Oh yeah. I uhh, I don't use this anymore really.

judges119.tumblr.com

That's been my standard blogging platform the last few months.

Why?

I prefer the variability in posting styles, the microblogging and social aspects of Tumblr, plus it just seems to fit better with what I do.

NBN Vs Wireless

There are many, many rants about the following done on a daily basis, particularly since the Telstra's announcement (soon followed by Optus and Vodafone) that it plans to have 4th generation/LTE mobile internet available in all capital cities. But as an avid internet user I feel it's important to put my rant up somewhere on the 'net and pretend I'm both informed and important.

LTE wireless technology is brilliant in the sense that it can bring a much needed boost to speed and availability on our often slow, patchy or congested mobile phone networks. This access means more people can use the internet on the go, especially with the continual rise in smartphone use, the still emerging 3G "tablet" computing phenomenon as well as the use of 3G broadband on laptops.

However just because it has a usefulness in some scenarios does not mean that it is a replacement for physical medium broadband such as ADSL, cable or fibre-optic. LTE is still affected by the number of people connected to the service as well as distance from your local tower. Add to this the current costs of data carriage over mobile networks and we may even see the return of minuscule quotas if LTE is used as a replacement for land-based broadband. Another common issue of wireless services is latency, even with higher speeds (an issue noted on some of the 4G rollouts around towns such as Perth). As we move forward into an internet-connected world, we are using the internet for more high-bandwidth and time sensitive applications such as VoIP, video-conferencing and IPTV. With increased latency, we would see stuttering and delays in conversation (think webcamming on MSN back in the later days of dialup).

For some of the reasons outlined above, the NBN is definitely the winner, especially as a replacement for the aging copper network we use for our currently ADSL and ADSL2+ services which are affected by distance, water and EM interference. As we continue moving forward and see more IPTV providers, more online and streaming content, the necessity of connection speeds from 25Mbps up to 1Gbps is clear. It is not just about serving us for today (something many have said could be done with improved ADSL rollouts or 3G wireless coverage), it is about helping to prepare for the future on some level. But a strong NBN does not mean LTE should be abandoned. They each have a purpose in Australia's future, so each should be backed.

Recent

Just thought I would post an update as to why I sometimes appear distant, alone or slightly down. Since October last year, I have lost common contact with about 2/3rds of my close friends. My Dad is going on a peacekeeping mission in March for the next 5 months and my Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer and is soon to be undergoing chemotherapy/radiotherapy.

This blog may become more of my publicly viewable diary it seems. I guess I just felt like I needed to tell some faceless entity what was wrong.

Better than an iPhone

This post is proudly brought to you from my new HTC Desire, my first true smartphone. I realised just how lovely such a device was when I didn't want to leave my bed when I first woke up up and instead checked my emails and various social media streams from this little beauty. I love the UI and systems so far, including the ease of developing and loading custom software for it.

Plus I can blog from it!

Bad Timing

Timing belt in the girlfriend's car snapped while we were driving past Bold Park today, caused the car to cut out in the decent expanse between the ocean and Floreat forum (basically, a bastard walk to anything civilised). Called RAC, waited an hour for someone to confirm that indeed, the car would need a tow and thankfully we could get the tow for free. This seemed like a goddamned godsend given the horrid heat and near-terminal humidity that accompanied it (reminded be of being back in 'Nam). Only catch was the tow would be around three and a half hours and we had yet to eat or drink that day. Eventually I walked to Floreat Forum to grab food/drink and came back just as the tow rocked up (early).

I have both a perfect t-shirt and raccoon sunburn.

On the lighter news, I had a kickass and relaxing New Year!

In project related news, I have my Kinect hooked up to the computer and using the NUI drivers from Code Laboratories, I'm slowly writing code (first tests with the depth cam) to test the abilities of the Kinect system. using OpenCV and fragments of things I can find online I found got something to track points (like fingertips) and then tilt the Kinect system up or down when they are near the top or bottom of the view. Nice test to get me more into programming, I'm enjoying this!

/proud

Proverb

Every day a manager must email the slowest employee about his faults or else his employees will become lazy.

Every morning an employee must email his reports faster than the slowest employee or else he'll be berated for his faults.

It doesn't matter who you are, when the sun rises you must start emailing.

Kinect

So I might not be going back to a static IP yet and may be delaying getting a new phone, but I've been tempted into buying Kinect (impulsepurchaseyayyayyay). Initial thoughts are that it's actually pretty awesome. The user interface is pretty sweet and it just feels so goddamn futuristic.

The "Kinect Adventures" game it came with seems pretty average with the occasional odd response in-game. This could also be due to the cramped environment I was working in at the time however.

The girlfriend gave Kinecticmals a shot and it seems like one of the most adorable games I've ever had the pleasure to watch (with Snowy the Black Panther as the main star) and Jaynnie said it was pretty awesome to play. There was a weird glitch at one point where the Kinect system showed a second hand hovering on the screen as well, however we have ascertained this may have in fact been interference caused by one of my girlfriend's breasts.

Now I'm waiting on the arrival of the Proprietary-to-USB+Power adaptor to arrive from Microsoft Support (as the Xbox+Kinect bundle doesn't contain one) and I'll be able to hook it into my computer and see what can be done with it!

Regards,
Adam O'Grady