Proven Corporation

We have a new addition to the software section: Tomboy-Wordcount.

This is a plugin for the excellent Tomboy note taking application. This plugin allows you to quickly determine the number of lines, words, and characters in your note, much like the Unix wc command. Like Tomboy, this plugin is written in C# and runs on Mono.

Screenshot

This document explains HTML templating with the Sphinx documentation system. Sphinx is a tool for converting restructured text documentation into presentation formats like HTML or LaTeX.

Sphinx is used for Python documentation (compare old vs. new), but it is great for for any project in any language. Integrated wikis (like Trac) are nice; but I prefer to keep the documentation together with the source code. Sphinx is perfect for that. It also looks like a million bucks.

This document was tested on Fedora 8; however it is likely to work on all platforms that Python supports. Please contact me if you have questions or comments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I had to get MonoDevelop working on CentOS 5 for a project. Here is my blow-by-blow summary of how to get it working. The procedure is designed for CentOS 5, and it works on my Fedora 8 system as well. Since most of the activity is just compiling stuff from source, it should be pretty easy to follow on a different distribution. It’s just a matter of getting the correct packages installed in the preparation phase.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have a new addition to the software section: Bzr Notification.

This is a plugin for the Bazaar source code control system. It will pop up a small window when pushes and pulls have completed. This way, you do not need to wait around watching (slow) transactions over the network. Here is a screenshot of bzr_notification in action:

I posted my slides from my talk at BarCamp Bangkok on January 26th. The talk mostly covers advanced usage of OpenSSH to do port forwarding, web proxying, and control of remote systems.

View the slides in HTML format: Making Magic with SSH

You can also get the text source file, or download everything in zip format.

I just got back from BarCamp. It was very interesting and very fun. I met a lot of excellent people, and I’d like to say thanks to everybody who talked with me.

I will post slides of my SSH talk shortly. Please check the site in a day or so, or subscribe to the RSS feed.

About the Siam eBook Printers giveaway, I will be contacting the winners of the lucky draw shortly.

We are happy to release Strangle, an open source DNS message parsing library. You can read all about it from our Strangle summary. Strangle provides a convenient Python interface which leverages the enterprise-grade BIND technology from the Internet Software Consortium. If your Python application needs to understand the meaning in cryptic DNS packets, give it a try!

This is an update about Siam eBook Printers. We are eager to get as much feedback as possible in order to best serve our customers. So now, we are introducing a 100 baht discount to any customer who leaves a helpful comment about the site. You can optionally specify your email address if you want us to follow up with you.

So stop by and say “This is awesome!” (or even better: your own constructive criticism) to get your discount today! As always, shipping is free, and books about free software (and open source) get an additional 150 baht price reduction.

I have added a section to the site for publishing software from Proven Corporation. All software published is of course free software.

For now, there is only a simple Greasemonkey script for an excellent free software-related web site.

We have opened a new service which is personally exciting for me and beneficial for the software community in Thailand: an eBook printing, binding, and delivery service, called Siam eBook Printers.

If you have an ebook in PDF format, just attach the file on the web page and provide your delivery address. In a few days, a nice bound volume arrives at your door from EMS. If you’ve ever seen these shops in malls and universities that print and bind books, then you know exactly what this is, except we do it over the web.

We are aiming directly at foreigners and I.T. professionals in Thailand. Here is what makes Siam Book Printers unique:

• Everything is in English
• We cater to busy people. You attach a PDF on the web site, and you receive EMS packages.
• We guarantee no mechanical errors, smudges, missing pages, or other flaws. If you are dissatisfied, we will send you a replacement book.
• There is no guesswork; you preview exactly what you will get.
• Besides standard bank transfers, we accept credit card payments and PayPal. We accept payment in Thai baht or U.S. dollars.

Personally, having eBooks printed is one of my favorite activities in Thailand. When done right, the end result is quite beautiful. Ever since I had The Debian System from No Starch Press made into a hardback, I have been hooked. I doubt the site will be successful financially; but my goal is to reveal and simplify the eBook printing process to more foreigners and software professionals.

Finally, Siam Book Printers is a platform to promote free software in Thailand. We offer discounts for eBooks about free and open source software. When you order a book about free or open source software, just click the checkbox to receive your discount!