My first attempt was to update the operating system of the phone, to do this I installed Nokia System Updater which promptly crashed my computer. A real blue screen of death. On restarts the system hung after login and failed to work consistantly until I had cleaned the software off my computer.

I reinstalled and between system hangs I managed to get the updater working. After connecting the phone with all sorts of threats about how delicate the procedure was the application tried to download the 5800 update 5 times failing each time at around 80mb (the whole update is 120mb) until I had to force it to quit as it showed no signs of giving up. 5 times isn’t that bad you say? Well Nokia is running the slowest servers in the world it seems so 5 x 80mb on my normally speedy line took 6 hours!!

I gave up on the system update.

But then…today I decided I’d like to try the maps loader. I dutifully put the CD that came with the phone in and it went through the “do you want to download the latest from the web?” routine. 4 hours later and the application has failed to download anything meaningful from Nokia with the music software, Ovi NSU all failing due to the Nokia servers timing out.

Crazy! I guess this proves that even if the hardware is brilliant Google Android will still win over Symbian because they know how to run a server and can provide the exciting software experience people want tinkering with a smartphone.

The result is “Loopcase” – the intention being a range of recycled material camera cases and shoulder bags. That in itself isn’t particularly new or exciting, but the closure, finish and general um … je ne sais quis? May well be. I am especially stoked with the compact camera cases.

I get asked a lot about how it works and what we use so here is a brief explanation.

We have a 2.4ghz standard wifi A/G network setup in a star configuration. The central house has a Linksys WRT54G wireless router attached to a standard ADSL 2+ modem, a very reliable unit which has external antenna connections unlike some other wireless routers, you can get these pretty cheap on Trademe. Attached to that and mounted on a small mast is an omni directional antenna from www.gowifi.co.nz something like this.

Each client house has a Linksys WAP54G wireless access point, these are again solid units and we used them because they can be used in reverse as a client instead of an access point. Note – there is a strange bug when configuring these, you need to use IE or Chrome when accessing the configuration panel as some editions of Firefox do not work with it. These have a directional antenna (similar to this) aimed at the hub. Most of these are inside houses and aimed through a window.

Almost all our failures have been at the modem, either it losing its session and not restoring it properly with the provider or it dying completely. We also have a troublesome shelter belt that has grown up and blocked two houses – the gear is true line of sight stuff.

This has enabled our house to lower its telecoms bill from $100+ to $20 by using a voip provider for the phone. Voip is getting better and better in this application but was inconsistant for the first year – still, we are early adopters and that is what you get.

The goal was to increase the productivity of the office space by providing storage for each work space and some division between them. I adopted a rule of 1m3 storage per 1m of desk space, which is a lot but reflects the fact that the office space is connected to the best second hand shop in ~ Wanaka? The world?

Storage is provided by the vertical cases which also split up the desk space. The traffic way around the central island is also now blocked to provide a private (Simon!) workspace. Walkways only work if there is enough room to transit without interrupting which there wasn’t in this case.

All construction is from seconds 15mm plwood from Trademe, some of which was… er… very second rate. To be expected I guess. It all screwed with superscrews so it can be re-configured or dismantled easily at a later date.

Below is the quick Sketchup representation I did to convince everybody it would work, and below that some pictures of it in progress.

We recommend anybody looking to tune up their body to book in with Lori-Ellen when you are in Christchurch. You won’t regret it

wholebody.co.nz

I appreciated that what people want with their websites is…for it to work. With this in mind I am not out to confuse with high level server megaflops and a zillion features but rather to offer:

• Super stable and secure web hosting – hassle free
  
• New Zealand based servers which are faster for kiwis, unless you are internationally focused in which case a US server or European
• Great service, and an actual real person you can talk to
• Fair pricing, actually: a real bargain
• Help when you need it. Advice on improving your site and design/coding input if it is ever needed

I’ll make a zingy feature table sometime – but for now the plans look like this:

Please note:

Yes! You can get a server at Godaddy with a hell of a lot more of everything. You will not however be able to ring up a clever local web expert who can help you sort out your problems and give you sage advice on how you could make your website better, reduce your costs or increase your business productivity using the web.

This week I loaded up the new version 0.47 and tested it out on a few small, odd tasks I had to do. Strangely these did not include drawing which is Inkscapes strength.

• Extracting pages from a PDF
  I like to fill out forms on the computer as opposed to printing, hand writing, scanning and emailing. If you are lucky enough to have Illustrator or Indesign this is relatively easy. Inkscape now extracts single pages from a PDF, you can then lock that into a layer and type over the top – even place your pre-scanned signature. Inkscape performed this seamlessly. Excellent!
• Outputting as PDF
  I had a logo to output and my experience with PDF export in Inkscape has been sketchy in the past, crashing the application and strange clipping in some object fills. This time is was as fast and beautiful as I could have wanted. Again Excellent!

So… along with the excellent drawing main feature set Inkscape is an excellent PDF editor (at least for single pages).

No all I need is Google to put out a Linux edition of Sketchup. Please. Pretty please.

Last week we completed our first, underfloor and ceiling insulation, projects in Arrowtown. I can report underfloor for 6 hours in a 450mm crawlspace with spiders and sharp bits of wood and tin for company is pretty grim; it was only made bearable by the wit of Gromme and the brilliant Novatherm product, no nasty Pink Batt dust, no nails glue or staples! More about it later.

The system:

• 4 x lines on standard phones through 1 x Linksys ATA and 1 x WAG with 2 ATA ports
• 4 x people using softphones – X-Lite
• 1 x Linksys SPA922 VOIP deskphone
• Auto attendant on main calling in line
• Eftpos and Fax on a POTs line which also carries the ADSL
• Voicemail on all extensions with voicemail sent to email addresses where necessary

Lessons so far:

• Linksys ATA’s seem to be more reliable and give better call quality than a software phone on a PC.
• Starting out with one sort of end point (ATA’s) would have been easier. Having people on three different solutions makes config and customization a bit of a nightmare.
• The free version of X-Lite does not do a blind transfer, I haven’t found a free softphone yet that does but will try Zoiper tomorrow.
• Without a local digital PBX (Wastebusters is using the Kiwilink service) you are restricted to the options that the external service offers on their (usually Asterisk) setup. In this case a limit of 9 speed dial numbers restricting the pool of possible blind transfer speed dials.

Savings

• Reduced monthly rentals by around $200
• Cheaper calling costs
• Flexible extensible PBX features, mostly changeable through web interface

I have always thought good antivirus should be part of an operating system, after all who knows the internal workings of a platform better than the developer? It has always irked me that after buying Windows you then have to buy or find a kindly free provider for a key operating system component – protection from virus’s.

Over the years I have used a paid for Nortons license (horrible and slow), a free AVG edition (actually quite good) and a free Avira (German software? Had to try it but horrible popup ads). So it was with pleasure I installed Windows Security Essentials a few weeks ago, its small, fast and unobtrusive. And totally free – ie: no ads. I then went on to replace Nod32 on 8 computers saving Wastebusters $400 a year. So far the experience has been exceptional.

I also disabled the Client Security Solution in the Bios which has made a small difference.