Web site broken

The component I put in place to translate HTM requests to ASPX requests on my website is broken,

Unfortunately at this second I am on holiday in the Rhone Alps with limited connectivity and no development system to try fix the site.

All .htm pages were recreated as .aspx pages a while back.

Sorry for the outage.

Mac webcam

Macs are so easy! I just found a Logitech USB web cam and plugget it in to my Mac Mini so I could use FaceTime and...

NOTHING!!

So, ha ha a Mac can't recognize or use something as simple as a USB webcam?

Hmmmmm.

Apple OS-X on an intel box?

I have become an Apple fan simply because the stuff they produce is great. I like the iPhone and iPad hardware and I am willing to pay for it. I have however been kind-of blackmailed into buying a Mac Mini box because I wanted to do development work on their platforms. Don't get me wrong. I love the Mac Mini too but despite the fact that it's neat and pretty its really just a well thought out but expensive PC clone with a security chip in it. I could throw away the OS and install Windows on it if I wanted. As I could Linux or even Google Chrome.

So, here's the thing. Apple are still trailing market share behind Microsoft. Why? Not becuse OS-X is bad. It's really quite good. They trail Microsoft because the Apple Mac is a western world toy for rich folks who can afford do drop a couple of hundred bucks or even a couple of thousand bucks extra for a sexy white box, cool design and a pretty white logo that is as technologically useful as the "swoosh" on Nike shoes.

Apple just made a big deal about the low cost of upgrade of their OS to Lion. 29 bucks gets you all the cloud enabled goodness but in spite of the fact that OS-X really is competittion for Microsoft Windows, Especially for the non-professional user, they will never break out of the niche market unless Steve Jobs announces that OS-X Lion or whatever the upcoming iterations will be called can be installed on a cheap box that a family in Bangladesh can afford.

We have an OS-X that can run on Intel hardware. Go the last step Steve. Kill the Trusted Platform Module and see how real compettition will drive an industry that doesn't need to innovate much at the moment.

Pour rend mes ex collegues jalous...

Je me réveille à 9 heures (environ).
Un de mes chers enfants me donne une tasse du thé.
Je prends mon iPad pour lire mes e-mails reçu pendant la nuit, je réponds à quelques une des mails, surtout celle qui m'apporte du business.
Je me levé à 10:30 (environ) et je prends ma douche, un p'tit toast et de la marmelade pour p'tit dej.
Je bosse un petit peut sur mon appli Android just pour me familiariser avec le mode d'utilisation.
Un p’tit facebook pour voir les délires de mon frère ce weekend.

Cette semaine déjà j'ai:

Réparer mon gros onduleur qui est capable d'alimenter mon ordi pendant une heure si nécessaire.
Reconfigurer mon environnement de dev PC et MAC avec un seul clavier, souris et écran
Ecris un appli Android en utilisant VS 2010

Aujourd’hui je vais m’installer avec tous mes matériaux dans mon abri de jardin tout climatisée ou je vais bosser et qui est tout près de la piscine si jamais j’ai besoin cet été.

Le seul bruit est le vent ou la pluie ou de temps en temps un coq qui chante (je vais peut-être le manger plus tard si il m'embête plus)

Paris, La Défense, le train, le bruit, les abrutis dans leurs voitures et dans le bus, le "bur" me manque tellement PAS que je ne sache pas comment je peux supporter tout cette calme.

Ha ha ha, bonne journée a tous!

The best environment for mobile phone development?

I am currently working on an appplication for iPhone and iPad. An application for Android phones and an application for Windows Phone 7.

One might imagine that changing between Objective C to Java to C# and Silverlight languages would be a mental challenge for an old chap like me. One could also assume that having a handle on the various API's that each system requires such that the aforementioned old chap could develop a well architected application on all three platforms would be a bit of a challenge too. The reality however is a bit different.

For all three platforms I use the same development kit, the same programming language and the same familiar set, or subset, of the API's I have been very comfortable with for the last ten years. You see, I use Visual Studio 2010, C# and .Net for everything.

I am able to create between 80 and 90 percent of the code using nonspecialised C# and the rest of the system, intractions with specialised APIs or the various graphics systems required by the different platforms. can be done using the Mono versions, MonoTouch or MonoDroid.

So, the conclusion for me at least is that Visual Studio 2010 is by far the most useful development system no matter what platform I am developing for.

Monodroid splash screen

If you're interested in such things I just answered this over on Stack Overflow...

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6560675/monodroid-splash-screen/6588089#6588089

One screen or two?

It seems that the norm for development systems has been a multiple screen approach for a few years. I have currently come to challenge that view thinking that one screen can suffice if the resolution is good and the aspect ratio is wide, say, 16 by 9.

I have a particularly interesting development setup requirement which implies that I use both a PC and a Mac simultaneously. Until a few days ago this implied rolling my chair from one end of the desk to the other and physically switching machines.

I tried a remote desktop approach which was ok but not as responsive as I had hoped due partly to the wireless network. Finally, I found a TrendNet keyboard, mouse and video switcher that seems to have done the trick.

So, my setup which I have begun to develop for Windows Phone 7, android and iPhone / iPad has a wide ratio LG screen, a Mac Mini, a quad core PC, a single keyboard and mouse and removes the need to scoot up and down the office on my wheelie chair to get to the other keyboard. It has the other advantage that my Mac Mini detected the fact that that stylishly White yet, to me, esoteric Apple keyboard, which is unwell since I poured tea into it anyway, has been replaced by a single ergonomic Microsoft 104 key keyboard that I am more used to working on and hence more productive.

My only problem was the fact that the LG screen only has a single audio input so my solution to that was to connect the Mac to the screen and the PC to the line-in of the Mac and to use this free LineIn program to retransmit the PC sound to the screen speakers.

So now, a simple click of the button on the KVM unit switches from Mac to PC and back all on the same keyboard and mouse. An added bonus is that I am now saving the cost of running two other screens which is going to be a bonus when my 100% off-grid power generation system comes on line in the fullness of time.

FREE AT LAST!

Well, the corporate lifestyle is OK. I admit it's well paid, but for someone who has spent so many years working on my own exiting projects and not worrying about office politics or how further up the ladder one should climb, the strain of working full time in heirarchical companies has taken a toll.

Yesterday was my last day with my last client in Paris. I've had offers of work but I've decided to go back to my roots and begin to create innovative software for many diverse platforms. Working in a more disconnected mode will give me opportunities to be with my family for longer too.

So, even though I will be taking on short consulting contracts and serving the needs of customers when no-one else will do, my role as CTO at Daraize Technologies is taking a more visionary turn and I will be responsible for broadening the scope of their offering by creating some new and useful stuff.

Right now I'm working on ideas with Peter Gabriel blasting out of the stereo!

Bob is back!!