Dead wall wart := no internet

Lost internet for half a day!!

On the home system, still not wireless;
running a DSL connection with a DSL modem.

Been running that way for 6+ years, no problem...

then, suddenly no connections.

a quick call to my service provider, late at night, identified the external power transformer (wall wart type) as the problem...

So a physical hardware failure.
Not something I usually worry about;  more about viruses and os updates..

did have my cell as a backup (to lookup the helpdesk number ;)

Firefox Beta on old LG P500h

Working with Firefox Beta on an old phone:

LG-P500h

running android 2.3.3 (carrier's latest for this phone)

unsure if it even meets the new low end firefox OS hardware requirements...

Notes:

using this phone in a "voice only" mode, just for calls; on a prepaid service.
for data use wifi only.  Have turned off the cell data .

phone has limited memory; do occasionally get an out of memory error when trying https+search on google

like addons
** Adblock Plus working !!

not so sure about apps yet;
installed a game, and wikipedia;  seem slow to start, wikipedia not much different than just the mobile site;  Game's UI a bit slow and unresponsive on this old phone.

tabs:
work well, do keep only a few open, not trying to stress out with dozens open...

iPython Notebook + raspberry pi + minecraft api

using iPython notebook with the raspberry pi minecraft api for quick experiments.

using a second x86 linux machine that hosts iPython, running Fedora 18, default iPython install.

• copy or unpack the api/python directory
• modify the minecraft.py : change 'localhost' to the ip address of your raspberry pi
• start notebook from api/python directory (for import commands to match samples on the web)

ipython notebook --pylab inline

then you have

import mcpi.minecraft as minecraft
import mcpi.block as block
mc = minecraft.Minecraft.create()

print mc.player.getPos()
mc.postToChat("hello from iPython")

Raspberry Pi Minecraft python api observations

playing with the mincraft-pi and python.

the addition of the api allows you to build structures using blocks that are not usually allowed:

a few fun items I found after a few calls ...

• lava flows down to the ground if a block of lava placed in air;  you end up with a glowing tower of lava
• lava turns to stone if you drop lava into water, or if water is dropped onto lava
• water flows like jello, if you try to create structures above ground of water blocks, they will flow down and ooze.
• water flows faster than lava; you can drop lava on top of a hill, then later drop water...

[inserting screen shots here, simple shots seem problematic, using phone camera]

result of loop to place an instance of all blocks; the lava and water flow over the side

did place a solid block below, as physics will cause some blocks to fall out of the sky (SAND,GRAVEL)

some geek math ... exploring the lower section of a Mandelbrot set