App Inventor for Android

Just received this e-mail from Google

Welcome to App Inventor!

About App Inventor: App Inventor for Android allows people with minimal programming experience to create simple, personal apps for Android devices. It has a number of features which ease app development. App Inventor is best suited for people who are eager to learn the basics of programming and are interested in making basic apps for their personal use. Remember the Beta Tag: App Inventor is currently available as an invitation-based beta product. We are limiting access in order to ensure that our systems can handle the load. As a beta product App Inventor still has rough edges and missing features. In some cases the rough edges include un-pleasantries such as: installing Windows device drivers, installing Java on your computer, and fiddling with settings on your phone. We are working hard to smooth out the rough edges and we appreciate your use of App Inventor while we are in this beta state. It may sound a bit cliche but it really is true, your use of App Inventor today will help us make it better for the future! Now on to the good stuff. Getting Started with App Inventor: Complete these 3 steps to start using App Inventor: Set up your phone and computer. Connect your phone to your computer. Complete the basic tutorials. Take your App Inventor knowledge to the next level by: Working through the advanced tutorials. Reading the App Inventor reference material. Subscribing to the App Inventor user forum. Happy Inventing! Google's App Inventor Team

Keeping track of changes with Google Reader

Recently I heard JavaPosse's Dick Wall stating: "Google Reader is my lifeline".

I agree! More and more content is user generated. But not all content is quality and most of it still comes from traditional sites. 

That's where a feed aggregator like Google Reader can help.

A feed aggregator is a software that collates syndicated content called RSS feed. That is a machine readable file that reports parts or all the content of a page. When available,  a special icon usually appears somewhere on the page or on the browser's url field.
If you click on that icon you'll be taken to the Url of the Rss feed. The page appears as scrambled text. It is in reality an XML representation of the page you were looking at. You can grab that Url and paste into a feed aggregator such as Google Reader.
The feed aggregator will start polling that Url and will prompt you when the page is updated.

Home

All items (2)

Starred items

• 
  
  Your stuff
  
  • Shared items
  • Notes

Trends

Browse for stuff

• People you follow

The initial effort of copying and pasting that link soon pays off: you don't have to go and visit web sites you follow regularly in order to check updates. The updates come to you soon after they're published via the feed reader.
That way I've been able to monitor much more interesting stuff than I could have done by hand.

Not all Rss feeds reports the whole content of the page is linked to. Often news sites provide just an excerpt from their stories and a link back to the stories themselves. That's for obvious reasons: generating traffic to their ad hosting pages, fair enough.

Not all syndicated content is interesting or original. A lot of times, the same news comes from different sources. That's where Google Reader's Key Shortcuts are really useful.

If you click '?' on Google Reader, a list of those shortcuts will appear.

The ones I use a lot are:

- g+a: go to new posts

- n: skip to the next post

At a certain point it may become too much, with hundreds of new feeds being collected every day. It's then time to decide what sites is worth following and what's not.

Google Reader, being web based, has a series of advantages with respect to stand-alone readers:

• it's connected to your gmail or google apps account, so it's always updated and available wherever you connect from. That's useful when you follow a mix of work and personal sites
• you can search across your subscriptions to find interesting stuff you've read before
• with time you build a profile of what you're interested in and Google Reader can suggest you sources you might be interested in. 

But there's another neat feature. Google Reader allows you track changes of any web page, even those that don't offer Rss! If you enter the location of a page without Rss, Reader will start polling that page and over time it will automatically build a summary of changes.

That's useful for pages like 'job opportunities' or 'current exhibitions' at museums such as: http://www.pataka.org.nz/48977/links/bulletpages.html

Google feed for "http://www.pataka.org.nz/48977/links/bulletpages.html"

Google will watch for changes in "http://www.pataka.org.nz/48977/links/bulletpages.html" and summarize them for you.

If I wanted to follow the news about the recent earthquake in Christchurch, I could go to Google News and simply enter the keyword 'Christchurch'. 

At the end of the result page, Google offers a way to receive the updates via e-mail.

But who wants to get tens of news alerts in their mailboxes. The e-mail is for personal messages that often need a reply! 

There's a much better way to keep track of updates: the Rss feed.

Search for the RSS icon at the bottom of the news results. You can copy and paste that link into Google Reader, a much better way!

I'm human!

Google

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Phitek CEO Donaldson pushed out

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10651158

That's quite rude... Engineers are not necessarily good CEOs. I hope Mark finds another role, or another idea!

The integration layer

The integration layer: "
A comment would be superfluous.

"

Anywhere will be better than here!

Milan

22°C

Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: N at 8 km/h
Humidity: 73%

Tue

27° | 18°

Wed

27° | 18°

Thu

23° | 17°

Fri

25° | 17°

---

Singapore

28°C

Current: Light rain
Wind: N at 0 km/h
Humidity: 79%

Tue

34° | 26°

Wed

31° | 25°

Thu

34° | 25°

Fri

33° | 26°

---

Paraparaumu, New Zealand

4°C

Wind: S at 10 km/h
Humidity: 82%

Tue

9° | 3°

Wed

10° | 3°

Thu

13° | 6°

Fri

15° | 7°

---

Hong Kong

26°C

Current: Rain Showers
Humidity: 84%

Wed

29° | 25°

Thu

28° | 25°

Fri

29° | 26°

Sat

30° | 26°

香港天文台 6月8日17時2分發布

---

Leipzig, Saxony

22°C

Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SE at 11 km/h
Humidity: 60%

Tue

24° | 14°

Wed

29° | 17°

Thu

32° | 21°

Fri

27° | 15°

---

Berlin, Berlin

21°C

Current: Cloudy
Wind: N at 6 km/h
Humidity: 49%

Tue

25° | 16°

Wed

29° | 17°

Thu

33° | 21°

Fri

28° | 17°

Google Power Meter

An article on stuff presents a device made by Current Cost that monitors energy consumption in real time and sends data usage to Google Power Meter.



A user though has to keep a computer running all the time in order to collect data wirelessly from the device and update it to Google.
Through Powershop, that is also possible today. I've personally spent a few nights working with Powershop's developer API and managed so far to collect data from Powershop and then send it to Google.
Check this thread out: http://groups.google.com/group/powershop-developers/browse_thread/thread/54460039ec71fa1b

My aim is to develop a Google App Engine application that could collect that for me at a set interval.
Powershop's Ari Sargent  has also experimented with Google Powermeter and they may provide a link with that tool themselves.
By the way, their web site is excellent and they could provide similar, or better, gadgets.

ASB has blocked all credit card electronic transactions to Italy (this week)

I tried a couple of days ago to purchase a domain from a reputable Italian provider and for the first time it was denied. I managed do it via Paypal though.
Today ASB rang me to say that credit card transactions to the whole italian country are blocked, as a (hopefully) temporary measure. Here's their e-mail:

Recently you attempted a transaction at an Italian merchant.  This transaction was declined.  Unfortunately we have had to take action to prevent any and all transactions from being processed at any Italian merchant where the card is not present.  This is a result of recent fraud activity and while we understand that this has inconvenienced you, and we apologise for this inconvenience, we feel this is necessary to protect our customers by preventing any possible  fraud.  Should you be travelling to Italy your card will be accepted where you present it at the merchant just not available for internet, mail order or phone transactions.

D2D support for browsers

Worth trying: Firefox Nightly Build http://www.basschouten.com/blog1.php/2010/03/02/presenting-direct2d-hardware-acceleratio

Also interesting http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/IE-9-Surfing-on-the-GPU-with-D2D/

Phitek Blackbox C14 earphones review

The bass will shake the wax out of your ears!

http://www.iphoneworld.ca/iphone-reviews/2010/01/31/phitek-blackbox-c14-earphones/

Noise cancelling earphones (not headphones) with a kick-ass bass. Designed in NZ

The Complete Software Developer

Very good article:
http://www.ericdaugherty.com/blog/2010/01/complete-software-developer.html

Education

While a Computer Science or Computer Engineering degree is not required to develop software, it can provide an understanding of the foundational elements on which everything else is built. Understanding both how a computer actually works, and the fundamentals of algorithms, data structures, and operating system design will provide a solid theoretical foundation for an entire career. I also believe it is important that the degree focuses on theory more than practice 

I find that a lot embedded software engineers lack knowledge of experience whatsoever with OO concepts. That's gonna hurt when devices become big enough so that C won't just cope with large projects.
I hope though we'll skip C++ altogether.

Consulting

I believe that every new college graduate's first job should be with a consulting company. Not just any consulting company, but one large enough and experienced enough that it provides real training on how to be a Consultant, in addition to how to develop software. Consulting is a skill, and it is one that will pay dividends through an entire career.

It's been true for me.

• Build a product 

• Work for a startup

• Learn

• Mentor

• Build and mantain your Network

I couldn't agree more

4RF unveils a new radio product

Today 4RF launches Aprisa SR, a point to multi-point radio product we've been working on for the last couple of years. Here's the press release from 4rf.com:

4RF Communications launches the Aprisa SR multipoint radio for future-proof, security-enhanced, Smart SCADA networks We have unveiled our new product, the Aprisa SR Smart SCADA multipoint radio, at the European Utilities Telecom Council annual conference. Used by oil, gas, and utility companies for a wide range of monitoring and control applications, the Aprisa SR is a point-to-multipoint Smart SCADA radio operating in the 400-470 MHz licensed spectrum band, with a 12.5 kHz channel size and narrowband 9.6 kbps capacity. The Aprisa SR has been designed to address the key concerns facing the industry: the need for enhanced security, the need to efficiently handle the increasing complexity of SCADA networks, and the evolution to an IP-based and smart grid infrastructure. See the press release here - Aprisa SR Press Release See the datasheet here - Aprisa SR Datasheet If you have any questions about the Aprisa SR please email us at sales@4rf.com

You don't need a 64 bit OS to address >4GB

Very good article, explaining why, here: http://www.geoffchappell.com/viewer.htm?doc=notes/windows/license/memory.htm

Linux Conference to be held in Wellington

http://www.lca2010.org.nz/

LCA2010 will be held from Monday 18 January to Saturday 23 January 2010 at the Wellington Convention Centre inWellington, New Zealand, home of the little blue penguin or Kororā as they are called in Māori, New Zealand's indigenous language. What better place to bring the world's biggest gathering of Linux enthusiasts?


Registration is now open

The Expurgation of Maniac Mansion

A JavaScript guru, Douglas Crockford, had previously worked at Lucasfilm!

The Expurgation of Maniac Mansion for the Nintendo Entertainment System

Software Developer vacancy at 4RF

SEEK - Embedded Software Developer Job in Wellington

Embedded Software Developer

If you have a tertiary qualification such as a degree in electronic engineering, and consider yourself to be a competent designer of software for embedded systems, then this may be the ideal position for you.

We have a vacancy for an experienced Software Developer to work on state-of-the-art radio products. You will be required to follow a disciplined engineering approach while taking responsibility for a range of software development activities such as capturing requirements, designing, coding, testing, and integrating.

You will need to be a competent C programmer, have experience with using a commercial Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), and have specialist knowledge of Network Security technologies including Authentication, Authorisation, and Encryption. A good understanding of Ethernet and Internet Protocols such as ARP, TCP/IP, Telnet, SSH, FTP, HTTP, and SNMP is highly desirable, and preference will be given to candidates who are familiar with wireless protocols and data interfaces.

An interest in radio systems, wireless networks, and protocols is obviously essential.

For further information please download/view the position description at http://www.4rf.com/careers/vacancies/SoftwareDeveloper.pdf

To apply for this role, please forward your CV direct to Paul Knot at paul.knot@4rf.com

Paul Knot
Software Manager
4RF Communications

4RF on a $2.9m profit roll - technology | Stuff.co.nz

4RF on a $2.9m profit roll - technology | Stuff.co.nz

Hi-tech Wellington manufacturer 4RF has defied the global economic gloom and posted a $2.9 million profit for the year ending March.

The company, which makes microwave radio equipment for transmitting data wirelessly over long distances, boosted its revenues 24 per cent to $23.7m.

Chairman Peter Troughton says the economic conditions have made sales growth difficult.

"4RF has experienced instances of major project delays, particularly in the highly cyclical telco sector.

"That said, the company continues to be successful in winning new business, having signed up an average of four new end users per month in the fiscal year."

Most of these customers are in the utility and government sectors and should be relatively protected during the downturn, he says.

The company will trial a new product with large European customers towards the end of this financial year.

Chief executive Ian Troughton says that, as with any product, it will take a while to build sales.

"We don't think it will have any major impact on our results in the short term, but as a longer-term prospect we're really excited about it."

4RF has boosted its research and development and international sales teams and now has 75 staff, most of whom are in Wellington, he says.

"One good thing about the credit crunch is that there are quite a lot of good-quality people around. It's a good time to hire internationally."

The lingering downturn will make business challenging for the rest of the year and into 2010, he says.

4RF has customers in 111 countries and offices in North America, France, Britain, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Exports account for more than 90 per cent of its sales.

The firm won the global gold category for its export success at Wellington's Gold Awards this year.

Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life - RSS readers modeled after email clients are fundamentally broken

Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life - RSS readers modeled after email clients are fundamentally broken

The information overflow problem is certainly one of the biggest we need to solve in the near future

Computerworld > Boutique consulting firms aren't for everyone

Good article

Computerworld > Boutique consulting firms aren't for everyone

Twitter on Scala

Someone's using Scala in the real world.

Twitter on Scala