My Android Links

I want to port my applications to Android so I return to the task of teaching myself. Here are some useful links to me along the way.
Signing an Android Application for Real Life Mobile Device Usage / Installation - terrific posting, i did it, it works, thank you

Fundamentals | Android Tutorial for Beginners (Part 1)
Getting started w/ Eclipse/Android dated 12/07, NSG
Tip: An easy way to add import packages to your project is to press Ctrl-Shift-O (Cmd-Shift-O, on Mac). This is an Eclipse shortcut that identifies missing packages based on your code and adds them for you.
A first hand look at building an Android application Did not work for me, skips steps, careful frame-by-frame examination might make this work for you, try target device 1.5

Global warming: Who are the leaders?

My question that I posted to Avaaz.org site for them to pass onto Gordon Brown.

"Curbing global warming requires change of life style for western nations. My fellow citizens and I are ready. But where is the political leadership with the voice and the will to present this future. This future is a bright future with bicycles and public transportation and spending more time strolling with family and friends. Children will be taught to weed and cultivate victory gardens. Who are the leaders that will set an example and steer the new course?"

Avaaz reply: Thanks for RSVPing to today's phone conference with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This meeting with him is a great opportunity for us to engage with power as citizens around the world. And we'll keep him on his toes!

These are the access numbers to the call:

Participant Access:
Please dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the start time using the dial in number and passcode below.

Participant Passcode:
790507

Local - USA, New York:
+1 212 444 0891

Local - USA, New York:
+1 718 354 1388

Local - Italy, Milan:
+39 02 3041 3128

Local - Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur:
+60 (0)3 6207 4180

Local - Spain, Madrid:
+34 91 114 2187

National free phone - South Africa:
0800 981 919

International number:
+353 (0)23 88 61541

Optical Theramin in 2010

Here are some research links toward a follow-up pitch to Hans Tammen to teach an analog device building workshop in February 2010 at HarvestWorks.

Workshop: Build optical Theremin with one or two analog filters.

[below work in progress]
http://www.tuttlesoundlabs.com/experiments.html
http://www.getlofi.com/2006/01/optical-theremin-ebay-round-up.html
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-04/build-pocket-theremin-cheap
http://www.popsci.com/files/theremin_sample.mp3
http://xn--47-fcc.com/squarecave.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqWzJt3Nm-U&feature=player_embedded#
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/555_timer_light_synth.html
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/10/more_555_timer_projects.html
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/in_the_maker_shed_555_noisemusick_k.html
http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKAS1&Click=19209
http://www.netinstruments.com/theremins/theremin/optical-theremin-kit/
http://www.google.com/search?q=optical+theremin+kit&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1427
http://library.thinkquest.org/10784/circuit_symbols.html
https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&ddkey=https:Logoff

Google Groups "Cellphonia" jacked?

Forgive the kvetch. I believe that Google Groups "Cellphonia" group has been jacked and I can not remember if I created the group or not. I don't seem to be the owner. Any thoughts how to fix this problem before we call in an n-strike.

Seasonal Gift List 2009

Latest items (not on Amazon list :)


Digital Oscilloscope DIY Kit from SparkFun. This kit includes everything you need to build your very own, fully functional, digital oscilloscope. Once you've got it up and running, the oscilloscope features up to 5M samples/second, 8-bit resolution, up to 50Vpp max input voltage, and more! And BNC Probe Kit is a necessary signal snatcher to go with scope.


Bluetooth® Portable Rotary Phone - Black or another color from SparkFun. Links nicely to your cellphone, lessens EMF on those incoming/outgoing calls.

SolderPro 50 Butane Soldering Iron Kit

Illuminated LED Eye Loupe

---

Amazon wish list: http://amzn.com/w/1IMTKAY992X5M.

Book (before I discovered Amazon service):
The Book of Codes: Understanding the World of Hidden Messages (Hardcover) - Paul Lunde (Editor)

Power Supply for Benjolin and Zeitgeist

I just received a 25W AC - DC Triple Output desktop power supply made by MEAN WELL, Model: P25A13D-R1B. Data sheet at https://www.jameco.com/Jameco/Products/ProdDS/190960.pdf. I intend to power both my Benjolin and Zeitgeist from this AC-DC supply. I also ordered the 5 pin female DIN connector from Jameco-- take a look at either Jameco part number 15844 or 29399. They were cheap enough that I ordered one of each to have a choice for the final install. At of this writing Jameco has more of these power supplies in stock and Jameco prices are the lowest, and shipping w/in USA is good.

Below I cut-n-paste as email (Nov 8, 2009) from Rob to myself and others with good advice on power supplies:

Hi all,

My recommendations for a power supply for both the Benjolin and the
Zeitgeist.

Principally I do always recommend a desktop Plug-In AC Adapter power supply similar in looks to the ones used for laptops. These are the safest devices to use in terms of hazard of electrical shock. Regrettably they are a bit hard to find. But note that if you want to do circuit bending experiments, especially when they involve body contacts, then *always* use batteries!

A good choice for a desktop power supply is one that is sold by Mouser.com:
http://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/P50A13D-R1B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtpk
qKkT5w3uiB%2fqpDJDtRebgXKIecL%2f1U%3d

(Regrettably it seems to be a non-stocked item and might have a delivery
time of perhaps up to ten weeks.)

A simple 5-pole female DIN connector can be used on the enclosure of a project to connect to this power supply. By using two female connectors on the back of every enclosure one can daisy chain the power to perhaps five to ten more boxes. Desktop power supplies are the easiest to share amongst several projects, which is a definitive additional value.

When putting a power supply into the housing of a specific project I would recommend a closed frame power supply like:
http://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/T-40B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu0oxGuRuN
KHzvx70GkCU%252bvmzt/DvjUqMo=

This is also a very good alternative to a desktop supply when putting this supply into its own plastic housing with several connectors to power several projects at once, thus turning it into a desktop power supply all by itself. Probably this power supply is the easiest available one, and so you might consider it if you do not succeed to find a suitable desktop power supply.

In essence it would be possible to use a frameless power supply like:
http://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/PD-2512/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu0oxGuR
uNKHzvx70GkCU%252bv%252bAeyeoSWfsA%3d

but I do *not* recommend an open frame power supply for ány DIY project, simply as the maybe twenty bucks extra that you pay for a closed frame supply or thirtyfive bucks extra for a desktop power supply are peanuts when at a moment in the future it does actually protect you from electrical shockand saves your life! Never take any risk with AC power!!!

Regards,
/Rob

FROM fookie TO gaia online

I don't know bethlora at Gaia Online. She emailed a[at]pet-pals asking me if I were really her friend. Pondering this I wished I was out fishing for blues with my Cuban Yo-Yo under schooling menhaden in Greenport. However from my cave on Ludlow I joined GO instead and my avatar is ukutoro. To test the fun and secure a few more gold pieces to buy virt-clothes, I used some of my sign-up reward gold to buy a nixie tube lottery card. I tried my trusty fookie to pick the number and include the result below:

My fortune was a good Monday morning grounding and perhaps you will find the flaw in the lottery number.

I opened Fetch to make repairs to the PHP.

Thank you Gaia for this blessing and guidance.

.svg files

Someday I will do something with .svg files that can produce scalable images. Here's one I discovered today on wikipedia. Look at the source code of the image for the .svg details. Note the 'embed' tag was used to present the image. Created with Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) is the attribution within the .svg code.

Hoffman Box - DIY in the kitchen

A Hoffman box is an enclosure used to secure electrical and/or network equipment, and is used in such things as a protected distribution system. - wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffman_box


I am trying to perfect Pet-Pals for J2ME distribution on camera phones and I needed to pass a gnarly part of the Java Verified process performed by NSTL. To make my own Hoffman box I put the Nokia E71 into a small sauce pan inside a large sauce pan inside a larger pot with lids over all inside the oven. This combination gives great signal isolation. I do NOT recommend you cook a casserole at the same time.

Remote Testing aZza.jar, Fookie.jar and Fookie.wgz Nokia WRT

http://apu.ndhub.net/devices is terrific for remote testing on real devices.

[2009-06-21 testing]
* * S60 2nd Edition FP1
-
Nokia N70
357093003717992
+358504877457
SW 5.0705.3.0.1
Fookie - Unable to install. Invalid file.
aZza - Unable to install. Invalid file.

* * S60 3rd Edition
-
Nokia E61
356211000550494
+358504877460
SW 3.0633.09.04
Fookie - Invalid Jar file.
aZza - Invalid Jar file.
-
Nokia N80
352764013029256
+358504877447
SW 5.0719.0.2
aZza - Invalid Jar file.

* * S60 3rd Edition FP1
-
Nokia N82
358082012062382
+358504877446
SW 30.0.019
aZza - passes all tests
Fookie - passes all tests

* * S60 3rd Edition FP2
devices available later

* * S60 5th Edition
devices available later


[2009-06-20 testing]

Fookie.wrt Version 1.01wrt:
Nokia 5630 XpressMusic - S60 3rd Ed FP2
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic - S60 5th Ed
- Connected to Nokia 5800 XpressMusic from sandbox/10.76.1.29:Com7 via USB/serial
Nokia 6220 classic - S60 3rd Ed FP2
Nokia 6720 classic - S60 3rd Ed FP2
Nokia E71x - no SIM, proto (AT&T variant)
Nokia E75 - S60 3rd Ed FP2
Nokia E90 Communicator - S60 3rd Ed FP1
Nokia N78 - S60 3rd Ed FP2
Nokia N82 - S60 3rd Ed FP1

aZza.jar Version 1.02, Java Verified:
Nokia 5630 XpressMusic - S60 3rd Ed FP2

My WRT Resource Page

Code snippets table for common use cases with code example

CS001242 - Sending SMS messages in WRT - Does NOT work on my Nokia E71 - This code snippet shows how to send SMS messages synchronously and asynchronously using the Messaging Platform Service for S60 Web Runtime introduced in S60 5th Edition.

How to build a Web Runtime layout with Header and Buttons Bar a stepping stone to better UI

Remote Device Access Services - remote testing for short periods of time on real devices -- major boon. Try the camera on each device to get weird POV of the testing bench. And don't forget to DELETE/REMOVE your application after testing...actually it is sort of fun to test the other applications that developers have left behind.

Forum Nokia Device Specifications page. You can also look for which phones support WRT by selecting, "Web Runtime" from the filter.

Web Runtime API reference - very useful reference. I recommend novices build a WRT test application and discover the properties of each of them.
* * * Noto Bene: * * *
Some of the APIs might confuse you in Aptana emulator.
For example:
Web Runtime API reference > JavaScript widget object > openApplication()
audio recorder works :) within WRT sideloaded onto Nokia E71
but produced alert message ;( unable to show w/in emulator
// Recorder 0x100058CA
// Enables the mobile device user to record audio clips.
widget.openApplication(0x100058CA, "");


Web Runtime widgets - basic introduction page to WRT

I will try to update this page from time-to-time. - Steve, 2009-06-20

Buenos Aires Treasure/Scavenger Hunt Proposal

[This project did not get the green light but I liked the proposal - Steve]

On June 15th, 2009, twenty thousand (20,000) players will scour downtown Buenos Aires on a wild hunt for a cash prize provided by sponsor. Clues to the hidden treasure will be delivered to cell phones and wireless computers from the heavily branded world around the players. Statues will whisper secrets, billboard copy will deliver text, street performers share tips, a local newspaper club review contains a clue, and the sponsor will SMS text message hints for the game. Quick thinking players with fancy footwork have the best chance to win. Throughout the three-hour game, the sponsor's message will be delivered by product placement and ad-embedded scavenger clues directly to the tech-savvy players. Friends and family can assist on the web or by watching the game's live media coverage spotting the message their team may have missed.

Game Goal: The winner is the first team (or individual) to uncover the answer to 21 clues within the borders of downtown Buenos Aires.The game will have 5 easy clues, 5 medium hard clues, 6 very hard clues, and 5 brain-busting clues.

Players: 20,000

Teams: Players can form any size teams but 3 to 5 players per team is recommended.

Primary Game Device: Mobile phone with internet browser.

Secondary Game Device: Computer at local Internet cafe with one player in cafe communicating to other team members by cell phone.

Game end: At the end of the game all players will be notified the game is over. The sponsor may choose to add an invitation message for all players to meet at a specific location and party.

Game venue: To be provided by sponsor

Game prize: To be provided by sponsor

Swag: Sponsor and other companies can provide any number of smaller prizes to be placed directly into the hands of the players before, during or after the game.

Game liability insurance: To be provided by sponsor

Time limit: 3 hours. If the game play exceeds 3 hours, then sponsor can terminate game play whenever desired. The game engine logs will fairly determine and verify the winner of the game.

Technical details: Cutlass, Inc. in New York will coordinate Buenos Aires production through HS Latin America (www.hslatinamerica.com) and install its patented game software on Buenos Aires Internet Service Provider (ISP) servers in order for its game engine to respond to 2,100,000 hits from players in the 3 hours of game play.

Personnel provided by Cutlass: Game master Steve Bull (NYC), 1 production manager (local), 4 street assistants (local), 4 call center support (local), 4 street performers (local).

[I left out the money terms.]

Travel: Bull will arrive in Buenos Aires on June 9th and scout 50 clues with organizers on June 10th and 11th. For the final game only 21 of the best clues will be used.

History: The first Cutlass Treasure Hunt game was produced for Times Square, New York on 01/01/01. Cutlass Treasure Hunts are now the regularly featured game of choice on college campuses across the USA.

Cellphonia 4'3" Live @NIME2009

Call: 1.212.937.7725 to add your note (of silence)
Visit: http://cellphonia.org/433/listen.html to see the scrolling score and listen to the installation performance at The Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University.
Commissioned by New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME)

Nokia WRTKit - getting started

For the longest time I could not find the WRTKit, although I could find tons of references to it. Finally I chanced on WRTKit folder (lots of useful stuff inside) as a part of the WRT RSS example at http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Image:RssLib.zip.

I then cut-n-pasted the WRTKit folder into my first "Hello World" example courtesy of WRT Effort http://efforts.embedded.ufcg.edu.br/wrt/?p=9#comment-101. While the example is not perfectly worded, it got me going. It almost always seems to be a part of the novice's task to discover what is obvious to the author.

The WRT Effort site seems to have a lot of useful samples, check out http://efforts.embedded.ufcg.edu.br/wrt/?cat=1 .

AZZA Progress Report

Here is how AZZA appears on Nokia E90 device. forum.nokia has a very nice testing platform for artist developers. Stay tuned for the relaunch of AZZA in Nokia OVI store.

Skerry Boat Building Progress Report

photo 2009-04-28
My son and I are building a double ended row and sailing boat from a kit provided by Chesapeake Light Craft. We are about half finished, the hull exterior has been epoxied and sanded and is now ready for paint. The interior is epoxied and partially sanded. My goal is to finish the boat this summer. An antique British Seagull outboard engine appears on a rolling hand cart behind the stern. My son's name is Frank and he is 17 years old.

The Skerry dimensions: 15'0" LOA, 4'6" beam, 5" draft, hull weight 95 lbs. The term "Skerry" is related to the Old Norse "sker," an Orkney word, the local name for a "rugged ... sea-rock, covered by the sea in high water or in stormy weather." It was also the name given (c 1540) to "little punts or boats that will carry but two apeece." (Quotes OED.) "Skerry" is now common in Irish, and is recognizeable in the Rosalie Fry children's book The Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, the source for the famous John Sayles film The Secret of Roan Inish.

Cellphonia 4'3"

Scot Gresham-Lancaster and I just got the go ahead to produce Cellphonia 4'33" at NIME 2009 festival in June at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.

Here is a performance of John Cage 4'3" at Barbican Centre in London

Orange New York Developer Centre

Yesterday, I had a very productive afternoon at the Orange New York Developer Centre, 2 World Financial Center. In the testing room, they have a setup with many different handsets and a 3G telecom network as if you were in the UK/France Orange region. I am putting finishing touches on a release of Pet-Pals for the re?-opening of the UK Orange app store and I needed to test against several different handsets. For a small shop like mine, this is a great resource that I thought to share with you.

Of course, you've got to sign up as an Orange developer but that's not so hard and I let the motivated sort that out.

Working in mysterious ways

This arrived in my email inbox from Kenya. I share it with you.

This is pretty unique - don't ask me how they do it. Place your mouse on the E below and drag to the U. Ev! en though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yoU Please forward this to everyone you know and something good will happen to you in the next hour... just watch and wait for it.

I am a keyboard fisherman picking apart the tangled net of the back story. I look beyond the source code horizon. Spring blessing.

WNYC Solicitation for Art

These are my iPhone submissions to WNYC Green Space artwork contest:


President Obama action figure, digital clock pet dog and plastic carrot on NYC counter top.


President Obama action figure, Chinese sculpture of accountant presenting a bill and Mexican bobble head turtle on NYC counter top.


President Obama action figure, solar panel, Kenya recycled bottle cap souvenir and street bottle cap as baby turtle on NYC counter top.

Organic Winter Wheat

Near Grant Nebraska, Terese and I have a field of organic winter wheat sprouting. Approximately: +40° 59' 60.00", -101° 45' 0.00"


Frank, our son, points to the green tufts.


Looking down rows not many weeds. North field fallow.


View North over native grass buffer strip.

How-to-Twitter and How-to-Make-a-Scene

I need a How-to-Make-a-Scene video and here are two videos to inspire me:




How Do You Use Twitter? from biz stone on Vimeo.

Caribbean Pirate by George Patience

Caribbean Pirate by George Patience

George Patience was a naive painter working out his shed in The Ferry, Little Exuma, Bahamas. I was a visitor in The Ferry making a documentary movie on boat builder and natural marine scientist Clarence Fitzgerald. I boarded on the couch of George and Gloria's tiny bungalow for 6 months in 1969. George painted using acrylic colors.



Even in those days, The Ferry had a very narrow bridge that serviced this tiny community at the Northwest end of Little Exuma island. Zoom into the map and notice the few dwellings at the cut between the islands, about 1/3rd of the way from Forbes Hill, Great Exuma to William's Town, Little Exuma.

Walter Lawson Brigham, R.I.P.

Walter Lawson Brigham work jeep

Walter was my friend. Walter was a master craftsman, boat builder and pillar in the community of Shelter Island NY. I enjoyed sailboat racing against Walter and his son Lawson at the Shelter Island Yacht Club for many years before we worked together. In 1972, Walter was my construction partner on the first house that he ever built and the first house I ever built at 10 Chequit Avenue. This house I designed for my father, Henry Nelson Bull and his wife, Janet Scellen. There are many stories I could tell you about Walter. I recommend you ask the locals as they can tell you even better ones.

Here is a rule that Walter taught me, "Measure twice and cut once." Whenever I admire the lines of boat, Walter will be with me.

Obit: The Suffolk Times

Useful LINUX Links

Here's a few helping me now become a better LINUX administrator. In high school I used to punch IBM cards to get things going. They were my punch cards held together with a rubber band, now that's security. Where are those punch cards?

Administering your Linux system at http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=linux:admin

An A-Z Index of the Bash command line for Linux at http://www.ss64.com/bash/

Useful introduction to Linux Command at http://linuxcommand.org/index.php

Magpie RSS - PHP RSS Parser

I like the Magpie RSS - PHP RSS Parser, a "XML-based RSS parser in PHP. Supports most RSS versions including Userland RSS and RSS 1.0. Supports modules and namespaces magpierss.sourceforge.net/"

I used it to parse the Hollywood-USA.mobi Showbiz News page at http://hollywood-usa.mobi/news.php

The news source is the movie industry standard The Hollywood Reporter RSS news feed.

However, note when you look at the source file of the feed itself at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/thr/news that the RSS feed authors added html tags and other conten of no interest to me. So I used 'explode' in this fragment of PHP code below to trim the string:
require_once('magpie/rss_fetch.inc');
//
$url = 'http://feeds.feedburner.com/thr/news/';
$rss = fetch_rss( $url );
//
foreach ($rss->items as $item) {
$title = $item['title'];
$description = $item['description'];
$pieces = explode("<", $description);
print "$title ".$pieces[0]."";

In earlier attempts I was working with 'lastRSS 0.9.1' "Simple yet powerfull [sic] PHP class to parse RSS files. by Vojtech Semecky, webmaster @ oslab . net with Latest version, features, manual and examples: http://lastrss.oslab.net/"

Welcome to Provide Support Live Chat then gatlineducation.com

A log of a frustration that slowly works itself out. My chat to continuing education at CUNY got picked up by software support of the company providing the chat client.

Steve:
I need a computer system administration course. I am responsible for over 15 web sites on 5 servers scattered with different Internet Service Providers in the North East USA. I want to improve my casual practice to provide best quality service to my customers. Please recommend a course. Thanks, Steve
Call accepted by operator Irene. Currently in room: Irene.
Irene:
Hello Steve
Steve:
Hi
Irene:
You reached a wrong support line, sorry. We offer a live chat software for websites.
Steve:
The chat server for CUNY was being balky
Steve:
and kept giving me an error message ' Please fill all required fields ' when I had filled out all required * fields
Steve:
Irene, are you still there
Irene:
Sorry, which company are you trying to reach? We are a software development company, we offer a live chat software for websites, but we are not related to our customers who many be using the software on their websites
Steve:
http://www.gatlineducation.com/citytech.cuny/industrial.htm is using your software and doing a poor job of it. Why do you think that is????
Irene:
Sorry, we can't help. Please try contacting that company directly by e-mail or by phone, we are not related to them. We offer the live chat software software and we can only support our customers in questions related to our service.
Steve:
I am going to recommend that CUNY (City University of New York) discontinue doing business with your company because the software you have delivered them is flawed and I was seeking tech support from a live operator and although you are there you are unable to make the stretch to help me.
Irene:
Could you please provide some more details about the problem you have with our software?
Steve:
I know you are not related to CUNY but your company logo and link were on the bottom of the form on the page URL I just sent you. I presume there are no live operators at CUNY now because the school is on winter break. However, that is not the message that I receive from their site. I just get a confusing loop that resulted in you getting this first message that was intended for CUNY.
Irene:
I have just made a test call to them, everything is working fine. Please, make sure that you fill all the required fields: department, name, last name, question, e-mail and contry
Irene:
*country
Steve:
did all that...should I send you a screen grab of the properly filled out form
Irene:
Yes, you can use the "Send file" button below the header of your messenger to send the file directly in chat
Steve has sent a file. Click cuny-live-chat-NG-20090112.tiff (323 KB) to receive the file.
Irene:
This form is not related to our live chat. This is their form on the page, that gives you the "Please fill all required fields". Please, contact them directly
Steve:
If you notice on the bottom of the image that I have two button choices 'Register now' and 'Admissions chat' and the problem occurred when I choose Admissions chat. Therefore your live chat is associated with the form.
Steve:
Are you saying there is no connection....
Irene:
The button is just below the form, it is not related to it. I guess that the "Register" button is related to it, since it says "- Registration -" above. If you press the button, you will see the form that is related to our chat. If you fill the fields in the appeared messenger, everything should work fine
Steve:
I did. I filled out all the fields correctly. I think there is some cross talk between forms and submit and poor user interaction design. If try this again with them I feel certain that I shall loose my communication link to you as the session IDs and cookies are now intertwined...I imagine.
Irene:
Just try to press the button without filling the registration fields. To connect with their representative through our chat you will need just to fill the fields in our chat form, after you press the chat button
Steve:
Okay, I'll try it again and if we get disconnected...thank you. - s
Irene:
The messenger will open in a separate browser window, so the connection won't be lost. Please, let me know if the problem persists
Steve:
Okay here goes
Steve:
No good....I'm sending you another screen grab.
Steve has sent a file. Click cuny-live-chat-NG-20090112.2.tiff (178 KB) to receive the file.
Irene:
You need to select the department, it is also marked with a star
Steve:
You mean I need to select the Admissions Department, when there is only one department on the screen. Hmmmmmm.... I'll try that
Irene:
Yes, this is how it is specified in their messenger
Steve:
If there is only one department then your software should pre-select the button in my humble opinion
Irene:
Thank you for your call. Have a nice evening!
Irene has left the conversation. Currently in room: Steve.
.....
and finally the chat with "Our Help Desk" at http://www.gatlineducation.com
Steve:
I need a computer system administration course. I am responsible for over 15 web sites on 5 servers scattered with different Internet Service Providers in the North East USA. I want to improve my casual practice to provide best quality service to my customers. Please recommend a course. Thanks, Steve
...
Welcome Steve! Please wait for our admissions counselor to answer your call.
Call accepted by operator Philyssa. Currently in room: Philyssa, Steve.
Philyssa:
Hello!
Steve:
did you understand my message to start this chat
Philyssa:
If you click on this link you will see all of our course offerings in the IT field. http://www.gatlineducation.com/inttechdes.htm
Philyssa:
Under each course name you will see a brief description. If you see what you think will apply to you then just click on the courses name and it will send you to that courses website, where you can view all of the details that are available for that course.
Steve:
I already read the listing and there are several interesting courses but none that specifically address my needs to become a better system administrator.
Philyssa:
One moment...
Philyssa:
Microsoft Certified System Administrator Plus 2003 (MCSA+)
Steve:
CompTIA™ Linux+/LPI Level One Certification Training - GES 902 -- 300 hours is close but aimed at beginners. I am mostly self taught and perhaps beyond the beginner stage and I don't see a value to become a CompTIA Linux+ certified
Steve:
Hmmm...I would prefer Linux as I am running various brands of Linux is running on each of the servers.
Philyssa:
Ok, so our Linux course is what you're interested in today?
Steve:
How much is the cost of CompTIA™ Linux+/LPI Level One Certification Training - GES 902 course? And can I save money by getting it without the certification?
Philyssa:
May I have your zip code, please?
Steve:
10002
Steve:
Instructor Bio: Terry Ladouceur is a veteran of the Online Instructional Team at Academy Online.
Philyssa:
Borough of Manhattan Community College is our partner school that would offer this course online to you and issue the certificate of completion to you in the mail after you successfully complete this course with a grade of 70% or higher. Here is the link that you would need to click on to register online for this course, http://www.gatlineducation.com/bmcc/design.htm The cost of this course is $2195.00.
Steve:
Is it possible to telephone or email the instructor in advance
Philyssa:
I can forward your contact information to one of our admissions counselors and they can contact you back, but I cannot give the course instructors contact infomation out to a non registered student.
Steve:
Please forward the information. I just took the demo quiz and scored 80% which is a pass.
Steve:
Is there a book associated with the course?
Philyssa:
Good for you, maybe after you take this course you'll score a 100!
Steve:
How can I measure the value of the certificate? For example where are job postings that mention that they need this certificate. I need to rationalize this expense to my family, my partners.
Philyssa:
The materials included with this course are:
Linux Course book
Access to an online IT Library
Steve:
The Linux Course book is mailed to me?
Philyssa:
All materials are included. The cost of materials will be covered by your tuition. GES will ship all materials via UPS ground service upon registration.
Steve:
Okay on the course materials.
Philyssa:
The certificate of completion that you will receive for completing this course is issued from our accredited partner college. It does not state that the course was an online course.
Steve:
Understood....do you a link for me that shows job openings that request this certification in order to qualify to apply?
Steve:
I'm okay with online learning although I've never tried it.
Philyssa:
No, I do not have a link like that, but you can go to careerbuilder.com and check out what they have on their site about this career field.
Steve:
Okay. Thank you for your time this evening. - Steve
Philyssa:
You're very welcome! Thank you for using our live chat feature!

How to code in WRT for Nokia E71 Location of device

I am writing this for myself to keep track of the steps I took to learn "How to code in WRT for Nokia E71" and the outside reader may discover something useful too.

Task: Within WRT application discover the location of the Nokia E71 device (at NYC:Cutlass studio for example) and send that information as GET request to http://touchtonetours.com/hollywood-usa/delta.php?lat=40.716500&lon=-73.989000 to display the page you see on the cell phone micro-browser.

Story:

1. The AccuWidget example is useful to see how you can local weather information via an RSS feed from line 91 of accuwidget.js [var url = "http://rss.accuweather.com/rss/liveweather_rss.asp?metric=1&locCode=" + locationCode;] however the device user must supply the location code from either a menu or special knowledge. I found the interface clunky but that is often expected with example scripts.

2. Check out http://code.google.com/p/prototypewrt/ for some very useful and good looking examples that help me understand the javascript better. In particular, load accordionDemo.wgz [http://prototypewrt.googlecode.com/files/accordionDemo.wgz] on your Nokia E71 or whatever device and see an elegant tab solution. Sadly, no device lat/lon help here.
(Forum.Nokia.2008 Code Example Challenge = Web Runtime (WRT): Dou Yongwang (Dougcn) from China is awarded the prize for a series of well-documented examples on how to use the Prototype JavaScript library to create nice widgets, using, e.g. accordion.)

Mac OSX Trick 1.1: Download http://prototypewrt.googlecode.com/files/accordionDemo.wgz onto your desktop. Bluetooth > Send file... to your Nokia E71.

Mac OSX Trick 1.2: By right mouse click duplicate the file http://prototypewrt.googlecode.com/files/accordionDemo.wgz that you have just downloaded. Now the file reads 'accordionDemo.wgz copy' so double click the file. The file un-zips and there is a folder with all the components of the WRT (.wgz). Open the folder and launch index.html and see the same micro-browser functionality on your Mac OSX browser. Investigate the code.

3. If I wanted to solve my task by J2ME + Google use link J2ME Google Maps API for useful future exploration. Java ME Location API without Google map.

4. Eclipse + WRT plugin, someday I'll be friends with Eclipse.

5. Arghhh, read entry #7, "...you cannot use location and other system functions through WRT in S60 3rd Edition devices." from Accessing GPS location using WRT - Developer Discussion Boards -- I will solve this tonight!!! Time for Plan B!

6. Wait CS001161 - Obtaining location information WRT on S60 5th Edition may have the beginnings to a solution.

7. Okay, time to bring closure to this. Useful description of Web Developer's Library 1.3 > Guide to Web Developer's Library > Library contents to return to later. Good Location Acquisition API: API description.

8. Check out example Location Service API example from library.forum.nokia.com Web Developer's Library 1.3 > Web Runtime API reference > JavaScript Service API reference > JavaScript Location Service API. I built the WRT and it did not produce location results on my Nokia E71. My conclusion: this is reference document and not a practical example for January 9, 2009.

9. My solution to finish this submission to NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge Americas due today is http://touchtonetours.com/hollywood-usa/delta.php that looks nice on the Nokia E71.

delta.php

References:
NAVTEQ Global Challenge
forum.NOKIA.com
Map24

Plan B:
The user writes his/her address into my E71 micro browser form. By some PHP script my server looks up some service like geocoder.us: a free US address geocoder (find the latitude & longitude of any US address - for free ... Free lookups are throttled by your IP address to one request every 15 seconds.) that returns the address as latitude and longitude. I drag take the lat/lon through more PHP and finish the task. I have used a variation of Plan B in 2006 for LBS game Hot-n-Cold, semi-finalist in NAVTEQ Challenge.