As I mentioned the other day (Christmas project 2009: installation of a NAS...), I was spending some time over the Xmas break configuring a new NAS device.  This was set up as a two drive RAID1 array of 2x1Tb.  However, once I'd set up the rsnapshot backup system (which seems to be pretty efficient in terms of disk space and ease of setup), I turned my eye to the other uses of the device.  I've installed the following via the QPKG system or by activating the firmware options (during all this, I upgraded the firmware to the latest stable version):

MySQL - to enable this, I needed to upgrade the firmware.  Or at least that was what the system said, and who am I to object?  Administering MySQL databases is easiest using a GUI such as PhpMyAdmin, so I installed...

I've been using version 3 of the original Squeezebox for some time now for streaming digital music via the home network.  Didn't quite fancy the later Squeezebox Boom.  The Squeezebox radio looks like it might fit the bill, however...

On the other hand, to restrict the remote and battery to an aftermarket pack does feel like, in the words of The Register, "an act of frankly shocking tight-fistedness".  The red version pictured is only available in the USA, here in Blighty we are apparently restricted to the standard Squeezebox glossy black finish.

Is it worth £159?  Mmmm...don't know about that.

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Apparently this isn't a wind-up, though it sure looks like an early April Fool.  Here's an 18 button mouse from OpenOffice.org, from a report in The Register (OpenOffice.org pushes gamers' buttons with OOMouse):

I have at the outset to say that I approach discussion of power metering in the context of cycling performance and training with something of a pinch of salt.  For many years, I've used heart rate monitors (most recently a Polar S720i wristwatch and bike computer unit) to monitor exertion and effort during my training sessions and in racing.  I have a pretty good understanding of where my training levels are (I am still using Pete Read's five levels, for this 0 to 4), and can judge not only where my limits are when racing on that basis, but also can judge when I'm not completely recovered and shouldn't train.  This has actually worked pretty well, probably most notably in 2001-3.  In recent years I've found that my working life has begun to limit opportunities for training (hopefully addressed now by moving to train before going to work!), and I've been seeking ways to better monitor progress.

In planning my 2009-2010 winter training programme, I'm a bit uncertain as to where power monitoring will fit in (though perhaps interested readers might leave suggestions via the commenting system).  I've always felt that the advantage of HRM-based training is that you're getting a readout of physiological response to a training load, which seems to me to be rather more important that knowing what power one's generated.  This is, I confess, an element of novelty spurring me on to train more seriously!

I recently bought a Polar CS600X bike computer/HRM, with an associated Power meter system - here I present an initial review of the unit.  I later bought the add-on Polar G3 GPS unit for use with it - I'll review this separately as I haven't had a chance to use it at the time of writing.

The BBC reports (Google to launch operating system) that Google will release an operating system aimed at netbooks in 2010. I particularly like the HAL9000-like logo (see picture). There's a collection of media comments on this development, mostly commenting on the threat to Windows.

Of course, netbooks kicked off with a focus on Linux as their OS, until MS realised they'd committed a strategic blunder and moved to "suggest" to the PC manufacturers that they ought to use Windows XP, which miraculously had its lifetime extended (though this may have been in part due to the poor reception of Vista and its capacity to gobble up computer resources). So forgive me for being a little sceptical that the Chrome OS will unseat Windows in the netbook market (but I would be delighted to be proven wrong - we certainly need a more competitive OS marketplace).

I have a (probably half-baked) plan to carry on blogging while on cycle tour this summer.  Well, for as long as I can keep a Vodafone signal going.  One of the aims is to report on the cycling before I forget everything we see during the day.  To keep tabs on the routes we've cycled, I bought a Globalsat DG-100 GPS logger.

This little device is a basic GPS datalogger, which comes with some pretty basic software which, though a little on the clunky side, does seem to work pretty well.  I plan to use this with a small OQO pocket computer running Windows XP while travelling.  The unit is 3.15"x2.75"x0.7", so is pretty compact.  The silver coloured plate is the battery cover - it's powered by two NiMH cells (supplied), which are recharged via the USB connector.  Other than that, there are only two controls - the big silver cover power switch and a mode selector on the side.  The device comes with three preset modes, for pedestrian, bike and car travel (they differ in the data sampling rate), but these can be adjusted using the supplied software. 

In addition to the two software packages for downloading data, the unit comes with an application for adding location data to digital photograph files (so no more wondering where the heck we took those snaps of different Highland views!).

Hot on the heels of news that Psion seeks to enforce ownership of the word "netbook",  The Register(So, what's the f**king difference between a Netbook and an ultrathin?) presents a useful flowchart which will you whether you are the proud owner of a netbook...or a plain old laptop...or a handheld....or an ultraportable PC...or an ultrathin...

 Now, as a proud owner of a (rather venerable) Sony Vaio nini notebook, an OQO UMPC, a Pocket PC, and a rather large IBM ThinkPad, what I really need is a princely purple PC formerly known as a Netbook..

The morning dawned and it was a bright and sunny morning, and ideal for tandeming over to Ivinghoe for a cream tea.  It also meant a chance to try out the new GPS data logger.

I thought it would be nice to ride the Longstaff tandem, as it's a bit more sprightly than the Dawes touring tandem.  We set off via the Brickhills and out to Stewkley.  I think this tandem is quicker because the gear ratios are a bit closer - the downside of course is that we don't have quite such a range of gears, so climbing can be a bit of a trial.  The ride out was pretty uneventful, and we saw quite a few cyclists out enjoying the spring sunshine.  There was another tandem at the cafe when we got there, with a Dawes Galaxy Twin.  From the rear window of the cafe, we could see a pin windmill in the distance. Apparently it is Britains oldest mill (it looks to be in a bit better nick than a similar one at Brill), though it hasn't worked since a storm in 1904!

I've been looking at reports of various eBook readers over the last few years, and even read a few books on my Pocket PC.  This device, Amazon's Kindle 2, looks to being very useful for a traveller wishing to carry several books.

There's a review over at The Register (Amazon unveils Kindle 2.0), from where this image is sourced.

About a year ago, I wrote a blog article reviewing the OQO 01+ UMPC.   I rather liked this PC, and indeed still do, though one does need to take into account its limitations.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the power supply, which after a few months stopped working. 

To clarify, the power supply brick has one output (with a peculiar 5 socket plug, of which more later), and two inputs - one is for mains, the other is for 12V car adapter input.  It is the former input that has blown, and this seems to be far from unusual.  It occurred to me that I could update my blog while on summer cycling holiday, with the OQO plus the Vodafone 3G stick (well, at least while I was within transmitter range!).  However, my workaround power supply required the use of a UK mains > 12V power supply to power the OQO power brick.  Tis is far from being portable.

Picked this one up via Ben Goldacre's Bad Science miniblog, in turn linking to the Daily Mirror's site, where an article by some investigative journalists questions the efficacy of Ecoflow magnets.

It's a pretty straightforward debunking of the claims that these magnets when strapped onto fuel pipes improve fuel efficiency, cutting costs by 5-20%.  Similar devices, marketed as Bioflow are claimed to be benficial for arthritis sufferers.  Amusingly the company leaves any such claims to its network of distributors following a ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority:

The much reported synchronised locking-up of first generation 30Gb Zune MP3 players appears to have an explanation from Microsoft: it's a poxy Leap Year bug!

I suppose this is only to be expected from a company that enshrined the "1900 is a leap year" flaw in its flagship Office component Excel.

 Here's a demo film from 1968 showing one of the first computer mice...I love the peculiar combined keyboard/mouse pad that resembles an airline meal tray.

[video:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1MPJZ6M52dI&feature=related 425x344] 

BBC News has a story that the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) will be available in Europe on a Give 1 Get 1 basis via Amazon.

I've written about the OLPC project before - this is the project started by Nicholas Negroponte to develop a low-cost laptop for educational purposes, aiming to produce the devices for $100.  Last I heard, they'd got the cost down to $189. The OPLC runs Sugar  Linux (I have Sugar running under VirtualBox, and it's a neat and innovative OS), and has a number of innovative technologies, notably in the low power screen which is usable in sunlight, and the dustproof and waterproof keyboard.

One week on, and I've got to grips a bit more with the iPod Touch. 

• I don't like iTunes!  (but perhaps I will ge used to it)  It doesn't seem terribly intuitive to me.
• My digital music files live on a Linux box upstairs, and I stream them to the hifi via a Logitech Squeezebox.  As I reported in the last iPod post, I was able to access these files for use with iTunes using Firefly, but this wouldn't let my sync them to the iPod.  Samba wasn't a bundle of use either.
• Disk space being limited due to the small partition used for Windows XP on the only machine available for iTunes, I resorted to making copies to a portable hard drive, this worked pretty well.
• Why can't Apple make a Linux version of iTunes?
• iTunes could only identify cover art for a very small proportion of my mp3s.  This is probably more a reflection of my musical taste, however!
• To be honest, I don't find browing the album covers an efficient way of locating an album when thereis over 29Gb of music files on the device!
• Having access to the MS Exchange mail/calendar is very useful
• My grown up sized finger tips are a bit on the large size for accurate tapping on the screen keyboard!
  

More details of the European OLPC G1G1 offer now released. Seems as though transactions will be in sterling, and via amazon.co.uk.

For  full details of the OLPC laptop, and the background to its development, see the official page.

Yesterday I succumbed to temptation and bought a 32Gb iPod Touch to replace my venerable 2Gb iPod Nano. I realised before this purchase that my limited Windows resource would be a challenge: my library of music files is held on a fileserver running Ubuntu 8.10, and my sole XP machine is a small partition on an IBM laptop (I had decided I'd rather not fanny around jailbreaking the iPod, unless absoutely necessary).  Still, there was enough disk space to get iTunes installed and to sync some music to the iPod.

The iPod is everything I'd expected, a terrific UI, effective touch screen, easy to set up wireless comms.  But oh dear, it does show the fingerprints!

I've just received a FrogPad portable keyboard, to use with the OQO UMPC I bought recently. It's Bluetooth enabled. The manufacturers claim one can reach 40wpm quite quickly, even for those who aren't already touch typers. I'm most definitely a "hunt and peck typist", so it'll be interesting to see how this gets on. Besides using the keyboard with the UMPC, I plan to use it with my (hopefully soon to be resurrected) iPaq hx4700 Pocket PC.

This is what a Righty FrogPad looks like (if you click on the image, you should see a life-size version). I bought the Lefty version, in white, with the intention that this would leave my right hand free for mouse or stylus use.

Physically, the unit seems pretty robust, with a slide on cover. It comes with a CD with a typing tutor (for Windows and Mac, but the Windows version seems to work OK on Linux under Wine), a retractable USB power cord and mains adaptor, and several leaflets and manuals.

Microsoft feels the heat from Linux...again - A report on Ars Technica about MS striving to gain a foothold in the flash-based laptop market - typified by the OLPC project, and by the remarkable Asus Eee (but what a silly name!). It's difficult for me to see the merits of XP on these small capacity systems, particularly since MS schedule ending support for XP next year.

P.J., who runs the famous blog site Groklaw, has received her OLPC (those lucky enough to live in , or have an address in, North America can order one on a "buy one, give one" arrangement), under the most exciting circumstances, as she relates in Groklaw today. The pictures of the kids with their OLPCs are great!

Also worth reading is this item from linux.com. It gives a nice overview of how the device operates. Incidentally, I have an earlier version of the OLPC's OS, Sugar, running in the emulator qemu on a Linux laptop. From the two articles that form the basis of this item, I would judge that kids have no issues with using Sugar, and that posts such as this one are misguided. The standard conventions of the typical PC desktop environment are not actually intuitive, as anyone who has tried to get someone who genuinely has no computer experience up and running with a relatively modern computer will know.