Entries tagged 'lang:en' (Page 5)

Alternative Operating System: MikeOS

Entry created on 2022-03-29 (edited 2024-11-02) author:steeph (374) cat:#100DaysToOffload (41) cat:Computers (22) cat:MikeOS (2) cat:Operating Systems (24) cat:Software (53) cat:incomplete (21) lang:en (253) top:Software:Alternative Operating Systems (18)
This entry is referencing the entry 'Alternative Operating Systems'.

MikeOS

A very limited and simple operating system written in assembler for 286 computers (and newer compatible architechtures, obviously). Pretty much what I would imagine as a successful outcome if I would write one to see that I can do it. It works, there's a text editor, a game, you can list, edit and execute files. Not much more though at first glance. I didn't look into writing additional software for it myself, yet. There are many forks of MikeOS. Most of them named after the forker and not under active development. It's a project I'd look into if I'd want to learn x86 assembler. Simple, not looking like any other OS I've seen.

MikeOS is neither UNIX-like in any way nor is it similar to CP/M or DOS. It is closer to being a BASIC interpreter with a program menu. But there is a bit more to it. Everything is in the same text mode in VGA resolution. After booting, you get a box with list of menu items in pointing to submenus or executable programs. Among those programs are a BASIC interpreter, some simple games, a text editor and a file browser. That's about the gist of what you get. It's all very simple and fast. Enough to write your own applications or scripts. And it all fits on a single 3.5" HD floppy. There are third-party applications to be found on the internet. But almost all that I stumbled upon were part of MikeOS forks.

Next to the menu there is also a command line with a very small list of commands. To be honest, from a user point of view, I don't know what to do with it.

There are quite a few forks. It seems to be a great hobby project. And because it's all relatively simple it's a project you can actually finish after a while, not like writing your own UNIX clone with system tools, glibc port and modern GUI. MikeOS forks usually come with some additional apps and scripts and some changes in UI. Some add to the few system calls, add their own menu. Some even started to add network support. One MikeOS fork I have to mention is MichalOS because it overhauled the UI to make it more pleasing and added quite a few simple apps and games that all seem to be very stable. It has an image viewer and a music program. TomOS is a fork that adds support for directories. ShoockOS seems to be about simplifying things even more.

On the MikeOS web site there are handbooks, resources for development and links to software projects for MiikeOS. MikeOS is a great help if you want to learn x86 assembly in a practical way without starting from zero. But it is also useful as an OS for embedded applications or simple hobby projects (interacting with Arduino, other serial communication tasks, …). And it could also be considered useful for everyday tasks if you found a home computer from the mid 80s useful.

(tba:screenshots)

F(x)tec Pro¹ X

Entry created on 2024-10-05 (edited 2024-10-19) author:steeph (374) cat:#100DaysToOffload (41) cat:-e-OS (1) cat:Android (4) cat:Batteries (7) cat:Computers (22) cat:Crowdfunding (4) cat:Hands-On (3) cat:Hardware (16) cat:Keyboards (10) cat:LineageOS (1) cat:Phones (3) cat:Smartphones (4) lang:en (253)

So, I've hand this device with the weirdly complicated name spelling for a while now. But I haven't used it as my main phone since recently because I first wanted to flash a different OS onto it. I didn't have the capacity/time to take care of that among other reasons because it's something that I've rarely done, and never before successfully. After several failed attempts to get /e/OS to run on it, I've now settled fore LineageOS. Since I want to use it as my main phone from now on I don't think I'll experiment with any other systems on it for now, even though it would be the perfect phone to get some experience with Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish or some other Linux Distro.

Battery

The last time I've written about this device it looked like the battery was affected too much by having been empty for years, notz even allowing the phone to charge its own battery. Android suddenly shut down seemingly randomly and had 3 to 20 % battery when turning it back on minutes later evewn though it displayed 30 to 50 % when it turned off. Sometimes it displayed a higher battery charge after turning back on than when it turned itself off. Sometimes it would last less than five hours usage before it went down. This became better over time. It seems that Android became better at guessing the current battery charge. Now on LineageOS the battery doesn't last a whole day when it's used a lot, but so far it didn't do any surprise jumps or shutdowns. Technically, it lasts a bit over 24 hours with moderate usage. But that is with the last couple of hours under a warning LED (if I hadn't turned that off). According to the LineageOS settings, the battery is healthy and has 100% of its original capacity of 3313 mAh. That would be 113 mAh more than advertised. Maybe I'm just too spoiled by my previous 4000+ mAh devices with smaller and low-rews displays. I didn't do any independent measurement yet. (Edit: More on that in the last part of this entry.)

Keyboard

Probably the most important thing of this phone is the keyboard that makes it unique on today's marked. It is very similar to those of the later Nokia smartphones that still had keyboards. I sort of see it as an N900 with more room for a larger keyboard. It is crammed, but none of the keys are too hard too reach. Not even the number row, that has smaller keys very close to the screen. And every key on this board has a good reason to be there. As somebody coming from a Unihertz Titan Pocket with a Blackberry-style keyboard with a very reduced layout, I'm glad not only punctuatioin and number keys but also for proper arrow keys and four modifier keys of which the ones that are used as lot appear twice. I chose a German keyboard layourt because I'm used to it and can find every symbol I need on it, and it's useful to have the extra letters when I write in German. The Android it came with had only one German QUERTZ layout to select and it didn't match the labeling exactly. Some special characters were switched or missing, and it couldn't produce an apostrophe (') by any means. With LineageOS there is a 'F(x)tec QUERTZ' and that works perfectly now. After the first getting used to they keyboard is a delight to type on compared to any other phone I held in my hands in the last 5 years. I think I still like the Nokia N9300 and N9500 keyboard better. But the more layout closer to PCs does make more sense with a phone where apps aren't developed for that keyboard specifically. And I am enjoying the extra keys, especially on the command line. The backlight also works as one would expect, which is not a given in keyboard smartphones.

Camera

Let's not get into it too much. The camera isn't good. 48 MP doesn't mean anything when every picture that it produces is automatically heavily mushed by noise reductin. It's better than my last phone camera. It's able to produce photos with room light that aren't blurred to the point where you can't read anything. That's enough for me right now. It does have the bug where the camera app gets rotated when you open the phone (which forces all apps into landscape mode), but the image isn't rotated, but its dimensions are. The viewfinder isn't really usable with the keyboard open. But it's not as bad as it is with the Planet Computer phones/PDAs.

Display

Once a smartphone display has reached a certain quality, I don't have much to say about it. And that quality point has been matched even in cheap phones for years. It's bright enough, resolution is high enough, I don't know or care about the maximum frame rate, colours seem fine, viewing angle isn't an issue (very good actually), touch resolution is fine enough that it isn't a problem. It does have black spots in some corners. Apparently that is something that can happen when you bend a panel that maybe isn't advanced enough to be bent that much. The rounded edges are nice though and I don't mind the black spots as long as they aren't growing. I've never accidentally activaterd the touch screen while typing.

Fingerprint Sensor

It's located below the power button on the right. I haven't found a comfortable way of using it to unlock the phone, yet. Maybe I won't use it. It's irritating how often it thinks it's been used when I handle the phone and vibrated he phone. Sometimes it's locked for too many failed attempts once I actually want to use it.

Exterior

As for ports, there are two: USB-C and a headset jack. No more or less than necessary. There's one fingerprint sensor. There are four buttons: Power, volume up, volume down and camera. And then there's a SIM and SD card tray.

Sound

It has stereo speakers, which are actually placed on opposite sides, facing left and right when in landscape mode. They are loud enough and sound like phone speakers sound nowadays: clear, without any surprises and enough bass to not miss it during any sort of speech recording. The position of the speakers could be worse. They arent covered when the phone rests on somthing and they can't be accidentally covered both at the same time. But they aren't facing you directly and can't possibly both face you at the same time. So the sound will always be roomy if both speakers are on. Their distance also creates a problem that I've rarely heard in a phone: If both ar producing the same or almost the same sound waves, parts of them will cancel each other out before the reach your ears, especially if the phone isn't exactly in the middle between your ears and exactly horizontal and straight. At 50 cm distance, if you want to watch a video with sound, in order to understand ecerything, you have to turn up the volume so much that others in the room are wondering why you're watching at that volume. At least I have to and I would wonder. My solution is to turn one of the speakers off almost completely. One is still loud enough usually. In Google's Android the audio settings are hidden in advanced accessibility settings. On LineageOS audio adjustments are directly on the accessibility settings screen. Set to mono you'll still hear everything. The setting does not influence bluetooth earphones.

Practical Usage

Whether the screen is activated by opening the keyboard or by pressing the power button, it takes a second until the screen comes on. That's annoying, but I'm going to get used to it. It's the case with both stock Android and LineageOS.

For daily usage so far it has been great, except for the battery life. Once I've stopped downloading and installing lots of stuff every day and trying things out it has become better. Also I think the battery charge indication has been caribrated. Because it doens't turn off with two digits of battery charge left. I'be decided to go with the battery enabled all the time. This way it lasts well over one day, even when I use it a bit more than usual. According to both the phones own and my measurement the capacity is almost exactly as advertised. (4 to 13 mAh more. I didn't factor in the voltage.) But the fact that it's runtime is at least a third shorter than that of by previous phone (with a smaller battery) makes me think it that the screen and other parts are probably not as energy efficient. I glady charge it more often for the experience with the better keyboard.

WAMP 2025

Entry created on 2024-10-01 author:steeph (374) cat:Camping (7) cat:Camps (7) cat:Events (23) cat:Pictures (61) lang:en (253) top:Events:Camps (7) top:Events:Chaos:WAMP (5)

Not much to see here. But since I posted some pictures from WAMP in the previous years, I'm continuing the tradition with a few snapshots.

File Attachments (45 files)
WAMP2025-0.jpeg (image/jpeg, 984359 B)
WAMP2025-0.jpeg (image/jpeg, 984359 B)
WAMP2025-1.jpeg (image/jpeg, 487821 B)
WAMP2025-1.jpeg (image/jpeg, 487821 B)
WAMP2025-10.jpeg (image/jpeg, 219246 B)
WAMP2025-10.jpeg (image/jpeg, 219246 B)
WAMP2025-11.jpeg (image/jpeg, 524166 B)
WAMP2025-11.jpeg (image/jpeg, 524166 B)
WAMP2025-12.jpeg (image/jpeg, 441019 B)
WAMP2025-12.jpeg (image/jpeg, 441019 B)
WAMP2025-13.jpeg (image/jpeg, 618362 B)
WAMP2025-13.jpeg (image/jpeg, 618362 B)
WAMP2025-14.jpeg (image/jpeg, 481447 B)
WAMP2025-14.jpeg (image/jpeg, 481447 B)
WAMP2025-15.jpeg (image/jpeg, 670081 B)
WAMP2025-15.jpeg (image/jpeg, 670081 B)
WAMP2025-16.jpeg (image/jpeg, 621260 B)
WAMP2025-16.jpeg (image/jpeg, 621260 B)
WAMP2025-17.jpeg (image/jpeg, 991380 B)
WAMP2025-17.jpeg (image/jpeg, 991380 B)
WAMP2025-18.jpeg (image/jpeg, 803455 B)
WAMP2025-18.jpeg (image/jpeg, 803455 B)
WAMP2025-19.jpeg (image/jpeg, 521150 B)
WAMP2025-19.jpeg (image/jpeg, 521150 B)
WAMP2025-2.jpeg (image/jpeg, 424403 B)
WAMP2025-2.jpeg (image/jpeg, 424403 B)
WAMP2025-20.jpeg (image/jpeg, 329465 B)
WAMP2025-20.jpeg (image/jpeg, 329465 B)
WAMP2025-21.jpeg (image/jpeg, 525404 B)
WAMP2025-21.jpeg (image/jpeg, 525404 B)
WAMP2025-22.jpeg (image/jpeg, 778254 B)
WAMP2025-22.jpeg (image/jpeg, 778254 B)
WAMP2025-23.jpeg (image/jpeg, 289146 B)
WAMP2025-23.jpeg (image/jpeg, 289146 B)
WAMP2025-24.jpeg (image/jpeg, 347383 B)
WAMP2025-24.jpeg (image/jpeg, 347383 B)
WAMP2025-25.jpeg (image/jpeg, 612483 B)
WAMP2025-25.jpeg (image/jpeg, 612483 B)
WAMP2025-26.jpeg (image/jpeg, 381756 B)
WAMP2025-26.jpeg (image/jpeg, 381756 B)
WAMP2025-27.jpeg (image/jpeg, 333832 B)
WAMP2025-27.jpeg (image/jpeg, 333832 B)
WAMP2025-28.jpeg (image/jpeg, 579533 B)
WAMP2025-28.jpeg (image/jpeg, 579533 B)
WAMP2025-29.jpeg (image/jpeg, 803578 B)
WAMP2025-29.jpeg (image/jpeg, 803578 B)
WAMP2025-3.jpeg (image/jpeg, 465987 B)
WAMP2025-3.jpeg (image/jpeg, 465987 B)
WAMP2025-30.jpeg (image/jpeg, 625647 B)
WAMP2025-30.jpeg (image/jpeg, 625647 B)
WAMP2025-31.jpeg (image/jpeg, 696783 B)
WAMP2025-31.jpeg (image/jpeg, 696783 B)
WAMP2025-32.jpeg (image/jpeg, 555432 B)
WAMP2025-32.jpeg (image/jpeg, 555432 B)
WAMP2025-33.jpeg (image/jpeg, 547634 B)
WAMP2025-33.jpeg (image/jpeg, 547634 B)
WAMP2025-34.jpeg (image/jpeg, 245317 B)
WAMP2025-34.jpeg (image/jpeg, 245317 B)
WAMP2025-35.jpeg (image/jpeg, 569524 B)
WAMP2025-35.jpeg (image/jpeg, 569524 B)
WAMP2025-36.jpeg (image/jpeg, 598359 B)
WAMP2025-36.jpeg (image/jpeg, 598359 B)
WAMP2025-37.jpeg (image/jpeg, 148227 B)
WAMP2025-37.jpeg (image/jpeg, 148227 B)
WAMP2025-38.jpeg (image/jpeg, 536954 B)
WAMP2025-38.jpeg (image/jpeg, 536954 B)
WAMP2025-39.jpeg (image/jpeg, 664941 B)
WAMP2025-39.jpeg (image/jpeg, 664941 B)
WAMP2025-4.jpeg (image/jpeg, 714197 B)
WAMP2025-4.jpeg (image/jpeg, 714197 B)
WAMP2025-40.jpeg (image/jpeg, 643599 B)
WAMP2025-40.jpeg (image/jpeg, 643599 B)
WAMP2025-41.jpeg (image/jpeg, 638516 B)
WAMP2025-41.jpeg (image/jpeg, 638516 B)
WAMP2025-42.jpeg (image/jpeg, 757169 B)
WAMP2025-42.jpeg (image/jpeg, 757169 B)
WAMP2025-43.jpeg (image/jpeg, 627427 B)
WAMP2025-43.jpeg (image/jpeg, 627427 B)
WAMP2025-44.jpeg (image/jpeg, 573342 B)
WAMP2025-44.jpeg (image/jpeg, 573342 B)
WAMP2025-5.jpeg (image/jpeg, 266572 B)
WAMP2025-5.jpeg (image/jpeg, 266572 B)
WAMP2025-6.jpeg (image/jpeg, 288803 B)
WAMP2025-6.jpeg (image/jpeg, 288803 B)
WAMP2025-7.jpeg (image/jpeg, 513036 B)
WAMP2025-7.jpeg (image/jpeg, 513036 B)
WAMP2025-8.jpeg (image/jpeg, 505111 B)
WAMP2025-8.jpeg (image/jpeg, 505111 B)
WAMP2025-9.jpeg (image/jpeg, 289019 B)
WAMP2025-9.jpeg (image/jpeg, 289019 B)

Today I've learned slow progress is still progress.

Entry created on 2024-09-30 author:steeph (374) cat:ADHD (3) cat:TIL (1) lang:en (253)

I haven't only learned that today. But I'm starting a "Today I've learned…" series of entries, in which I won't be picky about actually having learned something that day for the first time.

I've learned that tiny steps towards a goal may only seem tiny compared to the size of the steps you were or are imagining taking. The are always infinitely larger than no step at all. If you think you should be able to do/finish a task today, you may not. But if you try and only finish it by 50%, you've done what was possible and learned that this task can take longer than you thought. That's two good things. If you image you can do 10% of a task today, but you end up only finishing 1% of it, that's not as tiny of a progress than it may feel. It is only small in comparison of what you imagined before starting. If the task doesn't go as well as imagined, including not as fast, it runs the risk of getting put of because it's no fun, frustrating or doesn't seem worth the effort. That is not making progress. Doing 0.1% of a task today is progress. And still infinitely more progress than planning to do it tomorrow or next week.

There are probably sayings about this "wisdom". It can seem banal. But sometimes it can be very relevant ro be reminded of this fact. Doing the next step is the way to start to do something. If the next step is not clear, thinking or inquiring about the next step is the next step. If it's complicated/many unclear steps are involved, written and drawn plan can help. The next step is the single one thing that you have to do. All the complicated stuff comes after. If that is taking a tool out of a box, that's it. Then you can still think about the next step. If a task seems overwhelming or you're acting as if it does, do just one or two things, then see what comes next. Or do it for only one minute even though you know it'll take fifty times as long. Once you've started, you'll probably do it for more than a minute. If not: Fine, that was the plan. That was still progress.

It is easy to forget about this perspectve. There are ways of reminding oneself of them. But this entry is not about them. Although I didn't intend to go the entry in that direction, I'm going ahead and add an ADHD tag to this to make it clear that I noticed in what direction it went.

Telling Old Stories For No Important Reason

Entry created on 2024-09-28 author:steeph (374) cat:Memories (2) cat:Stories (1) cat:Writing (4) lang:en (253)

I think I'm prone to telling stories from my past when I'm left with the choice of topic but there is no obvious topic right now that has to be discussed. So at moments at which I want to write something on here but not because there is a specific thing that I want to say or explore, I may fall back to telling about things that I did or made or remember from 20 years or so ago. That might seem nostalgic at (many) times. BNut I don't think that that's a bad thing at all. When I write about things I remember fondly, I welcome the feelings such memries evoke. Yearning or unfulfillable longing something from the past that can't be brought back isn't usually part of this. I like sharing some memories, like how my PC hobby was like decades ago were the industry and especially the tech itself was different. And on here, I decide what's worth talking about. Yes, this is a bit of an apologetical entry. Whatever.

I'd love to read from you if you either had different or the same experiences of things that I write about. There's a link for e-mail comments beneath each entry.

When somebody says they're reprocessing old memories it's expected to mean that they're looking back and coming to terms with their past. I think can also be meant in a good way. I'm remembering something and decide to explore my memories of it further; maybe because I'm inmdtrigued of the feeling of remembering something that I had completely forgotton about for 20 years, or simply because it's a nice memory. Maybe I'm looking at old photos of things that made, people I've met, places I've travelled to; and while more and more memories from that time come back, I eventually put them into my new perspective. I know I'm also changing my memories when I do this. The psychology of how memories are formed, saved, remembered and altered (and sometimes faked entirely) is very interesting. There are so many papers to read about memory-related researtch that suggest that most people most of the time assume that (at least their own) memory function differently from what it actually does and is granted much more credibility than it deserves. But anyway, it can be vbery interesting to bring memories from way back into connection with what you've experienced since then and your reality today.

What I'm doing here when I wriote about an idea for something that I had 20 years ago or something that I made back then, I'm slowly catching up with my desire to document certain things from my head. Text is the medium that feels right for that. A few years ago I've accepted that I will never have the perfect website which contains everything that I want it to, complete and structured and nothing boring. Because I never got anywhere when that was my goal. Now I'm just putting thing in entries and that's that. That also includes things that even 20 years ago I wanted to publish on the web but never did properly. I'm not doing it in the way that I decided then was the proper way. I'm just writing down thoughts and memories so that these memories don't belong in the "Oh, I never ended up deing this. Maybe I should at some point." category in my mind. Sometimes it feels like I have accomplished something that I had in the back of my head for 20 years simply because I write here that I once had this idea and still think it's a kind of neat idea but never did anything with it. And sometimes I delete it again right away because it really wasn't interesting in any way.

Go To Navigation Page
Show/Hide Navigation