London
And today has seen a little more work Underground:
- The shared tracks algorithm has been rewritten (God knows what I was thinking of when I wrote it).
- Track size is now based on the zoom level.
- Bezier curves have been implemented (with a little help).
- Central tracks are now reasonably smooth.
Still doesn't do anything useful mind...
I've finally pulled finger today and geo-coded the entire London Underground. Yes, my long abandoned Tube on Google Maps has had a makeover. Not only is it now full screen, with the ability to toggle stations and lines on and off, but all [underground] lines are now present, along with the 275 stations.
There are still a few outstanding jobs, mind:
- The track overlay algorithm is dodgy.
- Areas with shared tracks look rubbish once you zoom out.
- The tracks haven't been smoothed - they jump from station to station instead of curving nicely.
- It doesn't actually do much of use...
Still, maybe these will get fixed next time I feel the urge. And there's still the DLR and London Overground to add if I'm feeling really keen!
Early last year the BBC and the other major free-to-air broadcasters started a trial of terrestrial HDTV broadcasts in south London. While the others have packed up, the BBC is still broadcasting in 1080i and has many of its headline programmes on there - such as Planet Earth - along with a lot of previews and fillers.
I've been keen to get it for a while, as Planet Earth in particular really benefits from the added resolution. However, it is encoded as MPEG-4/H.264, whereas the SDTV channels (and hence the majority of set-top boxes) are sent in MPEG-2. Further, neither EyeTV for the Mac or Windows Media Centre support HDTV in H.264, quite possibly because the US uses MPEG-2 for HD broadcasts. However, with a little hacking I've managed to get it, under Windows at least.
The solution:
H.264 codecs are a little tricky - while CoreAVC is widely recommended, the buggers won't let you buy it at present, effectively making it unavailable. Hence I've fallen back on the trial version of PowerDVD, which is apparently slightly slower but does work.
And so, we can now watch BBC HD. The resolution is superb - 1080i is above the size of most PC screens - and my MacBook Pro CoreDuo 2.0Ghz almost manages to keep up. Hopefully CoreAVC will add that last bit of speed, as it's almost there.
Oddly enough, though, I can't use my external digital receiver/speakers - the DVB stream stops dead when I plug them in. I'm blaming this on the BootCamp drivers at present, but it's odd.
Now, if only Microsoft and Elgato would pull finger...
It's a good time to have a PSP, especially with Pirates! and Sonic coming up. Unfortunately, mine was on the way out. Second-hand to begin with, the analogue controller and one of the buttons were playing up, and so I headed back to CeX to ask for a repair.
I though I was to be disappointed - upon noticing it was running a hacked firmware they tried to avoid it - 'flashing a custom firmware voids your warranty'. I pointed out this was rubbish, as it was a hardware problem, and that I wanted a repair, not a replacement. At this point they sent a message to the repair department, who responded 'just give him another unit'.
And so I now have a mint PSP, in significantly better condition than my old one. The only cost to me: a couple of hours flashing it back to 3.03SE. So now I've an as-new device running Super Mario. Spiffing. And blessings on CeX.
In a rather surprising turn of events, we woke up to a couple of centimetres of snow this morning. It looked rather impressive out back; less so on the A3, where the trees and buildings retained a cover but the pavements and street had reduced to slush. It did look very pretty though; unfortunately, my photos suffered from low light and hence blur.
It being London of course, this caused travel chaos, with the possibility of more on the way.
(For those who don't know, a fall of snow that sticks, even briefly, is somewhat rare in inner London, while being par for the course in Kent: the ground is just too warm.)
Yes, the Northern Line will once and fall all escape it's reputation as the 'Misery Line'. In 2011. In the meantime, the new timetable has just made things worse.
If that's not taking the piss I don't know what is, especially given my season ticket now costs £90 a month and the Charing Cross branch (i.e. the useful one, into the West End) is currently suspended at weekends.
This probably explains the driver, as we pulled into London Bridge during rush hour, asking everyone to pack in because 'the next train is nine minutes behind and will be just as packed'. Class.
We have just knocked off our first calendar year in London, and we celebrated by buying tickets for Somerset House. After braving the Embankment to watch the fireworks last year, we had sworn 'never again!', and so the discovery of Somerset was quite handy. This turned out to be most fortuitous, given that 350,000 people swamped the shore and ensured that Waterloo bridge was packed by 2300.
The BBC was hosting their 'New Year's Live' at Somerset and so there was a wee stage, large numbers of cameras and a room on the waterfront full of VIPs. Unfortunately, the entertainment didn't start until 1130, at which point everyone was moving to the balcony, despite one of Auntie's representatives suggesting that we might have a better view via the big screens in the court. Few seemed convinced. And so we ended up with a superb view of the fireworks, and champagne in hand we watched the crush below.
By the time we got back inside the entertainment, such as it was, was over and so we watched the keen souls on the ice. And thinking we had perhaps left enough time for the tube to clear we abandoned our post at 0100. Only to find Waterloo in chaos - all bar one exit was blocked by the Police, and the one open was pandaemonium - no one could get inside, and no one thought to say what was going on.
So we walked. It's probably a sign that we can expect the same from London Underground in 2007, but at a higher price. Jolly good.
But in any case, happy New Year to all, and hope returning to work isn't too stressful!
2006 is rapidly drawing to a close, and yet I find Microsoft and MarkSpace conspiring to make it difficult.
First up, the Vista upgrade redemption from the good people at Microsoft. For those who acquired an OEM copy of WinXP during the later stages of the year there is a free upgrade to Vista on offer. To do this, jump over to their web-site and enter the coupon details, and Bob is your proverbial uncle.
If only. Firstly, the site is terrible. My first try in November was met by a refusal of the site to acknowledge that Windows XP MCE existed. Today's try got a little further than that at least, but it was a painful journey. Every time you enter something the page reloads. Completely. Even for the obvious choices - such as selecting the only possible upgrade option, and then the quantity. And they use US dates, even when I've said I'm in the UK and my browser asks for UK English. Do I need to play Land of Hope and Glory as well?
Nor can you go back. God forbid that you make a mistake. This becomes particularly problematic around payment. Select your payment type - credit card or debit card. Easy. I've got a Visa card with DEBIT CARD printed in large capital letters across it. It's not easy to confuse it with a credit card. And yet, they only believe in Solo/Switch debit cards. Further, you can't go back. 'Cancel' I cry! They ask am I sure, for if I cancel the order then I'll have to contact customer support. 'Cancel payment' I click instead, and am helpfully returned to exactly the same page. Further, submission results in a generic failure and a 'please try again' message. However, trying again results in 'this coupon has already been used'. Could this all be an elaborate measure to ensure Vista's security by never shipping it? One wonders...
On the desktop side, MarkSpace and their Missing Sync for Windows Mobile product has been driving me mad. Not only did they release the WM5 version (v2.5) and then follow it but a few months later with v3, but it doesn't work. Can I get a USB connection to work with my HTC Wizard? Not a snowflake's chance in hell. Bluetooth is my only option, and even that is flakey as hell, usually resulting in a crash of the software after disconnection and bollocksing up network access on my machine. Nor, looking at the forums, do I appear to be the only one suffering. No wonder people are happy to pirate software willy nilly when when one pays one gets such rubbish.
But never mind. This evening we're off to Somerset House for New Year's, where we can watch the fireworks in the howling wind and avoid the exceptionally packed Embankment. Assuming, of course, it doesn't piss down. (Ironically enough, just as I wrote that line the rain started... figures).
The Science Museum has an exhibition on computer games at present, “Game On”. Given the subject matter timing was a problem - when could one go and avoid the inevitable horde of children? Any holiday or weekend is fraught with the problem of parents dumping their children upon poor museum staff, and given the point of the exhibition is its interactivity, well, this is less than ideal for the rest of us.
And so I thought: Christmas Eve - everyone will be out shopping, or at least out of London. And indeed they were. Unfortunately, the Science Museum shuts for three days a year: 24-26 December. And so we ended up booking for the 27th, and turned up at 10:00 on the dot, intent on beating the crowd.
This proved to be a wise decision. The exhibition ranges from Space Wars, Space Invaders and Ms. PacMan at the start, through to the Wii and PS3 at the end. For the Wii/PS3 you are given 5 minutes on one or the other, but the rest are fair game. And so we found ourselves with our pick for the first half hour or so, after which it became increasingly busy and harder to play your choice of sample.
In general it is very well planned out. Most items are played on the original machines, and most controllers and the like are in good condition. There was also a good range, although the focus was mostly on arcade rather than PC games. The EyeToy powered Super Monkey Ball proved to be quite good, and Polly found herself rather keen on Ms. Pacman.
The major disappointment turned out to be the newer generation games. They inevitable had so many menus than just getting into the game proved a chore, and bar graphical differences there was little to pick between the PS2, XBox 360 or PS3.
But we did get a chance to play 4 player tennis on the Wii. This, despite the rather basic graphics, turned out to be a lot more fun, waving the controller madly in the air in wild attempts to hit the ball. However, it remains to be seen if more games develop the controller concept further (or, indeed, if anyone ever has some stock in the UK).
In short, if you are in London and fancy some fun it's well worth the entry price. Just get in early to avoid the kids.
Yes, the Evening Standard strikes again. This evening's headline - “Killer Fog Travel Chaos”.
Londonist hit it on the head earlier in the week with their headline fridge magnet set. I'd pay for that (and maybe sell some papers too).
In any case, I'm on holiday now until 2007. It's a good feeling. Killer holiday sleeping chaos. If only Christmas wasn't there to clog up town...
