIX]S3 TO FACTORY STATE unroot/stock recovery/reset binary counter/stock ROM (link). See Step 4.

to Samsung Galaxy S3 page

Rooting Nexus 7 2013

How to root Nexus 7 (2013) - link - @ laptopmag

Some not-so-obvious details:
Nexus 7 will not be seen by ADB by default. You need to go to Settings -> Storage -> (Menu) USB computer connection -> uncheck MTP and check PTP. Then allow the computer hash to access the device via ADB. Only now will device be visible in Root Toolkit.

Before unlocking, as usual, don't forget to make backups, including APNs and potentially other data that is only stored on the tablet. The apps can be restored from the market so that's not critical.

How to install OmniRom to Galaxy S3

The procedure is relatively simple but pay attention to version numbers for the various software involved. Steps would be:

• Download OmniROM and GApps packages (.zip) to the phone.
• If not rooted, root the phone and flash TWRP recovery.
• Flash OmniROM and GApps packages, wipe data(!), reboot

Source: Article.
After upgrade, I had all the apps and their data remain from the 4.3 version.


Links:

• Omnirom download page
• Changelog for the next nightly
• GApps page at XDA
• TWRP Recovery for S3. Download from here (link). The version of TWRP that works with Android 4.4 KitKat is 2.6.3.1! Pay attention, as older versions will result in metadata error, leaving your phone with wiped out /system partition, meaning no OS to boot. Download the .tar file and flash with Odin.

Also, some first-aid type of texts:

• Flash stock ROM (link)
• Restoring a stuck S3 (link)
• Samsung drivers (link)

Download links:

• Odin versions (link)

to Samsung Galaxy S3

Root Galaxy S3

In brief, flash the correct auto root .md5 file to the device using Odin.

• Download CF Auto Root (homepage)
• Download Odin 

In Odin, select the .md5 file in PDA slot. Put the phone in the download mode and flash.

Articles:
Root Samsung Galaxy S3 (link) @ ibtimes.

to Samsung Galaxy S3 page.

Samsung Galaxy Sim Unlock

Haven't tried this but there seems to be a program to unlock a Samsung Galaxy phone:

GalaxSim Unlock

A bit more about Ingress

As I recently started playing Google's Ingress, by Niantic Labs, here are some opinions on the purpose of the game:

• The Hidden Side of Ingress (link)
• Why Google's Ingress game is a data gold mine; New Scientist (link)
• What could be the purpose behind Ingress? (link)

There are many more but the ones above are enough to portray a general understanding on what is the purpose of the (data collection behind the) game.

Passlet - JavaScript password manager

Here is one more online password manager implemented in JavaScript:

Passlet - Online Password Manager