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Archive for March, 2009
New F1 rules
With the first race in this year’s Formula 1 Championship to get underway this month, the sport’s governing body has implemented some significant rule changes. The rule changes do not simply govern that cars require very different technical specifications, but the allocation of points is also very different to preceding seasons.
Drivers race for points. This year, the driver who wins the most races will be the world champion, regardless of the number of points he has gathered. This should make complex calculations less necessary and lower the odds of Ecclestone potentially interfering behind the scenes. Should two drivers end up having won the same number of races, the existing scoring system for finishes during the season will be implemented. That scheme awards 10/8/6/5/4/3/2/1 points based on the finish position. Teams have successfully lobbied against the change in the points system.
From an aerodynamic point of view, very obvious aerodynamic aids, such as winglets and barge boards, have had to be removed. The rear wing is much narrower than in the past and front wings lower and wider.
The number of race engines a driver has available during a season has been restricted to only eight, and only four engines are available to the team for testing. This is a cost cutting measure. Engines may be used in any sequence, unlike last season where each engine had to be used for two races in a row. The rev limit for engines has been reduced from 19000 rpm to 18000 rpm.
This year will see the reintroduction of slick tyres with grooves. This is to shift the emphasis back to grip achieved by mechanical means rather than aerodynamic aids.
iPhone OS update to 3.0
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Today, Apple presented a new version of their iPhone operating system.
iPhone software 3.0. Here’s what it will be able to offer when it’s released sometime in June for existing iPhones and iPod Touch devices:
- In-app purchasing of content via the existing iTunes Store infrastructure
- peer to peer interaction
- support for various accessories and protocols for interaction among applications
- maps with support for turn by turn directions, though Apple cannot provide any map content – this will need to be loaded and purchased by the user
- better Bluetooth support, including stereo headphones, though no support for keyboards and the like
- push notifications, using the server infrastructure announced many moons ago
- cut/copy/paste (at last!), as well as text selection
- landscape orientation for the new calendar
- messaging, including MMS support
- voice memos
- calendar with support for CalDAV
- a new Stock app
- Search across a variety of content
- Spotlight, available in most applications
A new SDK that supports an additional 1000 API‘s will be available soon. A beta of the new SDK should be ready for download in the next day or so. Though not revolutionary, the update to the OS is criticial to ensure the iPhone supports those features users of other devices have been used to for quite some time.
I think the time is ripe to consider a switch to the iPhone, though I’d still be worried that a brand new device is unveiled in June…
Lenovo Pocket Yoga
Lenovo has an interesting set of photos on the company’s Flickr page. The images depict an experimental, yet apparently functional prototype for a tiny notebook computer. Similar in size to the existing range of Sony Vaio P‘s, the Pocket Yoga may or may not be available sometime in the future.
It seems to be a widescreen notebook computer with a flip-around screen that doubles as a touch screen.
An interesting device, but not much more is known about it… Another one for the that’s interesting bin.
Brother, it’s a DYMO
I have a single-minded discipline to label power adapters and important cables as I remove them from their packaging and before I start connecting anything. That saves oodles of time later on when one Taiwanese 9V adapter cannot be distinguished from that 12V Korean adapter, never mind the fact that it avoids toasting external hard drives and other equipment.
The Brother P-Touch 65 provided reasonable service, but was incapable of lasting beyond three years or so. Heavy use this thing had never seen, yet the labelling transport hardware fouled up and caused way too much frustration for my minimalist labelling requirements.
I tried to fix the jolly-looking yellow Brother more than once, but it seems to be unfixable: the roller doo-hickey won’t pinch the tape thingy as it should, resulting in an unsightly mess. With additional unlabelled power adapters heaping up, I did the only thing any self-respecting geek would do: head out into the wild to seek a replacement.
A replacement was easily found: it has taken the form of the DYMO LetraTag LT-100H, a handy-sized unit looking more like a mobile credit card swiper than a labeller. The DYMO offers a far better screen than the Brother and features a 13 character display that is capable of providing a decent preview of what the output will look like. Labels may contain two lines of characters and the unit itself is able to store up to nine labels in its internal memory. Power is supplied by four AA batteries that find a home beneath the keypad. A power adapter is available, but has to be purchased seperately.
There are five font sizes to choose from and various box shapes can be used to dolly up the output. Automatic date insertion is possible, as the unit stores the current time and date. Easy navigation is enabled by the directional keypad. One disadvantage is the omission of dedicated numeric keys. At first glance, the blue top and keys makes it seem as if there are no numbers at all on the keyboard. Only careful scrutiny reveals light-blue numbers on the darker blue background of the two top rows of keys – no good for anyone with poor eyesight. But that’s a minor issue once the numbers have been found and one knows where they are.
An advantage of the LT-100H is its ability to accept a variety of different label types: I use plastic labels for adapters and cables, paper labels for files and such-like and iron-on labels for my socks. Just kidding. But the iron-on labels are certainly useful to help mark clothing items kids may take to school and simply forget. Label rolls can be exchanged at will.
All in all, the DYMO LT-100H is a decent labelling machine that suits my purposes. What more could one want in a labeller?
Pi Day
March 14, or 3.14, is celebrated by many geeks as Pi day.
Pi is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. A popular pastime is attempting to memorize as many decimals beyond the standard value 3.14159 most high-school students are familiar with. Since Pi is an irrational number, it is impossible to represent its value by a simple fraction and the constant’s decimal representation never ends or repeats. That has made the calculation of as many decimal values as possible a popular pastime for computer scientists – if you’re interested in seeing the first 10000 digits of Pi, check here.
The official Pi Day website may be found here. For a sport with a mathematical slant, and one invented in South Africa, check out the rules for Pi-Ball. And if you haven’t seen it yet, the movie Pi is quite interesting.
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214……………
Logitech Comfort Lapdesk
The thought of searing my thighs is not an appealing one, yet that’s something I constantly subject myself to when I use any of my notebooks at home whilst sitting on the couch or in bed. An exception is the Eee, which has nary a footprint to speak of. In contrast, G2S can do some serious damage after ten minutes and even the MacBook gets pretty hot after 30 minutes of use.
Various laptop stands and solutions abound, but I held out for the Logitech Comfort Lapdesk to be delivered. After months of waiting for the product to be available locally, I finally got my hands on a few days ago. Here then is a brief report back.
My requirement was for a notebook platform that could accommodate the 17″ behemoth G2S. I wasn’t interested in anything that would occupy a USB port to drive cooling fans and certainly don’t need something compact enough to travel with. The Logitech Comfort Lapdesk is large enough for a 17″ notebook and very lightweight. It provides a comfortable angle suited for extended use.
The white surface and grey cushioned mesh fabric look attractive. More than likely the smooth white top will eventually become very scratched. The white top is not suited for optical mice, at least that’s what the instructions indicate. The most important thing is the heat protection provided by the thick mesh – it is ample.
The Logitech Comfort Lapdesk costs around ZAR 450. If you’re in the market for something to rest a notebook on whilst working away from your desk, this product deserves some investigation.
Taxi-ing
3 years ago
by manfred
in Life in South Africa
The elbow is on the mend. Never hurting, but requiring a fair bit of exercise to regain movement. A bit of a breakthrough this morning: I can almost touch my nose. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a big deal. The good doctor warned that I should not be driving myself around, not even in an automatic. That’s relegated me to the ranks of the ordinary footfolk, constantly having to rely on someone else to cart me around. This week, I decided to take this opportunity to experiment a bit. Why not do something I’ve only done once before in South Africa, many years ago when a client was too tight to spring for a hire car: namely call a cab.
Taxis are nothing new to me: I’ve made use of them in many, many different places. Somehow it just never occurred to me that one could actually rely on a similar service here.
Of course, I’m not talking 25 person tin cans on slick tyres that use a piece of strip metal as a substitute for a steering wheel. I’m not brave enough to get into one of those.
My theatre of operations is the greater Rosebank to Bryanston area and my requirement to move between these locations very infrequent. My first journey was in the back seat of a blue BMW 3 series belonging to Rose Taxis and my request for a ballpark cost to travel the requisite 14 km distance met with a quick response of ZAR 150. First rule of being reliant on any type of transport: beggars can’t be choosers. I hopped in and we got going. The taxi was clean and the fare meter clearly visible. The usual taxi driver’s rear-view mirror decoration was present: a strange wooden triangle construction with something attached that I couldn’t clearly identify. The ride was smooth, with the exception being a rather wonky clutch, or someone who had not learnt to drive without removing the left foot off that pedal. No other worries, nor surprises. On arrival, the fare meter indicated ZAR 164 and I was pleasantly surprised by a discount of ZAR 4 to bring the indicated price in line with the initial quotation.
Next day, I called for a SAFE CAB and provided name, mobile number and pick-up location. Within minutes, an SMS had been despatched, warning me to be on the lookout for cab 266. Within ten minutes of the call, said cab 266 trundled into the parking lot and we set off on a 10 km trip back to the office. The white Nissan was clean, with all four windows slightly ajar. Again something attached to the rear-view mirror…
I hopped in and watched the fare meter with trepidation as we started moving. The numbers on those things move really quickly, seemingly counting 10c per second and ratcheting the price up quite nicely. Another safe, though expensive ride, coming in at ZAR 106. The driver seemed rather pedantic that I pay the exact fare and didn’t seem too interested in accepting a lone blue bill as payment.
Bank on at least ZAR 10 per km when considering a taxi. They’re safe, clean and seem rather reliable. As someone who constantly relies on his own mode of transport and has not had a lot of experience with local public transport, this was a fun experiment. But I’m really hopeful that I’ll be able to use my own car very, very soon…
Watch the brickmen
Sir Nadroj has a great collection of custom-made Watchmen minifigs.
Check out his Flickr stream here.
Firefox proxy settings. Reset.
Windows 7 is still functioning flawlessly and I’m happy to repeat that this is one of the best OS releases Microsoft has ever mustered.
With the exception of CutePDF, I’ve had little hassle getting most of my favourite applications to work. As with CutePDF, a viable and free alternative is often at hand. For CutePDF, substitute BullZip PDF Printer, an excellent replacement.
A rather odd experience with the Firefox proxy settings has been occurring, however. I’m usually behind a very stringent proxy with all sorts of nonsensical filtering and URL checking going on. So normally, Firefox runs with a manual proxy setting by default.
But every now and then, it is necessary to escape the shackles of WebNonSense. So I jack in the E220 modem and get onto the MTN HSDPA network. For that sesssion, I turn the proxy setting off.
Everything works fine until I need to open another window from a URL or link.
Emerald Night
Lego has a special treat in store for those of us who enjoy the current train sets. Though not motorized, set #10194 features some stunning detail and should make a great static model.
The classic Emerald Night Train features a steam locomotive with a tender and dining car. The train wheels have a piston motion and both the tender and dining car open up to reveal their interior detail. The entire train measures almost 70cm in length and will be available in the US sometime mid-April.
Three minifigures are included and the train features a new design to the buffer and magnet. These update the current buffer and magnet design on existing train sets.
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