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Archive for February, 2008
Google Maps mobile edition
The Nokia E90 has not received much attention here lately. There’s a simple reason for that: in comparison to the constant loading and unloading of different applications I went through on the Windows Mobile platform, the E90 has all the software I need built-in. It’s become a workhorse for real tasks, and is not much of a toy anymore.
Google Maps for the Symbian platform provides a useful feature that makes it worthy of mention: geo-location by means of the cellular phone network. Of course, the same application is available for Windows Mobile platforms too.
Traffic information is for the US only, but the My Location is handy, especially if your device doesn’t feature a built-in GPS. A blue dot or circle appears to indicate your phone’s approximate location. In both the standard map view
and the corresponding satellite view
Overall, zooming in is quick if you have a 3G or HSDPA connection active. The accuracy is based on a triangulation calculation, so an inaccuracy exists on the calculated location, up to 1km from the phone’s actual location. That’s not too bad for general use. I wouldn’t rely on this to pinpoint something important 
Point the browser on your device here, then download the application to discover where your phone is.
Eeen-flight
So you are still impatiently waiting for my notes and impressions regarding the coolest gadget of the moment: the Asus Eee PC. Wait a bit longer, I implore you. It’s not often that I contain my excitement and don’t immediately type at least something on a new gadget. Right now, time is not on my side.
In the meantime, I leave you with a picture of the Eee inflight
Plenty of space for a Red Bull or two on the tray table…
Mapping
4 years ago
by manfred
in Life in South Africa
If you have a chance, get to the Chief Directorate of Surveys and Mapping in Cape Town. Mowbray, in Rhodes Avenue, to be precise. Or visit them on the web. For just ZAR 210, I acquired a set of ten DVD‘s containing raster and vector maps of the entire country in scales of 1:50000 and 1:250000. A nice resource to have. The maps remind me of those I spent a significant time studying and measuring in high school geography!
The CD:SM also supplies various aerial photographs spanning through history and laminated maps in many different versions and scales. If you have an interest in mapping, this might be for you. You may order online, too. For a government department, the CD:SM is highly efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. A personal visit is an experience, especially if you have the time to browse through their archives.
Spectacle spectacle
4 years ago
by manfred
in Life in South Africa
Though no gadget in the true sense of the word, my new glasses are certainly technologically advanced. A titanium frame by the French company Minima and plastic lenses, probably made by China.Inc. Anti-scratch, anti-glare, anti-everything-else-the-optometrist-can-get-you-to-pay-for.
First observation: for someone as blind as a bat, these things do the one thing they are supposed to: bring everything into sharp focus. Second observation: the frame is super-flexible and should withstand the rigours of daily wear and tear, including the odd wrestling match with the three year old. Third and most amazing observation: the whole lot, frame, lenses and all weighs only 12g!
Drupal 6.0 available
One of the other sites I maintain is Drupal-based, chosen because of its great multi-use capability. Unfortunately, none of the users of that site have expressed any interest in contributing, so I may as well have used WordPress. That’s a soft issue…
I haven’t upgraded the Drupal installation in a while, having waited for a more radical release rather than something that fixes certain issues. Now, the team has released the 6.0 version after almost one year’s development effort.
For a WordPress user, Drupal requires some radical re-thinking. That has nothing to do with complexity, but simply with the design philosophy. The 6.0 release promises easier and faster installation, drag-and-drop administration and a set of brand-new core modules to enhance the functionality of the site. A useful feature for those sites with multiple users contributing on a single project is the ability to add workflow adding actions and triggers. Optimized code for better performance and improved security. I’m keen to upgrade to see how much of a difference the new version will make. Download Drupal 6.0 here if you are interested in playing around with it.
HD-DVD RIP
According to Reuters, the final nail has been driven into the coffin of the HD-DVD alliance. As with any one of the previous format wars, a clear victor had to emerge. This time, Sony actually wins out (for once), having suffered through a number of disasters before.
According to the report, Toshiba will no longer be manufacturing or developing the HD-DVD technology. What this means for the XBox 360 is not clear, but it’s likely that Microsoft could switch to a Blu-ray player. Those with a PS3 can rejoice, and those uncertain of what to choose have a clear path. Soon, we may see those promised Blu-ray rewriters in the new range of Mac Mini‘s.
Remember: the next format war is just around the corner…or will we all start downloading the media we want?
Frank Herbert’s Dune
The first time I read Dune was many years ago. So long ago, that I couldn’t entirely remember what the story was really about. Except for the sand. The movie starring Sting didn’t really make an impact. VHS quality and the lack of a memorable story didn’t help. I remember the sand, of course.
The advent of my addiction to audio books has provided an opportunity to relive Frank Herbert‘s classic afresh. And what a story it is. And how much sand there is… Considering that the novel was written in the mid-sixties, there is very little to hint at that fact and this is a timeless classic. The epic tale of Paul Artreides and his rise to power in a far-future galaxy where noble houses exist much in the times of ancient Rome. Exciting hand-to-hand combat lends an air of excitement, as does the political and religious intrigue Herbert crafted into this novel of amazing complexity and depth. Being the lazy sort, I spent a good 21 hours listening to the tale of Dune. The 21 hour audio book is broken down into three parts, each roughly seven hours long. In fact, the tale is so gripping that you’ll want to spend some additional time in traffic. Bizarre, I know!
The superb narrative by Scott Brick is often spoilt by the inconsistent use of voice actors for various characters. Why the poor narrator is often left to his own devices having to impersonate women and men is a mystery and does detract a bit from the enjoyment. All in all, this is an excellent title to consider. If only to relive the tale of the spice. I assume it’s obvious that at 21 hours in length, this is an unabridged reading.
Next up: the unabridged version of Children of Dune.
Creative ZEN 4GB
I’ve had the ZEN for a number of days now and it’s time for a more in-depth look at this great media player. I’ve covered many of the technical details before, so I won’t repeat them again.
The size of the device is that of a credit card, if not slightly smaller. The black finish is glossy and looks good, but has the wonderful ability to show up every scratch and fingerprint.
About 1cm thick, the ZEN features a vibrant screen capable of playing video content. The screen’s brightness levels may be set, but overall the use of such a device in broad daylight is always problematic. Some shade is necessary to make the viewing experience pleasant.
A simple array of controls is set to the right of the screen. The top row has a back and menu selection button, the bottom a user-definable function key and the play and pause control. In the centre, the navigation pad and selection button. The control layout is effective and visual feedback from the well-though out menu structure is very good. If required, the menu selections may be customized to place more frequently used items higher up in the menu hierarchy.
The player contains a microphone. Other elements found around the edges are the USB mini plug for charging and data interchange, power button with lock function and the standard 3.5mm audio out jack. The infamous reset button is recessed and is accessed by means of a paperclip or pin.
Copying content is a question of using the supplied software or copying files to the removable SD card.
Overall, the first few days of trying out this new toy were a mixture of pleasure and absolute disappointment. I certainly didn’t stretch the limits in what I expected the device to do, but had to constantly battle to reset the device after it froze. The freezing phenomenon could not be reproduced and occurred at the strangest times: switching to a different media file, trying to back up in an audio book, accessing a menu item or simply turning the player back on after having switched it off. Needless to say, that’s highly frustrating. I made sure to have a paperclip with me at all times and the reset button on the ZEN has probably been the interface element I’ve used most so far. I decided to check out the Creative website for a firmware upgrade and was rewarded with a newer version. The installation is very simple and over quite quickly.
I’m pleased to report that since the firmware upgrade, I’ve had no need to reset the ZEN. It also seems that, at least on the video capabilities, better coded support is present. I haven’t been treating it any differently, and most of the media on the device prior to the upgrade is still there. I’m holding thumbs! If the player does start to hang up again, I have only one other option: to format the internal storage to get rid of any possible file corruption.
Keep that video
I used to rely on the TechCrunch video download tool to capture forever those YouTube videos I considered worthy on my hard disk. It’s a ridiculous thing, this hoarding. But we continue on our merry way, filling up storage devices with crap we look at once or never, kidding ourselves it’s important that we have it in our possession. I digress.
The TechCrunch tool no longer works, probably because the YouTube team has inserted spurious characters to foil its simple attempt at grabbing content. Don’t fear, for help is at hand. KeepVid works, at least for the moment. You are urged to use it wisely and consider how often you need to see Ihnatko showing off his crash-proof socks, washcloth on head whilst sitting in a bathtub in a faux Japanese hotel. Funny it may be, and amusing. But worth keeping…I’m not so sure.
Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 available
The Mozilla team have made the third beta of Firefox 3 available as a download. I’ve been using beta 2 for a while now and haven’t had too many issues. The most irritating aspect of the 3.0 release is that most of my favourite plug-ins don’t work. I especially miss Google’s browser sync to update all my systems with the latest bookmarks I’ve collected.
Of course, a new version should mean there are some new features to look forward to. The most important aspect is speed, supposedly improve in beta 3. The speed improvement mainly focuses on rendering of page content. There’s better malware protection, fewer memory leaks and look-and-feel compliance with both Linux and Mac OS. The new download manager is already a huge improvement over the one having been offered before. It’s a lot easier to find downloads and organize them, as well as pause and restart partial downloads.
As with all beta software, remember that certain functions you rely on may no longer function, and in my experience it is not easy to re-install a version 2 release of the browser once you’ve gone the path of 3.0. The download page is here.
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