I'm older again. No problem with that.
Lately i'm in a great mood. I know from old that it won't last forever but i'll gladly ride it whilst I can and i'll sure as shit stop analysing it cos that's the easiest way to kill it.
At some point in the last few years I definitely decided to be a more positive person and it's one of the few things that seems to have stuck. I know this because I find myself listening to other people banging on about mundane self-inflicted non-problems and realise that I just don't do that any more. Excellent.
That's not to say i'm not still sarcastic, sometimes rude or even mean. I'm only human. The comedy I enjoy the most, you may remember, are Internet radio shows that make fun of people.
365 days until I hit 30. I look forward to them all.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Saturday, November 07, 2009
IMDB comments vs YouTube comments - Both Bad.
IMDB comments are almost as bad a YouTube comments. Everyone knows what comments on the latter look like, so i'll gloss over that.
On IMDB, one guy asks, "why didn't the guy just shoot the guy". The answer is obviously that people don't just fucking shoot people in real life.
Another guy responds that "many people would clam up in that situation. Killing a man can be a hard thing to do".
I find myself thinking that guy number two is more of a moron. Okay, so the first guy is caught up in his movie bubble where the life of a man is worth little and killing somehow has no consequence, but who is this second guy that offers the obvious answer in this manner, as if he'd stood over a foe and chosen to pull the trigger at any point in his life before deciding to join the imdb forum. Do you know that? Maybe if you're of the right mindset, killing a man is a piece of piss? Just saying.
In case you care, the film in question here is Lakeview Terrace, which is better than Crash.
On IMDB, one guy asks, "why didn't the guy just shoot the guy". The answer is obviously that people don't just fucking shoot people in real life.
Another guy responds that "many people would clam up in that situation. Killing a man can be a hard thing to do".
I find myself thinking that guy number two is more of a moron. Okay, so the first guy is caught up in his movie bubble where the life of a man is worth little and killing somehow has no consequence, but who is this second guy that offers the obvious answer in this manner, as if he'd stood over a foe and chosen to pull the trigger at any point in his life before deciding to join the imdb forum. Do you know that? Maybe if you're of the right mindset, killing a man is a piece of piss? Just saying.
In case you care, the film in question here is Lakeview Terrace, which is better than Crash.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Fake Sunday Night
It's fake Sunday. I've had a four day weekend.
Today is the last day off I have in this holiday year. The new one starts in about 5 days but I never take days early on, so effectively this marks the end of the more carefree summer holiday season and the start of the more work oriented winter.
The next few weeks promise to be busy, so being done with days off is a good thing, but I also know it's going to be hard yet uninspiring work, trying to make huge slabs of data meaningful.
Once again I feel i'm wasting too much time. I had no intention of allowing this four day break to pass without a single trip somewhere. I meant to go to London but frankly it's far too expensive on a train unless there's an actual reason to go, and i'd really be going to wander around.
This long weekend consisted of me consuming podcasts, movies and TV. I figured out a little more aobut Ableton Live which was good, but it doesn't feel like enough.
I did find my first ever version of what this is. A Word document in which I remember writing some 20,000 words. Unfortunately this was 7 years ago and I can't remember the password for the document. I must have used a long one too, because I can't seem to crack it. I'd really like to read it, despite it probably being fairly cringe worthy.
That's all. Random brain spray.
Today is the last day off I have in this holiday year. The new one starts in about 5 days but I never take days early on, so effectively this marks the end of the more carefree summer holiday season and the start of the more work oriented winter.
The next few weeks promise to be busy, so being done with days off is a good thing, but I also know it's going to be hard yet uninspiring work, trying to make huge slabs of data meaningful.
Once again I feel i'm wasting too much time. I had no intention of allowing this four day break to pass without a single trip somewhere. I meant to go to London but frankly it's far too expensive on a train unless there's an actual reason to go, and i'd really be going to wander around.
This long weekend consisted of me consuming podcasts, movies and TV. I figured out a little more aobut Ableton Live which was good, but it doesn't feel like enough.
I did find my first ever version of what this is. A Word document in which I remember writing some 20,000 words. Unfortunately this was 7 years ago and I can't remember the password for the document. I must have used a long one too, because I can't seem to crack it. I'd really like to read it, despite it probably being fairly cringe worthy.
That's all. Random brain spray.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Vuze - Look What Happened/Former Friend/Fall From Grace... you get the picture. Good becomes Evil.
Vuze may not be the best Torrent ápp, but i've always liked it in both it's current and previous incarnations.
That ends today. I'm not talking about the fact that the version updater has been hanging on my machine for weeks and i've just been cancelling it. That's a bug and acceptable. My stupidity told me that reinstalling would be the way around this bug, and it was. How ridiculous is it that it turns out i'd have been better off leaving things as they were rather than fixing the problem. Read on.
As of right now, 11:25am GMT on 16/10/2009, if you install Vuze on your machine like a normal person and pay no real attention to how you might be being tricked, poor excuse for a search engine Ask.com will invade your Firefox settings without any prompting.
It's not that Vuze hasn't been shipped with a shitty Ask.com customised toolbar for some time now. No sir. It's the fact that they have gone completely off installation Wizard convention and implemented an unticked "Customize" checkbox at the very start of the configuration process. If you don't tick this you are simply thrust through the entire setup process without any choices to make. How fucking handy for getting a few hundred thousand unwanted toolbar installs. Needless to say from my anger, the shitty toolbar and all it's unwanted configuration changes are part of the default.
I genuinely can't figure out how to undo the mess this has made. I will find out, but that's time I have to spend.
I also have to find time to find a different client.
That ends today. I'm not talking about the fact that the version updater has been hanging on my machine for weeks and i've just been cancelling it. That's a bug and acceptable. My stupidity told me that reinstalling would be the way around this bug, and it was. How ridiculous is it that it turns out i'd have been better off leaving things as they were rather than fixing the problem. Read on.
As of right now, 11:25am GMT on 16/10/2009, if you install Vuze on your machine like a normal person and pay no real attention to how you might be being tricked, poor excuse for a search engine Ask.com will invade your Firefox settings without any prompting.
It's not that Vuze hasn't been shipped with a shitty Ask.com customised toolbar for some time now. No sir. It's the fact that they have gone completely off installation Wizard convention and implemented an unticked "Customize" checkbox at the very start of the configuration process. If you don't tick this you are simply thrust through the entire setup process without any choices to make. How fucking handy for getting a few hundred thousand unwanted toolbar installs. Needless to say from my anger, the shitty toolbar and all it's unwanted configuration changes are part of the default.
I genuinely can't figure out how to undo the mess this has made. I will find out, but that's time I have to spend.
I also have to find time to find a different client.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Competitive Nature
Okay last one was too long. Faster.
Am I competitive? I thought not overly but I lost bad at Laser Tag last night and I have a burning desire to understand why I finished deep into the negative scoring.
Why should I care? I shouldn't. I bowled a good game an hour earlier.
I think I just suck at things with guns.
But yes, I am competitive. People at work that started after me and even worked for me briefly are now starting to rise to the levels above me and as much as I can be genuinely happy for them and feel it's deserved, I find myself burnt up about it despite telling myself I didn't want to go where they're going.
I probably still don't, and that's the point. Should I follow the competitive nature and hope it indeed leads to advancement? I'm almost certain that if I set myself a goal and worked at it I could get myself a few levels higher at work in not too long a time frame, but apart from wanting a bit more money, and at this stage a bit is all it really amounts to, what's the point?
I'll leave it there for fear of this becoming the last post. One more to do.
Am I competitive? I thought not overly but I lost bad at Laser Tag last night and I have a burning desire to understand why I finished deep into the negative scoring.
Why should I care? I shouldn't. I bowled a good game an hour earlier.
I think I just suck at things with guns.
But yes, I am competitive. People at work that started after me and even worked for me briefly are now starting to rise to the levels above me and as much as I can be genuinely happy for them and feel it's deserved, I find myself burnt up about it despite telling myself I didn't want to go where they're going.
I probably still don't, and that's the point. Should I follow the competitive nature and hope it indeed leads to advancement? I'm almost certain that if I set myself a goal and worked at it I could get myself a few levels higher at work in not too long a time frame, but apart from wanting a bit more money, and at this stage a bit is all it really amounts to, what's the point?
I'll leave it there for fear of this becoming the last post. One more to do.
Content Overload Worsening
Podcasts. I now subscribe to 24. That's more than when I last mentioned it and wanted to drop a few.
One of my favourite (though recently less so) comedy shows is now going 5 days a week. I should be pleased but i'm not. My not quite OCD nature means I need to treat these shows as all or nothing. I can't bring myself to just listen to episodes when I feel I have the time, but I also can't imagine finding yet another 2 hours in a week to listen to the two extra shows. Maybe they'll do me a favour and put the new shows behind a pay wall.
Current favourite show - Red Bar Radio. This has been in fantastic form recently. Much better than the show that's about to go 5 days a week which has developed a weird obsession with describing YouTube videos that I can't see. They also seem to see themselves as implicitly superior to Red Bar, which may have been true at one time, but at this point it's misguided arrogance. I'm not sure these show wars really exist in the hosts minds most of the time but this was brought up briefly in the last few weeks and for some reason it annoyed me.
Don't bother with these types of show if you've ever been offended by anything though. Incidentally who are these idiots that get offended?
So yes, content overload. Too much audio and too many unread stories in Google Reader.
Today I posted three times and all three posts largely fell apart towards the middle. I haven't been doing this enough recently to be good it it I guess.
One of my favourite (though recently less so) comedy shows is now going 5 days a week. I should be pleased but i'm not. My not quite OCD nature means I need to treat these shows as all or nothing. I can't bring myself to just listen to episodes when I feel I have the time, but I also can't imagine finding yet another 2 hours in a week to listen to the two extra shows. Maybe they'll do me a favour and put the new shows behind a pay wall.
Current favourite show - Red Bar Radio. This has been in fantastic form recently. Much better than the show that's about to go 5 days a week which has developed a weird obsession with describing YouTube videos that I can't see. They also seem to see themselves as implicitly superior to Red Bar, which may have been true at one time, but at this point it's misguided arrogance. I'm not sure these show wars really exist in the hosts minds most of the time but this was brought up briefly in the last few weeks and for some reason it annoyed me.
Don't bother with these types of show if you've ever been offended by anything though. Incidentally who are these idiots that get offended?
So yes, content overload. Too much audio and too many unread stories in Google Reader.
Today I posted three times and all three posts largely fell apart towards the middle. I haven't been doing this enough recently to be good it it I guess.
From the "A morning Radio DJ shouldn't be able to make me contemplate my life this much damn it!" department.
I've been back in the Chris Moyles camp in the last month or so. That podcast eventually sucked me into listening in the mornings after abandoning the afternoon show a few years before he got the big job - the morning show I never listened to for 5 years. Mission accomplished, I would imagine. I could try to figure out why i'm suddenly into this again after what I suppose must be about 8 years but that's not really the point here..
The dude gets a lot of stick from far and wide. Strangely enough most of the things that people used to say about him largely don't seem true any more. His show is far more positive now. Clearly that may relate to having reached the top. Hard to be negative when everything's going well.
This isn't really specifically about him, anyway. Like most of this blog, it's more about me. I followed @chrisdjmoyles on twitter for a while and it struck me how interspersed with the celeb trappings there was a lot of fairly normal life thrown in. Being content with sitting watching TV for entertainment, going for a drink, and so on. Looking forward to these things!
It got me to wondering why I feel like i'm wasting my time when I do them and it always seems to come back to being content with your job. I'm not saying I want to be a DJ. I don't have the quick wit, and although I love radio as a medium, in about 5 minutes of searching you can see the huge gap between people that love the medium like me and people who eat, sleep and breathe it, and these are the people that should be doing it. Stands to reason.
It's more that i'd like to get to a point where my day of accomplishment (work or otherwise) feels meaningful enough that a relaxing evening doesn't feel like a waste. I have a friend who manages to feel this way, although he works around 60 hours a week, around 1/3 longer than me, and that's going to lead to valuing the relaxation time more. Working an extra 20 hours isn't something I want to do, or at least not in my line of work.
It's all been said a million times before - do something you're passionate about. I can get passiontate about creating MI for a large company to an extent, but it feels increasingly like that's going to become more restrictive, plus it's not something I intended to do forever.
This line from Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen has been stuck in my head now for ten years:
It's a great line which i'd like to apply to me, but I don't find myself all that interesting any more, or at least not to other people. I increasingly come back to realise that most of the things that I like the most aren't things that other people like, and those that they do like, I like too much to be able to relate with them on the topic. I am still the geek I always was but I decided to try to forget it for a few years. Doesn't work.
I never felt guilty about not knowing either. I don't have parents that pressure me to progress as many people do, and I still think this is a good thing. Having said that, without being pushed it's easy to stand still. Standing still is what i've been doing for a few years now. I have progressed in my career a little but where that was an easy stroll up a hill, the next bit is much steeper. I can't move on where I am without compromising and narrowing my focus, and like many others I like to have choices, doors, avenues.. Escapes routes.
Yeah so that's about it. Sorry if you assumed i'd find a way to tie that all together but I think this one's beyond that. If I had the punchline I wouldn't need to write the rest to begin with.
Still feeling pretty good in general!
The dude gets a lot of stick from far and wide. Strangely enough most of the things that people used to say about him largely don't seem true any more. His show is far more positive now. Clearly that may relate to having reached the top. Hard to be negative when everything's going well.
This isn't really specifically about him, anyway. Like most of this blog, it's more about me. I followed @chrisdjmoyles on twitter for a while and it struck me how interspersed with the celeb trappings there was a lot of fairly normal life thrown in. Being content with sitting watching TV for entertainment, going for a drink, and so on. Looking forward to these things!
It got me to wondering why I feel like i'm wasting my time when I do them and it always seems to come back to being content with your job. I'm not saying I want to be a DJ. I don't have the quick wit, and although I love radio as a medium, in about 5 minutes of searching you can see the huge gap between people that love the medium like me and people who eat, sleep and breathe it, and these are the people that should be doing it. Stands to reason.
It's more that i'd like to get to a point where my day of accomplishment (work or otherwise) feels meaningful enough that a relaxing evening doesn't feel like a waste. I have a friend who manages to feel this way, although he works around 60 hours a week, around 1/3 longer than me, and that's going to lead to valuing the relaxation time more. Working an extra 20 hours isn't something I want to do, or at least not in my line of work.
It's all been said a million times before - do something you're passionate about. I can get passiontate about creating MI for a large company to an extent, but it feels increasingly like that's going to become more restrictive, plus it's not something I intended to do forever.
This line from Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen has been stuck in my head now for ten years:
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.
It's a great line which i'd like to apply to me, but I don't find myself all that interesting any more, or at least not to other people. I increasingly come back to realise that most of the things that I like the most aren't things that other people like, and those that they do like, I like too much to be able to relate with them on the topic. I am still the geek I always was but I decided to try to forget it for a few years. Doesn't work.
I never felt guilty about not knowing either. I don't have parents that pressure me to progress as many people do, and I still think this is a good thing. Having said that, without being pushed it's easy to stand still. Standing still is what i've been doing for a few years now. I have progressed in my career a little but where that was an easy stroll up a hill, the next bit is much steeper. I can't move on where I am without compromising and narrowing my focus, and like many others I like to have choices, doors, avenues.. Escapes routes.
Yeah so that's about it. Sorry if you assumed i'd find a way to tie that all together but I think this one's beyond that. If I had the punchline I wouldn't need to write the rest to begin with.
Still feeling pretty good in general!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Emptying the Mental Crap Shoot - Volume.. 3?
Remember I occasionally pull saved drafts and see what I wrote and didn't post? I'm doing it again this evening before going out for a drink. A few good ones here, which i'll post in full, and some... other stuff... which I guess gets summarised then deleted.
Bites
Bad vibes about the way Chrome OS was being discussed as a competitor without any evidence. Thankfully that one did die down, but it'll be back, and there will be people touting it as the savior long before it's running on John Doe's machine.
Good vibes about Win 7 E, now irrelevant. Me wondering if the rotating backdrop in Win 7 RC1 will turn out to be an Ultimate only feature. I still wonder about this one. It'd be ridiculous, but backdrop stuff certainly made up part of Vista Ultimate.
Good vibes about RSS Player on the iPhone. That remains. Looking forward to version 2 to see what gets improved. Top of my head... Surely there's a way to resume videos and enhanced podcasts? If we want, let us choose to do all our deleting manually. Fix the way the first few ms get cut off an audio podcast. Test resuming weirdness with lots of people's servers and make it consistent. It's a great app though, no question.
Empty Vessels
Me whining about the number of fan pages on Facebook that are just a slogan that when clicked on reveal just a bunch of fans and no actual discussion. That hasn't changed.
Me whining about suggestions feature now including such fan pages. Still don't like that.
I Like My iPhone
Me lamenting that immediately after I bought an iPhone people of note said it wasn't cool anymore. So what? I like it.
Natural Born Killers
Me in disbelief that I watched NBK for what I thought was the first time and realised 10 minutes from the end that in fact i've seen it before. I still can't work this weirdness out.
Is L ready for the D?
Me crying about not being able to get my freshly bought 802.11n card working with Ubuntu with WPA . It wasn't too bad but not worth posting. I reached the conclusion that the problem is driver related, not Ubuntu related. After all, when my HDD died I distinctly remember using an Ubuntu live disc to continue using my laptop with full internet access for days, and there was no ethernet cable involved.
Asexual
Me exclaiming that this word gets misused... That's literally what I wrote. Then I looked it up and found out it actually has both meanings, so I decided against going any further with the rant.
Why Blogger?
In which I began to discuss why I host this blog on Blogger, without much insight. It's fine for this purpose, I guess.
Bailouts Fail
Where I gave poorly constructed opinions about the "badness" of bailouts. They don't work, for sure, but I had nothing useful to add to the conversation that night.
Really, the better stuff in the drafts posts are the ones I decided to post in full rather than the ones in this post, which is a little lightweight now I read though it. Scroll down and look at those... 3 I think. Ok, pub.
Bites
Bad vibes about the way Chrome OS was being discussed as a competitor without any evidence. Thankfully that one did die down, but it'll be back, and there will be people touting it as the savior long before it's running on John Doe's machine.
Good vibes about Win 7 E, now irrelevant. Me wondering if the rotating backdrop in Win 7 RC1 will turn out to be an Ultimate only feature. I still wonder about this one. It'd be ridiculous, but backdrop stuff certainly made up part of Vista Ultimate.
Good vibes about RSS Player on the iPhone. That remains. Looking forward to version 2 to see what gets improved. Top of my head... Surely there's a way to resume videos and enhanced podcasts? If we want, let us choose to do all our deleting manually. Fix the way the first few ms get cut off an audio podcast. Test resuming weirdness with lots of people's servers and make it consistent. It's a great app though, no question.
Empty Vessels
Me whining about the number of fan pages on Facebook that are just a slogan that when clicked on reveal just a bunch of fans and no actual discussion. That hasn't changed.
Me whining about suggestions feature now including such fan pages. Still don't like that.
I Like My iPhone
Me lamenting that immediately after I bought an iPhone people of note said it wasn't cool anymore. So what? I like it.
Natural Born Killers
Me in disbelief that I watched NBK for what I thought was the first time and realised 10 minutes from the end that in fact i've seen it before. I still can't work this weirdness out.
Is L ready for the D?
Me crying about not being able to get my freshly bought 802.11n card working with Ubuntu with WPA . It wasn't too bad but not worth posting. I reached the conclusion that the problem is driver related, not Ubuntu related. After all, when my HDD died I distinctly remember using an Ubuntu live disc to continue using my laptop with full internet access for days, and there was no ethernet cable involved.
Asexual
Me exclaiming that this word gets misused... That's literally what I wrote. Then I looked it up and found out it actually has both meanings, so I decided against going any further with the rant.
Why Blogger?
In which I began to discuss why I host this blog on Blogger, without much insight. It's fine for this purpose, I guess.
Bailouts Fail
Where I gave poorly constructed opinions about the "badness" of bailouts. They don't work, for sure, but I had nothing useful to add to the conversation that night.
Really, the better stuff in the drafts posts are the ones I decided to post in full rather than the ones in this post, which is a little lightweight now I read though it. Scroll down and look at those... 3 I think. Ok, pub.
Linux is not ready for the Desktop part 8192
I clearly worked hard on metaphors in this post but decided to leave it because I felt maybe I was letting my frustration cloud my judgement about Ubuntu. This was definitely a good call as I more recently posted somewhere, though I forget where, that I was impressed by Ubuntu's ability to fix itself when it got screwed up. This applies to failed upgrades as much as anything else. So, enjoy the post, and don't call me on the last few paragraphs - I don't really feel that way any more.
---
There was a monkey, a heron and an ibex. Before those there were other animals, fawns and the like, but I never met them.
The monkey was something I had never expected. An effective, efficient companion.
When the heron showed up it offered promise. I was perfectly happy with the monkey for company, but curiosity got the better of me. Somehow the heron and monkey had words and knocked each other out. In real terms thats a win for the heron. He shouldn't really have been expected to win, size wise.
The heron came around first, and although I couldn't really see anything in him to make him a better companion, the monkey wasn't getting any younger, so I decided to hang with the heron, and in time grew to like him as I had liked the monkey. In fact, apart from their different looks, they were essentially the same.
This ibex showed up some time later. I wasn't even sure what an ibex was or what he might do for me. For quite some time I ignored him. When you have a heron tending to your needs just fine, why stray?
Then one day when the I was asleep the Ibex started making all kinds of noise. I'd tied him to a tree but he'd eaten the rope. I hadn't told him to do this, but I could have stopped him had I been thinking straighter.... Saved the heron, for now at least.
Sadly, turning to the heron, well, there was no heron. The bird was gone. I knew what had happened, but it was hard to swallow. For me at least. The Ibex is a goat like creature it turns out, and has no trouble swallowing birds whole. What happens after that is a different matter...
The Ibex vomited up the heron, dead of course, and slumped to the floor, now looking a little worse for wear. I tried to feed him a boot (a hard one I found by a stream) but he wouldn't swallow it.
What's the moral to this story of three animals? Simple. Ubuntu is really fucking bad at upgrading itself. Both times I've let it try, it's failed half way through. Last time it left a mess, whereas this time it's left me with a console and a read only file system. I can say quite categorically that not one Microsoft Windows Update or OS upgrade has ever left me with a broken OS. This would be a crime of enormous magnitude from MS. Last time I badmouthed Ubuntu I got a rare comment telling me I was wrong. Let's see if i'm wrong this time too. If the response is that I shouldn't expect the update not to kill my machine because Ubuntu is open source and free, you're dumb. If the response is that I should find the problem and fix it rather than complain, you're also dumb. The first idea is bad publicity for the entire concept, and the latter is unrealistic. Not everybody that finds problems are going to either be able to fix them, or in many cases even be able to afford the time to get involved in helping.
I'm sorely tempted not to bother to figure out what went wrong here, but no doubt I will.
---
There was a monkey, a heron and an ibex. Before those there were other animals, fawns and the like, but I never met them.
The monkey was something I had never expected. An effective, efficient companion.
When the heron showed up it offered promise. I was perfectly happy with the monkey for company, but curiosity got the better of me. Somehow the heron and monkey had words and knocked each other out. In real terms thats a win for the heron. He shouldn't really have been expected to win, size wise.
The heron came around first, and although I couldn't really see anything in him to make him a better companion, the monkey wasn't getting any younger, so I decided to hang with the heron, and in time grew to like him as I had liked the monkey. In fact, apart from their different looks, they were essentially the same.
This ibex showed up some time later. I wasn't even sure what an ibex was or what he might do for me. For quite some time I ignored him. When you have a heron tending to your needs just fine, why stray?
Then one day when the I was asleep the Ibex started making all kinds of noise. I'd tied him to a tree but he'd eaten the rope. I hadn't told him to do this, but I could have stopped him had I been thinking straighter.... Saved the heron, for now at least.
Sadly, turning to the heron, well, there was no heron. The bird was gone. I knew what had happened, but it was hard to swallow. For me at least. The Ibex is a goat like creature it turns out, and has no trouble swallowing birds whole. What happens after that is a different matter...
The Ibex vomited up the heron, dead of course, and slumped to the floor, now looking a little worse for wear. I tried to feed him a boot (a hard one I found by a stream) but he wouldn't swallow it.
What's the moral to this story of three animals? Simple. Ubuntu is really fucking bad at upgrading itself. Both times I've let it try, it's failed half way through. Last time it left a mess, whereas this time it's left me with a console and a read only file system. I can say quite categorically that not one Microsoft Windows Update or OS upgrade has ever left me with a broken OS. This would be a crime of enormous magnitude from MS. Last time I badmouthed Ubuntu I got a rare comment telling me I was wrong. Let's see if i'm wrong this time too. If the response is that I shouldn't expect the update not to kill my machine because Ubuntu is open source and free, you're dumb. If the response is that I should find the problem and fix it rather than complain, you're also dumb. The first idea is bad publicity for the entire concept, and the latter is unrealistic. Not everybody that finds problems are going to either be able to fix them, or in many cases even be able to afford the time to get involved in helping.
I'm sorely tempted not to bother to figure out what went wrong here, but no doubt I will.
QUICK: 4GB iPhone Smelling Wrong
I held back on posting this for fear of looking like an idiot. I go through phases of caring. Right now I don't, but if I was wrong who knows if i'd post this. In this case, I wasn't wrong. This was written a few days before the iPhone 3GS was announced.
---
Surely you're looking at this all wrong.
Because a standards board approves 4GB iPhones and 32GB iPhones you draw the conclusion that it's a low end $100 model. There's a shitload of stuff in that little box that contributes to the overall price. 4GB of memory is not going to chop a hundred from production.
Wouldn't a sensible model to do this loss leading thing (aside, chances are in real terms it wouldn't actually be a loss leader, but that's generally the concept of a price cut of this size) offering a cheap 8GB model, a standard 16GB model and a high end 32GB model? Why for the sake of very little money talk poorer people into buying a piece of hardware that will run out of space for music and apps?
---
Surely you're looking at this all wrong.
Because a standards board approves 4GB iPhones and 32GB iPhones you draw the conclusion that it's a low end $100 model. There's a shitload of stuff in that little box that contributes to the overall price. 4GB of memory is not going to chop a hundred from production.
Wouldn't a sensible model to do this loss leading thing (aside, chances are in real terms it wouldn't actually be a loss leader, but that's generally the concept of a price cut of this size) offering a cheap 8GB model, a standard 16GB model and a high end 32GB model? Why for the sake of very little money talk poorer people into buying a piece of hardware that will run out of space for music and apps?
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Nokia Internet Tablets Past and Present - Half baked post.
If you've read this blog before you'll be familiar with half written thoughts not being posted. This was one of them. The only reason I held back was because I realised that the point I was trying to make got lost in a more general commentary. Fix it..? can't be arsed, but i'll post it as it is.
----
Complaints about Nokia not supporting Internet Tablets beyond a couple of years don't seem well founded to me. I was an avid user of the N800 with Maemo (2008 Diablo) until I bought an iPhone 6 weeks ago. The only thing i've done with the tablet since the day I bought the iPhone is install Mer to see what it's like because I no longer fear it might screw up the thing, meaning I no longer care *if* it screws up the thing.
Mer, for what it's worth, looks like a good early effort with a fair way to go, and didn't in any way screw up my existing Maemo setup. I don't really see how it's money (time) well spent for developers at this point, but I feel like an arsehole for saying it because until 6 weeks ago I certainly wanted it to continue for my benefit.
Therein lies the harsh reality. I was jazzed about it until something better came along.
Call me selfish if you want but we all paid a premium price for a Nokia Internet Tablet at some point, and i'm not going to be told that I don't deserve a say because I don't contribute to the OSS efforts. I'm not sure I have the skill and I don't want to spend the time. It's still a commerical product and note though that I said "wanted it to continue" a few moments ago. I have no sense of entitlement, which is entirely the point here.
These tablets, the N800/810 (forget the older one, seriously) simply don't have the processing power to come anywhere near to competing in the current market. It's painfully wonderful to see how effortlessly Safari renders a complicated site on a 3GS as I zoom in and out. On an N8x0 i'd have already waited 2 seconds to see anything, then be trying to drag to scroll, getting no response and getting pissed off as my effort eventually got interpreted as a tap on a link I didn't want to tap and the browser moved on to rendering that page before deciding to abort itself with no verbose reasoning leaving me staring at the weather applet which for some reason hasn't updated even though i'm frequently connected to a network.
The N8x0 tablets were great until something better came along. Good things can be made poor when they're replaced with better things. They're no worse in themselves, but the universe has moved on. Too simple? No - simple is the point.
Some people support a refresh of the N8x0 range. This actually could be interesting, but it absolutely won't happen. Not a chance in hell. I believe they're not even making the WiMax N810 anymore. The latest version of the device became obselete before the original.
How about the N900/RX-51/Rover? It's a whole new angle by the look of it. New OS to take advantage of faster hardware, and more importantly the feature that finally changes the answer to the question "is it a phone" to "yes"... But it looks like a phone now anyway...
It's often said there was no market for the Internet Tablet range. This new model doesn't really look much like one. It looks more likely to compete with Android devices. This also seems like the most logical step for Nokia to take.
At this point there's a clear lack of conflict in my thinking, and that again is the point. The old devices were handled correctly and the new one probably will be too. There's very little sense in Nokia spending time maintaining the OS support for the N8x0 range, because already few are going to want to continue using a device with this little power.
Take a step back and look at how long you can use a new PC before it becomes too slow to continue with and these mobile devices perhaps look a little less resiliant over time, but that's not a good enough reason to hang back with laggy devices. There's probably no conspiracy here.
---
Afterthoughts... this was written before the N900 was properly unveiled. I'm a lot more positive about the N900 than I was when I wrote this, which just further reinforces my disinterest in trying to make continued use of my N800. It's not going to happen.
I said before that I eventually see myself with an Android phone some time after this iPhone period. Now it could just as easily be a Maemo phone. Not yet though. For now i'm with the brainwashed masses. Sorry.
----
Complaints about Nokia not supporting Internet Tablets beyond a couple of years don't seem well founded to me. I was an avid user of the N800 with Maemo (2008 Diablo) until I bought an iPhone 6 weeks ago. The only thing i've done with the tablet since the day I bought the iPhone is install Mer to see what it's like because I no longer fear it might screw up the thing, meaning I no longer care *if* it screws up the thing.
Mer, for what it's worth, looks like a good early effort with a fair way to go, and didn't in any way screw up my existing Maemo setup. I don't really see how it's money (time) well spent for developers at this point, but I feel like an arsehole for saying it because until 6 weeks ago I certainly wanted it to continue for my benefit.
Therein lies the harsh reality. I was jazzed about it until something better came along.
Call me selfish if you want but we all paid a premium price for a Nokia Internet Tablet at some point, and i'm not going to be told that I don't deserve a say because I don't contribute to the OSS efforts. I'm not sure I have the skill and I don't want to spend the time. It's still a commerical product and note though that I said "wanted it to continue" a few moments ago. I have no sense of entitlement, which is entirely the point here.
These tablets, the N800/810 (forget the older one, seriously) simply don't have the processing power to come anywhere near to competing in the current market. It's painfully wonderful to see how effortlessly Safari renders a complicated site on a 3GS as I zoom in and out. On an N8x0 i'd have already waited 2 seconds to see anything, then be trying to drag to scroll, getting no response and getting pissed off as my effort eventually got interpreted as a tap on a link I didn't want to tap and the browser moved on to rendering that page before deciding to abort itself with no verbose reasoning leaving me staring at the weather applet which for some reason hasn't updated even though i'm frequently connected to a network.
The N8x0 tablets were great until something better came along. Good things can be made poor when they're replaced with better things. They're no worse in themselves, but the universe has moved on. Too simple? No - simple is the point.
Some people support a refresh of the N8x0 range. This actually could be interesting, but it absolutely won't happen. Not a chance in hell. I believe they're not even making the WiMax N810 anymore. The latest version of the device became obselete before the original.
How about the N900/RX-51/Rover? It's a whole new angle by the look of it. New OS to take advantage of faster hardware, and more importantly the feature that finally changes the answer to the question "is it a phone" to "yes"... But it looks like a phone now anyway...
It's often said there was no market for the Internet Tablet range. This new model doesn't really look much like one. It looks more likely to compete with Android devices. This also seems like the most logical step for Nokia to take.
At this point there's a clear lack of conflict in my thinking, and that again is the point. The old devices were handled correctly and the new one probably will be too. There's very little sense in Nokia spending time maintaining the OS support for the N8x0 range, because already few are going to want to continue using a device with this little power.
Take a step back and look at how long you can use a new PC before it becomes too slow to continue with and these mobile devices perhaps look a little less resiliant over time, but that's not a good enough reason to hang back with laggy devices. There's probably no conspiracy here.
---
Afterthoughts... this was written before the N900 was properly unveiled. I'm a lot more positive about the N900 than I was when I wrote this, which just further reinforces my disinterest in trying to make continued use of my N800. It's not going to happen.
I said before that I eventually see myself with an Android phone some time after this iPhone period. Now it could just as easily be a Maemo phone. Not yet though. For now i'm with the brainwashed masses. Sorry.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Friday Focus: Windows 7, BT and Ubuntu
Damn it. It's saturday!
As soon as Windows 7 was no longer available for £44 I wished i'd bought two copies. As soon as it stops being £69 i'll probably wish I bought a second copy at that price. Either way it's going to be depressing to wipe the Ultimate RC1 and replace it with the Home Premium version (the one that doesn't cost £200 or £100), but overall the OS seems to be able to drive this laptop quite nicely compared to Vista which after a year or so was finally beginning to show it's bad side that I was so convinced everybody else was just making up. I'll meet you half way Vista haters - it's not without it's issues, but most of the things you guys hit on are the wrong things, such as having to hit "Continue" occasionally or *gasp* changing the settings so you don't need to. Losers.
7 is less impressive on my leftover machine with one component dating back to the last millenium. For some reason I never let go of the idea that the Soundblaster Live was a high end card even though it's three generations old and part of a line that audio professionals have hated all along. Still, the chipmunk voice altering thing was fun for a few weeks way back and it's managed some fairly decent band related recordings over time. It just seems that the device has no driver support in 7 and using the KX Project drivers is throwing up blue screens fairly randomly now, usually it seems in the middle of video playback, which is incredibly frustrating given that this machine acts as a TV for my 30 minute constant cross trainer workout, and if it blue screens, or worse hangs on a repeating slice of audio I have to interrupt the workout or live without the entertainment, which makes the whole thing seem to take a lot longer.
On another topic, I finally called BT on my broadband speeds tonight. Longest hold in a really long time - probably in excess of 30 minutes with an almost constantly ringing phone and one standard message.
They seem to think I do have a fault on the line, but that being the case, where does that fault go at 6am when I wake up and download podcasts each morning at a fairly consistent 585KiB/s? It seems far more likely i'm being subjected to some shaping here. I've seen other files download slowly too, but I wonder if i'm being punished for downloading large MP3 files, most of which (and I must emphasise most here) don't contain any copyrighted material. My only hope is that when I finally get away from BT on to a better all rounder I don't find that their service is somehow also impacted by BT due to their overall involvement in the underlying system.
Final thought - I love that when all seems lost with Ubuntu a quick drop into recovery and a dpkg always seems to manage to fix everything. It's like a colonic for the OS. I have no idea what I did to cause what seems like hundreds of half installed packages resulting in X stalling at the login screen, but I know it knows how to sort itself out if I just let it. As far as being ready for the desktop - forget it. It barely seems to understand how to communicate using the most common wireless security protocol, WPA, and i'm NOT the only person that thinks so. Just do a search for Ubuntu WPA, or if you really want nightmares, WPA2.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Sunday Review
I just noticed it's after the end of June, which of course marks the half way point in 2009. Although they were intentionally NOT resolutions, I thought it fitting to look at what i'm doing by comparison to my "what i'll do" post from the start of the year, particularly as i'm in the directionless part of my life cycle right now.
- I said i'd eat better. At times I have and at times I haven't. Day to day I feel I eat well.
- I said i'd exercise. I am. The weights aren't getting touched but the cross trainer is more of what I need in any case.
- I said i'd play the piano. I haven't played it enough. I need inspiration to get back to it and learn some pieces other than those I learnt 10 years ago. Nonetheless, I bought the piano which was certainly a big step.
- I said i'd improve my guitar skill level. In general I think I am, although I still get frustrated on a day when I simply can't seem to play. It's like a jab telling me it'd be risky to attempt this on stage, which is something I like to do.
- I said i'd get a proper living room sound setup. This isn't that important to me right now, so i'm not doing it yet.
- I said i'd figure out my next career step. More confused than ever.
- I said i'd make more effort to understand important but far away happenings. Not much change here but I am trying to read more of the news, objectively as possible.
- I said i'd cook more varied meals. I've cooked better versions of the same sort of meals so far but I'm moving in the right direction. I have the kit I need now.
- I said i'd isolate myself less at work at lunch time. I haven't changed this and i'm still not sure I want to. I'll continue to think about this.
- I said i'd move into a terraced house giving me more space. Technically I did that although not in the way I meant. I semi regret not sticking to my guns here as my move to a first floor apartment within a terraced house has left me without a garden and downstairs neighbours. I miss having an outside of my own and I can't help be concious that every step I take is audible downstairs. Thankfully I don't seem to be annoying them yet and they're very friendly towards me. I certainly now have all the space I need and am making good use of it.
- I said i'd try harder to meet people. I can't say that i've done this, unfortunately.
- I said i'd try harder not to have "that argumentative tone" in friendly conversation. I think i've made progress here but I found myself doing it to quite an extent a few weeks ago. It's definitely a defensive defence mechanism. Will keep trying.
- I said i'd get into the local music scene. Good fortune meant I had friends gigs to attend regardless so I got to see some good bands. The scene in Leicester is very weak now though. I don't feel much urge to go out seeking new live music now. I think I may be going through a late 20s shift in interest.
- I said i'd visit more of the UK. Most of what i've done towards this has been within the last month, but I visited more of the Devon and Cornish coastline - Westward Ho! and Newquay. Planning to return to Newquay for a camp and bodyboard in August. Want to explore further north and the Welsh coast before too long. Running out of summer and running out of leave from work. Rediscovering camping has certainly been a positive too.
- I said i'd educate myself more on libertarianism but I didn't. First I came to understand that the term isn't specific enough. What I meant was the anarcho-capitalism, free marketeering etc. I never fully reconciled a belief in it and i'm less convinced that it's the only answer. I listen to Free Talk Live much less because as I may have mentioned before, I was finding listening to 6 hours a week of it was getting me down. I've recently started listening on a more occasional basis, certainly still agree with a lot of what is said, but I've come to see that touting these ideas whilst living firmly within the norm makes for a poor argument. Not the place to go into detail here though.
- I said i'd throw out every VHS cassette. I've done very well here although not quite there. I managed to give away all of my pre-recorded tapes to one person who seemed very pleased to be getting them. If they were for resale at a car boot sale I couldn't care less - very happy not to have binned them. What I did bin is about 2/3 of my recorded tapes. Felt great to throw away the tens of tapes holding stuff that I now have on DVD such as American Gothic and Red Dwarf. The remainder are things I don't have on DVD and don't really want on DVD, but maybe want to watch one more time before binning. I did however bin all the Friends tapes. Realistically I know that i'm never going to marathon through Friends at this point. Catching it occasionally on E4 and T4 on C4 is OK with me.
- I said i'd weigh less than eleven and a half stone. This morning I weighed 11, 13. Weight fluctuates with food and drink more than most people seem to realise, and by tonight i'll probably be 12, 4. In general the number is trending downwards and some muscle conversion is also definitely occurring. I'll be interested to see if I hit 11, 7 any time this year though.
- I said i'd drink less. Rather unintentionally, I have done. Not getting wasted much any more, which was more the point here. I will however almost certainly get wasted at a reunion style event next weekend. Swings and roundabouts people.
- I said i'd clean up more. I just can't stand doing it. I try to tidy more, but actual cleaning only really happens when it absolutely needs to.
- I said i'd find the best view in Leicestershire. I'm fairly sure it's Bradgate park looking down from the peak. It's dull compared to almost any view on the Cornish coast. I'm about done with Leicester, but I can't really move to Cornwall. Also, that's *too* remote. More on that i'm sure.
- I said i'd stop using stand by (on my TV) and I did until I moved, after which I forgot. It wouldn't hurt me to start doing that again now so i'll try.
- I said I wouldn't cave in to climate change propaganda beyond career supporting lip service. I am now involved in an environmental challenge. However that is career supporting, and i'm largely able to retain my genuine feelings on this publicly.
- I said i'd walk more and further. Absolutely am doing and will continue to.
- I said i'd code something outside of work. I haven't yet but i'm thinking about it again right now. Just don't know what to work on. Coding is a solution to a problem, not a starting point. Need to focus on *why* to code something first.
- I said i'd keep plants alive. None have died yet, to my credit, but I should still be watering them more and feeding them a bit.
- I said i'd visit Japan... Then I realised that the economy was in the shitter and visiting anywhere was prohibitively expensive at the moment, let alone somewhere that far away. Postponed.
- I said, finally, that i'd learn every country on the map. I didn't do that and I don't think it's very likely that I will, but I am trying to look at maps more.
Fair amount of tasks accomplished on that list. Not too shabby.
- I said i'd eat better. At times I have and at times I haven't. Day to day I feel I eat well.
- I said i'd exercise. I am. The weights aren't getting touched but the cross trainer is more of what I need in any case.
- I said i'd play the piano. I haven't played it enough. I need inspiration to get back to it and learn some pieces other than those I learnt 10 years ago. Nonetheless, I bought the piano which was certainly a big step.
- I said i'd improve my guitar skill level. In general I think I am, although I still get frustrated on a day when I simply can't seem to play. It's like a jab telling me it'd be risky to attempt this on stage, which is something I like to do.
- I said i'd get a proper living room sound setup. This isn't that important to me right now, so i'm not doing it yet.
- I said i'd figure out my next career step. More confused than ever.
- I said i'd make more effort to understand important but far away happenings. Not much change here but I am trying to read more of the news, objectively as possible.
- I said i'd cook more varied meals. I've cooked better versions of the same sort of meals so far but I'm moving in the right direction. I have the kit I need now.
- I said i'd isolate myself less at work at lunch time. I haven't changed this and i'm still not sure I want to. I'll continue to think about this.
- I said i'd move into a terraced house giving me more space. Technically I did that although not in the way I meant. I semi regret not sticking to my guns here as my move to a first floor apartment within a terraced house has left me without a garden and downstairs neighbours. I miss having an outside of my own and I can't help be concious that every step I take is audible downstairs. Thankfully I don't seem to be annoying them yet and they're very friendly towards me. I certainly now have all the space I need and am making good use of it.
- I said i'd try harder to meet people. I can't say that i've done this, unfortunately.
- I said i'd try harder not to have "that argumentative tone" in friendly conversation. I think i've made progress here but I found myself doing it to quite an extent a few weeks ago. It's definitely a defensive defence mechanism. Will keep trying.
- I said i'd get into the local music scene. Good fortune meant I had friends gigs to attend regardless so I got to see some good bands. The scene in Leicester is very weak now though. I don't feel much urge to go out seeking new live music now. I think I may be going through a late 20s shift in interest.
- I said i'd visit more of the UK. Most of what i've done towards this has been within the last month, but I visited more of the Devon and Cornish coastline - Westward Ho! and Newquay. Planning to return to Newquay for a camp and bodyboard in August. Want to explore further north and the Welsh coast before too long. Running out of summer and running out of leave from work. Rediscovering camping has certainly been a positive too.
- I said i'd educate myself more on libertarianism but I didn't. First I came to understand that the term isn't specific enough. What I meant was the anarcho-capitalism, free marketeering etc. I never fully reconciled a belief in it and i'm less convinced that it's the only answer. I listen to Free Talk Live much less because as I may have mentioned before, I was finding listening to 6 hours a week of it was getting me down. I've recently started listening on a more occasional basis, certainly still agree with a lot of what is said, but I've come to see that touting these ideas whilst living firmly within the norm makes for a poor argument. Not the place to go into detail here though.
- I said i'd throw out every VHS cassette. I've done very well here although not quite there. I managed to give away all of my pre-recorded tapes to one person who seemed very pleased to be getting them. If they were for resale at a car boot sale I couldn't care less - very happy not to have binned them. What I did bin is about 2/3 of my recorded tapes. Felt great to throw away the tens of tapes holding stuff that I now have on DVD such as American Gothic and Red Dwarf. The remainder are things I don't have on DVD and don't really want on DVD, but maybe want to watch one more time before binning. I did however bin all the Friends tapes. Realistically I know that i'm never going to marathon through Friends at this point. Catching it occasionally on E4 and T4 on C4 is OK with me.
- I said i'd weigh less than eleven and a half stone. This morning I weighed 11, 13. Weight fluctuates with food and drink more than most people seem to realise, and by tonight i'll probably be 12, 4. In general the number is trending downwards and some muscle conversion is also definitely occurring. I'll be interested to see if I hit 11, 7 any time this year though.
- I said i'd drink less. Rather unintentionally, I have done. Not getting wasted much any more, which was more the point here. I will however almost certainly get wasted at a reunion style event next weekend. Swings and roundabouts people.
- I said i'd clean up more. I just can't stand doing it. I try to tidy more, but actual cleaning only really happens when it absolutely needs to.
- I said i'd find the best view in Leicestershire. I'm fairly sure it's Bradgate park looking down from the peak. It's dull compared to almost any view on the Cornish coast. I'm about done with Leicester, but I can't really move to Cornwall. Also, that's *too* remote. More on that i'm sure.
- I said i'd stop using stand by (on my TV) and I did until I moved, after which I forgot. It wouldn't hurt me to start doing that again now so i'll try.
- I said I wouldn't cave in to climate change propaganda beyond career supporting lip service. I am now involved in an environmental challenge. However that is career supporting, and i'm largely able to retain my genuine feelings on this publicly.
- I said i'd walk more and further. Absolutely am doing and will continue to.
- I said i'd code something outside of work. I haven't yet but i'm thinking about it again right now. Just don't know what to work on. Coding is a solution to a problem, not a starting point. Need to focus on *why* to code something first.
- I said i'd keep plants alive. None have died yet, to my credit, but I should still be watering them more and feeding them a bit.
- I said i'd visit Japan... Then I realised that the economy was in the shitter and visiting anywhere was prohibitively expensive at the moment, let alone somewhere that far away. Postponed.
- I said, finally, that i'd learn every country on the map. I didn't do that and I don't think it's very likely that I will, but I am trying to look at maps more.
Fair amount of tasks accomplished on that list. Not too shabby.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
QUICK: How to Shoe-Horn a Celebrity into a Simpsons Episode:
Lisa: "Wow. <achievement and related verb>ing <occupation>ist/er <first name> <last name>. What brings you to Springfield Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms <last name>"?
Nice Ideas That Don't Pan Out... iPhones and OpenZones
One new feature of the iPhone 3GS is it's ability to automatically log in to hotspots. When I first heard about this being available it was in the US context and I assumed that the UK suppliers, The Cloud and BT Openzone wouldn't be likely to support it, as these services very much exist in spite of the iPhone, not specifically for it.
I was wrong of course, although I didn't realise until it bit me. Note that in the early few days I really had no idea what the icons in the status bar meant. Now that I do, this isn't that hard to spot if you're looking for it. Once you have logged in to BT Openzone once, and this means the secondary login that's normally web based as there is no WEP/WPA security on these, it will log you on automatically ever after.
This now means that every time I wander into the range of a BT Openzone hotspot, the iPhone puts 3G on the back burner and connects to it. So far this has only manifested itself in one way, and this will tend to happen in a busy shopping area likely to have strong 3G and hotspots - My connection will drop from excellent 5 bar 3G coverage running extremely well to a single bar failing WiFi connection.
For you see, BT Openzone for the most part is just some bar or coffee shop's router. I have spent more time than one man should trying to find sweet spots for BT Openzone and never once did I establish which business they were coming from or get 5 bars. They were also frequently unimpressive with 4 bars which normally is enough to sustain high speeds. My theory would be that these hotspots don't actually supply high speeds by design. The minimum of 2MBit/s that a good 3G signal is supposed to supply is in theory far superior to a weak WiFi signal, or a relatively strong one with a hypothetical cap of what felt like about 500KBit/s when downloading podcasts.
Something worse that I think's happening although I haven't confirmed it:
BT did a deal with a technology provider by the name of FON. In short, FON firmware loaded on to the BT Home Hubs and customers allowed to opt in or out of the scheme. Opting in opens a sandboxed Internet (sandboxed away from your home network, nothing else) up to others who have opted in and in return as an opter in you get to use theirs. BT could have been cool about this but must have seen the opportunity to boost the profile of their hotspot network, so the routers now messily broadcast not only the ssid for the "real" router connection and one called "BTFON", but also one called "BT Openzone".
As far as I can tell, an ssid is the only way to differentiate these hotspots, and at any rate it's all devices seem to use, therefore I have a feeling the iPhone will even try to log in to these hot spots, which it has no business doing. From testing at home (I am a BT FON opter-inner - it's a great idea and i've made use of it a lot already - plus realistically where I live nobody's gonna use mine), the iPhone tries it's autoconnect, fails and then continues with the connection as normal, meaning stuck in pre-login, wider internet unavailable. For although it has connected to a BT Openzone hotspot, this type will only respond to BT FON authentication, not iPhone authentication.
Solution for BT which certainly won't happen - just use "BT FON" for the FON stuff.
Solution for Apple who never listen anyway - detect a login failure then disconnect from the hotspot. If it's the only one available, drop back to 3G. Simple.
Annoying things that I have to live with for now:
- When I'm going wandering away from home, WiFi needs to be turned off. Easily done.
- Can't use 3G to download Podcasts. No good Podcasts are under 5MB. Dumb limit.
- Can't even download as MP3 through Safari, but I can "stream" it in "Quicktime" - this is the same data I wanted to download, BEING DOWNLOADED. Why not let me save it for later?
I do like the iPhone though. No regrets. I do expect to eventually end up using an Android phone somewhere down the line for flexibility, although I remain aghast at how badly the overall initiative is still being handled. I've lost track of whether the Magic and Hero are the same phone or different phones, and I can't remember which one of them is also called a G2. This is how confused someone who has paid attention has got. It will eventually translate to lost sales.
Of all the long overly technical posts i've had, this has been one of them!
I was wrong of course, although I didn't realise until it bit me. Note that in the early few days I really had no idea what the icons in the status bar meant. Now that I do, this isn't that hard to spot if you're looking for it. Once you have logged in to BT Openzone once, and this means the secondary login that's normally web based as there is no WEP/WPA security on these, it will log you on automatically ever after.
This now means that every time I wander into the range of a BT Openzone hotspot, the iPhone puts 3G on the back burner and connects to it. So far this has only manifested itself in one way, and this will tend to happen in a busy shopping area likely to have strong 3G and hotspots - My connection will drop from excellent 5 bar 3G coverage running extremely well to a single bar failing WiFi connection.
For you see, BT Openzone for the most part is just some bar or coffee shop's router. I have spent more time than one man should trying to find sweet spots for BT Openzone and never once did I establish which business they were coming from or get 5 bars. They were also frequently unimpressive with 4 bars which normally is enough to sustain high speeds. My theory would be that these hotspots don't actually supply high speeds by design. The minimum of 2MBit/s that a good 3G signal is supposed to supply is in theory far superior to a weak WiFi signal, or a relatively strong one with a hypothetical cap of what felt like about 500KBit/s when downloading podcasts.
Something worse that I think's happening although I haven't confirmed it:
BT did a deal with a technology provider by the name of FON. In short, FON firmware loaded on to the BT Home Hubs and customers allowed to opt in or out of the scheme. Opting in opens a sandboxed Internet (sandboxed away from your home network, nothing else) up to others who have opted in and in return as an opter in you get to use theirs. BT could have been cool about this but must have seen the opportunity to boost the profile of their hotspot network, so the routers now messily broadcast not only the ssid for the "real" router connection and one called "BTFON", but also one called "BT Openzone".
As far as I can tell, an ssid is the only way to differentiate these hotspots, and at any rate it's all devices seem to use, therefore I have a feeling the iPhone will even try to log in to these hot spots, which it has no business doing. From testing at home (I am a BT FON opter-inner - it's a great idea and i've made use of it a lot already - plus realistically where I live nobody's gonna use mine
Solution for BT which certainly won't happen - just use "BT FON" for the FON stuff.
Solution for Apple who never listen anyway - detect a login failure then disconnect from the hotspot. If it's the only one available, drop back to 3G. Simple.
Annoying things that I have to live with for now:
- When I'm going wandering away from home, WiFi needs to be turned off. Easily done.
- Can't use 3G to download Podcasts. No good Podcasts are under 5MB. Dumb limit.
- Can't even download as MP3 through Safari, but I can "stream" it in "Quicktime" - this is the same data I wanted to download, BEING DOWNLOADED. Why not let me save it for later?
I do like the iPhone though. No regrets. I do expect to eventually end up using an Android phone somewhere down the line for flexibility, although I remain aghast at how badly the overall initiative is still being handled. I've lost track of whether the Magic and Hero are the same phone or different phones, and I can't remember which one of them is also called a G2. This is how confused someone who has paid attention has got. It will eventually translate to lost sales.
Of all the long overly technical posts i've had, this has been one of them!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tethering (Pie and Shakes)
I'm so glad I have little to no interest in using the iPhone I might buy tomorrow for tethering.
The concept of charging a monthly fee for tethering on top of a plan that already offers a hot slice of delicious unlimited internet access is not completely unreasonable, but to price it in such a way that it makes out to be selling the tethered access as an entirely separate hot slice of delicious unlimited internet access is completely unjustifiable. It's the same hot delicious slice!
As plenty have pointed out since O2 announced their price around a week ago, it's not even clear whether they'll be able to tell the data flowing through the tether from the data only flowing to and from the phone. This only clarifies the point - it's the same thing!
Is usage arguably higher when tethering? Perhaps, but it's not as if you're not subject to the same excessive usage policy already in place, and it's not like it's anything more than a 3G speed connection.
I've done the pie analogy a little, but I think the milkshake says it best.
Get your Milkshake - £1
Straw - £1
Nobody's going to buy that straw!
Prediction - In the UK at least, O2 will relent and cut this to a reasonable price, or hopefully realise charging for it is pointless. It looks like AT&T in the US might want even more dollar for this, but they probably won't relent. We'll see.
The concept of charging a monthly fee for tethering on top of a plan that already offers a hot slice of delicious unlimited internet access is not completely unreasonable, but to price it in such a way that it makes out to be selling the tethered access as an entirely separate hot slice of delicious unlimited internet access is completely unjustifiable. It's the same hot delicious slice!
As plenty have pointed out since O2 announced their price around a week ago, it's not even clear whether they'll be able to tell the data flowing through the tether from the data only flowing to and from the phone. This only clarifies the point - it's the same thing!
Is usage arguably higher when tethering? Perhaps, but it's not as if you're not subject to the same excessive usage policy already in place, and it's not like it's anything more than a 3G speed connection.
I've done the pie analogy a little, but I think the milkshake says it best.
Get your Milkshake - £1
Straw - £1
Nobody's going to buy that straw!
Prediction - In the UK at least, O2 will relent and cut this to a reasonable price, or hopefully realise charging for it is pointless. It looks like AT&T in the US might want even more dollar for this, but they probably won't relent. We'll see.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
deja vu
I'm finding deja vu experiences different lately.
It now tends to come after the experience, whilst it used to come during it.
I'll have long conversations and then ten minutes later feel I've somehow had the conversation twice, and must have until that point forgotten having had it the first time.
It's oddly unsettling.
Finding evidence of forgetfulness doesn't help. I went to file a bug on a Maemo project last week and did a quick search to see if it had already been logged. I found not only had it been logged, but I did it, many months ago.
Just sayin'
It now tends to come after the experience, whilst it used to come during it.
I'll have long conversations and then ten minutes later feel I've somehow had the conversation twice, and must have until that point forgotten having had it the first time.
It's oddly unsettling.
Finding evidence of forgetfulness doesn't help. I went to file a bug on a Maemo project last week and did a quick search to see if it had already been logged. I found not only had it been logged, but I did it, many months ago.
Just sayin'
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Nobody Is Interested in Hearing About Your Dreams!
Just woke up. Ridiculous goings on before that though.
I was in some kind of car park.. open air.
Some other guy was there. I think the bald bearded guy from Iron Man who was Tony Stark's dad's business partner and who you could tell would be the ultimate bad guy within the first two seconds of seeing him. Okay I saw Iron Man last night. This is not the point.
I had to do a Google search. For what I forget but it was some simple two word search. For some reason in this reality it had to be done using some very oversized parking meter like device.
I clicked on a red area and somehow entered my terms. No keyboard and I didn't seem to speak so I guess telepathy.
The machine started to shake violently and I recall commenting to my companion that THIS was supposed to be progress.
The machine then stopped shaking and spat out a smart card and a dark sea green envelope with a slot for the card. I realise a slot in an envelope makes no sense in daylight but at the time it seemed to. I was supposed to slot the card into the envelope and then post it back into the machine which was now clearly a mailbox.
In my dystopia, and I assume by the company i'm keeping that's what it was, it appears that Google searches have to be carried out by mail.
So, then I got into my car and drove. On a narrow country lane a sideways original style Nissan Micra with a flat tyre blocked the road and the middle aged female driver asked for my help.
We (a few others turned up) chose to push the car off the road to fix the tyre. I commented to an elderly man assisting with the pushing that these old Micras were so light you could lift them, proceeding to lift my end with ease.
The elderly gentleman did the same, promptly dropped his end causing the whole car to roll over him and bend him backwards in two. He said he was okay but I don't think he was. He was alive at least, and I could hardly be blamed.
Then I woke up.
I often think back to whats i've dreamed about to identify what in my daily life my brain is attempting to make sense of. I can't really come up with anything to explain this one.
I was in some kind of car park.. open air.
Some other guy was there. I think the bald bearded guy from Iron Man who was Tony Stark's dad's business partner and who you could tell would be the ultimate bad guy within the first two seconds of seeing him. Okay I saw Iron Man last night. This is not the point.
I had to do a Google search. For what I forget but it was some simple two word search. For some reason in this reality it had to be done using some very oversized parking meter like device.
I clicked on a red area and somehow entered my terms. No keyboard and I didn't seem to speak so I guess telepathy.
The machine started to shake violently and I recall commenting to my companion that THIS was supposed to be progress.
The machine then stopped shaking and spat out a smart card and a dark sea green envelope with a slot for the card. I realise a slot in an envelope makes no sense in daylight but at the time it seemed to. I was supposed to slot the card into the envelope and then post it back into the machine which was now clearly a mailbox.
In my dystopia, and I assume by the company i'm keeping that's what it was, it appears that Google searches have to be carried out by mail.
So, then I got into my car and drove. On a narrow country lane a sideways original style Nissan Micra with a flat tyre blocked the road and the middle aged female driver asked for my help.
We (a few others turned up) chose to push the car off the road to fix the tyre. I commented to an elderly man assisting with the pushing that these old Micras were so light you could lift them, proceeding to lift my end with ease.
The elderly gentleman did the same, promptly dropped his end causing the whole car to roll over him and bend him backwards in two. He said he was okay but I don't think he was. He was alive at least, and I could hardly be blamed.
Then I woke up.
I often think back to whats i've dreamed about to identify what in my daily life my brain is attempting to make sense of. I can't really come up with anything to explain this one.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Green
First off Observer, these songs weren't penned since Obama showed up in January - settle the fuck down.
My relationship with these guys is odd but probably quite typical. I have everything since Dookie... except Warning. I don't know where I got Insomniac from and I generally ignore the songs on it. You couldn't call me a true fan, although you'd probably overlook these oversights and go straight for the lack of Kerplunk if you wanted to make a point of it.
I don't think these last two albums sound anything like the others, but I love them both in the same way.. as each other, which is in a different way to the rest.
New albums rarely make an immediate impression. I normally have to try hard to get into an album. I slid into 21st Century Breakdown without even trying. I am however not a music reviewer, so i'll just point out what I like and move on.
The introduction to the title track eventually being revealed to be the introduction to the final track, See The Light, is just the kind of thing I love for reasons I can't explain. That song is a little Kiss-like, although I can't see anyone else saying this anywhere.
Two part songs like American Eulogy are great. One of my favourite Less Than Jake songs is The Brightest Bulb (no shit!) Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out, and this song has a very similar structure, coming in together at the end.
Peacemaker reminds me of Hang 'em High on My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers album, although a little less over the top. East Jesus is punky goodness that five years ago might have become a single but now probably won't. What might? Last of the American Girls maybe. Seems to be the only place they're able to top the charts any more. Last Night on Earth is also fairly ballad-tastic and likely to be a candidate, although it does sound a little Greatest Love of All, undeniably.
Is it more "over-produced" than American Idiot. Only a little. Was American Idiot more so than the earlier albums? Yeah. I think though people are mistaking an improved singing voice and the use of more instruments with over-production though. I seem to be one of the few people that likes my music produced, and really, everyone uses compression - even the bands that produce the raw garage sound.
Also to reiterate the point many make but everyone should just accept - this band has evolved, they're not punk kids any more, and if they were writing and playing "real" punk you'd be wondering what the fuck experience they were drawing on (in the last ten years).
My life is richer for this album, and if they want to make a third like this in another 5 years... all in!
My relationship with these guys is odd but probably quite typical. I have everything since Dookie... except Warning. I don't know where I got Insomniac from and I generally ignore the songs on it. You couldn't call me a true fan, although you'd probably overlook these oversights and go straight for the lack of Kerplunk if you wanted to make a point of it.
I don't think these last two albums sound anything like the others, but I love them both in the same way.. as each other, which is in a different way to the rest.
New albums rarely make an immediate impression. I normally have to try hard to get into an album. I slid into 21st Century Breakdown without even trying. I am however not a music reviewer, so i'll just point out what I like and move on.
The introduction to the title track eventually being revealed to be the introduction to the final track, See The Light, is just the kind of thing I love for reasons I can't explain. That song is a little Kiss-like, although I can't see anyone else saying this anywhere.
Two part songs like American Eulogy are great. One of my favourite Less Than Jake songs is The Brightest Bulb (no shit!) Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out, and this song has a very similar structure, coming in together at the end.
Peacemaker reminds me of Hang 'em High on My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers album, although a little less over the top. East Jesus is punky goodness that five years ago might have become a single but now probably won't. What might? Last of the American Girls maybe. Seems to be the only place they're able to top the charts any more. Last Night on Earth is also fairly ballad-tastic and likely to be a candidate, although it does sound a little Greatest Love of All, undeniably.
Is it more "over-produced" than American Idiot. Only a little. Was American Idiot more so than the earlier albums? Yeah. I think though people are mistaking an improved singing voice and the use of more instruments with over-production though. I seem to be one of the few people that likes my music produced, and really, everyone uses compression - even the bands that produce the raw garage sound.
Also to reiterate the point many make but everyone should just accept - this band has evolved, they're not punk kids any more, and if they were writing and playing "real" punk you'd be wondering what the fuck experience they were drawing on (in the last ten years).
My life is richer for this album, and if they want to make a third like this in another 5 years... all in!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)