Category Archives: Development

flightcrew – A better epub validator

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FlightCrew is a C++, cross-platform, native code epub validator. It is composed of three parts:

  • FlightCrew, the validation library;
  • FlightCrew-cli, the command-line front-end to the FlightCrew library;
  • FlightCrew-gui, the GUI front-end to the FlightCrew library;

FlightCrew runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X (and possibly other platforms). FlightCrew-gui uses the Qt Framework, but the rest does not. The validation library has no external dependencies outside of those included in the source tree and built along with FlightCrew.

Since FlightCrew is licensed under LGPLv3, it can be directly used by closed-source projects as well as open-source ones. It was initially created for Sigil, the epub editor.

Work on FlightCrew was inspired by the inadequacies of other epub checkers.

via flightcrew – A better epub validator – Google Project Hosting.

Proposition to change the prefixing policy

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The web is meant to be a universal medium, agnostic in terms of device or UA. Of course, testing in several browsers is needed to iron out bugs. But when authors have to write for one browser, then port to a few other selected ones, something is wrong.

All in all, there is no simple right way for authors to use prefixes as they currently are.

via Proposition to change the prefixing policy from Florian Rivoal on 2012-05-04 (www-style@w3.org from May 2012).

From: http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/05/new-proposal-could-end-the-css-prefix-madness/

CSS vendor prefixes were designed to help web developers by giving them a way to target CSS to specific browsers and use proposed standards before they were finalized. The idea was to move the web forward without rushing the CSS standards process. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always worked out that way.

get-flash-videos – A command line program to download flash videos

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Download videos from various Flash-based video hosting sites, without having to use the Flash player. Handy for saving videos for watching offline, and means you don’t have to keep upgrading Flash for sites that insist on a newer version of the player.

via get-flash-videos – A command line program to download flash videos – Google Project Hosting.

Update 10/14/2012: Try this site.  The relatively newer github site here.  I think I had problems with the code.google.com version which didn’t seem up to date.

Link Grammar

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The Link Grammar Parser is a syntactic parser of English, based on link grammar, an original theory of English syntax. Given a sentence, the system assigns to it a syntactic structure, which consists of a set of labeled links connecting pairs of words. The parser also produces a “constituent” representation of a sentence (showing noun phrases, verb phrases, etc.).

via Link Grammar.

WordNet Perl Module

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This WordNet module (WordNet::QueryData) is a Perl interface to the WordNet database. WordNet is a database of word meanings and lexical relationships. It contains tens of thousands of words and numerous semantic relationships for each. For example, it can tell you that a limousine is a type of a car and that a car is a type of motor vehicle. It can also tell you that car and automobile have essentially the same meaning.

via WordNet Perl Module.

Raspberry Pi gets an electronics prototyping plate kit

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With the Raspberry Pi now shipping, thousands of curious programmers, hackers, teachers, and kids are starting to experiment with the device. That experimentation is limited to software for the most part, but with the Gertboard in development it shouldn’t be long before Raspberry Pi hardware extensions are also a possibility.

via Raspberry Pi gets an electronics prototyping plate kit – Computer Chips & Hardware Technology | Geek.com.

RIM’s future hangs on developer support for “new BlackBerry”

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With its future up for grabs, Research in Motion at its annual BlackBerry World conference next week will focus on simplifying development for its soon-to-be-unveiled BlackBerry 10 operating system. HTML5 is one key technology in that strategy to create a viable ecosystem of applications for a new generation of mobile devices expected to ship by year-end.

via RIM’s future hangs on developer support for “new BlackBerry”.

UCR Today: Scholars to Apply Facial Recognition Software to Unidentified Portrait Subjects

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Anyone who has admired centuries-old sculptures and portraits displayed in museums and galleries around the world at some point has asked one question: Who is that?

Three University of California, Riverside scholars have launched a research project to test — for the first time — the use of facial recognition software to help identify these unknown subjects of portrait art, a project that ultimately may enrich the understanding of European political, social and religious history.

via UCR Today: Scholars to Apply Facial Recognition Software to Unidentified Portrait Subjects.

“Almost every portrait painted before the 19th century was of a person of some importance,” Rudolph explained. “As families fell on hard times, many of these portraits were sold and the identities of these subjects were lost. The question we hope to answer is, can we restore these identities?”

Python e-book error

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Python will turn your everyday binary strings into Unicode strings when necessary. But things get trickier if you put non-ASCII characters in Byte strings.

via. http://lobstertech.com/python_unicode.html

The ebook reader in linux was written in python and chokes on a lot of abnormal characters and I think the above is the reason why.  This could be a problem with the nook and other ebook readers but I’m not sure and it’s really not a priority to find out.   I know the nook will not accept an epub with a malformed stylesheet.css even though the python linux e-reader will.

It will be interesting to find out how some of the bigger tablets handle this.