Sunday, October 26, 2008

Vista madness

I opted for Windows Vista a few months ago when I got my new home computer. Having heard a lot of bad things, I still thought it would be cool, since this computer is fairly upscale.
I soon learned that raw power is one thing, the interactive feel to a operating environment is another. Vista really sucks...and I am even saying this with my usual guarded perspectives in mind.

A huge annoyance has recently fallen into the category of "solved", however. Or maybe it should just be "explained", since this piece of clarity hasn't really made life simpler. Nowadays, I usually copy my installation files to the desktop before running them.
I needed to disable the UAC disaster before my sanity was compromised - but it seems I only forced myself into another dead-end of Microshaft usability.

What kind of a moron does it take to come up with this kind of crap?

Monday, October 13, 2008

Ninja!

Several weeks ago, on Ninjatune.net, I ordered the recent single Dita Dimone by the strangely compelling Pop Levi.

I received an order confirmation that didn't contain any download link. It hardly described the product either, so I wrote an e-mail to customer support, failed to find any online reference of my purchase, assumed it had failed, and forgot all about it.

Today, I got an apologetic e-mail with my download link...and they even threw in a brilliant compilation as a consolation gift.

VR Designer

...is now my official title. How cool is that :)

Through my first week and it certainly looks promising. I'll have to get back into the CAD/3D domain again but this does not bother me the least. Actually, it is weird to see that even though it is more than 2 years since we stopped our 3D company (and more like 3 years ago I knew a lot about the state of the technology), things have not evolved all that much.
I'll have to use a software frame that is 7-8 years old, once made and back then not very successful, yet now coming into favour again. Strange, but I guess companies the size of Vestas are acknowledging future competition and that development and innovation has to be driven on all levels. At least that is my naïve, stubborn conviction while I look at the newspapers and silently pray that big finance turbulence doesn't mean immediate layoffs here in Aarhus...

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

iPod Touch location services

For some reason I have big problems with iPod programs that need to localise my iPod. My iPod (1st generation Touch) should be using the "location services" for its networks, but each time I try to access a program that depends on localisation, I get a "Allow me to use your existing location" followed by a long wait and inevitably failure.

I turned into Ze Googlemeister for a few minutes, and actually found something interesting:

Ipots (the smart and geeky slang for Ipod Touch'es) don't have GPS or any of that fancy, battery-bashing 3G stuff. So they rely on WiFi triangulation which is not very accurate but better than nothing.

Turns out that a privat company, Skyhook, is responsible for the WiFi, GPS and 3G localisation coverage for these Apple products. Or at least, this is how I interpret it. The corporate affiliations aren't exactly crystal...that's Apple, alright :P

Now, it appears that Skyhook is mapping WiFi coverage slowly but consistently. You can pay $20 and get some VIP-status that gets you there quicker, but online there is a WiFi access point submittal service where regular (free) users can add access points to Skyhook's database, which then within some weeks gets updated and allows your iPod to query the location services and hopefully get an accurate answer on where the hell it is.

I found several IP-addresses on my router and through good ol'e "ipconfig /all". The only one that the Skyhook service wanted to acknowledge was the "default gateway" that my router configuration is displaying.
When I added that address, the map reset itself to a particular street corner in Taipei. I am still uncertain whether a taiwanese chap has the same WiFi IP-setup - but somehow I take this to be a factory setting. It seems likely that my internal router or WiFi router is made in Taiwan. Even if I have no clue how that information is stored or transferred through IP exchange...

After this, I was asked to add the MAC-address of the WiFi router and my e-mail address. Confirmation came per e-mail - and now I'm waiting to see if this will help anything at all. I am not exactly located in the city center so I have some serious doubts.

I am still wondering how on earth regular non-technical users would have any chance of finding and implementing this information. How many people out there just sit around, accepting that key parts of their products do not really function properly?

[Edited on Oct 13th:]
To my big surprise, my localisation service now works here at home. My actions actually helped! Hooray!
I hereby recommend that everyone living up Shit Creek do the same.