Categories
technology tutorial videos

Fixing VLC player crashes on Mac OS X

I’ve been a big fan of the VLC media player on the Mac and have been using it exclusively as my media player. However at some point the VLC player got very funky and suddenly stopped playing all video content. If you tried opening any video file it would open a blank video window and play the files audio for a few seconds before crashing. I tried deleting the app and getting the latest version on the website but that really didn’t seem to help. After a bunch of web searches and looking on several different forums I seem to have stumbled on a working answer.… Read the rest

Categories
mobile tutorial

Yet another video chat tutorial for the Nokia N800 (OS2008)

One of the most popular entries on my blog is my video chat tutorial for the N800. Unfortunately Nokia has since ceased its support for their Nokia Internet Call application on the N95 and as a result there was no way for N800 users to video chat with a desktop user. After several months of fiddling around and tying out several different options I am glad to say that I have finally figured out the process and managed to make N800 to PC video calls using the Gizmo project. The video quality is not as good as it used to be with the Internet Call application, but as you can see below, unlike IC, it actually works so that does makes it a winner.… Read the rest

Categories
mobile

Installing the Nokia N800 OS2008 Software update (swap key issues)

The official instructions for entering the “Install mode” on the Nokia N800 OS2008 Software update are incorrect. The Internet Tablet Software Update Wizard will tell you to enter the update mode by boot the device while holding the “swap” key down – this will show the USB icon on the top right corner for 2-3 seconds after which the tablet will quit the install mode and continue booting. What you should actually do is hold the “Home” key (the one with a house icon) down during bootup which will put it into the sustained install mode that is needed for the software update wizard to do its magic.… Read the rest

Categories
mobile

Back to the future

Google just announced MyLocation, a cell-id augmented version of Google Maps Mobile.

Welcome to 18 months ago.… Read the rest

Categories
mobile research thoughts

What is Mobile Spatial Interaction?

Helping organize the Mobile Spatial Interaction (MSI) workshop at CHI 2007 has made me very sensitive to the usage of the term MSI. Most people see Mobile and Spatial attached to Interaction and immediately start talking about location aware applications and services. However as someone who has spent the last few years working on location-aware applications, I have always felt that MSI and location-aware apps are two slightly different classes of research. As a result I’ve been spending some time thinking about how to define MSI as well as understanding how it differs (if it differs at all) from the current of location aware applications.… Read the rest