photography | mac | lego | open source | sap | gadgets
Archive for December, 2006
Russian batcave
5 years ago
The KGB has been in the news quite a bit lately and Putin himself is a former spy chief. Obviously, some Americana must have rubbed off on them Russkies when they decided on their interior: the new Russian defence intelligence headquarters seems to be inspired by the well-known American Bruce Wayne, I presume 
via 
BBC News
LOOX T830 first impressions
5 years ago
Inserted the battery and SIM card, then charged her up over night.
The battery is inserted at an angle to the top of the unit, then pushed down and held in place by a red slider.
Started getting all my usual software loaded, which is easy: I keep a 1GB SD card with the CAB files in a special directory. Due to the strange nature of Windows Mobile 5.0, it’s advisable to make a copy of each file. The installation file is usually deleted after the installation has been completed. There’s little extra software on the CD in the box, except for Outlook and Activesync. The T830 doesn’t have Skype preloaded. Primarily the Pocket Office suite, a GPS utility, some SIM and Java tools and a few FSC utilities. Anyone having used a LOOX before will be familiar with the backup utility provided.
Proceeded to configure Activesync on the device to pull down contacts, tasks and calendar entries, then to continue with my usual customizations. That includes setting up PocketBreeze, copying some sound files and generally pottering around with where shortcuts go. I’m fussy that way…
I’ve been using the T830 for about a day now and I quite like it. Initially, the look of the unit makes one think it’s bigger than it really is, but with a bit of handling it seems to shrink and become much more manageable.
For now, I like
- the clear, bright screen
- sound quality – the speaker is crystal clear and audio is much easier to hear than on the JAMin
- the keyboard and accelerator keys make data entry much easier on the go, but the keys are very small and cramped together
I don’t like
- the seemingly short battery life: 50% remaining came up pretty fast, and that was after only a few calls and little use
- the small amount of screen real estate – the JAMin’s screen is huge compared to this
- the oddly-shaped stylus – it’s not round and is very uncomfortable to use
I’m getting used to
- the jog wheel to scroll through items without having to use the stylus
- having access to a 3G network
That’s a quick round-up. Overall, I’m quite impressed, but will put the device through some real use in the coming week or so.
Uncrating the Pocket LOOX T830
5 years ago
My excitement regarding the T830 is strangely muted. I’ve had the gadget in its box for almost 24 hours without really looking at it. That’s odd behaviour for a gadget-crazed personage…to be honest, the length of time it’s taken for this thing to arrive has done little to heighten my enthusiasm. That’s a pity, because it really looks and feels like an awesome device. Hopefully the next month will convince me that this is the case…
Some information before we get going with the uncrating. At this point in time, the T830 has been tested by Vodacom and it is likely that they will be the first distributor in South Africa. The LOOX T830 has been in South Africa for about six weeks or so, but has not yet been certified by Icasa. That process should not be too complicated and will probably mean that units will be available through Vodacom in the next few weeks. The unit I have is not really certified for use in this country – it’s missing the Icasa certification sticker on the box. The price of the unit is expected to be between ZAR 6000 and ZAR 7000.
The CD containing Outlook 2002 and hopefully some additional software is located in the fold-out section above the hardware, together with a warranty sheet and accessory brochure.
The hardware is packaged below the fold-out lid containing the paperwork. Visible on in the top, right-hand corner is the leather carrying pouch with the cradle and two-pin power adapter visible below that. The T830 is protected in a foam wrapper to the right.
The primary hardware content unpacked: a lanyard with integrated headphone and microphone, cradle, USB cable, pouch, power adapter, battery and T830. Not pictured are the extra stylus, GPS connector coverstrange rubber plug that probably fits in somewhere but I haven’t figured out where yet and the US power adapter.
The object that has been the cause of a lot of frustration since March:
Thanks for joining me in the unpacking of the LOOX I’ll be putting it to productive use straight away – more information coming soon.
Pocket LOOX T830 landed
5 years ago
by manfred
in Moblogging
Pocket LOOX T830 landed
Originally uploaded by MHertenberger.
It’s taken months, but I’ve finally managed to get my paws on a T830 for review. Much of the excitement has worn off, but I’m looking forward to playing around with it.
Caught out, dear Watson
5 years ago
by manfred
in Life in South Africa
I’ve blogged my opinion regarding Neil Watson’s crime expo site some time ago. The site is no longer available and it seems as though the site’s owner is not really who everyone thought he is. In fact, it seems as though Neil Watson doesn’t really exist. That’s according to a news report in the Citizen. Instead, the guy-known-as-Watson is really a gay rights activist known as Juan Uys.
What hacks me off about this whole business is that this guy had no qualms running down the country and spreading largely false information. He also sold advertising space and requested donations. For all those caught out by this con-artist: that’s what you deserve. Uys is in hiding. Hopefully, he’ll stay there.
.co.za offline
I was unable to get to various .co.za sites yesterday, and that included this one. I tried from various locations and connection types, but no luck. With little time to investigate in detail, I left it to sort itself out…and presto, we’re back. I have no clue what happened – maybe some construction work in Rosebank caused a cable to be cut
Germany’s first wireless city – Heidelberg
Yesterday, Heidelberg became the first city in Germany to offer wireless Internet access.
Aimed primarily at the huge number of Japanesetourists that consider this city a must-see, the wireless network provides information regarding facilities, transportation, accommodation and cultural events. At present, coverage is not 100% and not all information has been made available during the pilot phase. Over time, additional information will be added and coverage increased to blanket the city. There is no access cost for now, meaning that hundreds of students will probably attempt to suck down music and video using their wireless devices…
With a bit of luck, I might get to try this out later this month
via Spiegel Online
Labview for Mindstorms NXT
Lego Mindstorms is delivered with a development environment that enables robot programming. Many functions are available, though the overall control of the NXT brain may sometimes be found to be lacking. Labview is a product of National Instruments, a company specializing in process control and data acquisition. Though the Mindstorms development environment is based on the NI toolkit it has been cut down somewhat. Now, National Instruments has released the Labview Toolkit for Lego Mindstorms NXT.
Though not officially released until mid-December, you may want to take a sneak peak and download the toolkit now.
The toolkit provides a similar coding and development environment to provide instructions to the NXT. A big bonus is the ability to gain real-time feedback from the NXT during its operation. That opens up a whole range of possibilities for robot interaction and control. Finally, native blocks may be created and programmed.
Steve Wozniak – I, Woz
I woz halfway through this book when I started being irritated. Wozniak may have changed the world by inventing, designing, soldering together and building the Apple I and II. Writing a book is not one of his skills, though. The last 100 pages were a bit of a mission…
Whether Gina Smith assisted with the content and style, I don’t know. My opinion is that she didn’t. Reading I, Woz is like listening to Wozniak speak. I don’t like it that kind of writing style. It’s like reading an essay written by a grade schooler. Don’t get me wrong. Wozniak is brilliant. At what he’s best at: that’s chip design and logic, not writing.
I, Woz‘s intention is clear: provide a written record of Steve Wozniak’s take on recent history. His tenure at university, the founding of Apple, his resignation and his interactions with the other Steve. He does that, and let’s the reader know what his version of the truth is. But he spends an inordinate amount of time describing less interesting things: pages devoted to his dial-a-joke enterprise and bit manipulations. It’s just somewhat tedious. When you’ve finally arrived at the last page, Wozniak is an even greater mystery than before – he’s simply not followed through.
Strange information boxes provide details of RAM and ROM, but neglect DRAM, for example. The existence of the information boxes is a mystery in itself, as a glossary is included for non-technical readers. Given that ROM and RAM is explained in great detail, there’s no assistance for any non-technical reader as Woz waxes lyrical about coding an interface that allowed a disk drive to be attached to the Apple II. There’s just too much of that kind of engineering talk that has little bearing on the main proceedings.
This book received a fair bit of publicity due to the fact that Steve Jobs refused to author a preface. Having struggled through the 300 pages, I can see why he wasn’t interested. Even for the devout Apple fan this is of little value. Give it a miss. 
Recent Comments