Runner’s World has an article on a fascinating piece of kit that let’s you turn an iPod Nano in to a speed and distance monitor for running. The Nike+ consists of the usual footpod and then a wireless receiver that plugs in to the base of the Nano. As well as the usual capabilities to record data and then sync with a computer, the unique selling point of the Nike+ is that it can also tell you through your headphones how you’re doing. In theory you need to fork out the £65 for a pair of Nike+ shoes to hold the footpod but the Runner’s World articles suggests that attaching it to the laces does the job just as well. The really unbelievable part of this technology is the price – just £19. Fortunately I don’t have an iPod Nano otherwise the temptation would be there!
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Nike+
Tuesday, July 18th, 2006Camera purchase
Sunday, June 25th, 2006After months of indecision I finally purchased a Canon EOS 350D digital SLR today. Originally I had been toying with the idea of something like the Fuji S9500 but in the end decided that I’d like to have the extra flexibility that a digital SLR would provide. The next choice was between the Nikon D50 and the Canon. In the end I don’t think the decision was entirely rational.
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Widgets, links and spam
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006If there is anyone that actually visits this site then they have noticed that the right-hand column has changed a bit recently. This is as I’ve added WordPress Widgets to my template. The presence of a del.icio.us widget has encouraged me to sign up for an account there to store my links. I should probably also mention another Automattic project – Akismet – without which this site would have rapidly disappeared under the weight of spam comments. This saved me from the dilemma of whether or not to add captcha support to the blog with the associated accessibility issues.
SanDisk Ultra II SD Plus
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006I’ve bought a SanDisk Ultra II SD Plus for my compact camera. This memory card has a neat little trick up its sleeve in that, when folded in half, it reveals a USB adapter. This will firstly mean that I have to carry one less cable when travelling but also, unlike the camera, doesn’t require any special drivers making it easier to upload photos from an internet cafe. Only minor issue is likely to be PCs that have USB ports buried behind a plastic fascia as the the folded part of the card needs to sit flush with the machine. Download speeds seems pretty fast and there’s a nice blue light that emanates from the end of the card when plugged in to the USB port!
Humax chase play
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006Bought a Humax PVR-9200T a few months back after much agonising over the various limitations being posted on the Digital Spy forums. Although, to be fair, I haven’t been in the country much of the time since then, I’ve been pretty pleased with the purchase. The Freeview reception is certainly better than the previous box we had and Christine has certainly got the hang of recording programmes while I’ve been away. As a result, we probably watch less crap TV although Christine did make the observation that we probably also watch less news than we used to. Anyway, Humax have finally satisfied one of the major complaints by the addition of chase play in their latest over-the-air update (not to mention padding of recordings). Now, if they’ll only speed up the USB download then I’ll be a very happy bunny. (PS Owners of this box should also checkout www.hummy.org.uk for advice on getting the most out of it.)
Vegas birthday conference
Saturday, May 6th, 2006Spent the past week in Las Vegas for the IBM WebSphere Services Technical Conference. Had a direct flight from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic which was infinitely preferable to having to spend an extra couple of hours in some random US airport. We were based in the Rio for the week both for accommodation and the conference itself. Much more pleasant being off the Strip (in fact, I only made it to the Strip once and that was for an early morning run) although it did mean it was possible to spend the entire day inside a dry air-conditioned box. Sadly, by the time the presentations were over for each day the sun had dropped behind the buildings meaning that the hotel’s pool and beach weren’t as enticing as they might have been.
Service Integration Bus Explorer
Thursday, April 20th, 2006The browser based WebSphere Application Server (WAS) administration console is not an ideal interface for displaying runtime status. In addition, when working with the Service Integration Bus in WAS V6, the resources associated with a bus are spread over numerous panels. For a while now, those of use in IBM have had the pleasure of using an SWT application written by a colleague in development (Gareth Matthews) that provides a single viewpoint of the bus resources defined across multiple cells and their current runtime state. The legal niceties having being resolved, this fantastic tool is now available for all on alphaWorks.
J2SE JMS client
Thursday, April 20th, 2006I’m often asked by customers, both during engagements and more informally, about the support for connecting to the default messaging provider in WebSphere Application Server V6 from a client environment. Until now, the official line has been that either the client container or thin client from the WebSphere Application Client installation should be used. However, installing a 100Mb from a CD isn’t usually what most folks have in mind when talking about a thin client (at which point they start copying files from a server installation). Fortunately, a much more palatable option is now available from alphaWorks in the shape of the “Client for JMS on J2SE with IBM WebSphere Application Server”.
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