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Palm Tips: Reseting, or, How to remove misbehaving drivers, patches, and applications
Tue, 31 Jan 2006

(I resisted the title "Drivers, patches, and applications - oh my!")

Thanks to our friend the light bulb everyone is familiar with the on/off switch; anyone whose used anything more complex is also familiar with the crash and the reset cycle. Technology should be more stable -- when is the last time you saw your VCR or microwave oven crash? -- but we all know that it has been a long time since the days when Palm OS users could make jokes about the blue-screen-of-death to Pocket PC users.

But many people do not know about the many flavours of reset; most people know about the 'soft' reset (what I call the Pinhole Reset to keep it straight) and some unfortunate folks know about the 'hard' reset, there are others though it is out of scope of this posting to talk about the debug reset and the PleaseDon'tFormatMyLifedriveHardDisk-reset, but I will mention a third very useful variation..

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Quote: Contemporarily from Tycho of Penny Arcade
Mon, 30 Jan 2006

We are not business people, if things have gone well for us in this regard it is because our wild thrashings attracted devious minds, the scent of our naivete drawing them in like predators.

A little too familiar if I do say so myself :)

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Food: Diets for the terminally .. busy.
Sat, 28 Jan 2006

I'm on the tubby side; I know it, but I don't really like it. Sure, not much of a problem now but someday I'm sure it will be and proving that we're not animals means thinking ahead once in awhile... damnit. Anyway, I've always preached that the best diet is one that a person can stick with fairly naturally, and than dieting alone really isn't the solution. Sure, most of us work where only unhealthy lunch options exist but the real problem is most of us plant the caboose in front of a cathrode ray tube for 2/3rds of every day. Jenny won't help, since you have to eat artificial food-like substances for the rest of your life -- that they oh so conveniantly sell, and that don't work when mixed with human food. Dr. B won't work, since they want to build a Jenny-like fake diet by re-engineering your eating habits. Sure, a few people can do that but as every study has shown.. diets do not work, especially for those of us with lactose conditions or other dietary constraints.

So whats a modern person to do?

Obviously, the answer is to eat like a normal person (for your ethnicity) should, and to get a bit of exercise now and again. Eating normal shouldn't be too too hard -- a few less chippies, and a bit more potatos. Exercise is very tough given how much we all work, and how we all commute everywhere. But it has to be done. I had a plan a year or so back and I think it started to work, but I managed to blow it.. so my immediate goal is to reinstate that plan, and stick more to it. The walking everywhere part I did quite well for a year or so, but blew it a month back.... so this time, no more exceptions!

Jeff's suburbanite plan:

Is that enough?

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MMORPG: EVE versus WoW, the quick summary
Sat, 28 Jan 2006

A good single-player or unmassive-multiplayer is a focused experience -- Halflife 2, one of the most awarded games in recent time, is very linear -- like a novel unfolding before the player. It is crafted, not depending on random events. It is excellent fun - detailed, scripted and never derailed - an exciting play-once experience. Quake III, an 'old' game by genre standards, will remain as one of the best 3D-shooters for years to come - designed to strike on nerve and do it well.

The MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) - so-called social games - are the Survivor of the online gaming world. Not so well focused as a single player game, nor as good a multiplayer game as Quake, nor even as good a chat medium as simple old IRC. Of course, what they do provide is a world more life-like in a simulated world than these other mediums -- IRC can get you the twelve year olds, but only an MMORPG can bring a graphicly represented farting twelve year old right into your living room, potty-mouth and all.

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Quotes: A few from Edmund
Fri, 27 Jan 2006

Just shy of posting too many quotes, I'll risk another; there are and have been many fascinating people.

"The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded."

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

So many interesting quotes from an interesting fellow, Right Honourable Edmund Burke

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MMORPG: Fiddling with Crapping on World of Warcraft
Thu, 26 Jan 2006

This is the big daddy of MMORPG games I'm told; with somewhere around 5 million subscribers, its hard to argue with that fact. But.. Blizzard, a truly great gaming company, obviously Doesn't Get It. Well, they get a lot of money so I must assume everyone else is very forgiving. I ranted about Eve last week.. time for WoW.

In my quest to find out what I've supposedly been missing out on, I thought a free trial is in order.. just like I had with Eve. If Blizzard expects you to hand over $15 or $20 per month to play, there had better be a free trial, right? It would seem the primary methods of trying the game our are to buy it for $50 or $60 and get a 'free' month, or obtain a 'free trial' from File Planet. File Planet is one of those services which allegely provides a download service for free files, but that begs you at every opportunity to buy an account from them so that you can get 'preferred' status. Wanting a free trial, I picked the WoW client download and was promptly told there would be a 42 minute wait before the download would begin.

Being editted all the time in shocked amazement.

Fixed: Upgraded firmware on my router and the problems seem to have gone away. What are the chances of that?!

Edit: To summarize the couple days events; the WoW website was down, the signup server was down, and there are often long wait queues. Problems with quests, icons, disconnects could well be driver issues; Crom only knows how they're pushing things that break a normally working router, but so be it. Updating my Linksys firmware fixed up most of my concerns.

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Quote: A pair from Thomas Edison
Wed, 25 Jan 2006

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

What you are will show in what you do.

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Predictions: 2006 will feature the first Internet Layoff Raffle
Tue, 24 Jan 2006

(Hopefully tongue in cheek here ;) Imagine a web site featuring 'baseball card' statistic sheets on each employee potentially to be laid off; "theres Mark, who completed 5 significant projects in 2005 for a net corporate saving of $1.5m over $150k total expenses; Jimmy is a go-getter Human Resource Manager but had a bad quarter, an average of only 13 RBI (Rookies Brought In) - ladies, he's available!" The Internet beer guzzlers would love to get revenge on corporate America, and also serve as a highly impartial audience. Need to layoff a thousand white-collar executives in the auto industry? Let www.InternetLayOffs.com take care of it for you -- they'll even do it for free with a television contract.

In other news, heres my new alternative to the "-- in bed" gag. When a name is mentioned, pipe up with:

If only it was BLANK as a giant metal robot.

Especially entertaining with political figures, and be sure to throw in media moguls. Be assured instant popularity at parties - "If only it was Walter Koenig as a giant metal robot."

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Retro: Slapping some consoles up on the ol' yardstick.
Sun, 22 Jan 2006

This isn't a twelve step programme, but lets all admit it -- when it comes to mobile consoles size is everything. But how big is big? How do the retro consoles stack up against each other? Is it true that he who dies with the largest and smallest gadgets, wins? (If I was hardcore I'd post the weight and physical size of each device; I may still do that, but for now its late and really I'm just showing off a small piece of my little museum of retro, curiousities, and cool new gadgets. And I'm not going to weigh my generic-JAMMA cabinet. Its too heavy.) If you're not good I'll crack out the Atari 800's or a Vectrex - so be nice ;)

Yes, I realize I just 'outed' myself as a geek. Yep, the very first time.

Clockwise from top left: Atari Portfolio (first DOS handheld), Newton Messagepad 130, Neo Geo MVS 1-slot (middle era) with Blazing Star cart installed, Atari Lynx I, NEC Turbo Express (like a PC Engine), Neo Geo Pocket Colour, GPH GP2X, Sony PSP

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Quotes: Aldous Huxley
Sat, 21 Jan 2006

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

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Quickies: Monkeys with Hats
Thu, 19 Jan 2006

Its one of those things; when it pops into your head, you have no choice but to ask - are there any pictures of monkeys with hats? Of course, we all know the Internet Knows Everything and so one asketh, and Google giveth.

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Palm Tips: Backup, backup, backup!
Thu, 19 Jan 2006

Historically, Palm OS has been bullet-proof -- lasting for weeks or months on alkaline batteries, rarely (if ever) crashing, and a past hotsync always ready to rescue you. These days Palm OS is still as fast and fun to use as ever but some of the devices are a little less reliable than they were so many years ago - the introduction of newer and fancier technology has taken its toll in stability. But who would turn their back on sharp high res colour displays, NVRAM to survive battery outages, bluetooth and 802.11 wifi, fat SD cards -- the veritable kitchen sink? But data is what its all about, and we never ever want to lose it.

One of these days I'll talk about home backup and redundancy techniques as I'm researching for myself (RAID, cheap backups, offsite storage, etc), but for now lets just talk about how to survive mobile theft, crashes or smashes.

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MMORPG: Fiddling with Eve Online
Wed, 18 Jan 2006

Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm far too busy for my own good (really, don't just start a business off the cuff; think about the consequences.. great joy, grand adventure, and enormous stress on yourself and family. On second hand, do just start a business off the cuff or you'll never do it ;) - and I decided a year or so ago more music was in order. Years ago I was always listening to something and I really missed that part of my personality the last few years -- going to local shows, sitting in a pub having a drink and just listening to the tunes, or cranking up the stereo. Who has time to just listen to music anymore -- to enjoy simpler things? Anyway, "Great!" says I and I tuned into more music, and television and movies from remote areas of the globe. Life was more fun again, though net productivity was down.

But then I said, hey, lets see what all this MMORPG bidniz was about; people are ruining their lives over something, and I'd love to find a habit that was actually so entertaining that it could destroy you .. so the other day I signed up for Eve, since sadrik was going on about it so. (I'm not the sort to get dominated by something; I'm far too lazy and far too busy for that, so its no risk :)

Quick summary: Eve looks interesting -- its a huge universe, theres a lot to do, and a lot to see. But when you're a newbie, you're going to wait for it since you're not powerful enough to be useful.

Another late night insomnia posting..

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Personal: Timelines. Some meandering thoughts.
Tue, 17 Jan 2006

(Aside.. an excellent read dismembering 'Web 2.0'. Also, why oh why did I ever separate 'arts' and 'entertainment' back on day-zero of creating this blog? Why have I not merged them yet? How does one differentiate between 'entertainment' and 'technology' when you're involved in both?)

One of these days I'm going to create a private-thoughts directory somewhere; occasionally I have a thought that might be amusing to note down should I want to read it 20 years from now but that isn't fit for the public -- internal dialog. Creating a private blog directory seems silly, since it just exposes such dialog to intrusions and security breaches. But who keeps a diary anymore? Where does one record internal dialog these days? Or is this why 90% of blogs stink? With so much personal information, where do we keep it all? How do we back it all up? (All these folks with digital cameras will have Bad Days when their hard drives die!) I cannot imagine how the computer newbies survive the onslaught of virii.. better to be computer illiterate than a newbie sometimes :)

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Gamepsych: Gaming as an indicator of a depressed society?
Sat, 14 Jan 2006

This idea popped into my head a few minutes ago (a veritable brainfart, if I can say so this early in the morning) -- a very Jack Thompson-esque (by which I mean, awful) question. If gaming is on the rise (and being a money maker more than films is telling), and is also an escapist activity.. then is it an indicator of a society that is getting sick?

After I shook the waking-grog from my head, the falicies contained therein revealed themselves - that gaming is an escapist behaviour sure, but that so is any form of entertainment or even art; quite possibly we read to escape the hum-drum of everyday life; we go to the cinema or theatre to witness or partake in some adventure; we play games to play around in another world. Of course these sources can also provide information (yes, games too).

If entertainment is on the rise, surely it is an indicator. Of good times to come :)

[ Category: / entertainment / gaming / psychology ] [link] [Comments]

Mobile Coding: Jetsam and directions, Or, How to swim downstream and avoid the waterfall
Tue, 10 Jan 2006

A number of developers I know have been asking the same questions that weigh heavily on my mind - we all watch the tides a' turning and in our markets and domains we have to keep at the front or get left behind, flotsam of the mobile digital age. Of course, being in the front - cresting the wave as it were - is a great risk yet also provides many advantages. When it comes right down to it, being in front is where the fun is, is where the adventure of it all is.. until the dragon catches up.

This has been written up on my smartphone (Treo 650) while sitting over a warm drink. Amazing how long you can write on a thumbpad with enough caffeine!

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Palm: Things That Annoy the Developers (Like Me)
Tue, 10 Jan 2006

Well, its that time of year again where things must be purged, the soul laid bare in preparation for a new year of technology silliness. (Okay, I had pleasant time at a Christmas party last night and a nice little lunch out today but I'm still in a mood to let fly the flames of war ;) While I really enjoy developing for mobile devices (and development in general) and have very much enjoyed being on the front edge of mobile technology the last half decade or so, I've become a little weary of dealing with PalmOne's (now Palm again) and PalmSource's sillyness to tell you the truth - one can only have so much time wasted through their sheer stupidity before you start to wonder - when will it end? When will they stop being idiots? Their "historical issues" (mistakes, guffaws, unfortunate changes in the timeline) are forever in the developers faces. After writing this huge rant, I realize - it is a wonder people develop for this platform at all. I've been assisting other developers in forums for years, and I know how tough it is for them to get past all this stuff. This is why after a major Shadow release theres usually a few weeks of quiet .. time to decompress and come to terms with the sheer amount of crap that had to be shovelled. This is why theres so much time between releases sometimes -- its getting harder to get the nerve up to "dive into the mountain of crap" :P

A comprehensive list of things that annoy me would be enormous as I routinely work around dozens of different Palm OS system bugs every day. But off the top of my head right now, heres what comes to mind .. call it the abridged and shortened summary of the greater litany :)

Ben, and my many friends at Palm and PalmSource - this isn't personal or directed, instead just the frustration as I work arond more and more bugs that make me pull my hair out. Gotta vent and get it off my chest :) I enjoy the platform, and I admire the work and dedication you guys have put in, but we still suffer :)

Edit, Jan 2006: Remember, I love this platform and work on it every day. I wrote this after working around some really aggravating OS bugs and answering hundreds of support emails about it. Don't be going and thinking I'm anti-Palm OS or anything ;)

Note: I could equally flame Microsft Pocket PC, WinCE, etc. I will, but after Christmas :)

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Stores: Futureshop.. Possibly a bunch of thieves?
Mon, 09 Jan 2006

Update Jan 9 2006: I win! See below.

And so it begins, another wonderful saga between a lone consumer and a greedy corporation whose snake-oil salesmen will take your money and brand you a crook when you try and return the faulty purchase. I imagine some number of people might just take this, but me -- I'm at the end of my string with taking crap from Corporate America -- I'll make as big a stink as I have to in order to get real service. At best, they'll try and be helpful and return my hard-won money. At worst I'll be out of pocket a few bucks and a few minutes preparing a website, and hopefully a few thousand people will hear the story and deprive Futureshop a few sales. As a consmer, what else can you do?

Pleasingly, theres already a website it looks like; now thats service. Check out FutureShopSucks.com

(I realize this is a mere $50 purchase, but such is my rage. How many times a year do companies try and rip you off? (hell, I've blogged about 2 or 3 companies in the last year, and thats only the ones that really annoyed me.))

I'll post updates as they come; I'm that sort of anal guy ;)

More...

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Blogging: I must turn off comment support for now, due to blog-spammers
Sun, 08 Jan 2006

If you look at not-quite-recent posts in my blog (especially the older ones) you will notice that most of the commentary is from spammers; they just have automated 'bots' that fill up blogs with inane fake replies that link to their penis-enlargement sites - the bonus to them being a higher "reference count" in search engines like Google, that track that sort of thing. I cannot tolerate spam of course, and there is just no way I will support their habits by letting them post comments in my blog.

If you wish to comment on a posting, please head over to the LiveJournal version of my blog (link on the right) and comment there. Blame the spammers!

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Networking: MTU leads to madness
Sun, 08 Jan 2006

Once in awhile my ISP tells me to alter my DSL router's MTU; sometimes it helps, sometimes it kills the connection. MTU stands for "maximum transmission unit" and is the threshold at which the routing hardware decides to fragment a data 'packet' into smaller packets for transmission. ie: For DSL the normal MTU is 1492 (bytes), meaning if an application sends a larger packet it'll be subdivided and then automagicly re-assembled at the 'other end' somewhere. To my mind, this suggests altering MTU can impact performance depending on the characteristics of the network... however, stranger things occur.

In the past I've had some oddities, but I don't recall specifics; todays oddities are just plain weird -- if you're a network administrator type who can make sense of this, please let me know :)

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GP2X: First impressions with a new Linux-based mobile entertainment console
Fri, 06 Jan 2006

After much delay in shipping (thanks US Postal Service!) and subsequent re-shipping via FedEx, I now have a GP2x console to attack. Many thanks to jr2swiss for rescuing the shipping disaster, to Prophet for working out the details of getting a developer a unit, and to all the many people who kicked in to fund this for me. I'm posting this very quickly as I need to head out in just a bit so will write up more comprehensively later on, but for now -- thanks to everyone. It is appreciated, and I've got a little gift for everyone later on as a little payback.

Anyway, in my haste the best I can offer you is the photostill blow-by-blow. I must say that gp32z packaged the living hell out of the unit, so if this is how he normally operates.. no one need worry about shipping damage :P

Heres a box, presumably with a gp2x inside; this is after I'd already removed the heavy paper wrapping and the styofoam bits and the heaby FedEx carrier box.

Continue...

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Quotes: Chilling and cynical.. but only because it might be true?
Thu, 05 Jan 2006

From David Buss:

"On reflection, the dangerous idea may not be that murder historically has been advantageous to the reproductive success of killers; nor that we all house homicidal circuits within our brains; nor even that all of us are lineal descendants of ancestors who murdered. The danger comes from people who refuse to recognize that there are dark sides of human nature that cannot be wished away by attributing them to the modern ills of culture, poverty, pathology, or exposure to media violence. The danger comes from failing to gaze into the mirror and come to grips the capacity for evil in all of us."

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