Google maps is lost Apr 22, 2010 No Comments
It seems myself and Google are at odds over the best alternative route...(click to view a bigger version)
Food for thought Mar 8, 2010 No Comments
This is a subject I am always ranting and raving about, and this week is no different. I present two cartoon/workflows which make my point rather well me thinks.I live in hope that one day the entertainment industry will come to the conclusion that to get people to pay they have to offer more, not irritating paying customers into not staying paying any more.
Originally from: http://lifehacker.com/5475113/remains-of-the-day-why-piracy-works-edition
Originally from: http://www.bradcolbow.com/archive.php/?p=205
Broken me thinks Feb 24, 2010 1 Comment
For reference, the reason I am running the speed test is to gather more information as I am n the process of bitching to Virgin Media that my connection is too slow (getting around 300k if I'm lucky during normal "peak" times and not much more than 2.3Meg off peak)
Computing misconceptions Feb 8, 2010 No Comments
As many people know, I know a thing or two about computers. If anyone asks my industry or my field I normally say computing. I say that for simplicities sake, because otherwise it leads to too many questions. However, of late I have come to realise that is akin to calling a shelf stacker at a supermarket part of the food industry.While technically correct, it avoids the detail that makes the difference.
As soon as someone hears that I do web development and "build websites" as I put it, they want to know if I can help them with their computer. While as it happens I often can, in reality the computer is just a tool to me in my industry the same as it is to a secretary in an office. While you would expect them to be able to use the machine, you would not expect them to fix it when it went wrong.
People seem to think that everything to do with computers is all the same and that if you can do one thing in computing you can do them all. If only it was as simple as this.
To illustrate my point I'm going to explain something I was asked to explain the other day. I was asked how websites work. Remember to keep in mind as I explain what a tiny tiny fraction of computing this is.
Most websites begin with a database where all the data in the system is stored. This is accessed through SQL (1 language) which I then connect to with in my case PHP (2 languages) which then does all the processing of that data. In my environment I use CodeIgniter (1 framework) to do the main calls, process and validate the data and then pass it to Smarty (1 mark-up) to be displayed.
From there the Smarty template contains the HTML (2 mark-ups) which describes all the components of the page and what order they are in. That HTML is sent to the browser along with the CSS (3 mark-ups) which describes to the browser how all that HTML should look. The page might also contain graphics which need to be made in a graphics package of my choice (Photoshop for me). Once on the page there is then one final layer which is the Javascript (3 languages) which sits on top of the data, the HTML and the CSS and allows direct manipulation of that data including sending things back and forth to the server. As an added twist I write all my Javascript using jQuery (2 frameworks).
So all in all to create a simple website for me it requires knowing 2 Languages (PHP, SQL and Javascript), 2 Frameworks (CodeIgniter and jQuery) and 3 Mark-ups (HTML, Smarty and CSS) as well as one graphics programme on top of that.
Then for good measure I need to understand some Unix (operating system), some Apache (a web-server) and all the other techs that go with each of those. Oh, and having a good understanding of XML, JSON, IMAP, POP etc all help day to day too.
Now consider that each of these sections could be several years of learning and trial and error in their own right to truly master
So all this covers a small part of web development and all of this is evolving and changing on a quite literally daily basis and people wonder why sometimes I can't be bothered to fix their computer.
Time honored tradition Jan 31, 2010 No Comments
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Moved in with someone that I haven't planned to move out with afterwards.
Oh, and Go-karting... that was epic fun.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any, so yes, very easy to keep. By far the best kind when it comes to keeping them. Given that plan has worked out thus far, I plan to keep not making them and ably achieving the.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. This said, we are all getting older and a lot more people seem a lot closer too it (not in the fat sense)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Again, thankfully not.
5. What countries did you visit?
Just France I believe on Family holiday.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Time.. lots more spare time. Money would be good, sleep would be too, but time more than anything else.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Moving in, the many epic trips to Ikea that were required, Holiday, Thanksgiving is always quite an event and actually, Christmas was really nice too.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finding somewhere nice to live and actually starting to live there. OK, so I know it is a simple thing, but it is always the simple things that mean the most.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Uni work and alike continue to be a constant source of failure, one I have yet to fully work out how to deal with. Im trying not to put it into that "one day" bracket, but it is going that way.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Im sure my pride has taken a beating from time to time and colds and alike have hit me, but in general, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A whole pile of furniture, turning a few rooms into a home.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The countless charities I know of or help from time to time who despite everyone tightening their belts still managed to do good in every way they could.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The music industry, the film industry (US and UK) and the government and some large companies for their onslaught against privacy. Their belief that everyone is a criminal and that making a copy of something for free is the same as taking a physical item.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, followed by the car, followed by food, followed by furniture, followed by plights and tech maybe...
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Again, like a true stuck record, moving in with Demelza, starting a new job, get out and making my own way a little bit more...
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. Happier or sadder?
Happier
b. Thinner or fatter?
A bit thinner.
c. Richer or poorer?
Richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Sleep, my own projects, spending time with Demelza.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Work, driving, spending money.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Driving mainly. This was a lot better that is first sounds. We did both the parents in the one day doing the morning and lunch with Demelzas family and then drove all the way over to my family for tea. We actually really enjoyed it, despite it being quite a day.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Over and over, same girl though...
22. How many one-night stands?
None. I should really remove this question, but it will mess up the numbering.
23. What was your favourite TV program?
Still the legend that is Top Gear. Also very much been enjoying SG1 again.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nah, hating has so been done.
25. What was the best book you read?
I still don't really read. In fact, I have little choice what I'm going to put here, I only read one book. It was The Last Lecture and I highly recommend it.
26. What did you want and get?
Somewhere nice to live and a job.
27. What did you want and not get?
A degree would have been nice...
28. What was your favourite film of this year?
The new Star Trek film. A nice mix of the new and the old into something enjoyable.
29. What was your favourite game of this year?
As I said before, Burnout 2 on the GameCube, still. I still play it more than anything else. That said, Boom Blox is really cool. As is the free PC version of TrackMania.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 23 years old and Demelza came up from Cornwall and at best guess, we went to the cinema, but I honestly don't remember.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
All the filling being done sooner and automatically... Sad isn't it.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Same as the year before with more t-shirts.
33. What kept you sane?
Demelza, despite the bloody Ryanair music trying to push me over the edge.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy/respect the most?
None. I am growing tiered of celebrity in general and few warrant respect.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
As stated earlier, piracy and privacy annoyed me the most. They still do mainly because I see little intelligent thought going into them. Every study has come out against the government and the industry, but instead of realising how wrong they are and innovating they are pushing back... but they are pushing back against a public that will win.
36. Who did you miss?
Hello stuck record. Demelza for the first half of the year, and then for the second half of the year, a good number of friends I'm now a bit further from.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Since moving down to this part of the country I have met a lot of good nice people. I won't name names, but there are many who I am happy to have met.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Just because the car says it has oil doesn't mean it knows what it is talking about...
So, same time next year... No, you're right, a month earlier...
Not Banking on it Jan 27, 2010 2 Comments
I have been using on-line banking for not much less the time it has been around. It is more than just a useful tool, for many it is almost their only contact with their moneyI understand people still have some security issues, but really, with a little common sense applied and the current tech that goes into banking like key generators you should be fine.
There is one thing however that I don't understand. It feels like it is being held back for no good reason. For something that has been with us on the web for some time, it feels no different.
I admit my main experience of this is NationWide, however from what I have seen, others are no better.
For example:
- Why do we not have nice shiny interfaces?
- Why can I not tag payments by type and draw graphs of them?
- Why Can I not put in regular payments and forecast savings?
- Hell, why are the views so cryptic and the interface so clunky?
I know there are a number of these tools on-line which address most of my issues, however they require you to give them your sign-in details which not only breaks the TOS with the bank, it also just feels wrong and breaks my common sense rule.
Where is the Gmail of on-line banking?
Make do and Mend Jan 25, 2010 7 Comments
I can't help but feel a sense of achivment and a sense of sadness this evening for something that seems to be a dying frame of mind these days.Since I have been home this evening I have repaired 3 pairs of trousers and am working on my fourth. Nothing major, a couple of seems coming appart, a button come off and a hem that has come out in the middle.
All of these trousers are perfectly fine except from a few stitches coming undone in some fairly important places. One of them I will admit is quite worn, but I like it that way. The total amount of money it would have cost to replace these particular trousers would be somewhere around the £100 mark (one pair is a fairly long standing and hard living North Face pair I have had for a long while which don't come cheap).
I will admit to using a cheap small sewing machine Demelza got a year ago or so to do all this, and while I could have done this even more cheaply by hand, my hand stitching is not quite up to par in some places (what is it about a straight line that is so complex!). The point is, even using a sewing machine, in this one instance we have in effect saved £80 (£20 sewing machine for thoese who can't keep up).
A few years ago with rationing still ringing in their ears the general public at large would have considered this not only easy to do, but also the only sane choice. These days people seem more than willing to part with yet more money to replace something which was far from gone.
I will admit that several years ago I was probably the wrong side of the line, but a couple of years living with Dan (who is one of the ultimate "Keep Calm And Carry On" people I know) and I was soon on the right path.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting spending all waking hours tending to the vegtable patch or clothes with more patches than sleeves, but just a little more bias towards mending and making do.
This of course does not just apply to clothes. Never would anyone in their right mind in computing let an old dead machine go to waste. Of course it will be thrown out, but first it will be stripped for parts, anything that might come in handy and save a trip to PCWord and the land of silly prices.
Housewarming (the event that wasn't) Jan 25, 2010 2 Comments
Let me begin with some background.
Demelza has grown up in Cornwall, she went to Roehampton for university and then she moved back home. A year later we moved in together in Plymouth. I on the other hand have grown up in Horsham, Brighton and the south east of the country in general.
The majority of our friends are in and around the London area which as I can tell you from doing a long distance relationship from Cornwall to Brighton is no small distance from Plymouth. This is a journey that requires the better part of the day whichever method of transport you take. Trains can take upwards of 5 hours door to door and the car is not much better. Plymouth to Horsham on a fairly clear day takes about 4 and a half hours.
With this in mind we began to organise our house warming party. We knew not everyone would come and to that end we probably invited a fair few more than we felt we could cope with on the basis that a reasonable number would not be able to make it. We spoke at great length to some on how to get down here and we encouraged people to book their tickets early.
We seemed to have a fair number coming or saying they would come. Some people let us know early on that it would not be possible to go for various perfectly good reasons. This was fair and to be expected.
As we approached the day in question more and more people seemed to be dropping out. Some for, again, perfectly good reasons. Others it seemed had looked at the travel and decided it was quite far to go and they had not noticed quite how far or how long it was going to take. I think some cited costs which of course could have been reduced by booking early.
By the time we got to the day in question and phoned more people to check they were still coming we heard a few more reasons why people were not coming. Again, some of them good.
At this point we had whittled our numbers down to the glorious total of 4. Had some people not already been on their way we would have cancelled there and then, but it was too late.
While no one person had anything but fairly honourable intentions, the net result of so many people pulling out was we both felt rather upset and let down. Admittedly my upset surfaced mainly as anger to start with, but that soon turned to a fairly sombre thought of does anyone actually care.
It seems that most people took the view with regards to their travel that it was just something that could just be sorted out nearer the time. However as stated earlier, this is not a small journey and requires planning and thought. The longer you leaving booking the more expensive it becomes and if you fail to plan it it can easily drag on a lot longer than you first thought (as Thomas found out). As people realised their travel was going to be more complex that first believed, they dropped out, relying on others to take their place. Unfortunately when everyone relies on everyone else and no one does it you end up with the workforce of mangers, a well structured façade with no support behind it. Or in our case a table full of food and no-one to eat it.
Thankfully we don't choose our friends as people we don't get on with or don't like so while this whole episode has been fairly upsetting, I do not for a second believe it to be an act of malice or spite, more an act of carelessness, thoughtlessness, a bit of bad luck and a reliance on others.
This all being said, for the few that did turn up I think a nice time was had. It was not quite the atmosphere we had aimed at but it was a nice gathering nonetheless.
One final question I feel myself compelled to answer (like a child of the national curriculum), given the chance would we do it again? There is a part of me that feels never again. The part of me that put a fair bit of work in for not that much gain. But there is another side of me that must accept that these things happen and to stop because of one bad experience is an even greater tragedy than the event itself. With that in mind, we probably will do this again, but not right now.
Lost in translation Nov 16, 2009 1 Comment
Take a classic track such as Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain". A priceless track which has never gets old.
You have it on CD which has a bitrate of 1411.2 kbit/s
This is a nice quality recording. OK, not the quality it was recorded at, but the best you will get.
Actually, to be fair this is the two channels for stereo, so really it is 705.6kbit/s.
But you can't play a CD on your iPod or better MP3 player so you have to import it onto the computer first.
This gives you maybe a 128 kbit/s or 192 kbit/s file in something like MP3, AAC or WMA. These apps can be set higher, but they are default settings, it is always best to go with those... right?
Then you add it to your iPod or better MP3 player through something like a USB cable (no fear, data can't leak out of the cable).
You could play it at this point, but if you want to hear it you are going to have to connect it to some speakers or earphones.
Are you still using the earphones that came with your player? Were they nice and white and did they look pretty and stylish? Did you ever think about the audio quality on them? No, you were just too busy standing out from the crowd with the same earphones as everyone else.
Maybe you want to listen to your music at home too. These speakers with iPod docks seem to be everywhere and don't cost too much, I mean, they are a little steep, but they look good right?
Of course you never notice that the cones on this stylish player are about 10cm's across and have about the same output range as a dead rat.
So, what have you paid for the privilege of listening to sub standard music?Next time you want to listen to some music, do yourself a favour, consider a cheap CD player, cheap AMP and a couple of bookshelf speakers, if only for the sake of the music!
(Blog inspired by: some video on the BBC site that I now can't find...)
Broken by design Nov 16, 2009 No Comments
I have just had one of those days. You know the type, where everything that can go wrong not only does, but likes to break everything else with it.
What follows are a couple of screenshots from my browser at work. Note I am running a plug-in at the bottom of each window called FireBug which allows you to edit the page live. Anyone who does any decent form of web development will be more than aware of this plug-in and should be using it everyday.
What is it not meant to be able to do is change parts of the browser itself... and thus i present evidence to the contrary.
