Today we want to introduce the last of the new features we are implementing into the 2.9 release which we have recently finalized.

To demo this new feature, let’s use an example contributed by one of our users. This example is based upon the measurement data from a solar cell. The so-called “incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency” (IPCE) tells us how many incoming photons are converted into free electrons in the cell. This conversion efficiency, together with the generated current and their dependency on the wavelength of the incoming light, are the usual subjects of studies and optimizations for solar cells.

Consider the example where we want to plot the IPCE and the current density in the same plot and to see their behavior as a function of the wavelength. Your first idea may be to just lay out the curves for the plot like this:

But this reveals two problems:

• The two quantities have different ranges (IPCE goes from 0% to ca. 80%, while the current density goes from 0 mA/cm^2 to ca. 12 mA/cm^2). This problem can become even more severe if the data ranges differ by many orders of magnitude.
• The two quantities don’t share the same units. That makes it impossible to put a meaningful description on the y-axis.

We can remedy the situation a bit by using a plot legend which helps discriminate the different curves. Unfortunately the result is still far from being optimal, and this way of plotting different quantities having different units is commonly considered wrong.

A better solution for this kind of visualization is to work with two different data regions and axes. This is something that was not possible in LabPlot before now and it is a feature for which we had multiple requests in the past. This has led us to  recently implement this missing functionality, and the plot below shows what it looks like:

Note how, by working with two different axis scales and colors, you can produce a much clearer and more coherent visualization. Such a result is easily achieved in LabPlot now, and it all starts with the definition of the two data ranges for the x and y directions:

The red-highlighted area in the image above is the new feature. The ranges for x and for y are combined into “Plot Ranges” and the objects on the plot like axes and curves are “assigned” to the different plot ranges. Once the definition of the plot ranges is done, the desired visualization for the two curves in the plot above is achieved with one single step by selecting the proper data range for every curve:

We arrive at the final result by assigning the second y-axis to the second data range and by adjusting the color properties of the second axis.

The user has a lot of flexibility in LabPlot to position the axes. Another possible visualization utilizing the two-axes technique is shown below:

A detailed walk-through for this example is maybe an idea for a future tutorial.

Suffice to say that, as mentioned, the development of new features for 2.9 is finalized, and we are now concentrating on the stabilization and quality control work to prepare everything for the release. People interested in contributing to these activities are invited to test our nightly builds and to provide us with feedback.

Stay tuned for more news regarding version 2.9!

on the Firefox Add-ons page.

A fix is being worked on, but might take a bit, sorry about that.

Update [2021-10-25]: Due to issues with setting up the now-mandatory 2FA for logging into the Add-on page, we cannot address the issue at this time. Stay tuned…

Update [2021-10-27]: An updated version has been uploaded but it’s pending review…

KDE Connect iOS Enters Public TestFlight Testing!

Another step in the further expansion of the KDE Connect ecosystem

TL;DR: Get the public testing version of KDE Connect iOS by opening this TestFlight link on an iOS >= 15 device!

Check out the source repository of KDE Connect iOS.

Some screenshots of KDE Connect iOS:

After being picked up again earlier this year, the KDE Connect iOS project is now moving towards public beta testing with TestFlight to collect more user feedback and problem reports as the project inches further towards a full release sometime in the (near?) future.

Here are some key points from the README.md from the KDE Connect iOS repo:

Please feel free to give feedback/report bugs in the TestFlight version through:

- General information such as the number of app launches and crashes: enable Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > Share iPhone Analytics > Share with App Developers

- TestFlight's integrated screenshot feedback system: upon taking a screenshot of the app, tap "export" to see an option to send it as feedback to the developer (us).

KDE Bugzilla

Data Disclosure Notice:

- If you don't send ANY feedback AND have "Share with App Developers" disabled, the ONLY information that the KDE developers can access about you is the date that you've installed the TestFlight app.

- Enabling "Share with App Developers" discloses general information such as the number of app launches and crashes with the KDE Connect devs.

- Sending feedback through TestFlight's integrated screenshot feedback system OR TestFlight's integrated crash feedback system will disclose:

-- User email (if chosen to disclose)
-- Device Model
-- iOS version
-- Battery level
-- Cellular carrier (if applicable)
-- Time zone
-- Architecture
-- Connection Type (Wifi, etc.)
-- Free space on disk and total disk space available
-- Screen resolution
-- (For Crash feedback) stack trace leading to crash

- Sending feedback through KDE Bugzilla lets you manually disclose as much or as little information as you would like, but all information will have to be investigated manually.

TestFlight version known behaviour and problems:

- iOS is very much designed around foreground interactions. Therefore, background “daemon-style” applications don’t really exist under conventional means, so the behaviour where KDE Connect iOS is unresponsive in the background is more or less intended. There are technically some special categories and "hacky" methods to try to get it to run in the background, but in general, there is no intended/by-design method of keeping a "daemon-style" app running forever in the background. For more information, see this post on the Apple Dev Forums.

- Detailed information on what's not working and what changes took place between different versions and builds of KDE Connect iOS can be viewed in the TestFlight app in the "What to Test" section.

Lastly, please feel free to have a chat with the KDE Connect devs at the places below!

KDE Connect iOS's Official Repo

KDE Connect Development Telegram

IRC: #kdeconnect:kde.org & #kdeconnect:libera.chat

KDE Connect Mailing List

Do you smell what's cooking? A new white paper is out with in-depth insights on the latest UIUX trends on hardware and software architectures to help pivot through smarter production for your product lines.

Tuesday, 26 October 2021. Today KDE releases a bugfix update to KDE Plasma 5, versioned 5.23.2.

Plasma 5.23 was released in October 2021 with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.

This release adds a week's worth of new translations and fixes from KDE's contributors. The bugfixes are typically small but important and include:

• Plasma Browser Integration: [History Runner] Skip blob URLs. Commit.
• [Folder View] Fix executing file without prompting. Commit. Fixes bug #435560
• Desktop as folder: restore functionality of the “delete” action. Commit. Fixes bug #442765

You can see five segments:

• The center (5,5) is the "worker" who has a set of balanced of attributes, no extremes. These team members are extremely important because they tend to just get stuff done.
• The top left (9,1) is the "expert" who is focused on the task and its details but doesn't consider people that much. You need these to get the depth of work which is necessary to create great results.
• The bottom right (1,9) is the "facilitator" who is something like the soul of the team, focused on social interactions and supports the team in creating great results.
• The top right (9,9) is the "leader" who is strong on task and people and is giving direction to the team. You need these but you don't want to have more than one or two in a team otherwise there are conflicts of leadership.
• The bottom left (1,1) is the "submarine" who floats along and tries to stay invisible. Not strong on any account. You don't want these in your team.

The test can provide some insight into the balance of the team. You want to have all but the submarine covered with an emphasis on the workers.

How does your team look like on this diagram?

Let's welcome Latte Dock v0.10.3 the 3^rd Official Bug Fix Release of v0.10.x branch!

 

Go get it from, download.kde.org^*

Fixes

• support GlobalScale in combination with PLASMA_USE_QT_SCALING properly under X11 environment
• add CornerMargin option for latte and plasma indicators and expose it through the indicators api for all the indicators to use
  
• unblock visibility mode properly when Meta key is used to show an application launcher such as Win11, Simple menu etc.
• fix focus behavior when applets are requesting input such as knotes applet
• expose indicators iconOffsetX/Y value to applets
• enable/disable "CanBeAboveFullscreenWindows" option properly
• disable GtkFrameExtents for docks and panels that ByPassWindowManager ("CanBeAboveFullscreenWindows" option) under X11
• draw always a contrasted border for latte indicator
• simplify latte indicator implementation
• enforce RoundToIconSize for all applets always and as such the Items Size is always respected. If the user has blur issues with its icons, he should specify an item size which is present at the icon theme. For example, 16px., 24px., 36px., 48px.
• identify kickofflegacy applet properly
• fix popup positioning for plasma-style popups when the dock background is using very big corner roundness
• prevent session manager from restoring latte just like Spectacle is already doing
• respect virtual desktops navigation wrapping around option
• expose translations for default dock and panel templates
  

Corner Margin

- corner margin is drawn in purple -

With Latte 0.10.3 indicators gained the ability to specify the background corner margin. This is totally on indicator responsibility to expose or adjust properly and that is the case for Latte and Plasma Indicators that expose it from their settings. With this setting the user is now able to move tasks and applets inside the corner of backgrounds with very big roundness.

- corner margin option in latte indicator -

It was decided that the option should be part of the indicators api because it is on indicators responsibility to specify how much of the area provided to them, it is actually painted. If an indicator is not touching corner margin at all then default latte behavior is used which is playing safe by taking as granted that indicator is painting the entire area provided to it all the time.

Donations

You can find Latte at Liberapay,    

or you can split your donation between my active projects in kde store.

• Latte Dock 
• Latte Spacer
• Latte Separator 
• Window Title Applet
• Window Buttons Applet
• Window AppMenu Applet
• Unity Indicator
• DashToPanel Indicator  

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* archive has been signed with gpg key: 325E 97C3 2E60 1F5D 4EAD CF3A 5599 9050 A2D9 110E