Getting Line 6 POD Studio UX2 to work on Linux

I was blessed to have a friend who lent me their recording gear. Here's what I did with it =P

Seek and you shall find

Luckily, someone (Markus Grabner) wrote a driver for Line 6 devices on Linux here:
http://line6.com/supportarchivenew/thread/4031
Their website is here: http://www.tanzband-scream.at/line6/
Note the link to the source code on that webpage is old - the latest should be v0.9.1beta not v0.8.1

Getting the latest version

Using svn to checkout the repo and make didn't work (I got a bunch of errors, possibly due to using svn to clone the repo causing the make command to create a bad revision.h file. I also got errors from driver.c

To get around the errors, I tried downloading the zip from sourceforge here:
http://sourceforge.net/p/line6linux/code/HEAD/tree/
(Click "Download Snapshot"). 

After that, just unzip, go to the "drivers" folder, "trunk" branch then $make and #make install inside that directory. Btw, for dependences, you need gcc, make, your kernel's headers (e.g. linux-headers-generic), and alsamixergui + pavucontrol (for later).

Here's a nice article about ./configure, make and #make install. http://www.codecoffee.com/tipsforlinux/articles/27.html

Plugging it in

Now for the harder part, thanks to bkmfs2 on the line6.com forums in the 1st link of this post we have:

#Then you have to find your soundcard with:
cat /proc/asound/cards
#This tells you how your Line 6 device viewed by the computer ('hw:' number).
#Replace 'hw:1' with whatever shows up for your sound card when you type:
alsamixergui -D hw:1
#You HAVE TO turn the 'monitor' slider all the way down or things will crash (unless the 'svn' site has a newer version that fixes this).
#Just so you know, the thing is a little volitile but I was able to use my Line 6 UX2 with jack-audio with (so far) dependable success.
#Just F.Y.I., I bought a M-Audio MobilePre the other day and it works right out of the box.

I didn't have to get alsamixergui to select the device to control - I use Audacity and it allows you to switch between devices.
My favourite audio setup/control tool on linux has to be pavucontrol although I couldn't use it for audio in and I could use Audacity to select the hw2:0 device for recording, letting me record.

By using the monitor turned up to 100% in the alsamixergui, I was able to hear the input from my mic, albeit quite distorted. It obviously was more clipped when I turned up the "phones" dial and/or turned up the monitor signal from aslamixergui. This is mentioned in 4.3.5 of the driver doc manual PDF (from Markus Grabner's Tanzband-scream.net website), but I haven't been able to fix it yet. The PCM audio works phone though, using the computer to play to the phones without clipping.

I decided to get the full experience dual-booting into Windows and using POD farm (didn't want to set up WINE/VM as I was short on time and didn't want to troubleshoot any errors that would come up). However, I didn't have time to do that either (only effectively had one afternoon) so I just stuck with recording in Audacity on Linux.

Yes, this means you might get to see some art/annihilation related projects released soon showcasing the results.

This week in space & tech

http://www.space.com/28539-spacex-earth-space-rocket-photos.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/02/12/this-new-tesla-battery-will-power-your-home-and-maybe-the-electric-grid-too/

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/hiro-drone/

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0209/NASA-names-crew-members-for-2016-space-station-missions-video

http://ideas.ted.com/18-companies-driving-the-new-space-age/

http://www.charitywater.org/blog/wanna-build-your-own-sensor/

http://scottkerman.imgur.com/

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150128-space-2020-what-happens-next

http://tass.ru/en/non-political/776758

http://spacenews.com/earth-pelted-by-more-than-600-large-debris-items-in-2014-nasa-reports/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2948421/Why-sun-sad-Giant-filament-turns-solar-surface-giant-sad-face-emoji.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/ohio-energy-inc/2015/02/drones-seen-as-boon-to-monitoring-energy.html

http://gizmodo.com/this-camera-is-going-to-hell-and-will-send-us-pictures-1685227698

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/11/successful-test-for-europes-mini-shuttle-prototype/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/science/on-third-try-deep-space-climate-observatory-launches.html

My personal live launch watching pics:

http://www.space.com/28515-orbital-atk-merger-private-spaceflight.html

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/02/ohio_wesleyan_university_profe.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactic-long-beach-20150212-story.html

This week in space & tech - linkdump; AND SPACE JOBS IN AUSTRALIA WOO!!

Personal updates:
Read Scrum & XP from the trenches - nice practical examples in a 'book'.
Read it as study for my exam - I can see CIG has implemented the manual acceptance testing as the PTU with testers not part of the team =)


http://www.space.com/28110-christmas-in-space-astronauts-celebrate.html

http://www.space.com/28117-james-webb-space-telescope-assembly-practice.html
-prototyping implementation in practice

http://aviationweek.com/blog/list-long-your-arm

http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/missing-aircraft-flight-tracking-data-streaming-back-agenda

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ceres-dawn-nasa-spacecraft-dwarf-planet-asteroid-20141230-story.html

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/30/7470743/nasa-mars-opportunity-memory-loss

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/30/7424343/nasa-kepler-telescope-rescue-mission-search-for-planets

https://www.deutschland.de/en/news/theory-of-relativity-under-test

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1671257/motion-detector-could-help-discover-microscopic-life-forms-distant

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150101000065&cid=1204&MainCatID=12

http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/31/tesla-hints-at-automatic-wall-charger/
solid snake "For realz" xP

Russia launches 38 times to deliver 80 satellites, being the country with the most launches in 2014. More (not so up-to-date) info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_in_spaceflight
Also, SpaceX scrubs the planned year for future launches in their manifest: http://www.spacex.com/launch_manifest.php (since they don't usually fulfil the planned # of flights for the current year).

http://qz.com/281619/what-it-took-for-elon-musks-spacex-to-disrupt-boeing-leapfrog-nasa-and-become-a-serious-space-company/
old but nice history lesson =P They're hoping to add the 1st people ever to land a reusable 1st stage on a floating platform soon (this year, as close as this next launch) =)

http://aeon.co/magazine/technology/the-elon-musk-interview-on-mars/ More Elon Musk 

Lastly, how SpaceX can disrupt the industry when they demonstrate a landing of their 1st stage (obviously)!
http://qz.com/320177/2015-will-be-the-year-of-spacexs-reusable-rocket/



And WOW! YES! I think I just found the 1st space related job in software/electronics that I'm really interested in, in Australia! Too bad I ain't graduated yet. >.> Still, makes me psyched for work and motivated to learn/work hard seeing there are these opportunities in Australia!
Albeit a academic job/employer ... See: http://hr.unsw.adfa.edu.au/_form/index.php

Here's some quotes just in case they pull the job postings off that webpage in the future.
Professional posting:

School of Engineering and Information Technology

Flight Software Engineer – Spacecraft R&D

Ref: SEIT 30626
Salary:

• Level 6: $75,373 - $80,406pa (+17% super)
• Level 7: $82,672 - $89,477pa (+17% super)

As a member of the UNSW Canberra spacecraft team, the Flight Software Engineer will lead and manage the development and participate in the software-and-hardware-in-the-loop testing of the on-board flight software and ground control software for single and multiple spacecraft cubesat-class flight missions.
For additional information about this position, please contact Russell Boyce on (02) 6268 8056 or email R.Boyce@adfa.edu.au.
Downloads:

• Position Description
• Information Sheet

(5 year - Fixed term)
Applications Close: 9:00 am on 12 January 2015
Important: Before you apply, please have ready your Application (addressing the Selection Criteria) and your Resume, combined into a single DOC, DOCX or PDF file no greater than 5MB, as this will be required for uploading when you have completed the online application form.

And another professional posting:

School of Engineering and Information Technology

Spacecraft Project Lead

Ref: SEIT 30627
Salary:

• Level 8: $92,416 - $104,126pa (+17% super)
• Level 9: $107,408 - $113,971pa (+17% super)

As the lead of the UNSW Canberra spacecraft flight team, the Spacecraft Project Lead will provide the overall systems engineering and technical leadership and management for the design, development, acquisition, integration, testing, launch, operation and decommissioning of cubesat-class satellites and satellite formations. This is NOT a broad banded position, please see the PD for more details.
For additional information about this position, please contact Russell Boyce on (02) 6268 8056 or email R.Boyce@adfa.edu.au.
Downloads:

• Position Description
• Information Sheet

(5 year - Fixed term)
Applications Close: 9:00 am on 12 January 2015
Important: Before you apply, please have ready your Application (addressing the Selection Criteria) and your Resume, combined into a single DOC, DOCX or PDF file no greater than 5MB, as this will be required for uploading when you have completed the online application form.

And the academic position:

School of Engineering and Information Technology

Research Associate - Space Surveillance

Ref: RA SEIT(SS)
Salary:

• Level A: $66,311 - $88,415 pa (+ 17% super)

As part of significant investment in a flagship research initiative, UNSW Canberra is developing the in-house capability to underpin innovative, routine and affordable in-orbit space research. This capability will focus on launches of cubesat-class spacecraft, initially single satellites but quickly moving to the development of distributed, networked experiments and sensors across formations or assemblies of such spacecraft. Please see the Information Sheet and Position Description for more details.
For additional information about this position, please contact Russell Boyce on (02) 6268 8056 or email R.Boyce@adfa.edu.au.
Downloads:

• Position Description
• Information Sheet

(5 year - Fixed term)
Applications Close: 9:00 am on 12 January 2015
Important: Before you apply, please have ready your Application (addressing the Selection Criteria) and your Resume, combined into a single DOC, DOCX or PDF file no greater than 5MB, as this will be required for uploading when you have completed the online application form.

Space & Tech newsdump

Busy with uni work and yes, projects! =P
[need to finish an Android app in two 1-week sprints that allows year 10 students to learn functional programming by doing it!]
So as pointed out already, I'll abandon the idea of posting news items as blog articles regularly. This doesn't mean I'll stop posting all news type articles though!

Because I don't want to spend the time regurgitating news articles in nice English, here's a link dump of noteworthy articles in the past few weeks: (it also serves as a personal favourite/bookmarker =P) =D

http://www.sciencealert.com/australian-researchers-have-converted-sunlight-into-electricity-with-more-than-40-efficiency

http://garethhayes.net/hackrf-blue/

http://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2014/11/22/private-cubesat-start-ups-join-the-space-race/14165748001263

www.space.com/27588-nasa-asteroid-capture-mission-mars.html

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/factory-upgrade

Why CSIRO is important:
http://csironewsblog.com/2014/11/20/megans-seven-reasons/

gmailblog.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/going-under-hood-of-inbox.html

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/01/penniless_and_desperate_wikipedia_sits_on_60m_cash/

http://lunar.xprize.org/news/blog/lunar-mission-one-takes-crowd-funded-route-moon

www.space.com/27936-nasa-orion-spaceship-survives-test-flight.html

http://www.space.com/27833-nasa-orion-capsule-first-test-flight-infographic.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/wiki/faq

www.space.com/27944-nasa-orion-spaceship-textbook-spaceflight.html

http://www.csoonline.com/article/2853027/malware-cybercrime/report-hacker-group-fin4-stealing-insider-info-to-exploit-significant-changes-in-stock-prices.html

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/09/when-adding-bike-lanes-actually-reduces-traffic-delays/379623/

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/12/08/jaxa-testing-deep-space-microsat-with-asteroid-flyby/

http://www.livescience.com/49028-farthest-quantum-teleportation.html

www.space.com/27955-spacex-rocket-ocean-landing-platform.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-plugs-into-australia-20141209-story.html
Tesla finally updates their website to show superchargers on the Hume Hwy in 2015! YESS!! Can't wait to drive a Tesla from MEL-CBR! =)

Space and Tech update - This week in Space! & Tech!

Had the webpages going for a blog post, decided now that I'm on holiday (for a week) I've gotta work on actual stuff including projects instead of blogging news. So here's a list of somewhat outdated links/quick rundown.

www.space.com/27741-google-leases-nasa-moffett-field.html
- yay for Google acquisitions and diversifying into hardware tech =) I might actually want to work for google's hardware subsidiaries if I could =D

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30026398
- we landed on a comet
www.space.com/27756-comet-landing-google-doodle.html
- technically a robot did but whatever, also got great pics
http://xkcd1446.org/
- and xkcd did live updates on it

www.space.com/27684-orion-space-capsule-test-flight.html
 - wow, I thought we were behind on this project, oh wait, that was the horribly executed SLS. How did they manage to screw up everything in both the analysis and design phases? I mean they wrote the book on Systems Eng and SDLC.

www.space.com/27669-orbital-sciences-rocket-explosion-soviet-engines.html
 - they're not gonna use the 40 year old (built) engines anymore. yay.


EDIT: Forgot Virgin Galactic news
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20141106/US-Space-Tourism-Virgin-Galactic/ - looks to resume tests in 2015
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-ntsb-will-have-no-quick-answers-after-virgin-galactic-405675/
www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/06/us-space-crash-virgin-new-idUSKBN0IQ02920141106
http://www.betawired.com/ntsb-theorizes-miscommunication-may-have-led-to-virgin-galactic-crash/1415503/
- Feathering system deployed early 
http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2014/141112.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOSNVJzZn90
- NTSB last daily briefing

TECH:

http://news.microsoft.com/2014/11/12/microsoft-takes-net-open-source-and-cross-platform-adds-new-development-capabilities-with-visual-studio-2015-net-2015-and-visual-studio-online/
- Interesting ... open source big leagues now?
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-open-source-more-of-net-and-bring-it-to-linux-mac-os-x-7000035716/
- Still wouldn't trust them with my dev environment though. Even after all those great trust building things they've done in the past. /sarcasm

Flying cars - the Jetsons are go; Star Citizen updates including a really cool graphics webpage

Here's some news of cool stuff so my posts this week aren't all disheartening.

Here's a video of a testflight of a car that turns into a plane and back again!




 __________________________breaking like a boss___________________________________________


Here's a: really cool webpage showcasing a data-based (interception, hacking, courier, transfer) spaceship from Star Citizen.

If you're logged in, it has a nice personalisation showing your profile as the only one not yet eliminated! =P There's also a nifty 'decrypt page' button to reveal the unscrambled data on the webpage. =)

Also, release 13 or Arena Commander v0.9.2 has been released: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14258-Arena-Commander-092-Released

Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashes with a test pilot killed.

Unfortunately, more sad news this week, this time all the more sadder with a death and another in hospital.

No doubt this disaster will take a toll on the Virgin Galactic team as it did on Burt Rutan in 2007.

Looks like another engine failure for this week, this time with a solid rocket that apparently exploded. They have already tested powered flights 3 times and unpowered - gliding flights over 20 times.
I've always liked liquid engines more with their increased capabilities including throttling and manual engine stop, which is obviously a plus for safety.

With SpaceX making things look so easy (including soft-landings on the ocean) with their in-house manufactured and tested Falcon 9 (and Merlin engines), these recent events have reminded us all of how dangerous the frontier of space can be, especially with rocket engines being in a whole different class compared to conventional combustion engines or even turbojet engines you'd get in airplanes.

BBC has more coverage. (with eye witnesses)

and so does Space.com (warning, Space.com's 2nd video has slightly graphic description of the aftermath).

SpaceX landing on floating platform in the ocean CONFIRMED! =P && Antares (by Orbital Sciences) explodes. =( UPDATED

SpaceX landing on floating platform in the ocean CONFIRMED! =P

So Elon Musk has confirmed SpaceX will attempt to land on a floating platform 90m*50m for their next Falcon 9 flight. YAY!

Florida Today:

He estimated no better than a 50-50 chance of a successful platform landing on the first attempt.
[...]
"So I think we're quite close," he said.

SpaceNews.com:

“We actually have a huge platform that’s being constructed in a shipyard in Louisiana right now,” Musk said in the interview, which was webcast live. He described the platform as about 90 meters long by 50 meters wide. “We’re going to try and land on that on the next flight.

“There’s at least a dozen launches that will occur over the next 12 months,” Musk said. “I think it’s quite likely — probably 80 to 90 percent likely — that one of those flights will be able to land and refly.”

Space.com coverage: www.space.com/27538-spacex-reusable-rocket-test.html


_________________________________________________________

Antares (by Orbital Sciences) explodes. =(

Sadly, the Antares rocket has exploded seconds after launch for their CRS-3 mission:


From simple visual inspection of this video, it seems like an engine failure for one or both engines - from the small engine flash and subsequent smoke; (or other failure causing engine flame-out or automatic shutdown). Subsequently, with no thrust, the rocket fell back to earth and the impact caused the big explosion.

Cargo carried included normal CRS foodstuffs, experiments, etc, and the Arkyd3 - a testbed for Planetary Resources' telescope satellites, including one which was Kickstarted (including a contribution from yours truly). 

According to Wikipedia, Orbital Sciences hasn't had that many failures, with successes in all Minotaur vehicles and the Pegasus with 3 outright failures and 2 partial successes (on primary payload) early in their launch history.Note that this is in line with many launch vehicle companies including SpaceX, whose Falcon 1 platform was their testbed which failed 3 out of 5 times.

However, SpaceX's Falcon 9 has had no failures except 1 secondary payload failure over its 13 total launches these last 4 years. Add to that: NASA pays $1.6 billion to SpaceX to deliver cargo over 12 missions while they have to pay $1.9 billion to Orbital Sciences for only 8 missions. Add to that each mission delivering more cargo in the Dragon by mass than Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft. The Cygnus is only superior in delivering more pressurized volume than the Dragon, and can't return cargo to Earth like the Dragon does.

Talk about SpaceX cutting costs and competition savings! (The citizens of USA should be glad SpaceX is now able to compete for USAF/DoD/NRO contracts.) I'm glad it's SpaceX that won the CCDev contract, and has a really cool Dragon V2 crewed spacecraft coming out, designed for reusability and landing by thruster functionality. Hurray for SpaceX reusability - providing sustainable and cheaper access to space!

Dailymail's coverage, in-depth: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2810128/Ready-liftoff-Nighttime-rocket-launch-International-Space-Station-visible-East-Coast.html
Space.com's coverage, editor promises updates on this page:
www.space.com/27576-private-orbital-sciences-rocket-explosion.html

UPDATE:

More about the accident and engine here: http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/42340antares-rocket-explodes-after-liftoff includes spectator video and sound of explosion:


Press conference at 9pm ET (12pm AEDT, now) on Nasa TV

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

More updates to follow probably; from conference:
Emphasis of launch/rocket science and space science being hard (obviously). No injuries, only lost hardware.
Orbital Sciences - will investigate what's wrong, solve the problem and prevent future problems.
Investigation includes evaluating debris (like aircraft investigations [like ATSB]!) - don't touch debris, could be dangerous.
Wallops - good range clearing of safety area.
ISS - incl crew in good shape, have supplies for at least 4-6months always, Progress spacecraft tomorrow, SpaceX on Dec 9, quite a bit of research hardware lost and spare hardware.

Investigation data and everything locked down until investigation process goes through; wait for daytime for debris collecting. Solid propellant burning in area. Contract - provides for ability to eventually get hardware lost on this flight to orbit, Orbital compensates NASA if they don't reach orbit. Launchpad could be damaged, tank pressure sensor readings still available and holding pressure - extent of damage not known until fully investigated.
Engine failure observed in telemetry and visually ~T+10s and range then sent the destruct command ~T+20s, before it hit the ground.
Investigation: Orbital in command, supported very well by NASA and MARS (@Wallops), debris in morning, cameras, telemetry/data. Orbital obviously won't fly until they know and correct the problem.
Insurance - Orbital does have various/some amounts of insurance on their launches.
Engines - Orbital chose to go with this (Russian) engine as there weren't many choices for powerplants of this size, especially in USA, and it was extensively tested and has proved robust. They've also chosen another engine for future Antares, according to the link above providing the video of spectator view. Wonder if they considered using SpaceX's engines =P

Hoverboards are here!

Nerdist explains:
http://www.nerdist.com/2014/10/its-finally-here-a-hoverboard-you-might-actually-buy/
The Hendo hoverboard uses Lenz law which means it uses currents in the medium below to create magnetic fields to repel those on the hoverboard.

So water can have currents in it, but will that be enough to hover? And you'd probably need rockets to propel you like with Marty McFly's adversary right? =P

Want one? Grab one for $10k at the kickstarter or a dev kit for $300:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/142464853/hendo-hoverboards-worlds-first-real-hoverboard

Elon Musk Unveils the 'D' and something else

I really like it when Elon talks nerdy. So Elon Musk unveiled the 'D' - dual motor version of the Model S which means it actually now has better fuel/battery efficiency than the single motor version! The weight is offset by the efficiency gained by dynamically shifting power between front and rear motors during the drive! Check out his reveal below.



But the highlight has to be the autopilot! I've been wanting a car with significant driver assist features like those introduced in the video above. I mean, it's like a bat-mobile (ultrasonics anyone?)! I'm surprised they didn't put the rear-view camera into the sensor mix for autopilot, but I guess the ultrasonics is a much more reliable input, and they could always add in the extra sensor input via software updates. Every car for the past 2 weeks has come from the Tesla factory with all the autopilot hardware!

Features like full computer control, driving to where you want on your private property via your synced calendar (e.g. main entrance to pick you up for work/[LAN] party). He made a Metal Gear Solid pun too!! While telling his engineers of a new feature he'd like!! xDDD Now I'm thinking - forget the Model 3 as my future car purchase when I actually earn full-time, I'm going for the Model S with autopilot second hand haha.

Here are the Autopilot Sensors:
Radar - see through stuff like fog, I'm thinking because of the larger wavelength.
Forward Camera -  CV ftw.
360 Ultrasonar - apparently senses soft material like flesh really well
Satellite/Nav - Includes traffic info (like the creepy Google ones)

Here's Tesla's blogpost. Also, the video below shows the test-drive ride inside:


On the stock note, it dropped a bit after the hype from the twitter post, but Elon's not worried and neither am I. Elon's in this for the sustainability standpoint of long-term sustainable energy use and transportation. Fossil fuels will never be sustainable nor clean.

UAV OutBack Challenge update & Bonus Space Pic

As expected, CanberraUAV - who almost completed the UAV Outback Challenge last time - won the challenge, taking home $50k in prize money. 2 years ago they failed only because their bottle deployed unintentionally during flight. This year, they got the bottle within 3 metres (2.6) of Outback Joe (who they're trying to find and rescue with a bottle, in this S&R competition scenario).

Here's a great write-up debrief by them:   (obligatory iframe)

Make sure to check out the really cool software they put up on github! And also that documentation repo. One of the coolest things about CanberraUAV is how open they are (as in open-source), and how much they share with other teams!

Unfortunately, while the Monash UAS team's (which I joined recently) plane flew very well, they couldn't find Joe. I'll be going to the internal debrief on Tuesday and hopefully learn more, as well as try and locate Joe using (augmentations of) our software from our data gathered.


______________________________________________________________________

Space pretties incoming! Check this photo! (link to NASA APOD page)
Much wow. So mind-bend - how?!. Also check out a lot of the guy's other really cool photos. I obviously really like the aurora photos in his gallery.

Star Citizen claims Guiness World Record - Most Crowdfunded Project Overall

Hey guys, I (kind of) got into the Guiness Book of World Records!!! (well CIG did, but I backed Star Citizen so ... =P)

Guiness Book of World Records 2015, page 17:
- Flash/HTML version
- SEO version

And this was when Star Citizen had raised $39.6 million back in March, and it's now over $55 million!!! Note that sponsorships and subscriber monies do NOT count towards the total you see on the funding goals webpage.

In the latest Letter From the Chairman, Chris Roberts describes CIG's budgeting planning, and how 'feature-creep' is actually part of the agile development process, with "creeped" features coming after Persistent Universe v1.0 release, although others may come before that since they're able to with increased funding, like higher fidelity ship models.
Go agile! (I'm glad I'm being taught Agile at my current uni, whereas I in the previous one I only touched waterfall/Vmodel. Maybe it's because I switched from hardware to software, but the idealogy should be taught/learnt anyway!)

You can also see other crowdfunded projects (also on page 16, it's a double page spread), including the pebble smartwatch (which came out before all the latest watches like Samsung, Sony and Apple's current-gen offerings). It features e-ink which is cooler and less battery draining than LED/LCD but is monochrome. I wrote about both Star Citizen and Pebble last year here. 

Footage of the inside of the LOX tank on a SpaceX F9

So while I was watching the recent Falcon 9 (CRS-4) launch by SpaceX (video embed below),

I saw this image but did not know what it was:

This happens at 24mins in the above video (or T+9:15)

Nerdist says it's actually the insides of the LOX tank. SpaceX has outdone my expectations - attaching a camera inside the cryogenic fuel tank at hardcore pressures and temperatures below −182.96 °C or 90K.

More videos of things like the capture by ISS and berthing of the mission can be found on the livestream event page (also the first link in this post). The only thing we didn't see this mission? The reusability videos of the 1st stage booster soft-landing on water like in previous launches.

Again, another job well done by SpaceX. (We still have Dragon capsule recovery, to go though).

Nvidia launches GTX 980, GTX 970

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/maxwell-architecture-gtx-980-970



Wonder if the "Advanced Maxwell Architecture" is different to my 750 Ti's Maxwell Architecture meaning I won't get the same driver functionality nearer to its end of life .. =(
My 8400 GS is now stuck on Nvidia's 340.x Binary driver.

Ah well, with Star Citizen supporting Linux, and probably going the OGL route for that through CryEngine's Linux builds, there'll be no need for DX 12 (which nVidia promised for current cards anyway). MS is also now on board Khronos, if only for the WebGL part (since IE sucks in that department).

Also, with Khronos asking for OGL Next (or nicknamed 5.0) comments/proposals when they announced OGL 4.5, I'll be waiting until OGL 5.0 hardware comes out for my next graphics purchase. I'm glad I moved away from notebook gaming though - that was breaking the bank for less than half the performance (for similar model names' mobile versions).

SpaceX and Boeing win the Commercial Crew contracts as expected

The spacecraft will be SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 flying on the companies' own launch vehicles Falcon 9 and Atlas V (by ULA - with Lockheed) respectively. 

Sierra Nevada's mini-shuttle atop an Atlas V proposal did not win, but they want to continue to develop it, even without the NASA contract. 

USAtoday.com link:

Worth up to $6.8 billion combined, the contracts include at least one crewed test flight to the station, then two to six operational flights of four-person crews.

"Today we're one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia by 2017."

NASA awarded Boeing significantly more money, up to $4.2 billion compared to $2.6 billion for SpaceX. That apparently reflects the higher cost of Boeing's proposal, as NASA said the proposals covered the same amount of work.

The savings in launch costs already seen in SpaceX even without the reusable program's cost reductions seems to have been translated into commercial crew costs as well.

"Boeing has been part of every American human space flight program, and we're honored that NASA has chosen us to continue that legacy," said John Elbon, Boeing vice president and general manager for Space Exploration, in a statement.
Added SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: "SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us. We welcome today's decision and the mission it advances with gratitude and seriousness of purpose."

NASA would not say how many proposals it received or discuss their details, saying it was still debriefing the companies.
The agency would not confirm if the new commercial spacecraft offer a significantly better value per seat than the $70 million NASA is paying for Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

 In a surprise to many, Boeing has partnered with Blue Origin, the startup founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, to develop an engine that could potentially replace the Atlas V's Russian-made main engine, whose continued availability is considered a risk.

Video of announcement:

Information on the spacecraft:

I've already posted about the Dragon one here before (video of reveal with both physical mockup, animations of launch cycle included and Elon Musk - it's really cool!). 

Space.com link - includes videos of both launch vehicle and spacecraft's launch cycle as well as interior/layouts.

SpaceX news updates (external video of F9R landing!)

So a rocket basically exploded, hasn't happened to my knowledge since Falcon 1 series. It was only a test vehicle (grasshopper with 3 merlin engines) and it was according to system definitions - auto-terminated once parameters weren't right.

Three engine F9R Dev1 vehicle auto-terminated during test flight. No injuries or near injuries. Rockets are tricky …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2014

.@SpaceX statement on 8/22 F9R test in McGregor, Texas: pic.twitter.com/p7JL5VoQlP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 23, 2014

Here's the video of it exploding:

Failure is good, helps them make their rockets better and more reliable! =) Having played KSP I'm surprised this hasn't happened in a while (in a test vehicle for SpaceX) haha.

The "Failsafe" reminds me of that in the requirements in the autopilot for the UAV Outback Challenge. Recently joined the Monash team, one of the many advantages of a university with a larger cohort - enough people to make teams for this kind of stuff! =)

Video of Falcon 9 first stage landing on water. Extra cool!


Previously I reported on an on-board video of the landing, check it out at this link!

VLC for lectures, talks with slides etc.

So for many lecture recordings where the video is recorded in low fps (around 2 fps) and especially when you're watching them at speeds other than 1x, I've found that VLC usually doesn't update the video with the new video when it should (e.g. slide change). It can be fixed by disabling video track, then enabling it again.

However, to fix it properly, you can goto Preferences (Advanced/All) -> Video
Then uncheck the "Drop late frames" checkbox. I did not need to uncheck "Skip frames". And that fixed it, yay!

The return of the ISEE 3

http://spacecraftforall.com/home


Great website with cool interactive documentary-like experience! Check it out! Also, it'll be live-streaming the fly-by of the moon in a few hours (Sunday, August 10th 10:30am PT - 12:00pm PT) , but I'll be asleep. Also includes live data anytime! =)

This whole project was crowdfunded and they (the hackers/makers) work in a hackerspace/mission-control in an old Maccas building! Lol! And with NASA's blessing =) Them talking about *SCIENCE* so much reminds me of stuff like Portal, xkcd, KSP (get them science points!) haha.

Also, great post about SoftwareDefinedRadio; been meaning to get my HAM radio callsign sometime soon ...

Also, the initial swing-bys to get to the 1st comet flown through by man is so cool and complicated, it reminded me of an epic version of this:

I mean, orbiting in one plane is hard enough to learn (in a fun way) in KSP. Add in polar plane and crazy manoeuvres and orbits like Quasi-Zenith and I have to spend more time wrapping my head around more simulations, models and reading.
P.S. My short-term goal is to build and launch a (nano)sat in one of them Quasi-Zenith orbits servicing Australia =P Hopefully I'll get to crowdfunding when I've actually done work on it xP.

Security and ROMs

http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/10/xiaomi-privacy-issue-cloud-messaging/
So apparently anyone could've just read all your messages and a lot of your contact details.

Earlier this week, Finland's F-Secure looked into claims that Xiaomi was secretly sending data from its MIUI-powered phones back to its servers, and it turned out to be true. Despite having not added any cloud accounts, F-Secure's brand new Redmi 1s -- Xiaomi's budget smartphone -- still beamed its carrier name, phone number, IMEI (the device identifier) plus numbers from the address book and text messages back to Beijing. Worse yet, the data was unencrypted, thus allowing F-Secure and potentially anyone to, well, get to know your Xiaomi phone very easily. Earlier this week, Finland's F-Secure looked into claims that Xiaomi was secretly sending data from its MIUI-powered phones back to its servers, and it turned out to be true. Despite having not added any cloud accounts, F-Secure's brand new Redmi 1s -- Xiaomi's budget smartphone -- still beamed its carrier name, phone number, IMEI (the device identifier) plus numbers from the address book and text messages back to Beijing. Worse yet, the data was unencrypted, thus allowing F-Secure and potentially anyone to, well, get to know your Xiaomi phone very easily.

This is partly the reason why I never touched MIUI.
But then in the end, it's pick NSA or MSS, or both. Like Skype, I'd think it highly probably Wechat and other similar apps reported to their home governments with juicy data. Lots and lots and lots of meta data.

____________________________________________________________________________


Also, I have been upgraded to a Sony Xperia Z1 from my Desire HD ("Karuu") this year, which I used after upgrading from the Dopod WinMo5-6 in 2010/2011. In light of my recent rooting and flashing exploits, and having experienced rooting and flashing custom ROMs on HTC (Desire HD), Samsung (S III, Tab), Sony (Z1), ASUS (TF300T), Yuandao (N90), Dopod/HTC (838 Pro), Zopo (ZP950) devices, and dealing with each manufacturer's quirks, here are a list of tips I should follow (while also following my flash guide/checklist):

1. Do these even when you've done this many times, because a false (or true) sense of proficiency can be misleading and lead to mistakes being made. 
2. Read everything, then re-read it! (Luckily most chefs/devs highlight potentially bricking hazards with warnings in red text. But still read everything in the OPs, and if more info is needed straight after OPs and latest posts in the thread and use search within thread/sub-forum).
3. Don't assume each sub-forum (for each device on xda) is similar. Know your sub-forum by exploring. Also, each device handles differently.
4. Plan the whole process - like using the waterfall methodology in SDLC. Know your aim, and define each step of how to get there. (Regain workable recovery: try flashing this 1st via fastboot, if that doesn't work, then ... etc.) 

This would save lots of headaches and having to do work-arounds which take literally hours longer than I'd have had to if I'd read (all the related threads!), understood, planned it out properly and followed the steps. This is one process where the Agile model way of doing things would work poorly, costing you more time. (And probably brick your device if you're not careful).
When you start trying the more labour-intensive/involved 'solutions', you start losing your shorter simple options because of wipes and incompatibilities between different partitions of your device. It's kind of like in cooking how you can always add more X but once it's mixed in, you can't take X out.

You can see why people operators like NASA, SpaceX, pilots, etc. have a pre-flight/launch checklist and the whole launch sequence timelines. One little mistake can have catastrophic consequences (not just bricking a device, more like death).

1st interview published online

So another Star Citizen post. With a very Linux-y twist. Here's all the previous SC related posts.

1st interview published on web-@CzenStar:New Org Profile: #StarCitizen's own #Linux User Group http://t.co/TJms4Iur0n pic.twitter.com/7FwhkDlNVB
— V C (@pd_12) August 9, 2014

I've blogged a bit before but never have had anyone blog about me (I think ...)
Here's my first interview published online! It's about our 'org' (i.e. clan, guild, outfit, etc. in the Star Citizen universe) called "Linux Users Group", based on the LUGs around the world. (Link is to Australia, VIC LUGs but hey, that's where I am =P)

Obligatory iframe for this momentous (=P) occasion:


It'd be great for anyone interested in Linux to join our LUG org! It'd also be cool to see you in the Unofficial Linux Thread. Hope to see you around the verse!

P.S. recently re-watched some Firefly (among other things) on my new 1080p 3D TV setup with 5.1 =3