Sometimes, I will need to connect a USB device plugged into the host computer to the guest VM. Because I start most VMs in headless mode, I would rather not launch the VM manager just to attach the USB device. Using VBoxManage, you can also mitigate this issue.

First (if you do not remember), find the name of the VM.
$ VBoxManage list vms
"archlinux" {3daf7395-3866-2348-bc54-947445b5e626}
[truncated]

List the USB devices attached to the host.
$ VBoxManage list usbhost
UUID: e2d15ede-83f1-45ad-98d5-1efa46b810eb
VendorId: 0x06c2 (06C2)
ProductId: 0x0033 (0033)
Revision: 1.0 (0100)
Manufacturer: Phidgets Inc.
Product: PhidgetSpatial
SerialNumber: 166112
Address: p=0x0033;v=0x06c2;s=0x000064bfc79cb786;l=0x06200000
Current State: Captured
Note that if the Current State is Captured, then you should make sure that the host has not already locked the device. In this case, it was already captured by the guest.

Connect the USB device to the guest, using the given UUID.
$ VBoxManage controlvm archlinux usbattach e2d15ede-83f1-456d-98d5-1efa46b810eb

You can also make this attachment permanent by creating a USB filter.

List the filters for the VM. Note the index.
$ VBoxManage showvminfo archlinux
USB Device Filters:

Index: 0
Active: yes
Name: Phidgets Inc. PhidgetSpatial [0100]
VendorId: 06c2
ProductId: 0033
Revision: 0100
Manufacturer: Phidgets Inc.
Product: PhidgetSpatial
Remote: 0
Serial Number: 166112

Place the filter after the last index. You can grab the VendorId and the ProductId from the previous usbhost output.
$ VBoxManage usbfilter add 1 --target archlinux --name Phidget --vendorid 0x06C2 --productid 0x0033

If you have problems setting the filter, first ensure that there are no existing global filters.
$ VBoxManage list usbfilters

You can later remove the filter by using a similar incarnation.
$ VBoxManage usbfilter remove 1 --target archlinux

1. Improved notification infrastructure, i.e., like the jumping dock present in Mac OS.
2. Storage of contacts/documents/mail/calender events/books/purchased songs and videos on the cloud with no intervention and no limit
3. Improved support for exchange and corporate infrastructure
4. Group messaging
5. Dynamic homescreen tiles
6. Universal search
7. New animations for common actions
8. Support for at least 10 more languages (I would say 20 new languages)
9. Improved iTunes/iPod experience
10. Improved lock screen
11. Font/kerning updates
12. Improved accessibility
13. Maps improvement

The deciding factor is the answer to the question: how much for an unlocked phone? It is only running a Snapdragon 800Mhz CPU and given that the screen is a little over 2 inches, I don’t see why it would cost much more than $399.

Time will tell.

Link: “HP Veer, first hands-on! (updated with video!)” [http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/09/hp-veer-first-hands-on/]

Getting prepared for Symbian development isn’t a straightforward process. Here’s how I set up my development environment:

Download and install ActivePerl (current version is 5.10.1).

I’m developing for the Symbian S60v3 FP1 platform so I needed to apply the context sensitive patch.

Download and install the JDK (current version 6u20).

Download and install the Carbine.c++ development environment (current version 2.3).

For Windows XP SP3 (and probably SP2) users, add the epoc.exe binary to the allowed DEP. You can do this by going to Start -> right click on My Computer -> click on Properties -> click on the Advanced tab -> click on Settings in the Performance category -> click on the Data Execution Prevention tab -> select the “Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:” radio button -> click Add -> Navigate to C:\Symbian\9.2\S60_3rd_FP1\Epoc32\release\winscw\udeb and select epoc.exe (location is dependent on installation path).

Finally, install the S60 Platform SDK. I selected 3rd Edition, FP 1.

Further instructions are available at the Forum Nokia Library.

Thankfully, the system admins have allowed me the wonders of ssh access. So, printing is relatively simple:

Copy the file to be printed to the server.

scp filename.pdf username@server:.

List all available printers.
lpstat -a

Send your document to the printer.
lpr -Pprinter filename.pdf

Optionally, to save paper, you may print multiple pdf pages on one sheet.
The process is simple: convert the pdf to ps (postscript), use the psnup utility to increase the number of pages placed on each sheet, then convert the pdf to ps.

pdf2ps filename.pdf
psnup -n2 filename.ps (or 2up filename.ps to get two pages per sheet)
ps2pdf filename.ps

in /usr/share/config/kdm/kdmrc

Add the “-dpi ” argument to ServerArgsLocal in [X-:*-Core].

Not sure what this does to dual monitor setups.

It’s not very hard, simply chuck the video into handbrake and let it churn out a Sony Walkman compatible video:
handbrake -i $input_name -o $output_name.mp4 -f mp4 -e ffmpeg -E faac -w 320 -l 240 -b 500

If you don’t have this program, use the following options in any video converter program:
width: 320px
height: 240px
audio encoder: faac
video encoder: ffmpeg
output format: mp4
video bitrate: 500 kb/s

I like the science fiction premisis but I don’t like what the trailers hint at: it’s gonna be a long movie (> 2h).

I think it’s time to give in and watch a sci-fi(ish) romance for a change.

Final Destination™ movies have always been fun to watch (if not a bit cliche+silly).

No particular reason apart from that it looks like a good action flick (with good acting [hopefully]).
]]> http://antonyjepson.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/movies-for-august-2009/feed/ 0 antonyjepson http://antonyjepson.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/readline/ http://antonyjepson.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/readline/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:14:08 +0000 antonyjepson http://antonyjepson.wordpress.com/?p=356 ]]> Just a quick post but the readline library keybindings are very interesting -
you just don’t need the home|end keys anymore. For the uninformed, here’s the
excerpt I’m talking about (man readline):

Emacs Mode
Emacs Standard bindings

“C-@” set-mark
“C-A” beginning-of-line
“C-B” backward-char
“C-D” delete-char
“C-E” end-of-line
“C-F” forward-char
“C-G” abort
“C-H” backward-delete-char
“C-I” complete
“C-J” accept-line
“C-K” kill-line
“C-L” clear-screen
“C-M” accept-line
“C-N” next-history
“C-P” previous-history
“C-Q” quoted-insert
“C-R” reverse-search-history
“C-S” forward-search-history
“C-T” transpose-chars
“C-U” unix-line-discard
“C-V” quoted-insert
“C-W” unix-word-rubout
“C-Y” yank
“C-]” character-search
“C-_” undo
” ” to “/” self-insert
“0″ to “9″ self-insert
“:” to “~” self-insert
“C-?” backward-delete-char

When configuring the virtual machine, make sure that you

• enable APIC and ACPI in Settings –> System.
• create a fixed sized harddisk to improve disk I/O speeds.

After installing Windows XP, make sure that you

• download the driver for the Intel Pro 1000 network adapater and change the default adapter from PCNet to Intel Pro 1000 in Settings –> Network. For me, this improved network access speed and reduced DNS lookup delays.
• install VirtualBox Guest Editions which enables seamless mouse integration and experimental Direct3D support by mounting the Guest Editions ISO.
• if, in the event that Windows Update fails to work, register the Wups2.dll as outlined in the Microsoft Knowledge Base <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144>

I extend my thanks to the VirtualBox team for making this so effortless. By the way, anything between 5G – 10G is a good size for your virtual harddisc.