Asus Transformer TF101

I have been thinking of trying a tablet computer for sometime.  I'm not a total noob to the market as I do own an IPad but as something of a geek i have always found the nanny slate something of a let down.  Like any child tell me not to touch just makes me want to get past the fireguard.  I like the fact that I can turn of nagging nanny and download software from any source I see fit. 

First impressions are very good indeed.  Yesterday I ran the tablet for 16 hours some of the time I used the keyboard doc the rest of the time I just used the tablet on its own.  I was very pleased to find out that there is a button for turning off the touch pad while typing.  Great feature wish I had it on my Wintel Workhorse,  I can disable the Wintel one with drivers but corperate IT will not let me install them, I need to fix my posture it appears. 

I have been a fan of documents to go for a while, it came with my Blackberry and I have used it on the IPad and now Android.  It worked perfectly and in short order I had two gig of my active documents synced with the PC. 

I used DVDGalexy to convert a couple of DVD's so I could watch them on the device this was very easy and fast to do.  I was going to put them on a MicroSD and shove it in the side of the unit but found it was just as easy to download directly to the MicroSD via Windows 7, simple drag and drop. The device has a MicroSD in the tablet itself and a full SD plus dual USB's in the dock.

Next was to get Wireshark for Andriod up and working.  Did not have high expectations but it was much better than I had expected, so the device was meeting my nerdy expectations a result.

Skype was a little annoying, voice quality is perfect the system worked perfectly with the Bose Headset from my Blackberry and with the Seinheiser C550 that I use for everything in the office, the annoyance came with the fact it does not work with either of the video cameras in the unit.  That lead me trying out Google Talk which gave a good result, just wish a few more of my buddies used it.

Installed Angry Birds and a Pinball game designed to work with the Tegra2 nice and smooth graphics not had time to play with it but seems to be very nice.

Overall a very nice little device it cost a ton of money but so far its been worth it, I'm sure in a few months it will have lost its shine but for now I'm a happy camper.

Busy Busy Busy

Racing towards the end of the finical year trying to tie up the loose ends of the old year and see what I will get to do in the next 12 months. Been a bit of a busmans holiday last week as I was asked to look at HP’s Application Monitoring Solutions. It always amazes me to see a repeat pitch this reminded me of a day back in 1996 when I was peddled a very similar story at CA in Maidenhead in some fancy room on the top of their building. The challenge with such solutions has never been the capability its always been around the level of effort it takes to get there. I recall the first time we added the coke machine into Polycenter it was great fun but I’m not sure it had any value other than the fact we could do it! Later on I created a network of electronic rat traps around the farm attached via a wireless network I can tell when the battery source is low and when the trap has discharged. Nothing worse than frying a rat then not finding it for a couple of weeks . . .
Ah I’m off the point then I’m thinking that’s the whole point of a blog, my brain is a jumble of things going on mostly I’m trying to avoid writing a departmental structure, job descriptions etc for a build out in Asia. As the deadline looms my head crams up with all the other things going on in my brain, thoughts of my dead parents, of being alone, what to do at the weekend, the fact Billy is getting old. I did not plan to get another Weimaraner when he is gone but it is impossible to imagine a life without my constant shadow. He is 11, I can hear the cancer in his breathing the same story as Boo Dog his Aunt who was put to sleep in the back of my car aged 15 after an 11 year fight against cancer. I know the cancer wont kill him old age will but its still hard to think of a future without him. I worry about being selfish and getting another dog, its such a commitment and I’m not sure I have 15 years lifespan left to look after him. I’m in good health but statistically 15 years is more than I have, amazing how deadlines make you bottle up thoughts probably better I clear them from my head as they don’t want to seem to pack up into their box just yet.
Jumbling the work and technology stuff in with personal stuff is the way my mind works I guess in a real life situation I would not be what the casual reader expects.
In any case back to HP and their Application Monitoring Solutions all seems fairly nice in the end state but I want to see the level of effort required to get there. Back in the day I built a number of Enterprise Monitoring/Application Instrumentation solutions (some still in use today) it has always been possible but the cost often out weighed the benefit, not that I cared much it was the clients money not mine! If HP have got the implementation and updating costs licked into shape then it could be a viable approach for us, well if they can wrap it all up into a service . . .
Back to those Job Descriptions . . .

Short Note

Its been a while since I last blogged not sure why guess not much has been going on or perhaps nothing that inspired me to write anything. Keeping to around 1500 calories a day along with around 45 minutes of cardio and I have lost 7 kilos in 9 weeks. I could have lost more weight but realized I was not eating enough which is just dumb.

I started taking multi vitamins to make sure I was getting enough of the right stuff then a couple of days later I was always wanting to take a piss. It was somewhat annoying its one of the classic symptoms of being a diabetic but not something I've experinced before. I quick check online seemed to point to a problem with my kidneys being confused. Looking back at the records of what I have eaten nothing had changed apart from the fact I was now popping a multi vitemin at the same time I was taking the metaphromia. I cut out the multi vitemin and the need to want to piss all the time went away around 8 hours later. Now I'm not saying that was the cause but I dont feel much like taking the tablets again, if i do will do it out of phase with the other tablets see if its just a question of overload.

Exercise front is looking way better not only have I double the intensity of the workout in terms of resistance I have also increased the time. My heart is dropping 30 beats in the first minute after exercise not stella but a lot better than the 6 it was when I started.

Tablets starting to work

Couple of goals over the next few weeks, first is to get within my acceptable BMI at the moment thats 2 kilos does not sound like much but it will be a challenge to fix it.

At the same time want to get my blood sugar within the acceptable levels this seems to be going fine! Hope I can cut down on the tablets but thats more of a long term desire. Its always easy not to loose focus at the start its two three years down the road when old habits creep back in. Biggest challenge is sticking to meal times the trip from work to home takes to long and ends up with me eating to late need to start eating at work i think.

Back being a diabetic

Managed to stay 5 years free of being on tablets for being a diabetic but the diet and not enough exercise has made my cells lazy again.

The advice is 2x Metformin HCI 500 at dinner for 14 days. Then start with 2 tablets in the morning as well. Not sure I agree with that will have to wait and see. Holland is something of a backward country as far as being a diabetic is concerned they dont pay for self testing the single most important thing we can do to keep to the program. Ordered 200 strips online hope they turn up tomorrow then I can do a bit more work on my blood sugar profile.

In preperation I created a spreadsheet in google docs.

I was cleaning the lining in my scooter helmut and found it was past its throw away date. The prospect of getting a new one was not something that got me excited, then I came accross the Barock Legend Range just had to have one!! I chose the BL-14 (the one in the picture).

Camping plans the executive way

I've been thinking about getting back into camping as way of getting some R&R, need to do something to get away from the phone. The more I drive the G-Wagon the more I want to climb mountains with it. With it have huge space at the back (it is a 9 seater after all) I started to see what goodies I could pack into it.

First thing was a semi decent tent, I'm used to the exo skeleton style tent but thought I would have a look at whats new. Loving the idea of the new Vango Infinity 600 perhaps with a side canopy.

Next on the list was something to cook on, heard good things about the Kampa Roast Master. I would also consider their Geyser Hot Water System for more off the beaten track type journeys.

Electric power is best served by one the new generation of Honda camping generators, first hand experience these are super quiet with plenty of power, probably the EU20i

A fridge is somewhat essential so a EdgeStar seems to be a wise choice.

Last but not least some kind of chemical toilet based on a fair bit of research Thetford seems to be the company and perhaps the 465 to be the right product.

In a normal care this would all take up a lot of space but in the G-Wagon I wont even notice it . . .