April 17th, 2009
Well dispite my earlier post about the Kindle I broke down and bought a reader. However, I didn’t go with the Kindle or the Sony but with the ASTAK EzReader.
My reasons are as follows:
- Astak EZReader is basically a Hanlin v3 which allows the use of Openinkpot.org opensource Reader software or you can install more recent Hanlin v3 software. Currently the most recent can be obtained from bebook.
- Because of the software installed on the device it supports more formats than either the Kindle or the Sony. I have noticed that MS Lit files sometime crash the software but at least they can be read. Also the openinkpot pdf viewer is much better than the hanlin software.
- Netbook tablets are still several months off and they are not being priced similarly to the original netbooks. Functionally the tablets only require a more complex hinge and touch screen but it looks like the price will take a little time to drop to a sub $600 price tag. I still believe that they could be the reader killer that I described before.
- I needed some kind of reader for PDF and HTML files for when I am away from the keyboard. I needed it mostly for the Apple Documentation on the IPHONE
The device is kind of slow but for the convenience it is acceptable. The USB upload sucks but the SD card makes up for it. Definetly get a 4GB SD card as a complement to the reader because it really is the only acceptable way to get and store data on these devices. Also openinkpot.org also offers a runable version of the software that you can use to boot into without reflashing your device. This then allows you to reboot back into your hanlin software without reflashing the reader.
I got my ASTAK from Fry’s about a two months ago. There are many Hanlin readers branded under different names such as bebook. Shop around I am sure you can find a good deal.
Posted in General, News | No Comments »
April 17th, 2009
Well L4D has absorbed my life and I am sorry for neglecting my programming except at work. I hope to get more done soon towards my Iphone projects. Also it has caused me to neglect my responsibilities concerning this website and blog.
Out of 15 pages of comments I have approved 5 posts that weren’t blatently advertisements for something noone cares about. If you are posting comments please make them pertinent. I know this request will do little to deter the bots, criminals (#$%^!*) or other automated posters, but one can hope.
As for L4D I have never been so addicted to a game. It has actually gotten me to join the SelectedSurivors.com clan. If you play L4D I hope to see you around my handle is Nash the Smasher.
As for my current programs there are no known bugs and they were more for me to learn about developing for the IPHONE platform. I am working on a business app but I am waiting a little for some changes in the API that will make my life easier. I probably should proceed however because what I have done is quite good and useful.
Posted in General, IPhone, News | No Comments »
February 15th, 2009
Well I am on vacation this week and hope to look at several things and try to rekindle my interest in programming on the IPhone. Also I am going to be looking at Multi-User programming for the mac which seems with a very few exceptions to be a rare.
There are no drivers to access any DB execpt sqlite from what I can see. I don’t care how advanced the rest of it is this is terrible. I have been doing multi-user business apps since 1995 on the PC. So how could they be so far behind.
I see that I can create webservices and use them to access the database which may be what I need to do.
Please leave comments on the above.
Posted in General, IPhone | No Comments »
February 9th, 2009
Well to little 2 late. I don’t know how much it actually cost to build a Kindle but the price needs to be around $150 and should include at a minimum of 8GB of storage space. It doesn’t have either of these things. Also within the next 6 months the netbooks will be shipping as tablets and that will mark the end of a Kindle. Why because even though a netbook battery will only last 4 hours how often do you read more than 4 hours at a time where you are not close to electricity. Also you can cary a change of batteries.
Also with a netbook you can run several different types of browsers, RSS Readers, Email, ITunes or other media player, Stanza, Microsoft Reader, and the list goes on and on and on. Kindle and the Sony can’t survive in that market. I admit there is some appeal to me for a device that is as lite as the Sony and Kindle with a single charge that will last more than 10hours but at $359 I think I will buy a tablet netbook.
Also we are not even taking into account the effect of the IPhone. I used to use a windows mobile device to read my Baen and other books. But I got the Iphone over the summer and that by far is the most convenient of all because I am already carrying the device, so there is nothing more to carry. It is also backlit so you set it to white text on black so that it doesn’t disturb your partner while you read in bed.
Happy Reading!
Posted in General, News | No Comments »
January 28th, 2009
It appears that very soon there will be new netbooks that are actually tablets. Well I got to say its about @#$% time. What took them so long. Well my guess is that they wanted to bilk the public for as much as possible. Old tablet models in general where just to bulky. I did buy one for one of the Excutives at LVAC. But I don’t think he used it much as a tablet.
The new netbooks will be ideal weighing in at under 3 pounds with a 10″ screen wifi and USB and stylus. What more could you ask for. This might even be the needle that broke the back of the kindle and the Sony ereaders. I realize that both of those products you can read for many hours at a time between recharges but lets face it most of won’t read more than a couple of hours at a time anyway. I expect that the new netbooks will be in the $400-$550 price range and ship with Windows 7 which may mean that we have to wait awhile for them.
Well happy reading and everything else you could do with a real tablet computer that is small enough finally.
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
January 28th, 2009
#ifdef DEBUG
# define DLog(s, …) NSLog((@”%s %s:%d ” s), __func__, basename(__FILE__), __LINE__, ## __VA_ARGS__);
#else
# define DLog(…) do {} while (0)
#endif
#define ALog(…) NSLog(__VA_ARGS__)
// get info/build/configuration debug/ other c flags/ -DDEBUG
Above is compilation of the Ideas and coments from http://www.cimgf.com/2009/01/24/dropping-nslog-in-release-builds/#more-411
Posted in IPhone | No Comments »
January 28th, 2009
I have been sick with a cold the last couple of days. I managed to get Windows 7 installed on the Macbook 2009 and it is working just fine. I also installed the new C# and Web Express for 2008 as well as SQL server 2008 Expresss. It should be fun to play with those a little.
I need to get back in the sadle again and start programming in Objective-C a little everyday before I forget what I have learned.
Cocos2d has come out with another version and I have built up a skeleton for a game including a sql backend for the high score system and a Properties table.
So many apps and so little time. My wife bought me a Philips Sound Bar (Christmas) for the Iphone the one that you can rotate the phone on. Awesome. I just got around to using Pandora and AOL Radio with it; I really like the combination. I also finally setup my Airport Express with the stereo and the Remote also very cool. So many entertainment options and so little time.
I thought about building another Tower Defence game but its just not in me. My main programming idea for a business app still seems to be where I should focus my attention and existing skill set.
Posted in General, IPhone | No Comments »
January 13th, 2009
I have resubmitted the Haiku update apple rejected the last one without even testing it after I fixed the bug from the previous posting. Hopefully they will accept it.
Tags: IPhone
Posted in IPhone | No Comments »
December 24th, 2008
Finished update to Haiku. Had problems with certificates and a excbadaddress. But all is working now. Spent the remainder of day watching movie and playing l4d.
Posted in IPhone | 1 Comment »
December 23rd, 2008
I finished my update for catchball but Haiku is having some kind of Memory or provisioning error. It will take me sometime tomorrow to figure out what is wrong.
Posted in IPhone | No Comments »
