Gambas is no shrimp

It may mean "prawn" in Spanish, but in the world of computing, Gambas is a visual programming language for Linux.

 

The Gambas application is an integrated development environment (IDE) which not only allows you to create, edit, run and debug your software, but also create executables (programs) and package them for distribution and deployment to other Linux computers.

 

This post does not cover the Gambas language in any detail, its more of an over-view which takes you through the whole process of creating an application, from writing a very simple program to creating a deployment package.

Gambas is more than just a language, it is also a rapid application development system, making it an ideal starting point for those wishing to learn programming or for programmers taking their first steps with Linux...

Giving Your Computer A Voice

I've found it very helpful in a few cases to add audible alarms to monitoring functions. For example, if you work in a network support environment and a server goes down, you need to know about it straight away.......preferably before your phone goes into melt-down!

 

By using text-to-speech, you can monitor several aspects of your working environment without having to continually check display screens.

I recommend eSpeak, which is a compact, cross-platform, open source software, speech synthesiser. Although the sound is not as natural as that produced by a system based upon human recordings, its very small size makes it a good choice for small devices, the Raspberry Pi and for applications producing announcements.

Networking: With Lubuntu, Win7 and the Raspberry Pi

Setting up a home peer-to-peer network can be challenging, and for machines with a variety of operating systems, can be even more tricky.

 

The three examples given may also help with other version of Linux & Windows.

Photography: #1 Exposure Explained

When you make the transition from "point and shoot" to SLR photography, there is one very important subject you really need to get to grips with:-

      ***   Exposure   ***

 

Using an SLR camera in "manual mode" puts you in total control, not only of composition and focus, but also exposure.

When you take a photo, you allow light into your camera. Assuming you are using a "digital" camera, the light reaches a "photo-sensitive sensor" which produces an electrical output, and ultimately this is processed into a picture. If this picture is correctly "exposed" it will not be too dark or too light.

"So what's the problem..." I hear you say,  "...if its too dark or light I can just use the Gimp or PaintShop Pro to adjust the brightness?"

The problem is that you will lose detail if your initial photo is too dark or too light. Adjusting the brightness will not recover that lost detail.

How to diag Windows/computer problems with a LiveCD

You have a problem with your Windows computer and wonder whether its hardware or software. You've tried all the obvious stuff, so what do you do next?

Well before you invest in more RAM, a new hard disk, or take your computer to your local friendly repair man, there is one more thing you can try.

If you boot your computer from another operating system (OS), you effectively get a second opinion. You can do this by downloading a Linux distribution and creating a LiveCD from which you boot your computer.

Gambas: #1 PhotoViewer

Does the world need yet another Photo Viewer application?

 

I doubt it. But I needed something which would help with my photographic work-flow, so I wrote my own.

With three keen SLR camera users in our house, I noticed that at least two of us were following a similar process. Once we had transferred our photos to our Linux powered laptops, we would:-

1. Review each photo in turn
2. Delete the "no-hope" pictures
3. Rename any we wanted to keep that did not require edits
4. Launch GIMP for those that did require edits
5. Show our best efforts to long suffering friends & relatives
6. Review camera settings when asked "How did you do that?"

So I set about making a new Photo Viewer application using my language of choice: Gambas

PhotoViewer running on Lubuntu

Using a BirdBox Camera: #1 The Basics

Small surveillance cameras have never been cheaper, so why not spy on the great tits in your garden?

As the bird box season in southern England kicks off late February/early March, you need to start to plan NOW for the 2013 season!

 

Why do it?

Although you won't get the kind of quality pictures we see on BBC programs like Springwatch (http://www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch), installing a cheap camera in your garden bird box will give you a special insight into the lives of some of your little feathered friends. Following the process of nest building, egg laying, feeding the chicks and finally fledging, can be a rewarding experience for young and old alike.

Lubuntu: Making Friends With Terminal

If you have no interest in your Lubuntu computer beyond using it for regular tasks (e.g. email, web, photo-editing) then you can stick to using graphical user applications that you pick from the system menu. That's fine! There is really no point in making your life more difficult than it is already!

 

However, if you want to look a little deeper into the workings of your system, there is no better place to start than at the terminal.

Why on earth would you need to use low level commands like "cd", "ls" and "mv" if you have a very capable GUI file manager, such as PCManFM?

Well, most of the time you would try to steer clear of "the dark side" and use a GUI app. But what if your system is broke and it wont boot to the desktop? You might be able to edit files and bring the poor old dear back to life via the command line interface, if only you knew how!

What is Lubuntu and why would I use it?

You are probably reading this on a netbook or an iPad, or maybe a smart phone, or maybe one of dozens of other devices. All of these devices have 2 common attributes; they include "hardware" and "software".

The hardware is the bit you hit when it won't do what you want it to do. The software is the reason it won't do what you want it to do.

Software, of course, is invisible but you can see the effects of it on your hardware. For example; it lights up the display and responds when you click an icon (sometimes). So in order to get your cold hardware to do something, you need software.