Control auto-starting applications on your Android device (or Android media center)
Jan 04The MK802 is just one example of Android “hopping over” to more different kinds of devices then the phones and tablets it was designed for. In essence the MK802 is a little computer that comes with a couple of USB ports and an HDMI port so you can hook it up to any TV/Monitor and instantly turn that machine into a ‘smartscreen’. With devices like the MK802, you can easily turn your television into a media center using applications like PLEX or Boxee who let your Android ‘stick’ become your media front end.
The only thing that is missing is that those applications should ‘start up’ automatically whenever your android device of choice boots. In order to make that work we found the free app called “Startup Manager” (how DO they come up with these original names).
You can either tweak your Android device by removing applications that run on startup (nice way to clean out some branded cruft) OR add some auto starting applications of your own. (perfect for launching VLC, Boxee or Plex at bootup).
Startup manager is free, does not require root and is available in the Android Marketplace.
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Myo : Bring on the smart bracelet and control your digital world.
Feb 28In the category “Shut up and take my money” friend of the show Konrad sent us a great new product that we can pre-order if we have some cash to spare. The MYO can be considered the lovechild between the Microsoft Kinect (but without any optics) and a Nintento Wiimote. This “Smart Bracelet” uses the power of gyroscopic sensors with muscle movements to ” See what you mean”. Just like the “Leap” we talked about on a previous post, the Myo offers another deadly nail to the coffin of mice and touchpads all over the world and is heralding the coming of a new age where a we will interface with technology in a way that is dramatically different from today.
Whether or not this is vapor-ware still needs to be proven. The site is taking pre-orders and at 149 dollars its a risk some of you might be willing to take. If the Mo ever gets massed produced depends on the way developers will react to this. Unlike Google with Google Glass , this company does not have a multi million dollar budget or hords of drooling staggering developer-zombies on its payroll. But it all .. it looks amazing.
Aside from the fact that you will look a little awkward waving your hands and arms around to make a point. Some people might mistake you for a Sith lord and await lightning bolts to fire from the fingertips of your outstretched hands, Others might see you as the next leader of the “third reich” as you swing your rightarm upward to control that military jeep. Although I can see the possibilities here, I’m also very worried that you might delete the textfile you have been working on for hours because you scratched your head with the wrong hand.
But no matter if it makes you look as a megalomaniac super villain who is suffering from an epilepsy attack in the middle of the street .. I want this !
Links : https://getmyo.com/
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"w" The shortest command line command … ever.
May 15Some Linux commands are hard to remember. Its a matter of “use daily or forget about them” or plastering your office walls with cheatcheets of your favorite terminal commands. The one I stumbled upon yesterday was in fact a little easier to remember.
Picture this : you have a home Linux server (or one at work) with several users logged in. One of the things you might want to monitor is who is doing what at this very moment. As I mentioned in a previous podcast about my home setup , I have a Linux system parked “outside” my home network to be accessed by friends and internet buddies. One of the things I do like to keep tabs on is : Who is logged in and what are they doing ? In the old days I would go ” tail -f /var/log/auth.log ” to keep track of the auth.log file that writes down all that is going down on the system. These days i just type “w”. And that’s it.
“w” gives you an overview of who is logged in and what they are doing. Its THAT simple.
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Use "mydevices" to control all of your web based interfaces from your smartphone.
May 09Most of your devices these days have webbased interfaces that you can easily open up with a browser. The fact that you go and sit behind a computer to do that is either to blame on the fact that you don’t own a smartphone or tablet thats hooked up to your wifi , or that you are just plain dumb. (pardon my french) . You see , these mobile gems are perfect for controlling all kinds of devices throughout the house and makes you a digital “master and commander” of your own casa. Personally I get a kick out of doing stuff on my tablet or smartphone and need to resist the urge to start drinking ‘Tea, earl grey, hot’ while calling out “make it so” to my better half. But remembering all the ip addresses of all of those devices IS pretty lame.
Once you make shortcuts and ram them into a folder it gets better, but you still need to remember logins and passwords. Not anymore though. With this smart little app will help you control devices on your network with some added spiffy features :
-Utilizes UPnP and Bonjour to find devices on your home network
-Displays detailed device information (IP address, model, vendor, type, etc.)
-Includes integrated viewer so you can quickly access device web pages within the application
-Uses default device icons in cases where the device doesn’t provide a custom icon
-View UPnP device description documents as formatted XML
So just plop it on your IOS device and control your digital ecosphere from the palm of your hand with “Mydevices” Thanx to @macmommy for the tip.
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5 tools to become Omnipresent.
May 02The downside of having both Tech Skills and a family … is that sometimes you become the family helpdesk. Before you know it people ring you up to fix their computer, and for some (like my mum in law and my wife’s “Ubuntu” Granny) a smoothly running computer is VERY important. But sometimes when the phone rings i’m wearing my PJ’s and don’t feel like hopping in the car and driving over. Or sometimes the people I need to help out live halfway around the planet. Time for my 5 favorite tools for digital omnipresence. All I need is a computer, a fast pipe and these tools and “Killroy 2.0 is .. everywhere”
Teamviewer : When it comes to cross-platform remote control of systems over the internet, Teamviewer takes the cake. Because I love to control all kind of systems without having to bother about the OS, Teamviewer is the perfect tool for the job. On demand or unattended remote control sessions, a chatbox and file transfer. Teamviewer does it all. I install teamviewer on all the systems I manage for remote control without needing to bother with open ports or IP addresses.
Dropbox : Suprising as it might seem, I use dropbox for a lot of my remote work. The Ubuntu granny has her pictures and document folder stored on her dropbox accounts. That ensures simple but effective backups. But with access to her dropbox account I can drop or pickup files she needs. Picture from her grandchild not opening ? Strange attachment ? Dropbox is the perfect tool for remote file management.
Skype : (auto Answer) : Sometimes it helps if you can talk to the people you are helping out. I use Skype to do just that. The combination with teamviewer is excellent and it allows me to talk and type at the same time. The difference with “being there” is very slight indeed.
No-ip.org : When the ‘remote person’ has a dynamic IP address its sometimes hard to “find them back” on the internet. If you google “what is my Ip” you get just that, but to avoid that extra manual step, its nice to bind a domain name to a dynamic ip. Dyndns used to offer this service for free, but not anymore. No-Ip.org does do this and gives you a choice of several ‘client’ applications to install on the remote systems.
SSH : When it comes to remote controlling systems via the command line, sending files back and forth or even piping through X or VNC sessions , SSH is ‘tha bomb’. Versatile, secure and a great way to tunnel through the internet for remote omnipresence.
