Jason Hook's shiny new blog......

Tags: Notes Mac ND8B1
Notes crashed for the first time the other day (Nothing to do with VMWare. I tried running the Windows Beta of VMWare Workstation recently which then ate my VM. So until I get over the PITA that losing the VM was - no beta of VMWare anything). Anyhoo Notes crashes reading mail I think: After the restart a little dialog asks me if I want to report the error. Of course, says I this is a beta after all, feedback is good. Well it's only useful if it's wanted Apart from the one little crash it's been solid.

Posted by Jason Hook At 11:18 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Photography

I've never been one for photography at least until now. Clare loves to take pictures and when she asks me to take some I argue that the camera gets in the way and spoils my enjoyment of the moment. I've changed my mind A good photograph can be as entertaining as a good piece of music (well almost).

I'm going to start start saving my pennies for a good quality amateur DSLR or sub DSLR. Not sure of budget yet. Assume I have all of the imaging software I'd need but an recommendations for camera body and lenses would be gratefully received.

Incidentally I took these pictures wih my first digital camera (Sony Cybershot 3 megapixels) do you know what city?

Posted by Jason Hook At 4:39 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tags: TIALIR*

I've now upgraded the Macbook to it's limit of pimping. 4gb Ram and 320Gb Hard Disk and apparently that is all that can be done with it.

The disk is a Seagate 5400.5 320Gb disk with an 8Mb Cache. I was keen to go for a 7200 rpm disk with 16mb Cache but (according to CanCom) a 7200rpm disk invalidates the Macbook warranty because the Macbook carcass is largely pastic and not rated for any increase in heat. Interestingly both RAM and HDD are considered by Apple to be user installable parts (not true for the Macbook Pro).

The RAM I bought from crucial.com and the disk I bought from CanCom an Apple Reseller in Cambridge that I bought the Macbook from in the first place. I negotiated the price of the drive down to 77 GBP which is about 15-20 GBP more than the cheapest online price I could find. I justify that (to myself) by hoping that these small businesses will remain in business if we put a percentage of their purchases through them. They are handy for warranty repairs and advice.

I upgraded the RAM a while ago and the disk about 30 minutes ago. I cloned the original disk using Super Duper! with the new disk attached via a 20 GBP enclosure. The cloning took about 3 hours (left it running overnight). Replacing the disk was very easy following Apple's own instructions. And now I've got more room to breathe! Also I can put the VM of my old Dell laptop on the Mac and do a bit more work with bbMetaBlog and install the iPhone SDK and start learning Cocoa.

*That's all there is let it rest

Posted by Jason Hook At 11:07 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Sad kind of fun
Looks like the web designers at the beeb have been taking advice from Tap's Nigel Tufnell:

Posted by Jason Hook At 12:47 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tags: macbook hard disk
i've outgrown the 120 gig disk the MacBook came with. Now I'm on the hunt for something bigger 250/320 ought to do it, but what speed? I'd like 7200 rpm for more relialble music making but will it melt my little fella (that's the MacBook - I'm assuming a faster disk will draw more current and produce more heat than the 5400 it came with)? I'm planning to use super duper to clone the disk.... Anyhoo, if you have any recommendations I'd be very interested.

Posted by Jason Hook At 5:47 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tags: BlackBerry O2
I've just been chatting to Mike Smith of the Turtle Partnership about the iPhone generally, and the release of the BES 4.1.6 server in particular with it's HTML and Rich-content mail etc (Mike will, I think be posting about the new features on NotesBerry.org shortly). As were discussing the new features I found myself typing something like "that's nice but they're all redundant aren't they?" You see I'm on O2 and the last device OS update for the Curve was 4.2.2.181. The relevant page at O2.co.uk is http://blackberry.o2.co.uk/blackberry_handheld_software.asp and it states that future software updates are expected in April 08 - it's nearly August. According to the BES 4.1.6 release notes I can't take advantage of all the new features in the server release until I'm able to run at least OS 4.5. So RIM might as well say that BES 4.1.6 can predict the lottery numbers or prove the existence of the imaginary being of your choice, because at this rate, I'll never be able to find out. When I called O2 to ask when the next update might really be available I was bombarded by iPhone messages before talking to a support person who eventually came to the conclusion "O2 has no idea when the next OS will be available". Whilst I'm having a rant I continue to be disappointed with the limitations of the BlackBerry UI I'm not really expecting to be able to produce anything as sexy as apps running under the iPhone/iPod touch OS but come on RIM! Of course when the next version of the BlackBerry JDE and API does arrive with new UI components I won't be able to deploy them because O2 will still be QA'ing it long after the iPhone has assimilated all of the Earths' BlackBerry users.... Of course I'm half kidding. On the upside I hear iPhone portability is severely impacted by the need to carry around large lead acid batteries as a backup during the brief periods when real 3g is available I think I've had too much sugar and coffee today, I'm off for a lie down..... TTFN

Posted by Jason Hook At 3:34 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Wii Technology
The Wii has become a firm favourite in my house. If there were a playlist of games it would contain MarioKart Wii (and as I type that I can hear the jingle in my head), Wii Olympics, Wii Fit and Wii Sports. Casual reading of the Technology section of the BBC News website points to a new barnstormer: Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus device. I could tell you about it but the video on this page is more impactful: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7508743.stm Not sure when we will see it in the UK but I can't wait

Posted by Jason Hook At 10:33 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tags:
If you have dogs that you are finding difficult to walk because of their behaviour, then I may have a tip for you. Take a look at www.k9bridle.co.uk for an interesting take on the head collar. This head collar differs from the convential Halti in that the control point is behind the head rather than below the chin. I'd recommend this bit-less bridle provided you are willing to use it consistently and correctly. Has worked a treat for me. Jason

Posted by Jason Hook At 10:25 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Blogging
I worked for a little while with a chap called Paul Collins, we weren't particularly close though we did swap Wii console codes Paul has a blog which I've enjoyed reading and would like to share with you it's not about Domino or technology but it's about life and worth a moment of your time to check out: http://www.lemondrizzle.com/

Posted by Jason Hook At 12:34 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: BlackBerry Blogging
I've been looking for a way to break the blogging log jam having been so busy with harlequin.com I simply fell out of the habit. On top of that I decided to invest in Guitar Rig 3 and resume my guitar education, life has been a bit hectic. I started work today on a version of BBMB to work with WordPress and maybe Blogger. I'm not commiting to a timescale or to making it completely free at this point (although BB MetaBlog for Blogsphere will continue to be free) but work has begun and I hope it won't take too long. I've decided that the iPhone is not right for me right now. I actually like the reliability of having real buttons on my phone, the ability to write background applications, and the freedom to distribute them without much help from RIM. But what I would really appreciate is better BlackBerry ui API's to work with. After the release of the facebook application I'd hoped RIM was going to expose those prettier ui components to us, not so far. Come on guys the current ui is looking very old. After that it's xPages (I must take a look at them)... ttfn

Posted by Jason Hook At 12:19 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)