NewsFeed RSS Reader Updated for pdaXrom

[jakfish]

Through the kindness of Daniel Hertrich who gave me a copy of weeXpc and the generosity of Martin Doege, developer of NewsFeed, I now have a functional rss reader for these modern times.

NewsFeed needs the full python 2.4, python-crypto,  python-tk, tcl, and tk.

These instructions help, too: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=8177

When I queried Martin about the display difficulties of NewsFeed on the Zaurus, he rewrote the newsfeed.py to accommodate our tiny screens:

1) pressing f brings the feed to a full window, pressing f again returns to the main gui
2) the feed text is now bold-ed
3) since the gui is slower to update than in console, update-at-start has been disabled. A much faster manner of updating is "./update_feeds.py" in console, then open NewsFeed with "./newsfeed"
4) because tk/tcl for Z doesn't seem to process certain unicodes (i.e. smart quotes), NewsFeed now defaults to straight quotes


For NewsFeed installation, first download NewsFeed v2.13.1 from here:

https://mdoege.github.io/3NewsFeed/#d

Then download the Z-specific file, newsfeed.py, from here:

https://github.com/mdoege/NewsFeed-single

and overwrite the original newsfeed.py

I use fivefilter's premium full-text rss retriever--9 sites with 10 full-text feeds each. Via usb ethernet, it takes about 3 minutes for complete downloading. Via IrDA (Nokia 9300, gprs), it takes about 6 minutes. Slow but much faster and more stable than browsing, and NewsFeed allow off-line viewing.

I could not find a compiled tk/tcl that played nice with ttf fonts. So at this point, NewsFeed is stuck with the Z's "fixed" font, which means the font of the first two windows can't be adjusted, so it remains small.

Martin's python scripting will allow font adjustment for the entire gui, but he needs better tk/tcl. Are there better tk/tcl compilations out there? Right now, I'm using v8.4.6

At any rate, Daniel's kindness and Martin's unstinting help have produced a true rss reader, something that has not been often available for pdaXrom.

Jake

[Varti]

Wow, congrats for this release, it's great to see pdaXrom getting some love! I have added the news on the #zaurus IRC channel's topic, though can't do the same on #pdaxrom since I'm not an OP there. I'd love to see some screenshots of the reader in action

Varti

[jakfish]

Hi, Varti,

Will do--I'll post one of main gui and another of the full-screen feed.

And thanks for spreading the word wherever you can. Both Daniel and Martin were just great.

Jake

[ckblackm]

Wow... kinda surprised to still see any activity.
Isn't this the first post of 2019?
Maybe I need to dust mine off a bit.  ;-)

Christopher.

[jakfish]

Here are two screenshots of NewsFeed on SL-C1000, main gui and full-screen feed.

The main gui pic is a bit misleading--the font is quite small in the left window and above-right window; that's a tk issue. However, the font size in the description window (lower right) can be user-set in newsfeed.py. This allows the feed title to be quite readable and the feeds can be easily scrolled.

The full screen is fantastic and Martin put in Page Up and Down commands.

Jake

[ArchiMark]

Very cool, Jake!

This is making me wish I still had my 3200....

 


Mark

[jakfish]

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

weeXpc is stable, has good guis even for IrDA, and elinks does a much better job browsing than Dillo, etc.

I edited the Akita keymap to put in smart quotes, em dash, and ellipsis, so Abiword 2.4.6 can actually generate professional manuscript.

I'm not yet able to get WPA2 on a D-Link DCF-660W, even though I believe I properly flashed it to 1.82, which SHOULD do WPA2.

But this usb ethernet monstrosity:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003G1I...=UTF8&psc=1

the D-Link DSB-650TX, ugly though it is, does not need a powered usb hub and connects OOTB.

Also, weeXpc on the C1000 needs an sd card (not sdhc) permanently inserted to run the OS, so my cf slot is already taken up by a cf card for files, precluding cf wifi anyway.

I'm surprised that 115K of infrared can still get you around the internet as long as you're text-only. And that sucks up much less battery than wifi/ethernet.

As for PIM, I had forgotten the well-built quality of the KA/PI and KO/PI addressbook and calendar. They're endlessly tweakable and they imported MS Outlook calendar and contacts without complaint.

There's probably a way to do an actual sync, but I'm not there, yet

Jake

[jakfish]

Martin, developer of NewsFeed, has added another cool feature: delete_items.py.

With this, you can delete all news articles--though the rss feeds themselves are protected--from console. It's much faster than in gui. In fact, everything can be run in the quicker console now--import, delete, update, starting NewsFeed.

Pick up the Z-modified newsfeed.py and new delete_items.py from here:

https://github.com/mdoege/NewsFeed-single

Jake