frans

IBM looks into the future

It is always fun to read how people try to guess the future; here we have what the researchers at the IBM labs think the next five years will hold for you: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22683.wss (Smart energy controls, smart cars, smart consumer products everywhere…)

iPhone story, sort of

Offering some glimpses behind the curtains, Wired runs a story of iPhone: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_iphone

Squeezebox

This is another great little gadget: Squeezebox (by Slimdevices, which is now part of Logitech) is an easy-to-use device for playing all those mp3’s and other media files that reside in your media server disk through the speakers in your library or living room. It can use both Wi-Fi and wired ethernet to connect and can also connect to Shoutcast and other net radio stations. I had some trouble in configuring the Slimserver software in Ubuntu server to access files in my USB hard disk. Here are couple of useful links to help in that:

WP-Cache with Google Analytics?

This morning I updated the WordPress installation running this site into version 2.3.2. At the same time I also installed WP-cache plugin, which speeds up WordPress by using static, cached pages instead of making a PHP database query every time a single page is needed. What left me wondering though, is that will Google Analytics report correct numbers after this trick? I suppose it should work, since the actual usage database is being collected into Google servers, and they only need to get info about the page load (dynamic or static, no difference) every time the site is being accessed. But I am not sure about that, though.

Here is a Google Analytics screen shot of the Map Overlay for users accessing this site (I typically get c. 100-200 visitors per day; top countries, United States 1,867 for the last month; United Kingdom 630; Finland 474 [click for the full-sized map]):

Edit: It looks that there is a bug, and you need to manually comment out line 48 (add ‘#’ in line beginning) in file /wp-includes/cache.php; see: http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/4045#comment:4

Smooth sounds

One thing that Santa brought us this year that has already proved to be almost constantly in use: Model One (Platinum Edition) by Tivoli Audio. Smooth sounds, intuitive no-nonsense interface and luxurious finish. Everything you need from a radio.

Bluetooth stereo headsets?

One thing that I have been missing in my travels and also while working is a wireless pair of headphones which would also work as hands-free system for taking those incoming calls. Ability to pair with both MP3 player (or: adapter) and a Nokia phone is thus a must. So far, it seems these are still first generation products and user experiences vary a lot. Some examples Continue reading “Bluetooth stereo headsets?”

Raw Shark Texts

It has long been my tradition to indulge in my old love during holidays — meaning reading fantasy and science fiction. This time Santa brought me a surprise hit: The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. Part Memento style whodunnit, part love story, part fun exploration into what constitutes “information” and “life” — a bit like some classic cyberpunk texts but with a fresh twist. Excellent!

Xmas shopping

Xmas shopping
Originally uploaded by FransBadger

It says it all…

Games spearhead the Alliance University

The exists an initiative to form a leading research and educational university into Finland through close collaboration of three autonomous universities: University of Tampere, Tampere Technical University and the University of Jyväskylä (“Sisä-Suomen yliopistoallianssi”). Yesterday the collaborative initiatives awarded the status and resources to spearhead this new Alliance were revealed and I was happy to see our initiative to form a joint Centre of Games Research by joining the forces of games researchers from the Alliance was selected as one of these spearhead initiatives. Hooray!

Indexing the textbook

IMG_2219.JPG
Originally uploaded by FransBadger

Today is (hopefully) the final day of the indexing marathon for my forthcoming game studies textbook — I have used the 37″ Samsung Full HD television for this phase, as it is the only screen with enough surface to display the entire PDF proof page in legible format while I do searches and synthesize names, concepts and discussions into index entries. Damned hard work, but this should be the final battle in this particular project.