Blogger vs Joomla vs WordPress part 2

Posted on December 16, 2009 by ET/Osky

This is part 2, the first part “Joomla as a blog tool” can be found here: http://einartysen.se/2009/12/blogger-joomla-wordpress/

On to part 2 – Changing to WordPress

After giving up on Joomla (I don’t like to admit it but that was the case) I figured it’s time to make it easy for myself. That’s why this blog runs on WordPress. Was it as simple that I imagined, after all I had never used it before? Actually yes. WordPress installation is quick, simple and straight forward. I think the actual blog was up and running in 10 minutes approximately. I won’t describe the installation here, http://www.wordpress.org gives you everything you need including instructions.

On to more interesting things, importing my blogger posts etcetera.

This wasn’t that much of a challenge either, I found this blog: http://hellosam.net/lang/en/post/397. That’s really all you need. Instead I will tell you what remains to be done.

Permalinks and pagerank from blogger. hellosam goes through this but in my quick quick attempt it didn’t work out. I haven’t found the time for more attempts, but that’s what holidays are for right? I’ll get back on the matter I think.

Layout. Right now I’m using a WordPress theme called iNove by NeoEase. I think it’s a fairly good looking one but…for one thing it’s a bit to fancy for me. The black shiny header just doesn’t seem quite right to me, neither does some of the objects in the right column. I actually tried to edit these already since I thought it would be a walk in the park. The only accomplished result is that I now have two identical archives :)
Need some time to look into this as well.

That’s it for now, but now that I wrote my migration posts I can start posting other fun stuff again!

Blogger vs Joomla vs WordPress

Posted on December 11, 2009 by ET/Osky

So this is it, welcome to the new home of pinnapedia! The address changed and so did the platform, the author however is the same as always.

On to the fun stuff, changing platform! I have some previous experience working with an Open Source CMS (Content Management System) called Joomla. Joomla isn’t really made for blogs, it’s much more than that. So I was prepared on some workarounds, problems and obstacles. This is where my story begins…

Part 1. Joomla as a blog tool

Challenge was my first thought when I started looking at Joomla for the blog, I was right. For a couple of days this site actually held a fully working Joomla-blog! It’s not here anymore and of course there is a reason. I was never interested in paying for a blog plug-in so my experience is only from some free tools. First thing I did was to make a small list of what criterias I had for claiming success, it was something like this:

Blog-like layout
List for archived posts
Support comments
Some kind of categorizing similar to tags
Static pages supplementing the blog
No lack of feature compared to the old blogger (why would I then change?)

Bonus features

Import from the old Blogger blog.

Joomla actually managed to give me most of this. The layout was a bigger problem than I could’ve imagined, there are lots and lots of free templates for Joomla out there but almost none aimed at blogging. With some template edits I managed ok but was never quite satisfied. Comments, Categorizing (and tags) was accomplished with a plugin called Lyfftenbloggie. Of the plugins I looked at this was by far the most competent. Still…the posting wasn’t that straight forward, the comments suffered from some bugs, the plugin limited my layout possibilities even more and the archive just looked like…a bag of junk.

I decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore, Joomla is not made for blogging and that was painfully obvious. Next time I’ll set up a full homepage though I’m quite certain that it will run on Joomla which is still my number one choice for CMS. This is where WordPress comes into the picture. Wait for Part 2 to get the full story on how I gave up and decided to take the short cut. Part two can be found here: http://einartysen.se/2009/12/blogger-vs-joomla-vs-wordpress-part-2/

Tryout

Posted on December 8, 2009 by ET/Osky

This would be a test. Can’t leave it completely empty can I?

Update:

If it was unclear in any way, this is the first post on the wordpress version of this blog. Everything before this is imported from Blogger and has a little “>” before the title indication just that.

>There’ll be no tadaas today but just you wait…

Posted on December 8, 2009 by ET/Osky

With this interval between posts you might think that the blog is dying, but nothing could be more wrong. It’s just that to be able to write and think about IT and other technical stuff you need some time to play around! And that’s what I’m doing right now. If all would have gone according to my original idea I would write about it sometime…today. But as we all know, if it works out exactly like your original idea it wouldn’t be any fun. Still I’m a bit disappointed but as so often before: when one door closes another opens up. In this case it means holding of the Tadaa!-post for a few days and something of an easy way out (at least that’s what I think right now). Stay tuned for tadaa’s…

>Tweak your Android

Posted on December 1, 2009 by ET/Osky

I’m starting to feel like such a Linux hacker :)
Here are some steps to trim and tune your Samsung Galaxy (should be the same on other Android devices). The origins for this tip is linked in the bottom and is based on a Galaxo ROM. So these applications won’t necessary be present on your device if you use another ROM or device, the same procedure applies though. You need the Android SDK installed on your computer and know how to use ADB since that isn’t covered here. But let’s assume you already got that.

Some can-be-removed from Galaxo on a Samsung Galaxy and how-to do it:

# Setup your connection
Boot in normal mode
Connect you device using the USB cable
Run cmd

#Open your tools directory
Cd “your-path-to-Android”/tools

# Remount read/write
adb remount

# open shell
adb shell

# go to apps directory (note that this is different on different ROMS, stock ROM has /system/app)
cd /data/app_s

# delete QuickDroid (comes with Galaxo ROM, remove if you don’t use it, uses a lot of resources)
rm QuickDroid.apk

# delete NPS sync (Samsung specific sync software, it doesn’t work so why run it!)
rm wssyncmlnps.apk

# disable drexe (Samsung specific, this gets baseband info for NPS. Renaming this file made my device incapable to find any networks. Works for other users though. If you get any problem revert by doing it again in opposite direction with the .off path first)
mv /system/bin/drexe /system/bin/drexe.off

# disable npsmobex (Samsung specific, this handles auth with nps)
mv /system/bin/npsmobex /system/bin/npsmobex.off

I also removed:
# delete GalaxoApps (Galaxo Rom specific. No use after first run)
rm GalaxoApps.apk

# delete HDBlogg.it link (Galaxo Rom specific.)
rm HDBlogg.apk

The same procedure can be used for any app (including default apps. E.g. youtube app)
# To see a list of your installed apps
Ls

Have fun but be careful, deleting system parts you don’t know what it is might lead to a faulty device and need for a full recovery.

Original post:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-i7500/12365-galaxo-tweaks-get-more-memory.html

>New look on Google

Posted on November 27, 2009 by ET/Osky

Google is planning a release of a new look on their search/result page. According to Swedish publication IDG you should be able to try it out. Note that it only works with google.com. Not any local domains. As I tried the instructions bellow I had some problem with Google redirecting me to google.se instead, if that happens to you just use http://google.com/ncr (ncr meaning no country I guess) and you will force it to use the US version.

To test Google’s new look, do the following:
1. Go to google.com (or google.com/ncr)

2. When the page is loaded, paste the following code in the address window in your browser:
javascript:void(document.cookie=”PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com”);

Remember to replace everything in the browser address bar with the above code.

3. Press Return.

4. Reload the page google.com or open a new tab
Personally, I like it. Probably I won’t be using it a whole lot since most of my searching needs are already covered, but I like the “filter” for blogs, news etcetera. Looks quite neat if you ask me. The debate on copying Bing or other providers doesn’t bother me that much, I rather feel that they are following a trend that you can see all over the Internet. All companies will be inspired by their competitors from time to time, as long as you add something new and not only plagiarize I see nothing wrong.

The CNet article that is the source for the Swedish version:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10405227-265.html
Swedish article:
http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.273320/sa-kommer-du-at-googles-nya-utseende
Original article (as far as I know):
http://searchengineland.com/google-streamlines-search-options-30143
Gizmodo article presenting how to try it out:
http://gizmodo.com/5412801/how-to-try-the-new-google-search?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+gizmodo/full+(Gizmodo)&utm_content=Google+Reader

>Samsung Galaxy i7500 Rooting

Posted on November 26, 2009 by ET/Osky

Ok, I’ve tried for a long time now to get my Galaxy as good as my HTC Magic. Looking at Hardware I did upgrade when I got the Samsung, the software however. I had grown to like the HTC tweaks in Android (you can read about my keyboard hassle in older posts…).

So last week I gave in, and since “root” is a fact. So what is Root? Since Android is a Linux system the community started using the normal term for “user in full control”. Compare it with a Windows system, there are things you can’t do if your account lacks Administrator rights. Root is when you got those rights. I won’t go into details about how to root your Galaxy, there are a lot of places to read this already and they are more likely to be kept up to date than my blog. Posting some links at the bottom for you…

So what did I get for my Root experiment?
First of all, I installed another ROM (basically the OS of the phone, installation of this is also known as Flashing). What I installed is a custom ROM (user-made) by Drakaz called “GalaxoHero”. As the name implies it borrows some good stuff from the HTC Hero, it won’t give you the HTC Sense UI but a nice theme impersonating Sense.
What I like in bullets:

Keyboard! My beloved HTC Keyboard is back, in Swedish.
Exchange support, almost. HTC Hero ships with a application called “Work Mail” that will allow you sync with an Exchange server, only mail though. Very strange since my old HTC Magic had full native Exchange support. Need to look closer into this further down the road.
Speed. It will never stop to amuse me when users at home manage to build a quicker system than companies with lots of paid engineers. It was exactly the same with my old Windows Mobile when I started flashing it.
Additional settings. Being root allows you to change stuff that Samsung/Google didn’t think you needed. For example I disabled the camera button since a bug had it running 100% even when locked, quick way to drain the battery.
Battery, might have something to do with the above. Neither the less my battery always last a day, sometimes two days.
Market, if I wanted I could enable paid apps on the Android market even though it doesn’t support Sweden yet.

I hate that Samsung/Google “forced” me to do this. Talking to my iPhone packing friends I always said that I wouldn’t consider a product a success if I had to hack it to use it fully (iPhone Jailbreak). With my HTC Magic I never saw the need for root. Well, I can comfort myself with better hardware so maybe it was worth it, maybe :)

Links for rooting:

Nice and simple instructions to flash the GalaxoHero Rom: http://wiki.dandascalescu.com/reviews/gadgets/pda_phones/samsung_i7500_galaxy#Flashing_the_GalaxHero_ROM

Official home of the Galaxo and GalaxoHero Roms:

http://forum.hdblog.it/showthread.php?p=33777

Recovery Image:

http://forum.hdblog.it/showthread.php?t=3995

Swedish root instructions:

http://www.swedroid.se/wiki/index.php/Flasha_Samsung_i7500_Galaxy

>The quest for a useful keyboard on Samsung Galaxy

Posted on November 11, 2009 by ET/Osky

When I first started to use my Samsung Galaxy most of it was just fine. Almost instantly however I started to go nuts on the stock Android keyboard. I was used to my old HTC Magic and figured that I’ll get used to my new one. I didn’t. It’s just not that good, not for me that doesn’t like fullqwerty on phones at least. On top of that I need Scandinavian (or rather Swedish) letters (åäö).

Stock keyboard to the right (picture borrowed from Phone Area)

Getting scandinavian letters are simple enough:

Go to the Android Market
Search and install “Scandinavian Keyboard” (by Trygve Aaberge)
Go to Phone settings -> Locale & Text
Check “Scandinavian Keyboard”
Find an input field (mail, messaging, anything will do).
Long-press (hold down) at the text field, in the popup select input method
Choose Scandinavian Keyboard.
All set!

To make it even more useful you can use a matching dictionary, look at the Scandinavian Keyboard settings in the Locale & Text section for a direct link to the market.

This works like a charm. The keyboard however is still the lousy stock one. My quest continues… Then I found the HTC keyboard online! No root (hacked device) needed. I followed the guide here: http://androinica.com/2009/08/25/how-to-install-the-htc-android-soft-keyboard-without-rooting-your-phone/ Works just fine for me. Note that if you have a Donut device (Android 1.6) you need another version of the HTC_IME.apk. Make a Google search for the file name an you’ll find it, the instructions are the same.

Unfortunately, the Scandinavian keyboard thing above only seems to affect your default keyboard. So now I can choose, being able to write in Swedish, or with a much nicer keyboard. Quite annoying really. I’m guessing that if I found a friend with a Swedish HTC Hero or Magic they could pull out the keyboard with the settings for different languages intact…hmm I need new friends :)

Updates will follow when/if I find a solution!

>Samsung Galaxy vs HTC Magic

Posted on October 29, 2009 by ET/Osky

Back in business!

I finaly got my Samsung Galxy and the world couldn’t be sweeter. I though that I would list a few things that differs from my old Magic.As always it’s much easier to identify the negative differences but I’ll try to raise above that and throw in a couple of good ones. Here goes:

Buttons, my phone has a bunch of them. Apart from me pushing the wrong one all the time this is a good thing. Dedicated lock button, dedicated camera etcetera.

Keyboard (on screen), HTC has their own keyboard very similar to the one I had in my Touch Diamond. Without doubt this is so far what bugs me the most, Samsung is far behind here. Now I got a very standard qwerty with quite small buttons, compared to the lovely compact qwerty in the HTC. It also lacked swedish lettering and dictonary. Lettering and dictonary was quickly solved and I’m looking into changing it all together, stay tuned for a how-to!

The screen, oh my god this AMOLED is sweet! Bright and samazing colour, less battery drain is a welcome feature.
Battery, really too early to say anything. The Galaxy has a better battery according to the specification and so far I would agree. What happens when I start playing around, well time will tell.

Exchange support, my HTC Magic had excellent Exchange support out of the box whilst my new Galaxy has nothing but POP/IMAP for mail. I’ll look into this and see what can be arranged and if I find anything you know where the how-to will be published :)

Thats all for now but considering my history of running into technical corners with my toys you can expect some posts on how to get out of them. I’ll take some photos of my new baby when I get home and update the post.

>Tough week

Posted on October 8, 2009 by ET/Osky

This has really been a hard one, therefore no blogposts.
On Monday some sneaky bastard stole my phone and I’ve been trying to work without a calendar since then. Very confusing and with all the energy wasted on blocking the SIM, the phone, reporting to the police, the insurance company etcetera etcetera I haven’t had much left for the fun stuff in life. At least I finished last week with a high when installing Windows 7 so I can enjoy my laptop a bit extra now that my precious magic Android left me. On a side note, my brother just got a new phone…and he got himself an iPhone. Something must have gone bad in my attempts to save the world. Next week I’ll try to pick myself together and start thinking of who can ever replace the magic that once was, suggestions are welcome :)