Richi's blog

Category: Software

  • 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 […]

  • Time Tracking with RFID on BORM ERP

    Before I discovered what my Bifferboard really is, I almost disposed it, but now It found a new purpose. It’s a networked rfid Terminal for time tracking on our BORM ERP. I use a simple python script on the device because it’s easier to experiment on a device where I would rather not compile too […]

  • Make an RFID tag with an AtTiny and a coil

    When I stumbled across this blog post, I was sure I have to try this at home. I had some interest in RFID for a while, but the Proxmark was too pricy for me just to play with. So this experiment came just right. The attiny85’s were difficult to get in Switzerland, so I ordered […]

  • Running debian on a nas dongle [updated]

    I used a nas dongle from ARP for a while to share an USB harddisk, and I always wondered about what’s inside. It’s a nifty little device that works reasonably well. It needed a reboot from time to time, and it had some issues with the filesystem. Because of the FAT filesystem it couldn’t store […]

  • Rendering Text in WebGL

    Just like OpenGL and most rendering engines that I know of, WebGL has no builtin support for text rendering. And on top of that, I can’t use the approach we use in PointLine at the moment. PointLine gets the outlines for the characters from the Windows GDI. So I was looking for something cross platform. […]

  • Is Windows 7 based on MS DOS?

    Yesterday I copied an InstallAware Project on the Jenkins continuous integration server. The copy always failed to build while the original succeeded. They were really the same at this point, so WTF!!! In the InstallAware forum I found out that the path name was getting too long. Well, yes, the name of the copied jenkins […]

  • PointLineWeb research prototype

    Google employees can spend 20% of their working time for their own projects. We at cubx (The CAD development department recently split from BORM) have now something similar. We get to spend every second friday afternoon for some projects of our own. The only restriction is that it has to do with computer graphics. I […]

  • Accepting BitCoin

    As of today, we accept BitCoin as payment method for our tandem flights at paraeasy.ch BitCoin is a decentralized online currency. It was in the news lately. While banks and politicians made it sound bad, it’s actually a great experiment. True, it has some shortcomings, but these shouldn’t bother us for the next couple of […]

  • New Server

    The Alix served well for the last two years as my webserver, but then I decided, now it’s time for something a little more beefy. I’m in the process of migrating everything to the new server. With the new server, I move everything to my http://ulrichard.ch domain.