For those of you who are using the feedburner RSS feed that I was initially recommending, I've changed my recommendation :)
I was looking through the blogspot options and one of them was an RSS feed! Already built in.
So I've updated the link on the right. The feed to use is:
http://glenmcg.blogspot.com/atom.xml
The other one will probably continue to work, but I'm not going to be checking that it's still alive.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
O2 Xda II Mini Part III
My Xda died today. Well, to be more precise, I killed it!
I was trying to free up memory on the internal storage by moving files to the storage card. One of the files I wanted to move was an application that's run as a Today screen plug in. It was in use, so I removed it from the today screen then copied it across to the storage card.
Then I had a brain fart and re-added it to the today screen. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The device crashed, then rebooted. But as it came up, it tried to draw the today screen which caused it to crash and reboot! Shampoo, rinse, repeat.
So I had to hard-reboot it, which is like a re-install the OS in desktop land. End up with a totally blank device. Now to re-install and re-configure all my apps :(
I was trying to free up memory on the internal storage by moving files to the storage card. One of the files I wanted to move was an application that's run as a Today screen plug in. It was in use, so I removed it from the today screen then copied it across to the storage card.
Then I had a brain fart and re-added it to the today screen. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The device crashed, then rebooted. But as it came up, it tried to draw the today screen which caused it to crash and reboot! Shampoo, rinse, repeat.
So I had to hard-reboot it, which is like a re-install the OS in desktop land. End up with a totally blank device. Now to re-install and re-configure all my apps :(
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Windows Mobile 5.0
Yesterday I attended a Microsoft Developer conference about Windows Mobile 5.0. It was basically presenting what we'll be able to do when (if?) Windows Mobile 5.0, Visual Studio 2005 and .NET Compact Framework v2 are released.
The features are great. I've been developing on my Xda and it's really hard to do some things that seem so obvious. For example, it's impossible to tell if the backlight is on! WM5.0 provides lots of really useful APIs and events to detect things like this. It'll allow for much better applications for mobile devices.
The biggest feature they've missed is that you can't write managed Today screen plug ins. When you go to Pocket PC software sites, the majority of applications are... you guessed it... Today screen plug ins, so it seems amazing that they've not included this.
So if anyone's looking to get a PDA or smart phone soon, try to hang off until you can get one with Windows Mobile 5.0.
The features are great. I've been developing on my Xda and it's really hard to do some things that seem so obvious. For example, it's impossible to tell if the backlight is on! WM5.0 provides lots of really useful APIs and events to detect things like this. It'll allow for much better applications for mobile devices.
The biggest feature they've missed is that you can't write managed Today screen plug ins. When you go to Pocket PC software sites, the majority of applications are... you guessed it... Today screen plug ins, so it seems amazing that they've not included this.
So if anyone's looking to get a PDA or smart phone soon, try to hang off until you can get one with Windows Mobile 5.0.
Friday, June 10, 2005
The end of folders?
Slashdot has an article today about the death of folders.
The idea is that rather than placing a file in a folder, you add metadata about the file, describing it's characteristics. The advantage of this is that you can have multiple characteristics, so you can say that a file is related to "Family", "Photos" and "Funny" all at once. Then when you browse the disk, it shows these categories as virtual folders.
Gmail does this and I've heard lots of positive feedback. I think it sounds very promising.
The idea is that rather than placing a file in a folder, you add metadata about the file, describing it's characteristics. The advantage of this is that you can have multiple characteristics, so you can say that a file is related to "Family", "Photos" and "Funny" all at once. Then when you browse the disk, it shows these categories as virtual folders.
Gmail does this and I've heard lots of positive feedback. I think it sounds very promising.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Space fountain
A space fountain is a type of active structure. This means that it requires power to retain structural integrity (ie: Not fall down!)
It basically works by having a hollow core through which pellets are shot upwards. A device at the top of the building (most likely a magnetic diverter) will reverse the pellet's direction. Doing this will impart some of the kinetic energy in the pellet to the structure, providing lift.
Therefore some of the weight of the structure is supported by the pellet stream rather than the building, allowing for less bulky building techniques.
Space fountains can be used as a launch pad for spacecraft by reducing the amount of fuel needed to be carried.
A related technique is the space elevator.
It basically works by having a hollow core through which pellets are shot upwards. A device at the top of the building (most likely a magnetic diverter) will reverse the pellet's direction. Doing this will impart some of the kinetic energy in the pellet to the structure, providing lift.
Therefore some of the weight of the structure is supported by the pellet stream rather than the building, allowing for less bulky building techniques.
Space fountains can be used as a launch pad for spacecraft by reducing the amount of fuel needed to be carried.
A related technique is the space elevator.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
O2 Xda II Mini Part II
Last time I talked about my O2 XdaII Mini.
I'm pretty comfortable with my use of it. The 'Today' screen shows my upcoming appointments, any messages and my tasks. To display the tasks, I've installed a Today plugin called Task Plus. It shows tasks with more information than the standard task view. It also shows battery status.
I've also written some applications. One is a 'game' manager. I use it for playing Magic: The Gathering. It keeps track of the amount of damage I and my opponent has taken. It's a great app because I'm likely to have my phone with my and it saves having to write on paper or use beads.
The other is a budget. It keeps track of how much money I'm spending, which I find useful. It actually stores the data in a SQL database on the device!
The best app I've seen is one my friend Dave wrote. It's a scorecard for frisbee golf. Again, it saves having to carry a pen and paper around.
I'm pretty comfortable with my use of it. The 'Today' screen shows my upcoming appointments, any messages and my tasks. To display the tasks, I've installed a Today plugin called Task Plus. It shows tasks with more information than the standard task view. It also shows battery status.
I've also written some applications. One is a 'game' manager. I use it for playing Magic: The Gathering. It keeps track of the amount of damage I and my opponent has taken. It's a great app because I'm likely to have my phone with my and it saves having to write on paper or use beads.
The other is a budget. It keeps track of how much money I'm spending, which I find useful. It actually stores the data in a SQL database on the device!
The best app I've seen is one my friend Dave wrote. It's a scorecard for frisbee golf. Again, it saves having to carry a pen and paper around.
Batteries
Everyone hates batteries, right? They're heavy and bulky and they keep going flat at the most inopportune times. Mobile phones these days seem to be not much more than a case around a battery!
Enter Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. When Tritium decays, it emits an electron. Sounds pretty darn good for a battery, right? Right? There are plans to make batteries that might last 10-12 years without recharging. See this Wikipedia article for a little more info.
There's an article with a lot of discussion about this on slashdot.
A summary of the posts in favor of these batteries seems to be:
Tritium batteries are already used in pacemakers
They are very easy to shield and give off almost no harmful radiation at all
Even if they're punctured, the results are less harmful than the contents of most chemical batteries
A summary of the posts against seem to be:
Ooohhhh... nukular... bad. Bad nukular!
And a word from the cynics:
Battery makers won't invest in this because they like making us buy lots and lots of disposable, short lived batteries
I say bring it on!
Enter Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. When Tritium decays, it emits an electron. Sounds pretty darn good for a battery, right? Right? There are plans to make batteries that might last 10-12 years without recharging. See this Wikipedia article for a little more info.
There's an article with a lot of discussion about this on slashdot.
A summary of the posts in favor of these batteries seems to be:
A summary of the posts against seem to be:
And a word from the cynics:
I say bring it on!
Gaming
Found this great article about gaming.
It's great. It explains very clearly (not to mention verbosely!) my opinions about games in lots of areas.
My favorite part? I hate wandering around lost in FPS's:
<snip>
Did you remember when you were a kid and you got bored on weekends, how you would go to a large building, a hotel or a hospital, then wander around for several hours looking for a certain room? While zombies attacked you? Neither do we. That's because, much to the surprise of FPS game makers everywhere, wandering around lost in hallways isn't fun.
</snip>
Other highlights? Creating 'difficulty' by giving you only 4 bullets in a clip, or making you talk to 10 different NPCs in the right order to be able to accomplish a task.
It's great. It explains very clearly (not to mention verbosely!) my opinions about games in lots of areas.
My favorite part? I hate wandering around lost in FPS's:
<snip>
Did you remember when you were a kid and you got bored on weekends, how you would go to a large building, a hotel or a hospital, then wander around for several hours looking for a certain room? While zombies attacked you? Neither do we. That's because, much to the surprise of FPS game makers everywhere, wandering around lost in hallways isn't fun.
</snip>
Other highlights? Creating 'difficulty' by giving you only 4 bullets in a clip, or making you talk to 10 different NPCs in the right order to be able to accomplish a task.
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