The Jorno Bluetooth keyboard that I backed on Kickstarter is now available to purchase. Not the worst keyboard the consider…
Category Archives: Gadgets
Open-Sankoré Alternative: OpenBoard
Open-Sankoré does not work with OS X Yosemite. If you run the program in OS X 10.10, Open-Sankoré closes immediately. The only workaround I have discovered is rolling back to OS X 10.9 (Mavericks). The Open-Sankoré website does not provide much insight on when this issue might be fixed. However, it looks like there may be an alternative…
OpenBoard
Using Google Translate, I can see that SEM-Logistics and Christian Oihenart have released a version of OpenBoard that works on OS X Yosemite (although there is apparently a small bug in the display of the dock). I have not installed or tested OpenBoard, and have no idea how well this might work, but it is now on my radar.
Update: 30th July, 2015
The old link to OpenBoard is dead. This new one seems to work.
Jorno – My New Bluetooth Keyboard
The Jorno Arrives
I started to write this a month ago, and just posted now… Probably not terribly excited about the new keyboard.
Unboxing The Jorno
A new Bluetooth folding keyboard arrived on my doorstep yesterday, this was the Jorno. It had taken several years to get to me, being a Kickstarter campaign I had supported back in 2013.
The Jorno
So was it worth the wait?
Folded
Sort of. The Jorno is aesthetically pleasing, and seems to be fairly solidly constructed. For those situations where I need a portable keyboard that packs easily into a bag or jacket pocket, then this will be the one that I use (until I find something better). I have a Reudo folding keyboard, that is a tad smaller and lighter, but the Jorno feels a little better constructed. I have an old Stowaway, that is considerable smaller and lighter, but the Stowaway only has three lines of keys – making things less convenient through the use of chording to access numeric keys.
Reudo Folding Keyboard and the Jorno
However, the promise of the Jorno feels to be far more exciting that the reality. The promised folding mechanism of the prototype was something that excited me. What I type on now is far more prosaic. Particularly given the numerous missed deadlines to get this keyboard to market. Other KickStarter backers were incensed by the lack of updates from Scott Starrett over the past few years. I don’t think they are going to be mollified by what has now been delivered.
Yosemity? – Microsoft Remote Desktop
Yosemity
I love this message found inside Microsoft Remote Desktop.
Open-Sankoré Error – Don’t Update to OS X Yosemite
If using Open-Sankoré, don’t make the mistake I made and update to OS X 10.10 Yosemite. I learnt this the hard way. The Open-Sankoré website does not post this prominently, but Open-Sankoré will not run on Yosemite (there are some discussions hidden away on the support boards). According to their Open-Sankoré Facebook page, Open-Sankoré will be updated in late November and should work again. The Facebook message reads as follows:
Unfortunately we know this problem for a few weeks with the beta version. Apple changed several important elements that prevents QT to work correctly in Yosemite. We will work to correct this problem as soon as possible (probably late November). Thank you for your patience.
Only workaround at the moment is to rollback to OS X Mavericks. This can be done, but might be a tad painful.
Update (24th November, 2014)
Looks like January of 2015 is when Open-Sankoré is most likely to be updated (according to this post) to work with OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Not Quite Hyperlapse
http://youtu.be/UTobgbfKWLM
Started messing about with Google Glass again. I had hoped to see if I could take footage with the Glass camera, and then process this with Hyperlapse. Unfortunately, that option is not available at the moment. I used Screenflow to speed things up.
Scopia Documentation
Scopia is one of the systems we have been using at work. When I am unsure of how to get something to work, this is where I go for documentation. Saving this here, just in case my book link gets lost.
Captioning (Subtitles) and Transcription On The Cheap
One idea that has been bouncing about my head, but I have yet to fully investigate, is creating captions/subtitles on the cheap. Paying a third party to provide this transcription service can get expensive – you can expect to pay $1 a minute, although there are places where you can go for a cheaper deal.
However, there are automated services like Siri, OS X Dictation, or Dragon Dictate. YouTube will automatically create a transcript when you upload a video (although the accuracy might not be there), and this text file can be downloaded and edited.
My thoughts are to take a regular video recording, and then parse it into one of these services. I just have not got round to this yet, but may give it a go soon.
Dragon Dictate looks like it has part of this capability, but costs about $200 and works with one voice only (no good for interviews).
The two approaches that look like they will work best for me (for free) are:
- Uploading an audio or video file to YouTube, and then editing the transcribed text file.
- Using Soundflower to send an audio file into the OS X Dictation service. This post from Level Up Lunch describes the process.
Option 1 is the way to go with video. The process here is going to synch the transcription with the video. Option 2 will be realtime, but could be useful for situations where I do not have Internet connectivity, or just want a text file.
My First Chicago Geekfest Meetup
I experienced my first Chicago Geekfest Meetup yesterday. The meetups take place every Tuesday at the local Groupon offices. Yesterday’s session was a series of lightning talks:
- Components of an Effective Onboarding Program (Ashish Dixit)
- Running a Successful Meetup from Day One (Brian Kung)
- Static website generation using LambdaPad (Garrett Smith)
- Email Integration Into Your App Using Obindo (Chuck Kreuser)
- Greenscreen: Digital signage, powered by Chromecast (Chris Powers)
Video recordings of the presentations should be up soon on Vimeo.
Livescribe Desktop Software Updates
Livescribe is making some significant changes to the desktop software used with the Echo and Pulse pens. Detailed information on the changes can be found here.