Hugh's Space

App Review: Tube Deluxe

Hugh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:51:41 +0000

This app is essential if you’re living or travelling to London in the United Kingdom. It has all the information you would ever need to navigate yourself around the London Underground or as we prefer to call it, the Tube.

The status update page displays the currect status for all lines including the DLR and the TFL run Overground lines. It shows if the lines that are experiencing delays, both minor and major and it shows any currently closed lines. All this information can be updated via the 3G connection and it is both accurate and fast! It is also possible to touch a line of interest and the app displays more information about the reason for delays as well as station closures, at the bottom of the page are detail of the next weekend closures as well an option to choose the time and day of any push notifications required about line delays.

This app has a scrollable (both vertical and horizontal) tube map. Using the same movements as the built in Google Maps app you can move around the map with a finger and zoom in by pinching the screen out and pinching in zooms out. The map works really well and is fully uptodate with the latest station closures displayed.

The plan feature of these app is very similar to what is provided on the Transport for London (TFL) website only it is in your pocket and it doesn’t require an internet connection. After using this feature a couple of times it seems that it only shows the route with the least changes, not necessarily the quickest route it seems…

It is possible to view the current departure boards at any Underground or DLR station. This is especially useful for me as I can leave my home at exactly the right time to allow me to arrive at my local station without having to wait long. A real time saver!

The last feature of this app is probably the best. It utilises the GPS technology in the iPhone and shows you the distance to your nearest tube station if you’re in an unfamiliar location. You can also get this information shown on a Google map and then find your way to that station.

So to conclude, being my first app that I purchased on the app store I was slightly afraid of it being low quality and poor value for money. However for 59p the functionality of this app is superb! so far the information provided has been accurate and the only negative aspect is the journey planning section which doesn’t always seem to suggest the best route. If you live in London then this app is highly recommended!

New Updates!

Hugh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:47:07 +0000

So after that short hiatus I’m back blogging. What’s happened over the last few months? Well I completed my studies and graduated from University. My ceremony is next month so look out for the pictures! I also managed to find a decent job just a few weeks after finishing my last exam. Recession? What recession! Oh and I also just bought an iPhone and I’m planning to review some of the Apps I buy very soon so keep an eye out!

No Updates

Hugh — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:36:54 +0000

There have not been any recent updates here. I’m sorry for that. Some new things are in the pipeline and will be discussed here soon so keep an eye out.

Until then you can follow me on Twitter!

Is this the future of the Internet?

Hugh — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:34:14 +0000

Tell me what you think!

Wordpress 2.8

Hugh — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:23:12 +0000

Wordpress 2.8 has been released and I upgraded to it. One of my plugins doesn’t work with the new version. It knocks out all the Javascript goodness in my admin section when it is enabled. The plugin is the Intense Debate one, which adds better functionality to my comments. So isn’t a big deal. Check out the video below for more information on the new features of Wordpress 2.8.

Edit: The Intense Debate plugin has now been updated and now works perfectly with Wordpress 2.8.

Speed is the Future

Hugh — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:14:41 +0000

The Internet….. these are the voyagers of the Internet, their continuing mission: to bring all sorts of information as quickly as possible to your desktop! Yes I’m of course talking about the Web Browser. In the past there were only one or two different browsers that most people used. However today there are many including: Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. The first three of these have recently released new test versions of their software and as these three are the only cross platform browsers in the list above (I.E. they work on Windows, Mac and Linux) then these will be discussed in this article.

Google Chrome

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Chrome for Linux

The version of Chrome for Linux is an extremely early Alpha version therefore there are many features that are not available to use yet. The best thing about this version however is the speed, it is a really good example of how Google Chrome will work on Linux and how fast it will really be. The speed is incredible when compared to current browsers such as Firefox 3.

Opera 10

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Opera 10 Beta

Opera is a browser that for me was always one step behind the competition, saying that though some of the underthehood features such as support for the upcoming HTML 5 but been built in for a while I read. This new version of Opera really is at the forefront of the new browsers. Again speed is the big thing with this release. It comes with a Turbo mode which is billed to make even a dialup connection feel like Broadband. I decided to enable this turbo mode on my broadband connection and was amazed at the speed of pages. Opera with this feature enabled is hands down the fastest browser out of all the new crop. However this speed in turbo mode comes at a price. In order to get this speed, Opera rendered most pictures at a lower resolution so websites may not look as their author intended. Still if speed is needed or you’re using a 3G dongle then this is a godsend!

Firefox 3.5

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Firefox 3.5 Beta

Was the last for to test on my Ubuntu box as I expected the installtion to be too difficult. I’m not a fan of building programs from source which used to be needed not so long ago if you wanted to test out beta versions. Luckily Canonical, the funding behind Ubuntu started a feature called Personal Package Archives (PPAs). These PPAs allow packages to built easier and then installed through a repository in a packages manager. I found that there were packages for Firefox 3.5 already in Ubuntu and it was a breeze to install them. For the latest package I installed the Mozilla PPA.

Again the first thing that is noticable in Firefox 3.5 is the speed. In my test browsing it just displayed everything so quickly compared to Firefox 3. And with all the Addons that the Firefox universe has to offer coupled with new features such as Private Browsing mode Firefox 3.5 is shaping up to be the best yet.

Conclusion
So in conclusion, the future of the Internet is indeed bright! With so much speed to choose from, the browser wars are really hotting up and threaten to leave Safari and IE on the side lines. Although Chrome and Opera are looking and feeling good I think I will stay with Firefox 3.5. I just cannot live without my addons!

Do you agree with me? Let us know in the comments.

Gmail Labs Translations Tool

Hugh — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:59:30 +0000

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Before Translation

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After Translation

This morning I received an email from my Polish bank (from when I lived in Poland) and of course the email was in Polish. Recently a new Gmail Labs feature was added that can automatically translate any emails you may get in a fogien language. Well this morning I had a chance to test this feature with this email from my bank and it works surprisingly well! With just one click of the translate button (the language was picked up automatically) and the email suddenly appears in a language that I fully understand! It also makes pretty good sense but of course it isn’t perfect!

What other Gmail Labs features do you find most useful?

Is Twitter killing the Blog-star?

Hugh — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:40:04 +0000

Well I’m back. University is finished forever (pending results) and I now have the full time position of looking for a job! in this current economic mess it is not easy but I’m being optimistic and looking hard. I’m also trying several new and different roates to finding a job. (Incidentally, if you may know of a suitable IT job for me then please get in contact cowanh00 gmail.com)

Anyway the main point of this blog post is about Twitter being the new medium or anyone plus dog to communicate with others in cyberspace. there has been little activity on this blog over the last couple of months for several reasons but my Twitter usage has soared! The reason for this is that it is usually quicker and easier to write 140 characters than it is to write a whole blog post. I know of several other friends who just use Twitter now.

So the question I ask is: has the Blog as we know it had it’s day? I’d be interested to hear your comments on this subject! (Either in the comments or on Twitter!)

Too busy!

Hugh — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:56:03 +0000

The semester is over and I only have exams and my final year project left now. I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I don’t update this blog for while? Right? Please? Oh go and check out my Tweets to entertain you….

South Park Studio Streaming Episodes

Hugh — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:38:04 +0000

I tried to access the official South Park episodes today and I get the below picture.

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Southpark England

Pretty funny! No doubt this will piss off the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish but who cares about them? (I’m half Scottish!) A similar picture also shows for Canada, Australia and New Zealand but with appropriate characters for each! Check it out for yourself at: http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/notavailable/index.php?country_code=gb and you can change the last two letters to either ca,au or nz to see the different countries.