TW Blog :: Tom Wright's Web Voyages of Discovery

Social man lives constantly outside himself Jean-Jacques Rousseau

OS X Come Back to Me!

Well haven't really had much time to delve into my newly acquired Vista platform but today with some urgent testing required for a completion the time had come.

Ok I was prepared for the multitude of software bloat I might find on the Acer 5920 when it arrived and actually it wasn't too bad! Just a case of removing a few irrelevant games, some dodgy looking attempt at DVD authoring software and finally making the decision to replace NIS with BitDefender. Actually this was only after, having installed and updated NIS, I discovered when I awoke Aristotle (yes all my platforms are philsophers!) this afternoon that my 3 month subscription to NIS had expired in 1 day!? All looked a bit time consuming having to deal with support and no way I was restoring this puppy so off it went. Fortunately an uninstall process that was far less painful than I recall encountering with my old Win98 box many years ago - thanks of course to RegSupreme.

Great so I have a secure system, I have removed the unwanted software and killed the odd unwelcome service. Nice sleek, clean Vista platform ready to begin software install for development. No time to deal with all the usual software tools initially as I had to crack straight on with testing. Joining the wireless network was not an issue - although file sharing was (for another post perhaps!). And soon I had the sandbox up for testing in IE7 on Vista. Great! Now time to download the Virtual PC so I can get on with legacy testing….. Arrrrrggggghhhh……! Virtual PC doesn't support Windows Vista Home PREMIUM. But I thought Premium means all the bells and whistles. Well according to MicroDollar it clearly doesn't! In fact it only seems to be a few more quid than Windows Vista Basic!? So what is the actual point of all these different versions. It seems to me I have wound up with Windows Media version and am looking at another hundred quid to get it updated to a version that will allow me to do all those lovely developer like things I like to do with all my philosophers. Nice one MicroDollar!

I thought it would save me time and money getting a laptop with Vista to do M$ testing rather than going down upgrading route on Socrates - my iMac box running Tiger at present. But now I guess not. Painful…

To be continued I am sure…

Posted on Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 15:24:26.

Into The Vista Maelstrom

Relates to Operating Systems

Nearly three years ago this very week I switched platforms with the acquisition of my first ibook. I have certainly fallen for the Apple candy and a 24" iMac and iPod Touch have been added to the arsenal. With a final loss of patience in the very old and hacked Dell platform I have been running Windows testing off, and a total lack of time to even contemplate upgrading my principle platform to Leopard for Windows Boot Camp I decided to pick up a budget Acer laptop to fill the gaps. With a few windows-centric jobs looming it will also allow me to tread the shaky path that is Windows Vista for the first time. While I wait on delivery a bit of preparation has been in order including:

Getting my head around Vista's services thanks to Black Viper's Service Guide
Tracking down the Norton Removal Tool since that will be the first thing going.
Verifying the compatibility of old faithful system maintenance tools including CCleaner and RegSupreme

The platform will principally be used just for testing so I will also be after Virtual PC and the Windows XP disc image to allow standalone versions of the legacy exploders. Will blog on this in due course…

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 at 09:27:50.

Back Again!?

Relates to Blogging

Once again apologies for a long spell of absence…! No excuses. I have been absorbing my time with our beautiful daughter, Olive. It has taken four months but finally we have found a balanced routine.

So, with my first footsteps into Vista looming on the horizon I felt this was a good time to try and return to some informative blogging.

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 at 09:13:39.

iPod Touch Accelerometer Rotation Tips

Relates to iPod Touch

There are two things my friends want to do when I flash out my new iPod Touch: pinch zoom and spin that accelerometer into action. Both great features. Especially the latter when rotating into cover flow mode. But more often than not the accelerometer fails to respond to my demonstrations and we are left in expectation of what might happen as the accelermometer does not work.

I was starting to share the feeling of others on the web that this might be a repairable bug until I discovered last night that it is all down to the position I hold the iPod Touch. If the Touch is being held vertically (at right angles to the ground) the accelerometer seems to be flawless in its performance. The problem only arises when the Touch is held horizontal (parallel to the ground) - I assume because the detection mechanism does not work in this plane. Seems to resolve any issues and while I generally prefer to hold it fairly flat in my hand I will be prepared next time a friend asks to see my iPod Touch.

Posted on Saturday, Nov 10, 2007 at 10:27:50.

China Tidal Bore Unofficial World Record Distance Surfing Record

Relates to Surf and Travel

Following the early reports of the distance surfing world record smashed on the Qiantang Dragon tidal bore in China the news is now officially out in the open. The official press release states that:

Following expedition leader Antony Yep Colas first scouting river trip on a jetski, Eduardo Bagé (Brazil) on a longboard and Patrick Audoy (France) on a stand-up board, managed to ride the bore for 1 hour and 10 minutes on a distance assessed at 17.1km.

The local papers headlined with foreigners break the law and a surfing world record and went on to report several altercations between the surfers and the local police following complaints from locals but in his press release Yep followed this up:

The situation changed when Chinese Authorities started to smell the economical potential of creating a possible surfing show on the river. Law has not changed yet but when surfers got wet again, many helped them to catch up with the bore hitching rides along the riverbanks!

While this is unlikely to be accepted as an official world record due to lack of GPS and an official adjudicator to observe that the very strict guidelines were adhered to it is an excellent acheivement and clearly opens up the doors for the Qiantang Dragon to become a new playground for surfers from everywhere! As Yep finished up:

Beyond an unofficial record, the main point here is that surfers have been changing Chinese Authorities perception of the recreational use of the river during the bore. If any surfing demonstration should be done for the next Olympics Games in China 2008, there it should happen !

I have to say my one disappointment from the news is seeing how dramatically the bore has been effected by the construction of the Hangzhou Bay bridge in the estuary - the world's longest trans-oceanic bridge. Before the turn of the century I made an agreement with my good buddy Steve King to surf all the tidal bores of the world. At the time international bore surfing was in its infancy and since has become the attention of the global surfing industry such that my personal goals have now changed. However while we set our ultimate goal at being the feared and infamous Qiantang Dragon I think on seeing the photos I feel the goal posts should be moved to the far more impressive and untouched Araguari river which Sergio has surfed at 4 metres plus.

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 06, 2007 at 10:55:02.