RollCall

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:11:00 GMT

JayFresh technological musings from Jon Lister.
SimonMcManus technological ranting from Simon Mcmanus.
HawksWorx technological playground of Phil Hawksworth.
CarrierDetect Andrew Back, brain-fried.
WhatFettle moral guidance from Paul Downey.
BoyCook ideas big and small from Craig Cook.
Ambient Buzzsaw visual stimulation courtesy of Simon Hailstone.
BenTown Ben Waterhouse: your friendly neighborhood biologist.

The Trouble with Travel Photography

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:07:00 GMT

Apologies for my recent absenteeism, I've been away, to India if you'd like to know. In short: nice place but a shame about the money grabbing guys in Delhi. Anyway enough about that, more of this.

My recent trip was the first time out for for me to utilise my new Digital SLR (a Nikon D80 if you must know) I was very excited about getting some travel piccies on a decent camera with a good resolution, for the walls of my new flat. However I discovered that traveling and travel Photography, are not the match made in heaven that one would imagine...

Firstly there is the issue of luggage. I pride myself on traveling relatively light, I pack a 35-40 ltr bag with some of my oldest clothes and laugh at the Americans with their 80+ ltr 'Rucksacs' as they worry about them sitting on the roof of the cranky old bus we're on, in monsoon season. Now, although an SLR is reasonably small (in that you can fit it in a small case) it is a heavy piece of equipment, and when paired with the paraphernalia that surrounds the use of such a camera (hard drive, tripod, filters etc) it all adds up. These trinkets collude to ruin your back over the course of weeks, comparative to a compact anyway.

Secondly there's the obvious problem of theft. Although SLRs are designed to appease those with more traditional views of what a camera should be they still come with a ruddy great screen on the back screaming 'digital' at the small street urchins that you'd love to photograph. This results in a great internal dialog along the lines of 'do I risk it or should I wait until there are less people about' or 'is it going to get dark before I can go home and hide my wares'. By the time this thought process has occurred the opportunity has gone and the street urchins have begun eying up the next guy. On top of all that you now have to look over your shoulder until you can offload, though you can play the 'secret spy' game in your head, deciding who's trying to follow you. Which is sad, but fun.

Note: Some of you, if you had the ability, would comment about getting decent insurance. I can assure you I'm insured to the hilt, in fact I'm almost willing someone to rob me as I've over-insured and could get a full frame DSLR with the return on a claim. My problem is that, from that point, you have no camera. Worse still if they nick your bag they get your backups and all your pictures! FYI I'm looking to move this blog somewhere more traditional, just until Osmososft get TiddlyWiki up to speed with a few things.

Finally, and this one's the killer, where the hell do you draw the line between travel and travel photography? I'm a fan of both of these things but they just can't ever fit together. When I see a lovely moment I either feel that I should be capturing it in a photo or I should be enjoying it. Inevitably I make the wrong decision and either waste my time getting my camera out (and missing the moment once the above internal discussion has settled) or I 'enjoy' it by imagining how cool it'd look on my wall or similar. Either way I end up feeling robbed of any satisfaction and thoroughly deflated. Worse still post-trip I look through my photos thinking 'ahh yeah that was just before I, oh, no, I 'enjoyed' that bit'... It's a double punkd! Worse STILL aside from deciding this is a holiday/photography trip I can't see a resolution to my predicament! In particular I cannot see a point where a trip purely for photography is a viable option.

So I'm left with this great internal struggle... In the meanwhile check out my progress over on my . Comments are welcome, criticism is encouraged.

Facebook on Dashboard

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:06:00 GMT

So here goes my first little hint, I tried to post this on OSXHints but, for the life of me, I just can't find out how to. Anyway. If you find yourself religiously checking your facebook in order to see if anyone has posted on your wall then you have one option:

a) Sign up for email when you get a post on your wall.

Which is irritating at best. In order to alleviate this problem, which when combined with the usual amount of email that we all get is ridiculous, I've found a neat little trick using the new 3.0 'web-clip' function of Safari on OS X Leopard, giving us another option:

b) Create a web-clip of your wall from iphone.facebook and ensure that the cookie which keeps your login is kept somewhere safe.

So that's that, dashboard facebook updates as quick and easy as you like. Equally you could do this with your home screen but I would advise you to use the iPhone version of Facebook as you'll have to log back in with the regular version, thus defying the point of a quick update.

As an aside you amy want to put your computer's screen saver on password lock to mitigate some of the security problems...

Intel Drops the XO

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:05:00 GMT

So, my first 'proper' blog entry, and it's a doozey. Intel have, allegedly, dropped their contract to supply processing to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), aka the XO, aka the $100 laptop.

This is somewhat of a mojor blow and, personally, somewhat upsetting. I realise that the XO has had it's troubles; inital production was well above $100, which is expected and the only order I know of is 100 thousand from Paraguay, which is well below the inital 250 thousand per order suggested batching. But... comon!

I think that the OLPC initiative is one of the most important initernational projects of our time. Yes it's true there are bigger problems that laptop distribution but, at least it shows that, given a problem, the international community can band together and make a go of it.

So please... comon guys!

Free Lunch

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:01:00 GMT

Firstly, credit where credit is due: Mike Arthur you the man.

It appears that anyone on BT Total Broadband can bag themselves a free Flickr Pro account, which would usually set you back $25 per annum. All you need is your '@btinternet.com' address and password. Sign into Flickr using it and you'll be prompted to either create a new account or merge with an existing one. Of course there is a small setback... If you cancel your BT Total Broadband you'll have to start paying for it again. But who would ever want to change their ISP these days anyway?

Note: I had a bit of a problem merging but if you start a new account then change the address over from your old, non-pro account it'll have the same effect.

Open Source vs. Trusted Computing

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:58:00 GMT

T'other week I went to a conference, it was about open source, it was all very well and good. Doc Searls was there, I had a salad for lunch and spoke to interesting people all day. However. I noticed that one point simply didn't come up. So I bided my time, thinking 'surely someone has to drop the TCG bomb at some point' yet no one did. So at the Q&A session the mic came my way. I didn't like the response because I think the speakers lost track, it was the end of the day and all that. But still it bugs me. I work for an (unnamed) communications company which pushes open source development very heavily, yet our main workstation partners, HP, sit there researching usage and application for trusted computing and trusted platform modules. If you need to bone-up on the issues read the necessary materials down there. All I can say is, I'm still not happy, so I can't wait till the next one... Which I'll instigate.

Holy Crap! Wii Really Is The Future...

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:53:00 GMT

I've just seen something uber-interesting over here but I need a shower so give me a sec... Right there we go. Ok I think I'm ready. No, wait. I think I may stall on this post till I consider the implications of my words...

Ok so after a bit of digging I've come to the conclusion that somone, somewhere (Cupertino or Redmond) must have this in development. If not I've a couple of well placed emails and I've written it on a newspaper and taken a photo and all that crazy stuff! First off, a little background:

Interface design is interesting. Fact. After all, most of us use a computer. I personally became interested in this field with the release of the iPhone. Now it's no secret that I went and got one of these little numbers (in fact I turned out being the first person in the UK to win one, courtesy of The Cloud) the day of release, and I was amazed. The interface is pretty much the most intuitive and natural thing I've ever seen. I truly believe that in five years time we'll all be sitting about thinking 'remember using a mouse, how weird was that?'. however I saw a recent blip on the scanner, Apple released the MacBook Air. It features the same multi-touch technology in the iPhone but on the famously large Apple trackpad. Now I've not tried one of these bad-boys yet but I'm pretty damned sure the thing that makes the multi-touch interface work is the premise that you're getting the instant feedback from the screen under your finger or 'touching your music' as Jobs puts it. Seeing as you're looking up at the screen on the MacBook Air I imagine a lot of the magic there is lost. Now, onto the interesting bit.

As previously mentioned here lies a very interesting guy with an interesting idea: Take the worlds most successful console, featuring the worlds most interesting piece of hardware, and run with it. However I think we're missing out on something here. I propose we build on this multi-touch concept... and I think that it's only a short stop from the now.

Apple laptops have, for years now, been fitted with an iSight camera. Apple are also pioneering multi-touch user interfaces. In fact they've allegedly given the thumbs up to the MacBook Touch R&D as reported here. I suggest a competitor, and intend to come up with a prototype soon, here we go...

Higher resolution iSight camera.
Two additional infra-red LEDs in the corners of the top case.
A few changes to OS X in order to use the existing multi-touch interface on the MacBook Air.

...and boom! There we have it, an all singing, all dancing, truly responsive multi-touch user interface that would be minimal cost for Apple (or other vendors) and can be incorporated into their product line as it stands. Steve Jobs: where's my R&D contract?

TiddlyChatter

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:51:00 GMT

So TiddlyChatter, sounds cool? You haven't got a clue what it's about yet! Lets rectify that shall we? Stay with me. So, you know this facebook thing? The one that everyone loves to hate, me included. Well. The thing is, there are a LOT of areas it fails to capitalize on (and by that I don't mean money). However, there is one little gem which, given a little cutting down and buffing up, could be a diamond. The home screen. All the information you need, one place, decentralised and relevant. This is the idea behind TiddlyChatter, brainchild of Jon Lister and it looks to be going places. Look to subscribe here using it soon. If anyone, actually, ever, reads this... who knows! Meanwhile check out Jon's blog for more information.

Update

Development on this has stalled, personally I request a reasoning? Lets get it moving again Jay!

TiddlyProblems

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:50:00 GMT

Ok so I'm going to limit myself at one blog entry a day but, as some of us TiddlyWiki fans well know, TiddlySpot experienced seasonably technological problems recently. I think Santa must have spilt his bourbon all over the TiddlySpot fireplace. But it's ok, all cleared up now. On with the show.

I'm looking at solving a few problems over at the Tomfoolery pages but just thought I'd add a point. I'd like comments on my page a la Wordpress... I've had words with Jon Lister about this and I dont think there's something that enables me to do this. So I'll jump headfirst into the darkness of JavaScript. Not that I really enjoy this sort of thing but, as the classic Open Source cliche goes, I'e got an itch. See what's happening over here.

VoIP on the iPhone

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:07:00 GMT

Voice over IP, or VoIP as it's often abbreviated to, is simply about putting your voice (aka a phone call) down the wire, over the internet and back out into someone else's ear. I'm not going to explain how it works or what's crap about it because that's what tech pages are made for (the sort of stuff I have to read all day). Anyways on with the point.

I'm currently on an O2, eighteen-month contract with no fair usage poilcy on the data up and download rates. Therefore I see an opportunity for overcoming the two-hundred or so minutes I get to use every month by writing an application to integrate with the Asterisk open-source call manager system (again you can look that up in the future). I'm currently working with my (annonymous) employer in an office whereby said technologies are tested for deployment on certain large scale networks. I'm taking my next job (in April) within the same company, but in a research capacity, working with said systems to develop an application for quick rollout of telephony to hard-to-reach places.

In here I see opportunity for development, so, come March, I'll get right on it. I've already mentioned it to a friend who's potentially more programming savvy with me in the necessary objective-C (again look it up) so it'll be definately something that I'll be going ahead with. Look out for it in the future as it'll have the BenJam seal on it, be open source and will be competing against a load of proprietry clients written by big men in suits.

I've just decided, I'll leave some references for the lazier among you to get up to speed on any techie components of this wiki/blog.

My New Favourite Thing

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:24:00 GMT

Well, it appears people enjoy the lighter side of life here at BenJam so I'll indulge you in my latest lifetime fascination; Undertaking people on speed cameras. I love it! It sends two clear messages:

You're in the wrong lane.
You don't score life-points for going through a camera 10 miles an hour slower.

I'm not sure whether this is classed as dangerous driving. If it is then I don't endorse it. But I think I'll continue for a while, because it makes me smile. Now I really must get those comments working...

All I Want (for Christmas)

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:33:00 GMT

So, I wrote this post once on IE at work and, well, I'm never going to post from work again, else this little bit wouldn't be here. So it begins. In light of Jon Lister posting his Christmas 2008 desires over here I thought I'd follow suit... I dunno, seemed like a good idea at the time. Here goes, oh and don't worry, Im not as complex as Jay:

Firstly I'd like to see an on-demand television service that works. I value my time and often miss things because I refuse to have my habits dictated by a snotty BBC scheduling executive. The recent AppleTV upgrade in the US has interested me. If only they could arrange a rental contract for the rest of the world.
Secondly, and in full awareness that I'm following Jon Lister very closely on this, is that I'd like to see decentralised social networking come unstuck. However I think Jay missed a bit here. The way I see it, in order to have a successful, open social networking platform you need three things; an open identity management system, standardisation of the interfaces between open social platforms and (potentially) computer friendly semantics. Now I realise that, in order to keep a social network alive you need to include your users, but this is a Christmas list, and who ever got what they really wanted when they were ten? I sure as well didn't get 'Blossom' to stay at a sleep over now, did I?
Finally, and most importantly, I'd like to see WiFi take off. I'm sick of all this Mickey Mouse WiFi hotspot madness. I think I must hop in and out of about ten networks on my way to work. I hear WiMax making big noises over in there garden but, there are a few physical barriers to be overcome, for instance concrete. I could be very boring on this subject for a very long time so I'll leave it at that. All I'll say for now is this; Analog television spectrum up for auction next month... interesting?

So that's it really, three things, can't be hard can it? It's not like I'm asking for a solution to the P=NP? problem am I?

A Few Changes...

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:31:00 GMT

As you probably don't know, I'm trying this blog thing for one year to see whether anyone gains anything decent from it, mainly me. Well I guess at least now you know why I'm writing. Anyway. So far I've not felt completely comfortable with the idea and found myself squabbling in my head over subjects to write about; 'should it be comical' I thought, 'should it be focussed on technical' was another or 'perhaps I should just give up' was in there too. After much soul searching, web-hunting and chatting I've come to a conclusion. That is, I personally, have come to a conclusion. Now I'm not going to rant about the million and one points of being a good blogger, that's what this is all about. No, instead you'll just see a few changes around here.

I am going to try and write one post a day though... and include pictures... somehow...

Blog

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:25:00 GMT

So, I'm going to give this blog thing a go in 2008. Enjoy.

Pavement Woe

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:22:00 GMT

So, I left work today knowing damned-well that the Macworld Expo Keynote was about to begin. 'Ahh that thin MacBook, ah the iPhone upgrade' I thought. I'm in the midst of trolling through MacRumours and apple.com but I've something more pressing on my mind. Now what could that be?

I live in London and participate daily in a rain-sodden walk from the tube to my office, but today was a day like no other, oh no, today the pavement had it in for me. I stepped on at least five paving stones only to have the sodden content beneath squelch up my suit trousers. Up!? How the hell does that happen!? Ken Livingston, pull your finger out. Now I'm off to the dry cleaners...

Anyway. On with the show.

Links

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:37:00 GMT

Links are... well, they're just links, aren't they? Go work it out.

Welcome

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:39:00 GMT

Hello and welcome to technological commentary from BenJam. On this site you'll find stuff I'm working on and stuff I'm not, stuff I'm interested in and not stuff I'm not, and finally stuff you are not possibly but maybe probably interested in reading... It'll make sense, trust me.