November 30, 2003
Deckard's donkey?
My local public transport system is the Docklands Light Railway. Although I commute by car, I use the DLR for local shopping and socialising (i.e. going to the pub and restaurants) and the service is, for the most part on time and pretty user friendly. The DLR's driverless trains are made by a company called Bombardier. Bombardier also plan to make this:
This is the Embrio and if you thought the Segway, or at least the technology behind it, was cool, you're going to love this. I admit it looks like something Deckard would use to tail replicants and has a fair way to go before it scoots off the drawing board and onto our streets but I'd certainly like to take one for a spin.
The Dead Zone
Wired is carrying a piece on Manhattan's dead cell zones, areas of the city where cellphone coverage is bad or non-existant. New York City's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications has been carrying out research based on consumer calls into a hotline.
I would love to see a similar initiative here in London because there are areas where coverage is distinctly patchy. One such place is Hammersmith flyover, where the A4 (my main commuting route) runs through a small man-made canyon of high rise buildings. If I am on a call* when I plunge between the Novotel, PolyGram Records HQ and the Ark Larsen building, it invariably drops and a redial is required. This is not a major issue with local calls but when it is a two or three party conference call, it is a PITA.
*At midnight tonight, it will become an offence to use a handheld cellphone whilst driving a motor vehicle in the UK. Earbud wires are also a no-no with the law now requiring a handsfree cradle to be installed if one wishes to continue to call from your car whilst driving. Personally, I applaud this move as I witness some truly scary and thoughtless driving each and every day I commute across town. I have a cradle in my company car but not in the family car so, when I'm out with the family, the odd call I get will go to voicemail. Interestingly, I am unable to ascertain the law's position on Bluetooth headsets but I suspect that they will not be permissable either.
November 29, 2003
App Happy Chappy
Traditionally, the first weekend I spend with a new PDA is a blur of intensive usage, frenetic downloading and (in)decision making. This process is meant to ensure that I only load and keep apps I use frequently or I rely upon heavily. As is often the case, I get sidetracked by links and bushwhacked by suggestions of friends. This time around, I have been hounding Roger for the low down on stuff, as i) he has a T3, ii) he's a good guy, iii) we have a good few interests in common and iv) he more than knows his arse from his elbow, PDA-wise. Needless to say, I have ended up loading some old favourites and a few new apps to try out. These include:
- Launcher X - successor to my fave, Launcher III
- TrackerDog - app lister and version tracker conduit
- Plucker - offline web and ebook viewer, desktop & conduit
- Yaps 2.5 - secure, encrypted password storage
- HanDBase 3 - award winning database app #1
- MobileDB - award winning database app #2
- BackupMan 1.45 - essential Palm to SD back up utility
If, dear reader, you have a 'must have' that you'd like to recommend, please let me know via a comment or a mail.
November 27, 2003
T3 - I'll be back (on a Palm)
I haven't posted in a few days bacause I have been too busy i) being ill again and ii) playing with a new toy. It isn't quite a year yet since I moved back to a Palm OS PDA after spending 18 months on The Dark Side, using an iPaq PPC. Although the Clie T675 was a great way to easy back into life with a Palm OS PDA, a number of shortcomings and annoyances (like proprietary expansion formatshave recently prompted me to look for my next PDA. I didn't look for long. The Palm Tungsten T3 stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of matching my requirements.
As with many PDA users, I want my unit to be all things. I need a high end business machine, capable of storing and showing the wide ranging mass of data I use in my daily work. I require a PDA that is intuitive to use, easy to become familiar with and that allows user configuration to make it fit me rather than the other way round. I want a cool gadget that will provide me with enough toys and fun to fill the few slack moments I get in between work responsibilities and fatherhood. The T3 does all these and more.
For those looking for more details should check out the basic specs, the datasheet, The Register's review or Ed Hardy's Brighthand review.
November 23, 2003
Two sides of the wireless coin
Surfed through two pieces this morning on the use and abuse of wifi technology in the retail sector.
One deals with the legal acqusition and exploitation of customer data and the other deals with the illegal acqusition and exploitation of customer data. I suspect that, although one can spot the difference now, the time when that becomes impossible draws nearer every day.
The first piece was Kevin Poulsen's in The Register on wifi data theft from a Michigan store. The second was a post by Neil McIntosh in the excellent Onlineblog on the Minority Report-like shopping experience that Intel's wifi guru sees as a good thing.
Does anyone remember Green Shield Stamps? When customer loyalty was sought with good service and value, not coersion and pressure?
November 22, 2003
ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Now there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.
"Jason Robinson [was] always forever dangerous"
Greg Growden - Sydney Morning Herald
"He's outstanding under pressure."
Australia captain George Gregan
"It's no surprise that Johnson, after he took the cup from Australian Prime Minister John Howard, could be seen mouthing the words "f---ing fantastic" as he lifted the trophy above his head."
Michael Donaldson - Sydney Morning Herald
"You slug it out for 100 minutes, and you get beaten in the 99th minute. England were outstanding ... they are the best team in the world by one minute. But they still should be lauded as the best team in the world."
Australian coach Eddie Jones
"We've taken a lot of crap but we have taken the moral high ground and done our talking on the pitch. To take the trophy away from the southern hemisphere is a very special feeling."
England's Lawrence Dallaglio
November 21, 2003
Happy Birthday, Piltdown Man
Fifty years ago, the Piltdown Man was proved to be a fake after forty years of being hailed as the 'missing link'. The hoax even fooled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and exposer of fraudulent mediums.
Cost of child outstrips UK house value
According to the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, at today's prices, the cost of getting my four offspring through to their respective 21st birthdays will be £561,592 ($956,344). Their reported research give the breakdown as follows:
- Year 1-5 £46,695
- Year 6-11 £31,000
- Year 12-18 £33,747
- Year 19-21 £30,000
Now I know why my salary is gone half way through the month.
Seriously though, I find this kind of research and this kind of reporting lazy and half-hearted because the story doesn't qualify the figures it reports. To make it stand up they need to explain how the figures were arrived at, something that even the source press release doesn't entirely do. Sadly this omission is then compounded by statements like "UK households spend the most in Europe on raising a child – 30% more than France and 26% more than Sweden" without pointing out the vast differences in state provision, taxation and social security that exists between the countries mentioned. For a more broad spectrum of opinions, check out the comments in the lower half of the BBC report.
November 17, 2003
A request too far
John Allen Muhammad has been convicted as the sniper who terrorised the Maryland and Virginia environs of Washington DC just over a year ago.
In a statement at the time, Bush said that the world was sickened by "senseless acts of violence". He further commited funds and specialists "to assist [those] affected by the violence by providing counseling" and applauded those who were "working around the clock to help solve these heinous crimes and protect our citizens." From this, it might be fair to conclude that he was saddened by the shootings, the loss of life amongst US citizens and resolute in his determination to bring the perpetrator to trial.
Fourteen months on and it seems that he and his "entourage" do not hold the sanctity of British lives in quite such high esteem. Just hours ahead of Air Force One kissing Heathrow's tarmac, a forward party of spooks and shadowy types have been making some extraordinary demands of the Home Office. These include the closure of the Tube network, a series of road closures in central London, a 'sterile' security cordon, the use of US air force fighters, Black Hawk helicopters and battlefield weaponry against demonstrators - essentially that the President's visit should be policed entirely by American special agents and military. However, even these pale into insignificance when viewed against their 'shoot-to-kill' demand. That Bush and his administration should seek diplomatic immunity for any armed American special agents and snipers in the event of the accidental shooting of a protester is beyond comprehension.
I can't help wonder if, perhaps, the number of friendly fire incidents visited upon UK forces by US military units during this year's Gulf conflict prompted the request for immunity. The crushing irony for me is that it is the same armed forces that trained John Allen Muhammad to kill with such dreadful skill and efficiency. Tonight, my thoughts go out to those who have lost loved ones through violent crime at home, whilst serving their country abroad or demonstrating for peace in our world.
November 16, 2003
Software for our times
Freeware
Cross-platform
Very small footprint
With :::NaDa :::, I believe that Bernard Bélanger has achieve so much less than anyone else working at the bleeding edge of software development.
November 15, 2003
Feline blog critic
Looks like I have lost another regular reader - even the cat is bored with my blog.
Text message exchange between self and Kiwi colleague after New Zealand's shock defeat and exit from the Rugby World Cup this morning.
ME: omg!
KIWI COLLEAGUE:i am so upset
...followed by an eerie silence thereafter. Now if this morning's press reports are to be believed, tomorrow's semi-final is now ENGLAND VS. THE REST OF THE WORLD.
Allez, les rosbifs!
November 11, 2003
Exclusive - Pot calls kettle black
Prepare all ye sinners for the End must be nigh.
First, after the English unconvincingly beat an ever-improving Welsh side in the RWC, the French coach Bernard Laporte went on record as saying that most people "hated" the England team. Now, Thomas Castaignede (who isn't playing in the tournament) has leapt to our defence....by saying that France are ready for 'arrogant' England. Yes, that's a French man calling the English arrogant. Hence, the world must now surely end.
Now where did I put my asbestos parachute? I think I'll be needing it soon.... :O)
November 10, 2003
November 09, 2003
November 07, 2003
The flu blues
As the time stamp on my post will attest, I'm at home with some bug doing battle against my immune system. I sincerely hope that it isn't the Fujian 'flu from Australia that has been going around.
Like many, I was a little surprised that 'flu can still be a killer so I searched out this article that sheds some light on why 'flu can still be deadly for some.
Image problem - addendum
Having recently got my camera to speak to my PC again, I have been interested in improving my digital photography and getting the results online.
After reading about Shelley's run-in with ther tax board, I surfed her site a bit and came across her Photographic Albums 2001/3 section, with an interesting piece on how to work up your own photoblog in MT. If you have a few moments, Shelley has some lovely shots on show.
November 04, 2003
Been bluejacked yet?
I can't wait to try out this new worthwhile time-passing activity, first mooted by ajack on the http://www.esato.com/ forums.
Read this for 'how to' instructions and then this to get an idea of how much fun you can have with this bluetooth stuff.
November 02, 2003
I no longer have an image problem
I have spent the morning trying to get my PC to talk to my serial CF card reader (why serial in these heady days of USB2? Because I have lost my USB card reader, that's why). After much negotiation, rebooting, driver upgrading and device conflict resolution, I have managed to get three devices - a Canon BJ printer, an Iomega zip drive anda generic CF reader - running off the LPT1 port!
This was a major leap forward in family relations as, until now, I have been unable to extract pictures of a not-so-recent birthday party from my Kodak DC3800. Upon uploading the shots to the PC, it was heartening to find that not one was worth keeping.
Suitably chastened, I hunted down the papers that came with the camera and did something I should have have done over 2½ years ago - namely RTFM. Even the briefest of glances at this told me that the camera had i) an 'immediately-delete-that-last-crappy-photo' feature; ii) a 2X digital zoom feature and iii) a 'preview shot' feature, all of which I never knew existed. Now I have got that sorted, I am wading through the shots I've snapped and am filtering the better ones into Ofoto.com albums to share with others. Not quite as slick as Roger's or Jason's solution but hey, I have only just worked out how to use the camera.
The wireless caretaker
Those of us who live in metropolitan areas tend to take our high speed access for granted. Elsewhere, others are having to come up with creative solutions to make high speed connections available to their communities - like the school caretaker who's planning a wireless broadband network for his neighbours. Nice to see a 'David' responding to the lethargic 'Goliaths'.
November 01, 2003
PostIt™ Serendipity
For the second time in three weeks, a good but long-lost friend has called up out of the blue. Like Hamid who called a few weeks back, my old friend and sales manager Doug was prompted to pick up the phone when he found a PostIt™ note with my number on it.
As a mark of recognition for the part they played in reuniting me with a couple of friends, I bring you these PostIt™ related links:
The history of the PostIt™
PostIt wiki
How to make PostIt™ planes