Richi's blog

Category: Uncategorized

  • OpenCL First Steps

    There is an increasing noise about GPGPU computing and how much faster than CPU (even parallel) it is. If you didn’t hear about all that, GPGPU is about using the computer’s graphics card(s) to do general purpose computations. The key to the performance lies in the parallel architecture of these devices. From what I read, […]

  • CyanogenMod and Ubuntu on my Samsung Galaxy S

    I wanted to install a real debian based linux distro and Cyanogen on my Android smartphone for a long time. First I was scared off by voiding the warranty on a new phone. But now it’s one and a half years old. And recently they announced that there will be no more firmware upgrades for […]

  • packaging libboost compiled with llvm clang

    I read many articles and posts over the last year or so, citing how great llvm clang is. On one side it shall have a static checker that makes lint redundant, and on the other side the optimizer has an -o4 where the -o3 shall be comparable to other optimizers. On top of that, compilation […]

  • Earthquake

    Today early morning I sat in front of my desk, when I suddenly felt everything slightly moving. Robert who sits next to me felt it as well, but most of the others in the office didn’t. Last time I sensed an earthquake was in 2007 on our South America camper trip in Argentina . Unbelievable […]

  • Screen went black

    This morning, I had a short moment of horror when I turned on my Netbook. After the ubuntu splash screen, it went black and didn’t respond to any keys. The only response was for the power key, where it displayed the ubuntu splash screen again and shut down. My Acer aspire one has the dreaded […]

  • Visited countries

    A long time ago, I found a web service to visualize a map with all the countries you have visited. Now I finally figured out how to get it displayed in wordpress using the code-embed plugin. Well, since we got kids, travelling is in hibernation mode, but we already have plans on where to go […]

  • Robot Arm part 1 packaging and simple manipulation

    Another project that I had in mind for a while was to experiment with robot arm path planning and inverse kinematics. If you don’t know what that is, think about how robot arms could be programmed. The simplest form would be capture and replay, in which you have a controller which which you record how […]

  • Speedflying in Andermatt

    Finally we have snow, good weather and I could take a day off. So, I went to Andermatt, my favorite ski resort. I had the intention to do speedflying, paragliding and skiing, all on the same day. It was wonderfull! But see for yourself …

  • Mixing boost versions –as-needed

    Some linux distributions defaulted to use the –as-needed linker flag for a while. Ubuntu tried it in natty, but then reverted. Now with oneiric, it really is enabled by default. I ran into this when one of my packages wouldn’t compile on oneiric. I always got linker errors with boost::filesystem and boost::system. Between natty and […]

  • Best names for algorithms

    I’ve worked in Baar for two months now and I go to work by train. It takes a while longer than to Schwyz as before, but I don’t have to switch trains or busses. That means it’s good for reading. Currently I read “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach” which is accompanying an online curse (ai-class.com […]