embedding

Whenever you move data from Microsoft Excel to its Office mate Word, it seems there's always a compromise involved: If the formatting makes the transition intact, then changing the data either causes problems or simply can't be done. If you can alter the data, either the formatting is a mess, or the resulting Word document is huge. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of the various ways to add Excel data to a Word document, starting with the simplest.

Copy the cells and paste them as a Word table: If your Excel worksheet is formatted simply, and you … Read more

Lineo (later renamed Embedix) was an embedded Linux vendor that rose to prominence in 1999 to 2000, and then cratered into obsolescence in 2002. I joined in 2000, the day that the acquisition of six (yes, six) different companies was announced. My first day of work was the approximately 400-person company get-together designed to build a team out of a mass of new bodies. Up until that day the total employee base was approximately 40 people.

I learned a tremendous amount about business and open source and the intersection of the two during my two years with Lineo. These lessons heavily influence how I see open-source opportunities today.

In the interest of sharing, here's what I learned:… Read more

Two of the most effective tools I've found for keeping videos embedded in Web pages are the Free FLV Converter and RealPlayer. Yes, that RealPlayer.

… Read more

I just got a chance to try out a Webware PC: a computer built around the new P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard from Asus. What makes this motherboard be hardware for Webware is that it has a Firefox Web browser (running on an embedded Linux operating system) burned into ROM. It also has Skype. You turn it on, and in fifteen seconds (I timed it), you can be in Firefox and surfing the Web.

You can also boot it into Windows, or whatever OS you have installed on the hard disk. Boring.

This built-in browser has a lot of great things but some drawbacks too.

In the plus category: This alternate operating system, provided by DeviceVM to Asus, is fast and convenient. There's no giant OS to boot before you get into your browser, which is a slimmed-down version of Firefox, not some weird, quasibrowser that doesn't do what you want. There's a Flash plug-in installed so most modern sites render properly. Flash videos play just fine. The system saves all your settings (including bookmarks) in memory, so you don't have to start from scratch every time you fire it up.

The P5E3 motherboard has nearly everything built in that you'll need. Connecting to a network--wired or WiFi--is fast and easy. Skype has access to the board's audio in and out ports.

Because the DeviceVM platform doesn't have access to the hard disks connected to the motherboard, the system is very secure. So if, say, guests wants to use your PC to check their Web mail, you can boot them into the ExpressGate environment (that's what Asus calls it) and not worry about them junking up your PC. You might want to clear your private data from the Firefox cache first, though.

And this motherboard is "green," at least in theory. Many people leave their PCs on all the time, because launching a browser from a cold PC can take several minutes. With this setup, you can turn off the PC when you're done browsing, and when you need to get back online, you can be there in seconds.

If you work primarily online--using browser-based tools like Google Docs for productivity, Salesforce.com or Basecamp for business operations, Meebo for IM, and so on--this setup is just great.

Should you get one of these motherboards just for its ExpressGate feature, though?

… Read more

Like most of us who spend considerable time in the Web 2.0 universe, I love to embed content on blogs and social-networking home pages. YouTube is loaded with countless hours of entertaining videos, but it wouldn't be nearly as popular without the ability to embed those wacky movies all over the Web. Now, a new online service called Yoink'd hopes to capitalize on the embedded-video craze by providing a free method of compiling, presenting, and sharing Web videos with your friends.

Yoink'd is essentially an online media player that uses AJAX and DHTML to search for, collect, and share online video files. It is an entirely self-contained, Web-based application. All of your preferences and playlists are saved within the Yoink'd Mediabox itself. There's no profile page or settings page you have to visit each time you want to add videos or change your preferences. To me, that's the beauty of Yoink'd. The entire application lives in the embeddable widget. Once you pop it on your blog, you'll never need to visit the Yoink'd site again.… Read more

Embedded Systems Design's annual survey of developers has turned up some interesting data: the embedded Linux gold rush may finally be over. My first job in open source was for embedded Linux pioneer Lineo, so I found this news both interesting and surprising: Linux for embedded (mobile phones, SOHO routers, etc.) is about as certain as my daughter asking for a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.

In other words, guaranteed.

In looking at the data, that may still be the case, though possibly we've turned the corner on embedded Linux's hype cycle, too, as Richard Nass in an article for ESD suggests.… Read more

QNX Software Systems, one of the old guard in the the embedded operating systems industry, made a move Wednesday to fend off rival Linux by opening its Neutrino product source code for all to see.

But don't mistake the move for a true adoption of open-source software. Although QNX's hybrid model lets outsiders see, change and extend the Neutrino software, commercial use of the software requires purchase of runtime licenses, the company said Wednesday. Academics and noncommercial developers get free use of development tools.

The Neutrino development process will be more "transparent," and outsiders will be … Read more

This morning, SplashCast, the media syndication service, is launching MyPodcastNetwork, a new feature that lets users create a single player to aggregate and play audio and video content via RSS feeds. If you're a podcast listener, you might already be using an aggregation service such as iTunes or Odeo to pull in your favorite shows. What's neat about doing this on SplashCast is that you can mix it in with other audio, video, and pictures in one big mashup, then share your creation with others by embedding it on blogs or social networking profiles.

To find podcast or … Read more

MontaVista Software has acquired a business partner and another company, both of which, like MontaVista itself, focus on Linux for embedded computing devices such as slot machines and mobile phones.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said Tuesday that it has fully acquired joint venture MontaVista Limited and also has absorbed Liberte Software, a Linux design services company that had worked closely with MontaVista Ltd.

The acquisition of the two U.K.-based endeavors will bolster MontaVista's sales and services staff, the company said.

"The growth in the embedded Linux market in Europe is phenomenal, and MontaVista Software … Read more