damonkohler.com

I have a Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard. I like it a lot for use with our HTPC. However, I found that when the HTPC is suspended, the keyboard would not reconnect on resume. I found this solution on the Ubuntu Forums and it works for me. Edit /etc/default/acpi-support to remove and reload the Bluetooth module on suspend and resume: # This will save less power, but may work on more machines #ACPI_SLEEP_MODE=mem ACPI_SLEEP_MODE=standby # Add modules to this list to have them removed before suspend and reloaded # on resume. An example would be MODULES="em8300 yenta_socket" # # Note that network cards and USB controllers will automatically be unloaded # unless they're listed in MODULES_WHITELIST MODULES="i8042" # Add modules to this list to leave them in the kernel over suspend/resume MODULES_WHITELIST=""

This weekend I finished hooking up my MakerBot Cupcake CNC to use Bluetooth. This has been done before. However, I've not found any instructions for setting up ReplicatorG (aka RepG) to use a Bluetooth serial connection under Ubuntu. I'm using a BlueSMiRF from SparkFun and hooking it up to a Gen3 RepRap motherboard. This is slightly more complicated to use than using a Bluetooth Mate because the pin-out does not match the TTL serial header on the RepRap motherboard. Paeae Technologies has a nice tutorial for using a BlueSMiRF . There's also a nice tutorial for using a Bluetooth Mate on the MakerBot wiki. If you use a BlueSMiRF like me, I recommend using short pieces of wire to attach the BlueSMiRF to the female header. It's easier to do than bending the pins like Paeae Technologies suggests. Also, you can see that I have the RTS-O pin disconnected. Although I didn't experience any problems, the Paeae Technologies tutorial reports that leaving it connected c...

The Logitech diNovo Edge is a pretty slick Bluetooth keyboard. It's thin, light, has months of battery life, and looks great too. It even works out of the box on Ubuntu Lucid. Well, almost. I had trouble with it disconnecting. It would be fine for a day or so, but then not work some evening. Sometimes just the keyboard would stop and the touchpad would be fine. Other times it wouldn't work at all. I had read that one of the great things about the keyboard is that it's capable of pairing with the dongle without any help from the OS. However, this only works if the dongle isn't initialized as a Bluetooth device. For example, in the BIOS screen, the keyboard works flawlessly. So, I set about preventing it from being initialized as a Bluetooth device. There's a lot of bug reports and workarounds  related to pairing problems, etc. and I didn't have success with any of the suggestions. Instead, I did something similar to this more recent suggestion and change...

I just published Bot Commander , the code for my Lego NXT rover . There's a lot left to be done, but release early and often, right? Currently it provides a UI for controlling the direction and speed of all three motor ports on the NXT brick. You can link motors together to adjust their speed in unison. In addition, you can enable "Tilt Control" for a steering-wheel-type experience. To use tilt control: Hook up motor A and B to be the left and right wheels of your vehicle. Hold the phone sideways (i.e. landscape). Tilt the phone forward and backward to drive forward and backward. Turn the phone right and left (like a steering wheel) to steer right and left. As you tilt the phone, you'll see the UI update the slider controls for the speed of motors A and B. I plan to expand the UI to provide a lot more than just motor control. Before that, though, I'll push a JAR to make it easy to integrate control of Lego NXT robots into your own Android project. The code...

I just got my N95 and I've been playing with it for a little while. It's awesome. Here's some things I've been busy with: The firmware it ships with is about 5 major revisions behind. Upgrade it ASAP. I've found some great instructions on getting the N95 to work as a Bluetooth modem on OS X. He doesn't mention though that the APN listed on the connection settings page should be used for the GPRS CID string. (See update below.) I also recommend configuring the computer as an authorized device on the N95 so that you don't have to confirm the connection every time. PyS60 . Installed no sweat. Oh, the possibilities. Google maps with GPS is great. The N95 comes with Nokia maps, but so far I prefer the Google app. The Google mail app is great (except I can't seem to log out... wtf?) ShoZu is very cool. It lets me geotag my photos and upload them to PicasaWeb and YouTube (plus a multitude of other services I don't care about). I'll have a map with a...