Build a Digital Photo Display

Hi Everyone,

Here is my latest project, building a digital picture display. It's really just an LCD screen hooked up to a tiny PC running linux. But the cool thing is that this PC has VESA compliant mounting holes that allow you to screw it right to the back of your screen as a single unit.

Note that if you are in Canada and order from the links below, shipping is outrageous. Probably because of duty, since the product is made in the east Asia. I had to have it shipped to a friend's place in Buffalo, NY, and then drove down to pick it up.

I have not mounted the assembly into a picture frame, but I might in the future as it would be pretty easy.

Here is what you will need to put this together:

1. eBOX-2300 200MHz VESA PC or eBOX-4300 500MHz VESA PC


2. An LCD screen, mounting holes it the back must be 100 mm apart (17 inch screens and up, usually)


3. A compact flash (CF) card 256 MiB or greater (the install alone is 156 MB, your pictures will take up the rest of the space). I recommend using a SanDisk brand. I went for a cheap brand and it had problems booting off the card later. The SanDisk card worked very well.

For the setup, you will require the following:

1. A desktop or laptop PC with a CD burner and the ability to boot from CD


2. A blank CD-R or CD-RW


3. A download of the latest Puppy Linux iso (use bittorrent to download it to save them bandwidth, and to get the highest download speed)


4. A copy of GQView for Puppy Linux


5. A USB mouse


6. A PS/2 keyboard (a USB keyboard will work, but you won't be able to access the bios settings because the USB ports are not activated in time)


7. A flashcard reader

Step 1 - Preparing the Compact Flash Card

1. First burn the Puppy Linux iso to the CD.


2. Connect the flashcard reader and insert the Compact Flash card.


3. Create a "Pictures" folder and an "Install" folder on the Compact Flash card.


4. Download GQView for Puppy Linux and save it to the "Install" directory on the card.


5. Now reboot the computer, and start the BIOS configuration.


6. Configure the BIOS to boot up off the CD (consult your motherboard's manual to find out how), save the configuration and reboot again.


7. If all goes well, you should see a screenful of pink text. Don't do anything, the whole process continue until you are prompted to select your keyboard.


8. Then you will be prompted to select a video display setup. Select XOrg.


9. When you are prompted to select a resolution, consult the monitor's manual and select its native resolution. The ebox PC's have a maximum resolution that they support, so take that into consideration as well.

Step 2 - Install Puppy Linux to a Flash Drive

1. Connect the USB card reader to the computer and insert the CF card.


2. Go to Menu (bottom left corner) > Setup > Universal Installer





3. Select 'USB Flash Drive' in the window that pops up and click OK.





4. In the next window select the 'Generic USB CF Reader', if you don't see this, use the drive that shows a disk size (see example screenshot). The drive name will show as sdX, where X is another lowercase letter, make note of it. Click OK.





5. Now select 'Install Puppy to sdX1' (the little dog icon near the top of the window and click OK.





6. An install verification check will pop up, click OK.





7. You will be asked where the files are, click CD.





8. It will ask you to insert the CD, but it will already be installed so click OK. If you have multiple disk drives, you may be prompted to insert the disk again. Switch the CD to another drive and click OK.





9. You will be asked about the Master Boot Record (MBR) just select 'default DO NOTHING' and click OK.





10. On the following screen, select 'default JUST KEEP GOING' and click OK.





11. You will then be presented with a final sanity check in an orange screen. Just press the ENTER key.





12. You will then be asked if you want to wipe all files, just press ENTER to say NO, do not press any other key.





13. You will be asked if you want to add the 'pfix=copy' boot parameter. Just hit enter for NO.





14. Then wait until the installer is finished. The CD will eject. Remove the CD, close the drive, and reboot by going to Menu > Shutdown > Reboot computer.





15. When prompted to save to file, select NO, we will revisit this later.


16. On reboot, the computer should boot puppy linux off of the CF drive. If it doesn't, you may need to tweak your compact flash card.


17. Select the keyboard as before. This time, select Xvesa from the video Wizard, it will look crappy, but will work better with the ebox PC later.


18. On the desktop, select 800 x 600 x 24 for the video mode and click OK.





19. Now reboot again as in Step 14.





20. As it reboots, you will be prompted to create a pup_save.2fs file. Select save. This file saves all the changes we have made including installed files and setting changes. I wouldn't bother creating a customized name, just save using the default one.


21. When asked about encryption, use Normal, which is no encryption. Encryption adds extra work to the boot up time, which is not needed.


22. When asked for the size of the pup_save.2fs file, select 64 MiB if you are using a CF card less than 1 GiB, use 128 MiB if it is over 1 GiB.


23. Then click Save and the reboot will complete. You won't be prompted for keyboard/mouse/screen settings as they have been saved in the pup_save file on the card.

Step 3 - Install and configure slideshow software

1. Now when working with desktop icons, a single click will launch them, double clicking will start two copies of the program so click slowly.


2. Click on the USB icon at the bottom of the screen, it will have a yellow or green dot on it.





3. Now click on the 'Install' folder, this is where we saved GQview before we started.


4. Click on the gqview-2.0.4.pet file.





5. On the install verification screen click the INSTALL PACKAGE button.





6. The success screen requests you restart the window manager. This is so the program will show up in the program list.





7. Click Menu > Shutdown > Restart JWM





8. Now launch GQview, go to Menu > Graphic > GQview image viewer





9. GQview will launch. Now on the menubar click on Edit > Preferences.





10. Under the STARTUP heading place a check in the box Change to folder and type /mnt/home/Pictures in the box below it.


11. At the bottom under SLIDE SHOW, adjust the display time of each picture. At the default 15 seconds, you will run through 40 pictures in 10 minutes.


12. Place a check in the box next to REPEAT, this will cause the slideshow to start over again after the last picture. If you want to randomize the pictures, check the RANDOM box.





13. Now click on the IMAGE tab.


14. Under ZOOM, leave the QUALITY at Bilinear. Make sure TWO PASS ZOOMING and ALLOW ENLARGEMENT OF IMAGE FOR ZOOM TO FIT are checked.


15. Under WHEN NEW IMAGE IS SELECTED, click on Fit image to window.


16. Under APPEARANCE, make sure Black Background is checked.


17. Under CONVENIENCE, make sure Refresh on file change and Preload next image are checked. The Auto rotate option is only needed if you have images that are wide that should be displayed tall, I have not tried this option so I am not sure as to its accuracy.





18. Now click on the ADVANCED tab.


19. Under FULL SCREEN, in the Location drop down menu, select Active screen. I am not sure how important this is since we will be using only one screen.


20. Check Stay above other windows and Smooth image flip.


21. Then check Disable screen saver, and click on OK at the bottom of the window.
22. Exit GQview by clicking on the X in the top right corner.

Step 4 - Prepare the desktop for optimal slideshow performance

1. At the top of the Desktop, click on the icon labelled edit.





2. Click on the OPEN icon, and an OPEN FILE window will appear.


3. In the bottom left corner type /root/.jwmrc and click OPEN.





4. Scroll down near the bottom of the document until you see <startupcommand> and </startupcommand>. Any command entered between these two tags will be launched at when the computer starts up.





5. Put the cursor to the right of <startupcommand> and hit enter to create a line between them and type gqview -f -s





6. Now click on the SAVE icon and then the CLOSE icon.


7. Now close the edit program.


8. Now go to Menu > Desktop > pupX set properties of X





9. Go to the Screensaver tab and uncheck Enable screen saver. Then click OK.





10. Now go to Menu > Desktop > JWM Configuration and click on the button beside Tray management.





11. Now click on the Virtual Desktops button.





12. Change the number of desktops to 1. Then click on OK and then OK on the next window.





13. Back on the Tray Configuration Options window click on the button for Tray Autohide Option.





14. Turn on Autohide, then click OK and OK on the next window.


15. Now click OK on the Tray Configuration Options.


16. On the original JWM Configuration Manager window, there is a green button to restart the window manager, click it. Then exit.


17. Go to Menu > Setup > Mouse/Keyboard Wizard





18. Click on Choose type of mouse.





19. Select USB mouse and check Auto-hide mouse cursor when not moving and click OK. Close the original Mouse/Keyboard Wizard window as well.





20. Now before we shutdown and transfer the CF card to the eBox pc, we have to change one item so the OS thinks it is booting up on and IDE drive.


21. Click on the edit icon again on the desktop. Click on OPEN.


22. In the box to the bottom right type /mnt/home/syslinux.cfg





23. Change pmedia=usbflash to pmedia=ide. Then click SAVE and then CLOSE, then close the window.





24. Shutdown by going to Menu > Shutdown > Power-off computer.

Step 5 - Assemble the display

Assembly is easy, the ebox PC will have come with proper screws that will fit through the PC case an attach to the mounting holes on the back of the screen. While you can mount it in any direction, it is less stressful on the cables if the box is mounted with the CF drive facing up. This way the cables hang straight down. (see the pics below).



Don't forget to copy pictures to the Pictures folder on the card.

Now attach the PC power cable, the display power cable, and connect the video cable to both the PC and the display. Remember to flip the power switch on the back of the PC before pressing the power button on the front. If you did everything correctly, you should be seeing a slideshow of your pictures when the PC boots up.

Since I used the 2300 model, I wasn't able to add background music because the PC is not powerful enough. The 4300 model is a much more powerful model and should be able to handle pics, music, and video. Other media players can be started at boot time by adding the correct command line arguements between <StartupCommand></StartupCommand>, each on its own seperate line, of course.

"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"

Announcing the Debut of Tech Talk on RadioFreeG

Hello everyone,

Just announcing a new internet radio segment that I am working on.

I have been approached by RadioFreeG, himself to produce short tech themed segment on his show to discuss relevent issues or helpful information.

The first episode is available here. In it, I expose how Apple gives iPhone application developers the shaft after they pay Apple to be a developer, and spend weeks and months of their own time to develop an application, only to find they are not allowed to compete with Apple's application.

I also discuss how Google's Android phone OS will trump the iPhone and all of its bullshit.

Take a listen and then come back to leave your feedback, or request future topics.

UPDATED - October 21

A few articles to highlight the differences between Google and Apple:

Podcaster rejeceted because it duplicates iTunes functionality

Google Opens Up Android Codebase

Apple to iPhone Developers: Don’t Compete With Us?

Full Review of the T-Mobile G1 Android Device

Apple Censors App Store Rejection Notices

Apple Allows Lotus On iPhone (After Banning Competitor)

Why the Kill Switch Makes Sense for Android, and Not for iPhone

"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"

Extract Audio from Video

Did you ever watch a YouTube video and think "I wish I could download that song"?

Well now you can. In fact, if you can download the video, chances are you can get the song from it.

First, you need the audio extraction software.

Go to AOA Media and download AoA Audio Extractor, it's freeware, so you don't have to pay for it. If any other software catches your eye, by all means purchase it. In the meantime we will move on.

Install "AoA Audio Extractor".

The software will convert AVI, MPEG, MPG, DAT, FLV (Flash Video), WMV/ASF, MOV, MP4, 3GP to MP3, WAV, and AC3.

Now get your video. If it is from YouTube, go HERE to download it. Copy the exact address of the YouTube video you want the audio from, and paste it into the box and hit "Get Video". The video will download as "get_video". You should add ".flv" to the end before saving.

Then run AoA Audio Extractor to extract the audio.

Voila! Done!

Further audio editing can be achieved with Audacity.

Here are a few jingles I was able to capture from YouTube, as an example.

Mini-Wheats Vanilla Commercial
Mini-Wheats Strawberry Commercial
Mini-Wheats Cinnamon Commercial



"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"

Press Release: Soundwave Joins Cast of "T & M's Voices"!

For Immediate Release:

This week marks the announcement that Soundwave has joined the cast of "T & M's Voices" radio show as a fill-in co-host, while long-time beloved co-host Tit-o is off on assignment.

While Episode 8 served as an introduction to the popular blogger for the show's loyal listeners, the upcoming episodes will get back to the business of producing high quality, entertaining, and thought provoking internet radio episodes.

Soundwave brings his knowledge of cutting-edge recording technology with him to a show that is renown across the internet for its high calibre interviews with world leaders.

"We are really glad to bring Soundwave on board during this slow time, while Tit-o is out of the studio for an unknown amount of time," co-host Magnum was quoted as saying, "We are excited to bring a new element to the Show. We have already begun experimenting with new recording techniques that were just not possible a short while ago. We will be breaking new ground on many fronts in the upcoming months."

Soundwave also shares the show's excitement and optimistic outlook for the show in the following months.

"This will be a new challenge for me. Writing a blog is pretty simple when you get multiple chances to review what you've written, but on a radio show you've only got one shot. Once something's said, its out there... you can't deny it or take it back. We are going to do some big things, just get ready!"

Fans of both sites can catch Soundwave's premier episode on the show right now, just follow the link:

Season 3, Episode 8: Inside Mission Control

"T & M's Voices" is a production of the CSAL Radio Podcast Network, a subsidiary of ShureShot Media Inc.

"Don't Cross the Streams" is an independent blog published regularly on a monthly basis.

"Bringing you the Truth, with talent on loan from God" copyright ©2006, Shureshot Media Inc.


"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"

Project Guttenberg A Bastion of Literature

Of all the sites I have come across on the web, few are as near and dear to my heart as Project Gutenberg (Wikipedia Entry). For those of you who have not heard of this website, it is a collection of free, downloadable text files of public domain works. The project was started on one of the 15 computer systems in the US that would eventually become the initial internet network. The first etext was the US Declaration of Independence.

Just to note, Gutenberg Canada is http://www.gutenberg.ca/, the address in Wikipedia is wrong (for now).

All documents are available, at the very least, in plain text format. HTML is also available, as well as in PLUCKER format for use with the PLUCKER reader on Palm and Windows Mobile Devices (I'm looking at *YOU* Big V.). PDF's tend to be rarer since they require more specialized software to be able to read them.

As a result of sister Gutenberg projects in other countries, more documents have been made available as a result of differing copyright laws (such as George Orwell novels at Project Gutenberg Australia). The wealth of excellent documents to read is HUGE, and growing at a rate of 50 texts per week.

Now all this boils down to: How do I actually READ all of this fantastic content?

While it is probably not cost effective to print out a full book on your printer and reading it off of a computer screen is not comfortable, but you might be able to snag a cheap, used mobile computer off of eBay. This somewhat harkens back to my last post regarding eBooks. If you're knocking off three or more books a month on the bus, then it might be a good investment. Especially since you can recharge the mobile device at work and have a full charge for the bus ride/train ride/carpool back home.

Here are a few options for reading books on various mobile devices:

Windows Moblie

Windows Mobile devices all have mini Office Suites, so reading text files is no problem. You can also download PLUCKER if you want to read nicely formatted text instead of the regularly formatted stuff. Or you can download Acrobat Reader for Windows Mobile, if you want to read PDF's.

Palm

While the Palm OS, doesn't come with all the software that Windows Mobile devices do, it is easily reconciled. First of all, DataViz makes an office suite for Palm OS handhelds which handles doc, rtf, txt, and even PDF files.

Adobe also makes a PDF Reader for Palms. The document is reformatted on your PC desktop, and then transferred to your palm.

Palm Fiction is an excellent text file reader, that is geared toward ebooks, I highly recommend it. (a better description is here).

If you want to edit txt files on your palm while you read them, then CardTXT is the application for you.

PSP

May 13, 2008: I have removed the link to PSP eBook Creator as it has not been developed in over 2 years. eBook to Images is actively being developed and was last updated in March of 2008. In addition, eBook to Images supports screen dimensions of more readers than just the PSP, offers PNG format for better quality and smaller file sizes, and supports more input files than just text.

Now as unbelievable as it may seem, the PSP is truly a multifunctional work of art. For those of you who do not have a modified PSP (see THIS post), then eBook to Images is for you. What it does is take a text file and format it to the PSP screen and then outputs it hundreds of BMP/JPEG/PNG images which you can upload to your PHOTOS directory on your memory stick and view natively on the PSP's photo viewer (I recommend PNG for better quality and smaller file sizes).

You do need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (link on the download page above).

The only downside is that a small text file winds up becoming many megs of pictures, depending on the length of the original file and the font size you are using.

One gotcha, is that it ignores single line breaks because most ebooks are word limited to 72 characters by hitting enter. Paragraphs are separated by double line brakes, so those are kept. So if you have a list of items that only have a single line break to separate them, they are going to wind up as one long line.

But it is such an ingenious idea, I had to give it a mention.

If you do have a modified PSP, then you can run this piece of homebrew called Bookr. Bookr is hombrew software that supports Text and PDF files natively on your PSP. Although the last version came out in 2006, it is highly functional. You can change the zoom or font size, bookmark your place, and change the viewing colours. It is truly a great book reading software for the PSP platform.

More installation instructions for Bookr.

PC

I know that I said it is not practical to read a book on a computer, but this program really jumped out at me. Tom's EText Reader
actually LOOKS like a book. Mind you, I had to download a copy of unzip32.dll and save it to C:\windows\system32\, but it looks nice, runs without installation, and lets you customize the view.

Well that pretty much rounds up another informative posting. Hopefully you will be able to squeeze some personal reading into your busy days.

Until next time, this is Soundwave on board the Nemesis bidding you farewell.

"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"

A Library in Your Pocket, the eBook

I'm telling you stream crossers, I am a rather avid reader. Maybe not as much in recent years as I used to in University, but I still enjoy a good book.

I remember getting on the subway and having a solid 30-40 minutes of reading, both ways. I would pour through Dragonlance novels in two weeks, if not faster. Alas, once I started driving to work, my reading time evaporated (I work too far to take the bus).

Currently I am reading the Harry Potter series off of my Palm Tungsten E. The text is perfectly readable, and with the right piece of software, I can actually correct the book as I go along. However, the screen is rather small, and the battery life leaves something to be desired. I think I can get about 1-1/2 hours of reading on a full charge.

I decided to go about looking for new alternatives, and what I discovered was encouraging in features and disappointing in prices at the same time.

Almost all current ebooks use what is known as e-Ink, as their screen. It is a technology developed at MIT that uses small spheres packed with white and black pigments to display items on screen. The two pigments have a positive or a negative charge. Electrodes under each sphere generate a charge to push one pigment up and pull the other down, changing the colour of the sphere. (see photo below)




Reading-wise, this material really simulates paper. Since it is not backlit, you do need proper lighting to read it in the dark or poor lighting conditions (ie. a book light) just like a real book.

The advantage of this is that power is only consumed to change the display, allowing you to read at your leisure. Power consumption is measured by page turns, not hours.

Another thing I found is that most support PDF and plain text documents... and, of course, their own personal proprietary format for selling you books.

This didn't interest me very much, as there are enough books available out there on Project Gutenberg that I didn't need to buy books anyway. More on that site in my next posting.

Most ebooks also had memory card slots built in so you could load your favourite ebooks on your own without installing fancy software.

Three devices that repeatedly jumped out at me were the following:

1. The Sony Reader
2. The Amazon Kindle
3. The iRex iLiad
   

There are others, but these are the big boys of the ebook world.

The best (and most expensive) is the iRex iLiad. It boasts the biggest screen (8.1 inch diagonal), Wi-Fi and wired lan, USB port, touch sensitivity (only works with the included stylus), and Compact Flash storage slot. It also has an MMC slot, but it won't work with SD cards. This device is almost a laptop, but not quite. Since it has a heart of Linux, it can run software specifically written for it. It supports the following formats PDF / HTML / TXT / JPG / BMP/ PNG / PRC (Mobipocket). It has a headphone jack, but its website doesn't specify what audio formats it supports. Book reading is just one of its uses since it has a touch screen, but at $700, if you are just looking for a book reading device, look elsewhere.

Then there is the Amazon Kindle. It is a smaller, more dedicated device with a 6 inch screen. This device has a keyboard built in. It also has a USB port and an SD card slot. It does not have Wi-Fi connectivity, but a built in cellular modem, which probably requires a subscription service. Since it is highly tied into Amazon's book sales business, its file support is pretty piss poor. It supports only text, HTML, unprotected Mobipocket. PDF is not fully supported. Other formats are only supported through conversion to the reader's native AZW format. It also supports MP3's and Audible's audio book format (.aa). At $400, I would have expected better file support.

Finally there is the SONY Reader. Normally, I loath SONY, but then they pull shit like this and make a device I just LOOOOOOOOVE! SONY's device has the same size screen as the Kindle, but without a keyboard, so the overall device is smaller. It supports Memory Stick Pro Duo (of course) and SD Cards (wow, surprise to me!). It has no Wi-Fi or lan connection. Books are transferred via USB to the device or memory card. You may be able to use a card reader to put books onto the card, I don't know yet. It supports PDF, TXT, RTF and its own BBeB format. DOC format only supported by conversion to RTF by the SONY software, but you have to have Microsoft Office installed first. It also supports JPEG, GIF (not animated), PNG, and BMP (all images displayed in greyscale). It maily supports Windows, but the latest model can be mounted as a drive in Mac OSX and Linux to transfer files. The Canadian website even has PDF instructions on how to produce optimally sized PDF's using various word processors. It also supports MP3 and unprotected AAC files for audio books or listening to music while you read. At $300 it is the least expensive of the three, but it is still pricey.

Personally, my recommendation is to stay with a regular book for now. $300 is crazy, and the others are off their rocker! I'm hoping that SONY will eventually knock the price to about $150, but I would probably be elected President of the World before that happens. Before the price goes down, they'll just add a new feature and keep the price at $300. So I'm predicting that at least for the time being, I won't be getting an ebook. I'm not some loony, early adopter. I'm not going to pay a premium just to have the price drop in six months *cough* iPhone *cough* Losers *cough* Ahem...

So this is Soundwave on board the Nemesis, signing off for now!

"bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong"