Archive for category Musings
New year, new job
The last time I posted about my job, I was working for Moneysupermarket.com. I suffered through that for about a year, then escaped to work for a company called Legal Marketing Services. Another year passed, then I was made redundant (curse you, Credit Crunch!). Fortunately however, I managed to find a new job at the start of this year: my current employer is a company called SeaTechnik.
I haven’t really enjoyed my job for years, ever since I met my wife-to-be in fact. Whether that’s coincidence or not I don’t know; priorities change when someone special enters your life, that’s for sure. Nevertheless there’s no reason why you can’t be content at work also. Several years ago, I had the good fortune to wind-up in a job where I had a fantastic working relationship with my colleagues, and where I had the opportunity to help design and code a new front- and back-end system more-or-less from scratch. Ever since I left that job, and stopped working with those people, work has never been the same for me. Although I’ve done interesting stuff since, and worked with some nice people, I’ve never experienced the same team spirit, nor cared as much about the end product.
Hopefully, this is all now starting to change. It’s early days at SeaTechnik, but already the signs are very encouraging. I’m using cutting-edge .Net stuff like Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation, and being given a lot of leeway to design and code the final product as I see fit. I haven’t felt as energised about what I’ve been doing since back when I was working on the Amber project with Rob and John. My colleagues and superiors seem to trust that I know what I’m doing, and that’s something I’ve not experienced for quite some time now. Long may it continue.
Back again
I thought it was about time the blog received some much-needed attention. I’ve finally upgraded to the latest version of WordPress (2.7), and found a new visual theme which I really like. Obviously a lot has happened since I last posted over a year ago; hopefully I’ll get around to talking about it soon. My intention now is to blog more frequently, but in smaller chunks, so that I don’t sweat over what I’m writing so much. We’ll see how it goes.
iPod Touch firmware 1.1.3 declared a waste of time
The latest iPod Touch firmware was released after MacWorld, along with an update to iTunes, so I upgraded both the other day. iTunes first: a hefty 64Mb if memory serves, which required a reboot of the laptop after installation. Then I plugged in the Touch, and iTunes notified me of the 1.1.3 firmware update. 165Mb? Jeez! What do they put in these things, that’s obscene. Maybe they forgot to compress it or something.
Anyway, after a couple of hours the update had downloaded, and I watched anxiously while the iPod rebooted itself. Luckily, all seemed to go well, and I was left looking at the new home screen… which looks pretty much the same as the old one to be honest. The dock area at the bottom now has a different background, and some of the icons have been swapped around (I’m pretty certain YouTube was second on the first row before the update). And er, that’s pretty much it. When watching videos, you can now access a ‘Chapter Stops’ screen to jump directly to a particular chapter without having to scan through them sequentially or use the scrubber. I can’t see any other visible changes, and none of the bugs I mentioned previously have been fixed (albums with same name glitch; compilation artists showing up in main artists list). Also, you still can’t select a 12-hour clock if you use the London time zone.
So all in all 1.1.3 is basically a waste of time for those of us not prepared to fork out the $20 (£13) for those five applets that iPhone users already have and that should have been in the Touch from the beginning. Thanks Apple, but no thanks. Of course, they’re under no obligation to provide the applets for free, but c’mon, this is basically the same code that’s already been written for the iPhone and given away gratis. I think it says it all that the ability to view lyrics is part of the paid January Software Upgrade rather than being part of the firmware update. Miserable b’stards.
But the most annoying part of all this? Every single time I connect my iPod Touch to the computer now, iTunes displays that damn page about the January Software Upgrade, and there doesn’t seem to be a way of stopping it from doing so. Sure, you can click the ‘Bug Me Later’ button, but that’s only a temporary solution. Stop forcing this update down my throat Apple: I’m just trying to sync my iPod, for crying out loud.
Apple iPod Touch: it’s a love-hate* thing
This year**, I received an iPod Touch as my main Christmas gift (16GB version, natch). Given that the thing is so damn expensive it was a three-way split between Paula, my folks and me, and hence not a surprise because I paid for some of it!
First impressions are very favourable. The device is reasonably thin (around 8mm), and extremely well built, as you’d expect from Apple. There are only two buttons: the on/off switch on the top edge, and the round ‘home’ button at the bottom of the fascia. Initially I had trouble figuring out how to turn the damn thing off though. Turns out you have to hold down the on/off switch for a bit, then a slider appears on-screen which you have to, er, slide to turn the iPod off.
The screen, as you probably know, responds to touch (hence the minimalist controls compared to standard iPods). In a word: it’s gorgeous (hang on, that’s two words). Bright, with vibrant colours, it’s superb for viewing photos and especially videos. Definitely a fingerprint magnet though.
However, the major triumph (as far as I’m concerned) is the Touch’s user interface, which is both easy to understand and a joy to use. It also looks fantastic: text is easy to read, even at small sizes, and there are graphical flourishes everywhere that bring a smile to your face (then again, I’m a sad geek when it comes to UIs). The on-screen keyboard that appears during text entry is a tad on the small side, but only those with the chubbiest digits would really have any major trouble with it: the rest of us just need to type a bit slower, and avoid using our thumbs!
I do have a few quibbles though. The Touch automatically locks itself and switches off the screen after a certain period of time: this delay is configurable in the UI, but obviously the longer the delay the more you’ll eat into the battery life. I don’t have an issue with this locking per se, however as there are no external buttons for controlling the volume, pausing or changing tracks, this has to be done using the relevant on-screen controls. What’s not immediately obvious is that you can double-tap the home button to overlay volume and transport controls on the current screen, and this works even when the Touch is locked so at least you don’t have to ’slide to unlock’ first. Regardless, it’s still not as convenient as hardware controls (you have to be able to see the screen for one thing), and I’m sure Apple will fix it in future hardware revisions (after all, even the iPhone has a volume control button).
My other issues are with the firmware, and are much more annoying. First, browsing albums doesn’t work properly if several albums share the same name, even if those albums are by different artists. Think “Greatest Hits” albums, for example. The net effect is that only one of the albums will appear in coverflow, but this one album will include tracks from the other albums having the same name. So if your iTunes library contained “Greatest Hits” by Queen and “Greatest Hits” by the Bangles (yeah, okay, stop sniggering at the back), then only the Queen album would appear in coverflow: tap it, and the track listing would show all of the Bangles “Greatest Hits” tracks as well as the Queen ones. This bug (and I do consider it a bug) also affects iTunes, but can be worked-around to some extent by using the album sort tags. Unfortunately, these tags seem to be ignored on the Touch, hence the only practical solution is to rename the album itself so that it is then unique. At the moment I’m adding the artist name to the end of the album title, like so: “Greatest Hits [Queen]“. Very clumsy.
My second gripe concerns compilation albums (why does so much hardware and software have trouble dealing with these?). In iTunes, you can tag a track as belonging to a compilation album. When viewing a list of artists on the iPod, those who have only contributed to compilation albums are not supposed to appear in the list, thus stopping those ‘one-hit wonders’ from cluttering things up. However, on the Touch this feature is broken, and the artists list contains everybody. I mean, I’ve got Acker Bilk in my artists list for crying out loud, just because he performed one poxy track on an ‘oldies’ compilation. Again, I consider it a bug because the other iPod models (eg. the latest Classic and Nano) don’t do this. As a workaround, I’m using the ’sort artist’ tag in iTunes to group all such artists together at the end of the artists list on the iPod: still in the list unfortunately, but at least they’re not interspersed with everyone else.
There are rumours of an iPod Touch firmware upgrade being released to coincide with Macworld Expo next week, and I sincerely hope these two issues get sorted. Okay, they’re minor issues in the grand scheme of things, and it seems a little churlish to complain about them when the rest of the device is so fantastic, but hey, there’s always room for improvement, right?
* maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word, but “it’s a love-minor quibbles thing” doesn’t have the same ring to it
** well, technically it’s last year now
What to make of the new Anfield?
The official Liverpool FC site has today posted a video about the new Anfield stadium design. Be aware that the majority of this video is just talking heads stuff: the stadium fly-by simulation only kicks-in around the five-and-a-half-minute mark.
To be honest, I’m still not sure what to make of it. Call me a traditionalist, but I kind of preferred the old design from before the Gillett and Hicks takeover. Sure, the new plans are bold and certainly different, but my worry would be how well the design would age. Are we going to be looking at the stadium in twenty or even ten years and saying “what were they thinking”? Will it be viewed as a bit of an eyesore, an embarrassment even?
(And pity those fans on the new Kop come a sunny day, with that enormous glass window behind them!)
Still, the really important thing is what happens on the pitch. We’ve made a solid if unspectacular start to the season, but the real work starts on Sunday against Chelsea. I hope Gerrard is actually fit enough to play despite his foot problem; if not, we could be asking for trouble in more ways than one. Also, it would be nice if Evie could manage to stay awake during this match after sleeping through the entire Villa game last weekend. 
The Sonos experience
I’ve been lusting after a Sonos system for around a year-and-a-half now, ever since reading a review of the kit in PC Pro magazine.
For the uninitiated, Sonos (or the Sonos Digital Music System, to give it its full title) is a set of components that let you stream digital audio around your home. There are basically two bits of hardware: ZonePlayers, that actually play the music through an attached amplifier or pair of speakers; and Controllers, paperback-sized bricks with a scroll wheel and colour LCD screen that are used to choose what the ZonePlayers should be playing. The Controllers are supposedly optional, in that each ZonePlayer comes with software you can install on a PC or Mac that will replicate the functionality of the Controller, thus allowing you to control the ZonePlayers via your computer. In reality, one of the main attractions of the system is in using the hardware Controller to browse through and play your music collection. I doubt many people end-up buying a system without a Controller.
Up to 32 ZonePlayers can be ‘connected’ to each other via wired or wireless ethernet, and then controlled via a single Controller. Each ZonePlayer (referred to as a ‘zone’) can play a different track, or individual zones can be linked such that they play the same track. So you could have two ZonePlayers, one in the lounge and the other in the bedroom for example, both playing the same song, in perfect sync with each other.
Thoughts on being a parent
Nothing prepares you for becoming a mother or father for the first time. Sure, we read the books, went to the antenatal classes, and of course we knew friends and family with young babies. You can study and learn and ask questions all you want, but it won’t prepare you for that day when you finally get the little one home and there’s just the three of you.
Babies cry. This everyone knows. However it’s different when it’s your own kid. You can’t hand her back to her parents, or politely make excuses and leave. You have to deal with it. I have never been more stressed out than when I’ve been watching Evie bawling her little eyes out, having already been fed and nappy-changed, wondering what on earth she was crying for. The noise of the crying itself, even though it probably isn’t that loud, is extremely distressing (as was intended by nature I guess) and hurts the eardrums more than it should. Thankfully, she’s settled down a lot since the early weeks when we were both going spare.
Then there’s the poo. Despite the horror stories you hear about babies’ poo, Evie hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had the occasional ‘industrial accident’, where the brown* stuff has escaped the nappy enclosure, but generally things have gone okay. I continue to be amazed by the escape velocity of the stuff, however. One time I had Evie sitting on my knee when she dropped one with such force that some of it shot up her back! That wasn’t pleasant to clean up, I can tell you. Unfortunately we’re having to use disposables at the moment: although we’d bought reusable nappies before the birth, we’ve experienced more leaks using them than we were prepared to put up with, so we’re environmentally unfriendly on the poo front I’m afraid.
One word you need to get used to hearing from people when you have a new baby is ‘colic’. Baby crying a lot? Colic. Generally irritable? Colic. Arms and legs flailing wildly? Colic. Projectile vomiting? Colic. Baby’s head rotating 360°? Er, probably colic as well. Talk about a catch-all diagnosis. Just remember that the magic potion Infacol is your trusty weapon against the evil colic spirit possessing your child. It also smells pleasantly of oranges.
So, nearly three months in and it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride, but neither myself nor Paula would change Evie for the world. She can cry her eyes out and drive you up the wall, but one smile and a babble or two is enough to forgive everything and bring tears to your eyes (and if saying that makes me a sad git then so be it).
Becoming a father is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
* of course, it isn’t always brown…
Splurged: PSP
I bought a PlayStation Portable a couple of weeks ago. This was the first serious “splurge” since we bought the laptop computer last year, so I don’t feel too bad (splurging on house stuff obviously doesn’t count, because it’s more of a necessity than a luxury).
We ended-up buying the Giga Pack from HMV: black PSP, 1GB Memory Stick, in-ear headphones with remote control, plus two games, Daxter and Loco Roco, all for just over 200 notes. I also got Wipeout Pure as well, not wanting to break with tradition (I bought the original Wipeout when I got my first PlayStation, then Wipeout Fusion when the PS2 came out).
Initial impressions of the console are positive. The design of the unit is very sleek, as you would expect from Sony. The standard navigational UI (used to change settings, launch games, etc) is simple but looks sexy, and the LCD screen is fantastic. Battery life could be better, lasting around three hours before needing a recharge, but overall it’s a great little package.
And what of the games? I’d heard good things about Loco Roco, and it doesn’t disappoint, being a very original puzzler/platformer. I can’t get Paula to stop playing it! Wipeout Pure reminds me of the 2097 version (the best), which was apparently one of the game’s design goals. I’m having a little trouble with the difficulty level, although that’s probably due to my general rustiness with the old D-pad. As for Daxter, HMV didn’t have any in-stock at the time, so that’s still on back-order.
I haven’t watched any UMD movies yet, and to be honest I don’t think I’ll bother buying any. I just don’t see the point of watching a two-hour film on that tiny screen. I’ve also yet to look into viewing photos or playing music on the machine, as I haven’t really had the time. Maybe when work on the house settles down a bit!
Saving the planet with minimal effort
I’m not exactly a poster-child for saving the planet: I use a car instead of public transport; waste far too much electricity running various gadgets; occasionally put washing in the tumble dryer even on clear days… you get the idea. However, despite this I’m still the most energy-conscious person I know, which is kind of worrying (or maybe an indication that I don’t know that many people).
I recently read an interesting article on the BBC News web site, Lighting the key to energy saving. Apparently, a study from the International Energy Agency has concluded that “a global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world’s electricity bill by nearly one-tenth.” A linked article – Light bulbs: Not such a bright idea – basically proposes that governments should ban the traditional incandescent light bulb in favour of using compact fluorescents. This is such an obvious no-brainer that it almost certainly won’t happen, which is a real shame, but then again we shouldn’t be relying solely on our governments to legislate in order to solve the world’s energy problems: we should be doing more ourselves.
For example, don’t leave the TV chattering away to itself when you’re going to be out of the room for a while. Stop the automatic hand-dryer yourself when your hands are dry, instead of waiting for the timer to switch it off. No need to turn-on the lights when it’s a bright sunny day outside. All small things to be sure, but if everyone did them…
See? You too can save the planet with minimal effort!
Han gets to shoot first (again)
So it seems as though Mr Lucas has had a change of heart, and that we will be getting the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars movies on DVD after all, come September. A response to overwhelming fan demand, or a means of generating cash for George’s next project? You decide. Will I be buying them anyway? You’re damn right I will!
I’m kind of ambivalent about the whole Special Edition thing anyway: there’s stuff I like, and stuff I don’t. Read the rest of this entry »