::Killer-Apps::

Yes Indeed

2005-08-05T17:19:00.000+02:00

It has been ages since I last posted to my blog. Things have been HECTIC here, and I have to be quite honest that any free time I have is spent with either the wife, the camera or Mr Credit Card.

Just out of interest, I am working on some cool stuff these days, including some nifty stuff designed around SyncML.

Then of course there is my photography. This has become my main hobby - and my real passion. My collection of gear is getting pretty big, as is my portfolio. As a result, I am starting a new blog / website that will be focussed on this - www.35mm.co.za. There is nothing there at the moment, of course, but give it some time.

I plan on getting involved in product review, maintaining a gallery, posting up some articles and guides that I write / collate, as well as blogging to it using my new toy - the iMate JAM. Read a review of it here.

The JAM is a real beauty. I'm currently writing a blogging front-end to the new blog engine I am writing too (I know - nerd alert. But seriously, its not a big deal, and there is nothing good out there anyway).

So, I'll start posting again to this, and keep you updated with my other projects. If you want to know when new content arrives, just sign-up on the right-hand side (compiments of Bloglet).

Weird things and hoaxes

2005-04-13T12:25:00.000+02:00

After hearing Mark Gilman talking about strange things turning up in photographs once they're developed, I started looking around and came up with some interesting links and stories.

Mark's story related to the woman that took a picture of a frozen pond with some swans on it, and when she later looked at the photo realised that there was a hand sticking out of the ice (cue scary music). Chilling.

Well, there are certainly some strange photos out there, and this is one interesting gallery of paranormal photographs. It includes the usual "I took this picture of a gravestone and their was a ghost in the shot when I developed it" stories, plus some other gems.

Of course, most of us would think that these are hoaxes. At least I usually do. To find out if they are, take a look at The Museum of Hoaxes. They have some lovely ones, including this hilarious story about a "spaghetti harvest".

Then there are the classic crop circles. Why not learn how to make your own. Its fun, and the whole family can take part :)

Anyway, if you feel like browsing some of these sites, or finding your own, take a look at The Encyclopaedia of Hoaxes, or the Urban Legends Reference.

Are you open to open source

2005-04-13T11:32:00.000+02:00

The debate over whether to move to open source in businesses is an old one, and not one that I care to enter into. What I do find interesting though, is two articles that I read recently.

The first showed how much people despise having to use Microsoft operating systems and software within their businesses (for various valid reasons), but how they still will not move to open source (for just as valid reasons). If I had to have participated in this survey, there are some clear statements that I would have made:

Although Microsoft operating systems appear to be more vulnerable to security vulnerabilities, it is only their widespread usage that creates this scenario. Were all desktops and servers to be Linux, there would suddenly be an insurgence of security exploits for this platform. The desire of hackers to break into systems will not diminish.

Support is a serious issue in business. Microsoft can be contacted (well, in theory) for any problem, and are obliged to offer you assistance, because you pay license fees. Linux operating systems are a different kettle of fish. Now you have to find a private support company, and make sure that they are suitably qualified and reliable.

Companies invest a lot of money into software, both commercial and bespoke, many of which are legacy systems that their business could not do without. To move to another operating system platform would require significant conversion expenses for these applications, enormous development time, and in some cases, would mean having to migrate to alternative software packages, therefore requiring costly conversions of data and staff skills.

The second article was concerning statements made by Linus Torvalds (the inventor of Linux). Basically, he was saying that open source is all very well and good, but people must forge their own way, not ride on the coat tails of successful commercial products, and reverse engineering them to make a free alternative. I fully agree with this. Proprietary is fine - they spent the time and money, so it should belong to them.

Anyway, I don't want to invite too many views and opinions on this, but let me know what you think.

To Digi or not to Digi

2005-04-12T12:05:00.000+02:00

I have recently been struggling with a tough decision - to buy a digital SLR camera (and give in to media and vendor pressure), or to stick with my good old 35mm cameras. This all started when I saw the new Canon EOS 350D. What a fantastic camera. Seen as the bridging gap camera between the 300D and the 20D, this beauty is usable enough for the amateurs, but has enough advanced features for the pros.

I purchased a Canon EOS 20D for my neighbour a while back in New York, and had the pleasure of using it for a day, and was suitably impressed with the quality of both the camera and the pictures it took. But it lacks that elegance and artistry of a 35mm. The challenge of composition, lighting and control becomes deminished by the fact that you can take infinite shots of the same thing until you get it right with no consequence. With my 35mm cameras, I have to put a lot of thought into each shot I take, because each one costs me money to develop (I don't have my own darkroom). Add to this the anticipation of waiting for the prints to come back from the lab to see your end result, and the whole hobby becomes more thrilling.

But I have to admit, lately I have been wanting to experiment a lot more with my shots, and I am finding that the cost of having to develop each pick, and constantly buy film, is restricting my ability to be creative. The 350D is affordable (well... its not completely out of my budget) and offers a fair amount of features that I have gotten used to on my Canon EOS 30, it allows you to tweak your prints in fantastic programs like Photoshop CS2, and it would allow me to snap away to my hearts content - but is that really the point? Should I not rather put the money towards additional lenses, film and 35mm gear?

Any input would be great. I am truly stumped as to what to do.

Home Automation

2005-03-31T14:31:00.000+02:00

This is quite possibly the "next big thing" in terms of technology. I know I can't wait - the ability to automate all key functions in your home, and control them from one central system, accessible from anywhere. Besides the obvious security concerns people may have, the advantages are endless. Like the "Bill Gates" home of the future in Anti-trust, your home can react to your every desire.

Picture the scene: You're about to go to bed. With a single command, all household lights turn off, the doors are all locked and the alarm set, the outside light turns on, unnecessary appliances are turned off (such as television, stove), the thermostat is set to a comfortable "sleeping" temperature, and a soft voice confirms all actions. Sound good - it does to me.

How about this one: You wake up. With a single command, the thermostat gets turned down for the day, the bath starts running, bedroom lights go on, curtains open, alarm disarms and the coffee machine starts to make your coffee.

Or this: As you walk to your TV room, the doors slide open, you say the name of a movie, the lights dim, television goes on, movie gets cued up, and the audio level gets set based on the environmental sound levels.

All this is possible today, and more in the future, with the power of home automation technologies. These include the X-10 standard, which allows you to control all electrical items in your home through the power grid, from a central location. Add to this the miracle of computers, wireless technology, voice recognition and artificial intelligence, and you have the simple life is here.

Technology junkies out there are creating new devices and software every day to control all aspects of the home, including entertainment, security, appliances and home conveniences. And it's not that expensive - the technology is affordable and suits the DIY types perfectly. When tied together with mobile technology, you can be checking if you switched the stove off from the office.

Check the Home Toys website for more info. For more inspiring info, check out about.com, and for some guidance on doing it yourself, check out smarthome's site.

Inventions

2005-03-31T13:26:00.000+02:00

Like many young boys, I always wanted to be an inventor. However, as time would tell, that was not my destiny. However, I felt it would be worth while listing 10 inventions that I could not do without everyday:

The Air Conditioner, invented by Willis Carrier in 1902 to cool the air and lower the humidity at a printing and publishing company.

Plastic, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1905, originally called Bakelite this substance could be set into any shape and once set would not melt under heat.

The Microwave Oven (without which I would probably never eat), invented at the same time as the Atomic Bomb (1945) by the Raytheon Company after they found that radar waves had melted candy in one of their engineers pockets.

The Transistor, which revolutionised electronics, was stumbled upon by Russel Ohl in 1939, and finally "invented" by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain of AT&T Bell Labs in 1947.

The Contraceptive Pill, developed by Carl Djerassi in 1951, working on the realisation that the human body produced a natural contraceptive.

The ATM, prototyped by Diebold Incorporated in 1957 to ease the load on banks as consumers started withdrawing more and more money.

The Cellphone, first produced by Dr Martin Cooper in 1973, who made his first call to his competitors, Bell Labs (who came up with the concept).

The MP3 Format, invented by Fraunhofer Institute, who envisioned the technology in 1987 as the Eureka project.

The World Wide Web (WWW), invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, after producing a theory on HyperText in 1989.

The Palm Pilot, invented by US Robotics and first made popular in 1996 as the Pilot 1000, setting the standard for handheld computing.

More holes than you could poke a stick at

2005-03-23T12:29:00.000+02:00

It would seem that the rapid advancement of home theatre technologies is not only causing headaches for the consumer, but for the manufacturer as well. 5.1, 6.1, DTS, THX, 7.1, ProLogic II - I mean, who can keep up. Well, Onkyo have released their "future proof" home theatre amplifier, which has just about everything you could want (and some you don't) in it, and is designed to be able to plug new technologies into it if and when they arrive. And you get all this for the small fee of $4,000. Sign me up for one today :)

LG goes qwerty

2005-03-18T09:49:00.000+02:00

LG, it seems, is aiming their new phone (the F9100) at the text happy mobile market. For those unstoppable SMS'ers, this new cellphone is the way to go. It features a slideout full keyboard which (with the screen automatically rotated) allows the user to type as they would on a normal PC keyboard. It also has all the usual obligatory features, such as MMS, calendar, WAP, but no Bluetooth (very sad). Designed for the messager rather than the talker, it also features support for instant messaging services, including Yahoo, ICQ and AOL.

The colour of your soul

2005-03-18T09:33:00.000+02:00

Take some time to take this colour personality test, it seemed pretty accurate based on my results. It asks you to select colours (sometimes more than one at a time, so don't be confused), and then gives you an interpretation of your personality.

Don't let your cellphone go flat

2005-03-09T18:44:00.000+02:00

Crazier and crazier, now you can charge your mobile while you cycle about. Just so long as you don't get the cable caught in the spokes of course, or get a fine for driving and talking even. This would seem useful though, if you were doing the Tour de France or the Argus Cycle Tour, and wanted to give constant status updates to your mates. Or if you were a teenager.

Crazy laptop inventions

2005-03-09T18:28:00.000+02:00

I have never been one to proclaim the glory of laptop computers - they invade your personal time, they damage your swimmers (for men of course) and they cause CTS. But obviously people do like them, considering these crazy products:

A Cosmetic Laptop. With 66 distinct colors of sheer lip gloss and long lasting eye shadow you are never missing the right shade. The mouse-pad has multiple applicators.

The Laptop Steering Wheel Mount. Mount your laptop on your steering wheel and you can type, drive, do your makeup and talk on your cellphone at the same time *sigh*. Some people make the stupidest things. I know Arcon make good mounting systems, but this is the pits. Are you really going to put this whole contraption up, balance your laptop in it, and work on it. I think not.

itBluetooth control

2005-03-09T18:12:00.000+02:00

I posted something a while back concerning controlling your PC using your Nokia and Bluetooth. Well, why bother using the whole phone, when you can just use the headset. GadgetMadness posted a story on the product, HeadsetPresenter, which allows you to control your computer using your Bluetooth headset and any compatible Bluetooth adaptor on your PC. Neat - although very "geek" neat.

Watch out Chucky, Microsoft is moving into your marketspace

2005-03-03T17:36:00.000+02:00

Not only satisfied with terrorising businesses and PC users world-wide, Microsoft has now moved into the kids toys market too. They have showcased a Teddy bear that can monitor your child’s movements. As per ABC News:

“The Teddy bear sitting in the corner of the child's room might look normal, until his head starts following the kid around using a face recognition program, perhaps also allowing a parent talk to the child through a special phone, or monitor the child via a camera and wireless Internet connection.”

This all sounds great, until someone hacks into it. Do you really want some hacker watching your child? Not me, thanks all the same.

Be a star gazer

2005-03-03T17:27:00.000+02:00

Although I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to stars and astrology, I really do love gazing into the heavens on a starry night. The idea of lying on my back with my wife, staring up at the stars looking at stars (yes, just looking at stars) is kind of appealing? The only problem – I wouldn’t know Orion’s Belt from a commercial airliner.

To the rescue comes Starry Night Backyard. With this little beauty you can enter your exact geographic location, and at any particular time (even future times) see what stars will be at what position, and the realtime movement. It even includes artificial satellites, comets and constellations. If you’re not into technology, or don’t really want to look like you needed the help, you could always plan ahead and pick out a time and place, and then memorise the stars – and look like a real astrologer.

Crazy hamster people

2005-02-28T13:08:00.000+02:00

Some crazy people have been inventing gadgets that allow the world to be powered by hamsters. Strange – but true. Although by no means a complete list, check out the stories here (sound), here (time) and here (light).

Anti-spyware to be free

2005-02-28T12:59:00.000+02:00

Microsoft’s anti-spyware product, which has met with both positive and negative reviews, will be free, as per Bill himself. Currently in beta, the final version is due for release soon. Chalk one more up for Microsoft, as they begin to take over another portion of the IT industry, this time protecting their users from problems existing their web browser and operating system, which allow spyware to be loaded by devious hackers and dodgy websites. Be sure to use the latest “refreshed” version though…

What's with all the cellphone hackings

2005-02-28T12:19:00.000+02:00

It would seem that celebrities are becoming the victims of technology, as more and more celebs are having their cellphones hacked into, and their phonebooks, naughty photos and video clips (not safe for work) are being posted up on the net (although claims were made that these hacks are not all real). Not great for them (or their friends), but great for us. Shame they caught the guy. If you want to know how it was done, check this story.

Oscar winner gadgets

2005-02-28T11:41:00.000+02:00

Although I am only going to be watching the Oscar’s tonight (but already know some of the results thanks to 5FM morning radio), I stumbled across this list of the gadgets that the oscar winners receive (thanks engadget):

A year free year of VoIP phone service from Vonage.
The black version of Motorola’s RAZR V3.
An iXi collapsible bike.
A Dyson DC11 vacuum.
Sprint is offering some unreleased “multimedia” phone from Samsung, maybe the SCH-5600?
A Krups kitchen set that includes a toaster and an electric kettle.

Custom iPod mania

2005-02-28T11:33:00.000+02:00

iPod’s are nothing new. If you’re a big fan, check out iPoditude, who keep you up to date with all the add-ons and paraphernalia. There are just so many custom versions out there now, that it is getting ridiculous. Just a few examples:

The History of Gadgets

2005-02-28T09:57:00.000+02:00

Thanks to splattermail for this post. Definitely worth reading – Mobile PC Mag’s guide to the best 100 gadgets of all time. My personal favourites (that I have owned/used):

Pez dispenser
Rubik’s cube
Dustbuster
Etch-a-sketch
Nintendo Game Boy
Swiss army knife
Sony Walkman

To this list, I would have to add some of my own favourites:

Palm V
The Slinky
The Apple I with Logo

Let me know what your favourite gadgets were…

New SpamCount project

2005-02-22T12:20:00.000+02:00

Spam is one of those things that we all live with, but wish would disappear. Not only does it cause reduced productivity, it also slows down Internet bandwidth and consumes valuable server resources. In an effort to highlight the problem of spam, I have embarked on a new project – SpamCount. What this project aims to do is identify the sources of spam and the level to which they contribute to the problem. How do I propose to do this? Well, it is quite simple:

I have setup three email accounts on a server that does not filter for most spam.
I have signed up to different sites, or posted email addresses on different sites, according to their profile (hover over the name on the counter in the right panel).
I monitor the mailboxes on a daily basis, and update the counters on the right hand bar.

So what will this tell you. It will let you know:

If people honour their privacy statements.
How many spambots collect mail addresses off of websites.
How much spam is generated from non-business “entertainment” sites vs. how much is generated by business.

I hope that this forms an interesting part of my blog, and that people will come back occasionally to check the stats.

New Feed

2005-02-22T11:12:00.000+02:00

No, this has nothing to do with a humanitarian effort to feed the hungry Ethiopians. This is about something I have spoken about before - the topic of RSS feeds. What are these things? Well, it is basically a way of syndicating / viewing my blog content, without having to load the entire blog page. You could use this feed with a reader, such as Pluck, NewsGator or FeedReader. These readers allow you to subscribe to lots of related content feeds, and aggregate your favourite site content for easy reading, in your browser or mail client.

Anyhow, I have a new “intelligent” feed that will work in any reader. Find it on the right bar at the bottom by clicking the XML image.

Also, if you are looking for specific Atom and RSS feeds, please use the ones that have been validated (accessible by clicking the “valid” images and copying the link from that page).

And of course, if you were wanting to help the Ethiopians, please do, ‘cause we all know they need it.

Nokia and the way of the future

2005-02-15T17:43:00.000+02:00

Nokia has been very active on the cellular phone innovation front this year, and has made a number of press releases that promise a great future for us devoted Nokia users. I thought it high time to post some info up for those who do not keep abreast of these things.

First up, Nokia has been working together with Microsoft on a number of innovations and technologies, the most noticeable of which are:

The adoption of Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology as part of the 3rd edition of their Series 60, Symbian 9 based, operating system.
The adoption of Microsoft’s Windows Media 10 rights management technology, to enable their new collaboration effort – the LoudEye service, which allows users to download music directly to their handset from a comprehensive online store.

Then, as stated above, they will be releasing a newly updated version of their Series 60 operating system, and this new rendition comes jammed packed full of features, including:

Built-in support for Macromedia’s Flash format, enabling interactive multimedia content and applications on your handset.
USB mass storage compatibility, to enable easy transfer of files to and from the phone.
Exchange and ActiveSync support, for remote and local synchronisation of calendar and email content.
Support for new programming languages, including Python, allowing easier development of applications for your mobile.

Also, they have announced a new voice messaging system, called Xpress Audio Messaging, which allows users to send voice and audio messages via MMS. Now your voice recorder has even more uses.

And now, what I really love, comes the new handsets. Nokia announced three new handsets (all making use of these new features above, I’m sure) which seem really killer. This is the breakdown:

6682 / 6681 – Tiny (smallest yet) and powerful Series-60 phone with 1.3 MP camera with flash and slide cover (features that Nokia’s have really missed until now) and a 262k color screen to enjoy your photos on.
6680 – 3G phone, same look and features as the 6682 above, except it has a second camera for video calls (ala 3G).
6101 – another Nokia clamshell phone, featuring the new Xpress Audio Messaging (above) and dual displays.

Plus Nokia has announced the HS-6 Display Headset , which will allow you to control all the features of your nifty new phone, like the 6101’s radio, using its built in screen.

The PC based entertainment center

2005-02-14T15:46:00.000+02:00

Microsoft, in all its glory, is pushing its idea of Digital Entertainment Anywhere. Essentially, they aim to transform your PC into the ultimate entertainment device, allowing you to play music, view videos and images, find content, communicate and create your own content all on one device. They are releasing Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Of course, the open-source community is up in arms about Microsoft domination once again, and many people are creating ways to make your current PC do just the same thing (if you understand Russian), but without having to shell out more cash for another version of the MS operating system.

But why waist good money, just head on over to the Media Portal site, where software developers have created an amazing, free product that turns your PC into an advanced Multimedia Center. This will allow you to “listen to your favorite music & radio, watch your video's and DVD's, view, schedule and record live TV and much more”. The features are pretty amazing, and support for hardware is excellent.

Microsoft's protection software under attack

2005-02-11T17:00:00.000+02:00

Many people have deployed the beta version of Microsoft's Anti-Spyware product, even though the product has not met with the best reviews, and does some strange things (like removing Internet Explorer after thinking it was Spyware). The problem is, as with any popular / common software product, it becomes easier to defeat the defence mechanism. A new Trojan is out in the wild that is designed to remove the Microsoft product from your system, thus allowing it to attack your system (of course you still have to run the Trojan). I guess when Microsoft takes over the virus scanning market, they can protect against Trojans too – although I somehow doubt it.

On another Microsoft related topic, Microsoft is going after those guys that spam you with offers to buy Viagra. Finally, someone is doing something about that (although I have been lucky enough to avoid those spam mails for a while).