[Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

I made a widget for myself so that I can get my favorite comic strips on the desktop. It turned out pretty nice so I decided to package it and upload it to devel.

The widget currently shows xkcd, Dilbert and Sinfest comics.

Not many features really. simple next/previous strip, switch comic, scroll down/up on widgets that are tall, and link to view the current comic strip in the browser.

At this moment I've only tested the current release on my own N900, so I'm interested to see if it works properly for others. It's available in (WARNING: Here be dragons!) extras-devel.

If you are likely to use the application, but feel it's missing your favorite comic, feel free to suggest it, and I'll see what I can do.

Bug reports and feature requests are also welcome.

known issues

• widget will become invisible after reboot (remove and add widget to fix after reboot)
• updating to the latest comic for the first time, or after a long pause in usage can take a long time

planned features

• moar comics!
• background preloading of comics near the current one, to speed up browsing

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Looking good! Thanks for making this public. It works fine here.

Consider adding www.phdcomics.com too.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Sounds great. How about Doonesbury, classic Peanuts, Zippy the Pinhead, Bloom County or anything else by Berk Breathed? Thanks!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

This is really awesome! But I felt that it was a bit too small for my liking.
Is it possible to make a bigger version? (my eyes aren't so good...)

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

I was thinking the same thing about size. Or make the widget size adjustable somehow?

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Great!

You should consider my favourite: http://www.wulffmorgenthaler.com

http://www.wulffmorgenthaler.com/str...4-ce24426281fb

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Great great Idea! I'm testing!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Yes, it's nicely indexed, so no problem to add that one.


Could I have the url's to these, so I can check them out?


Yes, I was actually planning to have a few sizes available when I get around to configuring user settings.


Also one of my favorites. I need to have a completely different approach to index it though, since it does not have a continuous id chain, as the others do (either by a simple id or date). The hashed id's are more work. But as I said, wulff is one of my favorites, but it might take a while before I get it implemented.


---
Thank you all for the suggestions. Adding some more comics and I think the possibility to enable and disable comics will be the next features I add, after I get the annoying disappearing widget problem fixed. (Btw to find the invisible widget and remove it, modify the desktop where it was and you'll see the [x] in the top right and the [wrench] in the bottom left)

Keep the suggestions coming.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

My fave comics
http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/
http://www.explosm.net/
http://leasticoulddo.com/
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
http://www.cad-comic.com/
http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

I'll check it out. Please consider the following:

http://comics.com/frazz/
http://comics.com/off_the_mark/
http://comics.com/get_fuzzy/

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Thanks for this comic! Man phd is funny because It's true. I work at a research institute at a university, so it's very much appropriate for me :) I have to print some of these for our coffee room!

Anyway, I added phd (not in devel yet), but that thing is annoyingly slightly too tall in relation to the width to fit nicely into the widget. It will have to do for now though.

I'll make an option where the shape fits that comic better when I get the different shapes option done.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

at last some goodness to fill those empty spaces on my n900 desktop

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

phdcomics is hillarious even for us non-grads :) I've seen it posted on walls in a few university offices. It's pretty popular along with xkcd and calvin & hobbes.

Your widget made me rethink my desktops in order to make room for it. I know have a single desktop dedicated to rss, this widget, and a couple web shortcuts.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Here are URL's of some comics I suggested earlier:
www.doonesbury.com
www.zippythepinhead.com
http://comics.com/peanuts
http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/page...ite_strips.asp

Thanks!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

http://userfriendly.org

cheers! :D

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

As the Games forum moderator, i feel it my duty to request Penny Arcade. :D

PS Can't read Ph.D. anymore since he made a character based on me (Slackenerny). It's just too painful. :P

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Can I request Baby Blues, please? They are so funny.

Baby Blues

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

EDIT: Everything's working fine! great widget! thanks!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

I tend to wait till a widget reaches -testing before, well, testing it so I will await the with interest. One thing springs to mind as being necessary for this: display of alt/title text. this is often half the joy of xkcd, and I have yet to persuade the n900 browser to do it.

A vague thought on a possible advanced feature; search of archive strip titles?

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

I sure don't want to spoil the party here, but my virtual keyboard doesn't pop up anymore, despite being checked in the text input settings. I only remember installing comic-widget recently, could it be related?

Just asking, not implying anything.

Thanks.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

That's a good point. xkcd without the alt text is just not the same.

Here's another good serial strip i've been meaning to follow since i discovered it, and probably actually would if i could put it in a widget:
http://www.darthsanddroids.net

It's a spoof strip that takes place in a universe without Star Wars, where a group of role-playing gamers is doing a "Star Wars" campaign. It's brilliant.

It was inspired by The Dungeon Master of the Rings, a similar take on The Lord of the Rings. That one is finished, however, while Darths and Droids goes on...

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

might be. I've never used my on screen keyboard, so I wouldn't know. Did your keyboard come back after you uninstalled comic widget?

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

http://www.gpf-comics.com/ (General Protection Fault) would be cool! ^^

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Well, I didn't try that yet. When I first installed the widget, I couldn't find it anywhere. So I uninstalled it, but then suddenly I noticed an entry in the add widget menu on the desktop. This didn't make sense to me. I re-enabled the extras-devel, reinstalled the widget, then sure enough it appeared on the desktop. I have it installed right now.
I normally have extras-devel disabled, but if I really want something, I enable it temporarily just to do the installation.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Is it possible to make this an app as well as the widget? I might not want the widget taking up a lot of space on my desktop, but an app that I could run manually might be useful. It would have the advantages that it could give more screen space to the comic, and allow swipe gestures and menus and so on.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

There is some caching or tracking or whatnot that scans for new wigets, and it doesn't always notice changes apparently. Will ask the pymaemo people if this is normal behaviour.

I'm flattered thay you wanted the widget enough to enable devel, but please be careful when upgrading and such. due to rapid(ish) development, havoc-causing bugs may appear between versions...

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Hmm how about making an app to read them/zoom/etc... and have the widget just show the latest... you can select the one you want then and when you tap the widget it would open up a fullscreen app so you can read through it and other big ones as well.

On a side note some more to add:
http://www.garfield.com/
http://www.dungeond.com/
http://www.megatokyo.com/
http://www.thenoobcomic.com/

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Heh actually we were talking about this on #maemo. Hukka said he wanted an app like that, and I wanted a widget, so I said I'll make the widget and he'll make the app. Don't know if he actually did though.

Either once I decide the widget is done, I could make an app to read them more closely. I'm kinda hoping someone else will do it though, as I'm pretty happy with the widget and the browser for closer inspection.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

there's a new version in the autobuilder. It has some new, albeit crude features. You can now disable or enable comics from the configuration menu. The dialog will have to change when I add more comics, but the functionality is there for testing.
The other new thing is you can now change the size of the widget. There's currently no gui method for resizing, but it's really easy to do from command line. Here's how:
launch xterm
assuming you haven't hacked it to death, you emerg:e in /home/user/
from there type:
then remove the widget from the desktop, and add it again. It should now be 600x320px instead of the default 480x230

don't put anything other than width,height in the size.cfg or the widget will (perhaps) not work.

max width is 798px and min width is 400px
max height is 420px and min height is 200px.
values outside these will automagically be read as the nearest extreme.

I still haven't fixed the disappearing widget bug, but I have managed to introduce a new one: Cyanide and Happiness occasional alpha channel makes some strips unreadable. There are probably heaps of bugs lurking under there, so let me know if you find any.

Once I get the comic picker dialog changed to acommodate more comics, I will be adding more comics. wulffmorgenthaler next :D
the latest version is 0.3.3-1 btw.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

version 0.3.4-2 is in the oven. This one seems rather stable on my phone. I also managed to implement a proper list (TreeView) to choose which comics you want to rotate.
oh I also added Wulffmorgenthaler, which offers some of the most hilarious strips you can find.
I'll focus on cleaning up the code and adding more comics for a while now.

known issues v 0.3.4-2:
- widget becomes invisible after reboot.
- alpha channel makes some comics unreadable (only on Cyanide and Happiness)

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

0.4.0-1 in the oven.

I added "a few" new comics. Check it out.

Still haven't figured out the invisible widget problem :/
But now I'll focus on that, since I have enough comics for a while. UI for changing size is also in the plans.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Is it possible to have a list of comics available in this widget? Thanks.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

tks a lot, great widget!!

never thought I would have daily Dilbert strips directly on my phone screen...

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

oops, ok it was not in the oven. Now it's really in the oven.. A comic list you say. Here:

9 Chickweed Lane, Agnes, Andy Capp, Alley Oop, Arlo and Janis, B.C., Ballard Street, Ben, Betty, Big Nate, Brevity, Candorville, Cheap Thrills, Committed, Cow and Boy, Cyanide and Happiness, Daddy's Home, Dilbert, Dog eat Doug, Drabble, F Minus, Family Tree, Farcus, Fat Cats, Ferd'nand, Flight Deck, Flo and Friends, Fort Knox, Frank and Ernest, Frazz, Free Range, Geech, Get Fuzzy, Girls and Sports, Graffiti, Grand Avenue, Heathcliff, Herb and Jamaal, Herman, Home and Away, It's All About You, Jane's World, Jump Start, Kit 'n' Carlyle, Li'l Abner, Liberty Meadows, Little Dog Lost, Lola, Luann, Marmaduke, Meg, Minimum Security, Moderately Confused, Momma, Motley, Nancy, Natural Selection, Nest Heads, Off the mark, On A Claire Day, One Big Happy, Over the Hedge, PC and Pixel, Peanuts, Pearls Before Swine, PHD Comics, Pickles, Prickly City, Raising Duncan, Reality Check, Red and Rover, Rip Haywire, Ripley's Believe it or not, Rose Is Rose, Rubes, Rudy Park, Scary Gary, Shirley and Son, Sinfest, Soup to Nutz, Speed Bump, Spot the Frog, State of the Union, Strange Brew, Tarzan, That's Life, The Barn, The Born Loser, The Buckets, The Dinette Set, The Grizzwells, The Humble Stumble, The Knight Life, The Meaning of Lila, The Other Coast, The Sunshine Club, Unstrange Phenomena, Watch Your Head, Wizard of Id, Working Daze, Working It Out, Wulffmorgenthaler, xkcd and Zack Hill

Edit: Baby Blues

My favorites are Wulffmorgenthaler, PC and Pixel, Sinfest and xkcd.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Could you add Baby Blues please, it's my favourite comic about parenting

http://www.babyblues.com/archive/archive.htm

And thanks for creating such wonderful widget!!!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

fixed some bugs, and will be uploading a new version (0.4.1) in a bit.
Version 0.4.1-2 is in the repo. Babyblues included.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Thanks!! Installed it today. Can't seem to find comic-widget under widget menu. It's just not there.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Perhaps the widget is already on the desktop but invisible? You can detect it by entering edit desktop mode and you see the [wrench] in the lower left and the [x] in the upper right corner of the invisible widget. Also, if you have didn't have any python widgets installed before, the hildon-desktop-python-loader might need a reboot to start working properly.

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

Just updated....great works as always...!
I put it above the calendar widget....every morning when I wake up I take a quick look at the calendar full of thing to do...and I smile watching at your widget!

Re: [Announce] Comic widget for maemo5
 

just another suggestion:
http://plusev.keenspot.com/