iPhone Price Cut… Not!
My friend Jon sent me this link on the iPhone from Fortune. These are some of the worst rumors I have read so far. To see my predictions from back in March check this out.
First off they say that the new 3G iPhone will be $200 cheaper with a 2 year contract. The contract is require at the current price of the iPhone (non-3G) so this will basically be a free $200 bucks off, Fortune predicts. However, this is not going to be available at Apple retail or online stores, but only through AT&T. Why would they have a $200 price difference for the same product?
Of course we have a magical lock or program to make this fake story possibly true.
The new iPhone sold by AT&T will likely be locked or programmed so buyers can’t take the cheaper iPhone to another phone service.
Why would Apple develop two firmwares versions just for AT&T? That doesn’t seem like anything Apple would ever do. And having to maintain two firmwares during updates and patches. Also making sure this magical lock or program doesn’t cause any security holes and other problems… yuck!
Also just to nit pick the story a little more and rub salt in the wound most rumors say that the new iPhone will be slightly larger then the current model, not sleeker.
some extra shine on the even sleeker new Apple (AAPL) iPhone.
Wrong again Fortune.
And they predict the release date was….
The new iPhone is expected to be released on the one-year anniversary of the original iPhone debut June 27 or thereabouts.
OOHH I’m sorry you lose again. The correct answer is June 9-13th, 2008. Why? Well read my first rumors article and you’ll know why. =)
The only thing I can think of is that they might drop the price of the older model iPhones down by $200. The new 3G iPhones might not cost as much either… but no where near a $200 price drop.
For spreading evil lies and giving false hope, Fortune.cnn.com you lose 500 internets. Game Over!
Does Windows Vista Suck?
Does Windows Vista suck?… Maybe. =)
I am currently running three Windows XP systems and two Ubuntu systems. I really like Ubuntu and if it wasn’t for certain types of coding, programs, games, and Lotus Notes I would switch to Ubuntu permanently… OH yeah AND Netflix Streaming Videos which requires IE and Windows Media Player 11… You suck Netflix! … okay no you don’t.. I love streaming movies, I just hate your requirements. I want to pick up a new 3G iPhone and MacBook for some iPhone SDK goodness, but that will wait till Summer/Thanksgiving.
This is just a short open question. Does Windows Vista really suck? I would say yes it does suck because it doesn’t bring any new interesting features that my Windows XP installs didn’t already have and it moves everything around to different places so I have trouble helping out friends with Vista issues. I couldn’t even help my friend share a printer over a LAN. (Something I had done for years, but whatever, its working now, and thats another story.) All I hear is stories about troubles with install/upgrades and frustration even with machines from the manufactures. Runs slow, drivers issues, and software incompatibilities are all the issues I hear from Vista (Non-Ultimate) users. And the exact reasons I run XP is for speed, drivers, and software compatibility. So I am very VERY hesitant to switch to Vista.
I have only heard about good stories coming from people who either got “hooked up with” or pirated copies of Vista Ultimate. Ultimate Edition seems to be the only good version of Vista, but have YET to see anyone pay full price for it. They say it runs stable and if all drivers are available it works great.
So why would Microsoft only release an Operating System which has cheaper non-functions editions which their now unhappy customers purchased and leave the pirates and discounted people enjoying the Ultimate goodness? This doesn’t sound like a good business model. Let me know what you think with a comment or e-mail.
DARPA And Its Robots
I have been following the DARPA Grand Challenge since is started back in 2004. I used to work on automated software for testing space batteries in the Battery Evaluation Laboratory (BEL) and heard about the challenge. My company even had a vehicle in the challenge that I was considering helping out. However, I was in school full time, working part-time, and had a girlfriend that I wanted to keep. Out of the four choices I could only pick three.
- School
- Work
- Girlfriend
- Help Golem
So I never really looked into helping them out, but I think I picked the right three. But thats still no excuses for not being able to follow the progress. Its great to see a product finally come out of the DARPA Grand Challenge.
DARPA Crusher
(youtube.com)
Remember that this is a 6.5-ton autonomous off-road Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle. You push start and hope it doesn’t view you as a threat. No one drives it or aims it…. Autonomous!
Oh but if they need to control this beast, how else would you do it besides using an iPhone and XBox 360 controller.
In addition to being completely autonomous, Crusher can be remotely controlled thanks to a hacked together Iphone and Xbox 360 interface. The Iphone can receive vehicle updates while the Xbox controller can steer and fire the weapons.
But wait! We have more! Looks like one robot is not enough for DARPA, they had to create another Robot that looks like an AT-AT from Star Wars. Its Boston Dynamics, BigDog quadruped robot.This thing even looks like a scary AT-AT!
(youtube.com)
I liked when he kicks the body… Of course its not going to fall over um… try the tow cable (Didn’t he watch The Empire Strikes Back). And of course the Human Spoof. =)
Everyday I get more and more fearful that ED-209’s will be roaming the streets… “You have downloaded a illegal MP3, please delete it in 5 seconds or be terminated… 4 seconds to comply… 3 seconds to comply… “, No!!! Windows cannot delete file, It is being used by another person or program! AAAHHHH!!!
![Maybe that \](http://www.rungeek.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/ed209.jpg "Maybe that \")
Where Does The Morning Go? (Morning Routine)
(7:15 – 7:30am) - Wake up around 7:15ish
(7:30 – 7:45am) - Brush Teeth… maybe shave.
While brushing teeth, remember all the stuff I was suppose to do online last night but forgot.
(7:45 – 8:45am) – Internet/Computer
(8:45 – 9:00am) – Shower
(9:00 – 9:30am) – Commute to Work (Sometimes with Drive-Through Coffee)
(9:30am) – Get to work and wonder what took me so long to get here… I woke up around 7!
Hmm… I think I have an addiction to the Internet. I could cut my morning routine almost in half by not using the Internet. Haha who am I kidding; not use the Internet, I might as well give up air while I’m at it. /sarcasm
So what is your Morning Routine like? Leave a comment.
Hope you guys like the fancy pie chart! Its from the Google Chart API.
You can create your own charts, graphs, maps, and other types of ways to display your data.
Heres my example:
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?
chs=475×200
&chd=t:15,15,60,15,30&cht=p3
&chl=Wake%20Up|Brush%20Teeth/Shave|Internet|Shower|Commute&chtt=Morning%20Routine
&chco=00ff00,0000ff
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart? = Start Code for Chart API
chs = Chart Scale at 475W by 200H
chd = Chart Data in Mins
chl = Chart Labels Match Data
chco = Chart Color from Green (00ff00) to Blue (0000ff)
Task Manager Tip: Show Kernal Times
Heres a little tip to help you find the CPU Usage of your current applications. In the Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), click on the Performance Tab and it will display a graph of the CPU Usage History. The total CPU Usage is displayed in Green.
However, if you click on View->Show Kernel Times you can get information about the CPU Usage Time on the System (Kernel).
The Red Line displays Kernel CPU usage, while the Green Line displays total CPU usage.
This means that if your trying to figure out how much CPU your current program is using you take the Green (Total) CPU Usage - Red (System) CPU Usage = Current Application Usage.
Also if you Double Click on the Graph it will display in the full window.
Double Click the graph to go back to the previous view.
Call of Duty 4 on Sale!
Hey everyone! Call Of Duty 4
If you pick up a copy meet me on XBox Live. Gamertag: AeroBernie
Amazon You Rock! $50 Back From HD-DVD Players
Amazon has great customer relations. They sent out an e-mail to all customers who purchased a HD-DVD player from them before February 23, 2008, that they will receive a $50 gift card.
“New technologies don’t always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything,” said Amazon in the e-mail.
In addition to Amazon and Best Buy, Circuit City and Wal-Mart have also begun offering special refund policies for HD DVD players.
I love Amazon. They have tons of products at great prices. I am thinking about getting a new pull-up bar because my current one is putting dents in the door frame. I am thinking about picking up one of these.
Creative Fitness Door Gym
This Device Has Expired
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to get an iPhone but was waiting for the next version (3G). I want to write a few app’s for it with the new SDK (which just got updated) but looks like they call it Beta for a reason.
Hello Apple ….. our phones do not work today. Pick screen, slide for emergency, not good as a phone or as a development machine.
sigh
Who were the beta testers for Preparations A through G ? =)
While for a beta program this typically would not be an issue, Apple has yet to release a new deployment of the iPhone OS. So developers like myself who use their iPhone for both actual phone and iPod use are bricked. Of note, this particular expired build is just 11 days old.
Subversion Revisited Again. Kind Of…
It took me about two days to write a post on How To Setup Subversion (SVN) With A Virtual Appliance.
So I’m not going to try and convince you to use Source Control. Instead I’m going to show you how easy it is to set one up, you have no excuses not to use it.
But guess who came along and wrote his own post on Subversion. (Setting up Subversion on Windows) Its pretty weird that we were both thinking about version control. Jeff talks about setting up SVN in the Windows OS using the default installer from Subversion. Its is good idea to learn how to setup Subversion once, and its worth a read if you have never done it. After that I would still recommend running SVN in a VM. Its easier to move around and back up since its all running in a file. His post does has some good points though.
I’ve met precious few developers that really understood the versioning concepts in the simple centralized source control model. I have only the vaguest of hopes that these developers will be able to wrap their brains around the vastly more complicated and powerful model of distributed source control.
Also the big blogs are battling it out about issue of using SVN or distributed source control. Even Linus Torvalds (creator of Linux) has chimed in about how much he hates SVN and runs GIT.
Czajnik responding to Jeff Atwood’s howto on setting up Subversion on windows: “Have you tried any distributed source control? I’ve recently switched from Subversion to Mercurial, and I’m very happy about the change. The most important reason was the ability to clone the repository to my laptop, do some checkins there (without network access, on a plain, train, etc.) and resync with just one command when I’m back home. Distributed model seems cool even for a single developer :)”
Jeff does respond back in his comments and also talk about GIT from Linus’ talk.
I watched the rest of Linus’ talk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8 . Git *enforces* per-developer personality-driven p2p branches. This is great for ego-driven people like Linus who have a lot of power, fame, and personality. That makes sense.
I’m really intrigued by Linus’ claim that merging becomes extraordinarily simple in Git. He’s absolutely right about that– the problem with branches isn’t the branching, it’s the merging.
Wow… It feels cool that I’m thinking about the same stuff that these guys are thinking of… just maybe not on the same level =) However, I want my readers to get some main ideas from my post on version control.
- Version Control is good and you should use it
- VA’s are great for version control deployment. Easy to setup, runs on different OS’s. Network accessible. Easy to back up.
Yes, you should learn Subversion or another Version Control package. And if you want a custom VA, creating your own with an Ubuntu Image is very easy and clonable. I have create my own VA with Ubuntu and Tomcat running Axis. It has a shared SMB drive and from Windows I drop my WAR package and deploy web services. If anyone is interested in a copy of my Web Service VA let me know. (*HINT* post a comment, I can see your e-mail address but not the rest of the world) Hmm… maybe my next blog will be about how I created it.
How To Setup SVN And Trac With A Virtual Appliance
Source Control is a important tool for EVERY Software Developer. Jeff at CodingHorror puts it best.
Source control is the very bedrock of software development. Without some sort of version control system in place, you can’t reasonably call yourself a software engineer.
Its even part of Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code.
So I’m not going to try and convince you to use Source Control. Instead I’m going to show you how easy it is to set one up, you have no excuses not to use it. I previously talked about VMware Player and Virtual Appliances (VA), and were going to build off that. The repository of choice is SubVersion (SVN).
Step 0: Make sure you have the free VMware Player installed or another Virtualization software. (Parallels, Xen Open Source, etc..)
Step 1: Head over to JumpBox and download Trac/Subversion appliance. Its a 115MB download, but its the complete package. This Virtual Appliance does not only have source contorl, but also provides a Ticket Tracking System and a Wiki for your documentation.
It looks like JumpBox is starting to setup a Subscription Fee to download their VA’s. I was still able to download the Free Version. If your not able to download it, leave a comment and I will post a mirror.
Step 2: After you download the zip file. Extract it to your hard drive. This is your virtual computer. (If you want to backup your system, just burn a copy onto a CD/DVD disc, AWESOME!)
Step 3: Open VMware Player and navigate to the folder where you extracted the files. Select “JumpBox.vmx“. And your system will boot. It will use DHCP to aquire an IP address. You will manage your repository through a website.
After your VM boots you should get a screen like this.
Step 4: Open a web browser and type in the “Management Page” url in the address bar.
(In this case its https://192.168.1.110:3000/)
These are pretty simple configuration options. Just make sure to remember your password!
Step 5: Visit the application page! (In this case its http://192.168.1.110 and you don’t need the ’s’ in http)
On the Wiki you can see the location of the SVN repository. I would suggestion creating a new Account with a better name then Admin. So when you check-in files the repository has your name and not Admin as the author.
To Add Users you will first need to login by clicking the red login link on the top right hand side of this page. You will login in as the user admin and the password you used when configuring your JumpBox. Once you are logged in as the administrator new users can be added by clicking on the Trac Admin link (it will appear on the top right once you log in) then the Users link. These users will have access to both Trac and the Subversion repository. Many other settings can be changed through the Trac Admin link.
A popular SVN client is TortoiseSVN. Its a shell extension to windows. This means you get new menus when you right click.
It is implemented as a Windows shell extension, which makes it integrate seamlessly into the Windows explorer. Since it’s not an integration for a specific IDE you can use it with whatever development tools you like.
Another advantage of this shell integration is that not only web or software developers can use it but all the people who don’t have the development tools installed, for example translators, doc writers, …
I program with Eclipse so I also use a plug-in called Subclipse.
Subclipse is an Eclipse Team Provider plug-in providing support for Subversion within the Eclipse IDE.
That should be enough to get you setup with your very own software repository. Congratulations, you can reasonably call yourself a software engineer! However, there is still much to learn about version control.
Link-a-tron: Post is getting long, so I’ll put some quick links.
Subversion Homepage
Secure SVN Repository using svn+ssh
Google’s Free Online Open Source Repository (Great for sharing, but must select Open Source License to release under)
SourceForge (Another free hosting to Open Source projects)
