man (not) on the moon
01 Feb '10, 22:39
I'm really quite disappointed. President Obama has scuppered plans to send people back to the moon.
George Bush announced the idea back in 2004 that NASA would return man to our nearest celestial neighbour before aiming for Mars. If all had gone to plan, humans could have made the first return journey by 2020.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like that will happen. Owing to budget shortages, and what Obama calls a lack in innovation, he has recommended in the 2011 budget that the Constellation vehicle be abandoned.
A White House spokesperson says this isn't a step back, and that the ambition is still there but I can't help treating the comment with a little scepticism.
My view is that returning people to the moon is important and not just for the excitement for all of us who get to observe. I thought this time it could lead to a more permanent space presence. This would provide opportunities for science of course; a launch pad for vehicles to move further out into the solar system and also as a mining base. It's fairly well known that the element Helium-3 is present on the Moon but rare on Earth. This element could prove vital in providing power from Nuclear Fusion. Solving the world's energy problem seems a pretty good reason to go, and I'd have thought the sooner this happens the better.
Of course, money at the moment is a big problem and there are always other projects and needs which require funding. I've questioned before why there isn't greater international co-operation in space ventures. It doesn't need to be America that returns to the moon. Lets get space agencies from around the world all involved in a common goal and sharing the cost.
review of the decade
31 Dec '09, 19:03
As is tradition, here is my final blog entry for the year - and this time, the final one for the decade.
Blogs all over the internet seem to be doing it, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and take a look back over the last ten years, from a personal point of view, on how things have changed.
Back in December 1999, I was just 17 years old and awaiting the turn of the the popular millennium. (Of course this didn't really happen until 2001 but why let technicalities get in the way of a good party? The roll-over of 4 figures seems much more significant anyway). I remember all the comments: where's our flying cars, jet packs and silver suits so often dipicted in futuristic novels and films. Of course none of these came about, but a lot has developed in technology. Things that may have been unthinkable at the time.
I'm looking around my living room at the tech that sits in front of me. Computers, digital photography, a big screen High Definition television, blu-ray, Sky+HD ... Really all amazing things that probably most people would take for granted nowaday.
The Computer
Ten years ago, I didn't have my own PC - the most powerful computer system I owned was a Sony Playstation. The desktop machine was a shared family machine running Windows 98. I don't know what it's spec was but obviously it was nothing compared to now. Internet connectivity was via dialup modem - the cheapest way to get online was via congested 0800 services such as IC24. No networking, multimedia consisted of poor quality video and 128kbps MP3s.
It wasn't until 2001 that I could afford to build my first desktop computer - a measly 1GHz Intel Duron machine running Windows ME before changing to Windows 2000. There was still no networking so I had my own modem in order to get online.
2002 was the year I first became connected to broadband at the seamingly blisteringly fast speeds of 512kbps down/256kbps up. Of course nowadays these speeds can be achieved by mobile phone and the thought of speeds like this on a fixed line would be sneered at. It was 2002 that the connected world meant I could start properly developing my website.
From then it's been more computers, the addition of wired and then wireless networks leading to the sitation now where I operate a home server, a desktop machine used as a media centre, a desktop machine used for amateur radio and general use, the laptop computer and a 3G/WiFi connected mobile phone.
Gaming
I've always been a bit behind the times when it's come to computer games. I've never had a machine of high enough specification to seriously consider PC gaming bar the odd game here and there, so it's been left to the games console. In 1999 I'd saved up enough to buy my own Playstation and I remember being amazed at the visuals of games like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII. Of course by now this machine was already aging - the Playstation 2 was only two years away.
The later machine I didn't purchase until 2006 and it is this machine that sits under my TV. As of now, I'm still working my way through Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Even comparing the PS2 to the original machine though, the visuals are vastly superior and the games more immersive. I know the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be a huge leap again but I don't intend to get the latest Microsoft console until later in 2010 - 5 years after it was originally released.
Talking of the players in gaming ten years ago, the likes of Sony, Sega and Nintendo where the big three. Since then Sega has dropped out of manufacturing, and Microsoft came onto the Scene with the original XBox machine. Nintendo looked shaky with it's first machine of the noughties (Game Cube) but was now stormed ahead with the Wii - the first mainstream machine to feature motion control.
Multimedia
The CRT was king for television back in 1999. I had my own personal 14" TV/VHS combi and the family unit was a 28" (I think) beast. Over the air signals were mainly analogue with me not experiencing Freeview until 2002.
Now, my screen is a 32" LCD and I like the idea of upping the size to 42". Such screen sizes would not be possible ten years ago - imagine how much room a CRT of such a size would be!
Of course VHS just didn't cut it anymore. The DVD was released in 1999 and I got my first disk in 2002 which I played through my first computer - not a dedicated player. Now I barely touch the old tapes. I have however bought myself a Video Recorder for the pricely sum of £2 in order to dub some old cassettes.
Now I'm again experiencing a format change with the move from DVD to Blu-ray. Okay it's not as dramatic since I can still play my older DVD collection, but the appeal of High Definition video is too great to resist. Sky HD provides superb broadcast picture quality compared to the often poor standard definition equivalent.
Whilst broadcast picture quality may have decreased with the introduction of digital to terrestrial broadcast and Sky; the number of channels available now is staggering. Compare Freeview today to analogue television a liittle over 10 years ago, featuring just 4-5 stations. For better or worse, no-one can argue that today we are all spoilt for choice.
Photography
Taking photographs has had such a radical change over the last decade. Ten years ago the idea of having a digital camera was completely unrealistic - much too expensive. I had a compact Praktica camera taking 35mm film allowing for 24 or 36 exposures per film. Photography was not a cheap hobby for the casual photographer. The cost of film and development had to be considered each time that shutter was clicked. I like to think that this forced me to consider each shot more carefully but I don't really think this is true - I didn't know what made a good picture so just took the snaps that appealed to me.
Nowadays, there is little if any choice in film cameras for the casual photographer. Many compact cameras now are digital, small and cheap. Where the digital cameras of ten years ago featured perhaps a maximum of 2mp, todays cameras range from 8mp upwards. We are in the situation where those who don't know just believe more megapixels equals better quality photographs. The camera in the mobile phone has now reached 8mp and more despite not having the optics to support it.
My first digital camera was the Sony DSC-P200 - a high end (at the time) 7mp camera. This suited me until 2008 when I bought a Casio Exilim EX1080 10mp compact camera. It features little in the way of manual control, but is good for quick snaps. It was also in 2008 that I bought my first DSLR - the Nikon D80, and started taking photography much more seriously than before. I'm sure I've got a long way to go but my picture taking is vastly better than pre-2008 and a world away from 1999.
Digital photographs have also led to the reduction of printing (for me anyway). Most of my pictures are on my server's hard drive and are shown in a slide show on my general computer screen. One of my presents to my partner Kate was a digital photo frame. Ten years ago, I never would have thought that by the end of the noughties a device would exist that allows easy viewing of those files - a complete album or more on show on a bookshelf with pictures changing every 15 minutes. That's so much better than a static printed picture in a frame.
The Mobile Phone
I don't know if there is another device that has changed so much in ten years that it is almost unrecongisable compared to the earlier devices.
Ten years ago, my experience of the mobile was a device with a monochrome screen, simple games like snake and the best ways of communicating with it were by voice call on the 2G GSM mobile network or by SMS text message which became popular in the late 90's.
Within a year I had experienced the first stage of mobile internet connectivity via WAP. Looking back, this was pretty pointless but at the time I thought it was amazing. I could get online and look at websites designed solely for the mobile phone. I remember speaking to a work colleague in the early 2000s who simply did not believe that getting online via a mobile phone was possible. Yes it was crude and slow but it did work. Of course HTML browsing didn't exist on the mobile for a few more years, but by using a PDA such as a Psion Revo to connect via the mobile using it's infra-red connection did allow access to the full interent (albeit in low resolution monochrome).
Nowaday's my mobile has an always on internet connection either over the 3G mobile network or via WiFi. The phone (HTC T-Mobile G1) features a full colour touchscreen display, can play high quality audio files, play certain video files, take photographs and low quality video, automatically poll my Google account for emails, calendar updates and RSS reader updates and automatically receives updates to Twitter and Identi.ca. In short, the full internet is accessible via the built in browser with very few exceptions. Nowadays, a significant percentage of my internet time is via mobile phone.
Honourable Mentions
Obviously I can't talk in-depth about every technological development, so just to mention other things that have developed in the last decade:
Music downloads; online on-demand media (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD etc., spotify, last fm and others.); worldwide internet gaming via consoles; casual online games such as flash games; the portable media player (NOT just the iPod, but all of the others); eBooks; and presumably many other things that have slipped my mind
Technology - Where next?
I'm not going to fall in to the trap of trying to predict what technology and the 21st century lifestyle will be like in another 10 years. I think the last decade has proven how difficult that would be. We'll likely see new technologies that very few of us can imagine. Existing technologies will be developed further. I can say with some confidence that computers will continue to become more powerful and mobile phones will do more further decreasing the need to sit at a desk to be connected to the online world.
Personally, I don't know where technology will be for me more than 2 years into the future. I'll likely obtain a surround sound amp and speakers to go with it before 2012 and also upgrade from a PS2 to Xbox 360. More than that though, I just don't know.
The last ten years personally
Outside of technology, the noughties has been very interesting for me. I started working in telesales before quickly starting work in an off-licence in April 2000. 3 1/2 years later, I found myself working for the local council via a temping agency and then in 2005 I became a permanent member of staff at my current job.
I passed my driving test in 2003 and have since bought and disposed of two cars - the first a Ford Fiesta which almost literally fell apart, and the second a Peaugot 405 which I sold for scrap when I no longer needed it or had anywhere to keep it. Now I'm back to not owning a vehicle although I do still drive.
I have moved home three times with Kate, in all cases moving into rented accomodation, before settling into our current flat which has for the most part served us well since 2007.
After a number of years listening to and using CB radio, I obtained my first amateur radio licence on 2001 before obtaining my full licence in 2007.
Happy New Year...Happy New Decade
So with that, what has become quite an essay for me, I'll sign-off with a Happy New Year for 2010 and a Happy New Decade for the Tens. Oh, and for the record I'll be saying twenty-ten.
co-operation in space exploration
17 Jul '09, 23:36
With the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing only 3 days away, and as the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-127) rendezvouses with the International Space Station, my thoughts turned to the future of space exploration, and in particular, manned exploration.
Sadly I wasn't around to see any of the moon landing missions, but like many I am quite familiar with what happened in July 1969. When I think that it was 40 years since man traveled around 250,000 miles to step foot on another world, and then think of the technological advances made during that time; I wonder why we haven't progressed further. Why is man trapped in low Earth orbit?
The story is well told. People lost interest in Apollo after the first few moon landings. For the layman, the interest was getting man there and returning him safely. Scientific and technological interests did not play a part. And so, budgets were cut and the Apollo programme (after the 17th mission) was axed.
Now, as we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the United States has a renewed drive to send man back to the Moon and then, just possibly, on to Mars. Finally it looks like my generation has an boundary-pushing event of it's own to awe and inspire. Only, is it that simple?
Once again finance is coming into play. It's not really unexpected. Here I can use the awful phrase; the "Credit Crunch". The global recession is undoubtedly making politicians rethink their priorities when it comes to funding. That's not to say that the trip to the Moon is under threat of being axed. However, a commission will look at NASAs plans to use an Ares 1 rocket. A rocket that, following technical problems, is now too expensive. Politicians favour the cargo ship Ares 5 to carry crew and cargo.
It's here that I had my epiphany. Why is the United States doing this? Why NASA? Since the 1970s, an increasing number of nations have either become space-faring or have ambition to. Russia is an obvious nation as a player in the space race, but now China, India, Japan and Europe. All have interests in space and have launched either manned or unmanned vehicles.
To me it seems space offers an opportunity. One that can bring nations and people together in a peaceful pursuit. So why not pool resources? Instead of the US going-it alone, why not get all interested nations together in one International Space Agency? All countries can contribute funding, technologies and personnel to make the next space adventure truly one for humanity - not one for a single nation.
The International Space Station is a visible sign of what can be achieved, but the principles should be extended to all of space exploration. The question is, can we as a people realise that, before the moon is divided up into territories for each nation that lands there?
reaction to the death of michael jackson
26 Jun '09, 12:28
Sad news today as people awoke to the news that pop superstar Michael Jackson died from a cardiac arrest.
However, from watching and reading news articles throughout the day, I have come to the conclusion that many people simply overreact to this kind of news.
Television showed images of distraught fans who appeared to be inconsolable, but these aren't people who knew him personally. They are simply fans and I don't understand how anyone can get so upset over someone they don't know. Plus it's not as if his career was in full swing.
Of course I'd expect friends and family to be upset and I do feel for them, but those who are simply just fans really ought to pull themselves together.
This is nothing new though. Similar reactions were seen at the death of other stars such as Elvis, John Lennon and Princess Diana. I just think it's a shame that people react this way.
Interestingly, last.fm has published a graph showing the number of times Michael Jackson tracks were listened to on and hour-by-hour basis and there is an almost vertical spike as people learned the news.
happy new year 2009
31 Dec '08, 23:57
So here we are at the end of 2008, and this is my traditional last entry for the year.
The last twelve months haven't been particularly eventful, which is not a bad thing in any way. Looking back on my resolutions made last year, I didn't meet all of them but do think I have improved my general fitness through walking more but I still have some way to go. The other two resolutions - use my amateur radio equipment more, and setup my studio equipment have not been met in the slightest. I haven't decided on 2009's resolutions yet, needless to say I will post them here when I have.
That just leaves me to say Happy New Year to everyone who looks at this, and hope that 2009 is a good one for you.
more nails in the coffin for drm'd music
31 Dec '08, 18:05
The future of DRM protected music is increasingly in doubt. Not only have independent music specialists such as eMusic been offering MP3 downloads for a significant time, mainstream music is beginning to become available in the universal format through stores such as 7Digital, Amazon (which launched in the UK earlier this month) and Tesco Digital.
What makes things better though is when a big artist appears to come out in favour of MP3 downloads. In this case it's Sir Paul McCartney who, using the band name "The Fireman", has released an album online not only through digital retailers in the MP3 format but through his own website and it's the latter where one can really see how digital music sales should really be.
The MP3 format is not the only digital format available. For those who can make use of it, FLAC is also available at no extra charge and with the MP3 files included too. For the benefit of Apple users, they can download the album in Apple Lossless and again the MP3 files are part of the package. But not only does one obtain the music, but the album cover is included as a JPG image and the insert as a PDF document meaning not one aspect of owning the physical copy is lost in this digital purchase (except for having a physical product).
The benefit of offering lossless audio should be pretty obvious. The quality will be identical to that of a purchased CD even if it is burnt to a CD-R as CD Audio, and later re-ripped back to FLAC. There is no degredation and the impression I get from comments made on internet message boards is that quality is a big reason putting people off delving into downloads.
I'd love to see FLAC being taken up as an option by retailers. Download speeds are fast, and storage space is cheap so end users shouldn't suffer from the larger file sizes. Understandably, the retailers themselves may be doubtful. Afterall, 4 million songs in FLAC format could cause storage problems compared to MP3 and the bandwidth bill for the retailer could take a hit. My solution is to simply offer FLAC as a choice alongside MP3 and to charge a small amount extra for the privilege for a larger, better quality file.
ways to improve the bus service
29 Dec '07, 00:48
Since I don't own a car, I regularly travel by bus to get to or from work. Even though my bus journey is fairly reliable, today on my journey home I decided to ponder over what would make the bus service better.
First of all, the biggest two issues have to be timetabling and communication. This mornings journey seemed to be constantly waiting for non existent passengers. Due to the fact that it was fairly early, if the bus had just driven past all these vacant bus stops, then it would have been greatly ahead of schedule. Timetables should reflect better the speed at which a bus can realistically make it's journey.
Now, since buses use the public roads like all other vehicles, it stands to reason that even the best planned timetables cannot be adhered to 100% of the time. This is where communication comes in. At major bus stops, electronic boards show when the next few buses are due based on real time positioning information from the buses. Where these boards are present, it's great. But something needs to be done for the smaller bus stops.
Due to costs, I wouldn't expect electronic boards at every single bus stop, but how about a system where a text message can be sent from a mobile phone requesting the latest information on a bus? If each bus stop was assigned a unique number, then a short message along the lines of "BUS 123 STOP 12345" could be sent, and an automated reply would be received saying "BUS 123 DUE 1843".
Continuing with the communications theme, the internet could be utilised to provide the exact same real time information as is shown on the electronic bus stop signs. This would make it easy to determine the best time to leave the office each day. By publishing the information in a light weight web page, mobile phones could access this information also providing an alternative to the text message idea, above. This is also something that's available for the railway and it's extremely useful.
On then, to payments. It must be annoying for bus drivers having to deal with money. I know some get annoyed when presented with a ã10 note for a ã4.50 journey. It would be nice to see an Oyster Card style system come into play on the Essex buses. Users charge their card with money, and this is then deducted each time that person travels. Mobile phones have been used for making payments for low cost items. Why not incorporate them in paying for a bus fare?
When it comes to the buses themselves, a lot of these need a lot of work. Most are noisy and have cramped seating. I don't consider myself to have exceptionally long legs, but in some seats I have to sit sideways since the chair in front is too far back for my knees.
I always wondered why there are no seat belts on buses. The way some drivers drive, I would have thought people would insist on them being provided. Personally, I don't think it should be mandatory to wear them (almost pointless for a person travelling maybe 3-4 stops), but it would be nice to have the option especially when the bus gets over 50mph.
Luggage storage, or lack of it, is the other point. One small parcel shelf at the front of the vehicle. When the bus is full, that shelf can be full to bursting. All that would be needed is a further two shelves stacked vertically. It would help in preventing seats being taken up by bags, or luggage being put in the gangway.
The final thing I have to say about buses, is there is a big selling point in their so-called "green credentials". Travelling by bus is more fuel efficient than travelling by car, but most buses are still diesel powered. New buses should be fuelled by LPG, or if the technology allows, hydrogen (I'm sure there was a prototype hydrogen bus running in London not too long ago). Bus companies could really push how environmentally friendly their method of transport is then.
itunes and linux
24 Dec '07, 11:49
For a little while now, I've been intrigued by the offerings of DRM free music through Apple's iTunes music store. I understand that a lot of independent offerings have been made available as well as some major label music albeit not a lot. However, as my computer systems run Linux and have no option to boot into Windows, I haven't had the opportunity to check it out.
It seems to be a pretty daft situation really. iTunes is available for Mac OS X, obvious since it's Apple's system. It's also available for Windows - it has to be since Microsoft dominates the PC OS market. However, Linux is left out. One might ask why that's daft since Linux users are in a minority, but Linux is improving all the time and with distributions such as Ubuntu (and its derivatives), PC Linux OS and Sabayon; it's getting very easy to use "out of the box".
This can only mean that the number of Linux users will continue to grow and as a result of that, the number of people unable to use Apple's music store also increases. This could impact the sales of iPods due to the (mistaken) belief that iTunes is an essential requirement to owning the leading digital music player.
As it stands at the moment, my digital music downloads come from eMusic, Audio Lunchbox and 7Digital. All of these provide DRM free music in the MP3 format but a vast majority of the 7Digital catalogue is off-limits to me due to major labels insisting on DRM in their files which comes in the form of protected WMA files. Now I know there is little chance of these files being playable on Linux systems due to the format belonging to Microsoft and them requiring a royalty for the ability to decode WMA files.
So there is an opportunity here for Apple. One where the company can provide the only solution to purchasing DRM protected music on Linux based systems. Considering OS X is UNIX based, a port from their Mac version of iTunes to a Linux version shouldn't be too difficult.
Unfortunately, at the present time their does not seem to be much hope that a port will happen. Their is a petition available to sign on the internet that has just shy of 11600 signatures, but I doubt that's really enough.
So their are only three other options available. One is to have a dual boot computer with both Windows and Linux available, but I don't see that as an ideal solution. Second is to try to use iTunes with WINE under Linux. Version 7.3 of iTunes does install in the latest version of WINE but it runs incredibly slowly to the point where it's not really usable, however hopefully it will improve with later versions of WINE. The third option is to forget it and continue taking my business to the stores I currently use.
At the moment, I'm going to continue with the third option. I do like the stores I currently use and have little intention of dropping them completely even if iTunes does make it to Linux. It just seems a missed opportunity by Apple not providing a version of the leading digital music store that myself and many others like me would be willing to run and spend money through.
windfarms part of the energy solution
11 Dec '07, 18:27
The government recently announced plans to build 7000 new wind turbines off the British coastline by 2020; a plan that would generate over 30 gigawatts of power but cause massive change to our shores.
If the idea does go ahead (and it is a big "if" - I'm skeptical over whether the government will go ahead with this), these turbines could provide enough power for all the homes in Britain, however this does not mean that nuclear power is now off the agenda. Wind power is only as good as the wind that blows. Should the wind speed drop, there needs to be a fall-back and nuclear power is still touted as the answer in that situation.
There have, of course, been many people stating how wind turbines will damage our coastline and views will be spoilt. These are almost certainly the same people who will argue over them being built on in-shore locations and for the same reason, but people also are worried about the effects of pollution on our climate. You can't have it both ways people. If we want to keep our energy intensive lifestyles, we need to build renewable energy power plants to deal with them.
In my view, windfarms are great. Putting them out at sea takes advantage of more wind that may not be as abundant on land and they won't destroy our green and pleasant land. I do not see nuclear power as being necessary however.
We also need to be tapping into tidal power - another inexhaustible source of power. I believe there have been experimental generators put to work in the North Sea, so hopefully this is something we'll see more of. But more than this, we need to look at micro generation. That is each building generating as much energy as possible before it draws more from the National Grid.
Although it would be fairly expensive, I believe each new building should be installed with solar paneling on it's roof top and efforts should be made to add them to each building already in existence starting with the most power hungry. Assuming they do not create a lot of noise, miniature wind turbines should also be installed. At present, roof space is a wasted resource. Imagine a city where each roof was covered in solar paneling. It would generate a huge amount of energy.
I don't ever see such a thing happening though for one simple reason. Money. Not the fact that it would be expensive to introduce, but that energy companies would loose out. It would be likely that unused energy generated by these solar panels would need to be fed back into the National Grid in order to help supply other buildings that require more than they can produce. This would mean energy companies loosing a vast amount of money as requirements for power from other sources lowers.
mastercard: no more recurring payments on maestro (switch) and solo cards
21 Nov '07, 18:57
I learnt yesterday, that the ability to use a Maestro card (formerly Switch) or a Solo card for a recurring payment subscription has been withdrawn by it's operator Mastercard.
Thanks to a message presented to me when logging on to eMusic, I discovered that the only way to continue such subscriptions is to use a credit card or American Express card, although there was nothing to indicate that Visa Debit was going the same way - not yet at least.
This is quite worrying for two reasons. The first being that there appears to have been very little by way of communication that this change has been made. It's only thanks to the fact that by it's nature I frequently log in to the eMusic website, that I found out. Secondly, it is creating another incentive for people to sign up to credit cards at a time when the nations consumer debt is at an all time high.
I know there are better ways of paying for a recurring subscription, such a Direct Debit. However, using a debit card was easy. Not only for the consumer, but presumably for the organisation as well who would only have to run one payment system.
The change has obviously been made with security in mind. A recurring payment system could be open to fraud considering there is no authorisation once the payment has been setup. The risk of forgetting about the subscription could also be a reason for the change, but I argue that people should be checking their statements frequently enough so that they never accidentally forget about more than one payment.
To me, this change seems like a backwards step, making subscription models in e-commerce that little bit more awkward in the UK. I am also concerned that this is just the first step, and it won't be long before credit cards follow suit. After all, if recurring payments are a risk to debit cards then they are risk to credit cards as well.
older
Last.fm: Last played:
06 Mar '10, 19:04
The Bluetones – A Parting Gesture
Last Microblog Post:
07 Mar '10, 19:24 via Identi.ca
CQ on 40m PSK31 #hamr
