new blog

I have decided to change my blog name since I no longer use Ubuntu. Click on any of these words and it should take you to my new blog. See you there!

It’s tabletcomputer.wordpress.com

X200 Tablet Multitouch In the email

I just ordered a X200 Tablet Multitouch from Lenovo.  I spent a hefty penny, but according to reviews online Lenovo is worth every penny.  My other choice was an HP business pc tablet but I was too tempted by the multitouch option and the great reviews the x200 received. I’ll post a short review of what I found.  Hopefully I can post a video review of the X200 Tablet working with several programs to see how these programs look on this tablet.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a good review of this tablet that showed it running so I hope to do that before December.  I heard that Lenovo plans on releasing a X210 Tablet, but I think I will be completely happy with this tablet.  I’ll update  when I have more to report.

Maximus Arcade Update

It has been a while since I last posted on here.  Since I started this blog I have gone through many projects which started off with exploring Ubuntu.  I have recently invested my time in trying to transfer my game collection to PC (as noted in a previous post).  Since then I have toyed around with emulating Dreamcast (nulldc), Sega Saturn (SSF), PS2 (PCSX2), and Gamecube and Wii (Dolphin).  Here is a sample of the Dolphin emulator running a gamecube game and a wiiware game (with a digi cam.. I’m not going to go through the trouble of figuring out how to video using the pc without lag):

I have integrated most of my emulators into Maximus Arcade except PCSX2 and Dolphin. Also, for some reason I’m having issues setting up the MESS emulator to run my Atari games.

I think I will use this blog to give updates on my current projects.  Right now my current project is setting up Maximus Arcade so expect a lot of that. As a reminder to all, I’m not making an arcade cabinet but imagine this being more like a console (hence the integration into Windows Media Center and use of xbox 360 controllers).

Overview

-SEGA SATURN (SSF – Ver0.10 beta R1) – Setup to auto mount and unmount nrg files, dragon force will not work through Maximus but works fine outside of Maximus.  Most other games work fine if SSF can run it outside of Maximus.

-Dreamcast (nullDC 1.0 beta 1_6) – I’m not using the latest release due to no control pad support, and I don’t like using xpad w/ Maximus… it has issues . I tried launching xpad with a batch file which did work and the exit batch file worked as well for the first use.  But if you close xpad and open it again it asks you to configure it again and this gets in the way of using it with Maximus (tried with ZINC emulator). Most games run fine, but only works using Chankast plugin otherwise FPS too high

-NES – in process of making screen shots

-SNES – pics for all my games, all run fine

-PCSX2 – can’t get it launch games, outside maximus only works if i launch with administrative priveleges.. and I can’t figure out how to do this win maximus.  Doh!

-ZINC – need to figure out how to set up controllers

-MAME – works fine, all games have pics

-CPS3 – all games have pics and sound works fine now

-batch files – planning on adding my mugen games, crysis, and if I buy SF4 will add that, I have guilty gear somewhere.. maybe i’ll add that

-All other emulators – gameboy, gameboy color, sega cd, sega 32x, genesis, mega drive, n64, psx… all working as far as I know, but on back burner

-Integration to Windows Media Center – I added a launch icon to media center in Vista, and when I exit Maximus Vista Launches.  I also have it configured so you can launch and exit a game using my media pc controller, xbox 360 controller, or keyboard.

-Other things – Need to find good music to add again for ambience, need intro movie,

NEW GEAR

Nyko Wireless Sensor Bar – ~ $20

I still haven’t been able to test this out yet, but from what I read you need a wireless sensor bar to use the wii controller on your pc (the other sensor bars have to be connected to the wii itself). This product had pretty good reviews.  I bought it from Amazon.

Classic NGC GameCube Controller for Wii = 11.46

I’m still waiting on the Wii Controller so I can test this out, but it looks like a real Nintendo product. It even came with a Japanese Club Nintendo points card.  I’m not too sure, but who knows. Here’s the picture so you can judge for yourself.  I also included the link.  Dealextreme is a very reliable website and has free shipping.  Just be prepared to wait a month for a product sometimes.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22500

Exploration outside of Ubuntu

Unfortunately I have recently switched to Windows Vista and left Ubuntu behind.  I had the latest version 9 point something, but Vista just made it a pain to dual boot.  I was in the last week of finals so I had no time to go through all the trouble of figuring this out so I single booted the machine to Vista.  Vista automatically found the drivers for my laptop… so I went with the most convenient choice.  I was surprised that my laptop didn’t really suffer a performance drop, and did fine with only 2 gigs of ram and Vista.  Yes yes I know, but trust me I still have many wonderful things to update this blog with.  I recently discovered the psp, nintendo ds, and Dingoo homebrew seen.  I think I may create a simple guide for beginners.  I would advise you only download games you own, and avoid any programs that require yout to upload files such as bittorent.  You may think this whole commotion about lawsuits was a scare tactic, well I received a cease and desist order from the digital rights people in the USA.  Luckily it was not a lawsuit. So please be careful.  I have also found this program that lets you play your emulated games from one front end on windows (I used windows xp connected to my television, but I think it’s compatible with Vista).  I found a video where someone used this to connect a pc to their computer and control everything from an xbox 360 controller.  Pretty nice! Usually it’s used by people who want to build arcade cabinets.. but it’s also useful as a home console.  Check out the video and keep a look out for my updates and simple guides on how to do homebrew on thes systems.

Helpful Links for TA sections or Lectures

I found some helpful site that I thought I would share with everyone.  First the Purdue Writing Labs .  This can be a very helpful tool if students take advantage.  They provide guides on writing APA and MLA workshops.  Not guides in any conventional on-line manner, but more like little on-line workshops that guide them through each writing format.

I also recently ran across the world of on-line video lectures.  There are two websites,

1. youtube edu

• http://www.youtube.com/edu

1. academic earth

• http://academicearth.org/

They may provide helpful in giving student with supplemental material, for your section, or even to review an area through a lecture by a  professor from schools such as Standford, MIT, or YALE.

Busy

I will be presenting at a psychology conference this Saturday, I have been busy working on a powerpoint mainly in virtual box (I don’t want to run into compatibility issues).  I recently tried boxee on my pc and have been messing with wah!cade.  Yes, again do this during the summer.

It looked great when I set it up on my television.  I was able to stream southpark episodes, listen to some music while working on the powerpoint. I figured out how to use my media center remote control.. nice.  Unfortunately, when I disconnected it my computer kept recognizing a second monitor.  This disabled compiz (the desktop effects) so I could not use the AWN dock.   This makes me worry about wether ubuntu will work well with projectors, luckily i’m turning the powerpoint into a poster.  I still have time to figure out how well ubuntu goes with projects.  It would be interesting to hear back from peoples experiences.

So you know that I am thinking on future ideas  for posts more directly related to  student needs I have some ideas for future posts:

Scibuntu (how to install) – It install many programs  for stats analysis, bio informatic programs, and plain useful stuff for graduate students

Installing Linux Mint – It comes set up so you can play various music and video formats on install

Edubuntu – ubuntu with resources for teachers

Useful Books and Magazines for Ubuntu Users

Procrastibuntu – How to Install Mame on Ubuntu 8.10

Yes, I know this is not education related, but hey it’s something fun to do during spring break… instead of going to the beach I’m stuck here preparing for a conference this coming saturday.  Oh well.  I found this simple guide that helps a lot.  First you have to install the core program, then a frontend.  A front end is something that helps you access the program from a graphic interface.  Otherwise you would have to use the termina.  I found this simple as can be guide.  I simplified it down even more… it works great.  The only problem is the screen size.  I can’t get a true full screen.  Let me know if you figure this out.

1. Open a terminal ( applications< accessories< terminal) and type in the following:

   sudo apt-get install xmame-x xmame-sdl

2. download this file http://surfnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/gxmame/gxmame_0.35beta2-1_i386.deb
3. open a terminal (or use the same one if you kept it open) and type in

   cd Desktop

   assuming you downloaded the file to the desktop

4. then type in
   

   sudo dpkg -i gxmame_0.35beta2-1_i386.deb

5. It’s isntalled

Now let’s configure Mame

1. Go to Option > Directories, and in “Gxmame Directories” set the path to “/usr/games/xmame.SDL“.
2. Now lets add your roms folder.  so add it on the “ROMs path” (you can add as many paths as you want). After that click on the tab that reads  “xmame basic paths”we need to add a  games folder.
3. Nowgo to Option > Rebuild Game List
4. Go to available.. if you have roms in your folder and it doesn’t show up, try closing and opening the program again. Otherwise try installign over.
5. Enjoy!

Thanks to Daniel Adnrade for the original guide!

http://www.danielandrade.net/2008/01/08/running-mame-games-on-ubuntu/

What to do if youre mp3 player (Sanse e200 series) is stuck in read only in Ubuntu 8.10

Hi everyone,  I’m back from a long weekend.  I got myself a new Samsung m320 phone.  My old lg rumor screen just died.. I guess it couldn’t hold it’s own against my weight when i stepped on it.  They don’t make phones like they used to anymore.   Oh well.  I decided to go with a smaller phone that does what it was what it was meant for and only that… make calls.  The techie side of me was pushing me to get something like an instinct, or a black berry, but the graduate student side of me reminded me that paying $100 a month for the rest of my life is not a great choice economically.  Maybe if I figure out how to use that wireless signal with my laptop and home computer I’ll chose that over having  home dsl or cable. Well… most likely you’re not here to hear my blathering, so on with the guide.

How to fix the read only mp3 player problems (thanks to Ronnie from Full Circle Magazine)

1. Plug in your Sansa e200 (or other mp3 player)
2. Make sure it is mounted ( make sure it is recognized by ubuntu)
3. Open a Terminal by going to Applications < Accessories < Terminal
4. First you need to find out how your systems has recognized the  mounted device so type in the following command in terminal

df

5.  You will sometthing lik e this:

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 92196516 70846008 16667164 81% /
tmpfs 1032308 0 1032308 0% /lib/init/rw
varrun 1032308 216 1032092 1% /var/run
varlock 1032308 0 1032308 0% /var/lock
udev 1032308 2820 1029488 1% /dev
tmpfs 1032308 12 1032296 1% /dev/shm
lrm 1032308 2004 1030304 1% /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile
/dev/mmcblk0p1 1005600 32176 973424 4% /media/disk
/dev/sdb1 1938464 1905500 32964 99% /media/Sansa e250

6. notice that my sansa is recognized as /dev/sdb1.  Keep that in mind, and make sure you know what .  It is NOT the /media/Sansa e250 location. It should be at the beginning of the line right before all those numbers.

7.  Now type the following command in the terminal (make sure you change it to match your device):

sudo fsck.msdos -a /dev/sdb

8. Put in your password, okay the operation, and after this you should be able to drag files into your sansa e200 or whatever mp3 player you are using.

9. voila!

Top 5 Technological Aids for Students

I have been looking on line at all the things I (cannot afford) would like to eventually buy, and thought would be helpful. So interpret this more as “Top 5 Thinks I think Would Help Students”.

1. Western Digital Passport External HDD, $150.00 for 500gb - I have had one for most of this year, and it is essential for saving back ups of data, video for class, power points, and it’s small enough to always carry in my backpack or laptop bag. They have smaller versions that cost less (250 for 99.99).

website : http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=9&language=en

2. Bebook Digital Reader, $279.99 – Unlike the Kindle and Sony Reader, this reader allows you to read pdf files and view jpgs. Although I do not have one, it seems like it would be useful for reading those hundred of research articles that are always sent to us. I hear that the battery life lasts forever as well.

Website : http://mybebook.com/

3. Touchbook netbook pc, $399.99 – Can’t decide between a netbook and a tablet pc? Well you may not have to choose.  The touchbook is not released yet but is set for a june/early summer release date.  According to the website it has many claims and I hope it can satisfy them.  Among it’s features,the screen can detach from the keyboard and becomes a touch screen tablet pc, it will turn on as fast as a cell phone (the arm processor is given credit for this), internal usb ports (to hide usb dongles), the battery will last from 10 to 15 hours, and it runs on open source. It must have been sent down by geek heaven.

Website: http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

4. Pulse Smart Pen 149.95 1gb 199.95 2gb

The Pulse smartpen records audio and links it to what you write. If you miss a date or equation or start doodling you can tap on your notes or drawings with the tip of your Pulse smartpen to hear what was said while you were writing. So it record the audio and links it to what you write.  It also captures and digitized your notes! Neat! You also have to buy the speacial notebooks.

Website : http://www.livescribe.com/

5. Something fun to keep you Sane, $0 – $lots – This may be a music, a portable dvd, an ipod, a nintendo ds.  Remember as students, graduate students, and professors we need to have something fun to lighten our mood every now and then.

Don’t forget the classic way of relaxing as well, go for a walk or jog, take a class for fun, visit your family and friends, make enought time for your partner and family. By the way, just in case you were wonderin gwhat the non-ipod mp3 player was, it’s a 25 dollar 2 gig mp3 player that shows videos, has a built in digital camara for pics and recording, and more.  Try the following website out if you are in a budget but still would like to buy some geeky toys.

http://www.bestofferbuy.com/

How to Play Mp3,DVD and other media formats in Ubuntu

I thought I would provide this considering I just posted some free music. This is actually one of the first things you might want to run after installing Ubuntu.

Open your terminal. Applications < Accessories < Terminal . Then copy the following text and paste it in the Terminal. To paste right click and then pick paste (ctrl +v does not work in the Terminal).

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Thanks to jmszr on the ubntu forums for this tip

If for some reason you come across a big blue box, scroll to the bottom and you will see . To get past this step, press the TAB key on your keyboard, then ENTER on your keyboard. This may not happen to you, since I was doing other random things on my system at the time of this installation.