One year of silence on this blog - it happens you know, there are times you don't feel like talking or you find other ways of expressing yourself. But, I had to say this...
Yes, a quick post only to say that debian repositories now sport the 3.0.1 version of Openoffice.org - too good! It also imports pdf files as drawings (though not perfectly we must admit). If only there was more ram on the device...
Abiword got to 2.6.8 - no great change from the previous version, but still a nice word-processor which starts quickly and does its job.
4/26/2009
8/05/2008
Abiword 2.6.4
Debian sid repositories for armel now sport the latest Abiword 2.6.4 - this is slick and powerful on the internet tablet. Perfect for writing, includes conversions for plenty of other word processing formats, outputs to pdf, has collaborative tools.What are you waiting for? Go get Debian for the Internet Tablet, update, upgrade, enjoy :-)
7/16/2008
Rlplot: easy scientific graphs for the internet tablets
For those like me, who aim at using their tablet as the sole computer for work and leisure (at least when other workstations are unavailable :-) ), here is rlplot - a simple yet powerful wysiwyg plotting program. One step away from your tablet, using synaptic or apt-get under debian chroot.
It produces publication-quality graphs of several kinds, including horizontal and vertical error bars, box-and-whisker plots, and has also basic statistics on numerical data.
7/05/2008
Easy Debian on the internet tablets
Qole did it again - now installing Debian is straightforward for everyone, and there's no excuse for not trying. You will have full and up-to-date Openoffice.org, Abiword, Firefox 3 (Iceweasel) with Java and thousands other packages on your tablet.
And - don't believe they're too slow - in fact, they take time to start, but afterwards they're responsive enough to make some serious work. I did - editing letters, converting to pdf and sending, editing presentations, browsing them full screen...
Among the various applications available, which you can install with Synaptic, or with apt-get in a console, I found also Pdftk - a command-line pdf merger, splitter, encrypter and decrypter, and Mp3info-gtk, a mp3 audio file tagger. Both work well and are easy to use.
And - don't believe they're too slow - in fact, they take time to start, but afterwards they're responsive enough to make some serious work. I did - editing letters, converting to pdf and sending, editing presentations, browsing them full screen...
Among the various applications available, which you can install with Synaptic, or with apt-get in a console, I found also Pdftk - a command-line pdf merger, splitter, encrypter and decrypter, and Mp3info-gtk, a mp3 audio file tagger. Both work well and are easy to use.
5/23/2008
Openoffice.org and Abiword: work in progress
It's becoming reality - now you can have those applications you sorely lacked on your internet tablet. The sorcerer who made all possible is Qole - thanks Qole my friend! (see his signature).
Openoffice.org 2.4 and Abiword 2.4.6 already work (even if with some glitches, which should be fixed hopefully).
It's not a breeze to setup, yet: you have to make a big partition, untar there a debian armel rootfs, then activate it by chrooting, update, upgrade, and apt-get install those applications you need.
Everything is explained here:
- http://www.internettablettalk.com/wiki/index.php?title=Running_Debian_chroot
- http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=184924
- http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20342
I am still having trouble in making the proper desktop items, and I have been changing the Qole's script for chrooting as root. When I get some real results, I'll post here. But I am very happy of these new opportunities!
The video above - admittedly ugly and boring - shows openoffice.org writing and drawing, plus abiword, so that you can see how (un)responsive are these apps on the N810.
3/30/2008
OS2008 and the art of writing
The problem
Since OS2008, there's no abiword. This is sad but true, and while a new version of abiword is indeed in beta phase, it is still unusable for serious writing because of too frequent freezing and crashing. So, how are we going to do in the meantime?
The solutions
Since OS2008, there's no abiword. This is sad but true, and while a new version of abiword is indeed in beta phase, it is still unusable for serious writing because of too frequent freezing and crashing. So, how are we going to do in the meantime?
The solutions
- Xournal. Some details here. You can use it for short docs only, though, say one page letters. Text does not wrap, and that's all. But you can open pdf files and annotate them by hand, and this is invaluable. A new port is coming, says Anidel.
- The Notes app, shipped with OS2008. Has basic formatting, saves in html so that you can open your scribbles with every modern word processors. Crashes often for somebody (not in my hands).
- Microsoft Office. No, it's not a joke, you can have it. Just a 4.2.1 version from 14 years ago :-)
You can do it easily: install Basilisk II (a nice Mac 68k emulator) as described here; buy yourself a copy of the old dinosaur (i.e. on ebay) and install. It's not too slow, and it's usable.
You better get also the free filters for word and powerpoint 97/98 files. Ah, and you can make pdf files from your office documents with the PrintToPdf extension - but beware, you'll need two copies of Basilisk, actually: here's why. - Plain text? Duh! That's for geeks. If you are a geek, use vi, or emacs. No pointer for those, sorry.
- By now I am using Notecase - it's an outliner, and has some nice features. Has some basic formatting, exports to html, and there are ports for various linux distros and for windows, other than for maemo.
An outliner allows you to jump back and forth quickly through the sections of your document and this is good for writing in a non-sequential manner - the way you could write a scientic paper (I am doing that, presently). - The future is lyx.
1/19/2008
Paper to Xournal - easy!
I like Xournal very much. And now for yet another reason: because it is quite easy to convert your handwritten paper notes to the xournal xoj format (and then edit, annotate, convert to pdf as wished).
Get here script for your linux box to convert scanned notes to xoj. Some dependencies are needed - they're in ubuntu - debian repositories though.
Another script to combine several xoj files into one is also included.
Xournal as a word processor for OS 2008
Thanks to Aniello Del Sorbo (anidel on internettablettalk.com/forums) we have Xournal for OS2008. Aniello ported version 0.4.1 which sports a new and useful tool in comparison to the version ported for the previous operating systems, i.e. a text tool which allows to insert/edit text from the keyboard, in a chosen font.
This is more or less what you want from a basic word processor, right?
And this way we have a simple way to prepare letters and memos on-the-fly, already in pdf format thanks to Xournal export-to-pdf tool, and mail them or send to a mail-to-fax service.
I have converted to pdf the letterhead of my hospital and now I'm able to prepare those stupid bureaucracy stuff almost anywhere. This is great because unfortunately abiword for os 2008 isn't ready yet, and there's no other simple way to get a formatted output for all those silly institutions that don't like plain old paperless ascii :)
Xournal can do other tricks, though, for sure... Get it from Maemo site.
This is more or less what you want from a basic word processor, right?
And this way we have a simple way to prepare letters and memos on-the-fly, already in pdf format thanks to Xournal export-to-pdf tool, and mail them or send to a mail-to-fax service.
I have converted to pdf the letterhead of my hospital and now I'm able to prepare those stupid bureaucracy stuff almost anywhere. This is great because unfortunately abiword for os 2008 isn't ready yet, and there's no other simple way to get a formatted output for all those silly institutions that don't like plain old paperless ascii :)
Xournal can do other tricks, though, for sure... Get it from Maemo site.
1/09/2008
I am so glad
I have just received my n810, 5 days only after discount codes were activated.
It's awesome. The touch and feel is way better than I thought after all my readings.
It's a bit of the future in my hands, the future I want for my little daughter: free info, collaboration of people no matter how far, beauty and peace. I see all these things into this small piece of silicon and metal. Maybe I am starting to be senile but this is the kind of dreams you grow to appreciate with time.
It's awesome. The touch and feel is way better than I thought after all my readings.
It's a bit of the future in my hands, the future I want for my little daughter: free info, collaboration of people no matter how far, beauty and peace. I see all these things into this small piece of silicon and metal. Maybe I am starting to be senile but this is the kind of dreams you grow to appreciate with time.
12/02/2007
Flat-file databases on your n800
Flat-file archives are easy to understand and manage, are quite a typical office application, plus are useful in several fields and professions, so let's look at programs to manage them on our n800.
Broadly, the term "flat-file database" refers to any database which exists in a single file in the form of rows and columns, with no relationships or links between records and fields except the table structure (see wikipedia article). For instance, a list of names, phone numbers and addresses, or a list of products, codes and prices.
At present, I know two programs that can manage such a database on the n800: Gnumeric and Info-on-tap.
Gnumeric is a well-known and already established free spreadsheet program (a far descendant of Visicalc!), which allows a database to be prepared quite easily in the usual rows-columns setting. Of course, you will have a first row with field names, and each subsequent row will contain a record. Editing is straightforward. Searching is easy, either with the EDIT / FIND command, or by setting up an automatic filter (select all the database columns, then go to menu DATA / FILTER / ADD AUTO FILTER). All the more advanced data extraction techniques which are standard on modern spreadsheet programs are available.
Info-on-tap is much younger: it's a python application, coded by Gene Cash, which implements creation, management and query of a flat-file database with quite intuitive commands.
In order to install it you have to include Gene's repository in your /etc/apt/sources.list - this can be accomplished in an automated way, by clicking on its "click to install" green arrow onto the programs' page, or by hand editing the sources.list file while being root. If you decide to go the manual way (as I generally prefer), the repository coordinates are the following:
deb http://home.cfl.rr.com/genecash/nokia/debs bora free
(this is the line to add to your sources.list file).
Either way, you should subsequently find info-on-tap, as well as the other Gene's applications, in to the list of the installable software of your application manager.
After installation, you'll find it in your extras menu. When starting the app, you'll see an almost blank window. The first thing you want to do is create a new database (right?) - don't be fooled by the "ADD NEW" button in the bottom of the screen, which is there to add new fields or new records, but navigate the menu and choose NEW TABLE. Here you can give a name to your database, and add fields through the ADD NEW button. At present, your fields may have the following types: date/time, integer, floating point, single-line text and multi-line text, but probably Gene will implement also drop-down lists, because they can be seen in his online documentation.
After you define the structure of your database, and push the OK button, you'll be ready to populate it with records, again with the "ADD NEW" button. At any time, you can re-define your table or edit records. You can also search your database, either with the "FILTER" list box on the bottom of the screen, or with the EDIT FILTER / NEW FILTER menu command, which allows quite complex filter combinations with boolean operators, which can also be saved for future use. There's a simple SEARCH menu command available if you like, too.
Last (but not least) your database table can be exported to html, for internet publishing or for browsing on generic PDA's.
Gene is actively working on this app, and new version seem to be published almost daily in his repo. My short review is based on today's version, but I bet that next version will be quite interesting. What about the possibility of adding picture fields? Or being able to compose fancy input masks?
Concerning usability, it's clear that Gnumeric is a complex, multifunctional application and might confuse and/or intimidate those who don't have much experience with spreadsheets (are there any, tough?). Other than being able to make several things, it has a clear advantage in comparison to info-on-tap, in that it should be able of importing & exporting in several formats, so that you can put on your tablet other existing flat-file databases, either directly or by some straightforward conversion that you can perform on your desktop computer.
On the other hand, Info-on-tap does what it is intended to do, no less and no more, so it might appeal the user who wants to concentrate on his archiving task; has a quick and nice interface, and promits to evolve in a powerful program. You will have to populate its tables by hand, though, until its Author develops a way to import comma-separated values or other simple text-based archives.
Broadly, the term "flat-file database" refers to any database which exists in a single file in the form of rows and columns, with no relationships or links between records and fields except the table structure (see wikipedia article). For instance, a list of names, phone numbers and addresses, or a list of products, codes and prices.
At present, I know two programs that can manage such a database on the n800: Gnumeric and Info-on-tap.
Gnumeric is a well-known and already established free spreadsheet program (a far descendant of Visicalc!), which allows a database to be prepared quite easily in the usual rows-columns setting. Of course, you will have a first row with field names, and each subsequent row will contain a record. Editing is straightforward. Searching is easy, either with the EDIT / FIND command, or by setting up an automatic filter (select all the database columns, then go to menu DATA / FILTER / ADD AUTO FILTER). All the more advanced data extraction techniques which are standard on modern spreadsheet programs are available.
Info-on-tap is much younger: it's a python application, coded by Gene Cash, which implements creation, management and query of a flat-file database with quite intuitive commands.
In order to install it you have to include Gene's repository in your /etc/apt/sources.list - this can be accomplished in an automated way, by clicking on its "click to install" green arrow onto the programs' page, or by hand editing the sources.list file while being root. If you decide to go the manual way (as I generally prefer), the repository coordinates are the following:
deb http://home.cfl.rr.com/genecash/nokia/debs bora free
(this is the line to add to your sources.list file).
Either way, you should subsequently find info-on-tap, as well as the other Gene's applications, in to the list of the installable software of your application manager.
After installation, you'll find it in your extras menu. When starting the app, you'll see an almost blank window. The first thing you want to do is create a new database (right?) - don't be fooled by the "ADD NEW" button in the bottom of the screen, which is there to add new fields or new records, but navigate the menu and choose NEW TABLE. Here you can give a name to your database, and add fields through the ADD NEW button. At present, your fields may have the following types: date/time, integer, floating point, single-line text and multi-line text, but probably Gene will implement also drop-down lists, because they can be seen in his online documentation.
After you define the structure of your database, and push the OK button, you'll be ready to populate it with records, again with the "ADD NEW" button. At any time, you can re-define your table or edit records. You can also search your database, either with the "FILTER" list box on the bottom of the screen, or with the EDIT FILTER / NEW FILTER menu command, which allows quite complex filter combinations with boolean operators, which can also be saved for future use. There's a simple SEARCH menu command available if you like, too.
Last (but not least) your database table can be exported to html, for internet publishing or for browsing on generic PDA's.
Gene is actively working on this app, and new version seem to be published almost daily in his repo. My short review is based on today's version, but I bet that next version will be quite interesting. What about the possibility of adding picture fields? Or being able to compose fancy input masks?
Concerning usability, it's clear that Gnumeric is a complex, multifunctional application and might confuse and/or intimidate those who don't have much experience with spreadsheets (are there any, tough?). Other than being able to make several things, it has a clear advantage in comparison to info-on-tap, in that it should be able of importing & exporting in several formats, so that you can put on your tablet other existing flat-file databases, either directly or by some straightforward conversion that you can perform on your desktop computer.
On the other hand, Info-on-tap does what it is intended to do, no less and no more, so it might appeal the user who wants to concentrate on his archiving task; has a quick and nice interface, and promits to evolve in a powerful program. You will have to populate its tables by hand, though, until its Author develops a way to import comma-separated values or other simple text-based archives.
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