Apprenez à utiliser, modifier, dupliquer et diffuser ces logiciels complètement gratuits. Une façon intelligente d’utiliser vos outils informatiques. Venez même avec vos ordinateurs portables si le coeur vous en dit. Ces ateliers/conférences se tiendront un dimanche par mois à partir du 30 janvier 2011.

Pour inscription téléphonez au 514 872-2141
Bibliothèque du Mile End, 5434, Avenue du Parc,Montreal, QC

Signe des temps, vous pouvez confirmer votre présence sur Facebook.

Ce sera un survol rapide mais efficace, j’espère que chaque personne repartira avec des logiciels mais surtout avec une nouvelle ouverture d’esprit sur l’importance de contrôler la technologie plutôt que de se laisser contrôler par la celle-ci. Participer, plutôt que seulement consommer, c’est un choix parfois intéressant.

La Bibliothèque Mile-End a été Fondée en 1982 et est installée depuis 1992 dans la superbe ancienne église Church of the Ascension. Cette bibliothèque est rapidement devenue un endroit que je fréquente souvent avec mes enfants et ma femme chaque semaine.

Au rez-de-chaussée on y retrouve la section adultes, avec une section réservée à l’étude et aux ordinateurs portables. L’accès Internet sans-fil y est gratuit. En traversant un espace café on peut accéder aux escaliers ou à l’ascenseur (pratique pour les poussettes). Au sous-sol la section jeunesse abrite une partie réservée aux contes, des ordinateurs disponibles pour les enfants, des jeux en prêt et de confortables fauteuils où les parents peuvent rester près des petits. C’est assez intime!

Le personnel de la bibliothèque est très accueillant. En remarquant les nombreuses activités et cours qui y étaient offerts, j’ai proposé à la bibliothécaire Mme. Marie-Christine Lavallée une première activité en Octobre 2010 qui a eu un bon accueil. La salle de conférence au premier étage est spacieuse, bien équipée et confortable, idéale pour ce genre d’activités. J’ai aussi fait don de quelques livres – je me disais qu’il serait utile de proposer aux visiteurs de la bibliothèque des livres accompagnés de DVD avec les logiciels dont on parle.

J’espère avec le temps faire connaître aussi la suite bureautique LibreOffice, projet auquel je m’intéresse depuis quelques moist, pour éventuellement pouvoir proposer des formations de “traitements de textes” et non de “Microsoft Word”, pourquoi pas. On verra

La première partie de l’entrevue est ici:
“Analekta, l’histoire d’un succès… Francois-Mario Labbée, président-fondateur.”

Dans la deuxième partie (que je n’ai pas trouvée) on apprends qu’Analekta offre depuis quelques mois le téléchargement de la musique classique qu’ils vendent en ligne en format FLAC, en plus du MP3 et autres sur iTunes. C’est aussi le sujet principal d’un article paru dans le 7 jours en février.

“Le format des vrais audiophiles” est le produit vedette du site qui offre les MP3 “gratuitement”, en bonus

En entrevue et sur leur site M. Labbée vante les mérites du format FLAC (un format libre, soit dit en passant) et indique qu’il faut un logiciel “spécial” pour l’écouter… c’est bien le cas sauf si vous roulez Ubuntu Chaque fois qu’on propose un album sur le site on a aussi un lien direct sur leur FAQ expliquant la différence entre le format FLAC et le format MP3. Eh oui, un lien direct qu’on peut ajouter dans nos signets, c’est de plus en plus rare!

C’est très complet! Sauf peut-être pour l’information concernant Ubuntu ou Linux en général, peut-être pourrions-nous contacter gentiment Analekta pour demander de l’y ajouter ? Car sur Ubuntu, aucune manipulation n’est requise pour lire le format FLAC – il est libre donc supporté par défaut. On pourrait aussi, au passage, les remercier et les féliciter de ce choix

Ce format fonctionne très bien aussi sur les téléphones Android qui utilisent CyanogenMod. CyanogenMod est une version modifiée du logiciel qui vient habituellement sur votre téléphone Android… modification rendue possible car Android est basé sur des logiciels libres.

Bref, j’étais bien content que ce format soit en vedette sur un site web qui propose de la musique en téléchargement commercial légal, sans protections inutiles (DRM). Mieux encore, ce sont les mérites techniques du format qui lui on valu cette place de choix. Quoique j’aurais souhaité une petit mention au sujet des brevets, les formats libres et leur importance, je suis bien content du résultat final.

Vous pouvez même tester le format en allant chercher des pièces gratuites offertes dans la section “Cadeaux”.

Merci Analekta, d’un utilisateur Ubuntu qui aime bien pouvoir choisir un format libre offert en option.

Ce matin Claude Chasse nous apprends sur le groupe LinkedIn d’Android Montréal qu’une nouvelle application pour localiser les points d’accès d’Île Sans Fil est disponible pour tester.

Direct link: ilesansfil.apk

Attention cette application est encore en développement – le but est de reccueillir des commentaires.

Je suggère fortement d’envoyer vos commentaires sur le Google Group d’Android Montreal.

Voici quelques captures d’écran pour vous mettre l’eau à la bouche

Mes premiers commentaires:

• L’intégration Google Maps serait complète si on pouvait aller directement à “Directions” pour un point d’accès, appeler l’endroit, visiter son site web
• Une section “Favoris” serait intéressante
• On voit les point d’accès “down” ! Excellent pour éviter un déplacement
• L’ajout de l’option “my location” dans les paramètres manque
• Bonne intégration du blog d’ISF

But I hate my cellphone provider, Rogers Canada. I hope that’s clear. Rogers CANADA.

Being a community, people-oriented person, free software activist and open source enthusiast, and on top of that a full time technical trainer and support analyst, last summer when I heard that Rogers Canada would be the first company to sell & support the mighty HTC Dream (known as G1 to T-Mobile customers), I decided I would trust them. In fact I got my HTC Dream the day it came out, on June 2nd. If Google trusted Rogers with their first Android deployment in Canada, I would be OK. Big mistake!

I’ve posted before that Rogers Canada sucks. I’ve thought about documenting my own problems, but it’s getting easier to just gather other similar experiences Android customers have at Rogers:

• Rogers Mandatory Update Debacle
• How Rogers Ruined My HTC Dream
• Rogers and the Squashing of Personal Freedom
• I want my one point six – a blog dedicated to the HTC problems
• …

That’s right, there is a whole blog dedicated to document and share all the mistakes Rogers Canada has made and all the problems they have caused.

When I saw that I started my own Identi.ca group: RogersSucks (or !rs)

As I write this I am waiting for a replacement HTC Magic which was promised once, order “lost”, promotion postponed, then secretly available again, then finally ordered on Sunday. I know, it’s Wednesday and we’re only a province away, but the phone hasn’t even shipped. Nevermind it’s only a slightly less outdated phone, I am waiting again to get the Rogers Canada Android Revolution.

Rogers Canada thinks it’s good business practice to suspend data service in order to force customers into upgrading to a firmware that basically locks down my phone. Why is it important it’s unlocked and rootable ? Because otherwise it’s very much useless, or should I say even less useful than a regular cell phone. At least regular cell phones behave well with BT headsets, don’t crash or reboot spontaneously, and don’t lag for >30 seconds when going from one application to the other. Among other things. It used to be possible to use Cyanogen Mod and other custom firmwares to make these phones somewhat usable. Not anymore.

How did Google let this happen ? I have no clue.

A lot of similar mistakes can be made by any company selling devices based on free, open-source software (and yes I know Android devices don’t come with 100% free software). I secretly hope some anonymous person inside such companies learns something from Rogers Canada mistakes. This is truly an example on how NOT to launch and service such a product.

Meanwhile I am gathering details on my own problems and getting all my services with Rogers cancelled without penalty for breach of contract. If that doesn’t happen, small claims court in Quebec should help, and I’ll document this in true free, open fashion so I can help as many people as I can do the same: vote with their money. I am angry such a great platform got such a bad start in Canada.

I guess the Revolution is not going to be available in Canada for some time.

Rogers Canada really sucks. It’s really a pitty they were the first to introduce Android devices in Canada. Fortunately now other companies also offer them. I hope Rogers never sells Android devices anymore to anyone.

I just found out 85% of online users agree with me. Now I feel like I am part of a big dysfunctional family.

I am doing my best so 100% of possible Rogers customers (and others too) all know their rates, customer service and technical service suck to no end.

I am so fed up with them I won’t bother explaining why they suck. The above links should provide ample accurate, complete historical data.

Of course there’s a dedicated Rogers Sucks Facebook group.

I previously tried Velimap and MyCityBikes and liked them but they didn’t support Bixi. I contacted both their authors but didn’t get much further.

Yesterday I came across Veloid which suppor Bixi but also bike sharing networks in another 30+ cities! I find this very interesting for anyone traveling with their Android phones

I really like the interface, although the option menus differ from standard dialogs. The official website has a very nice flash animation that shows best all its features, this is an example of it using Bixi:

I also came across SpotCycle, developped by 8D Technologies. Recognize the name ? 8D is the creator of the parking meter systems in Montreal, which also run Linux internally. Proudly Québécois And no, I am not affiliated to them in any way. Although minimalistic, Spotcycle works well and does its job. It only supports the Bixi networks in Montreal and Ottawa, though.

I am still confused as to why there is no obvious licensing information on most apps found on the Marketplace. I wish I could easily see if an app is GPL or not and I’d like to be able to report bugs and other stuff easily. I guess I have too many bad habits from Ubuntu Perhaps any Ubuntu + Android users have found how to do this before me ? Granted I haven’t looked much into it I have the best excuse as I recently welcomed a 5 member in the family. It seems many Marketplace apps users only feedback mechanish is the comments section.

Anyways, I lacked the time to take any interesting screenshots today but I’ll try to post some more soon. Meanwhile, enjoy biking!

Android users in Canada

Visit this group

I’ve found it surprisingly hard to find any information specific to the Canadian launch of Android phones by Rogers, other than Android in Canada, and most discussion elsewhere deals with the U.S. models or marketplace.

I just started the group so it’s mostly empty, but I’ll be sharing some of the trouble i am having, as well as some of the blog posts about new features, etc.

Not so fast!

I’ve had my phone for ~5 weeks now and during the first three weeks I couldn’t find a proper carrying case. Rogers doesn’t even carry any worth mentioning. And I mean none. Well, I’ve spotted some at the downtown store, but they were in hard plastic (go figure) or oversized and overpriced.

So every now and then, during lunch, when I spotted a cellphone accessories kiosk dowtown I would ask about a case for this phone. I went to La Source, Bell, La Cabine Téléphonique, etc. Hell, even the million-cases mini kiosks in underground Montreal couldn’t find anything for this phone!

Well guess what, Walmart near Décarie and Jean-Talon has it. I’ll spare you the details of why I ended up at Walmart, and I hate shopping there for a million reasons, but if the local shops can’t bother to carry something, I’ll gladly hand my money to WM. Although this applies to Montreal, this looks like a product at least a few stores carry online.

This Planet Wireless Smartphone Case (ref: PWSMT3BK) is made by Gentec International. Note the reference no., this one fits the HTC Dream perfectly. I can’t remember how much I paid for it, I think it was CDN$19.95. Not cheap, but not $40 like some cases at La Source!

Here, I thought I’d throw some pictures to illustrate this:

I kept following other guides and blogs without success until I came across this bug report about a missing udev rule for the Android devices. Ew!

I also noticed many guides indicate Eclipse + Android plugins (latest release, manually installed) are needed for this which is not the case! Dalvik Debug Monitor (ddms) works just fine without any other third-party, manually installed apps. This is what it should look like once it “sees” your phone:

It’s weird that taking screenshots isn’t easier, as this effectively prevents documenting and illustrating many interesting features. I hope the guide makes it easier for anyone to share their findings in using their Android devices. This should also help prepare training or support material, hint, hint

The above screenshot shows missed calls, USB connectivity status, Change Settings shortcut in notifications, TwitDroid pending dents (despite the name, it supports identi.ca which is what I use it for), Wifi connectivity status, Vibration mode, cell phone signal, battery status, alarm enabled and the current time, all in the status bar.

I also have a few widgets on the desktop (if that’s what it’s called…), otherwise I am using the default launcher and configuration.

Unless something specifically involves Ubuntu, I’ll mostly be posting only to Planet Android, which I recently joined. See you there (or here).

I am not going to say getting used to have a full computer + phone in my pocket, and on top of it being always connected was easy! But fun, yes. Useful, yes. Time-sink, yes

My main operating system both at home and at work is Ubuntu, so I’ll be posting about my personal and professional use of Android withing that context. I’ve started with the wiki page on portable Android devices, and I also post to the Android group in Identi.ca.

It’s puzzling that there don’t seem to be geographic-specific community groups for these, specially when you know they are, well, geographically tied to phone providers and GPS-enabled. If anyone in Quebec province (or in Canada, as Rogers provides service across Canada) is reading me, I’d like to hear ideas on where we can set a local resource: Google groups ? AndroidCommunity.com ?

I’ll start with my list of essentials as I am in week 3 of using this little marvel – which isn’t without its quirks. So stay tuned, and looking forward to read other non-developer stuff in Planet Android.