Far From Home

WebOS Hackery Made Easy with WebOS Quick Install

So, I'll admit, I've been a bit squeamish about applying any of the NUMEROUS WebOS hacks available on my Palm Pre.  It's not that I'm apprehensive about running into problems.. I just don't want to find myself stuck in a situation where I have to put a lot of time into fixing my phone (or reconfiguring it) when I really don't have that time.

For those of you that feel similarly, look no further than WebOS Quick Install v2.7 from PreCentral's Jason Robitaille.  This GUI-based java application makes it stupid-easy to install/remove OS mods, and from my experience thus far works flawlessly.  It is compatible with the latest WebOS release (1.2.1), as well.

In a mere 10 minute session (I had all of the prerequisites installed already-- there is a bit of preparation involved for those of you that have done little-to-no noodling with your phone), I managed to set up the following OS hacks, simply by clicking on some checkboxes:

• 4 x 4 icon layout in the launcher  (ah, I can breathe again...)
• Add/Remove pages to the launcher (this really should be a standard feature.  Palm, are you listening?)
• Added Roam-Only option to Phone Preferences (sadly, my service sucks so much that this still doesn't resolve anything at home)
• Character counter when composing new messages
• Timestamp displayed on all messages
• Removed that stupid Nascar application icon
• Display battery charge percentage in title bar

And this really only scratches the surface of what this handy application can do, particularly because it supports several patch repositories that are continuously being updated with new, cutting-edge WebOS mods.

DISCLAIMER: You can still screw up your phone to varying degrees using this software.  Any usage of your phone that strays beyond out-of-the-box stock functionality poses some risk.  Read (and understand) all related information and documentation before attempting any modifications.  

With that disclaimer out of the way, here are some links (consider them mandatory reading) to get you started:

WebOS Quick Install v2.7 with webOS 1.2.1 Support Released (PreCentral)

WebOS Quick Install v2.7 and beyond! (PreCentral Forums)

WebOS SDK Frustrations

Another (not so) quick post from the Pre here, which I am still enamored with, I must say... Unfortunately, I am not enamored with Palm themselves at the moment. Why? I still can't install the WebOS SDK.

At first, the focus was on Windows 7, as similar problems were most prevalent for developers trying to install the SDK on Microsoft's newest incarnation of Windows. However, it has come to be apparent that the same problems (or similar ones...) are present for users of XP and Vista as well.

What's the problem, exactly? Well, for lack of a better word, it's pretty stupid. The SDK installer runs, proceeds to the point that it is seemingly complete, and then suddenly begins rolling back the installation, finally stating that the installation was interrupted before it could complete. At least in my case, no error message is ever displayed, although my understanding is that there are quite a few variations on this theme. Regardless, the end result is always the same-- install finishes, install uninstalls.

I Got A Palm Pre!!

I got a palm pre, and I love it. The fact that I can just jump into the webbrowser and easily post without having to deal with the lameness of the mobile browsers that I'm used to dealing with might just revitalize my blogging! The Pre is very new, but I am a fan of going the early-adopter route, and also a long-term fan of Palm itself, so this phone is perfect for me, and I am positively delighted to see Palm get back into the smartphone industry with such an incredibly competitive product. I hope to keep up and continue posting my impressions of the device as I become increasingly familiar with it.

Good times.

Don't forget your Facebook Vanity URL

If you care, and you might not...  Recently, Facebook has made one vanity URL available per account, first come first serve basis...

What's a vanity URL?  For example, my profile is now linkable at:

http://facebook.com/xenoc

Hurry up and grab your own at http://facebook.com/username !

Twitter, You Are Buggy.

...and you're trying to boost CNN's follower count! (joking)  I just got this (see screenshot below), and it disappeared once i refreshed the page...  kinda funny.

OMG Drool @ Photo of Geek Heaven

...And I thought I had a lot of monitors.  This puts me to shame in a major way.

One can never have too much screen real estate.  Period. :)

Not much else to say here except goddamn!  If only they were widescreen.  And 24" each. :D  I wonder how many video cards this guy is using... or if they're hooked up to multiple machines.  I'd want them all on the same one.

Read the actual lifehacker article for more info.  I haven't even gotten that far yet. :)

[via lifehacker.com]

If He Says He Can't Hear You, He's Lying.

This guy needs a new hobby.  Is he trying to get a brain tumor?  I hope he keeps the volume down...  I mean crap, that's got be loud as hell when it rings.  And I bet vibrate mode is pretty unpleasant too.  I guess this is one way to avoid having to get a bluetooth headset.  But what do you do when you want to see who's calling?  Do you yank the thing out?  How hard is it to put it back? 

I just don't get it.  :)

[via gizmodo.com]

Six Apart: Advanced Templates Could Be Much Easier

Let me begin this post by saying that I have been a professional web-based software architect and designer for the vast majority of my career.  To say that I am "familiar" with HTML and CSS is a huge understatement.  Just go to my LinkedIn page if you want more details. 

The reason I reference my experience is an attempt to avoid any possible impression that I lack the technical knowledge to utilize the advanced template system here on Typepad.  On the contrary, there's no part of it that I don't understand or can't utilize properly... I just can't believe how counterintuitive it is.  I would think that Six Apart would want as many users to effectively use advanced templates as possible, because it shows off the flexibility of the Typepad service.  And I have no complaints about the flexibility itself, on that note.  All the capability I want is there, and that's good.

What isn't good is that someone as technically inclined as myself is constantly discouraged by the lack of examples or integrated documentation, the single, feebly-commented sample style sheet, and the terrible textarea-based editor.

Now, everything I've read online talks about the conversion of your basic template to an advanced template as the best starting point for creating advanced templates.  Fair enough.  I have not been able to successfully convert any templates, nor have I even seen the "Convert Template" button that is mentioned so frequently.  I have come to understand that only SOME of the basic templates can be converted?  Did I learn that from the Typepad website?  No.  Do I have any idea which ones can be converted and why?  No.  Do I, as a software developer, understand why ANY basic template should not be eligible for conversion?  Not really.  If the basic template architecture had been designed properly, it would easily translate to advanced template form under any circumstances.

And no, I'm not using one of those media templates that cannot be converted, as clearly stated.  Good to know, but if there is ANY reason why my basic template might not be eligible for conversion, I need to know that early, not find out about it upon attempting conversion after having used the basic template system for a few months, falsely comforted by everything I'd read about the ability to convert basic to advanced templates.

If you ask me, it seems like the amount of effort put into accommodating people who would like to build professional-quality blogs on this platform isn't quite satisfactory.  

At the very least, these suggestions would improve things a bit:

• Provide more examples of advanced templates, and explain the limitations of basic to advanced template conversion. 
• Break the advanced templates into more than one stylesheet, by default.  I'd like to see one for the main page layout, one for the contents of each column, one for the posts, etc.
• Each of these stylesheets should be HEAVILY COMMENTED.  Documentation and tutorials should be readily available.  Make the experience a bit more forgiving.  
• Build an editor with syntax highlighting into the site.  Not hard to do. 

Make things EASIER for your customers, rather than hiding behind a warning about the technical acumen required to work with advanced templates.  Again, there's nothing here that I don't understand, but the tedious nature of the experience makes me want to seek other options before I commit to this.  That's not a good thing, obviously.

Regardless, I am not giving up on Typepad yet, and if I end up finding this expression of my frustration to be somewhat premature, I will make that known with a follow-up post.  There is a lot to like about Typepad, and I'd love to prove myself wrong.  We shall see.

Future of Far From Home

I am planning to start a major upgrade of the look and feel of the site, which will involve converting everything over to an advanced typepad template... This may cause some temporary disruptions or interface abberations... pay no mind.  It's all good. :)

Ideas, comments, thoughts, suggestions? 

Definitely integrating with Facebook Connect.  That is a given.

I've started making progress with the Advanced Template on a different test blog.  Once it gets a bit closer to prime time, I'll put a link up so people can see it.  It's slow going, but it will be worth it in the end.

I have no idea why the fonts are so damn messed up on this version of the blog, but that will be fixed as well. :)  Actually, my suspicion is that it has something to do with the Google Chrome implementation of WYSIWYG editing, but oh well.  I'll take care of it.

Obama Update

Obama Update-- Today's Obama Links:

• Barack Obama's Bulletproof Inaugural Suit
• The White House has a new Webmaster
• On Happy Day Stock Market is Still Down
• Search Inside Obama's Inaugural Speech 

Big surprise-- the malware community is already capitalizing on Obama's popularity:

• Fake Sites with Obama News Infect Users with Malware

And while we were distracted and watching the inauguration, it was cunningly revealed:

• 100 Million Credit Cards Compromised