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Check out our new page Funny LOL Pictures (click here) - it brings you daily funny pictures that will make you LOL!
Do you like strategy games? Well, then you probably have heard of “The Battle for Wesnoth”, a popular free software turn based strategy game with a strong, Tolkienesque fantasy setting. But did you know that there is a complete port of this PC game for Maemo?

The game is currently available in Extras, you can find it in the Games category.
sudo gainroot
apt-get install wesnoth
Note that the game is pretty large and will consume about 240~ Mb of memory on your /opt Unpacking a large package can also take a lot of time, so make sure you have enough battery charge.
Optionally install the music files. (Not recommended as this will take up 100 Mb more of memory and will slow down the game a bit):
apt-get install wesnoth-music
Once installed, you can launch the game from your applications menu or with
wesnoth
Loading times can be a drag, but apart from that and a few resolution issues with menus, the game is completely playable. Add-ons, Multiplayer, Singleplayer campaigns are all functional. I was able to both finish one of the mainline campaigns and play co-op survival on the official server without any trouble, right with an N900 in my hand.

The Battle for Wesnoth is definitely a game every N900 gamer should take a look at. So install the package and dive into the world of dwarves, elves and orcs!

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Are you in need of special symbols while in X Terminal? Don’t want to bring up the special characters menu all the time? Well, here’s an easy way to customize the special characters  line on the bottom of your X Terminal window.
 
Open up your XTerm and use those commands to modify the characters line:
Note: Run these commands as a regular user, not root.
Modify the key labels:
gconftool-2 -s /apps/osso/xterm/key_labels -t list –list-type=string “[keylabels]“
Replace keylabels with the set of labels you want to use, separated by colons without any whitespaces. You’re free to use any text, just don’t use labels too long. The maximum safe amount of labels you can use is 7, if you use more, they will all go to a side-menu.  For example, if we are to add pipe, input and tilde symbols you can use this:  Tab,Esc,PgUp,PgDn,|,>,~
Next, set the characters that those labels will correspond to:
gconftool-2 -s /apps/osso/xterm/keys -t list –list-type=string “[character values]“
Replace character values with the corresponding values. You can look up which values respond to which characters by looking at /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/nokia_vndr/rx-51 file (do it as a regular user, so you don’t modify it by accident)
If we follow the example for pipe, input and tilde characters, we shall use these values: Tab,Escape,Page_Up,Page_Down,bar,greater,asciitilde
Restart your X Terminal, so the fullscreen button goes where it should go and enjoy!

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Getting bored with the old look of your SMS and chat screens? If so, open nature of Maemo allows you to tweak the look to your own preference.

Configuration files for Conversations And Contacts themes reside under the /usr/share/rtcom-messaging-ui/html/ directory. Backup the files if necessary.
First make your own theme with html-css-javascript or find one that suits you made by other enthusiasts on Talk Maemo or here.
In case if you downloaded the theme, unpack the downloaded archive to any directory, for example, ~/MyDocs/theme
cd ~/MyDocs
mkdir theme
Then, copy all files in the archive to the directory mentioned above:
cd ~/MyDocs/theme
sudo gainroot
cp -f * /usr/share/rtcom-messaging-ui/html
Because many downloaded themes include only files for SMS interface, copy them for chat interface:
sudo gainroot
cd /usr/share/rtcom-messaging-ui/html
cp -f MessagingWidgetsSMSConversation.css MessagingWidgetsChatConversation.css
cp -f MessagingWidgetsSMSConversation.js MessagingWidgetsChatConversation.js
cp -f MessagingWidgetsSMSConversation.html MessagingWidgetsChatConversation.html
Finally, reboot your phone,
sudo gainroot
reboot
Or kill the process:
sudo gainroot
killall rtcom-messaging-ui
 
Enjoy your new interface!

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Ever wanted to have a graphical button to reboot your beloved device? Well, today I’ll show you how to add one to your powerkey menu!
Note: the tips we go through involve editing a low-level system file and imply that readers know what they are doing.
Adding the Reboot button:
First, we would want to go root:
  sudo gainroot
Next, let’s modify the sudoers file to allow us running reboot:
echo “user ALL = NOPASSWD: /sbin/reboot” > /etc/sudoers.d/reboot.sudoers
Update sudoers:
update-sudoers
Now, we would want to create a d-bus service.
[editor] /usr/share/dbus-1/services/reboot.service
Replace [editor] with whatever editor you prefer, for example, leafpad.
Paste the following into the file:
  [D-BUS Service]
  Name=com.misc.reboot
  Exec=/usr/bin/sudo reboot
Save the file and exit the editor. Change current directory:
cd /etc/systemui
Open up systemui.xml file in your preferred editor:
[editor] systemui.xml
Paste the following anywhere between the <powerkeymenu> and </powerkeymenu> tags:
<menuitem priority=”750″ name=”Reboot”>
   <icon>general_refresh</icon>
   <callback service=”com.misc.reboot” path=”/com/misc/reboot” interface=”com.misc.reboot” method=”reboot” bus=”session”   autostart=”true”>
   <argument type=”boolean”>true</argument>
  </callback>
</menuitem>
Note: some of you may notice that a reboot entry is already defined in systemui.xml. However, it utilizes osso-powerup-shutdown and preforms a very brutal shutdown. Rebooting with sudo reboot will gently shutdown all software and sync your filesystems, which is safer. Let’s just say that there  was probably a reason that the default entry was commented out.
Save the file, exit the editor and reboot your N900.
reboot
Enjoy your newly added Reboot button which will perform a safe reboot once pressed!

 
—
Source: Talk Maemo

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Quite often do we run into situations where certain calls are unwanted. Maybe you’re at work and you don’t want anybody outside of the working environment calling you, or maybe there’s just a certain annoying person who you don’t want to talk with. In any case, Callerx is a simple app that will help you solve these problems.
Once launched, you will be greeted with a screen that easily allows you to view all inbound calls and manage your lists with blocked/allowed phone numbers.

Adding new numbers or contacts to the list of blocked/allowed numbers can be done by pressing the ‘Manage Lists’ button, choosing a list of your choice and picking a menu option. It’s that simple.

Callerx also allows you to block any numbers that are not listed by enabling the whitelist mode and has an option to block all unknown numbers.
Being a daemon, it is configured to auto-start at each boot, and can be configured via a command line, by editing ‘blacklist.txt’ and ‘whitelist.txt’ files located under your MyDocs directory and calling
/etc/init.d/callerx loadblacklist for switching to blacklist mode or
/etc/init.d/callerx loadwhitelist for whitelist mode
Easy to use and effective, Callerx is all you need to stop any unwanted calls from ever bothering you.
 

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Tweaks posted here are for advanced users. Any beginners can give it a go, and if any problems occurs feel free to discuss it in the forums.
1. Enabling Hardware Accelerator which would speed up the hildon-desktop ( currently unstable and requires disabling if not working. Might need to reflash in case of reboot loop ).
First using XTerm, run this command
sudo gainroot
leafpad /etc/powervr.d/hildon-desktop.ini
Then change
WSEGL_UseHWSync=0
to
WSEGL_UseHWSync=1
 2) Installing Swappolube
sudo gainroot
apt-get install swappolube
Then use proposed values and click store
3) Install tracker-cfg to allow tracker using less CPU power
sudo gainroot
apt-get install tracker-cfg
Launch it and set to lowmemorymode
Any other tips and tricks are welcome. Just leave a comment and we will post it in our upcoming posts
via : Talk Maemo
 

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Ever realised that it takes forever for you to lock on to your GPS even when you’re in the outdoors under the clear sky and with a strong internet connection? In this article I would teach you how to lock on your GPS location from minutes to just mere seconds
The reason behind this is that the server the phone trying to connect is supl.nokia.com which is the Nokia Maps server I would say. It is very slow in response and takes time to triangulate your current location. A faster server you say?
supl.google.com
It takes just mere seconds to lock on your GPS even when you’re in a building and indoors. To change it, first go to settings on your N900.

Then click on Location and scroll down. You should enable network positioning and by default, location server is supl.nokia.com. Now change it supl.google.com and reboot (optional). 

Now you should be able to lock on way faster than before. This is very useful for those who runs their Internet on 3G connection as it can help you save lots of data.

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For those using N900 with Community SSU package you may have noticed that your N900 wants to update to some kind of unknown version ’21.2011.38-1′. What to do?
First of all the update is meant to update your certificates, removing the ones that were compromised, increasing security of your device (so you won’t end up installing software that was signed by invalid certificate). What if you’re using Community SSU and don’t want to brick your phone? There’s no simple answer to this question. I don’t have all of the answers, but let’s try to make it simple in this simple rules:
You don’t use CSSU. You can calmly update your N900, it shouldn’t brick after update.
You use CSSU stable. Well, this is longer story, according to developers you may meet some system issues after updating core system from Nokia having stable release of CSSU. The best way here is to wait for update of CSSU that will include all of security updates from Nokia.
You use CSSU testing. This is simple, at least it was for me. I wasn’t thinking much when upgrading, testing is testing, I was prepared to have some issues with new versions of software released by Nokia itself. Surprisingly it came with absolutely no glitches. Now I have this marvellous ’21.2011.38-1′ version and it goes smoothly.
One thing before I get to footer. Remember to make full backup before you try to update firmware of your N900. I mean it: FULL BACKUP! This way you won’t end up with piece of plastic and silicon dioxide that you can kill some cockroaches with. This way you can always re-flash and bring back backup files.
–
MJ (see my own blog at j4b0l.com)

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Have you ever thought why all the best action movies involve organisations staying in deep underground for long time, starting huge revolution and changing the world? Why shouldn’t N900 go the same way?
Most of you probably know Matrix. One guy reaches higher level of consciousness and becomes saviour of the… let’s say of everything. But he starts among small group of underground fighters, willing to make world a better place. Open source is also like that. Loads of movies, computer games base on this idea and almost every time it works like a charm. Why not this time?
Nokia 770, Nokia N800, Nokia N810, Nokia N810 WiMax edition, finally Nokia N900, every single one of these devices became, in some way, an underground fighter for freedom on mobile phone market. The only fighters? Well, no, if we have a look at history we can find Openmoko project dedicated to mobile. Other areas of software development also have their own fighters, with most successful one – Linux – and minors like Haiku, more specialized like OpenWRT and many more. So can we save the N900? Sure, we just need to stay focused on our destination and keep fighting even if we have to stay underground for some time.
So what do we do now with our N900s? First of all we need something immortal, like idea. And we have it, the process have already started. Just like Linus started something developing his open source kernel, we have our own open source mobile. Now let’s gather people willing to fight for Maemo and form the ‘underground’, we can do it. Let N900 underground be, join us, be the part of new ‘silence before the storm’!
–
Maciej ‘j4b0l’ Jab?o?ski

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Have you ever seen meedieval castle with lots of potraits hanging around? Every single one reminds of great man, someone who did something really significant for country, region or family. Today let’s focus on some other portrait, the one related to our favourite phone, Nokia N900.
Portrait dashboard is something we could already see after previous CSSU update, so the only remaining thing was to propagate this feature to homescreen, which finally happened. Because everyday I see less and less news on N900 I feel obliged to mention it for the ones who haven’t yet updated.
I was a bit surprised that after update my N900 just switched to portrait mode after rotating it, but widgets, shortcuts and bookmarks were a bit messed up. It’s still not a problem, because portrait has its own setting for each homescreen, so you can easily rearrange all of your widgets on screen and make them look exactly as you want. Unfortunatelly some of really wide widgets (like 5 days weather forecast) just won’t fit in portrait, but I can live with that, can you?
Another tiny issue with portrait mode is loopable wallpaper, if you haveone that loops in landscape, it will probably make you feel uncomfortable, but for me it’s perfect situation for new inventions, wallpaper that will be loopable in potrait and landscape at the same time. I’ll surely share with you when I find some time to make one .
That’s enough for starters, our King is still alive, still breathing and has own portrait . Now that you know what comes with the latest update, just try it!
–
MJ

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Well as we know the N900 is pretty much a hacker’s phone I would. Well is those little little things of the N900 that makes us users looks cooler than others. Here are some of few examples.
1.The USB OTG CABLE

Well this is my cable which I use to connect Pendrives and HDD hard disk to my N900 to read files from it. You can try the h-e-n application from extras-devel repo. Or install hostmode-gui from -devel, kernel-power will be installed if no other compatible kernel is present. You can buy the USB OTG Cable here.
apt-get install hostmode-gui
2.TV OUT

Yes TV out for me is cool. Why? Cause you get an oversized Maemo running on your TV. On the downside, there seems to be a lot of static around the metal casing of the screen. Those using the TV OUT cable should take note of this. By the way, this cable is included in your N900 box just so you know. If you lost yours, you can buy it here.
3.PS3 SixAxis Controller

Yes a PS3 Controller. The N900 only works with the OLD SIXAXIS which the model between the Dualshock 2 and Dualshock 3. So whoever that wants to buy for the sake of having fun with it should take note you can only use SIXAXIS and not SIXAXIS DUALSHOCK 3. For the demo and installation guide, you can always check here
This is just a simple post to give some idea to those who are not in the know what their N900 could do. Cheers!

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As I look around the place, I often see many questions pop up related to the N900, features, issues and troubleshooting.  Many of these questions seem to be directed into the ether of the unknown, so I thought I would open up and give people a chance to ask Nokia N900 questions directly.

I will do my best to answer questions or anything written here (and not in Facebook), and if I don’t know the answer, I will attempt to find one (or maybe someone else reading will know the answer).  The answers given are things I would do myself on my own device, but do carry the disclaimer that if your device manages to blow up a small moon, it is not my fault. So let me have it, and I will do my best to be the friendly neighbourhood spider pig.

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For the life of the N900, there has been a stream of mediocre Facebook apps popping up.  Each app had its unique purpose, from being good at checking in, or easy updates, but nothing on the whole that stellar.  When a device sports a built in browser like MicroB, the apps better be good, so with that we see how the latest fairs. Let’s have a look at fMobi for Nokia N900.

fMobi has been out on Symbian^3 for some time, is newly released on Maemo, and will soon come to Meego.  First impressions here are fairly good, things working well once permissions are allowed through Facebook.  The start screen has the familiar blue we have all come to know and love, and icons that show the simplistic feel that seems to be happening these days.  The navigation that occurs when you’re browsing is great and all the menus work well.  Sharing a status or checking the news feed is very easy, but sometimes slow to load.
The beauty of this app, is that it displays all the information you really want to see, in an efficient and aesthetically pleasing way.  Many flaws in other apps have been the omission of certain features, and it’s great to see that isn’t the case here.  There are off course a few things that can’t be done in the app, unliking and blocking the news feed are a few but that’s where MicroB steps in.
As would be expected for such a recent release on the N900, a few issues did arise in the use of fMobi.  The slow load times really started grinding on me after some time for certain menus, photos being one which is unfortunate as photos are also MicroB’s biggest weakness.  fMobi also seemed to randomly crash at times, but it hasn’t been too common to be much of an issue.

Overall, a very positive experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing updates in the future to make this the very best Facebook experience that N900 has to offer.  With all the changes that happen on Facebook, MicroB is defiantly lagging behind but …

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You may have seen around a year ago when Apple released its sixth generation of iPod Nano, that people started using them as watches.  This seemed like a look into the future, and while the concept is an amazing one, the current implementation is somewhat still lacking.  In the end, the device was still limited to what it could do, you were just finally ‘holding it right’. Another watch concept has recently shown up over on Hack a Day, based on Arduino, which is an open source single board microcontroller.  It consists of a pilfered Nokia LCD and other circuitry.  The fun part of this watch is that it is connected to a N900 via Bluetooth, and has a GUI for showing missed calls, messages, email, and is being worked on to support the Maemo media player.

The concept is one of brilliance, and Apple bias aside, I would still prefer one of these in a refined form then an iPod Nano on my wrist.  The idea of having my phone do all the work and my watch managing it is amazing, and would do wonders for battery life.  The other advantage of course is being able to leave the N900 in your pocket all the time and just having to check your watch as needed.
From a first look, there doesn’t appear to be an actual time feature as of yet, but one would be rather easy to implement, and would complete this watch of the future.  Of course the design would need to be refined further to scale it down and make it appropriate to wear out, but I still love that concept as a whole.
If I could connect everything to my N900, I would.  Working on tech to have such synergy with each other is what the big companies should be doing and if this amazing device brings about some form of consumer product, I think I would be lining up for one with the same fanaticism and dedication some do to buy their fruit.
 Check it out more over here

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I was only introduced to Dropbox  fairly recently, and right away I was fascinated by it.  The idea of having your data accessible from anywhere is typical cloud that seems to be all the rage these days.  Not only that though, but the seamless syncing of files impressed me most.  All my most used files being accessible from multiple PCs is great, but can I have Dropbox on my Nokia  N900?
Well, apparently my N900 can play along, and it really does make sense, being a mobile PC.  All those other phones wouldn’t know what to do with this kind of power!

To use DropN900, all you need is a N900, and a Dropbox account (I would never have guessed).  DropN900 works perfectly from the get go, once pointed to an account you can access all of your lovely files wherever you are.  You are even able to upload files, and do a full sync.  I had a minor issue with the syncing as it kept telling me I needed a WLAN, even while I was connected to one.  That was swiftly fixed by simply unchecking that option.  It also appears that there is no seamless syncing of files like what occurs on the PC, which I don’t mind too much as it would simply eat away at my precious resources.  If I need to access my Dropbox, I can easily just run the app.

With Dropbox being free for 2GB of storage, it’s a fun thing to play around with, and may just come in handy.  Don’t we all have a few files that we would rather off our hard disks and accessible anytime?
 

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