Work with SQLite Databases on Android with aSQLiteManager

May 14, 2015 GMT

SQLite is a great little database engine for maintaining all sorts of databases, but to work with them, you must have a database client. And when you need to create and manipulate an SQLite database on an Android device, aSQLiteManager is just the tool for the job. Despite its bare-bones appearance, this open source app packs a rather impressive array of features. For starters, aSQLiteManager features a database creation wizard that makes it easy to create a database from scratch and populate it with tables and fields. The app can handle not only tables, but also views and indexes. The database browser allows you to view, edit, and delete...

Save Web Pages on Android with Save For Offline

Apr 30, 2015 GMT

In the good old days of not so pervasive and fast internet access, utilities like HTTrack were indispensable for reading web pages offline. A lot has changed since then, but a tool for saving web pages for offline access can still come in handy in many situations. While HTTrack is still a good option on the Linux desktop, the Save for Offline app has got you covered if you happen to use an Android device. Unlike services such as Pocket and Wallabag that store reformatted versions of pages, Save for Offline saves pages in the native HTML format on your device. This means that you can open and view fetched pages using a regular browser. The...

Instant File Transfer with airpaste

Apr 29, 2015 GMT

Need to quickly transfer a file between machines on the same network? Consider using airpaste. To push the foo.txt file, run the airpaste < foo.txt command. Issue then the airpaste > foo.txt command on the receiving machine to download the file. No muss, no fuss.airpaste is based on Node.js, so you need to install this runtime environment along with the NPM package manager on your system to be able to run the utility. Both components are available in the official software repositories of most mainstream Linux distributions, so you can install them using your system's default package manager. On Ubuntu and its derivatives, use the sudo apt-get install nodejs npm command. Once you've...

Leave Geographical Breadcrumbs with Geofix

Apr 20, 2015 GMT

When I'm out and about, I often need to quickly record my current position. As an amateur photographer, I appreciate the ability to record the geographical coordinates of locations I plan to photograph later and spots I've already taken pictures of. The latter helps me to geotag my photos in digiKam. When I travel, I prefer to record the locations of good eateries, coffee shops, interesting places, etc. An Android device is perfect for this task, but none of the apps I tried fit my needs. So I cobbled together my own tool called Geofix. This relatively simple Python-based script can be used to obtain and store the geographical coordinates of the current location. The script uses both the...

Build and Track Habits with the Did I App

Mar 31, 2015 GMT

Need a helping hand to develop good habits and get rid of bad ones? Try the Did I app for Android. It is a simple tool that lets you record whether you performed a specific action or not. For example, if you start a language course or 365 photography project, use the app to create Did I practice language? and Did I photograph? entries. You can then use the Yes and No buttons to track your progress, and the dedicated Progress screen provides a visual overview of your performance.Did I is released under the MIT license, and its source code is available in the project's GitHub repository. You can also install Did I from the F-Droid store. The app hasn't been updated for a while, but it still...

Extract Highlights and Annotations from Kobo Ebook Reader

Mar 30, 2015 GMT

Kobo ebook readers are great, but they have one weak spot: there is no easy way to export annotations and highlights. The good news is that Kobo readers run Linux and they store all data (including highlights and annotations) in the KoboReader.sqlite SQLite database inside the hidden .Kobo directory. Better still, you don't have to wrangle the desired data from the database manually: you can use a Python script developed by Alberto Pettarin to do all the hard work for you. Copy the KoboReader.sqlite from your Kbo reader to the local machine, download the script, and make it executable using the chmod +x export_Kobo_notes.py command. To export all highlights and annotations to a text file...

Extension Watch: Rubber Tab for Google Chrome and Chromium

Mar 27, 2015 GMT

The new tab screen in Google Chrome and Chromium is neither exciting nor particularly useful. And the Rubber Tab extension transforms a new tab page into a hub of useful information. Once installed, the extension adds default bars to the new tab page, including current date and time, new email message count (it supports Gmail only), weather conditions, browser history, and news. The improved interface also conveniently lists all installed Chrome apps, and the links in the lower-right corner give you quick access to bookmarks, Chrome (or Chromium pages), and Google Chrome Web Store. If the default bars are not enough you can add other items,...