Here's how I rooted the Motorola Backflip using the instructions on this thread and Ubuntu, instead of Windows.

1. First, I installed the system requirements in Ubuntu for SDK by searching for "eclipse", and "jdk" in Synaptic Package manager.
2. I then downloaded the SDK package for Linux i386 from here and unpacked it with "tar -xzf android-sdk_r06-linux_86.tgz".
3. Just to be safe, I updated SDK first by entering the newly unpacked directory with "cd android-sdk-linux_86/tools" and typing "./android update sdk".
4. Once the update was finished, I needed to find a way to mount the Motorola Backflip with Ubuntu since I could only find Windows drivers. It was as simple as just creating a rule for mounting the device with
   • sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/91-android.rules
   • Then I cut and paste "SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="22b8", SYMLINK+="android_adb", MODE="0666", OWNER="MyUbuntuUsername" into the file (ctrl+shift+v in the terminal) and saved it with ctrl + x
   I needed to restart udev for the rule to take effect with "sudo restart udev".
5. I copied adb into my bin and changed permissions to be able to use it without having to change directories by typing from the adroid-sdk-linux_86/tools directory, "sudo cp adb /usr/local/bin && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/adb"
6. I had already installed ConnectBot (below) which is required for later. Finally, I ensured USB debugging mode was enabled in the Backflip Settings under the "Applications" menu and "Development" submenu.
7. I plugged in my Backflip and selected "USB charge only" on the display when prompted. I checked to make sure the phone itself was detected (and not just the sdcard) by typing "adb devices".
8. I downloaded the file attached to the post referenced above, which required me to sign up to the modmymobile.com site. You can download it from here.
9. I unpacked the archive with "unrar e Moto_MSM_Root.rar" and changed into the new directory with "cd Moto_MSM_Root".
10. Then I transferred a number of files to the phone:
    • adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/
    • adb push su /sdcard/
    • adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/
    • adb push install-root.sh /data/local/tmp/
11. Then changed the permissions of two of the key files with:
    • adb shell
    • cd /data/local/tmp
    • chmod 0755 rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
    • chmod 0755 install-root.sh
12. Then I opened ConnectBot (select "local" from the drop down menu) and changed directories with "cd /data/local/tmp". The magic happens with the following command "./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin". Initially, the command returned that su and Superuser.apk couldn't be found, but this was simply because the sdcard was mounted and inaccessible. I unmounted the sdcard by right clicking on the icon on the Ubuntu desktop and clicking "eject" or alternatively it can be done with "umount /media/WhateverBackflipMountpoint". I reran the command, waited a bit and eventually the phone returned some message to restart the adb server, which I did by typing "adb start-server && adb kill-server" on my desktop terminal, not the phone.
13. I waited some time longer and eventually got "[+] Forked xxxx childs." in ConnectBot. I couldn't exit ConnectBot normally, so I just used the menu, which crashed it but that didn't seem to matter.
14. When I restarted ConnectBot, I had the beloved root prompt (# instead of $) allowing me to execute the "/data/local/tmp/install-root.sh" command which copied the superuser profile into what were previously inaccessible directories. I then just typed "exit" to close ConnectBot and to begin wreaking havoc with my newly rooted phone, all thanks to Skrilax_CZ and Sebastian Krahmer at C skills.

First things first. I have NOT rooted my Motorola Backflip. Being in Canada, the phone is carried by Telus, not AT&T, so it doesn't come with the AT&T bloatware and I'm able to install 3rd Party Apps. I unlocked my phone to be on Rogers anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer to have root on my phone but I've really only had one occasion to use it and I've found a workaround for that particular situation anyway. The next several posts will be about why I bought a Motorola Backflip vice the latest iPhone; the top 10 apps for my Motorola Backflip; and how I've integrated my Motorola Backflip with my filesharing apps. Hopefully I'll be able to post about rooting my phone, but I'll have to wait for someone else to do it first.

The simple reason for a Motorola Backflip vice an iPhone is the linux kernel. I'm familiar with linux and the command line and I make every effort to support open source developers when I have a chance. So why the Backflip vice other Android phones? Two words: Physical keyboard. For me, virtual keyboards necessarily make the phone larger because the keys on a virtual need to be pretty big for even people who don't have sausage fingers. Even with an oversized phone, I find a virtual keyboard to be pretty inaccurate. When I'm using a command line, I want to be sure about what key I'm pressing and a physical keyboard is much better in that respect. I know that HTC has a couple of phones with physical keyboards, but the reviews I read of the Backflip were simply better. The Backflip fits into my pocket easily and I can type much faster than I could with any iPhone.

So my compromise is this: A dual Windows/Ubuntu boot with the software I plan to record on under Windows also running on Ubuntu under WINE. Let's not kid around, rebooting is a pain in the ass. Aside from the time (although it's only few minutes) and fiddling with logins and startup programs, my Ubuntu boot is intimately integrated into my network so any time spent on Windows in very inconvenient. For example, my Ubuntu Boot serves a webpage, webcams and the files on a Tb external drive to my other two computers. By running Ableton with WINE, I can execute most of the routine functions of the software without having to reboot. For example, I can work on an arrangement for a few minutes prior to dinner under Ubuntu, which would be impossible by rebooting into Windows due to the time restraints. I'd just open the file by mounting my Windows file system under Linux (for me it's by typing "sudo mount /dev/sda4 /media/Windows/"), and editing under Ubuntu and Wine. Only when I know I've got to record do I need to boot into Windows. And again, I see no way around rebooting into Windows, unless I want to use Linux software, which I've given up on for the reasons outlined in the post on 28 May.

So I'm pretty happy with this setup... Finally. Ableton Live is light years ahead of Ardour for versatility and intuitiveness. It's far more professional sounding and most importantly, I don't need to spend half my time tweaking it in order to make it work (even under WINE) when I could be making music instead.

I, like most Canadians, am disgusted by the G20 protests. First, the "message" delivered by the protesters is so diffuse, it lacks any coherence. Every crackpot lefty comes out from under their rock or hugging their tree to protest everything from unfair labour practices, to the environment, to the plight of the speckle-backed dung beetle. I've got a suggestion: How about choosing your message? No one is listening to your "cause de jour" over the shrill scream of a thousand different injustices. Spread it out a bit. "Anarcho-LGBT-feminists, you take on the patriarchal institution of the Winter Olymics, Green-Marxist-Leninists, you take the next First Ministers meeting." I, like most of the rest of Canada, only got the message that you're really, really pissed off that we are living in a "Police State" but more on that later.

I think all anarchists should be forced to live in a country with no functioning government. Just for a few weeks. Yeah. All these "oppressive institutions" you're so pissed off about? They're what separates us from Lord of the Flies. And I've got a feeling that the brooding, complaining, loner off in the corner of the island would be the first one to get a rock dropped on his head. Go see what Afghanistan or Bosnia is like with no functional police force. Your daughter got raped by the next door neighbour? Unless you've got more friends, or more guns, there's fuck all you can do about it. Worst of all, you'd probably have to get a real job without being able to rely on that monthly government cheque to support your XBox and weed habit.

What I saw of the protests were a bunch of spoiled children throwing a temper tantrum. Cowards destroying the livelihood of legitimate businesspeople. You're pissed off about the "police state"? Well you've just justified increasing the already ubiquitous police presence at the next event by burning those police cruisers fuckface. Because myself and the rest of Canada would really have preferred to see a lot more ass-kicking by the police to restore order. And if there ever was a message amongst the other protesters, it's completely lost now.

Alas. I gave it my all. I really did. I've been a dedicated linux user for a few years now and I've been trying my damnedest to use it for music programming... but I'm sorry to say that I've finally given up. If I were to say this on a linux forum I'd be flamed to no end: That I didn't try hard enough, I'm too stupid or I didn't try the right programs. I can say, hand on heart, that none of these are are true. I've given it three years, time in the realm of days not hours, spent trying to debug, tweak, compile and configure kernels and apps. I'm not a novice user anymore. I compiled my own realtime kernel to get my midi-usb device to work and I know my way around the command-line. I tried Ardour, Audacity, Reason, Hydrogen, Zynaddsubfx, Rosegarden, Seq24, linuxsampler, qsampler, Muse, Alsa Modular Synth, qsynth, Hexter and of course Jack. But in the end, Linux is light-years behind Windows and Mac for music production.

The first reason is that it's too crashy. Programs rarely worked "out of the box" and required to be tweaked and recompiled in order to work. Even then, I found that a simple update would often cause a program to repeatedly crash. I'd dutifully start at square one, searching the boards to see if I could solve the problem -- uninstalling, recompiling and all the while wasting time that I could have been spending actually making music. On more than one occasion, nothing I did helped the constant crashes and I'd have to abandon an unusable synth or sampler and learn how to use a different one.

The second reason is that the software is not even in the same league as Windows and Mac. Of course, it's all open source freeware so you wouldn't expect it to compare to commercial software, but I've found that even the freeware from Windows is much better quality. The sampler plugin Shortcircuit in Windows is much more usable, has far more available samples and rarely crashes compared to linuxsampler/qsampler, which I had working at one point but now crashes whenever I try to load a sample. The amount of freeware available from sources like Computer Music Magazine put linux to shame for music production.

So now I'm really stuck. I much prefer linux. I like the precision of the command line, I love the versatility open source code provides in that anything can be tweaked to your liking, I much prefer the aesthetics of compiz/conky/devilspie to the blandness of Windows, I love not having to worry about viruses/spyware/adware, and I love being able to easily install completely free, lightweight software with no adverts that'll do anything I want: from setting up my own webcam server to port scanning a remote host. So what do I do?

Well, for the time being I'm using VirtualBox to run Windows as a guest OS on my Ubuntu installation. So far it works ok, but I can foresee problems with the lag and not being able to fully leverage my expensive sound card due to the virtualization. I'm considering Xen, but I'm not sure it'd be able to directly access my sound card either and it's still only 90% of the speed of a native kernel. Linux. I love you. I HaTe You! I love you...

KC and I just got back from the UK. In Glasgow we had an excellent meal at a restaurant called The Ubiquitous Chip, which was a lot classier than it sounds and I'd recommend to anyone. On match day we went to a Rangers bar called "The District" and drank snakebites -- which for some reason had to be served in separate glasses throughout the city. I imagine it had something to do with the attention the media was giving to cider and its supposed tendency to cause fights. The match was pretty poor but I had one of the best steak pies of my life -- probably because our breakfast was pints in the pub.

We drove up to the highlands and stayed in a town catering to UK skiers, which was fairly unremarkable but for the bed and breakfast we stayed in called Corrour House. It was a expensive for a B&B but reading a book and having a scotch by the fire of a 19th century highland manor was a great experience. The following day we drove the whiskey trail and visited a couple of distilleries for tours and free samples. We finished the tour at The Whisky Castle and I picked up a bottle of single cask Blackadder, which you can't get in Canada.

In Edinburgh we went to the Castle, which was just as interesting as the tower of London but had a fraction of the tourists. We went to a cool pub called The Banshee Labyrinth and watched Hannibal in their gothic underground cellar with more snakebites. This time with blackcurrant in it -- which actually wasn't bad.

We finished the trip in London. We did lots of the free art galleries like the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery. We had excellent Turkish and Indian meals and pub crawled up Charing Cross. I love the fact you can bring your pint out of the pub. We browsed Portobello market for a peacoat and strolled Kensington, Hyde and St James parks. Our hotel, the Grange Rochester, was in a great location and was relatively inexpensive. It had an excellent pub down the street called the Cardinal. It seemed underappreciated. It was fairly empty when we were there on a Sat afternnon but the decor was outstanding and they had excellent draft; all Samuel Smith.

It was a good trip and we've resolved to go back every 2-3 years.