Whilst I have heard of the Apple battery charger, it has recently come to my attention due to a staff request for one at work.
I have heard on the TWIT podcasts that the batteries included with the Apple battery charger are actually the same chemical make-up as the Sanyo Eneloop batteries. These batteries can retain 80 percent of their charged capacity and potentially last for up to 10 years of service life.
Whilst people could just go out and buy any rechargeable batteries I think it is good there is now an option for those who will only buy products branded with a fruity label.
Unusual statement by Apple on the White iPhone 4
White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
As far as I am aware there isn’t a current official statement on the availability of the 4th generation iPhone in Australia. Phone carriers are all suggesting that it will be ‘coming soon’…
37signals has released an iPad app called Draft. It is quite simple in design but by not trying to do too much it actually seems quite handy for knocking out design sketches. The price of $9.99 feels like a bit of a stretch though.
Derek Powazek has posted some photos taken from his iPhone 4 on his blog. I’ve been quite happy with some of the photos I’ve taken with my iPhone 3G, so the improved camera is going to be very handy for me.
The iPhone 4 is the first decent mobile camera I’ve ever owned. I’m just stunned by the image quality.
Just look at the detail and clarity. I’ve owned digital cameras that took crappier photos.
And finally elgato sent me an email this morning regarding a limited time feature they have on offer for their eyeTV product. Obviously someone working in the company got sick of the Vuvuzela’s used during the FIFA World Cup and they have added a filter option to specifically remove the buzz from the horns.
A special edition of EyeTV 3.4 software is available during the 2010 FIFA World Cup that offers a new feature called the “Vuvuzela Filter”. This filter gives you the option to dampen the buzz of vuvuzela horns in the stadium during live TV broadcasts; it can be quickly switched on and off at any time during the game. To use the filter, control click to bring up the contextual menu in EyeTV.
Click here for a quick demonstration of the Vuvuzela Filter in action.
The Vuvuzela Filter is available in EyeTV for a limited time only, and will disappear with the next software update – after the 2010 FIFA World Cup is over.
I was completely unaware that word press had released a new version of the iPhone application until I started playing around with an iPad.
Seems quite acceptable to type on. 
I heard on macbreak weekly that if you use the USB kit with an ipad it will recognise & work with external audio devices such as headsets and USB soundcards for the purpose of recording audio. Not bad for a long battery audio recording device!
The iPhone 4.0 beta 4 SDK has been released to developers. It can’t be long now until the final version is released and then the next generation iPhone!
(Well obviously June at the WWDC)
Mistakes were made, there is no doubt about that. Sitting here I have a movie playing in my head of series of events – of incorrect thinking and extremely poor choices that caused me stumble down the path which I eventually travelled. No matter how much I regret how things turned out, it won’t make the situation any better.
What’s done is done and no matter how badly I wish I could make amends it doesn’t appear like a situation is going to present itself to lead to that end.
I could keep going down this path or I could try to repair myself, to seek help. To assist myself to improve rather than always looking for the next person who might need a hand.
In order to have a future with anyone – to help anyone. I first need to help myself. So I’ve made several resolutions.
Lose weight.
Over the past few years study, work and mostly diet have contributed to gaining a fair bit of weight despite my regular mountain biking.
Since March 2010 I’ve lost over 20kg and hope to continue losing weight until I get to a goal weight of 85kg later this year. In total it will be a loss of over 45kg which I think is achievable. And to be honest I can’t believe I’ve been carrying that weight around with me everywhere.
My plan to achieve this is to cut out fast food, reduce meal sizes (I always ate too much) and to do daily exercise in a combination of pilates, weight training, cycling and swimming. I’m obviously not training to be an athlete or to put on too much muscle mass, just to become much leaner.
I think this will also help with my self esteem.
Seek help.
Life planning, conflict management, learning how to say no to people. Following recent events I believe I have a better idea of what I want out of life, I just now need to work out how I can get there.
Reconnect with family and friends.
Unfortunately over the last few years I’ve lost touch with many family and friends and I am actively trying to reconnect with people. For the most part I’ve found people are glad to hear from me and I really wish I had never got in that position in the first place. I need to share my life and accept that people care about what or how I’m doing.
Find financial security.
I’ve always managed to pay my bills but unfortunately always had a personal loan or credit card lurking in the shadows. I’m now working towards paying off these debts and maintaining a positive overall balance.
I could possibly go further with resolutions but that’s what I’m starting with for now.
I am in the process of undertaking a DIYPNP project for my 1991 MX5. This new kit is based on the Megasquirt II design and won’t work with the existing Megasquirt I baseline maps.
I may try to use the 1.8L MX5 DIYPNP maps but I plan to double check these settings against the known base settings for the 1990-1993 B6 engine.
| B6 (MSPNP) | BP (DIYPNP) | |
| Standard Constants | ||
| Required Fuel | 13.4ms | 13.0ms |
| Injector Opening Time | 1ms | 1ms |
| Battery Voltage Correction | 0.10ms/v | 0.20ms/v |
| PWM Current limit | 100% | 75% |
| PWM Time | 25.4ms | 25.6ms |
| Fast Idle Threshhold | 80.0F | 140F |
| Barometric Correction | ON | ON |
| Control Algorithm | Speed Density | Speed Density |
| Squirts per Engine Cycle | 2 | 2 |
| Injector Staging | Alternating | Alternating |
| Engine Stroke | 4-stroke | 4-stroke |
| Number of Cylinders | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Injectors | 4 | 4 |
| MAP type | 400kPa | 400kPa |
| Engine Type | Even fire | Even fire |
| EGO Control | ||
| EGO Sensor type | Narrow Band | |
| EGO Switch point | 0.510 | |
| Ignition Events | 72 | |
| Controller step size | 1% | |
| Controller authority | 5% | |
| Active above coolant temp | 160F | |
| Active above RPM | 1500RPM | |
| EGO Correction Counter | Ign Pulses | |
| Idle valve frequency | 62 | |
After the disappointment I received when Vista completely bombed on my aged but still functional Dell Inspiron 4100 (Pentium IIIm 1Ghz) I thought it had been pushed to the corner and I was only using it for testing new Linux distributions. Even that has recently become a chore as Gnome has become slick and fancy.
I am lending my old Dell to a computerless friend who is currently in need, and Linux was a bit daunting for them. I thought I’d try Windows 7 32bit as it seems to run just fine on my Intel Atom machine.
To be brief I’m stunned with the performance. A near flawless install (except for a XP networking driver I pulled from the Dell site). Sure it’s not the full aero experience but none-the-less a hugely impressive performance for a machine that is around 8 years old!
Whilst browsing through the Direct2Dell blog I saw that Microsoft has announced the release date for Windows 7.
This has been confirmed as a tweet from the Microsoft team and on their blog.
At work I seem to be getting a reputation of being a ‘Mac guy’ because I have decent OsX knowledge but in reality I like to have a go at all the current operating systems and I certainly like to explore technology.
I have had the Windows 7 RC1 running on a home machine for a while now and I am considering installing it on a netbook as I’ve heard it works quite well with the Atom processor.
Windows 7 already seems fairly polished with only the occasional driver issue presenting itself. Microsoft have managed to get 7 in better shape than Vista in a fairly short timeframe and I think this will be a successful launch for them despite the economic conditions.
If you haven’t already tried Windows 7 I recommend downloading it and giving it a chance.
Shawn Blanc has reviewed MarsEdit and suggests that it has outlasted much of the competition to survive in the blogging world of today.
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