News from Great Castle Wilson

  • A week into my vacation and I’m still not relaxed.

    If anyone has been watching this site for updates, I have to apologize. It’s been (even more) hectic at work lately and by the time I get home, I haven’t had the energy to blog. In fact, the list of things I’ve been avoiding is much longer than just blogging:

    • getting exercise / biking — nope.
    • spending time with Deb — not enough, except for when we go out for dinner (but that’s mostly to avoid cooking).
    • electronic music — not even a new synth was enough to make that happen.
    • cello practice — holy mackerel the music for the fall is hard; an hour a day wouldn’t be enough to play it properly and I’m doing less than half that.
    • helping Dennis learn controllerism — bought him the hardware and a copy of Ableton; nothing since then.
    • web skills development — Deb deserves more than what I built her at Sheeps Ahoy, but it would take months of learning to get there.
    • walking the dogs — a total of twice this summer. ugh!
    • work around the house — well, I’ve done some of that this week, at least.
    • cooking — only when Deb makes me BBQ.

    Whew! Even if I had the time to do all these things (i.e. I was retired) I still wouldn’t have the energy for all of them.

    Anyway, I’m a week into my vacation, and I’m still not relaxed. However, I am starting to surface (as witnessed by the soul searching above). Hopefully, that’s a good sign. Last week the list looked like:

    • re-arranged the bedroom
    • got in a car accident — no one hurt; not my fault
    • started cleaning out the garage, but there’s more to do this week
    • helped Deb through a bad bout of stomach “flu”
    • spent a really fun day with her on our anniversary, including seeing the Caravaggio exhibit at the gallery
    • put her on a plane for California
    • played *way* too much of the new Deus Ex game [note: Yesterday they rolled out a patch to fix the long load times: down to 10 seconds from almost a minute before]

    We’ll see how it goes this week. I’ll post if I get some new music made. Otherwise (for those I work with), see you next week.

  • What Canadian politics looks like to me

    Canadians are going to the polls, again, on May 2nd. There is almost nothing to distinguish this time from any of the previous five, but there is one significant difference: This time my son is old enough to vote (and he intends to do so). I’ve told him that he should find out what party offers the best value to him, from his point of view. If I had to guess what that would be, I’d say tax breaks for low income earners and education assistance first, then environment and health care. Luckily, I know he doesn’t read my blog, so I’m not worried about colouring his viewpoint. 🙂

    In any case, I find myself once again trying to figure out how to vote. When I look at the various political parties I see effectively zero difference from where they were a couple of years ago, so I expect the same outcome as last time: a Conservative minority. After all, expecting anything else would be crazy.

    Here’s what I see (and I completely respect that these views are not shared by everyone):

    • Conservatives — boorish, obnoxious, bullies who favor short term economic benefits
    • Liberals — party policy could be defined as “don’t piss anyone off”; unable to find a compelling leader
    • NDP — want to change things; have no idea how to do that without tanking the country
    • Greens — heart in the right place; would need a majority to be interesting, which won’t happen until after the environment becomes unfixable
    • … and the fringe parties that simply don’t matter.

    As most of you know, I usually vote Green, but I have discovered something in their current, stated platform that I cannot abide [emphasis mine]:

    We will promote complimentary health care through support of chiropractic, naturopathic, homeopathic, and other non-western practices.

    Everyone is free to make up there own minds about complimentary health care issues, but I will not vote for a party that promotes homeopathic medicine. Seldom am I given such a clear means to reduce the complexity of a decision space.

    So, in the absence of that, I guess I’m leaning towards the NDP this year. Jack seems to have carried himself well in the debates. There is some alignment with my philosophical views. As I said last election:

    The NDP are also close, if they could just figure out that sometimes Environment first is going to have to trump People first, so that our kids get to have a world worth living in too.

    I guess we’ll see. I am very interested in your thoughts about the election. Feel free to comment.

  • How fast is fast enough?

    Friday after work I picked up a new laptop. It’s one of the just released MacBook Pros with the “real” i7 processors (i.e. 4 cores, multi-threaded). In addition to an 8Gig memory upgrade, I had them replace the DVD drive with a 128Gig SSD to hold the core OS and applications. For the few times when I might still need a DVD burner, the old drive was placed in an external USB enclosure. I must say, being able to easily get these kinds of aftermarket mods done is one of the reasons why I shop at Carbon Computing rather than the Apple Store.

    After playing with the new machine for a weekend, I can categorically state that it is everything I had hoped for. It boots from power on to desktop in 15 sec. It’s awesome.

    I actually had a spare copy of Windows 7 lying around that I never got time to install under Parallels on the old laptop. When I installed it on this one I could give it 2 dedicated processors and 3 Gig of RAM without even noticing any performance impact. Seriously, the machine appears to run as well with Parallels running as without.

    But here’s the thing… The apps themselves don’t actually seem much faster. Even on my old laptop, for anything other than a hardcore developer task (like doing a full build of a product plus running the test suites), as often as not the rendering/processing power of the machine wasn’t the limiting factor. In this connected world we live in, if I’m waiting for something it’s usually a remote server, either on the internet or some network shared device, not my local machine.

    In general, I believe we’re well past the point where machines needed to run at 100% to simply render the UI fast enough, with the one exception perhaps being gaming. Even there it seems that we’re reaching a point of diminishing returns: Is that extra bit of motion blur and depth of field processing really making the game more fun?

    For the average person’s use case — reading mail, browsing the internet, editing files, and playing Farmville — an iPad 2 (with a BT keyboard) will be every bit as useful as my laptop. Heck, even a $300 netbook will do the job.

    So is that it? Do we need machines to be faster? Not until we discover how to put the performance to some use more interesting than making the windows jiggle when you move them [yes, Linux I’m looking at you]. I’ve tried to think of possibilities here, but to me the most interesting directions appear to be data driven, again making the speed of your internet connection more interesting than your CPU. I guess we’ll see.

  • Happy Birthday, Mati

    Deb and I stopped by Mati Sauks’ birthday party at Tailgators for a while tonight. Here’s a shot of Mati doing Karaoke, which proves that the good ones never forget how to party.

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

  • Good Service Alert

    When Deb and I were in Halifax last Summer, I purchased a Kodak Playsport Zx3 video camera. It proved to be a perfectly capable little outdoor camera, with 1080p recording capability, image stabilization and a waterproof shell, all for $130. Not bad. Since then, I have also pressed it into service to record numerous family events, and except for a bit too much color noise in low light situations, it has worked well.

    Unfortunately, about a week ago, it developed a dark spot in the image sensor as you can see from this still frame from a test movie I shot:

    The weird thing about this is, if I pointed the camera at a bright light source and then back where it was originally, the spot would disappear and would stay gone even if I waited until the light level stabilized again. However, a minute or so after that point, the dark area would reappear.

    Given that I only paid $130 for the camera, I figured it probably wouldn’t make sense to try to get it repaired — most camera places won’t even assess a camera repair for less than $75, let alone do the work — but just as I was about to toss it on my “junk tech toy” pile I remembered that I had actually spent the extra $20 for an extended warrantee for it. So, instead of junking it, I hunted around for the original receipt and then headed off to the local Staples.

    Now, remember the Staples where I originally bought the camera was in Halifax, so I wasn’t confident that they were going to be able to do anything for me in any case, but as soon as I walked into the one in Barrhaven I was met by someone who listened to my explanation of the problem, took a quick look at my bill, and then simply handed me a new camera. They didn’t even make me hang around while they did the associated paperwork, but simply initialed my bill to indicate that an exchange had been made and then sent me on my way.

    I must say first that the $20 was apparently money well spent, but more than that, I can honestly say that I have never had a better customer service experience. If only all stores dealt with customers this well! GJ, Staples. Thanks.

  • iPad 2 Wish List

    Here’s what I’d like to see for the next iPad, along with any related, current rumours…

    1. Higher resolution display — the rumours say everything from “no change” (== 1024×768) to “retina display” (== 2048×1536). Retina display seems unlikely, but I would like something higher than we have now, at least when I’m reading books. Can we do 1280×1024 maybe?
    2. Cameras front and back — this is widely believed to be part of the story, but the current rumours are that the cameras will be low resolution (0.3Mp front; 1.0Mp rear). Honestly, if they put in something less than what’s in the iPhone, they’re idiots.
    3. Lighter — using the current iPad to read is equivalent to strength training. There are rumours of the next iPad having a carbon fibre back to reduce the weight. I’ll believe it when I see it.
    4. Faster — this would be both as a result of a faster processor, and because it would have more RAM. A big part of the experience for this device is browsing the web, but the iPad is not the best tablet for doing this any more; let’s fix that.

  • WP Upgrade Blues

    *Whew*. That’s what I get for blithely doing what I usually do when upgrading between wordpress versions. This time I was left with a very messed up page, and more than half of my plugins and themes reporting errors. Ugh. There were even error messages when updating the mysql db. Double ugh.

    I’ve bashed it back into an approximation of working for now, using the included “twentyten” theme. Now I have to see if I can figure out whether anything else got wrecked.

  • SlingPlayer for iPad — don’t buy it.

    I have to say, when I finally got a chance to get the SlingPlayer Mobile app for my iPhone, I was quite upset to find that they were charging $30 for it — more than 5x the price of any other app I have purchased for that platform.

    On top of that, after using it for a while, I can honestly say that it was not worth the price. The control scheme is unwieldy (to say the last); the actual interactions with the PVR are unresponsive to the point of being nearly useless; and the picture quality is poor (even with the latest 2.0 version).

    Essentially, it’s a tech demo: I have never used it for anything other than explaining to people what is possible on the iPhone.

    I’m an optimist though, so when the iPad version of SlingPlayer came out, I thought maybe they will have made use of the improved screen real estate and horsepower to provide a better experience, so I’ll just go to the App Store and… WHAT?!?!?! Another 30 dollars!!!!

    Um… In a word, no.

    Even for an iPad app, that price is off by (at least) a factor of two, and they simply haven’t demonstrated that they can deliver an experience that justifies that cost. Hey, SlingMedia, take a look at StreamToMe it’s one tenth the price and offers a streaming media experience (albeit a simpler one) that is significantly better than SlingPlayer.

  • New car

    Some of you probably already know I’ve been looking at replacing our 2002 Protege 5. The car has been (and continues to be) fun to drive, but like most of the Proteges from that model year it is rusting away to nothing. (Ask me about the time the floorboards rusted to the point where I put my foot through onto the road.) Really, when you start worrying about whether or not it’s hazardous to continue driving a car, it’s time to get rid of it.

    Because Deb and I have two vehicles that are both getting on in years, we need to bound our enthusiasm for the Protege replacement (i.e. “my” car) so that we can afford to pay for whatever we get to replace Deb’s Honda Odyssey (sometime in the next 2..3 years). Her requirements are quite different than mine, since she often needs to drive long distances on the highway, carrying huge volumes of wool and related gear, as she goes to trade shows in support of her business.

    Over the course of the last few months, I have test driven basically everything that is available in Canada in the compact, subcompact, and “youth” categories. Weeding out the ones that failed on the obvious constraints (e.g. “needs to hold a cello”, “must be relatively fun to drive”, “Deb would kill me if I bought Kia Soul”, etc.), I was left with four contenders. Here they are (in most-to-least expensive order) with capsule reviews:

    Volkswagon Golf
    For those who haven’t actually driven a Golf lately, this is not your father’s Rabbit. I was looking at the model with the standard gasoline engine, which is a 2.5 litre, in-line 5 cylinder engine that produces 170(!) horsepower. Even during the test drive, I had no trouble getting a 0..100 K/h time under 8 seconds. By comparison, the diesel engine model was not quite as powerful, but made up for it by having a ton of low end torque. Overall, the car was Mercedes-level quiet, had responsive, flat handling and excellent features. My only significant complaint was that it still has the vaguely cheap feeling, plastic interior trim that I remember from VWs past. In any case, if you like driving, this is an excellent choice. Unfortunately, they’ve ended up at a price point (>$28K, as tested) that doesn’t fit in my budget.
     
    Hyndai Elantra Touring
    I was looking at the GLS trim level with the 5 speed manual transmission. There is a GLS “Sport” version with larger alloy wheels that is more expensive, but that one is close enough to the Golf in price that it wasn’t a contender. This car is definitely the largest of the bunch, with lots of interior cargo space even when the back seats are not folded down. I found it to be unexpectedly fun to drive, but not in the same class as the VW, and it was somewhat noisier — not unacceptably so, but noticeable. I’m fairly certain I could be happy with this one. It clocked in around $23K.
     
    Ford Fiesta SES
    The Fiesta is a new design for this model year, with an interesting, aggressive, European look. It is clearly aimed at young people who want a sporty driving experience for a reasonable price. It’s faster than the Elantra, approximately the same in terms of noise levels, and much, much smaller. Size, in particular, is the downfall for this one. The back seats do not seem to be usable by adults, and it only passed the “will hold a cello” test by the narrowest margin. However, it was inexpensive (approx. $20K) and handled well enough that it would probably have been first pick if I didn’t know that I sometimes still need to carry Deb, Dennis and a load of groceries.
     
    Nissan Versa (warning: link contains stupid amounts of flash content)
    The Versa is Nissan’s entry in the sub-compact field. As such, it’s competitors are vehicles like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Chevrolet Aveo, etc. Compared to these, the Versa is the obvious winner. It’s is the largest (easily seating four adults), the quietest, and has every feature you could imagine in a car that cost less than $18K. We’re talking keyless entry, power locks and windows, cruise, 6-way adjustable driver’s seat, a decent audio system (CD changer, iPod connector, speed-sensitive volume control, etc.), anti-lock brakes, traction control… Heck it even holds my cello better than Fiesta.

    As is often the case with these kinds of decisions, it was really only the end points that turned out to be interesting. In a world where we weren’t going to buy another vehicle in a couple of years, the Golf would be the hands down winner. I had more fun test driving it than I’ve had since I was in Kevin’s BMW. Unfortunately, $28K is just too much for a “second” car.

    The Hyundai was still too much for what you got; the Fiesta was too small.

    And that left Versa, which is what we bought. Pick up is Monday eve. Here’s a pic to show the color:

  • “Back to the Mac”

    Apparently, Apple has called a press conference for next week to discuss something Mac OS related.

    Apple: Back to the Mac? October 20

    It’s a mark of where we are that most of the buzz around this is:

    1. Will it be called “Lion”?
    2. Will it include FaceTime integration?

    *sigh*.

    My take: “Back to the Mac” sounds too much like “Back to my Mac” for it not to be cloud focused — particularly since they are just finishing up their massive new data center in NC. 😉