Rambling

My own meandering thoughts and rants. Stuff that might not go anywhere else

Some mindless babbling about Gadget Show Live 2010 (part 2)May 7th, 2010

So, in my previous post about Gadget Show Live I was a little negative. There were eBook readers that were total rubbish, watches that can be nicked, and 3D tellys that were blurry given the wrong light.

But then I realised, there is a lot of cool new tech out there, you just have to wander around the exhibition space a bit more, open your eyes to what’s already around us, and watch what the professionals can do with enough time and money.

Firstly, sound. I’m a big music fan, and I’m one of those who believes that the quality of the sound has a big impact. By using cheap, low quality headphones, it just doesn’t sound the same. But I’m ashamed to say, I use Apple earphones. I’ve just never gotten around to researching anything better. Having gone to a headphone stand (Zino, if anyone cares) and tried out a pair, I realised what I was missing. All these top quality headphones, and I had my Apple blinkers on and didn’t bother researching if anything else could be better.

Secondly… sound. More specifically, sound around the house. The Sonos multi-room music system, which lets you play any song into any room. It can link to your iTunes library, last.fm, and Napster. And it can be controlled using a dedicated remote control or an iPhone app.

It’s the sort of application of computer networking that I love, it’s very clever and it doesn’t need any complicated setup procedure. It’s simple, does the job, and makes technology great. It is a little pricy though, £799 for a two room bundle is a lot of money when you can share an iTunes library between two computers. But the idea is just brilliant.

And finally, Architectural Mapping, which we were shown during the live show. There’s lots of photographs and videos of this technique in various settings, but it really does have to be seen in person to appreciate just how fantastic it looks.

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Some mindless babbling about Gadget Show Live 2010 (part 1)April 16th, 2010

So, last week I went along to Gadget Show Live, in a hope to try out some stuff I’ve never had the chance to play with before (such as 3D TV and ebook readers) and see what’s on the horizon when it comes to new technology.

In the whole, the sheer scale was overwhelming. There were thousands of people and it was hard to get near some stands. But I also have to say that I was pretty disappointed with the quality of what was supposed to be new technology. Not even new technology, but stuff that was being launched this summer or even things that was supposed to be making a big entrance to UK homes this year.

With the new iPad launching in the UK in the next week or so and doing amazingly well in America, eBooks are certainly the next big thing. They’ve been around for a few years now, and I’ve tried out the Sony reader but I’ve never been that impressed. Don’t get me wrong, the quality of the text is as good as ink on paper, but they’re just slow and very hard to use.

The eBook reader I tried out at the exhibition was just as bad. A confusing interface, slow response, and not something I’d pay money for. They had what looked like colour touchscreen models, but I soon found out to my dismay that they were just prototypes (plastic boxes showing either a rather confusing video, or a plastic box with a screenshot stuck to where the screen would go).

I asked a demonstrator how it would compare to the iPad — a reasonable question I feel, as it’s pretty certain that Apple are shaking up this market just as they did with mobile phones — but didn’t get a very clear reply. I think I somehow offended them by even asking the question.

I also stopped at two 3D stands early on. The first stand used the active technique and were mostly selling 3D projectors which I have to say I quite liked. They were cheaper than a 3D TV (even with a couple of pairs of the glasses), and could be attached to anything. Brilliant. It was also of reasonable quality. This was demo’d to me because I noted to the demonstrator that their TVs were flickering. To be fair my eyes are never very good at 3D, and as the demonstrator pointed out the lighting was harsh and was nothing you would get in a normal home.

I moved onto my second 3D TV stand, which used passive 3D (the type you get in a cinema). I had seen this at the cinema but never on a small screen, so to my surprise this looked very impressive. It was much better than the active 3D systems, and you didn’t have to be directly facing the screen. I’ve always questioned 3D TV, but I can now see why people are raving about it. I wouldn’t buy one myself just yet (being short sighted I would find having to wear a second pair of glasses whenever I wanted to watch TV or play a game annoying, and at the moment they are far too expensive for me), but for sports, gaming, or even films, 3D has a future in the next few years.

So onto watches. Or rather, cool digital watches with touchscreen and phone capabilities. I’ve always wanted one of them. It’d be so cool to be able to have a proper LCD (or better) screen on your wrist that shows you the time and date, your calendar, your phone numbers and anything else you want. I was pretty excited when they started to come out a couple of years ago. I was excited to see one on exhibition. There! Ready to buy!

But… no. I couldn’t get over how bad it was. I really do hate being negative over technology because I love it when new and innovative stuff happens. But this was very 1980s (even a fellow visitor mentioned this). The screens were large and bulky (80s), you had to use a stylus to use the touchscreen… assuming that even works properly (80s), and the strap was cheap plastic which would be very easy for the most amateur of pickpockets to steal under 5 seconds. Dreams completely shattered.

But not everything was bad. Some tech — mostly related to sound — really impressed me when I honestly didn’t think it would. There’s also some future developments that won’t be in the homes just yet, but to see it was encouraging. And there were a lot of future developments that I’m pleased to say is with us already. All of this I’ll speak about in my next post.

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Why I think the Google phone was a bad ideaJanuary 7th, 2010

The Nexus One: known by its friends as The Google Phone. Let me explain why I don’t get it.

It was hoped to be an iPhone killer. The first phone designed by engineers at Google. Something that would shake up the mobile phone industry. It wasn’t just a smartphone, it was a superphone. What happened? It’s designed and manufactured by HTC, it has no real killer features, and Google’s involvement seems to be that they provided the operating system and are selling it on their website.

The Nexus One was a let-down. There’s nothing new or groundbreaking there at all, save for the voice recognition, the media were wrong when they said that Google engineers designed the phone, and this new entry won’t shake up the industry one iota. Having an ad-supported cheap phone would have been the answer, as many people simply won’t pay £400 for something that they can buy for under £100, or get for free on a reasonably priced contract.

Let’s face it: we’re getting too many phones that are being touted by the media as being “iPhone killers” whereas in reality that just means “it has a touchscreen display”. Design elements are blindly copied from the iPhone, innovation seems to come solely from Steve Jobs and co, and we’re back to before 2007 when mobile phone manufacturers just stopped coming up with new ideas and churned out phones that simply looked good and had a 10 mega-pixel camera.

I might be a big Apple fan, but I’m also a big technology fan. If there was a phone as good as the iPhone I’d be all over it like a child in a sweet jar. I still think the Palm Pre is a great phone, I was happy to forgive the shortcomings because it innovated with its operating system and the designers copied the iPhone screaming “We can do better than that!”

But instead, the innovation we get from the Nexus One is that it’s only being sold online. I wouldn’t consider that innovation: I’d consider it a step back. Technology is meant to be felt. It’s meant to be used. It’s meant to be part of your everyday life and you’re supposed to enjoy using it.

So why can’t we try it out first?

Again, Apple has this right, and I’m pleased that so does o2. Retailers should not only be putting their products on display, but customers should be encouraged to try them out. The screensaver shouldn’t be password protected and the phones shouldn’t be demo models that don’t actually work. I care much more about how easy it is to use a device than I do how it looks tethered to a shelf. I want to be able to choose my purchase with confidence that I know how it works, and that I won’t be frustrated a month down the line when the menu system is awkward to use and it takes longer than it should to write a text message. But I have to deal with it, because it cost me £300.

A Google Phone in principle is a great idea. Google are full of great ideas and they’re always trying to make things better. But with the Nexus One, I think they’ve dropped the ball.

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Twitter with AspergersOctober 24th, 2009

This week’s article is a guest post by Sarah, a web designer, blogger, Twitter fan and Girl Guide troop leader from Hampshire who has Aspergers Syndrome

Disabilities can hinder progress people make in the world and it is crucial that they are not misunderstood when they communicate.

Some disabilities really can not be made considerably better because they may have some physical problem. However ones that can sometimes be un-noticed can appear as sheer rudeness. I am talking about Aspergers Syndrome.

Aspergers Syndrome is about people who appear normal, but don’t always understand the world around them.

My main idea of this post is to find out if having access to social networks, like Twitter can help conversation. Or is Twitter one network to avoid.

I have gathered some ideas since joining Twitter a year ago in 2008. This is based on my own experiences as I have AS myself.

Problems faced by being on these networks:

Thousands of people are able to see what you write on Twitter so write facts and make sure you can explain your reasons.
Write what you know. You will get more respect if you broadcast truth and fact.

Don’t be rude.
When making a comment about someone or something refrain from swearing or judging them because you think they are wrong. Many people with AS often say the wrong things but don’t mean it like they said it. If you wouldn’t say it to their face don’t say it at all!

Don’t boast about how many followers that you have.
One bad thing is boasting and it is not good on social networks. You may lose followers or people just wont talk to you anymore. You can tell them it is great to have friends but not to boast that you have more than someone else or more followers than the amount of people you follow.

Don’t put out private information. (e-mail, House name/number, mobile number, land-line number, personal finances details etc)
As nice as it is to have lots of friends and contacts. Don’t put all that info in your Tweets because you may end up regretting it and getting phone calls and e-mails that you don’t want. A throw-away email address is great if you get hassle.

Great rules for a positive Aspie to follow:

If you like people to know that you have a disability then great.
The idea of letting people know that you have AS or a different disability is by explaining that you have it and then people will usually understand if you put out a quirky message. I personally enjoy telling people I have AS because I like to talk about it and help others. Promote awareness for us!!

Try and interact if you can and make friends.
It may help you to have a better conversation. The main reason to join social sites is to have fun.

If you want to have interaction outside of Twitter with someone DM them when you know they are genuine people.
If you get on with someone really well there is no problems sending a DM to them so they can contact you in other forms of social media. STILL be careful of who they are though! And you could even make a false email address to make sure they are genuine. Then you have no worries if they turn out to be strange. (check with the e-mail provider that you can have throw-away addresses)

Express your talent if you have one.
You may be interested in photography or website making for example so Tweet about that and you may find some people who also share your hobby.

Go follow people that have your interests.
Gain knowledge and experience from professionals and other people who may be interested in the same subjects as you. If you like photography, go put the keyword in the search box and see what happens.

Closing remarks

To be on a social network you have to be very careful and maybe check with a friend/relative before you join so they can look out for you and help you. There are many positive things about the social networks but don’t get fooled by it. There will still be bad people out there who want to take advantage.

If Twitter/Facebook/Myspace etc is used sensibly you should have no problem and get a really good experience out of it. I sure have had a great experience since joining and I hope to see you on soon talking to me at @GoldChoiceUK. I’m a (female) web designer and I have Aspergers so come and ask me some questions about anything you have seen on this post.

I think that the positive things are far better than the problems of being on a social network such as Twitter.

This concludes the blog post about Twittering with Aspergers!

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phpnw09: a quick overviewOctober 16th, 2009

Last weekend I attended phpnw09, which was my first phpnw conference having missed the first one last year. And I was glad I went, having met lots of friendly people and learned things I didn’t know and more importantly what I didn’t know. Needless to say, I’ve come back with a head full of things to research and learn.

Sadly I missed most of the first talk, so the first one I attended was Passing The Joel Test in the PHP world. I found it one of the most useful talks of the weekend, as there’s always something that every developer can do better whether it’s making automated build scripts or having a chair and keyboard that you find comfortable. I learnt lots from this, and it’s spurred me on to improve my own practices.

I also attended Getting a website out of the door by Rob Allen, a talk that puts project management into practice, so one to make lots of notes in, and one which everybody who does project management should watch.

API documentation with phpDocumentor, Making your life easier: Xdebug and Introduction to Yii were all well presented talks which were about things I knew nothing about before the weekend, and now I’m aware of them (and how they work), they’re things I’ve noted down to look into in the future.

Getting Involved with the PHP Project was a nice final talk before the free bar, something which isn’t too heavy on the brain, and it’s always nice to learn how the php project works and hear from a few members (as heckles, of course).

Sunday was a nice informal day with lots of hangovers, coffee, and tiredness, with some interesting talks with an introduction to UTF-8, OOP, the latest version of php, and jquery. These were more informal sessions which were less heavy on the brain, perhaps for the best after the free bar the night before. This extra date made a great addition to the weekend, and also gave opportunity to hang around afterwards to meet some others.

Thanks to the organisers, all the speakers, and the sponsors for making the event happen. Here’s looking forward to phpnw10!

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Say what?May 15th, 2009

A few weeks ago I was sat in a waiting room when I heard the receptionist say “I’ll delete that”. Being bored out of my mind, I started thinking about those three words. Or more specifically, the verb in the middle.

Of course, the word ‘delete’ isn’t exactly new: it’s been with us since the late 15th century with little (if any) change to the usage. But what really got me thinking was how commonplace words related to technology has become: the receptionist used the term ‘delete’ was used because it’s the word that appears in Microsoft Windows.

Had the good old system of pen-and-paper been used, then perhaps the phrase would’ve been “I’ll rub that out” or “I’ll get rid of that”. But instead, the programmer’s default phrasing was used instead. (Whether or not this is good phrasing on the programmer’s side is an article for another week…)

A number of new words have also been coined in a massively short period of time, the most common being podcast and blog; and a lot of words have been given new meanings. Words such as desktop, tweet, network and port would sound alien to somebody from the past.

It’s always interesting to see how language usage changes over the years. Which new words are being introduced, which buzzwords from last year aren’t being used as much, how the words are formed. It’s our own little lexicon, with the added joy of terms being added and removed all the time.

No wonder those who don’t follow technology changes closely are easily confused!

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DIY web designApril 24th, 2009

With the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Livejournal and Google Sites, it’s never been easier to publish content on the Internet. And this is a great thing, it’s a new and growing media that lets anybody have their own little soapbox and gives those who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to be creative to create stuff cheaply and easily.

But if you run a business, should you save money and make your own website? Well, I reckon it all depends.

I like to compare websites to leaflets and posters. On one hand you get the professionally printed coloured leaflets on glossy paper, and on the other hand you get the home-printed, black-and-white, inkjet-printed and library-photocopied leaflets that get shoved through your door advertising local fairs or plumbing services.

If you’re a plumber then people don’t expect professional leaflets, and it would only be a waste of money. But if you’re a business with its own premises you want to give a top impression to your customer, and what better way than with a professionally made and created site?

I’m never one for making the web industry a snobbish and exclusive one, and so think that home-made sites do have their place. As do sites created by amatuers — these sites are often cheaper (or free), lets the designer enjoy his hobby, and allows him to learn more about creating websites.

It’s certainly cheaper to create it yourself if you don’t have the budget, but you get what you pay for. Going professional is worth every penny, and the designer will know the very latest techniques and will create you a site that will get you out there (with knowledge in SEO), will make you money, and will show you in the best light possible.

But if you do choose to make your own, please don’t use free hosting sites like Geocities and Tripod. You won’t get your own domain name, you won’t have complete control, and they’ll shoehorn adverts onto your site.

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5 things I learnt at SQLbitsApril 10th, 2009

Yes yes, I know it was a while ago now, but here are five things I picked up from the various sessions at SQLBits last month, and talking to the speakers afterwards.

If you’re using MS SQL 2005, upgrade to 2008

The default settings in MS SQL 2005 are a bit rubbish, to say the least. So if you can, upgrade to 2008. If you can’t, make sure to disable the admin user. There are also other settings and services that should be disabled if you aren’t using them.

Log all login attempts: even successful ones

You never know when you’ll get a disgruntled admin or user. I’ve even gone as far as logging whenever something has been removed from the database (such as a product) at the application level, although this isn’t as necessary.

Use the correct data type

By selecting the wrong datatype you could be wasting more space than you realise. Small things such as using an integer instead of a bit to store a flag can make all the difference

Use specific data for testing

Never use empty data: run your test with specific data and then roll back.

Pester your DBA

If you notice a lag in your application, then pester your DBA and ask him to run a trace. He’ll love you for it, and it will help you improve your SQL where there are problems

Thankyou

A big thankyou to the organisers, speakers, and volunteers at SQLbits who made it a great conference

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Data security: is there a solution?October 31st, 2008

With data still being lost all the time by public bodies and private companies, you know there’s something wrong. When we give our information out, especially to public bodies, you expect them to be kept safe. But they’re not: printouts are being left on trains, laptops are being lost, and CDs are being lost in the post.

There are laws stating that data should be kept secure and removed once no longer needed, but this isn’t always followed. Whose fault is this? Do we blame the law for being too confusing, do we blame the staff for not following the law, or do we blame the corporations and the government for not training the staff?

The fact is, whoever is to blame there is still the problem that USB sticks are still being left on trains and CDs are still being lost in the post. No matter what data security policies are in use, they don’t seem to be followed. Afterall, humans are humans and they will always be lazy, slip up, and this is where things go wrong.

But how do we fix this? I’ve always believed that if somebody does something wrong on a computer, it’s not the fault of the user but of the software for letting them do it in the first place (or not making it clear enough that this is the wrong thing to do). Sounds confusing, but bear with me.

How is it possible to put all this data on USB sticks and CDs in the first place? Who would ever need to get access to all of this anyway? The National Audit Office only needed a small amount of the child benefit database: personal details weren’t needed and so the data could be anonymous. But the whole lot was sent anyway because it would cost too much to extract that small amount. The questions that should be asked are “Why was this person able to do this?” and “Why did it cost so much anyway?”. The lessons that should be learnt is to improve the database to stop these accidents from happening again, not toughening policies.

But then again, maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Should we be tightening data protection policies instead? Maybe bigger fines for those companies that don’t follow them: afterall, companies would try harder to keep their data safe if they knew it would be financially damaging otherwise… or would they?

I guess data security is going to be one of those debates that will be with us for a while. Perhaps there’s just no easy answer, and the current government are doing the best they can. What do you guys think? How would you make data more secure? Who do you think is to blame?

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