Blender missing shared library gotcha!

Here is a simple solution to Blender missing 'libavcodec.so.54' shared library on Ubuntu Xenial (16.04.1 LTS) box. There are numerous posts about this problem but very few solutions.

$ blender
blender: error while loading shared libraries: libavcodec.so.54: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Solution for Blender missing library

Let me share what worked for me. Let's try to locate and add the library to ldconf path.

# Install the libavcodec-extra package using apt-get package manager.
$ sudo apt-get install libavcodec-extra-56

# Verify the location of libavcodec.so.54 file path.  
$locate libavcodec.so
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libavcodec.so
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libavcodec.so.56
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libavcodec.so.56.1.0


# Create a new ldconfig file with proper path to the shared library. 
$ sudo nano /etc/ld.so.conf.d/blender.conf

# Add the following line in the file. 
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/

# Rerun ldconf 
$ sudo ldconf 

# Start blender normally. 
$ blender  

That's all folks!. Enjoy blender.

Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (Video)

Follow maker and hacker extraordinary Andrew 'Bunnie' Huang to Shenzhen, China. This Wired.com documentary provides a rare insight into Shenzhen,the silicon valley of hardware. Understand what makes Shenzhen produce such innovative products at an incredible speed.

For me, the one most striking highlight of this documentary was to learn about 'Shenzhai' culture, it is akin to hacker or maker culture. I believe the values of open design, sharing of technical know-how and healthy dose of hubris defines Shenzhai culture. It drives the innovative product design in Shenzhen. Today this culture of design and easy availability of manufacturing facilities is attracting designers, makers, hackers and entrepreneurs.

I hope you'll enjoy this documentary and hopeful make your way to Shenzhen in near future.

Google Cardboard 360° Photosphere Viewer with A-Frame

In my previous post "Embedding Google Cardboard Camera VR Photosphere with A-Frame", I wrote that some talented programmer would probably create a better solution for embedding Google Cardboard camera photosphere using A-Frame.

I didn't know that Chris Car had already created a sophisticated solution for this problem. You can view it here on A-Frame blog.

You first might have to use Google Cardboard camera converter tool to make your Google Cardboard photosphere.

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Embedding Google Cardboard Camera VR Photosphere with A-Frame

Early this year I started looking into the VR (Virtual Reality) web applications. Web browsers now natively support VR applications using WebVR 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.

To hit the ground running with WebVR. I started an experiment to capture Hackerspace Phnom Penh using Google Cardboard camera app and display it using A-Frame 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 Panorama component.

Is it possible to embed Google cardboard camera image capture in a @aframevr powered site?

— Arky (@playingwithsid) December 17, 2015

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-Frame custom component, that I leave it for more skilled people.

The markup needed for this demo is simple, you can achieve this with one line.

<a-scene>
     <a-sky src="img/hackerspace.vr.jpg" radius="2400" scale="2 1 2"> </a-sky>
    </a-scene>

You can see the demo on Youtube or visit this webpage in an compatible web browser.

Eco City: Projection Mapping For Social Impact

Japanese artist Hidetaka Nakamura uses animation to bring about awareness about social issues in Cambodia. In this post, I talk about his Eco City project, he makes large screen projections of animations drawn by children on the wall of underground sewage plant. The children visit this underground sewage plant along the river front of Phnom Penh, they participate in pop quiz about environmental issues. The animated characters teach the children about recycling and garbage disposal.

This the second edition of the Eco city project in Cambodia. I'll be working with Hidetaka on the next projection mapping to bring real time animation of the drawings and immersive interaction of projection mapping next year. Stay tuned.

Free SSL Certificate from Mozilla Let's Encrypt project

Last week Mozilla Let's Encrypt 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!.

At the time of writing this blog post, Let's Encrypt client was not available for Ngnix server. So I am using the manual method to obtain the SSL certificate here. Please read the latest docs for additional information.

# 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

Please don't forget to test your server using an comprehensive SSL server test such as SSLLabs.

EpiHack Myanmar 2015

Join fellow developers, open data enthusiasts and health specialists at EpiHack 2015 in Yangon, Myanmar, to uncover new ways to collect, track, and share data on emerging disease outbreaks. The event will held from January 18 till 22 2016.

What is <EpiHack/> ?

EpiHack is a health focused hackathon bringing together health and technology specialists to collaboratively produce ideas, tools and a network that can act as a first line of surveillance and response for disease outbreaks.

EpiHack Myanmar is the latest in a series of events implemented in partnership with the Skoll Global Threat Fund in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Tanzania and Brazil.

Why Myanmar?

Connectivity is quickly increasing across Myanmar with the arrival of new mobile providers and growing investments in infrastructure. Mobile and web technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to optimise and streamline the collection, dissemination, aggregation and visualisation of disease related information. EpiHack will build on such technologies to improve disease surveillance and outbreak response in Myanmar.

This event is by invitation only. Please register here. To keep informed on EpiHack Myanmar and EpiHack developments, follow @EpiHack on Twitter and join the EpiHack community on Facebook.

Also join the world's biggest unconference Barcamp Yangon right after Epihack 2015.