tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39709105720205266462024-03-26T03:30:01.419+07:00Playing With SidArky blogs about technology <strong>world as built</strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-23346554182124621122016-08-17T12:59:00.000+07:002016-08-24T10:36:42.533+07:00Google Cardboard 360° Photosphere Viewer with A-Frame <p>In my previous <a href="https://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2016/08/early-this-year-i-started-looking-into.html">post "Embedding Google Cardboard Camera VR Photosphere with A-Frame"</a>, I wrote that some talented programmer would probably create a better solution for embedding <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.cyclops&hl=en">Google Cardboard camera</a> photosphere using <a href="https://aframe.io/">A-Frame</a>.</p><p>I didn't know that <a href="https://twitter.com/ideaspacevr">Chris Car</a> had already created a sophisticated solution for this problem. You can view it here on <a href="https://aframe.io/blog/photosphere-viewer/">A-Frame blog</a>.</p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i57WOYxRv6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>You first might have to use <a href="http://storage.googleapis.com/cardboard-camera-converter/index.html">Google Cardboard camera converter tool</a> to make your Google Cardboard photosphere.</p>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-50235110641311645172016-08-12T11:02:00.002+07:002016-08-12T11:44:48.505+07:00Embedding Google Cardboard Camera VR Photosphere with A-Frame<p>Early this year I started looking into the VR (Virtual Reality) web applications. Web browsers now natively support VR applications using <a href="https://mozvr.com/">WebVR</a> JavaScript API. We can now design virtual worlds using markup language and connect them to devices such as Oculus Rift and Leap motion controller using just a web browser.</p><p>To hit the ground running with WebVR. I started an experiment to capture Hackerspace Phnom Penh using <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.cyclops&hl=en">Google Cardboard camera app</a> and display it using <a href="https://aframe.io/">A-Frame</a> framework. The Google Cardboard camera photosphere is not supported by A-Frame. But the positive responses to my query encouraged me to try an hack using A-Frame <a href="https://aframe.io/examples/showcase/sky/">Panorama</a> component.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is it possible to embed Google cardboard camera image capture in a <a href="https://twitter.com/aframevr">@aframevr</a> powered site?</p>— Arky (@playingwithsid) <a href="https://twitter.com/playingwithsid/status/677315889335697408">December 17, 2015</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br />
<p>And it works. Almost I had to tweak the scale setting a bit to try get the perspective right but it does work. The ideal solution is to create a <a href="https://aframe.io/docs/0.2.0/core/component.html">A-Frame custom component</a>, that I leave it for more skilled people.</p><p>The markup needed for this demo is simple, you can achieve this with one line. </p><code><br />
<pre><a-scene>
<a-sky src="img/hackerspace.vr.jpg" radius="2400" scale="2 1 2"> </a-sky>
</a-scene>
</pre></code><br />
<p>You can see the demo on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_KvNbBuQAWY">Youtube</a> or visit this <a href="http://arky.github.io/hackerspace-vr/">webpage</a> in an compatible web browser. <br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_KvNbBuQAWY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
</p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-13349109514173719132015-12-12T06:20:00.003+07:002015-12-12T06:22:59.155+07:00Free SSL Certificate from Mozilla Let's Encrypt project<p>Last week Mozilla <a href="https://letsencrypt.org">Let's Encrypt</a> project announced the launch of its free, automated and open certificate authority. I had been waiting for this news for a long time. I quickly deployed Let's Encrypt on my staging server to learn how this technology works. The deployment process is painless and very straight forward. The certificates needs to renewed every 3 months, the Let's Encrypt client does this automatically. Thank you Jerome and Ryan for all your help!.</p><p>At the time of writing this blog post, Let's Encrypt client was not available for <a href="https://letsencrypt.readthedocs.org/en/latest/using.html#nginx">Ngnix server</a>. So I am using the <a href="https://letsencrypt.readthedocs.org/en/latest/using.html#manual">manual method</a> to obtain the SSL certificate here. Please read the latest <a href="https://letsencrypt.readthedocs.org">docs</a> for additional information.</p><pre><code>
# Check out the let's encrypt source code
$ git clone https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt
# Stop the Nginx server, we need the client to bind to port 80.
$ sudo service nginx stop
# Start the let's encrypt client and follow the instructions on screen. You need to provide an email address.
$ sudo ./letsencrypt-auto --server https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory certonly --domains staging.example.org
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at
/etc/letsencrypt/live/staging.example.org/fullchain.pem. Your
cert will expire on 2016-01-02. To obtain a new version of the
certificate in the future, simply run Let's Encrypt again.
- If like Let's Encrypt, please consider supporting our work by:
Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/donate
Donating to EFF: https://eff.org/donate-le
# Edit the Nginix config to point to generated certificates.
$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/staging.example.org
listen 443 ssl;
server_name staging.example.org;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/staging.example.org/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/staging.example.org/privkey.pem;
# Restart the Nginx server
$ sudo service nginx start
</code>
</pre><p>Please don't forget to test your server using an comprehensive SSL server test such as <a href="https://www.ssllabs.com/">SSLLabs</a>.</p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-5707692758363126032015-08-16T13:29:00.000+07:002015-08-16T13:29:00.618+07:00Developing Firefox Add-ons Video Tutorials <p>Do you want to develop add-on's for Firefox? <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Add-ons/SDK">Mozilla's Add-on SDK</a> let's you create Firefox add-ons using standard Web technologies: JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Recently I stumbled across <a href="https://twitter.com/sajirkun">Alexander Saladrigas's</a> videos tutorials that teach Firefox add-ons development with Add-on SDK. The videos introduce you to the tools for creating, running, testing and packaging add-ons and working with buttons, panels and tabs.</p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e7UoYE5ymcU?list=PLOcd8K9syf1ANY5zkMGS47g5T-BGmXYas" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Thank you Alexander for making these videos. Hope to see more from you in future.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-76364076793640350862015-07-29T18:26:00.000+07:002015-07-29T18:26:00.065+07:00Autonomous Mozilla Stumbler with Android<p><a href="https://location.services.mozilla.com/">Mozilla Location Service (MLS)</a> is an open source service to determine location based on network infrastructure like WiFi access points and cell towers. The project has released an <a href="https://location.services.mozilla.com/apps">client applications</a> to collect the large dataset of GSM, Cellphone, WiFi data using crowd sourcing. In this blog post I'll explore an idea to re-purpose an old Android mobile phone as an autonomous MozStumbling device that could be easily deployed in public transport, taxis or your friend who is driving across the country.</p><h2>Bill of Materials</h2><ol><li>Android Mobile phone.</li>
<li>Mozstumbler Android App.</li>
<li>Taskbomb Android App.</li>
<li>Mini-USB cable.</li>
<li>GSM SIM (With mobile data).</li>
<li>Car lighter socket power adapter.</li>
<li>Powerbank (optional).</li>
</ol><h2>Putting it together</h2><p>In this setup, I am using a rugged Android phone running Android Gingerbread. It can take a lot punishment. Leaving a phone in overheated car is recipe for disaster.</p><p>From the Android settings I enabled allow installation of non-market applications 'Unknown Sources'. Connected the phone to my computer using the Mini-USB cable. Transferred the previous downloaded apps(.apk) packages to phone and installed the Mozstumbler and Taskbomb applications.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPD6t1uv4W6HhzSGtzHsVtiW607xFuNQGg8sSX0OQJ_B4QSLGYfNU2Iv9zPy9wDSZkGeyGsgvPZFvtb2i-uiBJ98nYKPsYQ3mcqOKCx7zN1gRxna4bD3YDLa_NApr7zygHedWEaOPsB0/s1600/Android-MozStumbler-Taskbomb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPD6t1uv4W6HhzSGtzHsVtiW607xFuNQGg8sSX0OQJ_B4QSLGYfNU2Iv9zPy9wDSZkGeyGsgvPZFvtb2i-uiBJ98nYKPsYQ3mcqOKCx7zN1gRxna4bD3YDLa_NApr7zygHedWEaOPsB0/s320/Android-MozStumbler-Taskbomb.png" alt="Android homescreen showing Mozstumbler and Taskbomb icons" /></a></div><p>Configured the Mozstumbler application to start on boot with Taskbomb app. Also configured Mozstumbler to upload using mobile data connection. The phone has GSM SIM card with data connection. Made sure both WiFi, GPS and Cellular data is enabled.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7kMTR47nA-KwJdYs4nwXxT4E6-sTZhEm8qxt56uFr0pZJO8UfSrVgd6RLxBxXYVJWxc7l0f_EnLjsW8HVTSq2dsg4kcYZY7IPz5vgM6XLijraXybOrHLZ7nRms_Hs0oBDvMUun4AoYQ/s1600/Taskboom-Startup-task.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit7kMTR47nA-KwJdYs4nwXxT4E6-sTZhEm8qxt56uFr0pZJO8UfSrVgd6RLxBxXYVJWxc7l0f_EnLjsW8HVTSq2dsg4kcYZY7IPz5vgM6XLijraXybOrHLZ7nRms_Hs0oBDvMUun4AoYQ/s320/Taskboom-Startup-task.png" /></a></div><p>To prevent phone from downloading software updates and using up all the data. I disabled all software updates. Disabled all notifications both audio and LED notifications. Finally locked by phone by setting a secret code. Now the device is ready for deployment. The phone is plugged into car's lighter charging unit to keep it powered up. You can also use a power bank in case where charging options are not available.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6FYfG0_du87OOckbzkLUCehw0rlVxF-cDQHg9BX8naGpxb6X9OwtqMQmHLcW-xIOSt2exIyjeFNfbydkYQCLAgyUQZTRK7WJbmWKNx1yPn-1bInl5nWHzx8Wnys-w1Oe4JxUUM87xdg/s1600/MozStumbler.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6FYfG0_du87OOckbzkLUCehw0rlVxF-cDQHg9BX8naGpxb6X9OwtqMQmHLcW-xIOSt2exIyjeFNfbydkYQCLAgyUQZTRK7WJbmWKNx1yPn-1bInl5nWHzx8Wnys-w1Oe4JxUUM87xdg/s320/MozStumbler.png" /></a></div><p>Planning to use this autonomous Mozstumbler hack soon. Perhaps I should ask Thejesh to use on his <a href="http://thejeshgn.com/epic-drive/">epic trip across India</a>. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-19484375901591713912015-07-18T16:00:00.001+07:002015-07-18T16:18:11.811+07:00Webmaker tools on Raspberry Pi<p>Last year in Bamako, Mali I watched the participants struggle with slow Internet connectivity during a <a href="https://twitter.com/playingwithsid/status/498062798191353857"> web literacy WebMaker event</a>. I thought it is very important to make Webmaker tools available offline on a local server. I started working on a custom <a href="https://www.raspbian.org/">Rasbian</a> based SD-card image with <a href="https://webmaker.org/en-US/about">Mozilla Webmaker</a> tools on Raspberry Pi. The setup uses the most minimal setup without any connectivity to Internet. The Raspberry Pi Server will host Web maker tools like Thimble with some learning templates. The users could connect to the server with WiFi from their laptops or using school computers using local Ethernet connection.</p><p>The goal was to finish the project by <a href="http://mozfestea.org/2015/">MozFest East Africa</a> in July, 2015 and release it for testing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvWUoKUmCUwkFIymshdGTBDYf5eiYDMZ7LeYLFqamgx3Cj-KQlOjv3-p_P4auVpfv4Jn5nHFUqiKntxP6jhTzb5CHZ9W_7ND0jfItmHUa26ejwvIc0i_dvylbCo81RqfiAoEXZlSv5kQ/s1600/Raspberry-Pi-with-WiFi-Dongle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvWUoKUmCUwkFIymshdGTBDYf5eiYDMZ7LeYLFqamgx3Cj-KQlOjv3-p_P4auVpfv4Jn5nHFUqiKntxP6jhTzb5CHZ9W_7ND0jfItmHUa26ejwvIc0i_dvylbCo81RqfiAoEXZlSv5kQ/s320/Raspberry-Pi-with-WiFi-Dongle.jpg" /></a></div><h3>How to use Webmaker tools on Raspberry Pi?</h3><p>Download the testing version of the image <a href="https://mega.nz/#!I9dyHLyI!495mj_7GmdLb3dH9XgzGq_MBTFSi2iFpWyNovZxpZT4">here</a>. It is large 2.8GB file, it will take some time to download. In this setup I am using an older <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/model-b/">Raspberry Pi B</a> model with 8GB SDCard with a TP-Link TL-WN322G+ USB WiFi dongle. The WiFi dongle is optional, you can connect the Raspberry Pi to your router or networking hub with an Ethernet patch cable.</p><ol><li> Download and write the image to the SD-card (<a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/">Tutorial</a>)</li>
<li>Boot the raspberry Pi with the SD-card</li>
<li>Connect the Raspberry Pi to your local Ethernet network. (If you have USB Wifi dongle then you can connect to 'Webmaker' WiFi network with 'raspberry' password.)</li>
<li>On your computer, Open browser and type 'http://webmaker.local' You should see the Thimble App UI.</li>
</ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgQpO-OdG5l0DzybSZ534fmlh1ppHJPpkGeP9ClDZpOg34gHR-Y40Tc9xBzo30Lozx8-n1hB4EIN6sRg_wqk1s2b-nqJhI7hro4bSoRsrS8OqsDhIEsntJZ_TcsHCNEOxawST1O9HSbk/s1600/Thimble-on-Raspberry-Pi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgQpO-OdG5l0DzybSZ534fmlh1ppHJPpkGeP9ClDZpOg34gHR-Y40Tc9xBzo30Lozx8-n1hB4EIN6sRg_wqk1s2b-nqJhI7hro4bSoRsrS8OqsDhIEsntJZ_TcsHCNEOxawST1O9HSbk/s320/Thimble-on-Raspberry-Pi.png" alt="Webmaker Thimble running on Raspberry Pi server" /></a></div><p>Please do report any problems and bug reports! </p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-7069722344201527922014-10-03T18:47:00.000+07:002014-10-03T18:47:48.260+07:00Micro SIM card adapter <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food">Eating your own dog food or Dogfooding</a> in technical parlance means the software maker uses their own software thus <a href="http://asadotzler.com/2013/11/08/dogfooding-firefox-os/">appreciate its strengths and weaknesses (and hopefully improve on those.)</a></p><p>Usually I dogfood multiple mobile phones running early releases of <a href="http://www.cyanogenmod.org/">Cyanogenmod</a> and <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/os/">Firefox OS</a>. Doing this is easy when you have multiple SIM cards. But if you have to swap your SIM card between Nexus 4 (micro-SIM) and Firefox OS device (mini-SIM) then you'll love this inexpensive <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Adaptors-Adapter-Holder-Bundle/dp/B009HN5IO4/">Nano SIM adapter</a> from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.noosyapple.com">NooSY</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KDPbkcccCc_7G7FZIeHJLM3_lnVFFKJoLtJZcxeX3TMoT9AXpxrOYZ5tWi_tiYIoiV49ntNiihxMHAw-gDYn7e-YtenPe7weB2XctBTqrxrYRX5jm99I4E5l6aBF-nnLn8wzLRzcHpA/s1600/IMG_20141001_105102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KDPbkcccCc_7G7FZIeHJLM3_lnVFFKJoLtJZcxeX3TMoT9AXpxrOYZ5tWi_tiYIoiV49ntNiihxMHAw-gDYn7e-YtenPe7weB2XctBTqrxrYRX5jm99I4E5l6aBF-nnLn8wzLRzcHpA/s200/IMG_20141001_105102.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBcQpn1ssApDLdtsADQaSWOceTNhqyk9FXM1JhDh3pOsZ1256Qx8xl7T7w6qoZXCQsNytdCKykPzpQcyFGgtrRrEkPpknpriIoZd-UtFrFMDiPMlur6G4bMDGUnUh56qoDtwOc260h2J0/s1600/IMG_20141001_105114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBcQpn1ssApDLdtsADQaSWOceTNhqyk9FXM1JhDh3pOsZ1256Qx8xl7T7w6qoZXCQsNytdCKykPzpQcyFGgtrRrEkPpknpriIoZd-UtFrFMDiPMlur6G4bMDGUnUh56qoDtwOc260h2J0/s200/IMG_20141001_105114.jpg" /></a></div><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZSYqi1q2ZDc?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
</center>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-42991176034248185252014-09-21T14:41:00.000+07:002014-09-21T14:42:39.729+07:00 Noto Fonts Update <p>Google Internationalization team released new update of <a href="https://code.google.com/p/noto/">Noto Fonts</a> this week. The update brings numerous new features enhancements. Please read the project <a href="https://noto.googlecode.com/git/third_party/noto_cjk/NEWS">release notes</a> for the full list of changes. </p><p>You can preview the fonts and download them at <a href="http://google.com/get/noto">google.com/get/noto</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjz4_hkDl601eDm3CXILx8kkcOpbxh5NiGjxQgnyrAJkGqEswRkE2vluwnASRXxsPsdqt3TjhLbW5OACb1F93WPZdov6aO8Nv_BtR-DiSoWu94UN27rbfoLPsy3Y_Xo95wUARLUMkCjw/s1600/noto-fonts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjz4_hkDl601eDm3CXILx8kkcOpbxh5NiGjxQgnyrAJkGqEswRkE2vluwnASRXxsPsdqt3TjhLbW5OACb1F93WPZdov6aO8Nv_BtR-DiSoWu94UN27rbfoLPsy3Y_Xo95wUARLUMkCjw/s320/noto-fonts.png" alt="Google Noto project logo" /></a></div><br />
<h3>Testing fonts on Firefox OS device</h3><p>It is very simple to test the Noto fonts on a Firefox OS device. Just copy the the font files into <strong>/system/fonts</strong> folder and reboot the device. Don't forget to back-up the existing fonts on device first. </p><p>Am writing this blog post in Bangkok, So I am going to use Thai Noto fonts in these instructions. Connect your Firefox OS device to the computer with a USB cable. Make sure to turn on developer settings to enable <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings">debugging via USB</a>. </p><pre><code>
# Backup the existing Thai font
$ adb pull /system/fonts/DroidSansThai.ttf
# Remount the /system partition as read-write
$ adb remount /system
# Remove the font on the device
$ adb shell rm /system/fonts/DroidSansThai
# Unzip the previously downloaded Thai font package
$ unzip NotoSansThai-hinted.zip
# Push to Firefox OS device
$ adb push NotoSansThai-Regular.ttf /system/fonts
# Reboot the phone. Test your localization by selecting your language
#in Language settings menu or navigating to local language webpage with browser app.
$ adb reboot
</code>
</pre><br />
<h3>Wait, All I see is Tofu? </h3><p>If you see square blocks (lovingly referred as Tofu) instead of characters, that means the font file for your language is missing. Please double check the steps, if everything fails restore the previously copy of your font file.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNvFaG8WaP9QKFRvCB7ql96MPlw9vpfgadw0QZwY8Gi2ILaIXedOEo1Ff2mlkfcwiHEfZrjQlw2LlNNQ71twnenmFmTEiPwKdhVvu0CeQZuDb-OmDBXsTLwniCs2sVx1Ij_kITlJzYBs/s1600/2014-07-30-20-12-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNvFaG8WaP9QKFRvCB7ql96MPlw9vpfgadw0QZwY8Gi2ILaIXedOEo1Ff2mlkfcwiHEfZrjQlw2LlNNQ71twnenmFmTEiPwKdhVvu0CeQZuDb-OmDBXsTLwniCs2sVx1Ij_kITlJzYBs/s320/2014-07-30-20-12-05.png" alt="What is Font Tofo, firefox OS screenshot"/></a></div><p>Happy Hacking!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Bangkok, Thailand13.7278956 100.5241234999999713.2342916 99.878676499999969 14.2214996 101.16957049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-82531536008267912472014-09-15T16:50:00.002+07:002014-09-16T13:56:17.221+07:00Firefox OS: Designing Khmer Keyboards and Fonts <p>Back in Cambodia this week to participate in <a href="//barcampphnompenh.org">Barcamp Phnom Penh 2014</a>. It is great to experience the energy and openness of Phnom Penh and the Cambodian youth's insatiable zeal to learn all things tech. Over the past few years, the <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/search/label/barcamppp">barcamps</a> helped us build the <a href="http://www.mozillakm.org/">Mozilla</a> community in Cambodia.</p><p>Cambodia is a fast <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/cambodia/overview">growing economy</a> in the region. One survey notes significant increase in smart phone ownership from last year. And also increase in Khmer supported smart phones and feature phone in the market. At Barcamp Phnom Penh I presented a Firefox OS talk about the on-going Khmer Internationalization (i18n) work and invited the audience to contribute to Firefox OS. Planning to organize hackathons to work on Khmer keyboards with the Mozilla community here. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXB1p3YyMf98SakFdKpOIZhQCOgN-FzyToLtv-o6XfE2WazhYADE4aDUgxu2LjYgEjIDpC8Fh2y35PvNc5-NDhpB-odkiaCukKH0VkEAUM7uzBqM_JsEGoDP100ZG0Va8wSlkkD9kVxKE/s1600/Arky-BarcampPP-Sept-2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXB1p3YyMf98SakFdKpOIZhQCOgN-FzyToLtv-o6XfE2WazhYADE4aDUgxu2LjYgEjIDpC8Fh2y35PvNc5-NDhpB-odkiaCukKH0VkEAUM7uzBqM_JsEGoDP100ZG0Va8wSlkkD9kVxKE/s320/Arky-BarcampPP-Sept-2014.jpg" /><p>Photo credit: Faine Greenwood</p></a><br />
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/39084006" width="427" height="356" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"><strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/playingwithsid/firefox-os-designing-khmer-keyboard-and-fonts" title="Firefox OS : Designing Khmer Keyboard and Fonts" target="_blank">Firefox OS : Designing Khmer Keyboard and Fonts</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/playingwithsid" target="_blank">Arky</a></strong> </div></div><p>After my talk, <a href="http://twitter.com/evannak">Vannak</a> of Mozilla Cambodia community talked briefly about Mozilla community to the audience. And we did a presentation about <a href="https://webmaker.org/">Mozilla Web Maker</a> tools. I hope we'll organize more web literacy events in future. Keep watching this space for more news from Cambodia, the kingdom of wonder.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Phnom Penh, Cambodia11.5448729 104.8921668000000411.0471024 104.24671980000004 12.0426434 105.53761380000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-84946001186551265852014-04-30T01:26:00.001+07:002014-04-30T01:26:14.045+07:00The Web We Want: An Open Letter (Video)<p>The Web is our largest shared resource. Let's keep it free and open for us, and for the next generation.</p><p>What kind of Web do you want? Tell us: <a href="http://mzl.la/1hHyqBq">http://mzl.la/1hHyqBq</a></p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Xm5i5kbIXzc" width="480"></iframe><br />
<p>Learn more about at <a href="https://webwewant.mozilla.org">webwewant.mozilla.org</a> and <a href="https://webwewant.org/">WebWeWant.org</a> global movement to defend, claim and change the future of the Web. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-65968745448154035012013-12-05T19:09:00.000+07:002013-12-07T11:49:26.283+07:00Mozilla Taiwan Localization Sprint <p>Last week I traveled to Taipei for localization sprint with <a href="http://moztw.org">Mozilla Taiwan community</a>. The community translates various Mozilla projects into Chinese (Traditional)(zh-TW). The goal of a localization sprint is to bring together new and experienced translators under one roof. Such events help promote knowledge sharing through peer learning and mentor-ship. Special thanks to Michael Hung, Estela Liu and Natasha Ma for making the Mozilla space available and inviting by providing Pizzas.</p><p>The event began with a short introduction to localization by Peter Chen, followed by a brief overview of various translation projects such as translating <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/">Mozilla Support (SUMO)</a> by Ernest Chiang, translating <a href="https://webmaker.org/">Webmaker</a> by Peter Chen, translating <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org">addons.mozilla.org</a> by Toby, translating <a href="http://developer.mozilla.org/">Mozilla Developer Network(MDN)</a> articles by Carl, translating Mozilla videos with <a href="http:/www.amara.org">Amara</a> tool by Irvin and translating <a href="http://mozlinks-zh.blogspot.com/">Mozilla Links</a> by Chung-Hui Fang. The speakers then organized participants into topic specific working groups, based on each individual's interest.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0LQe-tjF-_J3ky3Zh4JmW7o1rlgmILrgE9HDdI0am4Hdhug4ohKnbYoJYmm75Z839F1nE0hk_XV2VOEjz9H7O-lI9qH-k1KG9nqnT4tkN7rz51Oh8opQZMhJFdv73sjImcOYCWbyaVQ/s1600/Mozilla-Taiwan-Localization-Sprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0LQe-tjF-_J3ky3Zh4JmW7o1rlgmILrgE9HDdI0am4Hdhug4ohKnbYoJYmm75Z839F1nE0hk_XV2VOEjz9H7O-lI9qH-k1KG9nqnT4tkN7rz51Oh8opQZMhJFdv73sjImcOYCWbyaVQ/s320/Mozilla-Taiwan-Localization-Sprint.jpg" alt="Arky at Mozilla Taiwan localization sprint" /></a></div><p>It was interesting to see how people used various tools such as <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Narro">Narro</a>, <a href="http://pootle.translatehouse.org/">Pootle</a>, <a href="http://www.transifex.com">Transifex</a> and even Google Docs for translation. It gave me an opportunity to observe and note some of the potential problems in the translation process. At the end of the day, everyone gathered to share and present their group's work. The also took time to answer question that participants had. All in all it was a very productive and enjoyable event. Mozilla badges were issued to recognize the participants' contributions.</p><p>Check out the event <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/othree/sets/72157638206982764">photos</a> and <a href="https://etherpad.mozilla.org/moztw-L10n-2013">etherpad</a> for additional details. The Mozilla Taiwan community will continue to translate during their weekly MozTwLab meetups and a follow-up event is planned for the sprint 2014. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Taipei City, Taiwan25.091075 121.5598344999999724.8609805 121.23711099999997 25.3211695 121.88255799999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-46668502526906990182013-11-26T18:30:00.002+07:002013-11-26T18:30:37.400+07:00Vietnamese Language Tools: Developing Keyboards and Spell-checker<p>Mentoring <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:vi">Mozilla Vietnamese localization team</a> to develop Vietnamese keyboard and spell checker for <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/os">Firefox OS</a>. We built and tested Vietnamese keyboard during Mozilla Vietnam L10N sprints in Hanoi. We will integrate this into Firefox OS after Mozilla UX team improves the keyboard design to accommodate large set of alternative character keys.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRrHv3vdlj_xXLGAjg1atQEDSWxM00gm2cyLHYBTxQoFgZCVNKTYCC-fhYVTDRt9jtYBKXRyWkqXLRZjNMUnLF5tDBZBCIuBA9807c05UN3lg2XELdgURrjg7qyvewlxW13zIrPEJqCA/s1600/Vietnamese-L10N-Sprint-Arky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" alt="Vietnamese L10N sprint photo"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRrHv3vdlj_xXLGAjg1atQEDSWxM00gm2cyLHYBTxQoFgZCVNKTYCC-fhYVTDRt9jtYBKXRyWkqXLRZjNMUnLF5tDBZBCIuBA9807c05UN3lg2XELdgURrjg7qyvewlxW13zIrPEJqCA/s320/Vietnamese-L10N-Sprint-Arky.jpg" /></a></div><p><a href="https://github.com/lewtds">Lewtds</a> created <a href="https://github.com/lewtds/gaia/commit/a9d4484cb3229f93a8c40047374643e79cae9cb1">Vietnamese spell checker</a> using the <a href="http://www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/~duc/software/misc/wordlist.html">Ho Ngoc Duc's word list</a>. The Vietnamese language processing work is very limited. We haven't found any good data to that create a frequency list for the Vietnamese spell checker. Any pointers would be much appreciated.</p><p>Please read the Mozilla FirefoxOS <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Gaia/System/Keyboard/Layout">keyboard documentation</a> to learn more about developing keyboards in your language.</p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com4Hanoi, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam21.0333333 105.8500000000000220.974046299999998 105.76931900000002 21.0926203 105.93068100000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-89053759264780181632013-06-22T15:48:00.001+07:002013-06-22T15:55:54.613+07:00Efforts continue to promote Firefox Maithili<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithili_language">Maithili</a> is the native language 34.7 million people in Northern India and Eastern Nepal. In college I would try to follow the friendly banter in Maithili listening for similar sounding words in Hindi. It was only later while working on <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2009/12/linux-at-sanskrit-computational.html">computational linguistics</a> that I truly appreciated the richness of the Maithili language.</p><p><a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#mai">Firefox Maithili</a> was released last year, making it <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/l10n/2012/08/28/maithili-localization/">78th language</a> to be added to <a href="http://l10n.mozilla.org">Mozilla localization</a>. The challenge of localization does not end after translating and shipping Firefox.Today <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:mai">Mozilla Maithili Localization team</a> continues their efforts to promote Firefox Maithili by organizing workshops.</p><blockquote><h2>Maithili is not only a language, it is also a source of rich wisdom – Mr. Ajay Kumar Jha</h2><p>On 29th May 2013, Mozilla Firefox Maithili workshop was organized by community of Maithili Computer developer working under Bhasha Ghar, a group of volunteers working for small languages having less resources. Mozilla Firefox Maithili workshop was a full day workshop where the community working with Mozilla along with some experts of Maithili language sat together to discuss the issues and challenges related to Firefox Maithili. <br />
<a href="http://bhashaghar.blogspot.in/2013/06/maithili-is-not-only-language-it-is.html">Read the complete Mozilla Firefox Maithili Workshop Report May 2013</a><br />
</blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-80309620449235671142013-06-12T17:53:00.003+07:002013-06-12T17:53:27.394+07:00African Network For Localization (ANLoc) Conference 2013<p>Traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend <a href="http://www.africanlocalisation.net/terminology-and-localisation-africa-and-beyond" title="Terminology and Localization in Africa and beyond">African Network For Localization (ANLoc)'s Terminology and Localisation in Africa and Beyond Conference</a> earlier this year. It gave me an opportunity to learn the history of African languages in cyberspace and meet the people behind various multilingual initiatives. The conference brought together language professionals, academics and open source developers to learn about terminology development and localization platforms.</p><p>Language is the key for unlocking the potential of Africa. <a href="http://www.africanlocalisation.net/" title="About ANLoc Project"> The African Network for Localization (ANLoc)</a> is a non-profit that supports African language technology development. The ANLoc partners were instrumental in the numeration and standardization of <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/malangali/100-african-language-locales" title="100 African language locales">100 African languages</a>. The ANLoc partners and sub-projects developed Unicode fonts, keyboard input systems, translation tools and terminologies for African languages. They also devised training programs for building sustainable volunteer driven localization communities.</p><p>The conference featured technical talks, break-out sessions and brainstorming sessions. There were in-depth discussions on the various facets of multilingualism in cyberspace in context to African languages, the challenges of translating computing terms in African languages, the use of machine translation methods and the development of linguistics resources such language dictionaries and terminologies. The conference organizers maintained a good balance of discussions, along with practical hands-on workshops. The size of conference made interactions easier. It was good to meet Mozilla localization contributors from over 10 African languages during this event.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQe-EzJSlhhfkPiqV-z_9wGDgFrV_JX89oYe4ohy0wlb1RA9q38nxLWzSG5g4Z_EZo-FLPjIRbJ-Po2DGyZSfvAUto3H0z-SqdIeyRWm-SNdAST-9rsXlGCo29pkXB1VEbmAXCR0Jeio/s1600/ANLoc-2013-Group-Photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQe-EzJSlhhfkPiqV-z_9wGDgFrV_JX89oYe4ohy0wlb1RA9q38nxLWzSG5g4Z_EZo-FLPjIRbJ-Po2DGyZSfvAUto3H0z-SqdIeyRWm-SNdAST-9rsXlGCo29pkXB1VEbmAXCR0Jeio/s320/ANLoc-2013-Group-Photo.jpeg" alt="The African Network For Localization (ANLoc) conference group photo" /></a></div><p>ANLoc's project localized widely used open source Mozilla Firefox web browser in many African languages. The ground realities of mobilizing and sustaining communities in Africa are apparent. Finding contributors is difficult. Most contributors refrain from volunteering due to economic reasons. The overall economic development and access to digital technologies is limited to few regions in Africa. The availability of Internet has improved but the cost is still prohibitively high. I shared my community building experiences from similar resource constrained environments across the world.<br />
<center><iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/22841724" width="427" height="356" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC;border-width:1px 1px 0;margin-bottom:5px" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"><strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/playingwithsid/tools-for-communitybuilding" title="Identify, Engage, Empower: Tools for Community Building" target="_blank">Identify, Engage, Empower: Tools for Community Building</a> </strong> </div></center><p>Participated in break-out sessions on developing style guides for localization and Mozilla localization processes.<br />
The FirefoxOS localization sprint was organized as part of the event. The localizers worked in groups to translate Mozilla FirefoxOS mobile operating system using <a href="http://mozilla.locamotion.org">Pootle</a> web translation platform.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3i0OMsjVRW0DtKS2YWArfvfd7-CNq_v-Gp64K6URlH7K8nqE9VczA1oqPyOA1_ZxbUTlE7uRgYI4FOCg8e2JWOsDYj3yFIyFP3EWdkOHUU5bLHdC1DYrAN0jfXpnsfMvUcEJ_BVCOkIM/s1600/FirefoxOS-L10N-Sprint-Africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3i0OMsjVRW0DtKS2YWArfvfd7-CNq_v-Gp64K6URlH7K8nqE9VczA1oqPyOA1_ZxbUTlE7uRgYI4FOCg8e2JWOsDYj3yFIyFP3EWdkOHUU5bLHdC1DYrAN0jfXpnsfMvUcEJ_BVCOkIM/s320/FirefoxOS-L10N-Sprint-Africa.jpg" alt="FirefoxOS localizations in African languages" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTIOCq2sF3-9kmLG1tllQueIyrBHUoKDu6PEGYJ96YKovXyY0ZpjBL7mV8f3g9UzznxZWBpW6UFzeaIp90_r5pg6fMHuFQ8iiuJWjXY90D-6cZMmIps6FbUUGWhHH3yFS2r93SHkeCQY/s1600/ANLoc-Developing+style-guides-for-localizers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTIOCq2sF3-9kmLG1tllQueIyrBHUoKDu6PEGYJ96YKovXyY0ZpjBL7mV8f3g9UzznxZWBpW6UFzeaIp90_r5pg6fMHuFQ8iiuJWjXY90D-6cZMmIps6FbUUGWhHH3yFS2r93SHkeCQY/s320/ANLoc-Developing+style-guides-for-localizers.jpg" alt="Developing localization style guides workshop" /></a></div><p>Talked about Android Internationalization and adding African language fonts and keyboard support to Android. Android currently supports few major African languages: Swahili, Amharic, Zulu and Afrikaans, but more African language coverage is needed. Cheap Android devices are flooding the African market. Today, the first internet experience for many is not on a desktop computer but on mobile phones. Mobiles play a great role in accessing information and even transfering money. </p><p>The brainstorming sessions were very interesting. The problems discussed were both at an economic and social level. These problems are similar in nature to the countries where I have been working for the past few years.</p><p>The lack of availability of African local content on the internet was a major hurdle. The African diaspora spread across the world and few local governments and non profit organizations were involved in developing local language content. The tide seems to be turning now, with increasing availability of the Internet on mobile phones. Social media and user generated content is now bridging the gap. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgnPCXaVeY8fEqN1t5RIyfhtJ1-Vzf4JK12Hhzw2gkHhqe04wmj8qe1pb_AWuinbE7cmIikAdIl_x7BO1xPL859I-gHE9BTWuk95BzuQWN-EIb2q3HdBokplJ7kJzYjXaaUrtV9ZPw8Q/s1600/ANLoc-Brainstorming-session.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgnPCXaVeY8fEqN1t5RIyfhtJ1-Vzf4JK12Hhzw2gkHhqe04wmj8qe1pb_AWuinbE7cmIikAdIl_x7BO1xPL859I-gHE9BTWuk95BzuQWN-EIb2q3HdBokplJ7kJzYjXaaUrtV9ZPw8Q/s320/ANLoc-Brainstorming-session.jpg" alt="ANLoc Brain-storming Session on african languages" /></a></div><p>This conference gave me a framework for my future activities in Africa. I'll be traveling to East Africa to participate in <a href="http://tech4africa.com/event/nairobi-tech-day/">Tech4Africa Nairobi Tech Day</a> and organize localization hackathons. Such events will help us work on Mozilla Firefox in some of the major languages and help build sustainable Mozilla communities in Africa. </p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com2Sandton, South Africa-26.1075663 28.056700699999965-26.335796799999997 27.733977199999966 -25.8793358 28.379424199999963tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-74404309649780589902013-05-17T17:31:00.000+07:002013-05-17T17:31:09.063+07:00 Mozilla Localization Makes a Positive Social Impact<p><a href="http://mozilla.org">Mozilla</a> brings power of the web into ordinary people's hands. Every day I spend countless hours working with volunteer communities around the world to translate <a href="http://http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/">Firefox</a> web browser. Reading <a href="https://plus.google.com/101852104918354575573">Sudheesh Singanamalla</a>'s <a href="http://theirregularview.blogspot.in/2013/05/a-localization-journey-farmers-tale.html">blog post</a> about his encounter with a farmer in rural India was such a touching experience.</p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><h2><a href="http://theirregularview.blogspot.in/2013/05/a-localization-journey-farmers-tale.html">A Localization journey - A Farmer's tale - A Delightful Experience</a></h2><p>It was on my way back in a cramped out bus, travelling researching about language changes and variations within the state of Andhra Pradesh, that I sat next to a man, quite old. </p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BGDGt4NUOm0pDwM-bcdEXergSduyWwSGk7YSh821-pLubl8D13FRDwZ-r02tdaWQVnMt7Mu1M71C-nonMMHF8hKJcBMNPYJCXy7btm3lUdq6Ha5v9RjyB9FwrMzMNbt4glOSJaoOJOE/s1600/Rural-farmers-uses-firefox-in-telugu.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BGDGt4NUOm0pDwM-bcdEXergSduyWwSGk7YSh821-pLubl8D13FRDwZ-r02tdaWQVnMt7Mu1M71C-nonMMHF8hKJcBMNPYJCXy7btm3lUdq6Ha5v9RjyB9FwrMzMNbt4glOSJaoOJOE/s320/Rural-farmers-uses-firefox-in-telugu.jpg" alt="Sudheesh and the old man" /></a><br />
<p><b>Me </b>: What do you use in the internet? How do you talk to your son?<br />
<b>Old man</b>: I go to Rajat's Net Cafe nearby by house and then talk from there on Google (meant Google+)<br />
<b>Me </b>: Do you know how to read English and understand which button to click and so on?<br />
<b>Old man</b> : Oh, i don't know English, but i use it in Telugu. The shop guy Rajat has seen me since he was small, so after my son went to Delhi, he separately bought a Telugu keyboard so that i can be using the keyboard.<br />
<b>Me</b>: Okay, but then how do you read the information on the computer screen? Isn't that in English?<br />
<b>Old man</b> : (Laughs) Don't you know, there is this software something called Firefox, it is in Telugu.<br />
<b>Me</b> : Really? Can you tell me how the software looks?<br />
<b>Old man</b> : You should know more, you're an engineering student but if you ask i'll tell you, its a small thing like this earth picture but a small cat , orange in colour is holding it.<br />
<b>Me</b>: (smiling crazily) You know how to use it in Telugu?<br />
Old man : Yeah, its not hard, I know how to read Telugu and also know how to use mouse, so clicking gets me the job done.<br />
</blockquote></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Andhra Pradesh, India17.0477624 80.0981868999999739.2649459 69.771038399999981 24.8305789 90.425335399999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-5250916458009585562013-04-30T14:21:00.000+07:002013-04-30T14:21:23.737+07:00Barcamp Yangon 2013 <p>Whoever said "Change is slow" hasn't been to Myanmar (also known as Burma). In seven short months, the country transformed into the something I now barely recognize. Getting Myanmar visa never been this easy, many direct flights to Yangon from all international hubs in South East Asia everyday. The Yangon airport is chocked with tourists, the prices just went through the roof. This time I didn't bring any crisp, unmarked hundred dollar notes to haggle for better exchange rate with the punters on the Yangon streets.</p><p>Walking out of the airport, I realized Myanmar has switched to driving on left side of the road. The roads are clogged with second-hand Japanese minivans, imported SUV's and decades old taxis jostling for space. For a moment, I longed for the small colorful Mandalay jeeps plying the quiet Yangon streets at sedate pace. Stuck in the traffic jam, I killed time by counting different cars with left and right steering wheels.</p><p>If you get stuck in the traffic jam, you can use the 3G mobile network to catch up with your email. Mobile SIM cards doesn't cost US$2000 anymore. Mobile SIM cards with data plan can be rented for $10 a day. If you are lucky you might even find $20 voice only tourist SIM cards. Mobile connections are still very expensive, it costs US$150-$200 for mobile connection. Perhaps it might soon change when the telecommunications market opens up in next few years.</p><p>Back in Myanmar after two years for <a href="http://barcampyangon.com">Barcamp Yangon 2013</a>, the biggest community organized un-conference in the world. This year over 6000 participants are expected to attend this event. Barcamps are hugely popular in this country, the event addresses the digital divide with open sharing and even help kick-start technology entrepreneurship activities. </p><p>Few years ago, young students would attend to use the free wireless internet access at Barcamp Yangon. Internet access was restricted to educational institutions and Internet Cafes. Today you can get internet connection in restaurants, cafes and even at home. It is easy to buy personal computers, smart phones and tablets locally. There will be explosive growth of internet users in Myanmar.</p><p>During <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2011/02/barcamp-yangon-2011-myanmar.html">Barcamp Yangon 2011</a> I kick-started the effort to translate Firefox web browser into Burmese. I have been mentoring the local <a href="http://mozillamyanmar.org/">Mozilla Myanmar community</a> ever since. It had been a long road, we had many problems: building Mozilla community, finding volunteers for translations and deploying right web based localization tools. This trip to Myanmar would give me a chance to work with the community and resolve translation issues that are blocking Firefox Burmese release.</p><h2>Barcamp Yangon 2013</h2><p>Once again the barcamp organizers and volunteers efficiently organized such a large event. The event attracted significant <br />
sponsorship this year, the talks in main rooms were marketing pitches from those sponsors. There were some interesting talks 'Make the web speak your language' and 'Women in technology' panel discussion. It was good to see many international participants at the event, they were in Myanmar on vacation and decided to attend the event. The Q&A session with the international barcampers was a good experience, it provided an opportunity for young Burmese barcampers to interact and get perspective on wide ranging subjects.</p><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJ_OT4lmmAm-eJmlv8GcVzNtFgsjpbeas6G-r-dkjh5mBLAkY9hfAD1dxRW9Q0hTCRAstV0tK9FxD641eCTRBg_9oesesC3FAyfdVW1Xjt54Qh2iTm1yVaWLtWLr4alyEpK5FxWO6wZg/s1600/barcamp-yangoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJ_OT4lmmAm-eJmlv8GcVzNtFgsjpbeas6G-r-dkjh5mBLAkY9hfAD1dxRW9Q0hTCRAstV0tK9FxD641eCTRBg_9oesesC3FAyfdVW1Xjt54Qh2iTm1yVaWLtWLr4alyEpK5FxWO6wZg/s320/barcamp-yangoon.jpg" alt="Barcamp Yangon Venue" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRY8YHJJqXlyjWBB1ZyQ6WtoGB6MsG20MCuV5bVuD-StUB1mvbr4O65kBQC6gqNdZfGA9VolvJxgROVmIgsYebrCk8mB9-qzcE6yECCQIq9TYUSt0YQYgGOLREMYapTDGxT9BXlptw54/s1600/Barcamp-tech-talk-yangon.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRY8YHJJqXlyjWBB1ZyQ6WtoGB6MsG20MCuV5bVuD-StUB1mvbr4O65kBQC6gqNdZfGA9VolvJxgROVmIgsYebrCk8mB9-qzcE6yECCQIq9TYUSt0YQYgGOLREMYapTDGxT9BXlptw54/s320/Barcamp-tech-talk-yangon.jpg" alt="Barcamp yangon Tech Talks" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXwZSHNdTwVtiO5raO2rIBCWW58p2Ofi6WudRJL9Pdnh_0hTRkE83gSHFcP4w8dbC9kBl6asfT7jipZf-c0g3ZA-Sp9nOc88FNnphiPwFYAds3pzglQ8-KQ2R4GDCREi7-fkzJaDBTv0/s1600/Make_the_Web_Speak_Burmese.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXwZSHNdTwVtiO5raO2rIBCWW58p2Ofi6WudRJL9Pdnh_0hTRkE83gSHFcP4w8dbC9kBl6asfT7jipZf-c0g3ZA-Sp9nOc88FNnphiPwFYAds3pzglQ8-KQ2R4GDCREi7-fkzJaDBTv0/s320/Make_the_Web_Speak_Burmese.jpg" alt="Make the web speak your language" /></a><br />
</center><p>In my talk <a href="http://people.mozilla.com/~ddahl/pages/HackingFirefox/template.html">How to become a Firefox Hacker</a> I shared how one can leverage existing web development skills to contribute to Firefox. Mozilla Myanmar localization lead contributor Zinmin shared the Firefox localization process and gave a demo of <a href="http://mozilla.locamotion.org/">Pootle web based translation tool</a>. The participants were encouraged to join the Mozilla Myanmar community and localization sprint after the Barcamp Yangon.</p><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-v4Fmawv1M52da_kS478d86hmVEqHjxtKdezhNXYR9aqg8s9hQi-I7P9T4psfyixHQIJZ4M2aRv8yIWuypyBpsIjnQ6iDwjJ_E_zcugj8uWd_Oy9ybI7nDh7SFjbajwS-gBEN9D85fI/s1600/Mozilla-Mynamar-localization-demo.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-v4Fmawv1M52da_kS478d86hmVEqHjxtKdezhNXYR9aqg8s9hQi-I7P9T4psfyixHQIJZ4M2aRv8yIWuypyBpsIjnQ6iDwjJ_E_zcugj8uWd_Oy9ybI7nDh7SFjbajwS-gBEN9D85fI/s320/Mozilla-Mynamar-localization-demo.jpg" alt="Mozilla Myanmar localization demo by zinmin" /></a><br />
</center><p>Attending Barcamp Yangon gave me a good opportunity to keep the pulse the fast changing Myanmar. It was good to reconnect with the open source communities and meet people in technology and non-profit world. Next year I hope to attend Barcamp Mandalay, it seems to have more developer focused audience. </p><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qeN90lw3g5f1tLIPfxeW-3RKZ8IwpmxKicZlioGOWIFsc74cyD0Fw0uY4sZdhdT8tKgcufz36w9cPDxuJx39GL34mNcpjqlSHaDXp8IfVYlZGA5G9FdnUzN_NvZdQDGf-TWpWXQ3lcA/s1600/Ubuntu-Myanmar-booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qeN90lw3g5f1tLIPfxeW-3RKZ8IwpmxKicZlioGOWIFsc74cyD0Fw0uY4sZdhdT8tKgcufz36w9cPDxuJx39GL34mNcpjqlSHaDXp8IfVYlZGA5G9FdnUzN_NvZdQDGf-TWpWXQ3lcA/s320/Ubuntu-Myanmar-booth.jpg" alt="Ubuntu Myanmar Community" /></a></center><h2>Mozilla Myanmar Localization Sprint </h2><p>After Barcamp Yangon, Zinmin organized Burmese localization sprint in Yangon. The localization sprint provides hands-on training for new localizers. After a quick introduction from Zinmin and the team started translating remaining strings Firefox Aurora. The <a href="http://mozilla.locamotion.org/">Pootle</a> web based tool does perform well bandwidth constrained environment such as Myanmar. Zinmin cleaned up most of the translation errors that were blocking the productization of Firefox Burmese Aurora. </p><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9_TqKJt_eof8L4DNBditiTnhNKf4Zhj2yZTW8TpkxbPA2nVBYG0oXE8IkskCMVKYa1JdqBC4Ot3r2WxTIWdz5Lc7N2OLcWZ_ebs6ZQtpP9erYxfAGWOkY-fEJQo_Nty0ROy6NS_A0DA/s1600/Myanmar-L10N-Sprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9_TqKJt_eof8L4DNBditiTnhNKf4Zhj2yZTW8TpkxbPA2nVBYG0oXE8IkskCMVKYa1JdqBC4Ot3r2WxTIWdz5Lc7N2OLcWZ_ebs6ZQtpP9erYxfAGWOkY-fEJQo_Nty0ROy6NS_A0DA/s320/Myanmar-L10N-Sprint.jpg" /></a></center><p>During the sprint, Sajal and I spent some time testing Firefox Mobile. Firefox Mobile is important in countries like Myanmar where there is a large growing mobile web users than desktop users. However due to economic sanctions Google Playstore is not available in this country. Burmese users resort to various alternative app stores to find apps for Android devices. Another problem is network latency, for instance, tweeting pictures was really difficult. We looked in how to test Android apps network latency and performance issues.</p><p>You can read more about Mozilla L10N sprint on <a href="http://zinm.in/blog/?p=65">Zinmin's blog post in Burmese</a> and the download the latest <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-aurora.html#my"> Firefox Burmese Aurora</a> here.</p><h2>Technology Entrepreneurship and Start ups in Myanmar</h2><p>Spent some time meeting various technology entrepreneurs in Yangon. Start-up incubators like <a href="http://www.rocket-internet.de">Rocket Internet</a> and few others opened shop in Myanmar. Expats and Burmese diaspora are returning to start technology start-ups. Along with opportunities from the burgeoning economy there are challenges: People with good technical skills are hard to come by, the overhead costs are really high due to inflated prices.</p><p>I hope you'll get a chance to visit Myanmar and experience its rich culture. Perhaps you might wanna join the <br />
Barcamp Yangon next year or spend some time working I'll help you find a co-working space in Yangon. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Yangon, Burma16.8 96.14999999999997716.313841500000002 95.504552999999973 17.2861585 96.795446999999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-9318072859194638952013-02-27T17:29:00.000+07:002013-02-27T18:00:09.043+07:00Mozilla Tagalog Localization Hackathon in Manila<p>Philippines has rich linguistic diversity. Through out its history Philippines was influenced by language and traditions of those who came in search of gold and other precious minerals. Today, you can hear smattering of Sanskrit, Arabic, Chinese, English, and Spanish in Tagalog.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog_language">Tagalog</a> is the widely used Philippine dialect. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_language">Filipino</a>, the National Language of the Philippines is composed primarily of Tagalog words, idioms, and phrases. Urban Filipinos are fluent in English. Traveling few hours away from Metro Manila, I noticed people preferred to speak in Tagalog.</p><p>The Mozilla Tagalog localization was kick-started by Seth Bindernagel around <a href="http://www.mozillaphilippines.org/mozilla-firefox-localization-webinar-highlights/">2010</a>. After a hiatus, the Tagalog localization effort now gained momentum thanks to good leadership and innovative community initiatives to encourage localization (See <a href="http://www.mozillaphilippines.org/help-us-translate-firefox-aurora-to-tagalog-get-a-mini-shirt/">Help Us Translate Firefox Aurora to Tagalog & Get a Mini-Shirt</a>). We also have new localization teams for <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:cbk">Chavacano</a>, <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:bcl">Bikol</a> and <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:ilo">Lloko</a> languages.</p><p>The hackathon in Manila provided me an opportunity to connect with the teams and I hope to keep this momentum going. Shared few ideas and emphasized on quality and consistence of translation. Such events are good for not only attracting new translators, but also discuss the problems in translation. The event attracted students, bloggers, technology professionals and contributors from <a href="http://tl.wikipedia.org/">Tagalog Wikipedia</a>.</p><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ0M-T_gaYqUee88OllIs5Q2megyvLQmGFJvwbvdeuOrSnPT6wpVowKlfasWWRbSyuVJKucFRKpUK2OX7Ik1lZxGXj7IUCtXQMAZyEhHRO5X1lBCRCM1WksvLHVpyfpXS21vZeK2-jwI/s1600/Arky-Taking-at-L10N-sprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ0M-T_gaYqUee88OllIs5Q2megyvLQmGFJvwbvdeuOrSnPT6wpVowKlfasWWRbSyuVJKucFRKpUK2OX7Ik1lZxGXj7IUCtXQMAZyEhHRO5X1lBCRCM1WksvLHVpyfpXS21vZeK2-jwI/s320/Arky-Taking-at-L10N-sprint.jpg" alt="Talking to tagalog translators in manila" /></a></center><p>The Firefox Tagalog localization looks very promising. Came back from the hackathon with confidence that we can start productization very soon. And don't forget to join the next <a href="https://reps.mozilla.org/e/tagalog-firefox-translation-marathon-1q2013/">Tagalog Firefox Translation Marathon</a> on April 9, 2013</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0SM Mall of Asia, Pacific Drive, Pasay City, Philippines14.5350339 120.9834534000000314.5340734 120.98219290000003 14.5359944 120.98471390000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-19596086729339194352013-02-17T20:57:00.001+07:002013-02-17T21:00:18.284+07:00National Open Source Conference of Afghanistan (NOSCA) 2013<p>This week <a href="http://opensource.af">National Open Source Conference of Afghanistan (NOSCA)</a> starts in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The event is organized by the <a href="http://www.nictaa.af">National ICT Alliance of Afghanistan</a>. It will be held at Nangarhar University on February 19-21, 2013. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this event. Please share the conference information with your friends in the region and encourage people to participate.</p><p>Building a Mozilla community in Afghanistan is on my list. During <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2011/08/icann-41-singapore-2011.html">ICANN 41 Singapore</a> I met few technologists from Afghanistan and remained in touch with them ever since. Last year we kick-started Firefox Aurora <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:ps">Pashto</a> and <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:prs">Dari</a> localization effort.</p><p>Communications in Afghanistan has grown considerably. Entrepreneurship is thriving despite the problems. Recently Divon Lan wrote about <a href="http://rethinking42.blogspot.com/2012/10/rethinking-42-with-roya-mahboob.html">Afghanistan's first women technology entrepreneur</a> on his blog.</p><p>Get in touch with me, if you want to get involved in Mozilla Afghanistan community building effort.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Jalalabad, Afghanistan34.4341667 70.4477778000000434.3293782 70.286416300000042 34.5389552 70.609139300000038tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-50669045310330447232013-02-11T23:14:00.000+07:002013-02-11T23:14:49.333+07:00Firefox Responsive Design View to rescue <p>Here is a good example of using <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Responsive_Design_View">Firefox Responsive Design View</a>, <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2011/12/new-developer-tools-in-firefox-11-aurora/">DOM and Style Inspector</a> to debug web design issues. Noticed this problem with <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/theden/">Mozilla The Den</a> blog's site description while browsing the web with Firefox Mobile browser. Fired up my laptop to check this design issue with Firefox Responsive Design View. Then I used the DOM and Style Inspector to zero in on the CSS rule that adds this extra padding (padding-right: 340px;). Voila! It is time to send this patch to the developer. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBEnNqZqkRBbP2KTQ0Dq_4_ABvCY-qu_ejxUadMlsOijkKwrzcWkDAVjpk3zMy0raTTshSKVVpvms-LaMWdQuLr-KDP9cDAM06IMGH6aVwNWJyH7XJF4fs9m1id26ApgmDtc3lUx7gMA/s1600/Responsive-Mode-Firefox-debugging.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="256" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBEnNqZqkRBbP2KTQ0Dq_4_ABvCY-qu_ejxUadMlsOijkKwrzcWkDAVjpk3zMy0raTTshSKVVpvms-LaMWdQuLr-KDP9cDAM06IMGH6aVwNWJyH7XJF4fs9m1id26ApgmDtc3lUx7gMA/s320/Responsive-Mode-Firefox-debugging.png" alt="Debugging and Fixing CSS issues with Firefox Web Developer tools" /></a></div><p>Did a screen capture of the whole process. Don't see the embedded video, you can <a href="http://youtu.be/4wGLHwINbyU">watch it on YouTube</a>.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4wGLHwINbyU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com7Hanoi, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam21.0333333 105.8500000000000220.974046299999998 105.76931900000002 21.0926203 105.93068100000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-27898492779574956652013-02-09T06:11:00.000+07:002013-02-09T06:46:00.589+07:00Mozilla Firefox Vietnamese Beta Released<p>Mozilla <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html#vi">Firefox Vietnamese (19 Beta)</a> was released this week. It is the culmination of my two year effort to re-animate the Mozilla Vietnamese localization team. </p><p>Building an active Mozilla community in Vietnam was the first step. Found few passionate young volunteers in the local open source community in Hanoi. Spent the next year mentoring these young volunteers into community leaders. Participation in local events attracted others to join the new Mozilla Vietnam community. Hands on Mozilla developer workshops and Mozilla localization sprints ensured that we retained most these new contributors.</p><p>Contributions to Mozilla Firefox Vietnamese localization had been stagnant since last fourteen rapid release cycles. During this period the Vietnamese Firefox had many parts of the browser untranslated thus hampering user experience of the browser. Community driven open source projects often suffer when active contributors leave. Building sustainable communities tackle this problem with new contributors stepping in to take up the reins.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmIbptNa_igJwgTQzSs1yHgPB8cXKZsdsxuhW7FjvyxO-6Ut05BRhwD193wwnBncQ2ZneVxOnXMnyuan0inSCDlvJfFtucpwfXJv7DDbIgsg7Y3NpTpezstzgDWDnkTTdOS-NdGbGLeQ/s1600/Vietnamese-Localization-Sprint.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmIbptNa_igJwgTQzSs1yHgPB8cXKZsdsxuhW7FjvyxO-6Ut05BRhwD193wwnBncQ2ZneVxOnXMnyuan0inSCDlvJfFtucpwfXJv7DDbIgsg7Y3NpTpezstzgDWDnkTTdOS-NdGbGLeQ/s320/Vietnamese-Localization-Sprint.jpeg" alt="Mozilla Localization community members working on translating firefox strings into vietnamese" /></a></div><p>I had been organizing Mozilla Localization sprints since <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.be/2011/08/last-week-we-organized-mozilla.html">August 2011</a>. We met at the <a href="http://khonggiancongdong.org">Hanoi community space</a>, working on localization strings using web based translation software such <a href="http://code.google.com/p/narro/">Narro</a> and <a href="http://mozilla.locamotion.org/">Pootle</a>.The localization sprints with small groups provided a good opportunity to develop localization skills of new contributors and improve the quality of translations as well. </p><p>Thanks to efforts of these Mozilla Vietnamese Localization (L10N) community members, We have a fully localized Firefox Vietnamese Beta release. <br />
<ul><li> Trương Anh Tuấn </li>
<li> Nguyễn Hà Dương </li>
<li> Đàm Tiến Long </li>
<li> Nguyễn Phan Hải </li>
<li> Đặng Duy Thanh </li>
<li> Ngô Trung </li>
<li> Nguyên Thế Hùng </li>
<li> Tuan Zendf </li>
<li> Hakuna Matata</li>
<li> Nguyễn Vũ Hưng </li>
</ul><p>Don't forget to <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html#vi">Download Firefox Vietnamese Beta</a> today. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com1Hanoi, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam21.0333333 105.8500000000000220.974046299999998 105.76931900000002 21.0926203 105.93068100000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-33347641626529799752013-02-02T18:28:00.000+07:002013-02-02T18:28:31.071+07:00Using Firefox Remote Debugger with Firefox OS Simulator <p>Firefox OS App developers can use Firefox Remote Debugger to quickly fix <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Apps/Getting_Started">web app</a> bugs. In this screencast <a href="http://canuckistani.ca">Jeff Griffiths</a> shows the current workflow of using the <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/12/firefox-os-simulator-1-0-is-here/">Firefox OS simulator</a> and the <a href="http://nightly.mozilla.org/">Firefox Nightly</a> remote debugger developer tool. </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BP7LITSSwXw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<p>Don't see the embedded video, you can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BP7LITSSwXw">watch it on YouTube</a>.</p><p>You can also use Firefox Remote Debugger with Firefox OS running in a desktop emulator, on a Firefox OS device and Firefox Mobile on Android mobile phone. Head over to Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) to learn more about <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/ms/docs/Tools/Debugger#Remote_Debugging">Firefox Remote Debugging</a>.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0City of Brussels, Belgium50.8503396 4.351710300000036150.6899546 4.0289868000000357 51.010724599999996 4.6744338000000365tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-72296813767953300932013-01-31T22:47:00.000+07:002013-01-31T22:47:21.809+07:00Mozilla Community Engagement in Laos<p>Just across the border lies Laos. This country of fun loving gentle people had a tumultuous history. I recently visited Laos for the first time to help build Mozilla community in Laos. </p><p>Writer Thomas Wanhoff lives Vientiane. He is the organizer of Barcamp Vientiane. Mozilla participated in the previous <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.be/2011/11/barcamp-vientiane-2011.html">Barcamp Vientiane</a>. Thomas helped me understand the Lao history and culture over few bottles of dark Lao beer. Lack of infrastructure and resources hampered economic growth of Laos. Development aid that poured into this country had made very little difference. Recent efforts to develop internet entrepreneurship haven't been successful. Laos is slowly overcoming these problems. The 3G mobile network provides inexpensive internet connectivity. Large construction projects can be seen in Vientiane, new roads are replacing the pot holed dirt roads. </p><p>Visited ICT Association of Laos to talk about the Mozilla mission to promote innovation and choice on the web. Presented a demo of FirefoxOS and interacted with the team of localizers who are interested in localizing Firefox in Lao.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5GS_lXxyne7LM0cVUL07Fy5D1bI5A7ORwIa-NZ8hEBuD3UFQQdvoolhjj6EGjaYUn94iCaCvsitF508uxhKAiZYJ79jq_Q2ivnZ-dKk7rgGCA9YKUYUqSiwVm68zO6FensnYXS7bSPE/s1600/Arky-in-Laos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5GS_lXxyne7LM0cVUL07Fy5D1bI5A7ORwIa-NZ8hEBuD3UFQQdvoolhjj6EGjaYUn94iCaCvsitF508uxhKAiZYJ79jq_Q2ivnZ-dKk7rgGCA9YKUYUqSiwVm68zO6FensnYXS7bSPE/s320/Arky-in-Laos.jpg" alt="Arky interacting with ICT Association of Laos" /></a></div><p>Also visited the ICT Center at Dang Dok Campus of University of Laos(NUoL). The university campus is connected with high-speed optic fiber network. ICT Center staff gave me tour of their new e-learning centers computer lab and digital multimedia studio and post-production facilities. The ICT center team expressed their interest to support Mozilla activities. </p><p>Now Lao web fonts are available <a href="http://www.google.com/webfonts/earlyaccess">Google web fonts (Early Access)</a> system. This would enable Lao speakers to read localized content on computers and mobile devices that do not include Lao fonts.</p><h3>The Mozilla Story with Lao Subtitles (Translated by Patthana Vilay)</h3><script type="text/javascript" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.www.universalsubtitles.org/embed.js">
(
{"base_state": {"language": "lo"}, "video_url": "http://videos-cdn.mozilla.net/brand/Mozilla_2011_Story.webm"}
)
</script><br />
<p>Next step towards building Mozilla Lao community is get a core team organized and plan community events such as <a href="http://webmaker.org">Mozilla Web Maker</a>, Web developer events and Mozilla Lao Firefox localization sprints. Get in touch with me, if you want to get involved in Mozilla Lao community building effort.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com0Vientiane, Laos17.962769 102.6144289999999717.721089000000003 102.29170549999998 18.204449 102.93715249999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-29649411509717793752013-01-28T01:23:00.000+07:002013-01-31T22:48:37.544+07:00Speeding Up Software Rebuilds with CCache<p>Software developers who routinely rebuild large projects would love <a href="http://ccache.samba.org" title="CCache Compiler cache">ccache</a>. Ccache is a compiler cache. It speeds up software rebuilds by caching the result of previous compilations and detecting when the same compilation is being done again.</p><p>I use ccache when compiling Linux kernel, Debian/Ubuntu packages, GNOME applications, Mozilla Firefox, FirefoxOS and Android operating system. You could enable ccache by prefixing ccache to your compilation command or update your system path to include ccache. </p><pre><code>
# Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file
export PATH=/usr/lib/ccache:${PATH}
</code>
</pre><p>Alternatively you could create symlinks in <i>~/bin</i> directory. GNOME 3 jhbuild <a href="https://live.gnome.org/Jhbuild/FAQ#Building_is_slow._Is_there_any_way_I_can_speed_it_up.3F" title="Faster Gnome 3 rebuilds with ccache">documentation</a> provides a bash script for this purpose. </p><pre><code>
cd ~/bin
for cmd in cc gcc c++ g++; do
ln -s /usr/bin/ccache $cmd
done
</code>
</pre><p>To take advantage of ccache while building Mozilla Firefox, append the following line to your <i>.mozconfig</i>. </p><pre><code>
ac_add_options --with-ccache
</code>
</pre><p>If you are compiling Android(ASOP), CyanogenMod or Firefox OS. Android build system includes the ccache program, set the USE_CCACHE environment variable to enable ccache.</p><pre><code>$ export USE_CCACHE=1</code></pre><p>Further more in-depth information, read the ccache manual page. Please do comment and share your experiences using CCache.</p><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com6Midrand, South Africa-25.9991795 28.126292700000022-26.2275475 27.803569200000023 -25.7708115 28.44901620000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-31753948789275657372012-12-18T15:59:00.000+07:002012-12-18T15:59:53.747+07:00Using development builds of Firefox Nightly<p>Using <a href="http://nightly.mozilla.org">Firefox Nightly</a> as my default web browser lets me test the Firefox development changes every day. Firefox Nightly is built from the latest code changes in <a href="http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central">mozilla-central</a> repository every night. You can learn more about Mozilla Firefox <a href="http://mozilla.github.com/process-releases/draft/development_overview/">development builds</a> here.</p><p>If you are interested to participate in Firefox development, it is good start to use Firefox Nightly or building Firefox <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Simple_Firefox_build">from the sources</a>. You can <a href="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org">report new bugs</a> you spot in development builds of Firefox Nightly. You can <a href="http://www.joshmatthews.net/bugsahoy/">find simple bugs</a> to fix and test new patches.</p><p>In this blog post, I'll explain how to install Firefox Nightly and run multiple version of Firefox on gnu/Linux computer. These instructions will also apply to other operating systems. You might need to substitute the paths to Firefox program to match your operating system.</p><p>If you are using <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2010/12/firefox-4-daily-builds-on-ubuntu-1010.html">Mozilla Ubuntu Daily PPA</a>, You can remove those PPA packages safely with 'ppa-purge' command.</p><pre><code> $ sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa</code></pre><br />
<h2>Firefox Nightly on gnu/Linux </h2><p>Download the Firefox Nightly for gnu/Linux from <a href="http://nightly.mozilla.org">nightly.mozilla.org</a>. Uncompress the tar.bz2 archive to a directory on your computer. I usually place my programs in /opt/ partition, but you can choose any different directory. </p><p>Here is the Firefox Nightly program path <strong> /opt/Firefox-Nightly/firefox </strong> on my computer. Make sure you have write permission to your Firefox Nightly directory, otherwise you'll have problems while installing the nightly updates.</p><p>You can now launch Firefox Nightly using following command <strong>/opt/firefox-nightly/firefox -P --no-remote </strong>. The <i>-P</i> option starts the <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Profile_Manager">Mozilla Profile Manager</a> and <i> --no-remote</i> starts a new instance of Firefox.</p><p>Next lets set Firefox Nightly as the default browser with <strong>update-alternatives</strong> program, this program makes changes to symlinks on Debian/Ubuntu operating systems. </p><pre><code>sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser gnome-www-browser /opt/firefox-nightly/firefox 10
$ sudo update-alternatives --config gnome-www-browser
There are 5 choices for the alternative gnome-www-browser (providing /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
0 /usr/bin/google-chrome 200 auto mode
1 /opt/firefox-nightly/firefox 10 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/chromium-browser 40 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/epiphany-browser 85 manual mode
* 4 /usr/bin/firefox 40 manual mode
5 /usr/bin/google-chrome 200 manual mode
Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 1
update-alternatives: using /opt/firefox-nightly/firefox to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in manual mode.
# Launch Firefox Nightly and choose your default profile.
$ /opt/firefox-nightly/firefox -P --no-remote
</code>
</pre><p>For other operating system, read <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-make-web-links-open-firefox-default"> How to make Firefox default</a> on <a href="http://support.mozilla.org">support.mozilla.org</a> website.</p><br />
<h2>How to run multiple Firefox Browsers</h2><p>If you want to use multiple versions of Firefox at the same time. For example, You want to use Firefox Nightly along side the Firefox Stable version or test a <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html">localized version of Firefox for your language</a>.</p><p>Open your system terminal and launch Firefox with following command <strong><path-to-firefox>firefox -P --no-remote </strong> and choose a different profile for this instance of Firefox.</p><p>You can learn more about Firefox Profiles here on <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Multiple_Firefox_Profiles">Multiple Firefox Profiles</a> page on Mozilla Developer Network (MDN).</p><p>Have fun testing Mozilla Firefox Nightly! Don't forget to report bugs and send patches!</p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3970910572020526646.post-39870179732154882462012-12-16T14:46:00.000+07:002012-12-16T14:52:26.124+07:00Barcamp Phnom Penh 5 <p>Last year we kick-started Mozilla Firefox Aurora Khmer localization effort at <a href="http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com/2011/10/barcamp-phnom-penh-4.html">Barcamp Phnom Penh 4</a>. Now a year later, Thanks to efforts of <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Teams:km">Mozilla Khmer L10N team</a> and invaluable support of several people from various organizations. We have a successful release of <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/km/firefox/new/">Firefox Khmer</a>.</p><p>Barcamp Phnom Penh is community organized two day un-conference held in the capital city of Cambodia. Walking around Barcamp Phnom Penh at University of Puthisastra in central Phnom Penh, you'll encounter young Cambodian's engaging in social media on latest smart phones and tablets everywhere. There are numerous booths advertising smart phones, right next English language schools, Media and NGO organizations.</p><p>At Barcamp Phnom Penh 5 this year there was marked improvement in quality of talks. The technology related talks were really in-depth and encouraged participation from audience. Cambodia has good English language penetration, learning English ensures better livelihood. In country where 50% of population live below the poverty line, the Cambodian youth have an insatiable thirst for learning and making a better life. This spirit attracts me to Cambodia time and again. </p><h2>Firefox Khmer, FirefoxOS and Web API </h2><p>On the first day of Barcamp Phnom Penh, I talked Mozilla mission and future of Web, As a platform. The demo of development version of FirefoxOS phone was well received. </p><p>The next day <a href="http://twitter.com/evannak">Vannak ENG</a> talked about the about Mozilla localization and walked the audience through various steps of translating Firefox. It was great to see people hanging out after the talk to interact with Vannak. Such interactions help us build a good contributor community and help keep the Firefox translations update-to-date every 6 weeks </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFC3BllTOqMfHqyuHyrPHxmh8JDi_2DXVHN2fa4lYMYqCP0Qfdqt1A7ABMOfxuF5KYJEg2GIppv6OmawXqr6iOo_GVz90zFAY0vNlA-ig_Onv3d7eKy6HnohZ4OL3CsYiGR1JE1xHwQPo/s1600/Mozilla-Khmer-L10N-Talk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFC3BllTOqMfHqyuHyrPHxmh8JDi_2DXVHN2fa4lYMYqCP0Qfdqt1A7ABMOfxuF5KYJEg2GIppv6OmawXqr6iOo_GVz90zFAY0vNlA-ig_Onv3d7eKy6HnohZ4OL3CsYiGR1JE1xHwQPo/s320/Mozilla-Khmer-L10N-Talk.jpg" alt="Mozilla Khmer L10N demo" /></a></div><p>At the end of Barcamp Phnom Penh, I gave lightening talk titled '6 kick-ass things you can do with your browser'. The talk provided a whirlwind tour of Mozilla <a href="http://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI">Web API</a> and their status.</p><h3>Khmer Language support in Firefox Mobile on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)</h3><p>I met Danh Hong, the creator <a href="http://www.google.com/webfonts/specimen/Khmer">Khmer Web Fonts</a> and we talked about the font rendering issues in Firefox Mobile(<a href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=793474">Bug 793474</a>) running on Android Jelly Bean (4.x). These issues are now resolved in new HarfBuzz update (<a href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=780409">Bug 780409</a>)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5skdm3S7ZiEMQGGhZhqrQZbXa0JMQUqysGS-NzSsBE4ltW53SEspO5cJjctba-aHkKQggiblYmupmg-eoKeYhCjSxo-RYvolE1k7e_TmywGJoidgJS2nSCR1GW6FT-enK8FNRHOA4fk/s1600/Firefox-Mobile-Khmer-Android-4.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5skdm3S7ZiEMQGGhZhqrQZbXa0JMQUqysGS-NzSsBE4ltW53SEspO5cJjctba-aHkKQggiblYmupmg-eoKeYhCjSxo-RYvolE1k7e_TmywGJoidgJS2nSCR1GW6FT-enK8FNRHOA4fk/s320/Firefox-Mobile-Khmer-Android-4.1.jpg" alt="Mozilla Firefox Mobile showing Khmer page"/></a></div><p>Few other issues in Khmer language support remain. Android Jelly Bean (4.1) supports Khmer rendering well, but Khmer fonts are not shipped with Android. You need to use third party app to install them.</p><p>On Desktop computers, though high quality Khmer fonts are available for various operating systems. There is lack of proper documentation about the installation process and the license are not very clear. </p><br />
<h3>Upcoming Barcamps in Cambodia</h3><p>The barcamp camp team deserves a pat on the back for organizing yet another fantastic event. Next year they are organizing five Barcamps all over Cambodia. </p><ul><li>BarCamp Angkor Siem Reap): 23-24 February 2013, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angkor.barcampcambodia.org%2Famp;h=iAQH7vJo9">www.angkor.barcampcambodia.org</a></li>
<li>BarCamp Battambang : 25-26 May 2013, <a href="http://www.bb.barcampcambodia.org/">www.bb.barcampcambodia.org</a></li>
<li>BarCamp Kampong Cham : 24-25 August 2013, <a href="http://www.kc.barcampcambodia.org/">www.kc.barcampcambodia.org</a></li>
<li>BarCamp Phnom Penh : 19-20 October 2013, <a href="http://www.barcampphnompenh.org/">www.barcampphnompenh.org</a></li>
<li>BarCamp Sihanoukville (The Beach): 7-8 December 2013 <a href="http://www.sv.barcampcambodia.org/">www.sv.barcampcambodia.org</a></li>
</ul><p>Perhaps I'll try organize a hands-on workshop on web technologies at <a href="http://www.hackerspacepp.org"> Hacker Space Phnom Penh</a> or <a href="http://smallworldcambodia.com">Small World Phnom Penh</a>. If you are interested, get in touch with me. </p><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093157516997210224noreply@blogger.com5University of Puthisastra, 180, Phnom Penh, Cambodia11.5626489 104.920725511.560704399999999 104.91825800000001 11.5645934 104.923193