Dead-Fish.com

A long title, but a pain to achieve as Windows 8 ADB drivers are different from Vista and Win7.  It’s exactly the same process on Vista & Win 7, but impossible on Windows 8 without the drivers linked below..

Jelly Bean on Kindle Fire 2.

So in the correct order:

1. Install Kindle Fire ADB drivers from this page at XDA and then Root as instructed (Device needs to be rooted to add custom .img files and Boot-loader.).  In the same thread:
   • Carry the steps in the Root Many Android section.
   • Then Qemu Automated Root.
2. Follow the Cordless APK Instructions here to install a custom .img file and boot-loader (the excellent TWRP).  You need this to install custom ROMs.
3. Finally, you get to flash your device with a custom ROM, I used this JellyBean 4.2.1 ROM.

Once you have done that lot, you boot up into a standard Jelly Bean environment with out all the Kindle crap and the store with charges more for apps than the Google Play store does.  I linked the tablet to the wife’s Gmail account (it’s her tablet), and it promptly sorted her emails and pulled down her Android apps without my intervention…

I’ve never bothered with photoshop as every time I have tested it I have not got on with its unusual interface of labyrinth menus over the years.  With my limited requirements Paintshop Pro 9 has done the job for a long time as the Corel versions went all weird too.

Any how, I have some rather nice fractal flame wallpapers which Win7 happily rotates that are looking a bit tired.  Sadly the source website – Exoteric Roach hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, and neither has the only PC programme I know to generate them, Apophysis.  Worse yet, the later needs a brain that likes maths & obscure settings to get the best of it, so that’s me out of the equation.

I did locate a Mac site called Rampant Mac with some nice stuff, and obviously there’s always DeviantArt, however I still wanted to make my own, which is where the Gimp comes in, having a build in fractal flame engine in a a free image manipulation programme saves a lot of buggering about.

The chap who made this video may not be the best public speaker ever, but a few minutes spent with his video will have you popping something on screen in seconds rather than hours.  Below is the first Test render which required a few clicks and no maths at all…

Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return. About 350 kilometers up, the ISS is high enough so that the Earth’s horizon appears clearly curved.

The page comes with an explanation of the terminology as well as the scientific background with relevant linkage.  It also makes a great wallpaper.

You can search their site for more great images.

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OMG…

Some nice imagery from an ecological disaster…

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I’m not sure if themed weddings are hot or not, but these Russians seem happy enough…

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Shiny

Modern slant on arcade classics using modern technology & free games…

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Meant to sort some of these out ages ago.  The original images are about 5 MB a pop, so these are resized at 1024×768.  Gives a nice feel for the day…

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