converser.nz

NZ Tekonverse

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [3]: Using Lineage OS – 1

    So last time I wrote about the installation experience for Lineage, now it is time to have a look at early impressions of using it. Along the way I discovered some stuff about the Nexus 5X. It turns out that it was first shipped with Android and the final official release of Android for it…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [2]: Installing Lineage OS

    So after further investigation I decided Lineage OS would be the most straightforward means of getting my Nexus 5X off Google. This is quite a lengthy process that involves replacing the installed Google bloatware on the phone with the LineageOS installation images. LineageOS provides guides, which are pretty good except that like me, you can…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [1]: Intro

    I’ve owned smartphones since 2012 when I was given one as part of a new employment role. It (HTC) was running Windows Phone 7. It was followed by a couple of Nokias running Windows Phone 8 (the later one since updated to 10) and then a low-end Motorola Moto E running Android 4. The next…

  • Python Scripting [6B]: Layer Sidecar Duplication & Renaming for NZ Rail Maps 2

    Since yesterday the script has been completed and tested OK. Here is the complete script. It is similar to the segments script but a lot less complex with a total of 77 lines.  # declarations import glob import argparse import os import shutil import sys rootPath = os.getcwd() # set up command line argument parser…

  • Lubuntu 19.04 with LXQt

    It should generally be known by now that the Lubuntu project, which produces a version of Ubuntu that utilises the LX desktop environment for low resource usage, has switched from LXDE to LXQt in its more recent releases. The use of LXQt provides for a refreshing modern interface design in this application and for me,…

  • Python Scripting [6A]: Layer Sidecar Duplication & Renaming for NZ Rail Maps 1

    Our new scripting project as of present is a script called duplicate.py which is specifically with the NZ Rail Maps project and it aims to achieve duplication and renaming of the sidecar files that are associated with raster layers. Suppose that we have a base raster 4800×7200 pixels named in the following pattern: Timbuctoo-930W8-92NN9.jpg We…

  • NZ Rail Maps: Optimising Gimp and using 4x4x4 grid for mosaics [3]

    Since last writing on this subject I have further determined that I can scale 0.3 and 0.4 metre pixel resolution background Linz aerial images to double the scale (0.15 and 0.2 metres) and these scales work very well with the 1:4300/4325, 1:5500 and 1:8000 scale Retrolens aerial photos which are the best ones for creating…

  • NZ Rail Maps: Optimising Gimp and using 4x4x4 grid for mosaics [2]

    In the previous post in this section I wrote at some length about the use of grid segmentation of Linz base layers that were at resolutions of 0.3 to 0.4 metres pixel size. The grid segmentation being used to rescale these layers to 0.1 metre pixel size and then the original grid references were assigned…

  • Networking / Wireless with Debian LXQt

    There are some issues possible with LXQt if you have Wifi because of limitations in the current Buster install. Some of these may be resolved by the time Buster is released…but not all, for reasons explained below. First issue for Wifi is if the drivers are non-free, as is fairly likely. You’ll notice this at…

  • NZ Rail Maps: Two different ways to cover a large area in Gimp [4]

    Last time I wrote in this series I had been experimenting with the linear and segmented methods of covering a large geographical area in Gimp, such as I do with map mosaics for NZ Rail Maps. In summary the linear method consists of creating a large canvas that can lay out all the tiles in…