Google TV

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I’m writing this post on my Transformer Prime from Google’s campus near Liverpool Street. It’s a really cool place and I’m glad I came here for this Google TV event.

My work was contacted by the organiser, and it seemed like nobody else was interested in taking part, so I offered to help out anyone who was going to use the API. Sadly our public API is currently closed, but I came along to speak about the future of connected televisions and things like that. It was only a very brief thing in front of a bunch of Android developers, but I was so nervous leading up to it.

It turned out that there was no need to be. It’s been a really cool experience, and it’s been cool to meet quite a few people who work in interesting places around London.

image

Some of the crowd I spoke to as viewed from the back where I was hiding.

It felt weird being one of the people that others looked to as if I know the whole idea inside out, but I guess through my work I have kind of just got used to the whole concept, and how it could be used, and what some potential issues might be.

I do like the Google TV idea, and I think the execution is pretty good so far. I would like to see quite a few changes to things though. It seems there’s no concept of user profiles, much like on a phone or a tablet. That means you can sign your TV into your Facebook account, leave the room, and quickly get Facebook raped by your nearest and dearest.

It’s good that Google are doing more with the interface guidelines and being a bit more prescriptive with how things should really work. One speaker suggested there’s a bit more stringent process involved in getting a TV app onto the market. I think that’s a good thing, mostly. As long as it doesn’t turn into an Apple-like situation.

Anyway, I think I’ve spent enough time talking crap on my blog. I should probably take a wander around the place and see what people are doing. It’s crazy seeing how quickly the apps get developed. It’s how I used to love doing things before working on big corporate projects. It’s nice to be free of the whole management side of things. You just have an idea and start coding it. Ordinarily we’d just be scheduling in the meeting to determine when the sprint planning would begin, and when the stand-ups would be.

28 today

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Today is my 28th birthday. I feel so old now.

I’m typing this on the best present I’ve had in years. My Transformer Prime from Cheryl has completely taken over most of what I used to do on my phone, and all the stuff I’d normally consider my laptop for.

Really enjoying the long weekend and looking forward to another day off tomorrow. 4-day bank holiday weekends are awesome!

First post from my Transformer Prime

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Cheryl bought me a Transformer Prime for my birthday. It arrived yesterday and I went home during my lunch hour to plug it in so I could use it sooner.

It feels really nice to hold, and the keyboard makes a big difference when I have a lot of text to input like this. I would probably have finished writing stuff if I was using a virtual keyboard.

Android still lacks many good apps designed to work on such a big screen, bit I’m sure there will be more than enough over time. I’m happy with using the phone-style interfaces for most stuff and then taking advantage of the big screen for pictures, videos, web browsing and stuff like that.

So yeah, my first impressions are good, and I’m sure the experience will get better and better.

Barclaycard redefining how words work

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I currently have a credit card with Barclaycard. I never use it for any purchases or withdrawals or anything, but I have it there in case I need it.

Today they sent me an email containing some changes to their terms and condition. I was going to delete it, but curiosity made me read it instead. I found the following change to be very interesting:

Barclaycard Balances and Payments (Condition 3.1)
Previously Cash-Like Transactions and Gaming Transactions were treated as Purchases. These Transactions will now be treated as Cash and we’ll charge a Transaction Fee and interest at the Cash Rate.
For clarity:-

Cash-Like Transactions include the sending of money orders or wire transfers.
Gaming Transactions include gambling, betting and other transactions relating to gaming, such as the purchases of lottery tickets or gaming chips or purchases made at gambling establishments or on websites.

So they’re basically making some purchases count as cash instead of purchases because cash generally has a much higher rate of interest on it. Their wording of the Gaming Transactions section is a bit bizarre though. At the start of the update they’re saying how they’re cash-like payments. They then go on to say “such as the purchases of lottery tickets or gaming chips or purchases made [...]”

I’m not really sure how they can say that something they define as being a purchase is actually a cash withdrawal, and then charge people for it.

Doing the tourist thing, Les Miserables

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Ricky came down to visit Rik and me last night. We all went for some dinner (with Cheryl and Nicole too) at Smollensky’s in Canary Wharf. It was really nice in there, and not massively expensive considering where it is.

We came back to the apartment and had some more drinks and put Jarheads on (muted) to keep Ricky entertained. After several hours of deep conversations about why nobody else thinks how we do, and how we could make the world better the three non-residents caught a taxi back to Riks and Cheryl and I went to bed.

This morning I got up and went out to meet Nicole, Ricky, and Rik again at Teapod. I took a quick walk there and it started to turn nice and sunny on the way. We ate some brunch and then headed off along the south bank towards Westminster so Ricky could take lots of tourist pictures. The rest of us did the same. :)

Just past the London Eye we heard some screaming. I looked ahead and saw a whole bunch of purple balloons and a troop of people marching. The crowd parted to let them through and it turned out to be a march of Justin Bieber fans chanting about how much they love him and then screaming. It was mental.

We had to get to St. Pancras so that Ricky could get his train home, but we stopped by Starbucks first for a quick farewell drink. After we watched Ricky board the train we decided to go along to Stratford because Rik and Nicole needed some stuff. I picked up some sushi for me and Cheryl and headed back home.

Cheryl and I ate quickly and then headed off to the tube to travel to Leicester Square. Unfortunately we got off at London Bridge instead of Waterloo for the other Northern line branch. After we walked back we had a 5 minute wait for the train. Once we got to the Northern line a train was at the platform, but there was a paramedic and someone was talking about the passenger alarm.

We walked to the other end of the platform and got on the less-busy end of the train. Apparently the alarm had been pulled in 3 carriages, somehow. Nothing happened for a long time and then we finally set off. The journey was crap, the stations were packed, and when we finally got off at Leicester Square we had 5 minutes to get to the theatre to see Les Miserables.

We ran through the square and through part of Chinatown and made it to the theatre 2 minutes before the show was due to start. We found our seats, took off our coats, sat down, and the show started seconds later. We were incredibly lucky to make it. :)

The performance was absolutely amazing. I’m so glad I finally went to see a full and proper production.

Under a Soft Blanket of Fallen Leaves

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This poem was read at my great auntie’s funeral and it seemed very well-suited to how she felt about nature and her wishes for her funeral. I just wanted to remember it.

Under a soft blanket of fallen leaves,
safe in the hush of the whispering trees
I have come home.

My time here on earth is now done,
all the noise and the clamour, the joy and the pain,
the powerful life force that drove me onwards
has slipped away into the quiet of eternity,
and I am at peace.

From now on, I will dance through your memories
threading thoughts of love through your heart.
The pain of loss will gradually ease, and the sadness will lift.
the days will be lighter, and the nights not so long,
for I am still here.

When you walk through this place, you will feel me
in the gentle touch of the breeze on your face,
in the sunlight dappling the forest floor,
in the murmur of the branches high above you,
I am all around.

I have returned to the place from whence I came,
to the elements that created me.
The earth that gave me the life I so loved
has now welcomed me back to her,
to be at one with all her beauty.

Here, under my blanket of fallen leaves
I have found my resting place.
I have come home.

–Fran Hall 2008

Rik, snow, Android

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Rik moved down to London not so long ago and he’s been staying with Cheryl and me since then. It’s been kind of weird having someone else in the house again, not in a horrible way, just different. I’d forgotten what it was like. Anyway, glad to help him out in what is normally a very difficult and expensive thing to do.

It’s cool having him at work too, especially since Dan is abandoning me for Australia in a matter of weeks now.

It snowed in London for the first time this winter over the weekend. Cheryl, Charlotte, Aron, and I spent a good hour or two on the roof terrace in the middle of the night throwing snowballs and building snowmen. It was a lot of fun. I was soaking wet when I got back into the apartment, but it was enjoyable.

I’ve been working on one of my Android apps quite a bit recently. It’s really frustrating me at the moment though because things aren’t working how I’d expect them to. I think it’s just the dimension definitions that are making it look so horrible, but I can’t be sure. It also seems that there’s no font anti-aliasing on my phone. It could just be the dimensions and some horrible scaling though. Oh well.

Gwen

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Yesterday I missed a call from my mum. I got a voicemail message asking me to call her back as soon as I could. I knew my great auntie Gwen had died even before I called my mum back.

I’m not psychic, she’d been ill for quite a while and it wasn’t too difficult to put the tone of my mum’s voice together with the list of things that could be wrong.

For the last 7 years or so since I got back from America I’ve been meaning to go and visit her. For one reason or another I didn’t manage it. It’s kind of ridiculous to think I couldn’t make time to visit her once in 7 years, and that’s because it’s not true. I could easily have gone to visit her at almost any time. I just didn’t.

It’s easy to use things like not having her phone number or address as an excuse, but I could get those things within a couple of minutes by calling almost anyone else in my family. It’s really quite upsetting.

I believe it’s now the case that every member of the family in the generation of my grandparents is dead… Another reminder that I’m getting older.

Trying to piece together the information I can remember about her is quite difficult. I know she was a scientist. I was told she worked on interesting projects for things to do with satellites, or rockets, and the colour television. I know she used to ride a motorbike when she was a lot younger. I know she loved nature, woke up early, was active until very late in her life, and that’s just about it.

So yeah, it seems her love of nature is following her to the grave, literally. She requested a woodland burial in a cardboard coffin. That’ll be an interesting experience, but I’m glad we’re trying to follow through on her wishes as much as possible.

R.I.P. Gwendoline Elsie Luker (formerly Bull) 25th of May 1927 – 27th or 28th of January 2012

6 years to read a book

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Today is the day I finally finished reading Ulysses by James Joyce. I started reading this detestable book back in 2006. I’ve obviously not been reading this continuously for that entire time, but the thought of reading it has been in the back of my mind for much of this time.

Well, today is the day I finally reached the end. I am so pleased not to have to read this book any more. It is the least enjoyable book I have read in my entire life.

Now I’m going to start reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The few things I’ve read about it seem interesting, and I am looking forward to reading it. :)

The Morning From Heck

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This morning was quite annoying. It wasn’t the worst morning ever, but it was quite bad so I am calling it The Morning From Heck!

It started when I got to Canada Water station and saw that the Jubilee Line had severe delays. I figured I’d check it out because it’s not always as bad as they say. Well, I’ve never seen so many people in that station. The trains were about 10 minutes apart and their arrival estimates kept getting further and further into the future. One train arrived while I waited there and it was so jammed full of people that I immediately turned around and went up the escalators and headed to the Overground.

The Gherkin from Whitechapel Station

The Gherkin from Whitechapel Station

When I got to Whitechapel I had to wait for 3 westbound District Line trains to go through before the Hammersmith & City line train I needed pulled up just past me on the platform. I walked along to the end of the train and got on. When the doors opened at Liverpool Street I was greeted by about 6 million people all wanting to get on the train. I pushed through and made it to the stairs. I crossed the busy crossing area where people are heading in 4 separate directions and trying not to bump into each other. It reminded me of watching traffic in India.

I got to the Central Line and the train that was there was too full to let me on, so I walked down to the other end of the platform. The arrivals board said that the next 3 trains were arriving in 1 minute, 1 minute, and 2 minutes. 5 minutes later the train (that I could see in the tunnel the entire time) crawled into the station, stopped short of the end, waited for a minute, then pulled the rest of the way in. I squeezed on and got shoved further in the guy in front of me by the retard behind me.

As we went through central London the train gradually emptied. I managed to get a seat by the time we reached Bond Street where I would normally have boarded the train, only 20 minutes later than usual.

The journey went well for several minutes and I was glad. Then the driver started speaking. He informed us that this westbound train would be pulling into the eastbound platform at Queensway. We all had to get off the train, get by the perplexed people on the platform, and get to the westbound platform to continue our journeys.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and I was very pleased about that when I got to North Acton.

I called into Tesco Express to pick up 5 porridge cups for £4 only to find that they had run out. Instead I bought some nice porridge sachets with apple and blueberry in them. I got to work, settled down, and then went downstairs to sort out my breakfast. I followed the instructions on the sachet and then put the sachet inside a cup to prevent it from falling over in the microwave. I set the timer and then went about making myself some coffee.

Less than 2 minutes later I looked into the microwave and found a delightful sight awaiting me.

Quaker Oats explosion

Quaker Oats explosion

 

That was The Morning From Heck!

:-(

Edit

Just noticed it’s Friday the 13th. Hmmph.