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The original 1966 Batmobile is an absolute classic. I owned an original Corgi model in my younger years. The one with an embossed Batman on its base, rocket blaster and front-mounted slicer. Alas, that much-loved toy couldn’t and didn’t survive. A replacement nowadays would run into a few thousand Rand, not necessarily in good nick and probably without any packaging. The next best option is the 40th anniversary model Mattel is rolling out. It’s a 1:18 scale 1966 Batmobile as seen in the original TV series and it’s the first time since the original Corgi model that such a larger scale Batmobile model is available.

George Barris‘ design is instantly recognizable.Though the model doesn’t have the original features of the Corgi, it’s still a perfect addition to any shelf in the various Batcaves strewn around the world.

If you have tried to find an original Corgi model, this may be the next best bet. If you’re in South Africa, you may want to order one here.

Paving is classified as an improvement to any house or structure. In our case, that is certainly true. We’ve paved more than 500 square meters of driveway to get out of the dust and mud and into zone clean. If you want supervised workmanship, you’d expect to pay for it. But, you’d certainly not be willing to pay an agreed price for lack of supervision and a team that is obviously incapable of handling standard paving duties. With an immense effort, we’ve come out with a decent job, but only because we were willing to put in hard work ourselves and pester those bodies on site to at least put some effort into their livelihood.

In the end, bargaining down the price was a rather harrowing affair but we came down to an acceptable price per square meter. One tiny consolation: the paving contractor acknowledges himself to be an absolute turkey on his invoice to me:

So, we ended up with gobble paving. If you have the pleasure of having to seek out a paving contractor in the western half of Gauteng, I strongly recommend that you avoid Advanced Paving or any of its subcontractors.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to do their job for them!

My current pet project involves the installation of a decent media center. I’m in the process of collecting suitable peripherals to enhance the experience – coupled with a large LCD screen, I should be able to browse the web and possibly even compose a mail message. I’ve selected the Logitech diNovo Mini as my integrated keyboard and mouse interface. Though not perfect, it performs the intended job reasonably well. I’ll provide additional information on the use of this device in a future post. For now, we’ll simply have a quick look at the package and its content. Logitech has taken many cues from Apple.

The packaging is slick and attractive. Lifting the lid reveals a tray with the software CD, paperwork and cleaning cloth.

The 15cm long and 9cm wide diNovo Mini is recessed in tightly molded plastic below the interleaving cardboard container for the CD and manuals. It’s a device destined to be scratched. Sensibly, it’s been wrapped tightly in clingwrap to prevent damage in transit. The moment it’s been unboxed, it attacts fingerprints and scratches.

The diNovo Mini is designed as a clamshell: the semi-transparent, smoked plastic cover flips upward to reveal the actual keyboard. In addition, it switches the device on and off. A good reason not to try and remove the mostly annoying cover! The remaining content of the box sits below the keyboard platform. It comprises a Bluetooth dongle, rechargable Lithium-ion battery and a power adapter to charge the device.

The diNovo Mini has been designed to work with Windows and the PS3. My intended target is a Mac. Rest assured that the keyboard works with a Mac, except that one will need to deal with that annoying Windows logo on some of the buttons and make special allowance for certain actions that are not natively catered for.  Logitech has indicated that a special Mac port of the driver software is in the works.

Flip the unit over and open the black cover. That reveals the switch to change between PC and PS3 mode, as well as the receptacle for the Bluetooth dongle and battery.

To make the unit discoverable, the red button needs to be pressed.

Since all the devices I’ll use the diNovo Mini with won’t need the enclosed Bluetooth adapter, I’ll stow it away. Slot in the battery and close up the bottom. Then it’s off for a four hour recharging cycle prior to a first use.

More on using the diNovo Mini sometime later.

45000 Lego bricks went into the construction of this scale replica of the 85-year old Yankee Stadium in New York City.

The stadium has been closed and its replica has been built at a scale of 1:150 and includes a huge amount of detail.

More images and information here.

It’s been a while that I’ve written about some of my new gadgets. There’s an entire queue of them waiting to be played with, so that benefits the content creation aspect of the blog.

Regardless how much I try to get away from generating paper, I still find myself running around from meeting to meeting with a pen and paper. It’s just so much easier to write things down and work from written notes than trying to type during a meeting. What is needed is a means of capturing written notes in an electronic format. On a whim, I ordered a Livescribe Pulse Smartpen a few weeks ago and have started using it wherever possible.

The Pulse Smartpen is available in two versions: a 1GB and a 2GB model. I chose the 1GB and I’ll get to the memory aspect of the Smartpen in a bit. The box is roughly the size of an A4 page of paper and contains the Pulse Smartpen, pouch, two extra ink refills, USB cradle, earphones and a 100 page notepad.

From the text on the box, the primary operating method of the Pulse should be evident: it records and links audio. It’s a slightly oversized pen, though it’s not uncomfortable or unwieldy to hold and write with. Whether your left or right-handed is immaterial. In fact, the pen requests you to indicate your preference in order to setup the orientation of text in the OLED display located on the upper end of the pen.

A microphone and speaker is located just below the OLED display. A jack for the supplied earphones sits right at the top of the Pulse. A lithium rechargable battery powers the pen. To charge the battery or transfer memory content to a desktop application, a magnetic cradle is used that connects to a Windows PC using a USB connector.

The Pulse is a clever piece of technology. The microphone works in conjunction with the camera housed beneath the nib.

Of course, the pen cannot operate without knowing where it is. For that reason, the 100 page pad is supplied. The Anoto paper has an array of dots printed on it in conjunction with a variety of audio playback controls.

Switch the pen on, press on the record image on the paper in front of you and start taking notes. As you write, the camera tracks the pen’s path and records it to the internal memory. At the same time, all audio picked up by the sensitive microphone is recorded. All good and well, you say. Finish the meeting and tap on the stop image on the paper. When it’s time for the review of your written notes, simply tap the pen on the text or diagram you doodled during the meeting or lecture: the audio recorded at that point in time is played back through the built-in speaker on the pen. It sounds daft, but is rather effective. I know full well that there are many things I miss out on trying to write and listen at the same time. This way, there’s no reason to write everything down. Simply rely on the recorded audio to flesh out the details of the text, or to review again what was said and compare it to what was written down. Overall, the Pulse Smartpen is a very valuable memory aid for anyone relying on the capture of notes in meetings or lectures.

1GB of memory in my Smartpen is plenty. That’s supposed to hold almost 100 hours of audio, many times more than I’d ever need. The difference in price from 1GB to 2GB is not huge, but significant enough to make one consider how much storage one actually needs. In a few days, I’ll cover the use of the Smartpen, the paper and the desktop application.

It’s been many years since I last ran an SAP upgrade. In the days of 2.2F, upgrades were a lot of fun, took many days and required a bit of thinking. A seven day upgrade was a challenge and made you feel like you’d accomplished something! Nowadays, it’s a question of swapping DVD‘s and answering questions posed by the guided procedure. Of course, that’s all good and on the whole, the PREPARE and SAPUP programs perform admirably. Except, I’ve had a heck of a time with the Java runtime to allow me to use the Upgrade Assistant. Not only with the upgrades I’ve had the pleasure of piloting in the past two weeks, mind you. The same nonsense occurs during the installation and maintenance of the portal. It’s a bad reflection on the much-hyped write-once, run anywhere model the Java virtual machine was supposed to provide.

My overall experience with Java has hardly been positive. Even worse is the odd mood and glaring inconsistencies the software seems to show: so, for example, I am able to deploy a JRE version 1.6 (not recommended by SAP) to run the Upgrade Assistant during an upgrade of a 4.6C Oracle system on Windows 2003 to 4.7. The Upgrade Assistant works happily and there are no glitches. I used that version simply because I had no access to anything else. That same JRE fails to make the Upgrade Assistant function on a 4.6C MaxDB system on Windows 2003 that is a candidate for an upgrade to ECC 6. But, the recommended versions in the version range 1.4.2 refuse to work, too. In the case of 1.4.2.13 the Upgrade Assistant starts but throws an error almost straight away:

SAP note 941595 provides a link to a URL on the Sun site where a much older Java version can be downloaded. Why can’t SAP provide a tried and tested Java runtime or SDK in the upgrade pack? It’s incredibly frustrating to install and uninstall Java runtime components to try and get a non-critical software component up and running. As a command line fan I’m very happy to simply run all my upgrades with mode SCROLL:

It recaptures that authentic SAP upgrade mood. Who the hell needs a GUI for an upgrade in any case?

It should take less than a year to piece together 250,000 Lego bricks. But if you want something special at the end of it, you’d go into such a project with a good idea of what should result. The minifig-scale Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier is certainly very special. It weighs 160kg and is over 4.5m long. Plenty of electronics and moving parts make the scale aircraft carrier more than a static model. Of course it takes to the water!

The level of detail is astounding:

Plenty more pictures and information at Brickshelf.

Today is a public holiday in South Africa. Given the upsets in government over the past week, everyone probably needs a bit of a break and a diversion. Heritage Day is on September 24.

Of late, it has been coupled with everyone’s favourite activity: the braai.

For those readers who have no idea what a braai is, see the official Braai Day website and get some recipe ideas.

The first Android phone has been launched by T-Mobile for European and American markets. Based on the HTC Dream, the G1 boasts both a touch screen and a slider keyboard. All the usual applications are available to the user including a web browser, media player, mail client and Google‘s suite of software.

From a hardware perspective, the G1 includes a 3MP camera, QWERTY keyboard, 3G and WLAN.

To combat the Apple iPhone app store, one-click access is provided on the device to the Android Market. Developers are encouraged to develop applications. The applications are available for wireless download to the device.

More details regarding the G1 can be found here. It should be available in the target markets at the end of Otcober. With a two year contract, the G1 should cost around about USD 180.

Not only are we privileged enough to suddenly have a new president ready to take office, but we have also been introduced to the official FIFA 2010 World Cup mascot. Zakumi‘s his name, football is his game.

The green hair is a means of camouflaging himself on the pitch. The usual PR drivel: he loves to play football as it is a great way to connect with others and break down language barriers. He always carries his football around which he will use to invite people to play with him.

I can tell he’s a real South African: he does have one striking weakness. With all his energy, he needs frequent rests. Occasionally, in-between performances on stage, he may suddenly fall asleep on the spot at the most random times! But rest assured, these are only short breaks that a leopard of his calibre needs to recharge his batteries.

Reminds me of Parliament television. Except those performers rarely wake up!

Zakumi‘s name is derived from ZA for South Africa and kumi meaning 10 in a variety of languages.