Going Open Source with "Python + Wii = Intuitive Control"

Hey everyone, I have prepared a short document explaining the source code. The document is available along with the rest of the source and presentation files. Click here to download the same. If you are having trouble with the link, you can also visit my talk's page on the PyCon 2010 website and download the files from there. I've recently uploaded all the source onto the PyCon website. Click here to go to my PyCon page.

The documentation is about five pages and takes you through a line by line break down of the code for the first three applications of the presentation. Why only the first three!!!?!?! Well, I feel that they are the one's that lay the foundation of the concepts used in all the other applications. These were also the one's I spent the most time developing, simply as I had no precedents or references to begin with. The others just flowed as my understanding of the PyQt4 framework grew.

The applications which seemed to arouse maximum interest were the two games and the touchless workspace (or the puzzle). Those applications have NOT been covered in this document. I would like you to fathom those on your own. They are not very complicated. Those apps are more about the UI than about the Nintendo Wii. I would like anyone downloading this project to give those applications a shot after having fully understood the basics.

And besides, I'm only an email away ;-) Enjoy the Wii, and remember that you are only limited by your imagination!

My PyCon 2010, Bangalore

It was my first PyCon, and honestly, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't the least bit nervous. I haven't felt the "butterflies" in my stomach for a while, and I was quite apprehensive about how my talk would be received by the Python community.

But the atmosphere at PyCon, really put me at ease and I'm grateful to one and all, organizer and attendee, for giving me the opportunity to share my ideas with programmers and enthusiasts from all over the country.

A special thanks to Noufal, who incidentally, was the first person I came across at the venue.

In tune with my promise of sharing the source of my talk, I have uploaded the source files and they are available for download here. The file is a tar file, simply decompress it and use the wiigrab module. You may follow the sequence of examples as demonstrated in the presentation. Please ensure that you have the following packages installed before running the source:

• python-cwiid
• xautomation
• python-qt4

The source would run smoothly on Ubuntu, provided these dependencies are met. I will be publishing more documentation shortly, explaining the structure of the source (something I couldn't do during the talk due to the shortage of time).

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any queries or suggestions. Thanks again!

How to make your blog mobile friendly in 5 mins!

If you have a lot of traffic coming from cell phone users, you might want to optimise your content for the cell phone browser. Its smaller, less powerful and is content centric. Almost all blogs have some sort of syndication using RSS or atom feeds.

http://www.mippin.com is a site that lets you distribute your blog in a mobile friendly format, using your blog's feed. Its a simple 3 step procedure and you can even host your mobile site through mippin.com, just don't forget to put a link to the mobile site on your blog template. I've added mine using my blog description (yes, it is just HTML).

Do visit the mobile version, preferably using a cell phone. Happy moBLOGGING!

Blogging from my s60...

My first blog post from my s60 phone. Feels like heaven. I've been searching for a mobile blogging client for quite a while now, and until today, i didn't have a viable solution. I came across Wavelog and within 5 minutes of using the trial version, i was hooked. You can even embed images and videos. Check out this video embedded straight out of youtube:

Ek Titli @ PyCon, India 2010

Ektitli is an initiative that strives for a cleaner environment through proactivity, real world thinking and youthful effervescence. Today, I do mother earth proud by matching my step with EKT, hoping that one day, the grass is "green" everywhere I see.

I will be promoting their cause at PyCon India, 2010. Help me make this happen. On behalf of the EKT team, I call upon my fellow pythonistas, to open their minds and their code editors and help contribute towards the growth of this movement in anyway they can.

Together, we can redeem our planet... and what better way to do it than coding all the way! Visit ektitli.org for more info about the initiative.