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Showing posts from 2010

Kindle & Audible on Ubuntu 10.10 with WINE 1.3

First of all we need to get the latest version of WINE. Since this is not in the default repositories for Maverick we need to go to the Synaptic Package Manager and add a Packet Software Source: ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa Now you can search for WINE and choose the latest version 1.3.3 for installation. Both Audible Manager and the Kindle for PC should now install and start without a problem. Kindle is now fully functional and there is only one more thing needed to get your audible books. When selecting your books, select to stream it. This will save a .pl file to your Downloads folder. Click on the file to open it with gedit and copy the URL in that file. Copy the URL into the browser address field and hit enter to download the .AA file, which you can then import into the Audible Manager.

Amazon UK Free Kindle Book: Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder

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Found this one today on Amazon UK for £0. Reviews seem to be good, will start once I finish The Basement by Stephen Leather which was on sale for £0.72 all week, since it is quite the short novel.

Sneakers Peekers!

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Upgraded to an HTC Desire HD today

Was time to renew my mobile phone contract today and after researching for which new Android phones T-Mobile UK had to offer I went with the Desire HD. I was looking at the slightly older version at first, but the new version seems to have a better form factor and a little bit better hardware too. Unfortunately they were out of stock today, so I will have to wait a few more days for it - but I have waited 18 months now, so I can wait another week - no problem, I think...

Input Numbers with Kindle Keyboard without using the Symbol key

I was a little annoyed by the Kindle keyboard not having dedicated number keys and so far I had to press the Sym key to bring up the window to enter numbers - but no more! To enter numbers quickly and painlessly with the hardware keyboard of the Kindle just keep the ALT key pressed and use the top row of keys to enter your letters (ALT + T to enter the number 5 for instance). I hope this helps some of you Kindle users to be less annoyed - I certainly am!

Free eBook stuff from Black Library

Found this on eBookworm and the official Black Library website : To celebrate the launch of Black Library Digital, October 8th and the following four Fridays have been designated Free eBook Fridays. Be sure to point your browser in our direction at noon GMT on each of those days to find out which gem from the BL back catalogue – or digital exclusive – will be yours for the grand sum of zero pounds, dollars or yen. There are several ebooks in epub and mobi format, as well as an audio book. I'm not sure for how much longer they will be up there, so grab them while you still can!

Solution to Kindle stuck in USB Drive Mode even when Ejected

Very impressed with this device, it makes reading a joy again (after noticing that reading a lot on traditional mobile device screens was becoming very straining on the eyes very quickly after a while). With my Kindle I had the issue that I would connect it to a PC and it would switch into drive mode. The screen tells you that you can resume reading while charging by ejecting the device in Windows. I did it via the small icon next to the clock and the Kindle would stay in the USB drive mode. I then found the Kindle as a Drive when I opened "My Computer". I right clicked the Kindle in that window and chose "Eject" after which I was able to use the device while it was recharging on the PC.

Selling my aPad and getting a Kindle

In March I bought an aPad, a cheap, Android-based 7" tablet device. It is quite nice to browse the web with and to read on it, not to mention the 720p video playback, but now, after half a year I rarely use it for anything else than reading and browsing. So I decided to sell the aPad for 100 GBP and ordered one of those new Kindles, because it can do exactly what I need from a device like that: browsing the web and reading ebooks. I did a lot of research before I made the decision, and the most important factor was the INK-technology screen, which will make reading for long times on the bus or on the plane so much less eye-straining. Not to mention that you can read in plain daylight, which was impossible on the aPad during the summer months. I will see what 2011 brings in regards to Android tablets, and if someone adopts the ink-screen technology, because it just makes sense to have this for these devices. I'm still using Android on my current phone, a HTC Hero, which I can u

Warhammer Online - Shaman DPS Build

Since this is going to be a DPS build, your three top stats will be: Intelligence = adds to magic damage Willpower = adds to healing Wounds = adds to hit points The 25 points will be placed as follows: (There will be a few extra points from RvR rewards, however we will not use them here) 15 in "Gork" Buy the following skills in the Gork tree for one point each: Leaky Brains Big Waaagh Da Waaagh! is coming Geddoff! Fists of Gork Skills in the tree you do not buy: "Mork's Touch" and "Hurts, don't it?" The last 5 points will be put in the healing tree "Mork". Any additional points should also be placed in "Mork", there is no reason to buy the bottom or second to the bottom skill in the tree. 80 RvR points to be placed in: Acumen level 1 = 1 point Acumen level 2 = 3 points Acumen level 3 = 6 points Acumen level 4 = 10 points Acumen level 5 = 14 points Resolve level 1 = 1 point Resolve level 2 = 3 points Resolve level 3 = 6 points Sa

Warhammer Online - Shadow Warrior Advice - October 2010

Lets start with the trees Scout - Long range / long cast trees, this tree is for those great big wind ups that you blow an enemy away with. You'll be focusing on "Festering Arrow" with Enchanted Arrows and Fell the Weak following it. Assault - Melee tree, does exactly as it sounds, makes you a melee hybrid where you peck at them from range then close in and dish out some pain. Skirmish - Kiting/AoE/Short Range Tree, this tree gives you the flexibility of shooting shots on the move as well as AOE. While its range is generally short, you can increase it with Powerful Draw. Your most useful tool comes from here as well, "Shadow Sting" -- just about every spec you do will require this. Theres many abbreviations involved with talking about skills, so get to know these-- BHA-Broadheaded arrow SS-shadowsting FA-festering arrow FTW-felltheweak EE-eagle eye BA-brutal assault SFA-spiralfletched arrow FS-flanking shot PD-powerful draw BE-bullseye RS-replenishing strikes LS

New version of eReader is available for Android!

There's a new version of eReader at http://www.ereader.com/android (device-friendly). The latest version is 1.2.39, but since they do not release patch notes I can't tell you what is new and/or fixed. If you have not given ebook-reading on your Android a chance, this might be a good time. The books on ereader.com and fictionwise.com are quite affordable in general.

[Android] Change of Scenery

After working on NetHak (both client and server) for most of the day I need a little distraction now. It is a lot of fun to work on the game, but I noticed that the text-based nature of the game seems to be the main reason for people logging out. I can not really blame them, as this niche area of gaming is hard to get in to. Luckily for me the game pretty much runs on its own now and while I still intend to enhance the client and server over the next months I will also work on another little project of mine: iFarm. iFarm will be a framework for web-based strategy games, realised with PHP and mySQL. I will see if I can convince one of my co-workers to create some graphics for me. I'll be using my old webview template for the Android client, I think. I will have to improve it, but the default Android browser does not display my project page correctly (it is zoomed out and I have to zoom twice to get it to display as intended). I'll keep this blog up-to-date with my progress on th

Top of the Morning to Ya!

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After a good night's sleep (or better said morning) there's now over 1200 downloads and a diabolical number of active installs. :P Time to work on the server changes for tonight's server patch!

NetHak Android MMO Client Development

Today's client update pushed the game to the top of the "Just In" list in the Android Market since it's original launch on Saturday of last week. It has been downloaded over 1000 times now and 45% still have it installed. The revamp of the tutorial area and the new client layout (thanks for the help, Steven) seems to work, as more players have made it out of the tutorial and into the game. I'll be releasing a server update tomorrow to make it easier for players to get credits to build their own systems.

NetHak 1.2.0 Live on Market

I have just released a new version of the NetHak MMO client on the Android Market. This update offers a more comfortable user interface and some bug fixes. Join the text-based science fiction MMORPG and start hacking away!

[Android] Show notification in status bar

import android.app.Activity; import android.app.Notification; import android.app.NotificationManager; import android.content.Intent; import android.net.Uri; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.View; import android.view.View.OnClickListener; public class StatusbarNotificator extends Activity { private NotificationManager mNotificationManager; private int YOURAPP_NOTIFICATION_ID; /** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) { super.onCreate(icicle); setContentView(R.layout.main); // Get the notification manager service. mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE); /* Show a sample notification when the first button was clicked. */ findViewById(R.id.btn_showsample).setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){ @Override public void onClick(View v) { StatusbarNotificator.this.

[Android] Setting screen orientation programmatically

import android.app.Activity; import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo; import android.os.Bundle; public class Orientation extends Activity { /** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); //---change to landscape mode--- setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE); } }

TotalMadOwnage now on Blogger!

Since I have decided to merge all of my web presences into my Google account I also forward the www.totalmadownage.net address to this blog now. I really do like Wordpress, but I do not like my current host too much (site has been slow for months), so I though why not go for the free and more stable version on Blogger. Everything else will stay the same, though - so no worries, you'll still find your Android and MMO news on here! Feel free to leave comments and have fun. You can still reach the old site here . I might be moving some of the more interesting entries from the old blog into this one, but it will mostly be new entries here.