July 2010
15 posts
Screen-scraping ethics
I’ve been struggling with this for quite a while now - how ethical is it to retrieve data from a website to be used within your own application? The information exists for the sole purpose of informing the public, so surely by further utilising this data and disseminating it, I’m giving the original author a hand. Then why do websites specifically prohibit this sort of behaviour?
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Changelog: UKRail v1.01
UKRail is a free alternative to the National Rail application in the Android Marketplace.
v1.01 adds:
Support for all devices running Android 1.5 or later versions
Nicer looking UI, in line with National Rail colours
Station input auto-completion
More bugfixes and error checks from v1.00
Scan the barcode or click here to download it straight to your Android handset!
Privacy Protection
Came across this particular article lately (thanks to Boris) and while the loss of any personal data is regrettable, I have no sympathy for these Android smartphone users.
Before you install any application in the Android OS, you’re prompted with a list of permissions that you grant to the application. Surely something must be dodgy if it’s a wallpaper application and yet it requests...
Originally I was going to join my dad on a short hike in addition to testing out the Tamron 28-300mm f3.5 lenses he lent me.
But his PC and laptop broke down and this is why I’m posting this instead of climbing a mountain. Fuck Windows.
Boris:
dude iphone is the future
android is destined for failure
i mean they name the updates after desserts
desserts are served last
after the main course
which is the iphone
Progress or Regression?
Last week I have slacked off after publishing my UKRails app on the Android market. Although I have studied and discussed with others on the project I am working on next (A Background Daily), I haven’t really made any substantial progress.
The aim for this week is to get A Background Daily sorted out and launched, and start on my next project with Raymond: Newsmap.
The 10K Challenge I
Instead of doing my usual 5K run today, I decided to increase the incline and keep the same speed, in order to push myself so I can attain a better time for my 5K subgoal. I thought it would only be marginally harder than the normal 5K I do.
Turns out I was wrong by a mile. It was like increasing the difficulty in an exponential manner. Not only was I feeling shite at the end of the 30 minutes,...
Android App Inventor lets you be the developer →
Finally! This should allow for much easier app development, can’t wait to get started with it this week!
Developing for Android
Over the last few days I’ve been working on the UI for my first Android app.
UI development is a pain. Sure, Java programming is more or less simple once you get the hang of it, but creating the UI is really annoying. No built-in drag and drop editor (as I am used to in Netbeans), which makes it rather difficult to create a nice looking UI. In comparison, I have been told from friends that...
June 2010
8 posts
The iPhone Economy: Apps aren't worth Developing? →
This article paints a very bleak picture for full-time app development.
But again, I wouldn’t say no to earning £1000 for a hobby. And there’s always contract work to make up the numbers, if I ever find myself doing full-time app development.
Technological Changes within 10 years
2000 iMac Operating System - Mac OS 9.0.4 Processor - 500 MHz PowerPC G3 CPU, 128MB Memory Graphics - ATI Rage 128 Pro, 8MB of memory (8 million triangles) Screen - 786K pixels Data Transfer Speeds - 1.3-12.5 MB/s (DVD-ROM-1/100 Ethernet) Storage - 30GB Hard Drive Dimensions - 15.0 x 15.0 x 17.1 inches Weight - 34.7 pounds
2010 iPhone 4 Operating System - iOS 4.0 Processor - 1 Ghz ARM...
Halfway there
Officially halfway through my exams. I just need to wade through Formal Specification and Verification next Tuesday, followed by Reliability and Fault Tolerance next Friday and its freedom for me.
Which brings me to the next dilemma. Should I settle for an iPhone 3GS (2nd hand), a new iPhone 4G (£499), or wait for my dad’s hand-me-down iPhone 3G (free) for iPhone development work?...
Third Year Project
Finally found a supervisor for my [amazing] third year project, with 1 day left before the deadline. It could have been a lot worst. I could have been married off to someone I don’t like (thanks Dr Matthews) and being forced to work on a project that I have no interest in.
I don’t really understand where all the other professors are when I need them. I send them emails without ever...
“但有一個夢 不會死 記着吧 無論雨怎麼打 自由仍是會開花”
– 毋忘六四 // 8964
May 2010
11 posts
Transfer Gossip: What Wenger said to Fabregas
Fabregas: I'm off!
Wenger: There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy... er... I mean football.
Fabregas: I'll never join you!
Wenger: If you only knew the power of the Arsenal. Pat Rice never told you what happened to your father.
Fabregas: He told me enough.
Wenger: I am your father.
Fabregas: No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!
Wenger: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Why is Microsoft Word so expensive? →
“With Burnley 2-0 down to Tottenham after barely half an hour on the clock, a...”
My step dad is a fucking idiot →
“Election Day!” He exclaims excitedly this morning. Looking pleased with himself now, he follows up with the proud boast that he’d “not watched any of this electioneering”. He spits that word - “electioneering” - with a venom normally reserved for child rapists and references to “youths”. “I barely watched 3 minutes of one of those debates”; he’s on a triumphant roll now, a smug celebration of...
“Drogba latched on to his dreadful pass to wander around Jose Reina and score. It...”
“Iran is perceived as a threat because they did not obey the orders of the...”
– Noam Chomsky
April 2010
8 posts
World Expo 2010 advert music plagerised from... →
Shameful, isn’t it? And with a population of 1.3 billion, I’m sure there has to be someone who can come up with something original
Close Encounters of the Steve Kind
Steve had managed to get Don Knuth, the legendary Stanford professor of computer science, to give a lunchtime lecture to the Mac team. Knuth is the author of at least a dozen books, including the massive and somewhat impenetrable trilogy “The Art of Computer Programming.” (For an amusing look at Knuth’s heady self image, and his $2.56 reward program,...
carocat:
Here’s Mark Todd, Labour MP for South Derbyshire, explaining why you should have your Internet connection cut off without even a written notice:
Is my hon. Friend sure that a postal delivery will suffice? Many people may have chosen to form a contract with an ISP at some stage before moving, and may not have seen any particular reason to notify the ISP of a change of address.
Yes, the...
Carlos Vela dumped from Barcelona game after... →
Vela’s agent Eduardo Hernandez said: “Carlos did not find his passport. He didn’t mislead the club, he just didn’t know where the document was.”
I haven’t heard that excuse before
Brown says economy like Wayne Rooney →
“Like Rooney’s coaches, Brown said, policymakers should not force the economy to jump off the treatment table as if nothing had happened.”
“Get up you stupid little boy. You’ve been shite, son, in your daft pink...”
– Richard Keys slagging off Arsenal’s Theo Walcott when he thought his mic was off (Arsenal vs Barcelona)
“If you need to “originally” write your code in Swahili, while...”
– Response to new iPhone developer terms
March 2010
10 posts
The Uma Thurman film so bad it made £88 on opening... →
You have to feel for the director. Probably a combination of poor advertising and lots of negative reviews from critics.
港被指操控匯率 →
I literally ROFLMAOed when I read this. Hong Kong, a currency manipulator?! We’ve pegged our Dollar to the US Dollar since 1983, and NOW you call us out for it? Isn’t it a bit late?
And what are they going to do, tax exports of mooncakes and 蛋捲? LOL
Back from Dundee
I miss Scotland. Brilliant place, nice roads to drive on, lots of sheep - I wouldn’t mind going there for a holiday getaway again. The 8 hour drive was very enjoyable and I only made 2 stops on the way up, which proves that I’m capable of long roadtrips.
Thanks to Briana Hohoho (who very generously lent me his card reader), I’ve finally uploaded a bunch of pics from my Canon EOS...
“Everybody knows Mourinho doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge. My record is...”
– Jose Mourinho, before Inter’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Chelsea
Hip-Hop Translator: Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” – What Are... →
Absolutely hilarious!