Outside of the google maps world, setting the cursor is easy. You simple add the “cursor:some-cursor” property to some css that applies to that element or place it in the DOM elements style.cursor property. In the google world it isn’t quite so straight forward.

You can do something as simple as:

#gmapDiv {
cursor:some-cursor !important;
}

As a side note, the “!important” in general since the api sets the cursor on numerous elements via the DOM properties.

The results are not really desirable though. Whatever cursor you set now applied to everything in the map container div, including the controls. In most cases that isn’t what is wanted. In my case, I only wanted the special cursor to appear when the mouse was over the actual map tiles, but not the controls.

Because google has not made any special effort to class DOM elements inside the map container div, creating a selector that does what is needed is a bit difficult and probably won’t work in every browser (particularly older IE). In any case, it works in the current version of firefox (3) and should work in any browser that supports the pseudo selector “:first-child”.

#gmap.turnOnMyCursor > div:first-child > div:first-child {
cursor:crosshair !important;
}

As of this writing, the map tiles are all contained within the first child div of the first child div of the map container. This div has included in its DOM style properties “cursor:-moz-grab” on firefox.

You could simulate this in a less browser specific way (or at least a way that isn’t so sensitive to each browsers CSS implementation) using the DOM and javascript to select the actual element that needs the cursor. Using prototype you would do something like this:

/* CSS Snippet */
#gmap .tornOnMyCursor {
cursor:some-cursor;
}

/* Javascript Snippet */
$("gmap").chileElements()[0].childElements()[0].addClassName("turnOnMyCursor");

One undesirable side effect this creates is the the API is no longer able to set the map dragging cursor when the user grabs the map and drags. The css style with “!important” overrides the element style set in the DOM by the API.

Originally, I tried dealing with the cursor by setting DOM element style.cursor properties. As I discovered, this will not work in general. The api’s event code resets the DOM style properties very often so changes in the cursor made via the DOM properties only survive until the next event. By placing them in a css style block with a selector you can easily control which cursor is used by adding and removing classes from the map container, or optionally from the tile pane.

A better way to handle this is with your very own bitbake recipe file for your custom image. This is pretty simple to set up and works very well whether you use on board flash or from SD/MMC/CF. You can also tweak the kernel as well as configuration in the root directory as needed.

This setup assume you have setup your build environment according to this documentation. Once you can successfully built one of the stock images you are ready to start your own.

The Procedure

First, create a user.collection directory with sub directories

cd ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/
mkdir -p user.collection/packages/images

Next copy the basic image from the com.gumstix.collection tree to your tree with a new name:

cd ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/user.collection/packages/images
cp ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/com.gumstix.collection/packages/images/gumstix-basic-image.bb ./gumstix-custom-image.bb

Now, we must edit this file to a) make sure it references the minimal image properly and b) add all the packages we don’t want to have to install by hand. Lines in bold were edited.

# my custom gumstix image

require ${GUMSTIXBRANCH}/packages/images/gumstix-minimal-image.bb
#Note the change in the line above to reference the gumstix tree.
#This way if the basic image changes, you will automatically get
#those changes.

#Add all the package names here you want included. The trailing
#slash, with NO SPACES after it is important. That is the line
#continuation character that tells the script to append the next
#line also.
IMAGE_INSTALL += ” \
cron \
ntp \
ntpdate \
boa \
motd \
www-content \
mtd-utils \
openvpn \
sshfs-fuse \
perl \
perl-module-exporter-heavy \
perl-module-fcntl \
perl-module-time-hires \
perl-module-cgi \
perl-module-cgi-carp \
perl-module-overload \
perl-module-file-spec-unix \
perl-module-carp-heavy \
perl-module-file-basename \
perl-module-io-file \
perl-module-io \
perl-module-posix \
perl-module-scalar-util \
perl-module-list-util \
mplayer \
alsa-utils \
alsa-lib \
“

At this point, you should be able to change directory to your top level gumstix directory and build the image. I choose to completely delete the previous build tmp dir since I’ve had mixed results running bitbake again after changes. I’m sure there is a better way, but I have a huge 8 core work station, so a full build only takes less than an hour.

cd ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/
rm -rf tmp
cd ~/gumstix/
bitbake gumstix-custom-image

Go watch the Colbert Report or Daily Show for the last week or two using your spare cycles. When it finishes, use the normal procedure to install the images.

Finding Packages

One way to find packages is to use ipkg on a working gumstix.

ipkg update
ipkg list | grep -i whatever

If you don’t want to use the gumstix (because, lets say you have trashed the root image and can’t get into it, just because it is slow and a PIA to have wired up an on, or you don’t have a net board so you can’t actually use ipk update effectivly) you can use a similar approach on your workstation.

cd ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/
find | grep -e \.bb$ | grep -i whatever

or

cd ~/gumstix/gumstix-oe/
find ./ -iname *whatever*.bb -print

The second one, using find, is probably quote-un-quote better, but I prefer the more crude grep expression. It somehow makes more since. Either one is probably fine. Look through the bb files that are returned. Use the file name, minus any version numbers or extensions in the image bb file. For example

./org.openembedded.snapshot/packages/openssh/openssh_4.0p1.bb

becomes

openssh

Pitfalls

The most common problem I run into is misnamed packages in the image bb file. Use the method above to ensure that you do not have any misnamed packages. When in doubt, remove all the packages and try building. If it works, add one or two back in, repeat.

Other things to watch out for are mis-formatting. As I said earlier, if packages are placed on separate lines, then the last (and I mean very last) character on the line must be a “\” otherwise the parser will probably freak out and think you are missing a closing quote. Oh, and make sure the quote is there too.

If you attempt to rebuild using bitbake without deleting the tmp directory, and things get weird, try again after deleting it. It sucks, and I’m sure there is a better way, but the best way to be sure is to nuke the site from orbit (rm -rf).

Eventually he calmed down a bit, but his eyes remain dilated. He appears to be mostly blind, but is otherwise a normal cat. He is very docile and loves to sit in laps. Because I already have to many cats, we are trying to find him a foster home or new home all together. He will make an excellent lap cat and appears to love human attention.

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Two examples, the republican senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Both claimed early in this process to be adamantly opposed to the bill due to the fact that it was the largest single step towards socialism this country has ever taken. They objected but were scared. After adding the tasty treats to the bill, it gave them a rational to pass the bill, a way, at least in their own twisted minds, to reconcile the dissonance between this bill and their own philosophies.

Of course, I don’t want to say that most people in congress are bad people. They are human. But they were barraged by doomsday prophesy after doomsday prophesy, over and over and over, by the industry that caused this problem and that desperately wants this handout and by our clueless and sensationalist media who isn’t far removed financially the banking idiots.

So, it is no surprise that many of them gave into the fear mongering of the Bush administration and the banking industry. They showed the same failing on the Patriot act and the Iraq war. I’m not saying we should send them home because they are bad people. I’m saying we should send them home because they are spineless cowards. They are not leaders. In a crisis they run screaming from camera to camera about the end of the world instead of insisting that the financial establishment provide alternative to consider. “By god, if they only present us with one option and insist the world will end unless we give it to them right now, it must be true!” They simply caved, curled up in a little ball and sucked their collective thumbs.

So what I’m really saying is that we should send them home because they are bad leaders with weak minds and little true conviction.

• Vote Roll Call - How did Your Rep Vote?
• US Senate Contact Information
• US House Contact Information
• John McCain’s Contact Page
• Barack Obama’s Contact Page

Why? Because they are so arrogant that they don’t think you are capable of understanding the consequences. Some have said it directly, but they are all thinking it. They are so condescending that they think you are not capable of accepting the cost and pain of the last 8 years of irresponsible spending on all of our parts, and rampant greed and lack of foresight on the financial sector’s part. We are all children to be protected. We can’t possibly understand.

What these arrogant assholes need is a pink slip. Every one of them that votes for this well-fare package needs to get thrown out on their butts. Unfortunately, only half the senate is actually up for re-election. But that doesn’t mean that the other 1/2 of the senate as well as all of the house or representatives that vote for this can’t be sent home. FIRE THEIR BUTTS! And remember who in the senate sold you out two years from now and fire them then!

The sad part about this is that Congress has not considered alternatives. They are buying into the Bush plan of “give of us all your money or else the world ends.” There are alternatives. This system is so complex, I have no doubt. I’ve even heard of alternatives that make much more since than buying garbage bonds. Why aren’t these being discussed? Why indeed! In any case, it is not the black and white issue, “give us all your money or else,” black mail by bankers.

So, for me, I will have a new hobby after the vote. I will make ensuring that none of my representatives that vote for this get re-elected. I don’t care if it was out of stupidity, or greed, or fear. Vote for this and I will do my best to send you home. This includes my senators, my representative and the two presidential candidates. I will knock on doors in my neighborhood. I will talk to everyone I know. I will financially support their opponents. I will vote against them regardless of any other issue. I’ve let them know this.

If you feel the same way, you should let them hear from you now, loudly, often, and every day until this is resolved. If this goes the wrong way, they should continue to hear that you until they fix their mistake. You can find your senators’ and representative’s contact information, including their phone numbers, and an instant web based message system at each of their web sites:

• US Senate Contact Information
• US House Contact Information
• John McCain’s Contact Page
• Barack Obama’s Contact Page

Your individual words will not be read by the congressmen, but they will count as a vote of sort. Their staffs that do receive and screen these communications log them all, including the issue and the way the individual wanted them to vote. These people’s careers depend on your votes. If they think they will loose their jobs in 40 days because of this, it will effect their vote and might even give them an actual backbone.

I grumbled about the junk mail to a friend and he told me that he always send the back the empty envelopes, because that way they get charged for the return postage. It had never occurred to me before, but this is an excellent idea. They have already spent the money on the outbound postage, but the return postage is only charged if the return envelope is sent back. The credit card companies assume that if they are going to have to pay the return postage they will have another sucker to take to town.

The beauty of returning the empty envelope is that the return postage actually costs considerably more than the presorted bulk rate used to send the advertising. Their outbound cost depends on the number of pieces going to each zip code (alot!). The more envelopes that go to a zip code the cheaper it gets. The advertiser delivers bundles (or bags) of letters for each zip code. The postal service need only take the entire bag to the destination post office and deliver the individual letters, greatly reducing their handling effort.

The return mail is not presorted because individuals send it from their mail box. It is sent at the normal rate which is considerably more than the presorted rate. So, if you don’t like getting junk mail, let the sender know by sending back the empty envelopes. Realistically, this will probably have little effect on their mailing habits. But if enough people do it, the cost will show up in their bottom line.

One note about privacy. Bulk mailings usually use preprinted return envelopes that are not customized. This saves money. However, it is not out of the question for a credit card company to identify you on the envelope with a id number or bar code. I mark out any number or bar code that might be used for the purpose.