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Mobile Internet on the Eee PC (Ubuntu Eee)

Setting up the Internet on the Eee PC over bluetooth to my Nokia N95 with T-Mobile GPRS/EDGE/3G connection can be tricky.  Yet it sounds like one of those setups that could be so easy, right?  Well it seems stable for the moment, so here’s what you’ll need.  Or rather, what I have…

You’re going to be setting up your connection though pppd, and all of these instructions are based on instructions that I’m going to steal, slightly change and probably skip parts to suit my purposes (and hopefully yours) perfectly.

If your set-up doesn’t match exactly, perhaps you can make use of both pages and work out where things should change.  Or lovingly rip these instructions off, as I did – to make your own.

Setup your bluetooth dongle
First off, you’re going to need an apt repository that has the bluez-utils packages in. So open up a terminal
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
and add the line
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian etch main

Then you can install the package.

apt-update
apt-get install bluez-utils
/etc/init.d/bluetooth restart
lsusb | grep -i bluetooth
(should show the bluetooth device)
hcitool dev
(also lists bluetooth devices)

Setup networking

You can grab my gprs-settings which should be put into /etc/ppp/peers directory, and untarred.
tar -xvf gprs-settings.tar

Pair the phone

First, get the bluetooth ID of the N95
hcitool scan
Then pair your Eee with your phone, you have to do this from the N95.
Bluetooth -> right arrow (Paired devices) - Options
New paired devices (search)
Choose your eee and then type the pairing keys (anything of your choosing

Bind bluetooth to an rfcomm device

We use “rfcomm” to bind the bluetooth connection to a device. So first, find out the channel the phones bluetooth dial up networking system is on. You can do this with sdptool (Service Discovery Protocol tool):
sdptool search dun
Service Name: Dial-Up Networking
Service RecHandle: 0x1001e
Service Class ID List:
"Dialup Networking" (0x1103)
Protocol Descriptor List:
"L2CAP" (0x0100)
"RFCOMM" (0x0003)
Channel: 2
Language Base Attr List:
code_ISO639: 0x454e
encoding: 0x6a
base_offset: 0x100
Profile Descriptor List:
"Dialup Networking" (0x1103)
Version: 0x0100

Note the “Channel: 2” which show which channel to bind.

Then to bind the channel (in this case #2) to one of the rfcomm devices (for example, rfcomm0):
rfcomm bind 0 11:22:BE:EF:44:33 2
You can see the binding with:
rfcomm
rfcomm0: 11:22:BE:EF:44:33 channel 2 clean
You might find you need to reset the bind and restart it every now and then (especially failed connection attempts)
rfcomm release 0
rfcomm bind 0 11:22:BE:EF:44:33 2
You can edit the settings in “/etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf,” set bind to “yes” and give the device and channel for rfcomm0. Then you can put these commands into /etc/init.d/bluetooth and it will automatically bind and release the rfcomm device:
# At the end of the "start)" section
rfcomm bind all
# At the beginning of the "stop)" section
rfcomm release all
Start pppd to connect.
Start up pppd.  Command line first, but because we’ve called it ppp0, you will later be able to do this via the normal ubuntu eee networking menu in the menu bar.
% pppd call ppp0
You should now have a ppp0 interface in your ‘ifconfig’ output that is up and running. The output should look something like this:
# pppd call ppp0
Press CTRL-C to close the connection at any stage!
defining PDP context...
rAT
OK
ATH
OK
ATE1
OK
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","general.t-mobile.uk","",0,0
OK
waiting for connect...
ATD*99#
CONNECT
Connected.
If the following ppp negotiations fail,
try restarting the phone.
Serial connection established.
using channel 1
Using interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/rfcomm0

You can hit control-c on the pppd process and it will shut down the connection, then you can release the rfcomm binding.

So… as I was saying… It’s not the easiest thing in the world to get going, but once you’ve got the hang of it, and set it up once you’ll have a connection everywhere you go.

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Eee PC – cheap mobile computing for the masses

Eee PC compared to a John Grisham paperback, and full size laptop

I recently bought myself an Asus Eee 701 4G Surf from Expansys for the bargain price of 169.33 including delivery.  If you don’t know about these tiny laptops, they’re low-spec, cheap machines often times running a Debian-based Linux installation called Xandros, rather than Windows (although XP versions are also available in the higher spec versions).  Its key specs are a 7-inch screen, 512MB of RAM (upgradeable to 2GB), built-in WiFi and hard wired ethernet ports, 4GB solid-state drive, weighing only 922g, and really really small.

For those of you that just about nodded off to sleep – it’s really light, really small (for a feature-packed laptop, I mean), and lets you use word processing, spreadsheets, browse the Internet, read emails, blogging, instant messenger, Skype and, well – just about everything you’d normally do on your laptop really.  Except… did I mention it’s really portable?

I’m not totally sure where it fits into my technology arsenal yet.  It’s certainly not a desktop replacement, and it might even be best described as a second-laptop (the first of which, I hasten to add, spends way more time charging than it ever does getting used).  But the Eee PC is certainly a lot easier to carry around, and more likely to be dropped into my rucksuck as an afterthought since it takes up so little space.

It’s also been described as “something to play with” and the Eee fits into this category just as well as it would as a solid dependable netbook (if you’d rather leave the endless tinkering alone).  Perhaps it’s because the device is so cheap, or easy to reinstall the base system with all your essential apps in tact (take that Microsoft) – but even if you’re just looking for an alternative to Windows, the Eee might just be a good place to start.

So, expect more posts about the Eee shortly – the usual technical-guides are going to help me rebuild the system if I do manage to break it – as well as give me an excuse for something to write about 😉

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Super Lamb Bananas and Anthony Gormley’s Another Place

Yellow Superlambanana in a cage

As you might have guessed, I”m a big fan of large, public displays of art. It can be a small piece of graffiti on the wall that makes me chuckle, or it can be street theatre involving a 40ft tall mechanical spider. I try not to ask for much. So this weekend in Liverpool has brought three of them all along at once, and I”ve loved it all.

Super Lamb Bananas. Lots of people have heard the name by now. It was originally a huge 17ft tall sculpture by a Japanese artist named Taro Chiezo. As with a lot of great pieces of art it was originally met with a resounding “huh?” by the local population of Liverpool. However, when art lovers and travellers from all over the UK to visit, they all went “huh?” too. So it”s no great surprise that the 2008 City of Culture created 125 two-metre high versions and put them all over the city.

Everyone is still going “huh?”, but the persistence is making everyone grow to love these little genetically modified beings. Liverpool has painted its spirit onto every single one of the unique animals, and it now sits firmly alongside the Liver bird as a modern-day symbol of the city. And now, the 8th-9th September sees a huge amount of them on display at the front of St. George”s Hall, before they”re auctioned off for charity on Wednesday. The original experience was like the pigs I”ve talked about in Bath, but Liverpool did really beat them to it. And they used genetically modified animals (originally to highlight the dangers of GM crops). You can almost sing along to “Cities just wanna have fun” (to the tune of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) as you parade madly through the distorted flock. And you probably wouldn”t get any funny looks.

Anthony Gormley's "Another Place", Crosby Beach

Another Place, Crosby Beach

Another Place is much more serene, slightly disturbing and intense. I had no idea it was near Liverpool, but a helpful lady on the train on the way in had mentioned it as a place that would be great to go and see if I could find a bus. It”s 20 minutes from Liverpool Central on the Northern Line to Crosby, or Waterloo. Both an easy 10-minute walk from the beach that stretches for 2 miles, and is full of 100 statues of Anthony Gormley, staring out to sea.

I”m a big fan of Anthony Gormley, and this piece is reminiscent of Event Horizon where 31 statues were placed on rooftops around London. Designed to symbolise the relationship that man has with nature, Crosby beach is such a perfect location, with signs of industry to one side, wind farms in the distance, and a long sandy (often muddy) beach meeting the sea at the horizon. So perfect, that when it came to November 2006 when the exhibit was to be moved to New York, it stayed in what will hopefully a permanent home to these 100 figures.

During particularly high tides all 100 figures are totally submerged, swallowed by the sea to return the next day, slightly greener, a little more worn, but still standing. A lot could be said for this as a metaphor… But having already fallen in love with a spider, genetically modified lambs, and a city running high on enthusiasm and a will to enjoy itself… I think I”ll leave this one up to you….

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Farewell La Princesse

La Princesse

La Princesse

Yesterday was the final day of La Machine”s incredible La Princesse. The weather has held out, with only a few light spots of rain whilst the rest of England has been submerged. But we don”t care, we”ve been watching Princess with awe. Even the people who turned up to watch her on the docks on Friday said they didn”t mind they had to do so in the midst of a monsoon.

“Have you seen the spider yet?” I asked the new guy in the hostel. I forgot his name already, sorry, let”s call you Gary. Because it was something like that. “What spider?” He replied. I”d come across the only person within 15 miles of Liverpool that hadn”t heard about this magnificent event. “Right, get your shoes on, you”re coming with me.”

A false start at 3pm had brought everyone out to rival Saturday nights huge crowds. The spider wasn”t doing anything until 7.30pm, but the rumours had been going round and everyone turned up anyway. These had made it to the tourist offices, and all over the city. I think it was originally on the web site, but later removed – so no wonder that everyone was excited. But it wasn”t to be, and La Princesse wouldn”t awaken from her slumber on Concourse tower for another 4.5 hours.

And what an awakening. She walked the path around St. George”s Hall with her huge entourage of drums, harpists, and full brass band. Spraying everyone in the crowd with water, and lowering legs to just slightly skim the crowd as she went. We”d waited hours in the spots we”d all chosen. But everybody was smiling, and everyone was happy that La Princesse had graced the city with her presence.

The finale was spectacular. I write this as I”m on the train back home, and as someone has just attempted to proudly point out – “yeah, but the London one had a narrative, and more of a story”. Well, Liverpool had fireworks, snow, fire and a water ballet (I think that”s the correct terminology)… Not to mention the spider made use of all of its surroundings, including climbing a building!

I don”t say this to downplay anything that the team accomplished with the Sultan”s Elephant, because both events were huge and unforgettable. Both were remarkable feats of engineering, media, and public interaction – and something that I hope we will see much, much more of in the years to come. La Machine have dared you to dream, but I hope that they also inspire each and every one of us that magic can happen in our streets and in the cities we live. Thank you La Machine, and thank you Liverpool.

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The Spider That Ate Liverpool

La Princesse on Concourse Tower

La Princesse on Concourse Tower

Back in 2006, a time traveling elephant visited London, on command of an eccentric rich sultan who was seeking to find another similar time traveler in the form of a young girl who was haunting his dreams. Well, you all know the story.

And now, new agents used on a building due to be destroyed in Liverpool has created a creature we all know and love, only just ever so slightly bigger. About, 40ft bigger in fact (although the sizes seem to get larger every time I hear them).

Royal De Luxe, or rather La Machine as they seem to now be called have let a huge 40ft spider loose on the streets, and indeed buildings of Liverpool. And there”s no way I”m going to miss something like that! She goes by the name of Princess (ahhhh), and she started out in a cocoon on the side of Liverpool Lime St. Station last Thursday. And she is definitely magnificent, if, y”know, freaky as hell at night time.

As soon as I left the station though, memories came flooding back of the crack-addled elephant worshipers of 2006. Children and adults alike all filtering out of the station with only one purpose in mind. “Have you seen the spider?” “Where is the spider?” “Hey, dude, like, stop hogging all the Pringles.” Not the last one.

The media has worked its magic, and everyone knows about Princess. Everyone wants to meet her, and we all want to be her friend (through fear of being kept alive in some kind of spider-feeding larder deep underneath Liverpool station before being eventually chewed on by gammy spider-jaws, I”d guess).

And the crowds are huge. They”re expecting over a million people over the three days, and I counted at least 200 today. People line the streets everywhere, and if you’re unfortunate enough to get stuck in front of Princess (as I was) – you will die (I was lucky). I’m not kidding, as we all tried to move out of the way of the incoming spider, and people behind us just wanted to get closer and stand in the way … Someone actually, genuinely, and I”m not lying here, shouted “think of the children!”. And sadly they weren”t joking either, there did seem to be panic brewing among the group of, shall we say “dads”, children were leaving crying, men with pushchairs were looking angry, and apparently some Liverpudlians just need to relax. Still, we made it out alive, the spider didn’t eat us – and I’m actually rather looking forward to collecting other prominent phrases like “we’re all going to die” and “oh, the humanity”.

Speaking of crowds, don”t worry, Liverpool has opened all three of its restaurants for this event, and you will only need to queue out the door and down the street for 30 minutes. I”m sure it”s always like this. Really.

All said, these shows are incredible. There”s a very very good reason that they draw such huge crowds, and they”re a once in a lifetime experience that you”ll never forget and hopefully look back upon fondly, forever. Queues, crowds, and long waiting times mean absolutely nothing as soon as you see the spiders legs appear around the corner. And you”ll probably never hear a huge crowd in the hundreds of thousands cheer for a giant spider again. Unless it”s eaten all the killer bed bugs. Which is quite possible. The final day is tomorrow, and I can”t wait :)