tools

Short tips: Eigenharp Pico, where is Belcanto ? oder Wo ist Belcanto ?

I decided to not pressure myself into doing one big post, but I will do some short bursts. Considering the Eigenharp, I will make them in English and German, since there is not a lot of information in German.

So what is it ?

It is some kind of scripting your Eigenharp thingy, don’t know more yet.

Was ist Belcanto ?

Eine Art Skriptsprache für die Eigenharp.

Where is it ?

Not on the EigenD-Mac-Version on your USB-Stick, as of writing this post not in the stable release, you have to use the newest testing release, there you can find Belcanto in Tools -> Run EigenCommander.

Wo finde ich Belcanto ?

Nicht in der Mac-Version die auf dem USB-Stick mitgeliefert wird, auch nicht in der "stable" Version vom Netz, man muss die "testing" Version installieren und dann findet man Belcanto unter Tools -> Run EigenCommander.Tags: , , , , , , ,

Tiddlywiki with math, svg, nested posts and slides in only one file

This post is about how I got (almost) the math lecture tool I need. There are still some tweaks I want to do (like finding a nice way to disable edit and hide the backstage part online), but lets start anyway …

In this post you can find what I want from my tool and why I started to try TiddlyWiki.

Since then I have formulated an addendum, my students shouldn’t need to download additional files, so everything in one file would be a must, goodbye asciencepad, you where a really great point to start.

Then after some research I found this TiddlyWiki, where James Taylor incorporated Peter Jipsen’s ASCIIMath and ASCIISvg into his TiddlyWiki. Unfortuatly saving it and trying it out gave me an error.

So I merged it with the empty TiddlyWiki from the official site. This is easy, download both files and use a diff-tool to find the differences. After <div id=”storeArea”> there is a big math-block in Taylor’s TiddlyWiki and I just copied it into the default TiddlyWiki and I was done, with the math in any case. You can get my basic Math-TiddlWiki here.

Since this is still a normal TiddlyWiki I now could install some nice plug-ins, to do that, go to the backstage area found on the top right after you downloaded and hit import.

Plug-in 1: nested sliders

Sometimes, as a teacher, you need to go deeper into a subject, you may need to show some questions, without the solution, for that I think I will use nested sliders,  you can find them in TiddlyTools.

Plug-In 2: slides

Thanks to Paulo Soares you can get a slideshow-tool here, for the plug-ins import from this link http://www.math.ist.utl.pt/~psoares/addons.html. You need the SildeShowPlugin, best also to download everything called slide show, to get the examples and probably you need the ForEachTiddlerPlugin and the ShowStarter.

I will post some more tips as I find new things and I will post my more advanced TiddlyWikis as soon as I have cleaned them up.

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How to get equations on slides or how to teach math or TiddlyWiki to the rescue

Since the beginning of my math-teaching my biggest problem is, how do I get the material into a form that:

  1. Can be projected during my lectures
  2. Can be put it on the web in a form that is flexible (not as a pdf)
  3. People can print out
  4. Can render equations (relatively painless to write) and graphics
  5. Is interactive, since I do make mistakes and correcting them on the spot is so much easier and sometimes it would be nice to include material on the fly, because of questions or because I get an idea

I have tried pure Latex with special editor and Lyx, but they need to compile and sometimes the compile breaks and you have no break-points, no real pointers what went wrong. Sometimes you can compile to dvi, but the compile step to pdf fails, yes there are two compile steps. This is at least one compiler too many. I am enough stressed out, writing the slides (try writing all 3 rotation matrices in homogeneous(4d)-space, all of the 48 components, in Tex), I do not need compiler problems at this moment.

OpenOffice, MS Office and Google Docs have nice equation editors, but not for their presentation parts. It can be hard (PowerPoint) to impossible (Google Docs) to get an equation (the aforementioned 3 rotations in 4d) into a slide.

OpenOffice needs years to start up, Google Docs is online and ok, except that at my teaching location the connection is really, really slow. There is Google Gears, which wants to reside at my users directory, which is on C:\, which normally has space problems on my laptop and netbook anyway, without tons of gears code. And the offline version doesn’t work to well for me, ergo stress-factor, ergo out.

Honorable mentions to Prezi, which looks cool, but does not do what I need it to do.

I do like TiddlyWiki the one html lots of javascript Wiki to take with you and there are some interesting math-enables flavors of it, which may get me there.

TiddlyWiki comparison list

TiddlyWiki (pure form)

Pro:

  1. Easy to use
  2. Easy to install: download HTML start writing, installation done
  3. Just one file, great to use with Dropbox, Wuala or on a USB-stick
  4. Standalone or Web, doesn’t need a server, works with almost all browsers
  5. Easy to extend with lots of easy (in the standard version) to install plugins

Con:

  1. Just one file, means no extra templates, which means local version and web version are the same. But since I want my version editable and the web one not, this is unpractical. There is a way around it, but it is not foolproof, it would be easier to have the GUI defined extra.
  2. No native math capabilities
  3. No notes tree, which makes navigation harder, there is a sidebar, but everything must be listed by hand, there are plugins, but they are plugins for almost everything
  4. The file tends to get complicated, no separation of code and data, the worst sin in software

ASciencePad

Pro:

  1. Content and formatting separated
  2. Does equations and graphs, even has nice editor for it

Con:

  1. Not one file anymore, people will have to download the framework to view it offline
  2. Only graphs, no general svg with the inbuild editor
  3. No backstage, plugins are not easy installable anymore

TiddlyMath

(Seems to be from the same group as the above, not sure if earlier or later)

Pro:

  1. Can do graphs and general purpose svg images
  2. Does equations

Con:

  1. The math and svg-javascript-code is separately, but the data and the formatting still is in one file
  2. No inbuilt editors to help with equations or svg
  3. No backstage, plugins are not easy installable anymore

VisualTW

Pro:

  1. Nice looking notes-tree

Con:

  1. No math or svg

TWT-Notes

Pro:

  1. Nice notes-tree with topic and subtopic
  2. Cool equation editor

Con:

  1. Equation editor is not build in, but on a special website, does not work offline

So since I am a programmer and I cannot stop tinkering I will try to get this stuff mixed up.

I am learning Javascript as fast as I can …

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TiddlyWiki ein portables Wiki auf dem Handy

Vor kurzem habe ich für mein N900 nach einem Notizbuch gesucht. Es gibt zwar recht ordentliche Anwendungen, auch mit automatischer Baumstruktur für die Notizen. Aber ich bin Wikis gewohnt, wo ich beliebig aus Wörtern Links und daraus dann automatisch neue Seiten generieren kann.
Eine kurze Erklärung zu Wikis findet ihr in meinem Technischen Glossar.
Auf dem PC verwende ich Wikidpad. Das ist portabel (es residiert in meiner Dropbox) und kann auch Latex, Graphen und embedded Python-Code. Es ist einfach Tasks zu erstellen und verwalten. Aber wenn ich auch keine Zweifel habe, dass sich Wikidpad für den N900 portieren lässt, schliesslich ist es Python, habe ich dafür im Moment keine Zeit.
Dann ist mir Tiddlywiki eingefallen. Das Wiki in einem HTML-File (mit Javascipt). Ja das hast Du richtig gelesen, 1 HTML-File hier auf Englisch oder hier auf Deutsch herunterladen, den Titel und den User anpassen und fertig ist das Wiki.
Eine Tagebuchfunktion ist schon eingebaut, weitere Funktionen wie Export, Kalender oder Taskmanager lassen sich durch Plugins z.B. von TiddlyTools erweitern.
Und es funktioniert mit jedem Javascipt-fähigen Browser auf meinem N900, auf dem iPhone und wohl auch unter Android.

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OpenFrameworks, Prototyping in C++

I have found an other simple way to get graphic, sound and/or interaction application done. openFrameworks tries in C++, what Processing does in Java. Processing is easier, which has a lot to do with Java, which much easier to set up and since the virtual machine mechanism is already in place, the compiling is easier.

But openFrameworks does a good job. Just unpack and you can compile the examples. Easy, as anybody, who has ever lost days to set up libraries in C++ can confirm.

The programs start on a higher level, which is something to be expected since C++ doesn’t let you hide as much as Java does and there is no way around the h/cpp file duality. But still pretty simple.

If you look for an easy way to prototype/program your graphic/audio or game in C++ instead of Java go look at it.

If you have never yet programmed, have not looked at visual studio ever and are not forced to use C++, better try Processing first. After you know how to program with classes and files and put your projects into Eclipse, you are fortified enough to tackle the vicious beast that is C++ and Visual Studio.

Some small hints :

If you want to compile everything and don’t have VisualStudio in the default directory, change the directory path in front of the vcvarsall.bat command in the .bat file in the scripts directory to the right one.

If you make your own app, make sure that the working paths (projectname->right click -> properties debug) are set right :

  • for openframeworksLib to : $(ConfigurationName)
  • for your App to : $(TargetDir)

The description how to make your new Application is in the readme.txt in the top folder. Have fun !

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weblog plugin for OpenOffice

I installed the weblog plugin for OpenOffice. Maybe now there will be more posts. This is the test by the way.


Playing with Tools

I am still reading through GTD. I will probably organize my stuff with Emacs. I have worked with Emacs during my studies, I actually like it. There is something like org-mode build into Emacs 22.1 which is build on an outliner-mode and is pretty hard to describe. It is some kind of todo list, task planner plus. Plus tags, labels, agendas, something very Emacs like. Nifty, but quirky. Astonishing usable, but hard to describe. With remember, which is a kind of sticky notes for Emacs it seems to have all I need for GTD (my version ;-) ). And if it doesn’t, everything is in text files and text files are portable.
I use tutorials from the net. I especially like the one from Sacha Chua , she is writing a book about Emacs and org-mode and planner-mode and blogging through Emacs. Quite fantastic, check out her whole web site. I also like this one by John Wiegley, which also has some custom views in it. And finally one from Charles Cave which is GTD inspired, but enlarges it somehow.
Now I am on a Windows machine and this spells some troubles, if one wants to use Emacs. But I hope I will get some Gnus stuff working too and hopefully route my Emails and my GMail calendar through this system. If not, we are still talking about text files, which can be produced and read in many ways.
By the way I am a little behind in reading GTD, because I have to prepare courses for the Games Academy Berlin, Mathematics for 3D programmers and I have a bad case of cold. I hate being sick.

Tools I used to use, part 2 : task management

I should not announce articles. It jinxes them. I fell of my task planner. The software is still cool, but I don’t use it anymore, maybe it will help you.
It is a single person, open source easy to use, easy to export, no frills task planner from Abstract Spoon. The nice thing is, that it doesn’t open a new window, if I just want to add a new task. Because I am a one-person operation I don’t need fancy, I need fast and easy. So try it out!
If you need collaboration it may not suit you and it doesn’t sync over the net (yet). If you need collaboration look at Project Engine it has a cool look-and-feel.
And if you need a web interface you can use PhProjekt (there is an English version, even if the origin of the project seems to be German). I tried it, but on our external QNAP server it is to slow to be workable.

The reason I fell off task management? It somehow doesn’t work for me in the way it should. I saw David Allen’s (yes the GTD one) googletalk on youtube.

And I finally gave in, into buying the book. The pink shirt instead of suit and tie helped. At least he can dress environment appropriate and he is funny. The book, by the way is too. If you have reservations about buying the book, because there is a suited guy on the cover, I can assure you, it is really funny (and helpful). He is good at telling anecdotes. That is the one thing nobody tells you about the book. The entertainment value is high, so even if you finally reject the system, you will have had a amusing time finding out why.

Yes ! I finally got to embed a You Tube video on my site. Lets see if it is as easy as it seems to be.

Tools I use part 1 : Wikis

I just wanted to share some cool tools I found.

First of all I installed a Wiki for myself the Dokuwiki. I need it for my notes, which I need to access from my desktop and my laptop. Since I don’t have a real server at home, only an external hard-drive with WiFi, which is enough at the moment, it needed to be PHP, simple and fast.
I am very pleased with the Wiki it looks great there are some great plug-ins like the tag plug-in by Esther (cool stuff you have there Esther, I use your template too). The Wiki is easy to install, as are the plug-ins. The only problem I had is, that it asks if one wants acl user management. Since I didn’t need it (it is for private use only at this point) and was speed conscious, I said no.
Mistake, since some plug-ins require an admin login. By just deleting the local.php and installing again and all was well. Even my previous test pages were still there. Thumbs up ! That stuff is stable.


Why a Wiki, what is this and why do you need one ?
Everybody knows Wikipedia by now. They didn’t invent Wikis by the way, they just did a excellent job of harnessing its power.
I think Wikis are especially useful in game development, where team work is essential and everybody needs to contribute. Design documents and technical specs change all the time. And Wikis are excellent tools to map this changes. Also documentation of internal tools will profit. Because the programmer and the user (mostly an artist or designer) can collaborate on a manual that makes it easy for new people to get up to date quickly.

pro :
- people can use their web browser to edit stuff
- everybody can edit the same documents
- it has a history, it not only can tell you what was changed since your last logon, but also who changed, what, when
- it is easy to use, easy to make new pages

contra :
- often structure gets lost, because Wikis are link based and not hierarchical based -> DokuWiki is great in that sense, there are namespaces and with the tags you can find everything, it has an index too
- one cannot control the content and layout of the pages, the management has to trust having adult people with responsibility working for them, because even if you put a template up, you cannot get people who are messy to write nice documents

I have used MoinMoin, TikiWiki and some others, mostly job related. And DokuWiki is the one I like best. There is a commercial one too, which looks quite good, but I don’t want to spend money for an overblown system I do not need.
One of the other great aspects of DokuWiki is the automatic creation of a table of content as soon as the page has headers. This makes things just easy.

Personal Wikis (no need of a server)
There are Wikis you can use on your desktop without a server. Just as a notes tool, outliner or text aggregator.

My favorite is WikiPad . It uses WikiNotation (one word, two uppercase letters, one at the beginning, one in the middle) to generate new pages. There is the typical outliner tree on the left. There are special tags to change icons, color of the tree branch. One can easily flag stuff as a todo list etc. It saves automatically. And one can paste automatically from clipboard (which sometimes does not work right). It is python (which I have a soft spot for) and just something small and useful.

And there is TiddlyWiki, which is a one-file Wiki and strangely fascinating, there is even a GTD template for it. I have discovered TiddlySnip, which is a Firefox plug-in to paste stuff from your browser into your TiddlyWiki, very neat. I use that often since nowadays all the manuals are naturally in html or on the net anyway, so I need to get text out of the browser into something resembling coherent notes.

I use scrapbook, another Firefox plug-in quite a lot. It allows you to scrap pages or selected text from a web page and saves it. You can later merge the notes or just read them and highlight important text.

Cooming soon : I finally found the right task manager for me.