Brunei Open-Source Software

Mac?

2008-10-29T17:03:00.002+08:00

"It took me a while to convert to Mac and trust me, I have no regrets.. I don’t have to worry about viruses, I don’t have to worry about running many applications at one time. It also works on the PCs but Apple is more stable" Ref: ranoadidas.com

I'm not a security expert but I like to write my own opinion.. :D. People do like to compare between MS Windows and MacOS. Microsoft Windows and MacOS have their own viruses. MS Windows viruses can't infect the MacOS because they are not created for the MacOS. So if any of your friends share a pendrive infected with Windows' viruses.. you don't have to WORRY plugging-in the pendrive to your MacOS, and having sweet dreams everyday.

It's just very rare to encounter viruses created for MacOS. The case is similar to linux... so if you can't afford Mac, why not trying linux instead?

Mozilla Thunderbird

2008-10-15T16:44:00.002+08:00

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. (Ref: Wiki).

If you are familiar with outlook express and microsoft outlook, this is a sort of an alternative. I'm just going to share this program as an email client. Let me just go straight to the installation + configuration steps.

Steps:

1. Download the program here and then install it. In this example I'm using Thunderbird ver. 2.0.0.17

2. Launch the program and you should see a pop-up window as shown below, otherwise you click Tools->Account Settings->Add Account.

3. Select the radio button called Email account. Click Next, put your name and the email address as shown below. In this example, I use my gmail account with imap enable.

note: for other email provider, get the server information (e.g server address, port number) from the email provider.

4. Enter imap.gmail.com in the Incoming Server field as shown below and click Next.

5. You will be asked for the Incoming User Name field, leave as it is and click Next. Then you will be asked for the Account Name, you can leave as it is and click Next. You will see a pop-up window as shown below. Click Finish.

6. Go to Tools->Account Settings. Click Server Settings. Set the settings as shown below i.e port = 993, Secure Connection = SSL, Check for New Messages Every = 1 minute !! Then just click OK.

7. Click Inbox, at the left panel. A pop-up panel will appear asking for your email password. Enter your password then click OK.

8. All your emails will be loaded, just click any mail you got to read it. Feel free to explore!!

I know most people read their email through a web browser. One advantage of using email client program is you don't have to check your email manually, like having a habit of checking email every 5-10min. With this program, you will be notified automatically once you receive new mail.

Pasang Emas

2008-08-17T11:27:00.003+08:00

It has been a long time I didn't touch this blog, so I'm going make this blog active again [no promise!!]. I just want to share an open source project called Pasang Emas, developed by a lecturer in UBD. Pasang is Bruneian traditional game.. so now you can play it against machine!!!

Ok, for further information, just click the link below
http://pasang-emas.sourceforge.net/index.xhtml

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words?

2007-09-02T17:07:00.000+08:00

See the title above. It's just an English proverb, and I'm neither good in English nor in Art. But I like to make use of the idea from the above proverb. Below is a rabbit picture taken from my picasa.

(Original image is taken from childbook, and coloured by leeshi)

Do you believe that actually the rabbit has something to say.. :D. Mmm... I'll reveal it in my next post. Bah.

Hash Algorithm - MD5

2007-08-31T19:51:00.000+08:00

I like to share the hash algorithm called MD5, because when people are exposed to open-source software they will encounter this MD5 hash value. So what is it actually?

In cryptography, MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) is a widely used cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value. As an Internet standard (RFC 1321), MD5 has been employed in a wide variety of security applications, and is also commonly used to check the integrity of files. An MD5 hash is typically expressed as a 32-character hexadecimal number. (Ref: Wiki)

The above paragraph is the definition but what is so special about it? Ok, now I'm only interested in "integrity of files". You will notice that some open-source softwares come with MD5 hash value.

Here is a story when you don't make use of MD5 hash value.

1. You download a program from the internet, and that program includes a MD5 hash value.
2. But you just ignore the hash value... you try to install the program.. but fail at the middle of installation!!! (what a waste of time)
3. And you are still very stubborn, you want to make a second try!!! (again.. what a waste of time). Fail!!!
4. Now you just realise that the program you have downloaded is CORRUPTed. So you download a new one. Back to Square One.

Here is a story when you make use of MD5 hash value.

1. You download a program from the internet.. and you know the MD5 hash value.
2. After you download it, you check the program integrity using MD5 hash function and found out the output hash value is the same with the given one. Since it's equal.. obviously no problem (with confident), and no need to re-download the same program.
3. You install it... happy ending.

Enough of story!!! The moral of the story, you have to check the integrity of any files you download. This will tell whether the program is corrupted or not (maybe caused by fail transfer, virus, fake file, etc). This will also save you time.

There are many softwares out there that can check MD5 hash value, but I like to introduce Ash's MD5/SHA-1 Checker. (Princess Ashe~.. FFXII.. not relevant!!).

Proceed to the technical usage:-

1. Download the program here. (Current latest version is v0.9.7 and get md5-checker-0.9.7.exe for windows user).

The program md5 hash value is:-
aa4862b97b09f0bb8263bf7a82e885da

2. No installation required!!! Just run it as usual. Below is the program screenshot.

3. Try to check the program integrity itself. Click the "open file" dialog as shown in the above screenshot.

Once the file (e.g the program itself) is loaded, the hash value is generated automatically. As you can see in the screenshot above, the MD5 hash value is equal to the given one.

p/s: I don't know why this program uses the word checksum instead of hash value. Too many jargons!!

I will include md5 hash value for any program (if it has one) that I discuss in the future. Bah.

WhatsNew - KoAgu v0.1a

2007-08-23T22:10:00.000+08:00

KoAgu 0.1a

* Added: Scale Option -> bestFit + stretchToFit
* Fixed: Rescale issue, now only accept dimension lower than the original file
* Improved: N/A

I'll add/fix several features from time to time. Wait till the next release (dunno when, now I'm lazy :D)

KoAgu - First Version

2007-08-22T02:17:00.000+08:00

I'm naming my thumbnail maker program as KoAgu... not so important!!! Ok la, just for a couple of hours I manage to get my program working using simple compression algorithm and only support jpg file at the moment. Here are the screenshots.

1. The Main Window

As you can see, there's Browse button to browse pics to be resized. I also provide rescale option where the two numbers are the pic dimension after rescaled. The first number is its width (e.g 400) and the second number is its height (e.g 300). By default I put "400 300" but users can change it as they wish.

Prefix is used to name the files that have been resized, e.g. if your original filename is "duolulu.jpg", and your prefix is "agu_", then the new filename will be "agu_duolulu.jpg". I included this feature in case user accidentally replace the original file.

2. After a user click Browse button, a pop-up window will appear. This allow the user to select "jpg" file to be processed. To select more than one file at a time.. hold the Ctrl key at the keyboard + select the chosen files.

3. Then finally, click the Process Now. Done!!! Check the new files inside the program directory.

You can download it here (get the bytecode). This program is not good enough. Ah.. what do you expect for a program that is written only for a few hours.. bah.

My Boring Project - Thumbnail Maker

2007-08-21T20:27:00.000+08:00

I'm not quite busy these days, so why not creating a useful program (self-interest). Ah.. almost everyday I chat with my friend(s) in msn, and sometimes we exchange new photos (not self photos.. :D). Every photo has a size about 1++mb, so I usually resize each photo to reduce its size. Otherwise it will take a long time to transfer and prone to fail transfer.

Lame Problem
The problem is when I'm not exchanging for JUST one picture, but many!!! It will be time consuming if I open each picture, then resize, finally save as a new file. So I need a program that can resize and save all my photos at ONE go!!!

Lame Solution
Since I'm the one who need it so I have to program it myself.. :D

To Do List (Basic Features):-
- provide interface to browse file(s) to be resized
- resize settings e.g. new pic size.
- ...

For the time being, I'm going to implement it regardless the algorithm used. Ah.. as usual, I'm going to program it using JAVA.. no python.. no ruby.. hehe. So wait for the first version soon.. bah.

Email Notifier - PopTray

2007-08-20T15:26:00.000+08:00

I have many email accounts (during the old days), use them for different reasons. There is a time where I'm lazy to login into every of my email accounts just to see if there is new email. Ahh.. just now I login into my Brunet account, the last time I login was a long time ago, maybe almost two years. Actually, I can leave my ThuderBird open so that it can constantly check for new emails but I want another way to auto check for new emails.

"PopTray started as a little POP3 mail checker I wrote, because I couldn't find a freeware program that had all the features I wanted. Since then, new features have been added by request. After years of refinement PopTray 3.0 has now become a full-featured, customizable, e-mail notifier, but keeping its ease of use" (Ref: Renier Crause, PopTray)

Basically, the program is written for email providers that support POP protocol (e.g. Brunet mail, Yahoo mail). Later, plugins are created to support other mail protocols such as POP SSL (e.g GMail), IMAP, Hotmail Plugin, GMail plugin and so on. It has another interesting features, you can read more about them in the website here.

Time for technical stuffs!!!

Steps:-

1) Download the program here. (Current latest version is ver 3.2)

2) Install it as usual!!! (Type of installation: Full)

3) After installation, you should notice an icon of "mail" inside your taskbar. Right-click the icon and click Options. See the screenshot below (I like my wallpaper.. :D).

4) A pop-up window will appear. To add a mail account, just follow the sequence like in the screenshot below. In this example, I use Brunet mail, so the server address is "pop3.brunet.bn".

note: for other email provider, get the server information (e.g server address, port number) from the email provider.

5) By default the program will check for new mail in every 5 minutes. The screenshot below (actually got many spam plang.. deleted them) shows the preview of any new mails received. Click "To Tray" to run the program in background.

5. Ah.. what else, actually I usually change the program Options. You can explore it there, like double-click the trayicon behavior, start-up behavior, plug-in and so on!!!

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - FileZilla

2007-08-15T18:06:00.000+08:00

I think most people know this software especially those who have their own webspace. But since it is an open-source program so I have to include in as well.

Definition of FTP
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet, or through a network. Specifically, FTP is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet). (Ref: Wiki)

I think by giving example will make the definition clearer. Most common use of FTP is to transfer files from client (e.g your laptop, desktop) to the server (e.g. webhosting like bravenet and so on), and vice versa. So if you are making a website, you need this software to upload your html, php, mp3 (you name it) files to the server.

note: usually webhosting provides file upload utilities using http protocol, but using ftp will make your life easier.

FileZilla is a free, open source FTP client for Windows. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). The main features are the site manager, message log, file and folder view, and the transfer queue. (Ref: Wiki)

Ok la, just proceed to the technical usage.

Installation:-

1. Download the program here. (current release is ver 2.2.32, and dl the .exe file)

2. Install it as usual but make sure you read the instruction carefully. It's your decision.

3. The default configuration is good enough, so I don't think there is need to change the program's setting for simple task. The program screenshot is as below.

How to Use:-

1. On the menu bar at the top, click File->Site Manager, and then a pop-up window will appear. Click new site, and then create the connection name e.g testing. Then click Save and Exit.

2. To initiate a connection to the server, click as shown below. In this example I try to connect into my bruneiopensource free server.

3. Once connected, then user can upload/download files between the client and the server. I added few comments in the screenshot, hopefully it will be helpful.

Ah.. I think some of my visitors use other browser instead of mozilla firefox. Though firefox is an open-source but it will be boring if I post about firefox here, because it is well known (if you don't know it.. then google it). It's a matter of choice so there is no harm to use IE, Opera, Konqueror.. and so on.

Remember: open-source is about freedom. Bah.

CD Writing Software - InfraRecorder

2007-08-09T20:47:00.000+08:00

What I have posted so far is still focusing on open-source applications in microsoft windows because I know most Bruneians are using ms windows. (p/s: i'm not ready to share about linux)

There are not many open-source cd burner program written for microsoft windows. Most of them are written for linux operating system only. And I like to share a cd/dvd burner called InfraRecorder.

InfraRecorder is a free graphical CD and DVD writing program for Microsoft Windows, licensed under the GPL version 2. Started by Christian Kindahl in 2006, InfraRecorder uses the cdrtools software to perform the actual burning. InfraRecorder was born in the Google Summer of Code 2006. (Ref: Wiki)

Ok, since I don't have to explain anything else....

Steps

1. Download the program here. (current latest version is 0.43.1)

2. Install it as usual.. would take less than one minute.

3. Done!!! I don't think I should give examples on how to use this program, it's just like other cd burning programs. I'll leave you with the program screenshot.

CD Ripper - CDex

2007-08-03T18:43:00.000+08:00

I'm quite busy of doing nothing recently, the main reason for me not updating this blog. Ok, the next open-source's tool I want to introduce is CD Ripper called CDex.

CDex is able to convert CD audio into several formats including WAV, MP3 (using the LAME encoder), Ogg Vorbis, VQF, APE, and many others. It supports FLAC and other codecs using an external encoder. For convenience, it supports CD-Text to allow ripped tracks, with reduced user effort, to have the names of songs, artists and albums (Ref: Wiki).

I think the above paragraph has clearly explained the use of CDex. Let me proceed on how to use the program.

Steps

1. Download the program here. Get the latest installer version, current one is CDex 1.70 (beta 2).

2. Install it as usual, should be easy.

3. Click Options->Settings->Filenames to set the directory of mp3 to be saved. And click Options->Settings->Encoder to change the encoder, in this example I'm going to use LAME encoder. The screenshot below shows the setting that I always use for CD Ripping.

4. To rip an audio CD, just insert the CD into the cd drive. Select all tracks by clicking Crtl+A, and then click F9.

I think that is enough for today. Bah.

Eraser

2007-07-09T22:32:00.000+08:00

Eraser is a secure data removal tool for Windows. It completely removes sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. (Ref: SourceForge)

Normally, when you delete files from the hard drive, the deleted files can be recovered by recovery software. This eraser tool helps us to delete files using certain overwriting methods until they cannot be recovered. This kind of software is usually used in Department of Defense (DoD), to delete top secret files securely...

Steps for using the software

1. Download it here. (Current version is 5.82)
2. Install it by following the installation wizard.

3. The program main window

4. Go to the menu bar, and click Edit->Preferences->Erasing.

The screenshot above shows five method of erasing files (or unused disk space). GutMann is the most secure one but it takes time to erase.

5. To erase any file securely, just right click the file and then click 'Erase'!!

Let's erase our secret!!!

Chipertext

2007-06-26T18:47:00.000+08:00

I visited Department of Mathematics booth in UBD just now, and saw a ciphertext challenge (i think got prize). This is the second question of the challenge, convert the following message into English by substitution method.

XHJCYZOHVCMJ WU YMG UXWGTXG ZB CHZYGXYWTO WTBZHSVYWZT DJ YHVTUBZHSWTO ZH GTXHJCYWTO WY WTYZ ITHGVFVDAG BZHSVY PTZNT VU XWCMGHYGLY. ZTAJ YMZUG NRZ CZUUGUU YMG UGXHGY PGJ XVT FGXWCMGH ZH FGXHJCY YMG SGUUVOG WTYZ CAVWT YGLY. GTXHJCVGF SGUUVDGU XVT UZSGYWSGU DG DHZDGT DJ XHJCYVTVAJUWU VAUZ XVAAGF XZFGDHGVPWTO, VAYMZIOM SZFGHT XHJCYZOHVCMJ YGXMTWEIGU VHG RWHYIVAAJ ITDHGVPVDAG.

So here is what I have solved, with the help of my friends who help me in English vocabulary + the spelling.. since I'm poor in English language!!!

CRYPTOGRAPHY IS THE SCIENCE OF PROTECTING INFORMATION BY TRANSFORMING OR ENCRYPTING IT INTO UNREADABLE FORMAT KNOWN AS CIPHERTEXT. ONLY WHO POSSESS THE SECRET KEY CAN DECIPHER OR DECRYPT THE MESSAGE INTO PLAIN TEXT. ENCRYPTED MESSAGES CAN SOMETIMES BE BROKEN BY CRYPTANALYSIS, ALSO CALLED CODEBREAKING, ALTHOUGH MODERN CRYPTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES ARE VIRTUALLY UNBREAKABLE.

known substitution key - (from chipertext to plaintext)
A=L, B=F, C=P, D=B, E=Q, F=D, G=E, H=R, I=U, J=Y, K=?, L=X, M=H, N=W, O=G, P=K, Q=?, R=V, S=M, T=N, U=S, V=A, W=I, X=C, Y=T, Z=O

I forgot the last question because I was not allowed to bring back the question paper!!! (but i managed to copy the second question secretly... :D). I think the prize is still there tomorrow...

UBD FLOSS

2007-06-25T21:41:00.000+08:00

I went to UBD just now to help friends/lecturers setup the Computer Science Department booth for the 4th UBD Science & Technology Week (2007) - from 26th to 30th June 2007. One of the event is the UBD-FLOSS Training. You can read more about that here.

RSS/Atom Aggregator - RSS Bandit

2007-06-19T23:26:00.000+08:00

I'm home!!! Ok.

To start with, I need to define the meaning of several terms here (Ref:Wiki).

RSS
is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.

Atom
Same idea of RSS. The development of Atom was motivated by the existence of many incompatible versions of the RSS syndication format.

Aggregator
An aggregator, rss aggregator, news aggregator, or feed reader is a client software that uses web feed to retrieve syndicated web content such as blogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mass media websites, or in the case of a search aggregator, a customized set of search results.

Function of RSS/Atom Aggregator
Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check websites for updates, creating a unique information space or "personal newspaper." Once subscribed to a feed, an aggregator is able to check for new content at user-determined intervals and retrieve the update.

I use RSS/Atom Aggregator to read ppl blog or news. If you have more than 30 friends' blog to read everyday, it will be time consuming just to visit each friend's blog to check if there is any update. The software I use is RSS Bandit, to read RSS feed of the blogs I want to read. The software will notify me whenever there is a new blog entry has been posted.

Here are the steps of using RSS Bandit,

Installation

1. Download from RSS Bandit site, get the latest version. Current version is RSS Bandit v1.5.0.10 Released

2. Extract the software and install as usual. Note: You might need .NET Framework, you can get it from microsoft site here.

To Add Subscription

1. Click File-> New Subscription. An add subscription wizard will appear.

2. Click Next and select I will enter the URL of the web feed or page

3. Enter the URL e.g. http://bruneiopensource.blogspot.com. Then Click Next.

4. The program will automatically getting the feed address. If the program found more than one feed addresses in a single blog, just choose one of them.

Screenshot

It's better if all Bruneian Blogs and News website has RSS/Atom feed enable. Bah.

File Compression - 7-zip

2007-05-30T18:32:00.000+08:00

7-zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio. It's just like winzip or winrar, but has new own compression format called 7z.

7-Zip is open source software. Most of the source code is under the GNU LGPL license. The AES code is under a BSD LICENSE. The unRAR code is under a mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restrictions. Check license information here: 7-Zip license. (ref: from the 7-zip webiste)

(ps: even compression formula also has a license!!! this is real world is all about!!!!)

The main features of 7-zip:

High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
Supported formats:
- Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
- Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
Self-extracting capability for 7z format
Integration with Windows Shell
Powerful File Manager
Powerful command line version
Plugin for FAR Manager
Localizations for 63 languages (got malay)

Get the software from its main site http://www.7-zip.org/. Choose the non-beta version at the top at the home page. Then install as usual...

Screenshots

1. To compress a folder/file, right-click any folder/file, then choose choose 7-zip->add to archieve...

2. Then.. u get several options as shown in the screenshot below. Just press "ok" to get the default option, otherwise you can press "help" for further reading.

Ok.. i'm quite busy next month (vacation: london+berlin+venice), will update as soon as I get back... happy holiday!!!

OpenOffice

2007-05-20T08:16:00.000+08:00

OpenOffice is open source alternative to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org aims to compete with Microsoft Office and emulate its look and feel where suitable. It can read and write most of the file formats found in Microsoft Office, and many other applications; an essential feature of the suite for many users. OpenOffice.org has been found to be able to open files of older versions of Microsoft Office and damaged files that newer versions of Microsoft Office itself cannot open. However, it cannot open older Word for Macintosh (MCW) files. (Ref: Wiki)

OpenOffice.org is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite. Many of the components are designed to mirror those available in Microsoft Office. The components available include:

Writer — a word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word and offering a comparable range of functions and tools. It also includes the ability to export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can also function as a WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages. One important difference between Writer and Microsoft Word is that in Writer, many functions and number formats from Calc (below) are available in Writer's tables.

Calc — a spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user's data. Calc is also capable of writing spreadsheets directly as a PDF file.

Impress — a presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.

Base — a database program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with Access, Base is able to work as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL. Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0.

Draw — a vector graphics editor comparable in features to CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to Desktop publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher.

Math — a tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can export to PDF.

QuickStarter — a small program for Windows and Linux that runs when the computer starts for the first time. It loads the core files and libraries for OpenOffice.org during computer startup and allows the suite applications to start more quickly when selected later. The amount of time it takes to open OpenOffice.org applications was a common complaint in version 1.0 of the suite, and Quickstarter was a solution of sorts. Substantial improvements were made in this area for version 2.0.

The macro recorder — is used to record user actions and replay them later to help with automating tasks, using OpenOffice.org Basic

Ok, all above writing is copy and paste from wiki!!! I don't have to explain how to install or configure it since the program function is almost similar to Microsoft Office. Let me just show you some screenshots.

1. Writer (similar to ms word)

2. Calc (similar to ms excel)

Sun Debuts JavaFX As Alternative To AJAX

2007-05-11T05:12:00.000+08:00

This news is few days old already (was lazy to post on the day my rss bandit notified me)

r7 writes,

"Internetnews is reporting on Sun's introduction of JavaFX at JavaOne today. Looks like a combination Applet, Flash, Javascript, and AJAX with a friendly programming interface. Does this really spell the end of AJAX? I sincerely hope so. Nothing built on Javascript will ever achieve the security, cross-platform reliability, and programmatic friendliness that Web 2.0 needs. Proprietary solutions and vendor lock-in are also dead ends. JavaFX has the potential to satisfy this opportunity even better than did Java over a decade ago. Along with AJAX, let's hope JavaFX also puts paid to Microsoft's viral Active-X and JScript, and, more importantly, that it really is a web scripting language that developers can grok." (Ref: SlashDot)

Read More:
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3676226

Tablature Editor - TuxGuitar

2007-05-10T18:59:00.000+08:00

TuxGuitar is an open source software program written in Java. It is a tablature editor, score writer and player targeted at guitarists (Ref: wiki).

I don't want explain much on this program since this program is an open-source alternative (still need to improve!!!) to Guitar Pro. I think the main difference is Guitar Pro output sound is based on midi library, but TuxGuitar is taken from Java soundbank.

TuxGuitar Functions:

Tablature editor
Score Viewer
Multitrack display
Autoscroll while playing
Note duration management
Various effects (bend, slide, vibrato, hammer-on/pull-off)
Support for triplets (5,6,7,9,10,11,12)
Repeat open and close
Time signature management
Tempo management
Imports midi, tg, ptb, gp3, gp4, gp5 files
Exports midi, ascii, gp3, gp4

This time I'm lazy to put detail screenshots on how to configure the program.

Steps:
1. Download TuxGuitar
- choose the installer base on your operating system

2. Download Java SoundBank
- choose the deluxe one

3. Install TuxGuitar
- after installing, launch the program and go to the program Settings->Configure TuxGuitar

- then go to Sound as shown in the screenshot below and target the directory's path to the java soundbank file.

4. At this stage, the program is almost configured, and you need is a file sample to play. Download CanonRock by JerryC (or can google any supported files to play) and try to play it.

Ok, happy practising guitar!!!

Virtual Machine - VirtualBox

2007-05-05T02:28:00.000+08:00

Ever thinking of using different operating systems (OS) that you have never tried before? Maybe using linux distro (e.g. ubuntu, debian), windows (e.g. win2000, vista), or even mac OS, and so on. If you only have one desktop/laptop, I think you might thinking twice before experimenting with those OS because you need to reformat your hard disk, backup necessary files and you might face few technical difficulties during the OS installation.

Here is the solution, get a virtual machine!! A virtual machine is software that creates a virtualized environment between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate software on an abstract machine (Ref: Wiki).

One of Virtual Machine softwares is called VirtualBox. Ok, lemme tell you how to use this software. I assume you know how OS installation work, but if not... experiment it since VM won't do any harmful (I guess so) .. because it's all virtual!!!

Here are the steps

1. Download the software

2. Install it using the wizard provided (should be easy). After the installation, run the program. Click "New" as shown in the diagram below.

3. Click Next, then you'll see the window as below. I chose to install windows xp. It doesn't matter whether it's home edition or professional series.

4. Choose the Virtual RAM size. My physical RAM is 1GB and I chose 256MB RAM for my virtual machine RAM (1/4 of the physical one). I don't really recommend to have VM RAM size greater than the host machine.

5. Create VM hard disk.

6. Choose Dynamic size hard disk (since I like it)

7. Choose the directory you want to store the image file, and the maximum size you want. 2GB is enough for this experiment.

8. After the above steps finish, you'll be taken to the main window again. Choose your CD/DVD ROM where you boot the OS.

9. I chose mine, V

10. Start the VM machine

11. This image down here should be look familiar to some of you. I was running windows XP on my laptop, and was running windows XP on my Virtual Machine as well... quite a boring experiment.

Conclusion,
Virtual Machine allows you to run OS (guest) inside an OS (host). So before migrating to new OS like Vista (yeah it's not open-source OS), you can try it safely in Virtual Machine!!! Until then... maybe I like to share to you on how to run Mac OSX inside Windows. Bah.

(p/s: never believe what ppl say until you try it urself. Reading without trying is useless.)

Hard Disk Encryption - FreeOTFE

2007-04-24T02:00:00.000+08:00

Hard disk encryption is a way to protect data stored on a computer disk. Our operating system (OS) does provide access restrictions to protect data but unfortunately it can easily be by-passed e.g. when the OS is not active, then the data might be read directly from the hardware. I'm sure few of you ever use folder lock, or maybe software that allow to hide important stuffs from other people to see but that approach is not good enough.

I like to share an open-source software called FreeOTFE. This software use "on-the-fly" disk encryption (OTFE) technique. It creates "virtual disks" - anything written to which is automatically encrypted before being stored on the computer's hard drive or USB drive. Numerous encryption (including AES, Blowfish, Twofish, Serpent, etc) and hash algorithms (SHA-512, Tiger, Whirlpool, MD5, etc) are supported, with a modular architecture that allows 3rd parties to implement additional algorithms if required.

The program operates under both PC (MS Windows 2000/XP) and PDA (Windows Mobile 2003/2005) platforms. In case of Linux, please read the manual on the site. (p/s: i'm windows user and only run linux on virtual machine or live cd only). Note: never try this software if your are not so sure what your are doing.

Download the software here, http://www.freeotfe.org/download.html

Installation

1. Extract the zip file

2.

3. Install the drivers

4. First install FreeOTFE driver

5.

6.

7. After installing the FreeOTFE driver, then install the cypher and the hash. In this example, I'm using AES_Gladman cypher and whirlpool hash.

Configuration

Little knowledge on Hard Disk management is required here such as the physical hard disk and its partition. The screenshot shown below is taken from my virtual machine (that is why the disk space is very low). Go to start-> control panel -> administrative tools -> computer management -> disk management.

Disk 0 - primary hdd where the OS is running
Disk 1 - second hdd
Disk 2 - third hdd

I'm going to encrypt Disk 1, notice that there is only a single partition on that hdd. The hdd does not necessary to be empty, formatted or not. For this example, Disk 1 is not empty and has few files in it, and it uses NTFS file system.

8.

9. Now I start to configure a drive, and try to encrypt it.

10.

11.

12. Select the partition as identified in step 8.

13. Make sure the size selected is lower than the physical partition. My Hard Disk 1 partition is 2GB and the encrypted volume is 1GB.

14. Just follow it.

15.

16.

Mount the Encrypted Hdd

After the drive is encrypted, then it needs to be mounted in order to use it.

17.

18.

19.

20.

In My Computer, another disk will appear.. that disk is encrypted. Ok.. bah.

News

2007-04-22T21:59:00.000+08:00

Recently, I'm not doing any personal project. But I'll try to update this blog and discuss
other open-source software done by other ppl. If anyone of you have interesting project to share, you can be one of the blog team. Ok... cheers!!

Octapawn - Working Version

2007-04-13T22:46:00.000+08:00

I finished my octapawn project on 30th-march-2007. I think the current version is good enough to compete against human. You ppl can check my octapawn directory to play against it and let me know if you found any bug.

Game screenshot,

I have uploaded the project documentation here, it explains how a computer "think" and play board games. So feel free to read if u feel curious!!! Anyway, I haven't done the project JAVA API documentation. Wait till next time... bah.

OctaPawn - Interim Report

2006-12-08T02:08:00.000+08:00

You ppl can read my interim report in this link

http://bruneiopensource.bravehost.com/octapawn/interimreport.pdf

Ok.. cheers!!

OctaPawn

2006-11-22T21:56:00.000+08:00

OctaPawn is my third year project. So this time, I’ll be more serious working on this project. I’ll post the design part later and try to update at least once a week.

You can read about HexaPawn to get the basic idea.

Trivia Game

2006-08-21T00:45:00.000+08:00

The chess project is on the halt now. I need time to recheck again the code I wrote, but my interest on it is going down.

Anyway, I have new idea for a trivia game. Maybe I’ll put more effort on this new project, it will be mmorpg and I hope it will bring fun to everyone.

Below are the specification for the new trivia game

running on java applet and jframe
the questions will be put in mysql database
support multiple players
...

Project Inactivity

2006-06-02T23:31:00.000+08:00

This project will be inactive in one month time. Just wait for the next version release.

greedyEngine - The basic A.I

2006-05-29T16:47:00.000+08:00

My first greedyEngine works just now, I got help from Dr Jaidi to debug few code lines. I call it greedyEngine because it only looks for material advantage. It’s more into tactical rather than thinking strategy.

After listing out all valid moves can be made by a player, then the computer has to check whether that every single move brings advantage to the player or his opponent.

Let say, initially the following pieces setup on board

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [b] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [q] [ ] [Q] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [n] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Refer to my type assignment in previous post. Type assignment is also used to indicate the strength of each piece.

In the above diagram, white total strength is 8 and black is 15. The question is, how to lower down the opponent strength? One of solutions is by capturing any opponent piece.

If Q x b, the strength of black pieces would become 12
If Q x q, the strength of black pieces would become 7
If there’s no capture, the strength will remain the same and so on.
Here, the best move the computer can do is by doing Q x q. Then it keeps thinking ahead to check whether that capture favor him or his opponent. All this process are repeated using recursive method in JAVA.

Deep Clone vs Shallow Clone

As we know JAVA is object oriented, the list of all “valid moves” is considered as one object. In that “valid moves”, a move can be get from the list. What if I perform any move and check the total strength of player pieces? Since I already move one piece, if I want to check another move line, I must undo any move I made before. Another question arise, how to undo my move?

The object “valid moves” is inside another big object called “all moves” (either valid or invalid). It is like set theory in maths, thing is not exist by itself. You have universal set, subset and so on. Here, “all moves” is our super class, or outermost set. “Valid moves” is the subset of “all moves” and a “move” is the subset “valid moves”. Is that clear enough?

JAVA provide method called “clone”, there’s no easy way to copy an object. It’s not primitive type like integer or String, object is unique where it has reference value to its contain.

Let say,

x = “all moves”, then
y = x.clone()
When compare x.equals(y), it is false. But when compare the contain of x and y, it is true. It the contains that are equal, not the super class object. Why there are equal? Because they refer (memory reference) to the same contain. It’s like two bodies share the same heart. When one body feel hurt.. it will affect the other body. The method of cloning is called “deep cloning”, when it creates a new object but shares to the same reference (dependant).
We don’t that because we want to undo move, to return back to its previous state. The state that the “valid moves” untouch by another clone object, independant of contain. How to make a new clone object unique and independant in contain? The solution is, instead clone just the super class, we need to clone the subclass as well.

Then,

x = “all moves”, then

y = x.clone()
y.”valid moves” = x.”valid moves”.clone()

x and y are unique now, having their own “valid moves” reference but have the same contain.

Ok, I try to upload my source code as soon as possible. I need to refine it first.

Special Move Rules

2006-05-28T03:17:00.000+08:00

In Chess, few special moves can made like en passant, castling, pawn promotion, pawn initial move. You can read more on those rules in wiki.

Pawn usually can jump to its next square, eg. a2-a3 (refer algebraic notation ). For a special case, it can jump from a2-a4, provided that the pawn never been moved and its infront square (eg. a3) is empty. Pawn capture method is also different but that it not considered as special move case. I have done coding pawn rules, except pawn promotion when it reaches rank 8 and en passant.

Castling is king special move, I will write more on this when I finished pawn part.

One Dimensional Rule

2006-05-26T17:21:00.000+08:00

After a few minutes of trying basic mathematical formula, I solved the nature of each piece move. Here I what I found out

//valid moves - linear type - applicable only for 12 x 12 dimension
king = -13, -12, -11, -1, 1, 11, 12, 13
queen = -13, -12, -11, -1, 1, 11, 12, 13
rook = -12, -1, 1, 12
bishop = -13, -11, 11, 13
knight = -25, -23, -14, -10, 10, 14, 23, 25

As an example, knight on square 27 (b1), it can move to

27-25 = 2 (x)
27-23 = 4 (x)
27-14 = 13 (x)
27-10 = 17 (x)
27+10 = 37 (x)
27+14 = 41 (d2)
27+23 = 50 (a3)
27+25 = 52 (c3)

I already coded the rules above, it works for white and black pieces. I haven’t coded the rules for pawn. Queen and king move rules are the same but actually queen can jump to further square. I inserted loop to check all valid squares repeatedly.

Up to now, I have completed listing out all valid moves made by white and black pieces separatedly. Those valid moves able to check

extended square
capture move
blocked path because of capture move or own piece block the way

All those valid moves are stored in vector array for further process like prediciting the best move.. (it takes time to make the A.I part, be patient).

I haven’t implement rules for king castling, pawn rule like its move, en passant, capture, promotion, en passant.

Board Setup and Type Assigment

2006-05-25T12:13:00.000+08:00

/** default board setup * * 132 [11][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 120 [10][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 108 [9][ ][ ][r][n][b][k][q][b][n][r][ ][ ] * 96 [8][ ][ ][p][p][p][p][p][p][p][p][ ][ ] * 84 [7][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 72 [6][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 60 [5][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 48 [4][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 36 [3][ ][ ][p][p][p][p][p][p][p][p][ ][ ] * 24 [2][ ][ ][r][n][b][k][q][b][n][r][ ][ ] * 12 [1][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * 0 [0][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] * y,x[0][1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] * * * */

The above diagram shows how the board is setup.
I have decided to extend the standard 8×8 board dimension to 12×12. The total square would become 144 instead of 64. The game play would not be affected since extended squares are just part of programming side. The main purpose of the extended squares is as an indicator, to indicate that any pieces movement will not hit the borders.. (i.e invalid move indicator).

The overall board setup would be

[x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [r] [n] [b] [k] [q] [b] [n] [r] [x] [x] [x] [x] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [x] [x] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [p] [x] [x] [x] [x] [r] [n] [b] [k] [q] [b] [n] [r] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

‘x’ is the extended square. p, n, b, r, k and q are pawn, knight, bishop, rook, king and queen respectively. The squares without label are empty squares. Whenever a move is made, a piece can fill the empty square but not onto the ‘x’ square.

One dimensional (linear) square notatation is used here, counted from bottom to top rows. By looking at the diagram, square 26 is A1 in algebraic notation.

I assign value type to each piece. Type assignment is to replace a long piece name into coded form

king = 10
queen = 8
rook = 5
bishop = 4
knight = 3
pawn = 1

Hello world!!! - A fast start

2006-05-25T09:30:00.000+08:00

I’m duolulu, I will post my active project here. Recently, I’m creating a Chess Engine using JAVA. The project itself, inspired from A.I book, borrowed by Dr. Brown. On the 22nd-May-2006, I seek help from Dr. Jaidi to make a start. He explained to me the steps, and guide me what to do first.

Since JAVA is object oriented programming, I have decided to break Chess structure in heirical order.

Chess is consists of

two players - white and black
a board of 64 squares
16 chessmen - given to each player
the pieces (aka chessman) are subdivided into five different types

one king
one queen
two rooks
two bishops
two knights
eigth pawn

different type of pieces has different move rules
chess also has game rules

player of white pieces has to move first
each player has to move one piece per turn

(I will write more on this part soon)