Android with as little closed source as possible - part 2
Overview
Read part one of Android with as little closed source as possible, Life without US cloud services and Androids privacy invasiveness if you’re wondering why I’m doing this.
This is an update on how to live with a free and open (Android based) phone.
µg - A plugin-based replacement for gapps (updated)
This is a follow-up of Nogapps - A replacement for gapps.
The NOGAPPS project has been renamed to µg, and the part that interessts me the most, off-line, libre, coarse localization is called µg Unified Nlp.
graph.no - Weather forecast via finger
The idea
Yr.no has a brilliant hour by hour view. A simple picture where you get all info you need for planning your next 48 hours.
They also give out all their weather data for free! Having a special fascination for the command line, I wondered if I could represent the same information in a basic, ASCII, 80x22 terminal.
Google knows where you are by default
Even if you don’t use any Goolge services directly, Google will know a lot about you. For example when using the libre web browser Firefox from Mozilla. Let me quote from their site: “We’ve always designed Firefox to protect and respect your private information.”.
When using a location service, one get the message “Would you like to share your location with <website>?” when it should really say “Would you like to share your location with Google and <website>?”. This is stated if you “Learn more…”.
This may not supprise you, as Mozilla get 90 percent of its revenue from Google, and therefore use lots of Google services out of the box.
Mozilla started their own location service over a year ago with the goal to “Improve the privacy aspects of the geolocation service compared to the current market offerings.”, which is a good thing. It can be used by following this guide. My results has been varying.
Unfortunately Mozilla isn’t as open as they could be on this. They will not share their database. I recommend using OpenWLANMap instead, as they both are older than Mozilla Location Service and do share the database.
By installing this add-on you can transparently use OpenWLANMap in Firefox instead.
You can join in collecting data for both services by using Mozilla Stubmler app or OpenWLANMap app.
I’m not aware of any positioning for web browsers that works off-line, like one can on android using Nogapps.
Nogapps - A replacement for gapps
I recently discovered nogapps, and it’s working great! Here’s an intro and how to use it.
Cheap DIY babycam with night vision
Overview
When I did this project in 2012 babycams cost from NOK 2000 and up, so I decided to see if I could build one using a Raspberry Pi, an IR light and a very cheap webcam.
This will of course only be a level 0 night vision (active).
Google Hangouts - no one gets left out
… except for anyone on Firefox OS, WindowsPhone, Amazon devices, Sailfish OS and any other device without Google Play.
</rant>
RadiOS part 1
Overview
In my opinion most radios, especially internet radios, have horrible interfaces. Small buttons, small displays, often touch, often several functions for each button.
So Erik and I set out to design a new, better radio for ourselves. Our main requirements were ease of use and a very physical UI. Something you’d want to touch and play with.
Car-logger - part 1
Overview
I want to know where my car is. Especially if it gets stolen. Logs would be a bonus. Also, I have several outdated Android phones, which has all necessary hardware.
- I don’t want to use Google (latitude) or other service providers (embedded hardware).
- I don’t want to pay, unless I have to.
- If possible, I’d like it to do more (explained further down).
photOS 2.0 - a better photo frame
Overview
This is about improving photOS, mentioned in http://0p.no/2014/02/14/photos1.html.
When building this, price wasn’t a factor. If you want something cheap, you can still use this software with an old laptop or other recycled hardware.
photOS version 1.0 - a place for your phone to rest
Overview
A few years ago I wrote a collection of scripts for Debian/Ubuntu to make digital photo frames of outdated laptops. Lots of people have done this. What made photOS v.1 special was the idea that it was a place for your phone to rest. Meaning recharge, dump photos, and display photos on the big screen. All by just plugging in the power cable.
Brazil-like monitor
Overview
In the movie Brazil you can see small, mostly black/white, stripped down, CRT monitors. I’ve also seen a store having CRTs in transparent cases. Somehow I think this is a cool retro look, so I built my own. Primarily to display weather forcast by my door.
Remember CRTs uses thousands of volts, so one should keep fingers away.
Checklist for Raspberry Pi setup
Overview
There are lot of small changes one should do for pis that will be in use over some time. I covered a few in Keeping A Raspberry Pi Alive. This post will serve as more of a complete checklist for myself, so it may be updated over time.
Fanless livingroom entertainment
Background
I recently made an effort to keep only fanless (or silent) devices in my livingroom. Including my media center / HTPC. This article will outline a few ways to achieve this.
Androids privacy invasiveness
Overview
With Android you have two options of app management. With Google Play, or without. As Google is getting more and more invasive the latter option seems more tempting. Too bad they made sure it’s a poor one.
George Washingdone - a motion sensor for your washing machine
Overview
When PiBorg launched the accelerometer/compass XloBorg, I imediately bought a couple. I had no idea what to use them for, but the price was right, raspberry pi was new, and it seemed like a fun “sensor” to play with. It remained in my drawer until this weekend. Over a few hours at a hackathon I created the WashingDone. A script to measure certain patterns of motion, to alert when the washing machine is done.
Keeping a Raspberry Pi alive
Overview
http://raspberrypi.org is a great, cheap peice of hardware, but it has some limitations. Number one is the SD card. SD cards are not made for lots of rewrites to the same file.
Life without US cloud services
Overview
I’m not creating this list because I have something against the US or because I hate the cloud (or to get on a watchlist). I’m creating it because my work/hobbies. Also for economy, access to resources (unlimited dropbox!), performance (keep things local) interest in FLOSS and control of my data.
Android with as little closed source as possible
Overview
Android seemed like an OpenMoko.org that could work. A phone running free software. Linux, and all the goodies that goes with it. However it took a bad turn. Not only was it just linux (no GNU), but Google seems to be locking it down. Replacing every app with a closed source one: Googles iron grip on Android.
See follow-up: Android with as little closed source as possible 2.