February 2012
2 posts
Whisky
Followers of The Escapers’ blogs will know that we’re fans of whisky around here. And recently I’ve been trying a few new ones, and not just drinking the regulars like Lagavulin, Laphroaig or indeed Jack Daniels (that’s whiskey with an ‘e’).
I was fortunate to be given a bottle of Bruichladdich “Rocks”, which is an unpeated whisky which basically...
Eeesh.
So here’s the thing, I had to send off my 2 month old Galaxy Note for repair, it was randomly deciding that it was on charge, or connected to a car dock. That’s kind of annoying as it buzzes and changes screens when it does that. I’m not the kind of guy who can live without a phone for very long, so I ordered a Motorola Pro + last week. First impressions are good, but now...
January 2012
3 posts
What's wrong with menus?
I’ve been reading recently about a couple of platforms, namely Android and Ubuntu Unity about these platforms wanting to get rid of menus:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/28/google-tells-android-devs-to-kick-the-menu-button-to-the-curb/
and
http://www.osnews.com/story/25539/Ubuntu_To_Replace_Menus_with_Search_Field_Dubbed_HUD_
Now, the Ubuntu example, as it it shown above can only ever...
Nice. →
Check out the “BIK”. As someone who grew up with RISC OS, it pleases me to see it available on modern hardware once more, at a decent price. Make no mistake, RISC OS is old, web browsing is a joke, and it multi-tasks somewhat poorly. But it’s stupid fast on slow hardware, you don’t need to ask permission to publish software for it, and it has a wonderful simplicity that...
A tale of no standards
Last night, I had to transfer some photos from my phone to one of my computers. Easy? No.
My Android phone can of course send emails, but the photos totalled over 50MB, and GMail reported the maximum attachment size is 25MB. However, it also has an FTP client installed, so without too much fuss, I was able to transfer the files onto my Stora NAS. Now of course I had to get the files from my NAS...
December 2011
1 post
Film Review: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
This is the somewhat talked about documentary by Werner Herzog. It’s marketed as a “magical” and “enchanting” exploration of some ancient French caves.
I found it to take a very interesting subject, and make it crushingly boring. Take out the trite philosophical commentaries, the jarring music, and the seemingly unrelated sections on a Perfumer and albino...
November 2011
5 posts
Windows 8 tablets
Not surprising:
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/29/forrester_research_finds_consumer_interest_in_windows_8_tablets_slumps/
But frankly, my next tablet will almost certainly run Windows 7. I need some capabilities not present/not convenient in Android/iOS. I need real Dropbox support, a music player which can get it’s tunes from different directories, and also I want VNC support, so I...
BlackBerry Java
I’ve become quite fond of Javascript as a language for developing apps (as opposed to websites). It’s very cross-platform, and pretty powerful. On modern hardware, it runs quick too.
But recently I’ve had to delve into the BlackBerry Java SDK, we’re talking Java, not Javascript. And what a pleasure it is to use a real typed language again, error checked at compile time,...
Anonymous asked: Hi! Is there any near plans for putting Flux in a discount bundle? :) Thank you.
jurimandersonam[at]gmail[dot]com
jurimandersonam[at]gmail[dot]com
Adobe and Flash
So, Adobe has decided to drop Flash on mobile devices as a plugin, and refocus it on being an app platform.
I think we can all agree that this is a good thing.
Recently, I’ve developed a lot with Adobe AIR, and I must say, I like it a lot. You get native capabilities baked into Javascript/HTML. Javascript is far from a perfect language but it runs on practically every computer available,...
October 2011
8 posts
There is something wrong with me
Because I kind of want one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netbook-800Mhz-Freescale-Processor-Storage/dp/B005CA0X8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320055257&sr=8-1
Looks like a cool, inexpensive computer to carry around or use around the house. Approaching half the price of an iPad or similar Android device, this has to be worth a try.
The case for a real computer
Recently, I’ve been using my Chromebook as my “sofa” computer, my laptop does not see a lot of use at all. For “real” computing, I’ll sit at my desk and use the iMac. I think for me, the days of having a “real” computer as my living room machine are over, it’ll be some kind of tablet-y device. It’s the fact they start-up immediately, run...
Android again
This illustrates perfectly my own view:
http://theunderstatement.com/post/11982112928/android-orphans-visualizing-a-sad-history-of-support
As Michael Degusta points out, there is just no point in providing updates to existing phones when you can try to persuade someone to buy a new phone. Well, here are a few ideas:
1) How about Google gives a share of Marketplace revenue to manufacturers who...
No Android update for Nexus One
And there was me thinking that if you got the “official” Google phone, you’d get updates to the OS.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8848669/Android-upgrade-for-Google-Nexus-S-in-weeks.html
The Nexus One was apparently released in Jan 2010, phone support dropped after 11 months, and it basically never got a major update.
Compare to the iPhone 3GS, appeared in June...
Playbook price reductions
About time really, the Playbook is nice, I like it, but whatever RIM think, or indeed HTC with their Flyer, a 7” tablet is intrinsically worth less than a 10” one, it just is, accept it.
We also have the fact the iPad is of course the runaway market leader, RIM can’t compete on common ground at least until they get proper email on it etc. so like it or not, you compete on...
Still no Playbook OS 2.0
They’ve got a beta, but as a developer I’ll avoid it as it’s not compatible with the current SDK. It does not even have the native email yet.
I’m sick of reading the death knells of RIM, it’s just one website repeating the garbage of another website until it become FACT that RIM is about to implode. The fact is that they have over 20% smartphone market share (Apple...
We need an MP3 of movies
Thankfully, soon after MP3 players truly found popularity, DRM went away. Apple and Sony both shipped players and music sales services using locked down formats. Amazon put a stop to this with Amazon MP3, and made any DRM-encumbered music service a bit of a joke. We need this for movies, because right now, whatever Apple, BT, Samsung, or Sony tell you, their movie systems are not as good as what...
Steve Jobs
What can be said that has not already been said before? I think The Onion sums it up perfectly:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/last-american-who-knew-what-the-fuck-he-was-doing,26268/
September 2011
3 posts
Chromebook development
So basically, you get a website, and “Pack” it up using Chrome itself. Along with a manifest file, and some icons, you get a fully functional Chromebook application. It works perfectly, and although you need certificates, Chrome makes them for you, and get this:
It actually works.
I hate certificates, not the principle, but the reality. The reality is that RIM or Apple give you some...
So I got a Chromebook...
Initial thoughts are that I like it, rather a lot.
First of all, for those who compare it’s specs to a Netbook, and expect the same sluggish performance, that’s not really the case. The lightweight OS, SSD storage, and whatever else Google has done means it’s snappy like a tablet.
The multiple user/guest accounts are great compared to the one login on Android.
The web browsing...
Chromebook thoughts (again)
Just got back from a holiday, I brought my Eee Pad Transformer, and used it a lot. Looking back, I used nothing except mail, web, and a Google Maps. For my purposes, a Chromebook would have been just as good. In fact, the web browsing is somewhat sub-par on Honeycomb, the built in browser is too slow for text entry to be usable, and Opera has it’s own set of issues. Firefox is OK, but not...
August 2011
3 posts
Wifi coolness on Playbook
The Playbook has USB, but seems to almost resent using it. You debug apps over Wifi, and copy files on over Wifi. My Eee Pad likes to use USB for both.It’s not a big deal, but RIM “gets” wireless in the way that Apple and Google don’t. It’s only with iOS 5 that desktop computer is not required to set it up. Maybe it’s because at heart, RIM is a wireless company,...
On the Ricoh GXR M mount unit
Very nice indeed. I think the GXR has gone from being an also-ran in the EVIL camera market, to the leader. On the same system, you’ve got a 28-300 zoom lens in a tiny package, a couple of auto-focus primes, and now the ability to attach Leica M mount lenses.
Also, the M mount has firmware to allow corrections for any lens you care to attach. The £5000 Leica M9 only has that for Leica...
More on Playbook
Well, it’s official, this is my favourite tablet.
I’ve got a Eee Pad Transformer, and it’s great, a real powerhouse, about as close to a real computer as tablets get. But the Playbook, well, it’s tiny, fast, light, and the QNX OS makes Android look shoddy and old. The WebWorks programming environment is great, HTML, Javascript with native integration baked in.
As a...
July 2011
6 posts
On BlackBerry Bridge
So, in the wake of getting a BlackBerry PlayBook, I decided to go back to BlackBerry for my phone too. A few reasons inspired this choice: With my Android phone (Galaxy Pro), text messages were taking a while to get through. Also, the battery life of the phone was awful, maybe about a day. But foremost on my mind was BlackBerry Bridge.
Cut a long story short, it’s set up and working, and it...
Wifi file sharing on Playbook
Yes, it works, you can just mount the Playbook as an SMB volume on Windows or Mac, and just copy files on/off. I’ve tried it, it works. This is a very sweet feature indeed. No cables, no USB sticks, no “pairing”, no syncing with iTunes, just copy files on and off any time you like.
This is just how it should be.
The saga continues...
The Playbook just offered to install a software update, so I let it, and in 5 minutes I had an updated OS, and working app purchases. I chose to pay with PayPal, and could enter my details on the device in a simple dialog. This is pretty nice, to be able to use my existing payment methods, and not set up another payment process.
Obviously it should have worked in the first place, but this is...
More from RIM...
So I emailed RIM’s webmaster on the “Contact us” page, explaining that their website did not work. Got a mail back starting with :
Thank you for contacting BlackBerryTechnical Support. The email you submitted has not been delivered. Please find many alternative support options below.
Nice. Let me write out an email, along with attachments, then have no intention of...
First thoughts about PlayBook
I’m a supporter of underdogs, not ashamed to admit it. This means that I cause myself all kinds of problems by avoiding the well trodden path, and taking the path where the handrails are in beta, and the ground hasn’t been implemented yet.
This affliction means that I’ve ended up with a BlackBerry Playbook instead of the much more sensible choice of an iPad 2. But before we...
Postbox 2.5
Just upgraded, it’s a significantly more pleasant experience than older versions, and a free upgrade if you’re on 2.x.
Check out:
http://www3.postbox-inc.com/index.php
If you’re getting tired of web interfaces, or not having an “Archive” button on your current mail package.
I find Postbox a bit slow with the amount of mail I tend to have hogging my Inbox, but I...
June 2011
7 posts
Woo hoo! for Opera Mobile
Recently, I have very much taken to my Eee Pad Transformer, I’m using it regularly instead of my big 17” laptop. Main reason is the “instant on” of the tablet, vs. a few seconds to wake up for the laptop. It’s not a big deal, but it does irritate if all I want to do is look up something quickly.
Second reason is that my laptop runs HOT, it cooks my legs and is very...
Chromebook thoughts
My instinct is that these should be great, and a change in paradigm from the computers that came before it. I fear the reality will be an exercise in frustration. Just today I was using Chrome to order a pizza, and it just was not playing ball. Using Internet Explorer would certainly have resolved this problem, but I gave up instead.
Internet Explorer is not a better browser than Chrome, in fact...
Quick Review: Eee Pad Transformer
OK, the basics:
Honeycomb is a night/day improvement over Android 2.2 on the Galaxy Tab, it seems polished and attractive, and is a true tablet OS. Using a Tab side by side with an iPad, the Tab looks about 10 years old. The OS is grotty and shabby looking. Honeycomb on the other hand is as pretty as iPad, and seems as snappy and usable.
GMail on Honeycomb is about as good as email could be on...
QT Quick - could have picked a better name
In a moment of boredom, I decided to take a look at QT Quick. QT Quick is a development language/environment for programming the QT toolkit with a Javascript style language instead of C++. However, my efforts have been thwarted by that name: QT Quick. QT has existed for years as a C++ only toolkit, and therefore as you can imagine, there are a million “Quick Guides” to QT, which focus...
Daring Fireball article
In this article:
http://daringfireball.net/2011/06/ice_water_enthusiast
I’ve highlighted the following quote:
Today’s iPad is lacking and limited, like the Mac of 1985. But also like the Mac of 1985, I believe it foreshadows the future of personal computing.
I think this comment truly clarifies the misunderstanding that the “blogosphere” (ick), and general computer press have...
Where is multi-user on tablets?
I saw with interest that Google’s Chrome OS has multi user capability, much like every other desktop OS these days. That got me thinking though, where is multi-user on Android or i/OS? On phones, it’s probably not required, but for tablets, I’d say it is. If we’re to believe that these devices are passed around the home, used by everyone who wants to laugh gaily at...
GMail
WTF? How come I can’t attach a file from a network drive in GMail/Chrome, but I can with GMail/Safari?
I really don’t know how Google fucks this up so bad, as a developer, you just read a file from a network drive same as from local, so someone had to try to fuck this up. Google may be full of PhDs (we’re led to believe), but I guess universities can’t teach you how not to...
May 2011
7 posts
BT Vision
Cut a long story short, it’s not working any more.
It can’t seem to get the bandwidth it needs, and I get the “V04” error, which means my broadband (also supplied by BT) is too slow.
One day, companies are going to realise that the internet does not work, and products must be built acknowledging this fact. I mean, when was the last time terrestrial TV stopped working for...
Lomography LC-Wide
http://uk.shop.lomography.com/lomo-lc-wide
Nice, but jings, I thought the LC-A+ was expensive.
This looks like a cool camera, and from the sample shots, the lens looks wide and sharp. half/square frame does not really appeal to me, but it’s an interesting feature.
I’ll stick with my LC-A+, but nice to see Lomography mixing things up.
On Android tablets
Had my first experience of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) outside of an emulator yesterday. It was a fairly “meh” experience, but perhaps in time I’d come to like it. Maybe I’d pick one up, but dang they are expensive. Often more than an iPad 2. I’ll leave the arguments on whether they are better than iPads to others, but it’s really hard for Acer, or Motorola to say...
PlayBook thoughts
As a past user, and big fan of the QNX Neutrino OS, the PlayBook has been of interest to me since it was announced. Since then, my enthusiasm was waned somewhat as I read about it’s various deficiencies. The biggest of course is the “Bridge” required to have proper email on the Playbook. The Bridge simply mirrors the messages, calendar etc. from your BlackBerry phone to the...
BT Vision, after a while
OK, so I got the “BT Vision” set top box to see if I could replace the Apple TV. Well, I say “replace”, but that’s like saying I got my new camera to replace a brick on the floor. Suffice to say, the Apple TV is somewhat lacking in functionality, it does not work, it’s highly unreliable, and generally a bit of junk.
Anyway, I called up BT to have them send me a...
Zeam launcher
My favoured SlideScreen is not playing well with the Galaxy Pro like it does on my Tab, so I endeavoured to find another. Zeam launcher is minimalist, works well on the Pro’s small screen and is working like a champ.
It’s very basic, very simple and with no bells or whistles, but on this Blackberry-wannabe, that’s probably what you’re after.
I’d like to see some...
Swype works pretty well
Just trying out Swype on the Galaxy Tab. It’s pretty cool and I am probably faster with it than the on screen keyboard already. No replacement for a real keyboard but a very interesting approach. I wrote this using Swype on the Tab, and apart from the annoying dialogs and on it’s reliance on a dictionary, I could get used to it.
April 2011
6 posts
Samsung Galaxy Pro: First impressions
So after a day or two of Samsung Galaxy Pro usage, what do I think? Well, the initial impression is very good. It basically works like a Blackberry, but runs Android. The good side of this is that you get a full-blooded GMail experience. It’s almost exactly like the desktop version. The downside is that it does not have Blackberry style push-email. In areas of good mobile signal reception,...
The short lived Windows Phone
Scroll down a bit and you’ll see me saying nice things about my new Windows Phone 7 device, the HTC 7 Pro. Today it was replaced with a Samsung Galaxy Pro. The main reason is that the HTC started to give me the silent treatment whilst making calls. This is fixed by a simple reset, but I can’t be bothered to do that each time it decides to fail. So it’s off for warranty repair,...
Movie review: Unstoppable
Denzel on a train. You don’t need to know any more than that. Great entertainment.
A brief selection of film reviews
Source Code: Good. Predictable, but enjoyable.
Monsters: Great, atmospheric and believable characters.
Due Date: Excellent, very funny, and superb performances by Downey Jr. and Galifianakis.
Apple sues Samsung
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/18/apple_sues_samsung/
Nobody is more dismissive than me of the total lack of imagination in the computer industry. It does indeed appear that Apple is the only originator of ideas sometimes. Samsung’s phones and tablets are indeed cringe-worthy in their slavish adherence to copying whatever Apple does.
However.
What is Apple’s iPhone interface...