Android

After initially running RemixOS, the new Android build for PCs, I decided that I would rather play with booting it natively from my SSD instead of from a USB device. Performance should be better, it would free my USB thumb drive up for other duties, and it would make booting more convenient.

This turned out to be a relatively simple operation. What follows is my methodology for doing that. Please note that these instructions assume you are running Linux.

I’ve always been one for trying out new operating systems, so when I heard news about the latest desktop-conversion effort from Jide I wanted to give it a try.

RemixOS is a proprietary offering based on the work of android-x86, which aims to bring the stock Android experience to commodity PCs. RemixOS adds on interface and convenience changes to make the operating system more usable on PC hardware. This includes UI changes such as multi-windows and a classic ‘desktop’.

As would be familiar to anybody who knows me, I’m always interested in new tech, especially when it’s running free software and portable enough to be in my every-day carry arsenal.

For the past month or so I’ve been looking at a few devices as a secondary to my laptop to carry with me. In a few weeks I’ll be joining those already there at third installment of Hackerbeach, on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

1. Sign up for an account on www.notifymyandroid.com.  Log in, click on ‘My Account’, then ‘Generate New Key’
2. Install the NMA Android app (around $3 USD) onto your android device.  Launch the app and login
3. Install pynma.py and nma.py to $HOME/.weechat/python.
4. (Optional) Symlink nma.py to $HOME/.weechat/python/autoload
5. In weechat:

/python load python/nma.py
/set plugins.var.python.nma.apikey "$myapikey"

6. (Optional) To inly send notifications when detached from the screen: install and load the screen_away.py, then

/python load python/screen_away.py
/set plugins.var.python.nma.only_away on

Now you too can be harassed by inane IRC highlights no matter where in the world you are!  Thankfully, the NMA Android app has a ‘quiet hours’ in case you’d rather not be woken up in the middle of the night.

IRSSI configuration

Install these scripts into $HOME/.irssi/scripts (and symlink it in $HOME/.irssi/scripts/autorun) to have them autoloaded when IRSSI starts.

• screen_away.pl
• notifonotify.pl
• socketnotify.pl

Android configuration

Sign up for a notifo account, download the android app, and sign in with it. Make note of the username and API key, as you’ll be configuring irssi to use them.

You’ll be loading the scripts in IRSSI and setting 2 notifo parameters:

/script load screen_away.pl
/script load socketnotify.pl
/script load notifonotify.pl
/set notifo_username $USER_NAME
/set notifo_api_secret $API_KEY

Now receiving highlights while you’re away (detached from the screen) will send them to your android device.