News:

• May 31, 2014: Updated the x86_64-ubuntu-linux-gnu cross compiler
  

  With the release of Ubuntu 14.04, I updated Linux cross compiler. Binutils 2.24 now natively understands multiarch, so I have dropped the patch for binutils 2.23.2

• Sep 2, 2013: Updated the i586-pc-msdosdjgpp cross compiler
  

  Another cross compiler has been split off onto it's own page, Dos(32bit) cross compiler. As the directions are right now, it segfaults while compiling libgcc for reasons I have not looked into, but nice to see that the djgpp project is still going strong. UPDATE: I found a fix for the segfault, and it is now happily making .exe files. http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-bugs/2013-01/msg01142.html has a patch that removed the keyword "signed" from gcc/config/i386/djgpp-stdint.h.

• Sep 1, 2013: Updated the x86_64-ubuntu-linux-gnu cross compiler
  

  I put some more polish into my linux to Ubuntu cross compiler, and split it off onto it's own page. That way, I can add additional notes and tweaks without making my existing cross compiler page too large. I wanted to target SDL2 and SDL2-mixer and those packages are now upstream in Ubuntu.
  
  After I had a working toolchain, there are 2 problems I ran into. The development packages are not multiarch compliant (so I can't install both SDL2-dev:i386 and SDL2-mixer:amd64 simultaniously). But at least SDL2-2.0.0:i386 and SDL2-2.0.0:amd64 can sit side by side. That means I can still make a symlink from /usr/lib/i386-linux/gnu/SDL2.so to it's coresponding library. The other one being that some packages are not multiarch compliant (again, more symlinks and manual work instead of using apt-get).

• Dec 25, 2012: Graffiti Pro on Android
  

  I own a Palm Tungsten E, which to this day has been my favorite mobile device. Programs started instantly, and navigating was quick. (Bit low on horsepower and memory). It was probably slower, but I loved using Graffiti 2 to write with.
  
  For years, I have been trying to find a modern replacement for my Palm Tungsten E. I have never tried Palm WebOS, but at this point I don't see it taking the world by storm. Access Linux sounds like the spiritual successor to PalmOS 5.2 Garnet (the system used by Palm Tungsten E).
  
  Currently I am using a HTC One X as my mobile device. I felt that I would prefer the openness of the Android platform (A double edged sword). Still, I never quite feel right using the touchscreen keyboard. (I would prefer Graffiti, or a physical keyboard). I also decided that I do not want a sliding keyboard (Thicker, and moving parts will create wear & tear).
  
  There is a bit of the past that's on the Android market though, Graffiti Pro gives the original Graffiti 1 input system for Android devices (although it was Graffiti 2 I had memorized).
  
  Only thing missing now, is a builtin stylus. So far, the only android devices I have seen that support a builtin stylus is the Samsung Galaxy Note family. I picked up a standalone stylus, but I would prefer it to be stored in the phone. Well, all good things in time.

• Nov 26, 2012: New News System
  

  I have always liked working with html and css code, but I always felt that maintaining a news page through pure html and css had limitations. I want a rss feed, and right now that would require me to maintain 2 files for news
  
  
  Wordpress and Joomla are content management systems that solve this issue, and as they handle dynamic content the posibilities are endless. But it takes me away from the raw html.
  
  
  Instead, I coded a simple php script that will parse all of my news files and lists them on the main page (probably better as a database, but keeps things simple). I could write a rss feed via php that provides this information as well.

• Nov 26, 2012: Enabling HTTPS
  

  Today, nathancoulson.com and distantempiers.com are now class2 certified through startssl. Unfortunately this will not work under Internet Explorer on Windows XP. Managing multiple certificates on a single IP requires the Server Name Indication support, which is available on Windows Vista or higher.
  
  I also plan on signing Distant Empires packages as well. osslsigncode can be used to sign dll, cab, and exe files (Unfortunately I am distributing msi files) from a linux environment.
  
  For OSX, I am unsure if startssl's ca cert is trusted by Apple. It looks like they want you to sign through their tools (and I have not yet found a linux utility that can sign osx apps).

• Sep 8, 2012: Updating my Cross Compilers
  

  Did some more work on the Cross Compiler page, to bring the x86_64-w64-mingw32 and x86_64-apple-darwin10 targets to the latest versions of binutils & gcc. Unfortunately it looks like I need a newer version of CCTools (Currently provided by odcctools) for gcc 4.7.1.

• Feb 12, 2012: Controller Database Project
  

  Began working on the specifications for the controller database project. I envision a system, where you can ask a website (or a local file) for a image and specifications to you're controller.

• Nov 1, 2011: Cross Development Tools
  

  There is a new page under my projects called Cross Tools that contains a list of linux utilities useful in cross platform development. I added libdmg-hfsplus (compresses .dmg) and the commandline options to get a readonly .dmg file from genisoimage. Also included a patch to disable adding a crc check to the compressed .dmg file, as it appears to be wrong

• Aug 27, 2011: I decided to join Google+, Social networking is a new experience for me, but I suppose technology is evolving. Over the years, there have been some amazing tools for keeping in touch with your friends. First there was email, then later came ICQ. I remember the web panels you could integrate into your webpage with your ICQ status, it was an amazing time. Later, MSN appeared to become mainstream. It never felt quite the same, and I miss the web panels (although I abandoned ICQ when I only received spam within invite requests. *sigh*).
  
  One of the reasons I made this page, was to put my HTML skills to use, and tinker with some of the modern options within HTML. First I used SHTML for including parts of webpages, then abandoned it for PHP as I get the feeling SHTML is dying (or possibly it died a decade ago). I want to stay as close to the raw HTML code design as possible, but I want my news here, and on Google+. One of these days I should consider finding a way to show all my posts on Google+ here, and archive my news.
• Aug 22, 2011: It works, I have a beautiful linux to gcc 4.6.1 x86_64-apple-darwin10 compiler. had to go through a few hoops, but the directions are listed on the Cross Compilers page.
• Aug 7, 2011: I have been working on a linux to osx cross compiler for a while, but currently at a impass. For now, I have updated to the directions that I am using, perhaps someone can provide some insite if they stumble across this page.
• May 16, 2011: I updated my linux to * cross compiler page, and added some of my research. Still some work to be done for the OSX target, and the directions for dos (djgpp) currently crash compiling gcc, but a good base to work upon.
• May 13, 2011: Bryce Coulson (my brother) and myself have been working on Distant Empires. In doing so, we are currently hosting the site on a linode vpn. 512MB Ram, 2.5GB harddrive space. Should work perfectly for the project. I have moved my own site, nathancoulson.com over to this new server as well.
• Oct 11, 2010: Wow, almost a year since I have done anything with my site. I put up a draft of a old hint I made long ago, building yourself a linux to windows mingw32 cross compiler. Works well enough for my purposes, but has not been stress tested. I may do one targetting djgpp (dos) in the future.
• Oct 23, 2009: I have begun work on the Linux from Scratch Multilib project page. It is still a work in progress, but enjoy if you have ever wanted to build your own Multilib Linux System from Scratch
• Oct 19, 2009: There, now the Grub2 915resolution patch has it's own dedicated webpage. There is now instructions on how to use the VGA= kernel parameter to choose your custom resolutions.
• Oct 18, 2009: Well, it has been too long since I have last updated my webpage, so I hope you enjoy the new design. I have got rid of the old table based html code, and updated to modern webcoding practises. I have always wanted to have a eye catching, imageless site, so I have moved to CSS for eyecandy. Rounded Rectangles is one of my favorite tools, and Firefox and Webkit have been kind enough to implement border-radius, A tag in CSS3 that allows you to round corners. Unfortunately Internet Explorer does not have a simular implementation at this time, so my site will have corners. (I think the site still looks fine though, and I am glad the era of 'Best viewed in' is mostly gone. I suppose it's my fault if I choose to use a CSS3 feature before CSS3 is released).
  
  Much has happened to the Intel netbook experience over the last year. The Ath5k kernel driver works great, so that it is possible to run netbook's w/ wireless out of the box (although I am sure other chips are used in other netbooks), and my dream of a full resolution console w/o X can be done without the grub2 i915resolution patch thanks to intel's work on KMS (I expect this will be mature in Xorg 7.5). At this time, I am not sure what I am going to be doing to my EeePC page, but obviously the netbook world is as diverse as the laptop world.
  
  I will be expanding my webpage with updates on my current hobbies & projects, such as some of my customizations to the Linux from Scratch project [It's up to date, but there's still some fun alpha quality work being done in the linux world], Moving Grub2 to it's own webpage, and a 3d space based network game that I am developing with my brother. [currently as a hobby project]
• Oct 10, 2008: One problem that the 2.6.26 linux kernel had, was that it was reporting a GPE Storm on ACPI events. This was a feature added to the kernel, so that laptop's that have a poor acpi key implementation can fall back to polled mode. This unfortunately causes the side effect of only polling once every second for acpi key presses (such as volume controls). The status of this problem is being tracked at http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=10724. Comment #120 provides a cleaner implementation of the GPE Detection, that seems to work better with the EeePC. I am unable to test this at this time (alas, poor dead poweradapter), but this looks like the solution everyone was waiting for. Upstream as of 2.6.27. acpi-gpestorm-update.patch.
• Oct 10, 2008: Now that 2.6.27 is out, it's time I update my EeePC page. Most of the fixes, and external drivers have been committed upstream (uvcvideo, eeepc-laptop, and ath5k), but I currently have a ill EeePC (alas, poor power adapter). I may be looking into getting the fastboot work in 2.6.27 (you can see a read on the work done for this at lwn.net/Articles/299591/). Tis good times ahead for the EeePC
• Oct 10, 2008: [EEE] Updated the grub2 port of 915resolution to include support for the 945GME chipset used on the EeePC 1000. Thanks to Scot Doyle for this update. (Untested by me, but looks sane)
• May 29, 2008: [EEE] Updated the kernel config file to work around a bug in the eee.ko module.
• May 19, 2008: [EEE] Added a patch that will increase the speed of the drive, Obtained from http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/4/25/18. Updated the kernel to 2.6.25.4.
• May 08, 2008: [EEE] Removed link to asus_acpi_eee.patch.bz2 as an alternative variation has been merged upstream.
• May 05, 2008: [EEE] Removed link to madwifi 3365 snapshop, and replaced with a prepatched tarball. This was done as the snapshots are no longer provided. Reworded introduction.
• Apr 21, 2008: [EEE] Added an ACPID section that documents how to configure hotkeys
• Apr 20, 2008: [EEE] Updated the kernel section to use 2.6.25. Removed realtime as there is currently no patch for 2.6.25 located at www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/. Added kernel parameters. Added power reduction optimizations. Added boot booster information. Updated grub2 915resolution patch to work with boot booster.