Author: Nick Hodge

GPRS Munging

Posted from: Macintosh Ti PowerBook, running MacOS X 10.2.3 with Bluetooth (simpler, more integrated than Windows XP) using Optus GPRS (also more and better integrated than Windows XP). Just double-checking that this works. Seems to drop out a little quickly…

In all this talk of 1980s music, I keep forgetting that Crowded House’s Don’t Dream Its Over was released in 1987, therefore making it a 1980s classic. Neil “dontated” the song to the NZ Tourism Board in their advertising campaign for New Zealand. “In 5 days you’ll feel 100%”. Too right!

A-Ha

Just proving my point that the 1980s are cool: Holden are now advertising the Barina with a reworking of the 1983 hit: A-Ha’s Take on Me. Go Morton!

Can the only logical reason be that we teenagers of the 1980s are now cashed up? Are the advertisers purposely trying to use nostalgia to free us of our dollars? Does Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer have to answer for this new wave [hehehe], or is it my fault due to the Photoshop 6.0 Roadshow’s “1980s Music Trivia” contest?

If World War II had the same immediacy of media and information flow as we witness today – would there have been any more wars? What is it about human nature that forces people into a “dictatorship” mode and reliance on armed conflict to resolve issues? It also goes to prove the adage from WWII veterans, as reported by Ambrose, that war is hours of boredom interspersed with minutes of sheer terror.

The embedded journalists and the communications infrastructure provides an element of honesty in war. At least with the units that have journalists attached, the ability to commit “war crimes” is diminished. Media at its best.

However, the cost is the lack of “filters” and the great degree of confusion that occurs as differening qualities of information is communicated. For instance, Channel Ten News reported live on TV that Tariq Aziz had defected after the initial bombardment; this was pure rumor and proven wrong very quickly. Confirmation is important. In times like these, some of the media processes are forgotten in the fog of war.

GPRS

Posting this entry via Bluetooth, GPRS. Wireless, Baby. Yeah!

GPRS connection setup time is really quick; there is no overhead of normal modems (handshaking) – but its still a little slower than ISDN setup time. It feels about as fast as a 56K modem connection, so its still not super-fast, but much more acceptable than the 9.6Kb you normally get with the data-over-voice cellular style connection. With my Bluetooth adaptor, the connection between the laptop and the phone is wireless. It creates a virtual COM port you address like a normal modem, and works without the directionality of IrDA. The plan I am on from Optus is 1c per KB (that’s a Kilobyte). There are other plans, and I’ll feel out my usage. The idea is to use it minimally and just to stay in contact.

Once you have connected, you have essentially a TCP/IP pipe – just like an Ethernet/Cable Modem/PPP style connection. VPN, email etc all work just like a normal dialup connection. Albeit a little more expensive.

AI

Saw AI Artificial Intelligence for the first time last night. What an intensely moving and thought provoking film. As a fan of ‘hard science fiction’: my saying is that the sadest thing about dying is that you miss the future; and science fiction is the best way to experience what you miss. The movie is an interesting take on the man-machine (orgo-mecha) relationship and potentially where it is heading.

DOS attack

After over a week, the site is back. Last October, the period of downtime was due to DNS configuration issues. This time, its a collection of cascading problems: all to do with the hosting provider’s data centre turned off my server due to a Denial of Service attack. In fact, look at the logs the downtime was exactly 10 days – to the hour and minute.

I do keep backups, and these were restored on Saturday 15th March. If I had time earlier in the week, this would have been completed sooner. But it was just one of those things that happens in the IT industry. Having a contigency plan is highly important.

In the interim, I’ve been to Adelaide and Perth (hi Cari!), purchased a new mobile phone (Nokia 6310i: Bluetooth and GPRS) and had a typical Adobe crunch-week. Lots going on, brain going at a million miles an hour.

The “idea” with Bluetooth and GPRS is to get faster wireless internet access from anywhere. Including the back of a taxi. I calculated that in recent weeks I have spent over 8 hours in taxis — perfect time to get online and grab/respond to a couple more emails. Is this the first signs of addiction?