Plop in the Ocean tag:pgregg.com,2009-02-03:/blog//2 2010-04-18T21:04:59Z Movable Type 4.25 The O2 Joggler - A first hack. tag:pgregg.com,2010:/blog//2.340 2010-04-14T22:06:47Z 2010-04-18T21:04:59Z Paul Gregg http://pgregg.com devicev2.JPG
If you were not aware - O2 last week reduced the price of the O2 Joggler from £149.99 to £99.99 to £49.99.  Nothing remarkable in price reductions, however what is remarkable is what you actually get for your money.

The O2 Joggler is a silent 7" touchscreen device with Intel Atom Z520 running at 1.3Ghz, 512Mb ram, 1GB internal flash storage with additional storage available via an external USB port. What makes the device really exciting is that it also has a 1GB ethernet (Realtec 8168) and Wifi.

Looking at that - I know you're all thinking "linux box" - but conveniently, the default operating system on it is based on Ubuntu 8.04 and busybox, The frontend is a custom flash driven UI developed by OpenPeak (makers of the Jogger which is rebadged by O2).

There are plenty of clever individuals over at http://hackthejoggler.freeforums.org/and in the #mer channel on freenode who are working to allow the Joggler to run other Operating Systems such as Android, Ubuntu Netbook Edition, MID, even Windows and OSX.

However, the standard OS supplied is also pretty powerful and allows significant customisation.  You can enable telnet just by turning it on with a custom USB stick plugged in. To do some of the things I'll be describing here you will need to have started with that.

Once you can telnet in, the world opens up and you can do lots of things that you would expect* to be able to do in a linux system. (* except run a web browser.... at this time - we don't have web access with the stock OS due to the custom flash GUI interface.)

Lets install some useful utilities, how about perl, terminfo, irc clients, bit torrent, rsync, ssh/scp ?   Yes, I know what you're thinking - overnight silent downloads - no need to leave PC on... nice...

I've built several of these utilities with installation instructions and uploaded them over here: 
  http://ubu05.pgregg.com/joggler/

Feel free to download, examine, install etc.  Read the README on the download page - it explains how to do it. Most of the packs include an install.sh script that will provide an installation safety net - it won't overwrite existing files or libraries.

Usual disclaimers apply - you try these applications at your own risk. I accept no responsibility if you manage to brick, fry or otherwise trash your joggler.

Comments, suggestions for other applications are always welcome.

Update: Thanks to NP - seems I was a little too brutal with the library stripping to keep the download sizes small and I missed some required libraries (that I mistakenly thought were in the standard Joggler distro).   I have rebuilt the following packages as they were missing some libs: rtorrent, rsync, sudo,ssh
The screen package has been rebuilt too to add one final tweak (to the installer script) so it can be used by non-root users - the only difference you need to do is run the command: chmod 666 /dev/ptmp /dev/tty

]]> Is BT still collecting usage data? tag:pgregg.com,2010:/blog//2.339 2010-03-31T07:30:00Z 2010-03-31T13:28:17Z Paul Gregg http://pgregg.com BT using Phorm (see here and here) is it still possible that BT is still covertly collecting data profiling its user's internet usage?

I have, as part of my home BT Total Broadband package, a HUAWEI Mobile Connect 3G Modem.  This is a USB dongle that provides internet service.   I rarely use it, but because of the storms last night my internet connection has been very unstable, therefore I plugged it in today.

When I started the "BT Connection Manager" software, it informed me that there was an update to the service and would I like to download it? Yes, ok, and a couple of minutes later it began to install itself.  Then popped up the obligatory EULA which contained the paragraphs:

"Installation of this Software will automatically apply a unique identifier to the Software, this identifying feature will only be used in accordance with the BT privacy policy which can be found at www.bt.com.

This software automatically collects session and client parameter Information for all connections made via this Software. This information is automatically transmitted to BT at the start of each session where Internet access is available. This session information will only be used in accordance with the BT privacy policy which can be found at www.bt.com."

BTConnectionManagerEULA.txt
I also note that the software package uses the Open Source packages libCurl, openssl and sqlite.  Combined they enable the package to record "session and client parameter Information for all connections" in the database (sqlite) and to encrypt (openssl) and transmit the data via a web request (libcurl) back to BT.

At this point I am unable to confirm if such a transmission is taking place as I declined the EULA, but would welcome feedback or comments from others that are able to investigate this more fully.

Update: Even though I clicked "Cancel" to reject the EULA - it did update the application and actually started it up before I exited the installer.  Guess I have this privacy invading feature now.




]]> Borland, Farewell my sweet. tag:pgregg.com,2009:/blog//2.334 2009-05-06T14:31:36Z 2009-05-06T17:34:46Z Today, May 6 2009, marks the day that Borland, that once great master of all software development has finally recognised there was no other recourse but to up and sell itself off in order to survive.Back when I was a teenager, in the early 80s and personal computing was coming to the fore - I, and many others, aspired to work for that great company Borland. It was the pinnacle of language development and development tools and we wanted to work there. However, based in Ireland it was never to be.Also, once upon a time I happened to be working... Paul Gregg http://pgregg.com
Back when I was a teenager, in the early 80s and personal computing was coming to the fore - I, and many others, aspired to work for that great company Borland. It was the pinnacle of language development and development tools and we wanted to work there. However, based in Ireland it was never to be.

Also, once upon a time I happened to be working for a very promising young company with a fantastic product line called Segue Software, based in Boston, MA.  Segue also had its troubles but a new CEO saw its fortunes turn and it was climbing to success. This success was noticed by the aforementioned Borland as it tried to re-invent itself as an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) company.  The same day it was announced that Borland was acquiring Segue, it also announced it was selling its developer tools division (that's Delphi, JBuilder, and later Delphi for PHP, 3rd Rail line of products).

This was such a bitter-sweet time for many.  I was overjoyed that I was going to work for Borland (childhood dream) - it didn't matter I wasn't going to work with the developer tools, working for "Borland" would just be cool.  Sadness also because our little 200-man company was being consumed by a 1200-man behemoth (relatively) and no-matter which way you looked at it, people were going to lose their jobs.  Pretty much the entire US East Coast staff (Segue Head Office) lost their jobs and the office was closed.  Product development labs and Technical Support survived, simply by virtue that it was the product and product skills that were purchased, not the G&A functions - they could go.

I 'lived the dream' for the next 2.5 years in the IT department. Despite being remote, I loved working with the rest of the Borland teams as I was intimately involved in the merging/migration of Segue's systems into Borland's. I also had the pleasure of working with several departments to architect and deploy several new platforms (such as product downloads and licensing via Intraware, and the companies Salesforce.com, SFDC, deployment).  I'll treasure the time I spent at Borland.

Of course there were several WTF moments. Most significantly, for me, was the company "hanging its hat" on BMS (Business Management Solutions) which ultimately proved to be a hatstand made of jello. Very few, outside of management and that product team, believed in it.  Another significant WTF for Borland was, If you plan to be the Application LIFECYCLE Management company - why divest yourself (for a paltry $27m) of two of the world's major AppDev toolsets (Delphi and JBuilder). You've just removed the feeder market and upsell opportunity into your ALM business. Finally, and internal WTF to get off my chest, on what planet does the IT department belong as a subdivision of the HR department?

Borland will live on in the hearts of many of us who knew what she used to be. I think I left Borland a better place than I found it (as long as you don't look at the stock price ;), and I made some good friends. At the end of the day, there isn't much more you can ask from your tenure.
It is sad that today if you ask a typical Software Engineer if they know who Borland is, they'll respond "Who?" which typifies the company's slide into obscurity.

I wish the best of luck to my former colleagues, who I'm sure, will be wondering what is to happen next. I also hope that the new owners, Micro Focus International (who?), have good fortune with their ALM drive. Perhaps the Borland name might live on as a brand for a suite of ALM products - who knows what they'll do.

In the immortal words of Dr. Seuss "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

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