Writing a plugin for Statusnet : Part 1

While migrating this blog to a statically generated site I found that many of the links in this post were broken or the domains have been resold. I decided to leave the content as is though.

My work is getting into microblogging – both internally and to the outside world. We had previously considered using Twitter and even tried using Yammer for purely internal posting but there were concerns about privacy – the data is stored ‘out there’ on somebody else’s server and we were at the mercy of any future changes in service terms and conditions. In the end we opted for the StatusNet engine which also powers the Identi.ca microblogging service. Its Open Source, can be installed locally and has a Twitter-like API which meant that we could integrate it with our internal systems like our CruiseControl.NET build server.

Installing Eclipse and the Android SDK on Ubuntu 10.04/10.10

As previously posted I have recently bought myself a nice new Android phone – a HTC Hero to be precise. One of the main reasons for buying it was so that I could look into developing applications for this new platform, thus expanding my skill set.

I had been playing around with installing the Eclipse IDE (arguably the best Java IDE around) and the Android SDK on my previous Ubuntu installation and basically made a hash of it a few times. Having refined my process I’ve decided to write it down so that I don’t forget ;-)

Now, how do I upgrade to Ubuntu Server 10.04 using the Command Line?

Like most Ubuntu ‘geeks’ I have a box running the Server edition, just to play around on – mine is in the garage and performs some of the mundane tasks I’ve blogged about in the past, e.g. updating my OpenDNS and DynDNS settings when my external IP address changes and pinging the kids computers so I know when time the ‘really’ shut down last night. However, I’m a worlds away from a sysadmin who works in the command shell all the time – I like my GUIs and tend to tread around the command line like its a bad tempered dog. So without the good old Update Manager and not wanting to blow the whole installation away and start again, how do I upgrade my system to the recently released 10.04 Lucid Lynx?

Moving to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

With the release of Ubuntu 10.04 on 29th April I was keen to blow away my existing installation (Ubuntu 9.10) and perform a fresh installation. Not because there was anything wrong with that release but as I am still finding my feet with Linux in general there were numerous redundant packages and general cruft laying around. With my /home folder fully backed up onto an external HDD (and to my Amazon S3 account) I duly downloaded the .iso, burnt it to a cd and set about the installation.

Posting From Android

Just a quick post from my Android phone to test out the free WordPress application from the Android Market. Ok, it may be a bit geeky but sometimes I just don’t have time to fire up my laptop. Well this app is feature rich and a snap to configure, it can even handle multiple boots. So I have 5 mins while I’m waiting for my girlfriends daughter to come out of Guides and can now feel like it’s not dead time. If you want to blog on the move then its well worth a look.

[Edit: From PC]

Ok now that I have uploaded the post I can see’ that there are a few minor issues. First of all it was not clear that when I ticked ’Publish’ and then pressed ‘Save’ that this would only save the post locally, i.e. it would not actually be published. To achieve this I needed to long press the post in [what I now see is called] ‘Local Drafts’ and then select the ‘Upload to Blog’ option. Ok a simple thing but the absence of any Help made it an easy mistake to make.

Secondly the post came through as ‘Uncategorised’ which is not ideal and I do not recall seeing an option to set the Category – but will check shortly.

Besides that, I’m more than happy with the application. Now I can utilise the otherwise dead time, if I can come up with something to write about that is.