Recent blog entries for reinouts

I've been meaning to move my blog to my own domain so I could start using Drivel. But installing LiveJournal was a tad more difficult than I expected, so I'll just write some more on Advogato for now.

I was involved in Dutch translations for GNOME 2.8 and Mandrake Linux (proper spelling 'Mandrakelinux') 10.1, so it was quite hectical to get everything checked in on time.

Epiphany is getting better all the time. A big discussion ensued on FootNotes after I posted about my disappointment with the choice of Firefox as the default browser for Ubuntu. It amazes me that even the power users often have little knowledge about what their browser can do.

In real life, I have moved (again). Who knows how long I'll be able to stay here... the housing situation in Amsterdam is abysmal. Anyhow I'm detrermined to finally finish my studies within the year now.

Dennis, if you're reading this, we need to catch up on the things we discussed at GUADEC.

So, I got myself a new mobile phone. The nicest gizmo: Bluetooth. I quickly decided to purchase a Sitecom CN500 USB dongle to let my phone and PC talk to each other. This is the first time in the four years that I have my PC, by the way, that I use the USB facility!

The next challenge, of course: making it work on Mandrake Linux! Two important programs, BlueZ and GNOME Bluetooth fortunately were already in Cooker. I've also found GNOME Bluephone but it isn't working reliably for me yet. I'd really like to get the calendar synchronization working, too. Multisync looks promising, but it segfaulted on the first attempt to actually do something.

I'm going to bed now, more to follow...

If you have ever installed the Mozilla Googlebar you may have noticed that the installation process is exceptionally stupid. I've filed a bug about this. According to the reaction of the developer, Sun (of all companies!) insisted that mozilla xpi support only OK/Cancel dialogs.

If this project is going to try and work together with GNOME, there's a long way to go yet...

IRL, my investment in a dating site has paid off :)

Finally someone has started working on rewriting the Mandrake Linux setup tools. Shame that it had to come from outside Mandrakesoft, though.

Also, I'm not longer the only one calling for a better organization of the Mandrake localization process, witness Steffen Barszus' rant on the cooker-i18n list + 10.1 development wiki.

jorn: check your mail, you can freely download Mandrakelinux 10.0 ISO's!

Things have improved a bit lately. I now live in central Amsterdam, have an internet connection, cvs accounts at GNOME and Mandrake and do lots of fun things around the week. I sing in a pop choir and volunteer at the P60 venue in Amstelveen.

On the downside, my student-assitant job and other activities get in the way of my study, which I should really be finishing right now.

Mandrake Linux 10.0 Community has been released. I didn't manage to get all the translations in before the deadline. Fortunately I did get help from a few people. The status for the upcoming GNOME 2.6 release is a lot better though. Let's pray that someone finds a good way to handle online help translations too. I've had to retract my translation of the Epiphany manual because it took too much time to update well - and I'd better show Dutch users an English help page than no help at all.

I took the gamble and paid for a subscription at match.com. That resulted in a few interesting email conversations but nothing more yet...

Finally I've completed my essay on how bad Free Software translations (within GNOME in particular) affect usability.

See also the threads on gnome-i18n list and the usability list.

I 've a feeling that the momentum is right to start taking GNOME translation really seriously.

Spent the past few weeks trying to get a roof above my head and expect this situation to continue for a while. My only internet connection is still at the university.

On Aug 27nd, I visited Brussels to demonstrate against the "Software Patents" directive. (On this photo you can see me on the left, with the blue jacket.) The lobby is still going on since the vote has been postponed; we have an active mailing list on vrijschrift.org (Dutch).

In the mean time, the academic year has started again. Time to start working on those papers I should have finished long ago...

Finally, the Apprentice certification is in.
Did anyone ever notice that if you use HTML code in the 'Notes' section of your personal page, it gets chewed?

At the end of the week I'll be moving. That means no more internet connection at home for a while! :-(

Despite several certifications, advogato still doesn't think I'm certified... hence still no Helper status :-(

Mandrake 9.2b1 is out, and I've picked up a second hand 80GB disc, so that should give me some room to experiment!

So, how do I get those 'This person is a Helper on...' mentions anyways?

I'm going to keep a list of things I'd like to do sooner or later here, after all why use pieces of paper that'll get lost anyway?

1. Learn some C++ (at least enough to pass the course)
2. Learn some more Python and Jython (I'd like to help out Kees van den Broek with GRUT, among others)
3. Write some slick macros to make .po-editing with jEdit easier
4. Finish my paper for the HCI course. It's about GNOME usability & translation. Let me know if you're aware of relevant literature.
5. More to follow...

This translation stuff is getting daunting. Upcoming major releases of both GNOME and Mandrake Linux... the latter being not so much fun as the translation effort could use some better organisation.