eDrum Manager v1.1 screenshot

eDrum Manager allows you to map the sounds of your electronic drum kit to other different sounds. It also allows to remap the note aftertouch and the velocity (volume) of the sounds of your drum kit.

Changes for this version:

• Added an option to map the Note Pressure (Aftertouch). This way, you can add support for Cymbal Choke in more VST plugins (like Addictive Drums).
• Changed the layout. The profiles are shown in a dropdown list to leave more space for the editing frame.
• Fixed some bugs (and added some others, for sure )

You can always download the latest version from here: eDrum Manager

It’s possible that you need to install the Visual Basic 6 run-time files on your system.

You can download the source code (VB6) for the latest version from here: eDrum Manager source code

The source code is given for educational porpuses. It has some advanced Visual Basic features, like a linked list class and window subclassing. It should be also a good read for people interested in processing MIDI commands.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or find any bugs, please leave a comment on this article or write me to oldmike | at | gmail / dot \ com and I’ll try to answer as soon as possible.

eDrum Manager v1.0 screenshot

eDrum Manager allows you to map the sounds of your electronic drum kit to other diferent sounds. It also allows to remap the velocity (volume) of the sounds of your drums.

You can always download the latest version from here: eDrum Manager

It’s possible that you need to install the Visual Basic 6 run-time files on your system.

You can download the source code (VB6) for the latest version from here: eDrum Manager source code

The source code is given for educational porpuses. It has some advanced Visual Basic features, like a linked list class and window subclassing. It should be also a good read for people interested in processing MIDI commands.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or find any bugs, please leave a comment in this article and I’ll try to answer as soon as possible.

Some DD-WRT capable routers

From dd-wrt.com:

“DD-WRT is a Linux based alternative OpenSource firmware suitable for a great variety of WLAN routers and embedded systems. The main emphasis lies on providing the easiest possible handling while at the same time supporting a great number of functionalities within the framework of the respective hardware platform used.”

At home, we have a LAN with 3 destop computers, a server, a printer and a variable number of laptops (my brother’s laptop and mine). They are interconnected using a U.S. Robotics neutral router, that acts as gateway to the Internet using a cable-modem.

This exposes the following problems:

• Personal documents, pictures and videos are spread in different computers, so there’s no access to common documents if some computers are switched off.
• Sometimes, we need to access the computers externally, so every computer needs a different port open in the router to have access to them.
• Having computers switched on to have access to your services is very expensive on your power bill.

A DD-WRT capable router could fix that problems with its included services:

• USB-Host support: The printer and an USB hard disk could be directly connected and shared from the router, setting up a Network-Attached Storage (NAS). That way, there would be no need to have computers switched on to have access to the printer and all the documents.
• VPN server: The router could act as a Virtual Private Network server. That means you could securely access your LAN from the Internet without having to open more that a single port on your router. Once connected to the LAN by VPN, you can access any service on your computers (RDP, VNC, web and FTP servers and so on).
• Wake-on-LAN: Well, you could access your LAN using your VPN server, but what would be the use of it if your computers are switched off? DD-WRT provides the hability of turning your computers on by sending a magic packet. You only need to enable Wake-On-LAN on your computers.

There’s a lot more of features integrated on the DD-WRT firmware, and I also feel appealed by the possibility of a mail and a web server on the router, although it could suppose a very heavy load for our 12Mb/1Mb Internet connection.

Now, we only need to find a cheap (60 to 80€) USB-Host, WiFi, DD-WRT capable router (something like the new Fonera 2.0N).

The SmartDevices SmartQ 5

I got to know this device in the GP32Spain forums, where I also got to know other open software devices, like the GP32, GP2X, Wiz and Dingoo handhelds.

The SmartQ 5 is a very interesting Mobile Internet Device (MID), which sports the following features:

• 4.3 inches touchscreen LCD with a 800×480 resolution.
• Bluetooth, WiFi and USB Host and an SDHC card reader.
• An integrated Ubuntu-based Linux operating system.

Apart from the Ubuntu-based OS, there’s also support for Windows CE 6.0, and Google Android. There’s also a project to port the community-based Maemo alternative, named Mer, planned to be a lighter and easier alternative to the official SmartDevices Ubuntu-based operating system.

Windows CE requires a $10 license, and there’s not yet a definitive version of the Google Android port, but there are test versions of the last one that shows a great potential and usability.

You can find a lot of interesting information in the unofficial SmartQMID forums, and buy it from DealExtreme or EletroWorld starting at $150 USD (roughly 100 €).

This is where the content of this blog begins. It’s thought to contain comments about the following topics:

• Software that I find interesting or has been useful to me under certain circunstances.
• Devices that I own (or would like to).
• Ideas coming to my mind and that I consider to be useful.

Why 0penware.com?

1. Because the software I will list is mostly open-source.
2. Because the devices I’m interested are the ones that are designed to be open for users and developers to do whatever they want.
3. Because no other good name came to my mind, and openware.com was already taken.

All in all, I hope you enjoy reading the blog and let me know your opinions about it.

Have a nice stay!