Phil's Blog

Magic TrackPad from Apple running under WinXP SP3

2011-09-14T19:39:00.000+02:00

Hi foxes!

I have bought a Magic TrackpPad from Apple few days ago. And today, I'm using it under WinXP on my laptop.

It was quite tricky to set up, but now, I'm very pleased to use it. Definitely,using one figer as a left click, 2 fingers as a right click, vertical scrolling in application using 2 fingers is really nice. You should give it a try, even if 69 euros is expensive.

To set it up under windows, here are the main steps :

1. install the apple driver. You can extract them from BootCamp.exe. Or you can download it from here.
2. Turn ON the bluetooth hardware.
3. From Control Panel > System info menu, look for an USB bluetooth device
4. Write somewhere the name of your hardware device ID. For me, it was :
- USB\VID_0DB0&PID_A97A&Rev_3164
- USB\VID_0DB0&PID_A97A
5. Edit the following file : C:\WINDOWS\Inf\bth.inf

6. In a section such [Toshiba.NT.5.1] add the previous lines such as :
- TOSHIBA MSI U100 Integrated Bluetooth 4= BthUsb, USB\VID_0DB0&PID_A97A&Rev_3164
- TOSHIBA MSI U100 Integrated Bluetooth 5= BthUsb, USB\VID_0DB0&PID_A97A
7. Save the changes.

8. Remove any bluetooth stack different from the WinXP one (the reason). For example, I had to remove the "Blutooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba" on my laptop, from the Add/Remove Application menu.

9. Reboot your laptop OR turn off/turn ON the bluetooth hardware.

10. The bluetooth hardware will be automatically detected. Windows will look for driver installation. You should point to the following folder : C:\WINDOWS\Inf

11. driver will be successfully installed.

12. You will get a "Bluetooth Menu" in the "Control Panel"

13. You can pair the magic trackpad now, and you will get everything available under Windows with the Magic Trackpad.

Enjoy the new experience :)

Emacs as a mail reader

2011-08-09T22:30:00.012+02:00

Hi,

For some weeks now, I'm trying to use emacs as a mail reader. I want to remove sylpheed as I don't use it very often. Plus, I would like to become more power using emacs too.

As today my main machine is running under windows, things are a little bit more complex than using any unix.

So, here is my configuration : emacs 23.3.1.

To be able to get your mails from IMAPS servers, you need to be able to open a SSL connection. You can read Configuring Gnus and Gmail With IMAP on MS Windows. I prefer to use stunnel. So, I can manage a simplier gnus.el configuration.

Example for gmail:

stunnel file

[imaps-gmail]
accept=localhost:12345
connect=imap.gmail.com:993

gnus.el for email reading

;;limit the number of fetch email (too avoid to slow down the system and to run in out of memory)
(setq gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles 30)
;;here, only 30 mails are fetched
;;gmail account
(setq gnus-select-method '(nnimap "Example GMAIL"
(nnimap-address "localhost")
(nnimap-server-port 12345)
(nnimap-authenticator login)
(nnimap-stream network)
(nnimap-authinfo-file
"~/.imap-auth")
))

the imap-auth file

machine localhost login GMAIL_LOGIN password GMAIL_PASSWORD port 12345

You must have at least one gnus-select-method in this file before using the gnus-secondary-select-methods !!! It is hardly said on the web.

A great tutorial,My experiences from setting up Gnus with nnimap and Courier IMAP, about the splitting feature provided by emacs. Splitting is like an automatic sorting according to rules, like in outlook.

Sources

A way to configure nokia mail and so to use push mail on nokia devices

2011-08-09T21:51:00.000+02:00

Hi,

This blog is describing how to set up push mail using nokia messaging. This solution is using IMAP protocol, which needs a specific subscription in France if you don't want to be in bankrupt.

On a GMAIL account, you can use MFE (Mail for Exchange) too. This way is only using https protocol, so it will be great for any internet / data subscription on your cell phone.

Enjoy your emails ;)

Nokia Messaging Push Email Setup on Nokia E5

There are lots of issues and problems reported about people have trouble setting up Nokia Messaging account on Nokia E5, below are the steps to follow for successful configurations: (Assuming you have Internet Setup/GPRS Configuration / WLAN done on your device)

Goto Control Panel, Setting, General, Personalization, Messaging Key, Messaging Key, Short Press.
Set short press to Email Setup.
Exit from Control Panel and short-press the messaging key
It will bring the Nokia messaging setup, enter Gamil credentials
Follow the instruction and you're done
Sing in to (https://email.nokia.com/account/login.action) with your step 4 Gmail credentials
Setup other email account (Max 10 including first Gamil one)
All of configured Email accounts are will be available on your device shortly
Perform step 1 and set short-press to default
Cheers

How to optimize mail reading

2011-07-14T21:04:00.000+02:00

Hi Foxes!

When you are dealing with many mail account, you know, it takes a lot of time. Firrst, you have to found an efficient email client, and that is very difficult. Plus, today, everyone is using IMAP protocol to deal with email, if it is not the HTTPS provided from GMAIL or another webmail gateway.

So, according to some reading, the best combo is to use a local IMAP server which will retrieve/fetch mails from a remote server to the local server, then use a regular mail client to read mail which are on the local computer. So, reading is fast, search is fast too, and you can read your mails offline too :D.

I let you read this comment.

So, one nice solution may be to use :

offlineimap to create a maildir mail database from a remote IMAP server. It needs Python.
use an email client which fully support maildir database OR use a POP/IMAP local server such :

dovecot on linux
xmail server on linux and windows
UW Imap on windows and linux. No more under development
panda imap

an email cliant such GNUS (emacs), Mutt, Alpine, etc.

Such combinaison is described there for MacOS.

Another solution is to use a local mail server which can retrieve mails from a remote server, such as :

hmailserver is working pretty nice under windows. You should read ALL the documentation. Everything is on the website. It is quite easy to configure everything.

Light - small footprint MP3 / Music player for windows

2011-07-10T10:54:00.000+02:00

Hi foxes!

Since web browsing is more and more ressource consumming, I was looking for a way to save some CPU and RAM memory when I was listening music and browsing internet under windows. Usually, I was using the great VLC software. Now, I'm using Evil Player. It can plays OGG, MP3, FLAC files.It has a very small footprint (around 3Mo once it has been minimize in the system tray), it is efficient. Today, it fills my need.

You can have a look to other mp3 players :

Comments on many MP3 player for windows

Evil Player

audio player

xmplay

1by1

Damn Small Media Player

CoolPlayer

Billy

Spider Player Pro (it is FREE, licence is written on the download page)

FooBar2000

How to Get Things Done and be Zen To Done

2011-07-10T10:43:00.000+02:00

Hi Foxes!

I'm always looking for advices and feedback about how to get things done and how to balance work life and private life. So, few months ago, I have read some articles about the GTD (Getting Things Done) think tank from David Allen. So, I have decided to read a little bit more about it, and I have found a new think tank, much easier to apply : Zen To Done. Because I think that everything must be kept as simple as possible, overall in organization topic and technical topic, I think I will try to apply this method in a few days. I will later talk about my personal experience.

Quick presentation of emacs (few lines), feedback from GTD and Kanban methodologies [mobile: http://bit.ly/jS05hT]
How to interface GNUS with Planner and Muse to act according to the GTD methodology. [mobile : http://bit.ly/ktslgI]
how to use GTD with emacs org-mode [mobile : http://bit.ly/kXwwaL]
A very good example of useful and simple GTD implementation with a text editor (emacs here) [ mobile : http://bit.ly/mDvKTj ]
use outline mode (vim + emacs). To sum up : "outline mode to give it some structure" [mobile : http://bit.ly/mtHvZq]
min ZTD mobile [mobile: http://bit.ly/jwik5T ]
min ZTD detailed : very usefull! A lot to learn from here. [mobile: http://bit.ly/mEQ0gy ]
The entire ZTD (Zen To Done) methodology[mobile: http://bit.ly/lie5eE ]
order ZTD e-book [mobile: http://bit.ly/lEX51i ]
why to become an early morning person? How is it benefit? and how to become an early person? [mobile : http://bit.ly/mU88T0 ]

Light newsgroup software

2011-06-05T23:01:00.001+02:00

Hi Foxes,

Tired of heavy newsgroup clients such as pan, grabit and so on...let's have a try to;

slrn, a blazing fast newsgroup reader. It downloads messages very quickly, it is very easy to use it and with a lot of features.
nzbget very efficient to donwloads binary files using newsgroup. It is light and impressive.
nget may be a useful software, but I have not found it easy to use.

I'm using stunnel on the top to add SSL feature. I prefer to do so, because I think that stunnel is well optimize about speed and memory usage compare to any homemade implemantation in a third software. I prefer to use the a dedicated software for that when it is possible.

About the configuration of the softwares, it is regular config files. You can have a look to :

slrn
- slrn manual,"nnrpaccess host[:port] username password " to avoid to type your login and your password at every connection
- how to from the ubuntu community
nget : quick tutorial from ubuntu forum
nzbget : everything is on the main website.

Watching streaming video with a low power computer

2011-05-22T08:49:00.003+02:00

Hi foxes!

Today, webpages are becoming heavier. Plus, streaming video, such youtube videos, often required a quite powerful computer. Watching youtube on a netbook can be very painfull!

So, one solution is to use tinyogg. This website will convert a flash video from youtube to a ogg/theora video. So, it needs less computer power and so more interesting for netbooks ;)

Have fun!

UPDATE 11/06/2011:
the tinyogg service had ended now. Please use the HTML5 version of youtube http://www.youtube.com/html5 .

Buy products from US website when you are living in an other country

2011-03-20T22:43:00.001+01:00

Hi foxes!

Sometimes you are looking for a specific product which can only be found on a US website, like amazon US. Unfortunatelly, on many product you have to provide a US postale address. So, how can you order it anyway? You can go to shipito.com. It is a postale forwarding system from USA address to anywhere else in the world.

Let's shop!

internet search engine about scientist paper

2011-03-13T21:36:00.000+01:00

Search indexer on local desktop

2011-03-13T17:13:00.004+01:00

Hi Foxes!

Have you ever wanted to use something like windows search or google desktop software, but lighter, with a small footprint memory, fast and open source? I'm tired about windows search, which I don't use very often, but when you need it it is pretty cool.

So today I was looking for 2 kind of tools :

one open source indexer / search engine just on the filename, which will be the most used,
one just to index the file contents, like pdf, html, doc, ppt, dejavu and so on

Comparison links about desktop search engine

Indexer based only on the filename

I have found :

everything is a freeware, light and fast. It works only with a NTFS filesystem and on windows.
locate32 is working like the locate and updatedb linux commands. It is open source.

Search engine based on the file content

Hot, to have a look on it!

indri
lucene which is developped in pure JAVA. There are many other implemantation in other language too, like C++ with Clucene. Open source and widely used.
swish-e
zettair, only support html, text. No PDF basically. You should convert anything to PS, then use ps2acii tool before indexing. Pretty boring.
doc fetcher which trig only the information that a file has been updated in background. It parses it again only when you run the application. It use a GUI. But if you don't have too much RAM, you would like to avoid to run the JVM.
strigi (old homepage) must be used with a backend engine likce clucene. Can work on WinXP, but you have to compile everything with cygwin.
datapark search is open source
mind retrieve indexes the web you have visited only. It can be usefull.
mendeley a collaborative pdf and any document indexer (wikipedia). Very usefull if you want to write some papers with many references. Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network
sphinx written in C++, works on WinXP

Other result

Basilic, server side
hyper estraider
refdb, in C
refbase in PHP
BM25 ranking (wikipedia)is present in lucene
sino. It has no dependance. You can compile it like this, even under windows. Simple to use but when I try to index a folder, it uses around 500Mo of RAM! Too much to me.
Wilma (new) and Wilbur (old version)
regain, in java, based on lucene

My combo winner are...

everything is impressive, amazing!
swish-e. It is used a command tool, and you have to use it with additionnal software such pdftohtml, pdf2txt, catdoc, src2dest filter and so on. It is very fast, the database looks to be quite ok about the size and it don't use too much memory when indexing (around 60Mo on my PC running WinXP)

App launcher for Windows

2011-03-12T20:55:00.003+01:00

Hi Foxes!

I was looking for some software like dmenu under linux, but for windows. Here is my google result :

reviews

URLs

Find And Run Robot (FARR)
toolbox
keybreeze seems to be light and efficient. Fully open source.
MCL and a comment
executor and a comment about it
appetizer

Too heavy ones

colibri
slickrun
blaze seems to be very heavy. Plis this link point out an interesting point of view about non using such tool on windows (look at the emerge desktop comment). Open source.
Enso is free but using a lot of memory
docs solutions

interesting alternative on Windows

You can use a specific pop up menu with the right clikc mouse, like on emerge desktope or bblean.

popsel

To link macro with keystrokes

autohotkey is open source, works well with keybreeze according to comparison between keybreeze and FARR : usage memory (same link that earlier, I know).

To conclude, I will not install such software, because there are using to much memory. I would like to install Find And Run Robot (FARR), but it is not open source. So, you can pass your way about such tools if you want to save some memory usage, or wait for something like dmenu

List of secure mail services

2011-03-11T23:53:00.001+01:00

Hi readers,

Tonight I was looking for a secure email service. Not a basic mail provider which offer SSL (IMAP/POP/SMTP) connexions, but also that every email and attached file is store in a secure way. I have found the following website :

PKI is hiden through the website. So you can only send and read the email body using the website

sendinc service. It seems that you can only send email through the website. It is free and ,restricted to send 20 emails a day
thruinc
zsentry and zmail The free version is restrict to send 5 email (no limit about receiving)
opolis runs only on Windows and MacOS.You need to install a software. It is free to use today.
s-mail service, no software to install.
husmail is not so good according to the wikipedia article
a short list of various secure email solutions

These ones provide PGP / GPG/ PKI like facilities:

safe-mail, a free account gives you 3MB of mailbox, with a sign certificate,
comodo secure email free for personnal use, installs a software, runs only under Windows. It seems to be a PGP / GPG kind of solution, but easier to set up and to use for the mass.

And some reason about using such services:

using secure mail service is easier for the mass than using GPG / PGP

Configure Mulberry for Calendar access, GPG and LDAP

2011-03-11T20:18:00.007+01:00

Hi foxes!

I'm using Mulberry 4.0.8 for a week now, and it is pretty good. I spent quite a long time before using the Agenda feature with google calendar feature and a horde calendar too.

So here are the configuration to apply.

Google Calendar is a CalDAV

Go to the Mulberry google calendar wiki page.

Horde Calendar is a WebDAV

Assumptions

A horde Account mul.berry@myhordeserver.com

HOWTO

In the Accounts preferences

Create a new WebDAV account called Horde Calendar
Server: www.myhordeserver.com

Accounts -> Authenticate

Method: Plain Text
User: mul.berry@myhordeserver.com
Secure: SSLv3

Accounts -> Options

Path: /horde/rpc.php/kronolith/mul.berry@myhordeserver.com

Additionnal inforamtions about configuration Horde with external tools

horde wiki is very good.

It exists some interesting plugins if you want to use your own calendar application with google calendar. Have look at gcaldaemon.

configure GPG

Mulberry 4.0.8 supports GPG. (older version)

configure LDAP

Go here

Alternative shell for windows

2011-03-03T23:39:00.002+01:00

Hi foxes!

If you are using a netbook as I do, you should have a look at the alternative shell for windows, which are supposed to be :
1. lighter in memory usage,
2. fully customizable (nice for any geek).

Here are the most interesting ones, still in developement and open source :
Emerge Desktop (aka ED) Last update February 2011.
LiteStep and a french distribution. Last update April 2009.
BBLean which is a port from Blabckblox from unix. Last update december 2009.
The wikipedia page with a list of window shell replacement, and another page with kind of the same list.

Mail client for windows

2011-03-03T21:23:00.004+01:00

Hi all!

Still looking for a light footprint, fast email client under windows, I have done some googling and here are what I have found:

i.scribe / in.scribe. It seems to be efficient, light and still in development. The free version, i.scribe, can only support one account. I have not achieved to configure gmail using IMAP protocol. So wait for another update.
Becky. It seems very efficient, light, powerful. But it is 40$. You can try it for free for 30 days.
Mulberry. It doesn't seem to be still in development. Open source, light and efficient email client. It fails in fetching all my email from my gmail account. But it is very fast! There is a nice review about it there
The Bat!. It seems as good as Becky.
sylpheed. I'm using this one daily. It is light with many features, but to me it is slow on windows (v2.6.0). I will install the version 3.1 this week end. UPDATE: i have moved to the 3.1 version. It is as light as usual, works, and maybe a little bit faster.
Alpine mail, a full CLI mail client.
Mahogany mail, last realase august 2006. Not supported : PGP.

si.mail

an interesting service to secure and follow email use : opolis

Looking for a webconferencing service?

2011-02-13T17:31:00.002+01:00

I was looking for some information regarding web conference / webinar services. Here are the found website....need to have a look about them.
list of web conf services
review of various webinar services
wikipedia french webinar page
Huge list of webinar reseller, with some marks
the join.me service
Open Meeting homepage
banckle meeting service
yugma homepage
yuuguu homepage

Few light tools for windows

2011-02-13T17:20:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Here are some light tools that I'm using quite often:

FAR2 - Farmanager for file browsing
mydefrag as a defrag tool to optimize the defragmentation space.
ultradefrag as a defrag tool to do a quick defrag operation.
fast copy to make quick file transfert.
malwarebytes to scan and remove malware on my laptop.
0irc, an open source IRC client full CLI for windows. Feel free to contribute to improove it. Here is its wiki page
If you have some other light tools, feel free to share them.

What about various DNS services?

2011-02-13T17:05:00.004+01:00

Hi all,

I have found few DNS services to prevent your computer from some malwares and so on.

But I would like to get some feeling from you.

You can have a look on :
Clear Cloud DNS homepage and the configuration link (Primary: 74.118.212.1 / Alternate: 74.118.212.2)(NO SUBSCRIPTION is needed).
Norton DNS and the configuration link (two Norton DNS IP addresses: 198.153.192.1 and 198.153.194.1.) (NO SUBSCRIPTION is required).
Comodo secure DNS (156.154.70.22 and 156.154.71.22)

And the well known
open DNS
google public DNS (DNS IP addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)

And what about configuring bfilter or privoxy with adding some host urls?
list of host to forbid. A French Website to explain that.

And using the Web of Trust plugin, or developping somthing thanks to the WOT API?

Your rights when your flight is delayed

2011-02-06T17:22:00.002+01:00

Just have a look at the French DGCCRF website

Web source hosting

2011-02-06T17:02:00.003+01:00

Hi followers!
I'm looking for a good web hosting services, to use it as a software repository, website,etc.

So I have found these links. I need to study them before choosing one.

Wikipedia : open source software hosting facilities
setup fossil on x10hosting.com
x10 hosting features
SSL hosting comparisons
zymic features
000webhost
SSL certifacts with Godaddy
hostbig
indeferno, it is more than a basic web hosting
chiselapp, the 1st fossil forge
how to setup fossil repository on a public shared server
Git hosting, to get some ideas

Continuous Integration

2011-02-06T16:59:00.001+01:00

A very interesting feedback about continuous integration practices :
Martin Fowler : Continuous Integration

Vi life / Vim life / emacs daily life

2011-01-14T21:25:00.004+01:00

Hi,

I'm not a vi / vim user, but I recognise that it is a very powerful text editor. So I have deciced to write a post about vim / vi. I will post here any useful URL for anyone who wants to use VI / VIM, and of course, some link to customize emacs ;)

1.continue to use vim, forget about learning emacs
2.How emacs keeps replacing my tools at work
3.w3m as a text browser inside emacs
4.w3m and gnus for emacs: just the mind of some user about that

How to speed up compiling time using GCC

2011-01-14T21:06:00.005+01:00

Hi,

If you are using a toolchain based on GCC, you should have a look on the following tools :
1. ccache caches all your compilation in a separate folder. It makes compilation quicker because all the intermediate (*.o) files are saved and "signed" into a different folder than your regular output. So, even if you do a "make clean", recompiling everything will be pretty fast!
2. distcc lets you use as many computers as you want to share compilation ressources.
3. ccontrol help you to use various toolchains
4. dmucs helps distcc to find the better server at anytime
5. crosstool helps you to build your cross compilation toolchain.
And think about using a "make -j N", with N>=2 (starting from 2 if you have only a CPU with one core)

You can use them EVEN IF you are using only 1 computer / laptop.

And now, some "how to" and explanation about them:
1. Intel : explain everything about the ccache configuration, with a cross compilation part.
2. Ibm : quiet the same than the Intel webpage
3. basic configuration of ccache and distcc
4. some figures about time saving
5. a cross compilation configuration
6. experience from a blogger using ccache, written in summer 2010

Enjoy you compiling time ;)

Minimalist, lightweight web browser

2011-01-08T22:34:00.006+01:00

Hi foxes!

I met some friends this week, and during discussion around web browsers, one of my friend told me that he is using vimperator. He explained to us that is helps him to save time, because everything is VI binding (he is a vi-fan boy).

So, back to home, I looked for the same software, but with emacs key binding. And there is a webbrowser based on Gecko rendering engine using extensively emacs binding : Conkeror (with a "C").

Additionnaly, I found some interesting web browsers like :
1. surf
2. jumanji
3. vimprobable
4. a list of lightweight applications on linux, macosx, win32

For 2 days I'm using Conkeror, and the rendering is maybe slower than using opera 11.00 / build 1156 for windows XP, presto 2.7.62; but navigating through multiple tabs or inside a webpage is great. When you are used to have many opened tabs (like 20+), you can be more productive with such tools, using only keystrokes.

My Conkeror version is 0.9.3, with xulrunner version 1.9.2.13. I have added basic plugins from mozilla addons like : noscript, flashblock, flashgot (to use orbit downloader), adblock plus.

An idea to replace adblock plugin is to use privoxy

EDIT: January 9th 2011
You can use these local proxies to remove ads / add adblocks feature:
1. privoxy
2. bfilter, include a Heuristic Flash analyzer.
3. tinyproxy

And links to convert the Easylist (provided by AdBlock Plus plugin) to :
1.privoxy
2. comments about the script just above
3.bfilter

You can read the maemo wiki about that.

EDIT: January 12th 2011
some conkeror customisation like enabling the url history management.

Have a look on them ;)

Inferno OS and Plan 9

2011-01-02T14:26:00.004+01:00

Hi foxes!

This article will be about Inferno OS. I have discovered it few days ago, when I was looking for the webhosting service indeferno.

So, here are some links :
1. A basic Video about Plan 9 from youtube
2. the inferno homepage
3. the ACME editor page
4. video introduction
5. a short introduction about the system

ClearCase and DVCS

2010-12-28T21:48:00.004+01:00

Hi,

At the moment I am playing with the fossil SCM (www.fossil-scm.org). The main reason is : it is fully written in C and it is only one executable like Darcs.

I'm very happy using Darcs, but I'm looking for a DVCS which can be used on any OS. To my mind, any developper should be free to work on its prefered platform. So, if you work on Mint, BeOS, Inferno, Plan9, Linux, MacOSX, Windows and so on, only fossil scm fits this requirement.

So, I'm using at the day to day life Darcs, Fossil and Mercurial. I will post some conclusion later (end of January I hope).

Anyway, I was looking for some information around ClearCase and I found 2 website giving some tips on the way to improve clearcase by using Git. You can replace in the article Git by any DVCS like Darcs or Fossil or Hg (mercurial).

So, feel free to have a look on :
1. Improve ClearCase use thanks to a DVCS, with an explication about the interest. Example using Git as a DVCS. To read first! Very interesting.
2. Using a DVCS like an addon to ClearCase. Git is used as a DVCS. It is only a method, and no specific reason description.

EDIT: January 14th 2011
1. various point of view about working with a DVCS on the top of ClearCase

Ebooks and the nook

2010-09-12T23:45:00.002+02:00

Hi foxes!

I have just bought a Nook, and my first impression is : it is great! When you are reading an epub document, it definitely looks like reading a book! That's amazing! My eyes doesn't seem to get tired as it usually does when I'm reading on my laptop!

So now, I will list some interesting website where :
you can find converting tools:
http://calibre-ebook.com
http://www.lexcycle.com/desktop

you can find ebooks:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.feedbooks.com/
http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search

more is comming...

Source hosting for DARCS and FOSSIL

2010-08-21T14:20:00.006+02:00

Hi,

I have just found 2 interesting website about source code hosting. As a DARCS DVCS user, I was looking for a public host solution. And I have found :

1. http://patch-tag.com/ : for DARCS and GIT users.
2. http://chiselapp.com/ : for FOSSIL users

An interesting overview on various source forge public server :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_software_hosting_facilities

And some reading about FOSSIL :
http://traustithor.blogspot.com/2009/03/fossil-version-control-system.html
http://sheddingbikes.com/posts/1276624594.html
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1433387
http://blog.h3rald.com/fossil-a-tiny-easy-and-feature-packed-project
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/18/the-top-7-open-source-version-control-systems/

Various discussion around "which is the best DVCS for bla, bla bla"
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2098590/best-versioning-system-for-r

Git for Windows

Few months ago, I was looking for an interesting distributed Version Control System. I had not found Git for windows. But now it is : http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/

For ones who loves SNC, you should have a look on SVK:
http://svk.bestpractical.com/view/HomePage

Have fun !

Bug tracking and software developpment

2010-08-16T10:16:00.006+02:00

Some interesting tools about distributed bug tracking
1. http://orgmode.org/ [an emacs plugin]
2. http://www.fossil-scm.org [bug tracking + wiki + source versionning]

And interesting reading about bug reporting :
1. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
2. http://producingoss.com/

Bad practice in software development:
http://www.laputan.org/mud/

NOTE: emacs configuration and .emacs.d and .emacs on Windows
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/Installing-Emacs.html

3G+ Key configuration

2010-08-09T12:00:00.004+02:00

Orange Provider

With a regular orange offer (like you may have with an iPhone), you can plug your SIM card in a 3G USB token and use the following configuration :

APN : orange
access number : *99#
user name : orange
password : orange

If you are using an Orange Internet Everywhere Pass, the configuration is :
APN : orange.ie
access number : *99#
username : [EMPTY]
password : [EMPTY]

Nice surf ;)

Frequent Flyer Programs

2010-08-08T18:20:00.003+02:00

Hi all!

If you are looking for advise about which Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) to subscribe, you may have a look to the following websites :

1. http://www.freddieawards.com
2. http://www.airlinequality.com/
3. http://www.frequentflier.com/ffp-006.htm

And from Europe :
1. http://www.delta.com/
2. https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/eu/frequentflyer/index.jsp
3. https://www.balticmiles.com/en/earn_miles.html

Nice trip !

Palm Pixi Plus Review : everything you can't do now, and you can't find on other reviews

2010-07-29T12:22:00.009+02:00

Hi everybody !

I have bought a Palm Pixi Plus in France. The WebOS version is 1.4.1. No update to 1.4.5 version is available. I guess that all the following remarks can be applied on the palm pre , the palm pre plus, the palm pixi too, and any webos devices until version 1.4.1.

Previously, I was using a Nokia E71 smartphone. So, all the following comments are in comparison with this GREAT Nokia smartphone. I'm a nomade cell phone user. So, I need :
1. a working GPS,
2. contact synchronisation,
3. bluetooth file transfert,
4. internet brower.

So, everything is working smoothly, and the system is really efficient. I haven't notice any slow down.

As you can read every where on the web, the battery is just okay.

But, what you can't read on any other review is now!

Here are what you can't do with the palm pixi:
1. it is impossible to use the syncML protocol. So, if you used to keep a back up of all your contacts on a synml server, you are out! The solution : move to gmail,
2. basically, there are no offline (e.g. without DATA connection) GPS application. So, you can't use the palm pixi just to check your position. You must download application on the APP STORE;
3. the web browser DOESN'T SUPPORT the WAP protocol. To me, it is a shame! Here in France many website support a wap version and an iphone version. Usually, the WAP version is more efficient and it can be used faster than the iphone / regular version. Definitely usufull owith EDGE connection;
4. the SIM applications / SIM services are not working on the palm pixi! So, when you are using global sim card such as the gosim one, you can't send cheap SMS, or check your remaining credit...it is so bad;
5. when you are in the "plane mode" (so all connections are turned OOF (wifi, Bluetooth, GSM,etc.)) and you have no SIM card in your phone, the cell phone reboots often. Plus, the clock and the date are reset to March 20th 2010 (20/03/2010 or 03/20/2010) ! So, you can't be confident on the alarm feature to wake you up! That's crazy !
6. you can't transfert files from a laptop to the phone through the bluetooth protocol.....
7. you can't access to the APP STORE when you are in "plane mode" but with the WIFI turned ON,

EDIT: August 9th 2010
8. there is no "accuse de reception" when you send a SMS!

EDIT: August 10th 2010
9. with my current provider, Orange France, I used to send " #123# " to check my remaining time and SMS credit. Unfortunatelly, on my Palm Pixi + it doesn't work. The USSD code is sent, but I get no answer.

EDIT: December 28th 2010 (still using webos 1.4.5)
10. I have been very surprised to discover that you can pair the palm pixi plus with a laptop suing bluetooth. Thanks to that, thethering under bluetooth is natively supported.
11. The "mobile hotspot" application is very crappy. Tethering by wifi is VERY VERY slow (I have never tested it earlier).

I hope that I can help people before buying a palm pre / palm pixi phone. To my mind, it is first of all a google phone (works great with all the google services and google features).

EDIT: I am running under webOS 1.4.5. No bug has been corrected.

ATARI scene

2010-07-14T23:11:00.003+02:00

Hi all,

Tonight, I was looking for news about the ATARI scene, because a new clone is going to be released : The FireBee (previously naled the Aatari Coldfire Project ACP).

Here are few interesting websites :
1. http://alive.atari.org/index.php
2. http://dhs.nu/news.php
3. http://acp.atari.org/
4. http://aranym.org/
5. http://acp.atari.org/files/acptechEN1.pdf
6. http://highwire.atari-users.net
7. http://links.twibright.com/
8. http://lowresmag.wordpress.com/
9. http://myaes.lutece.net/
10. http://pagesperso-orange.fr/didierm/
11. http://pagesperso-orange.fr/patrice.mandin/en/index.html

Have fun!

Privacy on internet

2010-04-04T19:41:00.005+02:00

Hi folks !

Today, I was looking some information about privacy on the Internet. So, I have just learnt that you can pay monthly fees to get :
* a VPN service,
* a proxy service.

Some free providers exist, but the bandwith is quite low unfortunately. You can have a look on :
* an openVPN and proxy solution. This solution is a paid one, but you can use it for free with some restrictions,
* a free VPN services. Your IP address will be located in the US.

Plus, you have some other interesting open source projects like :
*JAP, Java Anonimity and Privacy, and the commercial version.
*TOR.

Some interesting website on the topic:
*Surfing Anonymously within 7 Minutes, 2008,
*a list of proxy tools.

UPDATE 11/06/2011:
http://www.vbuzzer.com/index.php
Have fun!

Music online

2010-03-07T12:35:00.003+01:00

You can listen your favorite songs on the following website :
* Spool FM
* Jango
* Musicovery

And a nice song to listen on : Hooverphonic - Mad About You

What you need to download mails from OWA to a local mbox format

2010-03-01T00:25:00.003+01:00

Hi folks!

Here are what you need to download all your unread email from a Web MS Exchange server (as known as OWA) to a local mbox format (so you can use any mail client).

* FetcExc: will download mails.
* how to setup a basic FetchExc configuration
* get a certificate: if you need to get a cacert CA certificate.
* keytool quick how to
*a manual way to get cacert, without using the previous link [deprecated way]

EDIT: March 4th 2010/ a better solution is DavMail.

Some tricks to use a CLI mail client on windows (MUA and MTA)

2010-02-23T23:56:00.007+01:00

Hi all!

Tonight, I was looking on how to use a CLI mail client on Windows. I found :

* Alpine
* Mutt.

I have choosed to use Alpine, which look more adapt on windows. So, here is a quick setup how to.

Then, you can mix Alpine with stunnel and avast for a light mail solution on your laptop.

You can add some check spelling.

If you want to manage you professionnal email over MS Exchange (OWA), you can use some additionnal tools such as :
* msfetch
* OWA sync

Additionnal interesting links:
quick how to about interfacing msfetch and mutt
light data base
pmail, or a way to send emails
mail server easy to setup on linux only
mutt and ldap
mail drop on alpine
mbox on alpine
how to save email on your local hard drive with alpine, it means how to work offline with Alpine
Alpine mail client installation
Maildrop Alpine feature: it moves a message from a remote/local folder to another remote/local folder
A PINE dedicated website
another PINE configuration example
dealing with PGP and ALPINE mail client. It is based on filter definition. May work with WinXP
a project to glue PGP and alpine (official wabsite). Works on Unix. It is a start point to work with windows
some additionnal explication about TOPAL configuration on ArchLinux
another how to on alpine, in French

Comparison between varisous script langages

2010-02-15T23:18:00.002+01:00

You can have a look on :
* Bench 1 : Lua is a very interesting langage
* Bench 2: more a mailing list.

Emacs as a modern IDE

2010-02-15T22:15:00.016+01:00

Hi all,

I have learnt how to use Emacs when I was a student in my engineering school. Since that day, I have always work with emacs, on Linux, FreeBSD and Windows computers.

Today, I was looking ahead a way to boost my day life with Emacs at work. Yes, I'm using emacs at work as main text editor. As an embedded engineer, I'm coding in C ans assembly with Emacs, using IDE like Keil only for compiling and debugging.

So, to improve Emacs, I have found some wounderful modules :
* CEDET
* ECB

You may need to get some additionnal information about emacs installation / configuration on Windows. So, go on the emacs installation page.

Some additional links:
* Basic types on Emacs, etags definition.
* very good Emacs shortcut reminder.
* Emacs Tuto 2.
* how to use Ebrowse the native C/C++ browser in emacs.
* a blog around emacs and software developement.
* a lisp cookbook for emacs
* list of emacs plugins
* MAGIT, a GIT extension for emacs
* browsing C sorce code with Emacs

Communication tools

2009-06-29T13:50:00.002+02:00

Here is a list of communication tools :
1. syncml : http://wiki.horde.org/SyncHowTo#toc0 helps you to configure a syncml client with a horde server
2. mail server : www.vfemail.net
3. jabber client : psi (instant chat)
4. gpg
5. twitter ?
6. wiki
7. irc
8. newsgroup

My office tools

2009-06-24T21:47:00.001+02:00

Beamer (LateX)
1. a French site about beamer : http://mcclinews.free.fr/latex/introbeamer.php

My developement tools

2009-06-08T21:55:00.002+02:00

Hi all !

Today, I just want to list my developement tools :

1. editor : emacs (but when I will have some free time, I will learn VI),
2. versionning : darcs
3. bug reporting : http://www.bluestatic.org/software/bugdar/ or http://www.thebuggenie.com/
4. diff tools : kdiff3
5. webserver : nginx.net or http://code.google.com/p/mongoose/
6. profiling : gprof
7. security : http://www.splint.org/ C checker
8. windows explorer : freecommander (windows)

Paris urban life

2008-10-01T21:09:00.005+02:00

Hi all

Today, I start a post to make a useful list for a paris urban lifestyle ;)

1. mailbox to get mail 24/7 : http://www.cityssimo.fr/ (max size : 43H X 34L X 65P cm.)
2. a car for special moment : http://www.caisse-commune.com
3. public transport : wap.ratp.fr (mobile version)
4. http://sortir-a-paris-visite-de-l-ile-de-france.transilien.com/

Webzine from internet, and more

2008-09-06T16:23:00.006+02:00

A list of interesting internet magazines :

1. http://www.o3magazine.com/
2. http://www.insecuremag.com/ or http://www.net-security.org
3. http://www.newzy.fr/

A list of vegetables tips :
1. campanier.com
2. tousprimeurs.com
3. amap-idf.org

Crisis
1. http://crisismanagement.pbwiki.com/Useful-documents
2. http://unjobs.org/tags/crisis-management
3. http://www.12manage.com/methods_crisis_management_advice_fr.html
4. http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=7755
5. http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=127914
6. http://www.numilog.com/fiche_livre.asp?id_livre=31&ipd=68#
7. http://www.bookfinder4u.com/fr/keyword/gestion_crises.html

Citations:
1. "Ils vivent comme s'ils n'allaient jamais mourir et meurent comme s'ils n'avaient jamais vecu"

2. "Un jour, on demanda au Dalaï Lama : "Qu'est ce qui vous surprend le plus dans l'humanité?"
Et sa réponse fût : "Les hommes qui perdent la santé pour gagner de l'argent et qui, après, dépensent cet argent pour récupérer la santé. A penser trop anxieusement au futur, ils en oublient le présent, à tel point qu'ils finissent par ne vivre ni au présent ni au futur"
"

How to drive a car when you don't have one

2008-09-02T23:11:00.002+02:00

Just few ideas to organize someday :
1. rent a car (ex: ucar)
2. share a care "co-voiturage" like :
a. allostop.net,
b. 123envoiture.com,
c. covoiturage.com
3. carsharing :
a. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopartage
b. http://www.caisse-commune.com/,
c. http://mobizen.fr
d. http://www.okigo.com

Bewan 820 VG ADSL 2 +

2008-08-25T02:37:00.002+02:00

Hi all !

I bought Decembre 1st 2007 a Modem, router, voip device. It is a Bewan 820 VG ADSL 2+. And I got many many issue to make VoIP call. Tonight I successed in :D.

From january 2008 until today, my FAI was Orange 1mb/s. With this connection speed, I never got anything good. Tonight, with High Speed Free FAI, everything works!

I noticed something. On the VoIP Status, I get "SUCCEES" only with voipbuster. With Vyke or ippi, I only got an "Idle" Status. Plus, with ippi, I have a phone number. It is impossible to reach it ! But, if I use my cell phone (Nokia E65) connected to ippi VoIp service, another phone can reach the ippi landline...weird....

Anyway, the device works. Plus, You need to have a high speed internet. At least > 1Mb/s. I think you should at least have a 8 Mb internet access ;)

Enjoy!

My clothes websites

2008-07-20T13:43:00.016+02:00

Here are some interesting clothes websites :

1. Shirt : chemise-homme.com. Only one brand : Xoos. Plus, the store rue de turenne, paris, is cheaper than the website.
2. Everything : yoox.com (Amex accepted)
3. Everything : megamarques.com
4. Everything : homme-avenue.com (Amex?)
5. Men underwear : planet-undies.com (Amex Accepted)
6. Men underwear : menattitude.com (Amex Accepted)
7. Private sales from not famous designer : we-love.com
8. Shoes : sarenza.com
9. Shoes : Spartoo.com
10. Shoes : xlbootic.com
11. Everything : dress-for-less.fr (Amex Accepted)
12. club at cost

And to get some news :
1. Fashion Blog with good deal : bonnegueule.fr
2. How to shave your face

Paris Streets :
1. rue d'alesia,
2. Au passage de l’industrie, métro Strasbourg St Denis (shampoo, hair product)
3. rue de turenne,
4. rue de grennelle (very expensive brands)
5. rue meysley (shoes)
6. rue des rosiers (billtornade, rosewood & garrice)

Few US Clothes website

2008-07-20T12:53:00.006+02:00

Today, I'm wondering if buying clothes on US website may be a good idea. You know, the difference between euro / dollar is quite good to me ;).

So, I found some news on these websites :
* advise s about buying something from a foreign website (French)
* advises from Ebay website (French)
* import fess (French)
* French advises
* to convert the price

To sum up the idea, you may pay :
1. the US price,
2. shipping fees worldwide (around 30$)
3. customs fees and import duties (19,6% + ~4%)
===> final euro prics = (US price + shipping fees) * 1,24

Few nice US websites :
* www.tobi.com (clothes)
* http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ (high tech)

A way to prepare your trip

2008-07-15T23:39:00.003+02:00

Hi all!

That's the begenning of an article about travelling. It is to sum up really useful web site to prepare a trip ;)

- A flight ticket
* http://mobile.skyscanner.net/ <==on a mobile device
* http://www.skyscanner.net
* http://www.flylc.com
* http://www.bourse-des-vols.com/billets-avion.php
* http://www.bravofly.fr
* http://www.terminala.com

- book an hostel / bed and breakfast / younth sth
* http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Mobile VoIP / VoIP over a 3G network

2008-07-02T21:04:00.002+02:00

Hi All !

Tonight, I thought a little bit about the interest of a VoIP call over EDGE / 3G mobile network. According to my test, one of the best way to do that is to use tivi program (www.tivi.com). But, thinking about cost, it doesn't seem to be a good deal. read this exemple :

the GSM codec is around 13kbit/s bandwith. So, a 1min call needs around 100ko (13*60/8). Okay, silence are reduced to zero, but voice is on two ways ;). And how much is 100ko? Take the French exemple. My mobile provider is Orange. If I go to Russia, I will be charged 0,13euros for 10ko. So, 1min will be around 1,30 euros + fees from VoIP provider. If I use EQO or VYKE call back system, I will be charged inbound call (around 0,5euros), plus EQO fees ....and it is really cheaper ;).

You can think that the tivi application use a low quality GSM codec, so 5kbit/s, but noone knows. Plus, it isn't written on tivi website.

So, use EQO - like systems to give a call, if you don't have a wifi access ;) (and a cell phone with this feature).

Enjoy travelling ;)

VoIP on cell phone

2008-06-29T18:32:00.002+02:00

Hi all !

Just a quick post to say few words about VoIP on a cell phone. Today, the most popular program may be :
1. Fring
2. Truphone
3. iskoot to able a skype account.

But I found www.tivi.com which seems working over EDGE connection ! you can select a GSM codec! Amazing! The 3 previous one work well with a WiFi connection, and not very good with a 3G one. I never try to call a fring friend with friend for exemple (I know no one using Fring)), but only other land line.

Few websites to read :
http://www.avecmobile.com/index.php?id=900
http://www.tivi.com
http://coinmill.com/EUR_LVL.html#LVL=0.18 (useful to compare rates with tivi)

For travelers : a way to cut off your cell phone fees when you are travelling

2008-05-03T12:16:00.002+02:00

Hi averyone!

This post is overall for French people. I have an advise to them, when they are travelling. If your cell phone provider is Orange, you should subscribe to "internet max option", 9 euros a month. This option gives you access to all the internet all day long ;).
Then, you should subscribe on www.vyke.com to the vykeIP application. So, you can send SMS at 2cents ! When you are traveling, a data connexion fee is 9 cents. You add 2 cents for a SMS....and voilà ;) 0.11euros a SMS from a foreign country :D. I have tried with a WAP connexion in the configuration menu. Plus, with this data plan, you can send SMS from France too at 2 cents every one.

Now, you should subscribe to an eqo account on www.eqo.com .The latest Nokia version provide you a "traveler" option. This one let you spend money only on inbound calls. So, When you want to call someone, you :
1. start a data connexion : 0.09 euros fees
2. the eqo server is calling you : inbound fees 0.29euros a minute (for information, outbound calls from foreign European country to France are 0.59euros a minute)
3. the eqo calls fees : from your French cell phone to another cell phone (no eqo user) (the most expensive case) 0.18euros a minute.
So your call is around 0.47euros a minute + 0.09euros fees! And if you are calling to a foreign country, you have no roaming fees !!!!

Enjoy your holidays ;)

Paypal

2008-05-02T10:30:00.001+02:00

Hi !
I am looking for inforamtion about paypal. I found 2 interesting websites :
1. http://richman.space-blogs.com/blog-note/42871/paypal.html (in French)
2. wikipedia as usual ;)

I learnt that Paypal in Europe is a Bank, instead of in the US, where it is a money transmitter.

Offline Browser for Palm : a way to read news every morning

2008-05-01T12:53:00.002+02:00

Hi Everybody !

For two weeks, I haven't any free news paper, such as 20minutes.fr or economiematin.com, in my subway station. So, I looked for something to keep in touch with news every morning. And I found a new program for my Palm TX. It is Plucker : http://docs.plkr.org/index.php/Plucker_FAQ and http://www.plkr.org/.

This program is an offline browser. It works like avantgo (a popular palm program). The main issue is to find a way to build a plucker archive. Because plucker doesn't support multi frame website, I advise you to use mobile edition from main websites. For example, I was looking for news on the morning. So I am using two websites :
1. http://mobile.nytimes.com
2. http://m.lesechos.fr/ <== less than 1Mo archive with a 5 links deepth!

I tried to build a plucker archive from http://timesmobile.mobi/, but it seems impossible (with sunrise XP).

To find more inforamtions, you should read :
1. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6262
2. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5577

To conclude, thanks to Apple with its iPhone, I think that more and more mobile edition website will be out. And it is a "plus" for Palm user ;). So start using plucker :D

Have a nice day

My Mobile Life ;)

2008-04-27T18:51:00.003+02:00

Hi guys !

A second post the same day ... WAOOOOOUUUUU ;)

So this one is according mobility. You know that I'm found of my Palm TX. Plus I bought a keyboard for it. It is pretty useful when you go away for the week end : you don't have to bring your laptop (mine is sooo heavy and big for a laptop. Plus, it works max 3 hours over its battery :S ). But I found pretty nice program on my cell phone. Here is the list :
- opera mini browser
- google maps
- gmail application
- eqo to use MSN, Jabber and Gtalk, plus you can use it when you are travelling to save money ;)
- pagesjaunes
- shozu to upload pictures on FaceBook, flick'r and picasa for exemple
- vyke pro to send cheap SMS (2 cents the sms!)
- Mail for exchange to add push mail capability to my nokia E65 cell phone. I am using it through a free mail2web account.
- widset to get the weather
- calsync60 to synchronize my google claendar with my cell phone one
All these programs are working with the "Orange surf" option (6 euros a month). I have just subscribed to the new "internet Max option" (9euros a month). So maybe the following application will be included to this option (I hope) :
- fring
- talkonaut
- truphone
- mgmaps
- palringo
- bloove agent
- tivi (www.tivi.com) a VoIP programm which might work over EDGE connection (need more test, but I can call a gizmo friend. But he can't call me back).

I hope I can use this option as a "modem" too with my palm ;)

My Blue Life, with American Express

2008-04-27T18:15:00.007+02:00

Hi All !

Yeah, as usual, it is a long time since my last post ;). My last post was something about the Foleo, a product which never comes out :( . So about computers, I'm looking on the eeePC side. But I'm waiting the 10 inches siz screen ;). Anyway, this post is about American Express Card. I am using one since January 2008 in Paris, and I will sum up the way to use it there ;).

So, first of all why I have chosen to order a second card? You know, in 2007, I brought my Visa card. Plus, I had no more "checks". So I spent 2 weeks without a way to get money ! (except through friends). About Visa, with a classic card (no premiere one or gold), your card is edited again in a week. Then, you have to go to your bank to get it. Thus, I decided to get a second credit card. So if I ever loose my traditionnal one, I can use a second one ;). But usually, your two cards are in the same wallet. So what happened if you loose it? Same trouble as before...
The main advantages of American Express Card are :
- your card is edited again in 48 hours and send to you by UPS,
- membership program (okay, it is not very interesting to me today),
- you pay all your bills once a month,
- a kind of insurance on your bought products,
- after 6 months, you can use it in ATM machin to get cash (interesting overall in foreign countries)
- no payment limit,
- you can add a nice insurrance when you buy a fly ticket through Global Assist,
- useful in foreign country whan you pay with : better change.

All these stuff are included in any Amex Card. I have chosen the blue one, because I'm just starting working, and I don't want to pay for a second card. The blue one is free if you spend at least 4000euros a year. It is not to difficult here in Paris ;)

How I am spending my money with it, here in Paris? You can use it :
- in any Stabucks coffee, with no minimum bills,
- in McDo close to "Jardin du Luxembourg" (Luxembourg garden),
- in RATP agency and train stations (ex: "La Garenne Colombe station by train") to pay your Orange Card / Navigo Pass monthly
- in Monoprix and some Champion to buy your goshories
- in FNAC stores to buy your concert tickets for exemple (website FNAC is okay too)
- in SNCF stores and website for your train tickets
- in BP gas station
- in VIP Room Club with no minimum
- in Six Seven Club with 150euros minimum (it's uggly I know...)
- in Drug Stores (Pharmacie?) from La Defense with 50 euros minimum (it's unfair too)
- in Gaumont theatres (I should check that)
- in Footsie Bar, the one at Saint Germain / Cluny La Sorbonne subway stop
- in any Indiana Café
- in AZTECA restaurant (Nice Mexican food close to chatelet / louvre-rivoli stop)
- on usenext website for newsgroup
- on Orange Mobile Phone to pay your bills
- in Haggen Dazz store (champs elysée)
- LE BERNICA restaurant, rue de la gaieté
- THAI ELEPHANT restaurant, indian food. Very tasty, but very expensive too.
- in any hippopotamus restaurant
- to rent a Velib'
- to buy flowers in many flower shops
- fly tickets
- BHV
- Galeries Lafayette
- courir stores (shoes)
- Fnac website
- amazon.com
- Club Med Agency (at least, the one rue pierre Charron, 75008)

But you can't use it on Navigo machin to fill your pass. (it doesn't work where I tried)

Web sites :
- clothing
* http://www.menattitude.com
* http://www.planet-undies.com
* https://www.yoox.com

Feel free to add comments about way to use an Amex card in Paris.

In Poland, you can use it every where : hostel, inn, pubs, restaurants, clubs, taxi :D It is so great ;)
In Moscow, you can use it pretty every where, except in the airport (only 1 or 2 duty free shops accept it...it is a shame !)

When you pay in an other money tha euro (for me) you really save money (compare to a Visa card). Wages are less expensive with Amex than a visa.

Ze Palm Foleo again !

2007-06-27T22:25:00.000+02:00

Just a short post to write about the new Palm device : Foleo.

So I have just read few interesting websites about ir :

* A blog about it
* A comment from Ben Combee, a palm developper

* a website with an article on it

cheers

A quick video test on my Palm T|X

2007-06-16T19:21:00.000+02:00

So, after a full charge, you can watch a h264 video for around 3h30. The video test was a 352x288 one, h264 codec (bitrate 384kb/s and the CABAC option) and a vorbis audio stream at 96kb/s 44,1kHz). Plus, the screen light is at half (so normal use). Well, it is pretty as good as my laptop ;) (maybe better...I don't know in fact). I played the video with the Coreplayer and its H264 codec.

Msn on your Palm T|X

2007-06-16T15:42:00.000+02:00

Hi all !

Just a short post about MSN on a palm. I don't know why, but this morning I wanted to find a way to use MSN on my Palm T|X. I used to Agilent Messenger, but it is no more supported. So I googled a little bit, and I finally bought QuickIM. It works like a charm !!! Really it is better than using the web-client Ebuddy. This one is only use-able !!!!.

Plus, I may move on another mobile phone operator : one with a data option. I need mobility again ;). I need to feel me free !!! Again !!!!! So I need a way to stay tune on the internet, and debitel, my cell phone operator today, doesn't provide me this.

See you

The Foleo, new Palm device

2007-06-14T22:08:00.000+02:00

Hi guys !
I have just found a news about the next Palm device. This one sound really good to me. It is a really mobile computer, which may let you do what you need :

1. check your mail

2. connect to internet in various ways (WiFi, Bluetooth, cell phone)

3. work on excel, word and power point documents.

4. there are no Ethernet jack, either a sound one ! I hope that will be corrected !

There is not many information on it today, except what you can read there. If it is a really linux compliant system, with a decent CPU and few useful programs (VLC, coremediaplayer, SSH, VNC client and VPN client, plugins for internet browser such as flash player); I guess it will be a wonderfull product !!! I will follow the outcomming of this device.

Imagine a home, where you work on this evice, you have a server which has the ressources to do video processing, picture processing, in fact every high performance job. So your Foleo is a terminal with efficient autonomy. So, convergence and mobility are there ;)

More informations there :

PC Inpact source

a blog

palm info center

an other blog

a business website

In plus, few websites on the internet wifi access in Paris (no idea if it is working today) :

quartier numerique

Paris.fr

ozone paris

Archlinux / Linux / Video tests

2007-05-29T22:57:00.000+02:00

I wrote few stuff about video codecs. You can found the comparaison between the codecs theora, xvid, x264 / h264, and dirac there (in French only, sorry for you guy if you don't understand it). There are videos to download if you want to compare them; and archlinux packages too.

I translated and update the ArchLinux installation guide too in French.

Cheers

A so great Job !

2007-05-29T21:52:00.000+02:00

Hi guys !

Just a quick post to say that I got a new job. And this one is AWSOME ! I finally quite my last position in a SSII companie to a true one. It was pretty difficult to leave it, because managers where really unfair : you can't trust them! They told you about the ideal case, never listen to you and don't care about you. For exemple, when I said to my Davidson's manager that I want to leave my mision, I gave to him the right name and the description of another mission in Sagem Com. You know what? Sagem never heard about my manager, and he and his co-workers never give me any news, even if I ask them about it. Since that day, I understand in which world I was, and I did what I can to leave it.

So I sent my resign letter, and you know what? Guess a little bit? They (the managers) offered to me a mission in Orange on "intelligence networking". This one was supposed to begin the next week so it was a way to me to get off my mission. I refused according my behaviour, because I am someone who trust what I say. But they never understand that....you can wounder how they can sleep the evening and wake up the newt morning watching its face on a mirror...By the way, I had to say many bad things to get what I want : the big boss/manager never helped me with the client company (that's the way I feel). I never get anything written on a paper, neither on answer to my recommanded with A/R (receipt checked?) letters. I lied to get what I what...I played a game really, and it was poker....I said I was ready to stop to go to my mission at a date, even if I had to pay for... And the guy answered to me that he would think about that !!!! AMAZING !!!!

So, this post is about my new job, my new life..... Yeah guys. Today I'm a new man, with more and more confident on myself, a new hair cut, and news girls around me. Yes da job, I know... So today I'm working at Oberthur Card Systems, a so great company on smart card products. I'm working in the R&D business unit on the next passeport generation. The R&D unit is really what I want : I find and fell again what I found and felt at France Telecom during my last internship....It is so great guys....I hope you find a job where you can feel good, happy and satisfy.

See U

Open Lessons Ressources on MIT website

2007-05-08T17:30:00.001+02:00

Hi guys!

I have just read a new about free MIT lessons on the web. Ok this article is in French, but it deals with the MIT project of giving access to anyone on their lessons. It is an awsome news ! You can read more about the OpenCourseWare project there. Now, you can learn what you want for free and why not sending comment to teachers all around the world :D.

Now, knowledge is becoming free.

Bye bye.

Informations / Tutorial about encoding a x264 / h264 video with ffmpeg

2007-04-15T20:16:00.000+02:00

Hi all !

I have just found that you can use ffmpeg to encode / transcode a h264 video. First, you have to compile it with right options :


     ./configure \
          --prefix=/usr \
          --enable-gpl \
          --enable-mp3lame \
          --enable-libogg \
          --enable-libvorbis \
          --enable-libtheora \
          --enable-x264 \
          --enable-pp \
          --enable-libfaac \
          --enable-libfaad \
          --enable-liba52 \
          --enable-xvid \
          --enable-dts \
          --enable-swscaler \
          --enable-pp \
          --enable-static \
          --enable-pthreads \

I included theora codec to.

Now, you can read these pages :

- ffmpeg x264 encoding-guide,

- ipod video guide,

- x264 qualityspeed guide.

If you're interesting in adding subtitles in a video, you should read this french blog.

The following lines are a copy of this blog.

Encoding h.264 in FFmpeg

The defaults for x264 in FFmpeg are currently significantly detrimental to the quality of the encoded video. This is due to the internal behaviour of FFmpeg with respect to codec defaults. Depending on the rate control method used, a number of different switches need applying to bring the settings into line with the x264 command line interface defaults. These are generally OK settings as they have been suggested by the author(s). The necessary switches for FFmpeg to ‘correct’ the defaults until a proper solution is completed are detailed below, however these may be altered as required.

Apply these settings for all RC methods:

-coder 1 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me hex -subq 5 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71

Apply these settings for constant QP:

-cqp 26

Apply these settings for variable bit rate:

-bt BIT_RATE -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4

So if you wanted to encode using two-pass VBR, the command line would be something like:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 -8x8dct-wpred -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -bf 3 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 128k -pass 2 -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+parti8x8+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +bpyramid+wpred+mixed_refs+8x8dct+brdo -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 2 -bidir_refine 1 -refs 5 -bf 3 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 OUTPUT.mp4

Note: I’ve altered the settings from the x264 CLI defaults. The quality settings can be considerably reduced for the first pass of two as it has little impact on the output of the second (or nth) pass.

Some general notes for x264 options in FFmpeg that are not self-explanatory:

* ME methods {name (n) for -me name ; ignore n}: dia (5/epzs), hex (7), umh (8), esa (2/full)

* Entropy coders {name (n for -coder n)}: CAVLC (0), CABAC (1)

* i_qfactor = i_frame_qp/p_frame_qp = 1/ipratio (note that this is not the same as ‘ipratio’ from the x264 CLI)

* Bit rate tolerance: bt = BIT_RATE*ratetol (’ratetol’ is the related parameter from the x264 CLI)

Note: If you think of any others, please contact me.

Those of you looking for the iPod/PSP information, I felt it was a little out of place here and have subsequently moved them to their own pages. iPod guide PSP guide

x264 quality/speed guide

The main settings you may want to alter are show below. You will want to reduce the options at the top first:

* 8×8dct and parti8×8

* brdo

* mixed_refs

* partitions

* max_b_frames

* me

* refs

* trellis

* subq

iPod video guide

Encoding videos suitable for iPods

Thanks to “cartman” on the FreeNode IRC network for testing and providing information for this guide.

The “new” higher resolution capability of the iPod video uses something Apple have dubbed a “Low Complexity” version of the Baseline Profile of H.264. Thankfully someone discovered what this meant. (See here for details - credit goes to Tyler Loch for this information.)

At first I wondered what the use of 640×480 video on a 320×240 screen would be but I was informed that these devices have a TV out. Fun. Anyway, on to the good stuff.

1.5Mbit/s 640×480 H.264 videos (for improved quality using TV out)

BIT_RATE <= 1500 kbps

640×480

Up to 30 fps

“Low-Complexity” H.264 Baseline Profile
- 1 reference frame
- Up to H.264 level 3
- 640 pixels maximum frame width
- Sample Aspect Ratio (SAR) must be 1:1
- UUID atom must exist containing the following hex data: 6B 68 40 F2 5F 24 4F C5 BA 39 A5 1B CF 03 23 F3

UUID stuff:

FFmpeg’s libavformat does not yet write this atom but I will request that it be added.

MP4Box from the GPAC project should write the atom but the size of the atom should be 28 bytes and MP4Box files have the UUID atom as 24 bytes. I don’t know what makes up the 28 bytes but I’ve contacted Jean Le Feuvre (the GPAC guy) about this so hopefully it will be fixed in the development code shortly. In the meantime feel free to use NicMP4Box or figure out the hacked code and readd it into MP4Box. I’ve had a look at Nick’s hacks myself and they are fairly minimal.

AtomicParsley works! But only the development code which can be checked out from their subversion repository. See below for usage.

For one pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 2 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

AtomicParsley OUTPUT.mp4 --DeepScan --iPod-uuid 1200 --overWrite

For two pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions 0 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 2 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

AtomicParsley OUTPUT.mp4 --DeepScan --iPod-uuid 1200 --overWrite

768kbit/s 320×240 H.264 videos

BIT_RATE <= 768 kbps

320×240

Up to 30 fps

H.264 Baseline Profile up to level 1.3

For one pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 2 -refs 5 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions 0 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec h264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 7 -trellis 2 -refs 5 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

IF ANYONE HAS FEEDBACK ON THE SETTINGS BELOW IT WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

2.5Mbit/s 640×480 MPEG-4 SP videos

BIT_RATE <= 2500 kbps

640×480

Up to 30 fps

Simple Profile

For one pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec aac -ab 160k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

Test of theora alpha7 video codec

2007-04-12T21:04:00.000+02:00

Hi all !

Today I spent quite 2 hours to test and compare the theora alpha7 video codec. So I used ffmpeg2theora. I want to know if the theora quality is better than x264 at the same bitrate. Today, at around 480kb/s the answer is no.

Here are some results. The original video is a spiderman 3 trailer from AlloCine.fr. The main caracteristics are :

- Duration: 00:02:37.6, start: 0.000000,

- bitrate: 1029 kb/s,

- Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 480x272, 25.00 fps(r),

- Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s.

I used this command line to convert the video stream :


ffmpeg2theora -v QUALITY -S 0 --nosound -o trailer.out Spider_Man_3_18726051_fa2_pod_xvid480.avi

with QUALITY the quality from 1 to 10.

I used this one too :


ffmpeg2theora -V BITRATE -S 0 --nosound -o trailer.out Spider_Man_3_18726051_fa2_pod_xvid480.avi

with BITRATE the bitrate in kb/s.

I try the --optimize option, which save 5% of the final size, but you need something like 2,2 times than the traditional methode to save only 5%!

Here are the results on a celeron 1GHz, 512 Mo Ram :

Comparison of various theora v1.0 alpha 7 codec
	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5	Test 6	Test 7
Sharpness	S0	S0	S0	S0	S0	S0	S0
Sound?	nosound	nosound	nosound	nosound	nosound	nosound	nosound
Birate (kb/s)/Quality	Birate 480	Birate 480	Quality 3 (~430kb/s)	Quality 4 (~500kb/s)	Quality 3.5	Quality 3.5	Quality 3.3 (~480kb/s)
--optimize?	yes	no	no	no	no	yes	no
Final Size	8,9 Mo	8,9 Mo	8,4 Mo	11 Mo	9,5 Mo	9,3 Mo	9,2 Mo
Time to encode	4min31	1min39	1min38	1min40	1min39	4min10	1min37

Ok, on this test there are no picture, neither video to watch. But trust me, x264 at same resolution, 2-pass encoding and an average bitrate of 480kb/s the quality is really better. It may be because there are really much options to choose.

Update for low bitrates movies

2007-04-01T14:08:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I did few tests between ogg vorbis and faac audio codec at low bitrates. So, the main thing to remember is :

1. ogg vorbis CBR encoding is really slow !

2. ogg vorbis VBR encoding is twice faster than the CBR methode

3. faac encoding is twice faster than vorbis VBR methode

4. under 80kb/s, audio is not really good. So, for low bitrates movies, you should use audio at 80kb/ at least.

5. faac add some strange audio artefact, which are away from ogg vorbis. So, you should wait for best result with FAAC codec and use OGG VORBIS today for your low rates movies.

About the container, the only one which works with a X264 video track and a VORBIS audio track is matroska container (MKV). It is pretty long to do such files. The main opertions are (under linux) :

1. ffmpeg -i movie_source.avi -acodec pcm_s16le -vn audio.wav # -vn means no video, and use pcm_s24le if your audio source is 48kHZ

2. ffmpeg -i movie_source.avi -an -vcodec copy video.avi # -an means no audio

3. compress the audio track with oggenc (ogmtools package)

oggenc \

--resample 44100 \ #optionnal

-q2 \ #around 80kb/s, 10min for 40min audio track on a 1GHz CPU

-o audioq2.ogg

audio_src.wav

4. compress the video track with avidemux

4.1 x264 codec

4.2 2 pass

4.3 450kb/s average

4.4 minq=25 / maxQ=51

4.5 resolution mplayer filter/ width=480/ lanczos #this resolution is a good compromise

4.6 MP4 container

5. mkvmerge -o movie_out.mkv -A video.mp4 audioq2.ogg #mkvtoolnix package, you can add other audio tracks too.

Finally, for a 40min TV show :

1. the audio filesize : ~26Mo,

2. the video filesize : ~66Mo,

3. the final movie filesize : ~92Mo.

Enjoy ;)

Audio codec test

2007-03-29T00:54:00.000+02:00

Hi again !

I am thinking of a project of a huge video database at home. The main idea is that :

1. encoding all my dvds on one hard drive,

2. the videos may be broadcastable on my WAN based on wifi (802.11b, so only 11Mb/s),

3. quality must be pretty good on a laptop.

So I was looking for the more interesting audio/video setting for a movie which rispond on these criteria.About the video codec, the choice is pretty easy :

1. xvid/divx is an old generation of codec mpeg4-part 2,

2. or H264 the new generation of video codec (mpeg4-part10). This one is used by HD-DVD.

So I choosed the video codec x264 (open source implementation of h264). I am using this setting : 2 pass, 384kb/s, width 352x288 (around this, it is the analog TV resolution). Quality from 25 to 51 step 4.

About the audio codec, I found two interesting test :

1. @ 80kb/s

2. @96kb/s

To sum up, the winners are AAC and Vorbis codecs. But, under linux, you can use faac for AAC codec, which is really bad according this test today. So I am using Vorbis, with quality 1,5 (around 80kb/s) or 2,3 (around 98kb/s). It is better than the old mp3 codec.

Finally, about the container, I don't really have the choice. So I am using ogm container, even if I would like to use mp4 container. But to do that, faac have to be better than today.

Now I have to find a way to configure vlc-server ;).

Have a lot of fun.

I'm alive ! Post about new graduated who are looking for a first job

2007-03-28T22:34:00.000+02:00

Hi all !

I am coming back to my blog ;) Yea, now I am so motivate to fill it. As on this title, this post is about the feelings of new graduated today, when we are looking for a (first) job. There is a kind of ill I think. Most of us are feeling to be "meat", and it is so bad to feel that way! This is overall right for engineers in France. According to me, this feeling comes from the SSII companies, who nobody be care of you. You are only a way to make money. Your "manager" don't care about your carrier or anything else. It is so sad. So many blogs are relaving this disease, but there are in french. So if you want to read it, here are few URL :

Les Recruteurs ont aussi des devoirs

Les recruteurs doivent s'adapter aux jeunes candidats zappeurs

Everything you can read there is so right for any SSII companies (ok, it is the second time I write it :p ).

And I give you 2 really good blogs :

JobEtic

J'aime ma boite elle non plus

Have a look on the book "le livre noir du consulting" writed in 2001. It is on the SSII world and, five years later it is so true!

Nice reading ;)

Supelec Gala

2006-10-22T23:08:00.000+02:00

Hi !

This is the third post tonight. Yeah, I am posting a lot ;) since no news for so many dayS. This is the last post for tonight too.

I went to the Supelec Gala. It was WONDERFUL! Many many people, really great music and DJ, and cocktails, and everythings ;).

So, nice night, with many memories.

Bed Time ;)

My new Job

2006-10-22T22:50:00.000+02:00

Hi guys!

After a month without any work to do for my job, I have chosen to "dismiss" / quit/ give up to my job. So I called few others companies which give me a job last summer. So, one of them give me a job. Now, I am working for Davidson Consulting. I posted a message about it few months ago.

So, I am working on "safety" on the new ERTMS norm. It is about railway "guide".

Schneider Electric gave me a job to. It was about developping firmware on elctric device for industries. It was about working in Grenoble, and I gave up. I don't really know why, but many things are confused to me. Maybe I act under the "crazy youngness".

"Never look behind you, and never regrets your acts", that's what I am saying to me today.

Bye Bye

My linux box works again !

2006-10-22T22:22:00.000+02:00

Hi all!

Yeah ! After a look on the web, I achieve to make my linux box works :D. After reading a lot of things about archlinux and the new kernel 2.6.18 and mkinitcpio, many people have few troubles. So, greatfully to me, someone make a working installation ISO. You can find it there. I really advise you to use this ISO.

So today I setup everything, and my computer never runs so smoothly under linux! Plus, I discovered new stuffs under firefox :

- Adblock filterset.G updater

- torrent search toolbar

- NoScript

- VideoDownloader

- PDF Download

- FireFtp

- ForecastFox 110n

- Deepest Sender (it seems it doesn't work today)

I already use most of them from many months, but few of them are newer to me, and useful. For exemple PDF Download give you the choice between download the file or open it threw the browser plugin. torrent search lists new torrent files, Noscript blocks javascript (it is a complement to adblock plus). With Deepest Sender, you can post news on your blog. I am using it for the first time to post this message. A tip : to use this firfox plugin with blogger.com, you should put this path in the option :

http://www.blogger.com/feeds/blogID/posts/summary where blogID is your blogID.

Have a nice night

Crash of my Linux system

2006-10-14T13:55:00.000+02:00

Hi all!

since 2 days, my linux Box has been down! I did a huge update (the last one was in May 2006) and in the linux community, there were a lot of new release around the kernel and other dameons...So all these stuffs made a big mess on my laptot and I am trying to save as many data as I can. It is a very low process under Windows (or maybe I had too much data ;) ). So I am reading and listening musics waiting the end of this. Then I will install again an archlinux linux distribution. Again a week end to do nothing :( .

Next Friday, I am pretty sure that I will be at the Supelec Gala . It is a huge event in Paris : more than 5000 people is waiting ;). Have a look on the website.

Few albums to listen :

Meredith Brooks

Blurring The Edges

DanceAge.com

Mandy Moore

The Best of Mandy Moore

DanceAge.com

Have a nice week end.

Phil

Few music I like listening today

2006-10-03T10:07:00.000+02:00

Just few album picked up from danceage.com that I like listening during the day...during this raining day.

Sandi Thom

I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) (Single)

Stacie Orrico

Stacie Orrico

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson

Jewel

Jewel

Jewel

Jewel

Jewel

Goodbye Alice in Wonderland

DanceAge.com

End of my studies...

2006-09-22T14:47:00.000+02:00

Hi folks!

Yesterday was an important day to me : I went to Bordeaux with my "boss" at France Telecom Franck Veysset, and I did my presentation of my last internship! That means that now i am not any more a student! I am an engineer! Plus there were a big event : few (ok many) drinks between friends, a meal, a party inside my engineering school, then with a bunch of friends, I went to a night club until the end (4a.m., yeah, in Bordeaux night clubs close earlier than anywere in France), then in an after place until 5:30 a.m., and I caught a TGV train at 6:30a.m. to come back to paris! So many private memories about this day ;)

Have a nice day, reader :p

News about a lowcost phone operator

2006-09-17T17:54:00.000+02:00

Hi !

Just a short post about a working experience in my parents' house. I set up a VoIP solution there with a BeWan PhoneBox (it is an ATA). So this box is plug on the router at home and a DECT phone is plug on it. The nice thing with this box is that you can choose your SIP operator. In France there are for exemple voipbuster, PhoneSystems or Wengo.

At home, I choosed voipbuster because it is the more interesting : free calls for the US, France and 2cents a minute to Dominican Republic (landlines only).

After few troubles, it looks like working great since 2 weeks ;)

If you don't want to spend more money on phone, internet and co, you should consider this solution, because your are free to choose the operator ;)

The week end before my last day at ENSEIRB

2006-09-17T17:40:00.000+02:00

Hi guys!
Today, it is the last week end before my "soutenance". So I wrote my slides for the presentation of my internship. This one will be the followin thursday.
It is the first time i am writing in english for so many time, and i feel it is more difficult than before. Words are not comming so easily.

So I think that since october, i will watch only movies in english (as often as i can ;) ).

So, i wrote my slides listening a nice singer : Carrie Underwood. If you want to listen to her, click there :

Carrie Underwood

Some Hearts
DanceAge.com

If it doesn't work, you can copy/past this URL to windows media player :
http://www.danceage.com/media_player/asx.php?aid=1112&q=hi&inumber=1
or looking for it on the website : DanceAge.com

I updated the website of my school promotion too : SE2006.

Have a nice day.

A game on the web

2006-08-03T13:05:00.000+02:00

Hi folks !

Today I drove my dog to visit his doctor, because he has an ear deseas(?). I have played for a week to a game on the Internet. It is www.ogame.fr . I discovered this one throw the French BeOS communauty. You don't have to play often. Twice a day is enought I think (not on the begenning, but after 4 or 5 days it's okay). It is a strategy game like the famous starcraft, but not on real time. For the summer, I said to myself "why not?".

Today, it is the day five about my back to my parent's house...and only yesterday was sunny ! Today it is raining ! So I am listening music throw 2 websites : www.radioblogclub.com and www.danceage.com . I am looking informations about car insurance, because since April 1st 2007, I will pay it myself. I am waiting for a call of www.nexx.fr which looks like the cheapest one. Now I will read "Illusions Perdues Tome 1 , Balzac", listening musics :
* Texas, White on blonde
* Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
* Jack Johnson, Brushfire Fairytales
* Matt Nathanson, At the Point
* Donavon Frankenreiter, Move by Yourself
* Nelly Furtado, Loose
* Paris Hilton, Stars are blinds

and the rain noise ;)
Have a nice day!

Quite a month without news .....

2006-08-02T21:45:00.000+02:00

Hi guys!

Tonight I am feeling sad... a little bit. I met someone who I really like a lot, and I don't see her often...and each time it is the same thing... I cry a little bit when I left her and I wondered to myself if I shouldn't tell her nicer things. Maybe she doesn't know what I will feel when I see her... Maybe a day I will be more courageous and I will tell her...I spent a nice day in front of the lack of my childhood town.

other stuff now. I signed my contract with Thales Service, so I will start September 4th at Malakoff. My interns report is done. My slides are done too. Now I am enjoying simple things for my vacations :D. I see friends, do shopping (end of the sales)...

A come back ....

2006-07-08T23:32:00.000+02:00

Hi cheeks and guys ;)

After around a month of silence, I post a new article. You may wonder why I was away for a so long time? I can answer that I was too busy to find a job and hang out with friends, but a part of the answer is that I may be too lazy to update my blog. Today I realised that I don't give enough news about myself to my family and my friends. Plus I don't call them enough to get news about them.
You know, I already know that, but the main part of the human being is to be friendly....maybe it doesn't mean anything to you, but I don't really know how to explain/translate my mind.
This week, I signed in Thales Service for a job. So I will earn 32k€ a year, plus few other euros which is my variable part (around 3k€). It's a good deal for my ingeneering school I guess.
Then, because my internship is ending, I left a very incredible guy...he sounds exceptionnal to my mind : he is so sympathic, cool, worker, charismatic. Plus he has an incredible leadership. So he is a very great guy and I wish to know him a little be more, even to be one of his friend. Things come sometimes too fast, and you say to yourself that you will never do the same mistake again. But facts repeat theirselves; I'm pretty sure of that. I promise myself that now I will be careful about that...
Because I signed in this week, I understand more than ever that things go faster than you believe. Today, I am on the border of a new step of my life. It is the same difference, I guess, when you go from the medium school to the high school; or between the prep school and the ingineering school. Working means : ending of student life, ending of parties whenever you want. Can I have friends at work? You know, people you can trust, and have fun with them. People you can hang out with them during the week end....or simply enjoying your life.
I am writing all this stuff, because I realize/notice that I may miss to much important things, because I am living too fast. For exampler, I missed a birthday this week end of a great guy I met last year, and I will miss an important week end with my child friends because I have to make (take?) a choice/ decision. But life is like that, you never know about what tomorrow will be done, and so you have choices to do. Like it is said in "Gladiator" : "Things you do in your life, resound for the eternity" (or something like that). Everything you do help you to grow up. Maybe i am little bit afraid about this life, which is waiting for me.... I don't know.
This week I start again to read "have read" books. I want to remind me cultural things. So I am reading books from Balzac; and I want too read historical books, to know forever important things from history. I should follow economics facts too, but I don't have time to read newspaper.... I wonder how people 30 years ago could do that : be aware of worldwide news, reading books, hanging out, do sport... so many things that seems quite impossible to me now.
I stop writing something now, because I don't know if there is any meaning throw all these sentences.

Good bye every body ... it is the really early morning in France... or late in the night. I let you choose the way you prefer to say it.

Review on Beijaflore

2006-06-13T00:06:00.000+02:00

It sounds to be a nice compagny. You will be recruited only about who you are ("recrutement par profil") and not for a job linked to a contract with a customer.
You will have an interveiw every 3 month with your "carrer manager". Because Beijaflore is a "Cabinet de consil" and not a SSII, there are :
* a human ressource department
* a business manager: he is supposed to find jobs
* a carreer manager: he is supposed to help you to achieve your personnal project

Learn new stuffs is really important. So Beijaflore lead to you many solutions : thursday class, "theleves" and "cercle de compétence". All these stuffs are provided in the "E-Center", in the main building Paris XVI (really nice building).

People are young, motivated, dynamic. Plus everyone wear a suit (ok it's normal but there is a way to be from Beijaflore, like when you work for accenture).

What can I had? Yeah, the girl tease me a little bit because she wants to know if I prefer working for a big compagny or for a "conseil" compagny. Today I don't know. I guess I prefer working for a big compagny because it is more secure I guess if I want to buy an appartement for exemple. But Beijaflore is quite famous too. So it is intersting to work for them. But the main question is : "do I want to work for a firm or beijaflore?".

Stay tuned ...

Review Ausy

2006-06-12T23:48:00.000+02:00

About Ausy, I have a little trouble : I don't remember a lot ... So I will add stuff there later.

What I remember is :
* grow from its own,
* 70% regis et 30% forfait (à vérifier)
* you can learn new stuff like "project manager" inside the compagny.
* you can easily learn new stuffs (to check?)
* easy to move in the country
* 1 manager for 20 people
* you can become an expert on something

Questions :
* ambiance au sein de l'entreprise? Réuninon entre les collaborateurs?
* salaire?
* evolution de carrière?

Review Astek

2006-06-12T23:46:00.000+02:00

This one is french now, but I will translate it in english later

implanté national et londres-finance
un manager pour 25-30 ingé
tous les managers sont issus d'école d'ingénieur
plusieurs secteurs d'activité
a paris: 150 industrie 150telecom 50finance 50 gestion 50admin
çà a pas l'air évident de travailler sur des techno qu'on ne connait pas
70% des offres sont en support / assistance technique.
là où on peut apprendre des trucs c'est sur les forfaits qui sont faits en interne.
je n'ai pas eu l'impression que les souhaits du consultant étaient vraiment pris en compte.

Review Aptus

2006-06-12T23:45:00.000+02:00

The guy who talked to me was nice and a new worker. He wasn't "dynamique". He believes into the compagny, but he did't show it.
Aptus has existed for 10 years. It is growing from its own. Around 600 ingineers in 2005 and an income of 37M€.
The is an event a month like a karting race, a football/soccer match.
The main customers are: thales, sagem, FT...
An answer is given around 3 weeks later.
Multi competence: audit/consei, forfait/maitrise d'ouvrage, regi/assistance technique and another one.
You may work in various field: military, medical, mobile phone, energie (GE, Areva)etc...
About salary: fix between 30-32k€
Aptus is not build around business unit like Alten or Altran.
Most of job are in regi.
The compagny grows on itself: it doesn't buy other firms.

Review Teleca

2006-06-12T23:44:00.000+02:00

Nice people, they looked motivated about the compagny.
Main tasks/most tasks are "forfait" inside their buildings. It is the old Ericsson R&D department.
You ca easily learn new stuff. You should stay there around 5years.
I shoud ask things again.

Review on Davidson

2006-06-12T23:37:00.000+02:00

Davidson is a young SSII. It exist only for 8 months. The guy I met is Jonathan Herschtal. He belives in his compagny. Plus he is so enthousiasm and dynamic. I really like him.

Many expert senior are working there and most customers are famous firms. There is a nice way to communicate, a newsserver, an extranet. The co-optation is the main way to recruit new people. You should stay there many years. Most of the "contract" are "au forfait". One manager manage around 10 ingineers.

Plus Davidson ask compagnies for a job instead of waiting for "appels d'offres".

This compagny really got me.

Review Elsys Design

2006-06-12T23:36:00.000+02:00

Nothing to say except it is not "funny". The guy who welcome me was so boring that I will nerver call him back. Plus the salary is only 28k€ + 3k€ as a variable part.

News from a busy man

2006-06-12T23:30:00.000+02:00

Hi guys! It's a long time I haven't post anythings. That's because I am so busy with my internship and all these interviews .... Tonight I am postin few reviews instead of applying for jobs in famous firms like nortel, thomson, wavecom and so.... My mum is complying about that. She told me that "there are so many busy man in the graveyard..." understand what you want, but according to here I am forgiving the main things like family, rest, give news from me, and so.... I let you think about this sentence and feel free to add any comment.

Review on Ayrton

2006-05-28T22:38:00.000+02:00

It is a new SSII. It has existed for 5 years.
The human ressource girl was a little bit tense and she stayed with me only 30min. We chatted a little bit in English.
The compgny is really small: a little bit more than 100 consultants.
You can work with big compagny on mobile phone, digital TV, HD TV
You can get lessons to lezrn new stuffs from your spare time. Lik Altior, these class are done by co workers who are "expert".
1 manager for 20-25 people.
You will work every where on the V cycle.
You will work in different projects. It is supposed to avoid to b tired of your job, to avoid that you become indispensable, to know more technologies.
You are supposed to stay few years in. It may have a meeting a month, but because it is young, it is not well organise. The compagny is human size.
Salary: 32k€

Plus, the Human Ressource girl ask me "What can I offer to the compagny?" ... It was quite difficult to answer it...

Review on Altior (SSII from Altran 05232006)

2006-05-28T22:35:00.000+02:00

Other "filial" from Altran. The interview began 15min later (9am instead of 8:45am). I received my convocation only the day before at 7:40pm! A blabla close to Sivan blabla. It is the 3rd biggest compagny from Altran.
Salary: 33k€
Work: space companies, mobile phone...
Meeting: 3 meeting a year with my manager
It is possible to work to another town thanks to the size of Altior

review on Assystem (05222006)

2006-05-28T22:34:00.001+02:00

It was far away! an hour and half of meeting. I can have a job on Digital TV or mobile phone or cars. This compagny follow you a lot and help you to keep a "coherent" resume. So I can begin as a computer developper, and become an "architect". That mean that I can work on the top level of the V cycle (specification). Salary around 33k€. ork with Sagem (cergy, les ulis), philips and valeo.
Meeting: 1 meeting every 3 month with your personnal manager; 1 every 4 month with the entire team.
English: a part of interview in english

Review on Sivan (SSII from Altran 05222006)

2006-05-28T22:34:00.000+02:00

It was my first interview. It is a "filial" of the wellknown SSII Altran. It is specialized in IT, telecom and digital TV.
My interview started 30min later than the appointement time (9am instead 8:30am). About salary, it may be possible to start ngociating around 33k€, but I don't know if the variable part is included or not (I hope no). The guy was nice to me. No special question.

A review on Zeta

2006-05-28T22:33:00.000+02:00

I used to run my computer under BeOS 5 pro few years ago (maybe 3 or 4 years). I was really surprise about the "speed", the management of different ressources and the different tasks! For exemple, your system will never slow down or hang up for the user when you are copying a large file from a disk to another, watching a video and rendering a raytracing picture! It's amazing!
To come back to Zeta, it is the 6th realease of the OS. I bought it to support the communauty, because I used to be glad when I were using it.

So this version is as fast as the former one, much more beautiful and with much more driver. Unfortunately, wifi is not working on my laptot. I didn't try the SD card reader, usb and modem. Plus, i used partition magic to resize my hard drive and i lost/break my swap drive.

I was quite busy the last few days ....

2006-05-28T22:30:00.000+02:00

Hey cheeks and guys!

I was quite busy the last few days. I had four interviews and a four days wek end in Sweden to prepare ;o).

So today i post a review a / by compagny, a review about Zeta, a eview about my digital camera and of course a summary on my wonderful week end in Sweden!

Hot line family

2006-05-19T23:52:00.000+02:00

Hi!
Today I played poker at work to finish my day work. It was really funny and relax. I begin to enjoy to play this game, overall at 10 like today. Maybe I will play a little bit on my computer and pda, sometimes. What about when I am using the subway?

Tonight I helped my dad for at least 2 hours by Lan phone; the old computer, running under win98, has too much bugs. So it is quite useless.... And I was starting to become super picky (opposite of quiet?) !!! I tried to explain to him how to copy files from his computer to my computer starting a SFTP connection.... quite difficult, believe me.

It is a little bit late, so I will go to bed...

Dvds videos and other stuffs

2006-05-17T23:53:00.000+02:00

Today I received my two next DVDs from http://www.glowria.fr . This webssite is really serious. DVDs are always with English and French soundtracks, and look new.

I received too Zeta 1.2. I have ordered this OS to support BeOS, because I liked using this OS 3 years ago. It is really nice to use it. So to help the company, I bought it. I may try to install it this week end, but I'm not sure about that.

Stay tuned

My experience about monster.fr

2006-05-17T23:44:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening (aroud midnight) I posted my resume on the websites http://www.monster.fr and http://www.monster.ch . I was very surptised today because, under 24 hours later, 107 people looked at it !!! Plus, I got 7 messages on my mobile phone and 7 mails from SSII companies. So I will have few interviews.

Today I left my internship earlier than usually to go to a meeting for a job. It was www.topingenieurs.com. There were many companies. I talked with only few of them in 2 hours :
* PSA, datavance, aptus and afdtech seems interesting;
* Siemens, johnson control don't have any open jobs (which is the right English word?)
* solutec and elcimai don't do anything with embedded systems.

I may have more interviews ..... but I don't really know how much to ask. Maybe around 33-34k€...

Now I have to class all these mails and voice messages before sleeping... have a nice night

Last Friday, at work

2006-05-15T22:24:00.000+02:00

Hi guys !
I forgot to say a word about what happened last Friday. It was the birthday of a girl at work, so there was a kind of party from 4:30pm to 5:30. Then I was really motivated about working. Fortunately, few ingeneers stared to play poker. So I did my first "true" poker last friday, with 6 ingeneers for an hour. It was funny: every one was so serious.... It may be a nice idea to play poker with friends during an entire night ;-)....overall with a nice table, nice tokens ... few lights too....

welcome back to the 20's :D

My next camera

2006-05-14T15:50:00.000+02:00

I am going to fly to Goterborg(GOT), Sweden, from May 23rd to May 28th. I want to start a digital picture collection. So I may (will I think) buy a digital camera. I am thinking about the Panasonic DMC-FX9. This one has 6Mega Pixel, so it is possible to print nice pictures too. Plus, it uses SD-card, which are compatible with my PDA (Palm TX), my laptop can read SD cards too, and this camera is like an usb mass storage (according few websites). The last point mean that this camera use the protocol usb mass storage to communicate with a compuiter. So any OS which is able to mount a usb key will be able to use this camera in a "native way".

More information about this camera :
http://www.rueducommerce.fr/Photo-Video-Numerique/Appareil-Photo-Numerique/6-Megapixels/Panasonic/367284-Lumix-DMC-FX9-Noir.htm?pl=371700|371961|368329|367284
http://www.cnet.com/ (about reading a review)

Life in Paris

2006-05-14T15:09:00.000+02:00

I am in Paris from mid-february. I met friends I had when I was in prep school (Lycée Champollion PC* 2001-2003). So I wasn't lost in this huge city ;) Plus, two friends from my engineer scholl ENSEIRB (http://www.enseirb.fr) are in Paris too for there interns. I see them avery week end, usually friday evening and saturday.

I am discovering new streets, new pubs, news restaurants and new everything everytime I hang out.

It is quite boring to use the subway everytime, but it is the simplest and easiest way to go from a point to another. The city is really light by night, and the are always people every where I go. I am going to start a wikipage somewhere to keep trace of nice places like : restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, cheap stores, nice movie theaters, etc...