tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10128352948639003072024-03-13T08:48:43.968-07:00Stewart Gateley's BlogStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-83496656857077006462012-06-04T14:15:00.003-07:002012-06-04T14:19:31.051-07:00Send me to Google I/O 2012!Phandroid, the best Android news and reviews blog (i'm not just saying that because of the contest either), is celebrating Android Developers Appreciation Month (see why I love them now?). In the spirit of developer appreciation, they have decided to send one lucky developer to attend Google I/O 2012.
So how can you help send me to Google I/O? Just Like, Tweet or +1 this post with your friends!
Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-879581249747927772011-08-14T13:59:00.001-07:002011-08-14T13:59:55.329-07:00Johnathan's Card: Start to FinishIf you have been following internet news this month, you have no doubt heard of the Johnathan's Card social experiment, in which Johnathan Stark offered a screenshot of his Starbucks Card mobile payment barcode for others to use in a "Take a Coffee, Give a Coffee" manner. The experiment lasted nearly a month with anonymous donations of over $9000 via reloading Johnathan's Starbucks Card. Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-7490147442706604272011-01-08T21:26:00.000-08:002011-01-09T13:22:53.993-08:0014 tips for Android beginnersGoogles Android mobile operating system has surpassed Apples iOS in Q3 of 2010 to become the second most popular smartphone operating system behind Research In Motions Blackberry, and it was the top selling mobile OS in the 2010 holiday shopping season. Even before holiday shopping an average of 300,000 new Android phones and tablets were being activated each day and there is no sign of it Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-88673668412753010042010-12-28T12:15:00.000-08:002010-12-28T12:15:15.904-08:00Cover Art Downloader hits 50k downloadsIf you use your Android device to listen to music, Cover Art Downloader is an essential application that will automatically retrieve your missing album cover art. It works with the stock Android music player as well as many popular 3rd-party players and has many useful features.
In less than two months since release, Cover Art Downloader for Android has reached a new milestone of 50,000 Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-7291293671300840812010-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:002010-12-21T11:28:35.240-08:00Cover Art Downloader developer interviewThe Apple Google, a iOS news and app review site who recently began doing some Android coverage picked me as the target for their first Android Developer Interview. Check it out @ http://goo.gl/LBU2GStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-28266424425132160122010-12-21T01:28:00.000-08:002010-12-21T01:28:03.706-08:00New website for Android appsSo I can keep this blog relevant to Linux, Android and programming how-to's and tips, I have created a new website for my Android apps. Check it out at http://www.appsbybirbeck.com/. Although there may be some crossover here, the latest news on my Android apps can be found via the website, Facebook, and Twitter.Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-59363261026845227232010-12-06T16:39:00.000-08:002010-12-16T02:56:01.551-08:00April fools in December?I was hacking away last night to rewrite Wallpaper Slideshow, and I needed to reference a java file in the Android source code. I noticed the file had changed, and that a new commit had been made. The Gingerbread was done baking before the timer went off, which it did this morning with Andy Rubin's big announcement.
So on my lunch break today I thought I would upgrade to the latest SDK and spoilStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-43270213217282607762010-11-15T03:55:00.000-08:002010-11-15T03:58:29.615-08:00Cover Art Downloader for Android is now even faster!
Since its release to the Android Market, Cover Art Downloader has been the quickest and easiest way to tag your music collection with the appropriate album art. Version 1.2.2, was released today with 2 new features that can save you even more time.
1) Fast scrolling
With fast scrolling, you begin scrolling through your albums and you will now notice a grab handle on the right hand side of the Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-5083801680265092812010-11-14T03:55:00.000-08:002010-11-14T04:08:28.995-08:00Wallpaper Slideshow for AndroidWallpaper Slideshow for Android on AppBrain
Following the success of my Gnome Wallpaper Slideshow for Linux, this was one of my first Android projects. The beta was originally uploaded to the Market on October 28 2010. Today I am happy to announce the beta tag has been removed and version 1.0 of Android Wallpaper Slideshow is now available to download FREE from the Android Market.
Android Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-31805918276902881492010-11-07T18:27:00.000-08:002010-11-17T09:47:58.483-08:00Getting your album art to show on AndroidCover Art Downloader for Android on AppBrain
Cover Art Downloader (Donate) for Android on AppBrain
Traditionally, getting your album art to show on Android has been a complicated task. If your audio tracks weren't initially tagged with embedded album art or a specially named file inside the albums folder before being loaded onto the device, there was no hope of getting the artwork to be Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-50640043621924886302010-10-26T10:20:00.001-07:002010-10-26T10:49:04.408-07:00Is the iPhone and "walled garden" approach really that bad?I am a software developer, and as such, I have found mobile phones a great new market to focus attention on. Naturally I started developing for what I had, a T-Mobile G1 running Android. When I first got the phone, I wanted to write a Last.fm scrobbling client, but I didn't understand the whole SDK, particularly the API calls needed for such a program. As it turns out it's a fairly advanced Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-22340057089733674072010-10-10T15:01:00.000-07:002010-10-10T15:02:25.244-07:00How to secure your Ubuntu Linux desktopA big reason a lot of people install Linux is for the extra security. While Ubuntu is a pretty secure operating system, new exploits and viruses are found every day. There are still a few simple steps you can take to secure your computer against intruders and internet exploits.
Anti-Virus is a pretty controversial topic on Linux. The popular belief is that Linux is by design immune to virues. Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-85645827698757958182010-10-07T00:55:00.000-07:002010-10-07T00:57:58.486-07:00Getting ADB (Android Debugger) to work on Ubuntu 10.04+In my spare time I enjoy writing Android applications and exploring the vast Android SDK. Though I have not yet published any apps to the Market, I have a few going through final QA testing which will be released soon.
Often times, I will need to get an adb shell, watch the logfiles on the phone, or want push my apps to my devices for testing or debugging on a real device. I do most of my codingStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-65725914806120950842010-06-28T01:34:00.000-07:002010-06-29T10:27:00.193-07:00My top 10 Android appsOf course a phones priority should be to make calls, but today people expect so much more from these powerful mini computers resting in their pockets and purses. The Android operating system is the most powerful and fastest selling mobile phone operating system available today. Not only does it enable you to make phone calls, but to send text messages and chat with your friends online; browse theStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-14562556205593704932010-06-25T13:56:00.000-07:002010-06-29T09:23:18.810-07:00How to improve battery life on your HTC Evo 4G (or any Android smartphone)INTRODUCTION:
The HTC Evo 4G is an awesome smartphone with its 4G data network, Wi-Fi hotspot tethering, large high resolution display, fast 1GHz snapdragon processor, 512MB memory, 8MP camera with dual LED flash capable of 720p video recording and front facing vga camera for video chat. Hardware wise, it is the current top of the line smartphone (with how fast Android moves there will always beStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-10733334842801889622010-05-23T12:49:00.000-07:002010-05-23T15:55:47.270-07:00How to create a desktop wallpaper slideshow in Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)A popular feature in other OS's and one quite often requested in Linux, is the ability to cycle through a directory of images as your desktop background. Gnome and therefore Ubuntu actually do support this already and have for a long time, however its not easily configured in the GUI like setting a static wallpaper is.
If you go to your appearance preferences and change your background, you may Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-23195552962512986652010-05-18T20:47:00.000-07:002010-05-18T21:59:04.625-07:00How to install proprietary codecs on Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Flash, MP3, DVDMost Linux distributions, Ubuntu included, ship with only "free software". Not just free as in price, but free as in freedom. That is software that is free of patents, licensing restrictions, copyright restrictions and DRM (digital rights management), where the source is fully available for anyone to modify or extend. Free software has many benefits and in many cases, free software is of much Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-20410150206762996692010-05-17T10:11:00.000-07:002010-05-23T10:39:10.940-07:00How to change titlebar button location on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid LynxWhy did Canonical designers decide to put the title bar buttons on the totally unusable position of the left hand side? I can bet you a pretty big part of it is because Canonical has hired a new design team to work on the new branding, and they happen to all be using the totally unusable Macintosh OS X. While I'm not going to go into the details of the usability issues with LHS buttons vs RHS Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-28248638719875216342010-05-11T10:54:00.000-07:002010-05-11T11:22:04.313-07:00Debunking Linux #2: A Tour of Ubuntu LinuxOne of the most common things I hear about Linux is that "It doesn't do anything" or "To do anything you are required to type a bunch of commands in the terminal". This spawns likely from 2 things:
1) From the infancy of the GUI in the mid-late '90s. But what was it pitted against? Windows 95 and Windows 98 in the Windows camp, and System 7 and System 8 on the Mac side of things (if you want to Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-20326580462427311782010-04-23T11:36:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:36:42.296-07:00After the Software Wars
After the Software Wars is a book by Keith Curtis about free software and its importance in the computing industry, specifically about its impact on Microsoft and the proprietary software development model.
The book discusses the importance of free and shared knowledge and the sense of community. It provides examples as well as challenges of free software and knowledge resources such as Linux Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-23827886042767984622010-04-19T10:49:00.000-07:002010-04-19T11:09:42.775-07:00Debunking Linux #1: Installing Ubuntu LinuxThere are a lot of myths and fallacies surrounding Linux that I hear daily. These myths definitely slow the adoption of Linux by filling the heads of potential users with false information and flat out lies. This is the first of several debunking and how-to blogs I will do to lay some of this mis-information to rest. I hope to do so in a way to does not come across as fanboy-ish. To do this, I Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012835294863900307.post-15688349459510324102010-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:48:48.010-07:00Adobe blocks Linux from ColdFusion BuilderThe new ColdFusion Builder IDE from Adobe isn't perfect, but it is the closest thing to a viable IDE ColdFusion developers have had to date. That is of course if you're a ColdFusion developer running Windows or OS X.
I ran the ColdFusion Builder betas as a plugin to my already installed Eclipse, thanks to the great effort by Mark Mandel to extract the appropriate files from the full versions forStewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08950402166365313855noreply@blogger.com2