Heisenbugs of a Heisenlife

Giving a lecture at this year's expolibre

2011-11-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you around Talca and wanting to talk FOSS, Youness Aloui, Thibault Saunier and your's truly are going to be speaking at this year's Expolibre thanks to the gentle support of our company and the organizer's invitation.

I was talking yesterday with a fellow coworker on how community events like the good old ones get shadowed under the massive, corporate backed ones you see in the tech news by the day. Sadly as it might sound to a few (at least --And I hope), we are slowly beginning to forget there are still some guys out there that resisting the thrust of being only motivated by what to sell next year and how to make it so it goes good and cheap at the same time (like if it was possible, someway), still gather to share views, knowledge and maybe-naive-but-still-valid desires of steer collaborative innovation a bit away from the dreaded coin-only focus. We need to take an step back sometimes and think about some important things we forget on the rush of our everyday paid developer's life; there's a community that saw us shooting at the stars once and has continued backing up most of the technology we rely on. Supplying not only that but: tools, a beyond-technical environment and a reason for trying not only to do things right but do good while we are at it. Attending this kind of events is my way of taking that needed step back and I couldn't be more happier about working for a company that not only allows me to but go as far as directly supporting the event with the time of its devs.

So, if you find yourself wandering around Talca (VII Region, Chile. Some 3 hours away from Santiago) by the 24/12/2011 and wanna go do some knowledge sharing and hear and talk about FOSS without having to pay a penny, then go there. I have been giving speaks at this conference for the last 3 years and one thing I can guarantee you is that it's worth the time you will spend.

Thibault Saunier will be talking about video editing with PiTiVi, Youness Aloui will be talking about FOSS and the fights some users have to go through to make sure their rights don't get crippled by merely buying a product and I'm going to be sharing the goods of GStreamer through a gently introduction for beginners. Don't worry about not having an strong software developent background because our talks are geared towards anyone that doesn't run away from a mouse.

C you there!

GStreamer on Android, The NDK way

2011-11-08T15:02:00.001-08:00

Long story short; thanks to my employer, Collabora, I have been working on getting GStreamer built and installed as a native support library under Android using the NDK. We had this working and announced for last GSTConf at Prague but there were a few details to iron out to get our work in shape for external testing.

The idea behind this adventure is showing the world you can benefit from this marvelous, swissknife-like media framework under the green droid's platform utilizing a least intrusive path.

We worked a few months ago on having GStreamer built as part of Android itself and while I do believe that approach should benefit system integrators rolling out their own customized Android version, it has the drawback of requiring both patching and building the entire Android OS and having administrative (root) access to your device. This is arguably not a problem for the most adventurous among you but we figured out providing a way to benefit from all the goods in GStreamer without forcing you to perform any major hacks was worth trying. So we did.

To be really honest, most of this work wouldn't have been possible (or at least really, like _REALLY_ harder) without the help of Collabora's own Derek Foreman's Androgenizer. You will need this tool if you want to try building our NDK bundle. And if you are working on porting some other complex project to Android; You need it too! so go check it out.

Right now you can get instructions on how to build GStreamer using the NDK and install it on your device at our freedesktop wikipage. Here is a quick run down of what is currently workig:

Building most of gstreamer, -base, -good, -bad, -ugly & -openmax. The first 5 entirely from upstream!
Building of our set of support libraries for this bundle (glib, x264, ogg, libmad, faad, libid3tag)
Building gstaudioflingersink from gst-android. We are still working on gstsurfaceflingersink to adapt it to some late API changes in Gingerbread
APK generation and Installation. Mind you this is not a real Android GUI application, just the set of GStreamer libraries and executables for you to build upon
Execution of gst- binaries on the device using run-as

Suported Android versions:

Gingerbread and Honeycomb

Test devices:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Google Nexus S

This is still a work in progress but as I trust the community to be a great vehicle for driving innovation forward and have the luxury of working for a Company that supports this very same principle, I decided to have this aired so I can benefit from both your testing and feedback.

If you give this process a try and feel like supporting our work, please consider subscribing to our mailing list and sharing your experience!

Adding XSUB support to GStreamer

2010-11-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

So I have been working on adding XSUB support to GStreamer as a landing task at my new job. To be honest, I didn't expect it to go as easy. Don't get me wrong, I do know most subpicture encoding schemes are kind of trivial, what I expected to be hard was to work with the GStreamer's plugin API, which was a completely new monster for me. Long history short; with the help of several coworkers and some good documentation, I have patch ready to be tested. There are still a few things here and there that might benefit from some tweaking but overall the code does its job and its in dire need of some testing love :) Dunno how long it would take for it to land in -bad but for the time being you can follow current development here.

If you want to test the code you might consider using a pipeline along these lines:

gst-launch-0.10 -v --gst-debug=xsub:5 xsub name=overlay show-background=FALSE ! ffmpegcolorspace ! xvimagesink filesrc location=/somepath/small.divx ! avidemux name=d d.video_00 ! queue ! decodebin2 ! ffmpegcolorspace ! overlay.video_sink d.video_01 ! queue ! overlay.xsub_sink

I'd put some screenshots here but I have been unable to find samples I can share.

Making great ER diagrams without drawing

2010-10-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

This one will be short :-)

I needed to draw a decent looking Entity Relationship diagram for an academic assignment --BORING. This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder why I surrendered my soul to this degree hunting battle. Anyway, there are two utilities (Maybe more, who knows) that might help the candidate ER Michelangelo: Dia and kivio. Now, if you are into buttons and mousing that's all you should need; pick one, search for some online examples and you will be done in no time. Chances are your drawing will look like shit but then again, you'd be an artist you proly wouldn't be reading this anyway. Now, I'm not really into WYSIWYG so I searched a little more and discovered a life savior: The Tikz-er2 LaTeX package.

Not wanting to bore you more than what's strictly needed to communicate my joy, here is a complete example almost right from the documentation.

Neat isn't it?

Well, If you are still interested you should take a look at the

package documentation. It's quite short, just a few pages

long. For the time being and to aid your experiments here

is the LaTeX source for the above displayed diagram:


\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{report}
\usepackage{ucs}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[spanish]{babel}
\usepackage{tikz-er2}


\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usetikzlibrary{shadows}

\tikzstyle{every entity} = [top color=white, bottom color=blue!30,
                       draw=blue!50!black!100, drop shadow]
\tikzstyle{every weak entity} = [drop shadow={shadow xshift=.7ex,
                                         shadow yshift=-.7ex}]
\tikzstyle{every attribute} = [top color=white, bottom color=yellow!20,
                          draw=yellow, node distance=7em, drop shadow]
\tikzstyle{every relationship} = [top color=white, bottom color=red!20,
                             draw=red!50!black!100, drop shadow]
\tikzstyle{every isa} = [top color=white, bottom color=green!20,
                    draw=green!50!black!100, drop shadow]

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=8em, every edge/.style={link}]
\node[entity] (persona) {Persona};
\node[attribute] (pid) [left of=persona] {\key{id\_persona}} edge (persona);
\node[attribute] (name) [below left of=persona] {nombre} edge (persona);
\node[multi attribute] (fono) [above of=persona] {fono} edge (persona);
   \node[attribute] (anex) [right of=fono] {anexo} edge (fono);
   \node[attribute] (number) [below left of=fono, node distance=5em] {number} edge (fono);
\node[attribute] (email) [above right of=persona] {email} edge (persona);
\node[relationship] (pertenece) [right of=persona] {Pertenece} edge node[auto,swap] {1:1} (persona);

\node[entity] (depto) [right of=pertenece] {Depto} edge node[auto,swap] {0:N} (pertenece);
\node[attribute] (iddepto) [above of=depto] {\key{id\_depto}} edge (depto);
\node[attribute] (dname) [above right of=depto] {d\_name} edge (depto);
\node[rectangle, draw=black, fit=(pertenece), inner sep=0em] (ipertenece) {};
\node[relationship] (tieneun) [below of=pertenece] {Ocupa} edge node[auto,swap] {1:1} (pertenece);

\node[entity] (cargo) [right of=tieneun] {Cargo} edge node[auto,swap] {0:N} (tieneun);
\node[attribute] (idcargo) [right of=cargo] {\key{id\_cargo}} edge (cargo);
\node[attribute] (cname) [above right of=cargo] {c\_name} edge (cargo);
\node[attribute] (plevel) [below right of=cargo] {nivel} edge (cargo);

\node[relationship] (responde) [below of=persona] {Responde} edge node[auto,swap] {1:N} (ipertenece);

\node[entity] (pregunta) [below of=tieneun] {Pregunta};
\node[attribute] (idpreg) [below of=pregunta] {\key{id\_preg}} edge (pregunta);
\node[attribute] (ptexto) [below right of=pregunta] {p\_texto} edge (pregunta);
\node[attribute] (pnumber) [right of=pregunta] {p\_numero} edge (pregunta);

\node[relationship] (tiene) [below of=responde] {Tiene} edge node[auto,swap] {1:N} (pregunta) edge node[auto,swap] {0:N} (responde);
\node[rectangle, draw=black, fit=(tiene), inner sep=0em] (itiene) {};

\node[entity] (alternativa) [left of=tiene] {Alternativa} edge node[auto,swap] {1:1} (tiene);
\node[attribute] (idalt) [above of=alternativa] {\key{id\_altern}} edge (alternativa);
\node[attribute] (atexto) [below of=alternativa] {a\_texto} edge (alternativa);
\node[attribute] (anumber) [below right of=alternativa] {a\_numero} edge (alternativa);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Hope it helps.

Attempting to filter out the annoying Vuvuzela with MPlayer

2010-06-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

So, just followed an Slashdot link that got me to a lifehacker post about removing the infamous Vuvuzela sound from the FIFA 2010 worldcup broadcasts by equalizing out ~250 and ~500 Hz respectively. Now, as some of you might know, with MPlayer -af equalizer you can attempt such procedure.

Here is a quick cmd line for you to try out:

mplayer -af resample=192000,equalizer=0:0:0:-12:-12:0:0:0:0:0 [someavfile]

The resampling is almost guaranteed to be needed, otherwise the equalizer will throw away everything above your original material's sample rate. You might also want to try out sinesupress from the -af filters, let me know if you get any better results with that approach.

Quick tip on transfering files from your phone to your gnome-ill computer

2009-03-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, I just hate when things that are supposed to work
right out of the box just doesn't..., Anyway, 4 steps
recipe to get this working under debian/sid:

1.- Install gnome-bluetooth and bluez-gnome: (as root) apt-get install gnome-bluetooth bluez-gnome
2.- Run bluetooth-applet if its not running already: bluetooth-applet
3.- Make your adapter discoverable and connectable: Right click on bluetooth-applet, then preferences, then choose 'Visible and connectable for other devices' under 'Mode of operation'.
4.- run gnome-obex-server from the console, an small icon should pop up on your pannel.

Now do what you need to do on your phone to select and send your files.

Not saying this is the right way to do it but what the hell, this should get you going.

Quick tip on encoding video for your iriver E100

2008-06-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

So you bought one of these players just to find out that

It supports just a subset of MPEG4 SP (strictly speaking it is NOT MPEG4 SP complaint).
The bundled movie converter, while based on MPlayer and FFmpeg does not work on Linux.

Let alone the blatant GPL violation (friends at MPlayer/FFmpeg fame says a team of assassins was already dispatched iriver's way. Rumor has it includes members of the Project From Hell age -- you have been warned).

I thought about quickly drafting a better and cross plataform movie converter but then realized I should maybe give you a working encoding recipe first (not to mention I have a lot on my TODO already), so, here it is:

Install MPlayer. If the one you installed has support for XviD in mencoder you are golden, otherwise you might have to build and install a custom one (If you use debian and maybe in ubuntu too, installing libxvidcore4-dev before building MPlayer from svn should be enough).

Proceed to encode your video with this cmd line:
mencoder INFILE.SOMETHING -vf scale=320,expand=320:240 -oac mp3lame -lameopts abr=128 -ovc xvid -xvidencopts bitrate=600:max_bframes=0:vhq=4 -of avi -o OUTFILE.AVI

Of course you can customize this, specially the -vf part. I myself have to try other codecs yet.

Special thanks go to Robert Swain who helped figuring this
out yesterday. The dude has a lot of talent encoding with constrained/crippled neat gadgets as targets. Go read his blog and send him my regards.

Shame on you Iriver..., Shame on you.

Fun

2008-02-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

There are 2 kinds of guys in this world; the ones who think the 'there are 10 kinds of ppl in this world..' joke is funny... And those who got laid already.

--
Reynaldo

Talk in Concepción

2007-11-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have been invited to give an small introductory talk about our beloved XO as part of the second 'Free Software and Technology' meeting at the Universidad Católica de la Santisima Concepción. This year's topics are centered around education and its my intention to be able to highlight the amazing features of the children's laptop as an educational tool. This is happening tomorrow at 16:00 local time (currently UTC-3) so if you are by any chance near Talcahuano/Concepción feel free to drop by.

The world as he saw it

2007-10-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

for those out there seeking for a reason to *believe* (if there is such a thing), this quote may come in handy:

What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion, Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.

The quote is from 'The world as I see it', a collection of Einstein authored texts that picture him in a way his relatives and friends like. This must be the third time I read it (I have made several attempts as my English improved -- yeah, It was even worst) but this time it stroke me harder. I'm living a whole new tale now, surrounded by my childs & taking care of needs other than my own. Dunno about you but I can sure use some guiltless believing.

Farewell light

2007-10-22T21:10:00.001-07:00

So, sad but true -- Keyboard LEDs were removed a while back and I still miss them. Not that I haven't mourn enough on this but still hurts. Why, you might wonder (if you care at all). Well, here is the story:

When approaching OLPC for the first time I quickly sought something to do to start bonding with the existing development team. It wasn't really that difficult, this was soon after A-Test prototypes became available so really, there was a massive amount of stuff for a newcomer to pick and do. I don't recall if writing the kernel driver for these LEDs was my first choice but I do recall Chris Ball helped me through it from the ground up, Andres Salomon was there too and at some point I got help from Marcelo Tosatti and Jonathan Corvet (Thanks All). The driver had two incarnations, It's latter one used the LED subsystem (which btw, I advice you to hack on if you're starting or thinking on doing some kernel work for the first time) and made its way into the shipped kernel. I'm not good with dates but I will go ahead and pretend the code made a few hundred keyboards shine for about two months, now its gone. It turned out the LEDs where not fulfilling their purpose not to mention they sucked too much power so they were banned.

These LEDs were for me like a badge for others; a way to open some doors. From there I have done a few things but sadly -- none of them 'shines' the way these folks did. I'm going to miss them, Can't help it.

Long live light!

Mathsalvation

2007-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

There was a footpath leading across fields to New Southgate, and I used to go there alone to watch the sunset and contemplate suicide. I did not, however, commit suicide, because I wished to know more of mathematics.

--
Bertrand Russell