Here is a record of my process of converting, mostly, my old Kaddressbook / Kapi VCard file to Google Contacts.
I have decided to move over to Google contacts as my main address book, at least for a trial stage.
So I needed to get as much of my data from my old address book, Kapi, based on Kabc / Kaddressbook / Kontact. I used it previously because it was the main one supported by my old organizer, a Sharp Zaurus and on my PC. I have not had my Zaurus for quite a few years.
So here are my notes from the conversion process, in case anyone else still needs to do this.
It will be of little use to all but a very few.
The majority of the work was done per:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3113756.0
This was with Debian Python package: python-vobject version 0.8.1c-3
I had to also remove some strings in notes, as Python's replacements in vobject base.py backslashEscape did not like it.
One issue was a "," in the ORG field.
So trying just "," removal. Could not do globally, since a VCARD field seperator.
My most common usage was ", Inc.", so replaced that case with " Inc.". Would be nice to change only in the ORG rows, but that would require more complexity than I am willing right now. Instead I did:
in vim, my favorite text editor,
repeatedly:
:/^ORG:.*,/s/,/COMMA/g
I recommend learning the q macro feature of vim, so you can "repeatedly" by just doing "500000@a"
Another issue is "\n" in ADR field
repeatedly:
:/^ADR:.*\\n/s/\\n/ -- /g
:/^ADR;.*\\n/s/\\n/ -- /g
Need to handle " " continued second lines.
Could also remove from all " " continued second lines, even though no issue in NOTE: fields.
:/^ .*\\n/s/\\n/ -- /g
Could instead remove \n from all lines following ADR
/^ADR<CR>s/\\n/ -- /ge<CR>j:s/\\n/ -- /ge
I chose second, as I have many newlines in notes. Using a q / @ macro made it doable.
The newlines still stayed "\n" in Google though, so not very clean looking.
If it causes problems when split accross lines, that will be harder to catch.
There was one case of it, which the Python errored on. So I could find it to manually edit.
Also had to clean up leftover bad formatting, most likely from copying and pasting into the addressbook program.
ROLE:Text with extra newline at end\r\n
ROLE:Text with extra newline at end\r\n - More text
ORG:Text with extra newline / return at end\r
TEL;TYPE=home:(###)###-####\r --
N:Family_name\r;Given_name;;;
N:Family_name\n;Given_name;;;
etc.
I just deleted one line of this form, since it did not make sense:
LABEL;TYPE=work:#####\r -- Address Text.
More non-fatal, but data losing issues:
Comma seems also to be an issue in NOTE: ROLE:, TEL, NICKNAME:, and EMAIL: fields. It does not error, but it truncates at the comma.
repeatedly:
:/^NOTE:.*,/s/,/COMMA/g
:/^ROLE:.*,/s/,/COMMA/g
:/^TEL.*,/s/,/COMMA/g
:/^NICKNAME.*,/s/,/COMMA/g
:/^ .*,/s/,/COMMA/g
Space may be used in second line of many fields, but few where commas are allowed that I know of. One that caused problems is CATEGORIES.
So, manually find:
:s/COMMA/,/g
and I hope I caught all of them.
EMAIL is a special case, because used publically. So instead of "COMMA", change to " ".
repeatedly:
:/^EMAIL:.*,/s/,/ /g
Semicolon seems also to be an issue in NOTE: field, if at end of line, or in the case seen followed be a space at end of line ("; ), that is continued. It does not error, but it truncates at the semicolon, and adds a \.
Manually edited.
Change X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-IMAddress: to X-JABBER
:/^X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-IMAddress:/s/X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-IMAddress:/X-JABBER:/
Items tried to change, but did not seem to work:
Change X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Gender: to X-GENDER
:/^X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Gender:/s/X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Gender/X-GENDER/
Change X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Children: to X-CHILDREN:
:/^X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Children:/s/X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Children:/X-CHILDREN:/
Remove commas and semicolons
:/^X-CHILDREN:.*,/s/,/ /g
:/^X-CHILDREN:.*;/s/;/ /g
Here are ones that are not easily converted. Could add to Note section manually, but too much work for me.
Details: Office
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Office:
Details: Profession
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Profession:
Details: Manager's name
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-ManagersName:managers name
Details: Assistant's name
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-AssistantsName:assistants name
Misc: Keys: not used by me.
KEY;TYPE=PGP:
Images: Photo/Logo as URL not tested.
GEO:
a standard form, seems, but not supported by Google.
Details: Department
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Department:
often contains commas.
ORG:organization;department should be used.
Then follow the procedure in
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3113756.0
Once I got an acceptably good vcf file, I deleted all my old Google contacts (from a previous half-hearted import attempt, by going to Google Voice. There allows deleting all at once, as opposed to contacts.gooogle.com, which only lets one page at a time be deleted.
Then imported the file.
Then lamented how long this took, and that I am still missing data.
Ah, well. Good enough.
DropBox usage tip: Pseudo-secure sharing
Dropbox is a free 2 Gig cloud file storage service. It also allows sharing files.
To give a mid level of security, you might consider using the public directory, but adding 8 random characters to the directory name of each share.
Dropbox does not let users see the directory contents, but lets anyone access if they know the full file URL.
If I was to regularly start sharing, I would do something like:
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company A/2011-11-30-2tVhh2E8/file.zip
which equals download URL http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7099970/Shared%20with%20Company%2A/2011-11-30-2tVhh2E8/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company B/2011-11-30-RrH8HZ5k/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company A/2011-12-01-F7XyvwXj/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company B/2011-12-02-Jh5Ts2GE/file.zip
These would get shortened via dropbox's URL shortener to
http://db.tt/ABCDEFGH , but the expansion would be seen afterward.
A regular pattern would be easy to predict.
Adding a string acts as a password. The password generator I use is built into the LastPass web browsing plugin, but many are available.
The more hassle option is to have all users join dropbox, and then the sharer selects who to share files / folders with. For my sharing applications, that was not an option.
Here is my Drop box referral code if you ever want to use it: http://db.tt/c9XSDu3r.
Enjoy.
To give a mid level of security, you might consider using the public directory, but adding 8 random characters to the directory name of each share.
Dropbox does not let users see the directory contents, but lets anyone access if they know the full file URL.
If I was to regularly start sharing, I would do something like:
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company A/2011-11-30-2tVhh2E8/file.zip
which equals download URL http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7099970/Shared%20with%20Company%2A/2011-11-30-2tVhh2E8/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company B/2011-11-30-RrH8HZ5k/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company A/2011-12-01-F7XyvwXj/file.zip
DropBox_Dir/Public/Shared with Company B/2011-12-02-Jh5Ts2GE/file.zip
These would get shortened via dropbox's URL shortener to
http://db.tt/ABCDEFGH , but the expansion would be seen afterward.
A regular pattern would be easy to predict.
Adding a string acts as a password. The password generator I use is built into the LastPass web browsing plugin, but many are available.
The more hassle option is to have all users join dropbox, and then the sharer selects who to share files / folders with. For my sharing applications, that was not an option.
Here is my Drop box referral code if you ever want to use it: http://db.tt/c9XSDu3r.
Enjoy.
Originally posted 11/30/2011 5:12 PM EST.
Updated 2/4/2013 to fix 2 typos. Also adding note below:
Note creating a db.tt short link decreases security. It provides a less secure way to access it, although it would be only be discoverable by pure random checking of many short links, not limited to any particular user.
"180" Movie
I thought this was worthy of publicity:
The "180" Movie shows how unthinking of history, and of our repetition of history, we as Americans are.
It is one thing to make a choice; it is another to not realize the choice being made.
The "180" Movie shows how unthinking of history, and of our repetition of history, we as Americans are.
It is one thing to make a choice; it is another to not realize the choice being made.
Blog introduction, including how to attach files
Here is a bit of information about getting started with blogging. To put it another way, this is an introduction to using the free site, BlogSpot, to communicate with people.
The name BlogSpot and Blogger are both used for this service. BlogSpot is the name of the site, and Blogger is the name of the interface. However, that is a fuzzy line. I will just call it all Blogger. An overview of Blogger is available in the Blogger Getting Started guide at Blogger's Help site.
The main blog sites as of mid-2010 are Blogger, Tumblr, and WordPress. Blogger is most popular, and the one I would recommend.
Picture Size limits
Blogger has a limit of 1 gigabyte on the total number of pictures on the site. This is a lot, but not enough that you would want to waste space by putting large high resolution pictures up. That size space is also shared with the Picasa service, so usage of that service would reduce space available for Blogger. In any case, high resolution pictures would take up too much screen space on the page. I might worry slightly about running into the size limit over years and years of posting. 1 Gig could be about 2,000 pictures, which would be little over seven and a half years for five pictures a week. However, I hope the size limit will go up in the future as storage space gets cheaper and cheaper. If the time comes that you do run into the limit, two options are to export older blog posts to another site, or to pay for extra storage at Picasa / Google.
Posting
Publishing, also known as posting, is a matter of either going to the host site and typing in the message, or e-mailing a special e-mail address.
I personally feel the most convenient / comfortable ways are to either type up my post in a text editor first and then copy and paste, or to write an email and send it to the posting address. Configuring so the e-mail can be proofread on the blog site before posting would be good until you are comfortable that messages are transferred in an acceptable way.
Using the e-mail method also gives the option to dual purpose e-mails that are already being written anyway. For instance, an e-mail being sent to many of your contacts may be good as is to post. Or it may be good with minor edits, such as deleting the "Hello all," line. Rather than doubling the work, you can blind-copy (Bcc:) the blog, and then edit on the site if needed.
Categorization
If you want multiple categories of blogs, creating multiple blogs is straightforward. You can add cross referencing links to the blogs so you only need to share one blog address to allow access to all.
Using labels to create easy access to a subset of a single blog is also straightforward. You have the option to add labels to each post. At the bottom of each post the label will appear, and users can click on labels to see only posts with that label. On the side of the blog a list of links is also available, allowing people to select those posts. For related content, I would recommend using labels instead of separate blogs. That one people can see in one continuous timeline and page all the updates.
Attachments
Blogger does not seem to allow embedding attachments other than pictures and videos. So to attach items such as PDFs, you need to link to another server. With many online storage services with sharing ability, this is only an inconvenience, not a road-block.
Since Blogger is Google based, if you are not already using any on-line file storage or back-up systems I recommend using Google documents as the file storage / sharing service. It has 1 GB storage available in a free account. If that limit is ever run into, the same solutions above for pictures also apply to files. In addition, another option would be to sign up for a second file storage account elsewhere, and start filling up that one. If you ever decide on a service, other than Google's, ask around to others you know for a referral link, as that gets both you and them extra storage space over just signing up individually.
The procedure to write a blog entry with an attachment has multiple steps using Google docs. First, make the attachment available online via a URL link. Then reference that link in the blog post.
To make the attachment available:
To use the link in the post: create a URL link in the body of the post / e-mail. Inserting links is different in every e-mail program, but generally it matches closely to the method in Blogger itself.
Advertising on freely hosted blog sites varies by host site.
Blogger allows ads. If you use Blogger's (Google's ) optional AdSense program, you are limited a little in what other ads you can use, but not in any way you are likely to run into. Blogger incorporated Amazon Associates for a while, promoting using specific product referral links so that when people buy those items on Amazon, the blog author gets a commission. However, in in October, 2011, the built-in option for Amazon was removed from Blogger.
WordPress does allow affiliate links, such as links to Amazon.com, as long as it is kept to a minimum. In other words, the goal of the site is not advertising that content. However, I have no way of knowing how reliable WordPress's automated systems are in making distinctions.
Closing
Many non-technical people now use blogs as a main way to communicate. It is both an effective way to send messages to many you know, possibly interact with people you never know about, and to have a public record for yourself and others. It is much easier and reliable than the old self-hosted or server hosted web site methods.
I hope this is information is useful. If you know of other blogging overviews or introductions that you would recommend, feel free to mention them in the comments.
The name BlogSpot and Blogger are both used for this service. BlogSpot is the name of the site, and Blogger is the name of the interface. However, that is a fuzzy line. I will just call it all Blogger. An overview of Blogger is available in the Blogger Getting Started guide at Blogger's Help site.
The main blog sites as of mid-2010 are Blogger, Tumblr, and WordPress. Blogger is most popular, and the one I would recommend.
Picture Size limits
Blogger has a limit of 1 gigabyte on the total number of pictures on the site. This is a lot, but not enough that you would want to waste space by putting large high resolution pictures up. That size space is also shared with the Picasa service, so usage of that service would reduce space available for Blogger. In any case, high resolution pictures would take up too much screen space on the page. I might worry slightly about running into the size limit over years and years of posting. 1 Gig could be about 2,000 pictures, which would be little over seven and a half years for five pictures a week. However, I hope the size limit will go up in the future as storage space gets cheaper and cheaper. If the time comes that you do run into the limit, two options are to export older blog posts to another site, or to pay for extra storage at Picasa / Google.
Posting
Publishing, also known as posting, is a matter of either going to the host site and typing in the message, or e-mailing a special e-mail address.
I personally feel the most convenient / comfortable ways are to either type up my post in a text editor first and then copy and paste, or to write an email and send it to the posting address. Configuring so the e-mail can be proofread on the blog site before posting would be good until you are comfortable that messages are transferred in an acceptable way.
Using the e-mail method also gives the option to dual purpose e-mails that are already being written anyway. For instance, an e-mail being sent to many of your contacts may be good as is to post. Or it may be good with minor edits, such as deleting the "Hello all," line. Rather than doubling the work, you can blind-copy (Bcc:) the blog, and then edit on the site if needed.
Categorization
If you want multiple categories of blogs, creating multiple blogs is straightforward. You can add cross referencing links to the blogs so you only need to share one blog address to allow access to all.
Using labels to create easy access to a subset of a single blog is also straightforward. You have the option to add labels to each post. At the bottom of each post the label will appear, and users can click on labels to see only posts with that label. On the side of the blog a list of links is also available, allowing people to select those posts. For related content, I would recommend using labels instead of separate blogs. That one people can see in one continuous timeline and page all the updates.
Attachments
Blogger does not seem to allow embedding attachments other than pictures and videos. So to attach items such as PDFs, you need to link to another server. With many online storage services with sharing ability, this is only an inconvenience, not a road-block.
Since Blogger is Google based, if you are not already using any on-line file storage or back-up systems I recommend using Google documents as the file storage / sharing service. It has 1 GB storage available in a free account. If that limit is ever run into, the same solutions above for pictures also apply to files. In addition, another option would be to sign up for a second file storage account elsewhere, and start filling up that one. If you ever decide on a service, other than Google's, ask around to others you know for a referral link, as that gets both you and them extra storage space over just signing up individually.
The procedure to write a blog entry with an attachment has multiple steps using Google docs. First, make the attachment available online via a URL link. Then reference that link in the blog post.
To make the attachment available:
- Upload the file to docs.google.com by selecting the upload button next to the create button in the upper right.
- Select the file.
- Select the "Share" button (or More, then Share..., then Share...) in the upper right.
- Select "Change" next to the Private list item.
- Change from Private to "Anyone with link" (if want not found by search engines) or "Public on the web" (if want widely spread).
- Save and copy the long URL link.
To use the link in the post: create a URL link in the body of the post / e-mail. Inserting links is different in every e-mail program, but generally it matches closely to the method in Blogger itself.
- Pick a text name for the attachment and type it as part of your message. For instance: "Here is my most recent letter.", with the link being "most recent letter".
- Then highlight the part of the text that you want to be the link, and select the "Link" button (often shown as an icon of a chain).
- Then you can enter the Web address / URL that you saved from Google Docs above.
- Once done, press OK, and you have text that is also a link to the stored file.
Advertising on freely hosted blog sites varies by host site.
Blogger allows ads. If you use Blogger's (Google's ) optional AdSense program, you are limited a little in what other ads you can use, but not in any way you are likely to run into. Blogger incorporated Amazon Associates for a while, promoting using specific product referral links so that when people buy those items on Amazon, the blog author gets a commission. However, in in October, 2011, the built-in option for Amazon was removed from Blogger.
WordPress does allow affiliate links, such as links to Amazon.com, as long as it is kept to a minimum. In other words, the goal of the site is not advertising that content. However, I have no way of knowing how reliable WordPress's automated systems are in making distinctions.
Closing
Many non-technical people now use blogs as a main way to communicate. It is both an effective way to send messages to many you know, possibly interact with people you never know about, and to have a public record for yourself and others. It is much easier and reliable than the old self-hosted or server hosted web site methods.
I hope this is information is useful. If you know of other blogging overviews or introductions that you would recommend, feel free to mention them in the comments.
Federal spending info shows interest payments are main category growing recently, not defense nor healthcare
After a discussion with a co-worker on if defense or medicare grew more recently in U.S. federal spending, I did a bit of research.
It seems as a percentage, neither grew recently. Or in-other-words, both grew equally outrageously. This surprised me some.
Here is a link to a chart of relative federal spending categories since 1962. It looks like the main category growing, as a percentage of total, is interest. (And that is with the relatively low interest rates recently...)
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/sr0078/sr78_chart2a.ashx?w=600&h=1063&as=1
The chart is from a fairly long, detailed article that I only skimmed through from the Heritage Foundation: Federal Spending by the Numbers 2010
It looks like both defense and safety net (a.k.a. entitlement or income redistribution) are both growing about the same, very large, rates.
This page also states:
> These deficits would not only raise interest rates, they would also nearly quadruple the net interest costs of the national debt over the next decade.
The article also has a "Nowhere to Cut?" section including some items that should be easy for any politician to cut.
So default now on loans or default later or get spending under control by doing very difficult things.
My guess of the outcome, based on the self-control of our leaders and the majority of population that elect them, is default on the loans.
Hence my idea that it is better to get it over with quicker when the pain will be less.
If we could find a soft-landing method, I would be all for it. But I doubt we as a nation have the self-control. Recovering addicts seem to have more success with cold-turkey than gradual reduction, even though it appears very mean and unkind.
Later,
Howard
It seems as a percentage, neither grew recently. Or in-other-words, both grew equally outrageously. This surprised me some.
Here is a link to a chart of relative federal spending categories since 1962. It looks like the main category growing, as a percentage of total, is interest. (And that is with the relatively low interest rates recently...)
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/sr0078/sr78_chart2a.ashx?w=600&h=1063&as=1
The chart is from a fairly long, detailed article that I only skimmed through from the Heritage Foundation: Federal Spending by the Numbers 2010
It looks like both defense and safety net (a.k.a. entitlement or income redistribution) are both growing about the same, very large, rates.
This page also states:
> These deficits would not only raise interest rates, they would also nearly quadruple the net interest costs of the national debt over the next decade.
The article also has a "Nowhere to Cut?" section including some items that should be easy for any politician to cut.
So default now on loans or default later or get spending under control by doing very difficult things.
My guess of the outcome, based on the self-control of our leaders and the majority of population that elect them, is default on the loans.
Hence my idea that it is better to get it over with quicker when the pain will be less.
If we could find a soft-landing method, I would be all for it. But I doubt we as a nation have the self-control. Recovering addicts seem to have more success with cold-turkey than gradual reduction, even though it appears very mean and unkind.
Later,
Howard
Portable Frozen Bubble on Microsoft Windows
Portable Installation walk-through for Frozen Bubble 2.2.1beta1 on Microsoft Windows
It is a bit complex.
Perhaps best overall would be to use a live CD of Linux or install a Linux distribution. Then frozen bubble, and many other games and programs, would be just a few clicks away.
Check first if a Windows version is available at www.frozen-bubble.org/.
Also, if you know someone who has the portable version already, copying it seems to work. It is GPL, so it is legally free to copy. The compressed size is 94.3MB, so I have not mirrored it on-line. (Probably it can be made a lot smaller by trimming out downloaded sources, and unneeded perl modules.)
Both regular installation & a portable installation are possible.
I used the portable version, allowing putting it on a removable drive and running from any Windows computer. This needs slightly more set-up however.
Regular instructions
mirrored from Frozen Bubble on FaceBook.
----------------------------------------
Windows Install:
1. Download and install Strawberry Perl @ http://strawberryperl.com/
2. After install press Windows key + R.
3. type: cpan Games::FrozenBubble (Step 3 takes about 30mins to download and install.)
4. Press Windows key + R
5. type: frozen-bubble
Do step 4 and 5 each time to launch the game or create a .bat file to launch it.
----------------------------------------
Updating is done by just re-running: cpan Games::FrozenBubble
Portable Frozen Bubble for Windows:
The portable installation walk-through below is an expansion and modification of the regular installation.
System Requirements: About 399 MB.
Other requirements unknown. Refer to Strawberry Perl, and perhaps SDL.
Installation:
1. Download Strawberry Perl portable.
It can be found at http://strawberryperl.com/.
I used "strawberry-perl-5.12.3.0-portable.zip". It is 54.4 MB.
2. As described in "README.portable.txt", extract strawberry portable ZIP into e.g. c:\myperl\
Note: choose a directory name without spaces and non us-ascii characters.
3. Double click / run "portableshell.bat"
4. Enter in cmd window : cpan Games::FrozenBubble
If it seems like it had errors, or if later steps do not seem to work, running it again might fix problems.
5. Wait until complete. Can take 30 minutes to a couple hours to download and configure, depending on network speed and computer speed.
6. Enter: frozen-bubble
7. To exit game, press Esc.
8. To exit cmd window, enter: exit
Running basically installed game:
A. Find directory of Strawberry Perl portable.
B. Double click / run "portableshell.bat"
C. Enter: frozen-bubble
D. To exit game, press Esc.
E. To exit cmd window, enter: exit
Intermediate level of installation:
F. Copy "portableshell.bat" to "frozen-bubble-start.bat".
G. Edit in WordPad (under All Programs, Accessories) or other favorite text editor that handles Unix format files. (Notepad will not work.)
H. Change last line from:
---
cmd
---
to
---
echo Starting frozen-bubble...
frozen-bubble
---
I. Save as text.
J. Click and drag "frozen-bubble-start.bat" to start menu, all programs, and place it where on the menu you would like it. A shortcut copy will be created.
K. Now select "frozen-bubble-start.bat" or "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" in the menu to start Frozen Bubble.
L. To change the name in the menu, right click on the "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" menu item, and select "Rename".
Advanced level of installation:
M. To change the icon, right click on the "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" menu item, and select "Properties", then "Change icon".
Files convertable into a windows icon with Gimp can be found at someplace like:
...\strawberry-perl-5.12.3.0-portable\cpan\build\Games-FrozenBubble-2.212-yVOabf\share\icons
Enjoy!
Other Notes:
It seems that this is not exactly the official frozen bubble, as some tweaks were made to it. So it should be considered an unoffical port, until something is available from the main frozen bubble web site.
I could create a batch script file to do basic and part of intermediate installation, which would depend on wget.exe. However, it would require updating the stawberry perl link occasionally, and I hope the below walk-through is simple enough. Once the 2.2.1 version becomes considered stable (or before), I hope a fancier Windows-style installer will become available. I do not have experience with creating such installers.
Possible options investigated:
Via Stawberry perl
WinXP available, but older windows seem to not be supported; Linux boot USB/CD better in that case.
Works! Not widely obvious how though. Hence I wrote it up.
Live CD easiest?
bootable for speed
Emulateable via qemu for quick testing, easier use.
Gives other programs, like gcompris, as well.
GCompris not freely available on Windows.
DouDou Linux seems a good choice for CD bootable.
FB-win32 @ Sourceforge
need perl 5.6.*,
but no longer freely available from FB-win's linked to site.
Brothersoft at http://www.brothersoft.com/games/frozen-bubble-download.html
BAD source; tries to install ad-ware.
AND: labelled as 2.2.0 for windows,
but 2.2.0 supposedly not for windows.
but in a bz2 archive, so hard to use, if possbile at all.
Strongly suspect it is the Unix environment files.
This walk-through is placed in public domain, as described at the Creative Commons Public Domain page.
Published Revision 2011-05-29-1750EDT
It is a bit complex.
Perhaps best overall would be to use a live CD of Linux or install a Linux distribution. Then frozen bubble, and many other games and programs, would be just a few clicks away.
Check first if a Windows version is available at www.frozen-bubble.org/.
Also, if you know someone who has the portable version already, copying it seems to work. It is GPL, so it is legally free to copy. The compressed size is 94.3MB, so I have not mirrored it on-line. (Probably it can be made a lot smaller by trimming out downloaded sources, and unneeded perl modules.)
Both regular installation & a portable installation are possible.
I used the portable version, allowing putting it on a removable drive and running from any Windows computer. This needs slightly more set-up however.
Regular instructions
mirrored from Frozen Bubble on FaceBook.
----------------------------------------
Windows Install:
1. Download and install Strawberry Perl @ http://strawberryperl.com/
2. After install press Windows key + R.
3. type: cpan Games::FrozenBubble (Step 3 takes about 30mins to download and install.)
4. Press Windows key + R
5. type: frozen-bubble
Do step 4 and 5 each time to launch the game or create a .bat file to launch it.
----------------------------------------
Updating is done by just re-running: cpan Games::FrozenBubble
Portable Frozen Bubble for Windows:
The portable installation walk-through below is an expansion and modification of the regular installation.
System Requirements: About 399 MB.
Other requirements unknown. Refer to Strawberry Perl, and perhaps SDL.
Installation:
1. Download Strawberry Perl portable.
It can be found at http://strawberryperl.com/.
I used "strawberry-perl-5.12.3.0-portable.zip". It is 54.4 MB.
2. As described in "README.portable.txt", extract strawberry portable ZIP into e.g. c:\myperl\
Note: choose a directory name without spaces and non us-ascii characters.
3. Double click / run "portableshell.bat"
4. Enter in cmd window : cpan Games::FrozenBubble
If it seems like it had errors, or if later steps do not seem to work, running it again might fix problems.
5. Wait until complete. Can take 30 minutes to a couple hours to download and configure, depending on network speed and computer speed.
6. Enter: frozen-bubble
7. To exit game, press Esc.
8. To exit cmd window, enter: exit
Running basically installed game:
A. Find directory of Strawberry Perl portable.
B. Double click / run "portableshell.bat"
C. Enter: frozen-bubble
D. To exit game, press Esc.
E. To exit cmd window, enter: exit
Intermediate level of installation:
F. Copy "portableshell.bat" to "frozen-bubble-start.bat".
G. Edit in WordPad (under All Programs, Accessories) or other favorite text editor that handles Unix format files. (Notepad will not work.)
H. Change last line from:
---
cmd
---
to
---
echo Starting frozen-bubble...
frozen-bubble
---
I. Save as text.
J. Click and drag "frozen-bubble-start.bat" to start menu, all programs, and place it where on the menu you would like it. A shortcut copy will be created.
K. Now select "frozen-bubble-start.bat" or "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" in the menu to start Frozen Bubble.
L. To change the name in the menu, right click on the "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" menu item, and select "Rename".
Advanced level of installation:
M. To change the icon, right click on the "Shortcut to frozen-bubble-start" menu item, and select "Properties", then "Change icon".
Files convertable into a windows icon with Gimp can be found at someplace like:
...\strawberry-perl-5.12.3.0-portable\cpan\build\Games-FrozenBubble-2.212-yVOabf\share\icons
Enjoy!
Other Notes:
It seems that this is not exactly the official frozen bubble, as some tweaks were made to it. So it should be considered an unoffical port, until something is available from the main frozen bubble web site.
I could create a batch script file to do basic and part of intermediate installation, which would depend on wget.exe. However, it would require updating the stawberry perl link occasionally, and I hope the below walk-through is simple enough. Once the 2.2.1 version becomes considered stable (or before), I hope a fancier Windows-style installer will become available. I do not have experience with creating such installers.
Possible options investigated:
Via Stawberry perl
WinXP available, but older windows seem to not be supported; Linux boot USB/CD better in that case.
Works! Not widely obvious how though. Hence I wrote it up.
Live CD easiest?
bootable for speed
Emulateable via qemu for quick testing, easier use.
Gives other programs, like gcompris, as well.
GCompris not freely available on Windows.
DouDou Linux seems a good choice for CD bootable.
FB-win32 @ Sourceforge
need perl 5.6.*,
but no longer freely available from FB-win's linked to site.
Brothersoft at http://www.brothersoft.com/games/frozen-bubble-download.html
BAD source; tries to install ad-ware.
AND: labelled as 2.2.0 for windows,
but 2.2.0 supposedly not for windows.
but in a bz2 archive, so hard to use, if possbile at all.
Strongly suspect it is the Unix environment files.
This walk-through is placed in public domain, as described at the Creative Commons Public Domain page.
Published Revision 2011-05-29-1750EDT
Recommendations for viewing content on BlogSpot
I have decided to start placing some content on blogspot. It has become clear to me that I will not make the effort to post up items on my personal web site. Blogspot has disadvantages, but it seems that distributing information via non-optimal means is better than hoarding information due to laziness and unwillingness to spend the time to do it the better way.
I want to discuss some of the disadvantages I see, and ways readers can minimize them.
The company behind blogspot, Google, is one of the original crowd-sourcing companies. Google does a lot well, both technologically, and in customer relations. I highly appreciate their Data Liberation Project. Their option to allow export of data from blogspot is one reason I chose to use their blog site. However, they also only selectively give back the benefits gained from consumers. Much of the data collected is restricted in use for the general public.
To reduce the amount of information given, I recommend opting out of tracking for advertising.
To reduce the amount of web page popularity (number of hits) info given to Google, and to save overall bandwidth, I recommend using a caching web proxy, such as Squid. I have not used Squid since about 2002. I am have not recently to set it up, because much of my personal computer web browsing is done by dial-up modem. So instead I use .
Frequently logging out of blogspot / Google services would also reduce the information given. However, I can not recommend going through the effort unless you care strongly about privacy.
I care more about textual and informational content than form. I do not know if I will ever customize the appearance of blogspot. However, others may not like the appearance of the color scheme, default or otherwise. Or perhaps some other aspect of the layout does not match your desire. Reading blogs in a RSS feed reader allows some choice in this. It focuses on the content rather than the extra added items. The online reader I use is Google Reader, mainly out of convenience. Others, both online services and installable programs, are available. I recommend installable programs when possible / not significantly more difficult. Having the program on a hard drive reduces concerns of a service disappearing, or data being used in undesirable ways. Most mail readers and web browsers have RSS reading functions built in.
Advertising concerns seem to no longer apply to blogspot, but it does to many free hosted pages. I do not see any advertising on my blogspot site, and I will not purposely put it on.
Advertising should not be supported in my opinion. I forget if saying this on blogspot violates my terms of agreement or not. If someone cares to confirm, please let me know. I feel advertising might have value, but I am not sure of that. I feel advertising as done in the current culture is taking advantage of those with weak self control or intelligence. It places temptations in front of people. It often uses sexually attractive women to attract. It slows down web browsing on the low-bandwidth dial-up connection I typically use. It wastes bandwidth on all connections, as it is not content directly related to my request.
To avoid advertising, I use Adblock Plus. I suspect pointing users to advertising blocking software violates the usage agreement terms. If so, please let me know.
Another method to reduce advertising is to browse with images turned off. To quickly toggle this setting in IceWeasel and FireFox, I use Image-Show-Hide Add-on. Disabling images does not eliminate text advertisements, but I find the most bothersome advertisements are picture based.
Having documented these items, I consider readers of blogspot content fairly warned and somewhat armed.
I want to discuss some of the disadvantages I see, and ways readers can minimize them.
The company behind blogspot, Google, is one of the original crowd-sourcing companies. Google does a lot well, both technologically, and in customer relations. I highly appreciate their Data Liberation Project. Their option to allow export of data from blogspot is one reason I chose to use their blog site. However, they also only selectively give back the benefits gained from consumers. Much of the data collected is restricted in use for the general public.
To reduce the amount of information given, I recommend opting out of tracking for advertising.
To reduce the amount of web page popularity (number of hits) info given to Google, and to save overall bandwidth, I recommend using a caching web proxy, such as Squid. I have not used Squid since about 2002. I am have not recently to set it up, because much of my personal computer web browsing is done by dial-up modem. So instead I use .
Frequently logging out of blogspot / Google services would also reduce the information given. However, I can not recommend going through the effort unless you care strongly about privacy.
I care more about textual and informational content than form. I do not know if I will ever customize the appearance of blogspot. However, others may not like the appearance of the color scheme, default or otherwise. Or perhaps some other aspect of the layout does not match your desire. Reading blogs in a RSS feed reader allows some choice in this. It focuses on the content rather than the extra added items. The online reader I use is Google Reader, mainly out of convenience. Others, both online services and installable programs, are available. I recommend installable programs when possible / not significantly more difficult. Having the program on a hard drive reduces concerns of a service disappearing, or data being used in undesirable ways. Most mail readers and web browsers have RSS reading functions built in.
Advertising concerns seem to no longer apply to blogspot, but it does to many free hosted pages. I do not see any advertising on my blogspot site, and I will not purposely put it on.
Advertising should not be supported in my opinion. I forget if saying this on blogspot violates my terms of agreement or not. If someone cares to confirm, please let me know. I feel advertising might have value, but I am not sure of that. I feel advertising as done in the current culture is taking advantage of those with weak self control or intelligence. It places temptations in front of people. It often uses sexually attractive women to attract. It slows down web browsing on the low-bandwidth dial-up connection I typically use. It wastes bandwidth on all connections, as it is not content directly related to my request.
To avoid advertising, I use Adblock Plus. I suspect pointing users to advertising blocking software violates the usage agreement terms. If so, please let me know.
Another method to reduce advertising is to browse with images turned off. To quickly toggle this setting in IceWeasel and FireFox, I use Image-Show-Hide Add-on. Disabling images does not eliminate text advertisements, but I find the most bothersome advertisements are picture based.
Having documented these items, I consider readers of blogspot content fairly warned and somewhat armed.
Important topics to think about
I feel some items that should be publicized, promoted, and seriously considered by all:
1. The claims of Jesus the Christ to be the way to heaven and to be the supreme leader, as expressed in Christianity, summarized in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15 verses 3-8.
2. The constitution of the United States of America, including its amendments, especially the second, first, and fourth. Eric Raymond has written up and collected good support of bearing arms.
In addition, some items that should be publicized, promoted, and seriously considered by most:
3. Dvorak keyboard layout, explained well at DVZine.
4. Freely shareable s/w, as supported by the Free Software Foundation, and other shareable content available under Creative Commons or other licensing.
If you wish any more information on any of these, or more of my personal reasoning, feel free to ask me. There is plenty of on-line information, along with plenty of misleading on-line information.
Sincerely,
Howard Abbey
1. The claims of Jesus the Christ to be the way to heaven and to be the supreme leader, as expressed in Christianity, summarized in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15 verses 3-8.
2. The constitution of the United States of America, including its amendments, especially the second, first, and fourth. Eric Raymond has written up and collected good support of bearing arms.
In addition, some items that should be publicized, promoted, and seriously considered by most:
3. Dvorak keyboard layout, explained well at DVZine.
4. Freely shareable s/w, as supported by the Free Software Foundation, and other shareable content available under Creative Commons or other licensing.
If you wish any more information on any of these, or more of my personal reasoning, feel free to ask me. There is plenty of on-line information, along with plenty of misleading on-line information.
Sincerely,
Howard Abbey
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