Thursday, January 14, 2010
Our Keurig has replaced (and upgraded)
Thursday, January 14, 2010 
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I brought our defective unit in with the receipt (it was a gift, but we managed to obtain the receipt just in case). I quickly explained the problem and the situation and I was told to go back and just grab another one.
They didn't have the same model (it was sold out), all they had was the Platinum version. A much larger water reservoir, four cup sizes plus another for iced brewing, etc. So we were upgraded.
The whole experience took about five minutes at the most and last night it was christened by producing a fresh brew of the Donut variety coffee.
By the way, I had emailed Keurig through their contact form on their website when the first machine broke. They promised a two day turnaround for a response. A week later (just before I left to go to BB&B) they replied simply asking me for the serial number of the unit. Not sure what that was going to tell them... I expected they wouldn't care and simply offer to replace the unit. Well, it never got that far as within 30 minutes total a brand new, upgraded machine was sitting in the kitchen ready to go.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A quick glimpse of Glimpster
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Keurig: dependance is terrible
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
1 Comments
We received a Keurig Special Edition for Christmas this year. Because it's limited to one cup brewing at a time (although it's pretty quick so brewing twice can work) I never thought I would like the thing. We considered getting one a few times, but my insatiable need for ample amounts of coffee throughout the day (even late into the evening) had me thinking this thing couldn't deliver the goods.
I was wrong. It rocks, or rather, it rocked. After about thirty brew cycles or so it stopped working.
It would come up ready, we'd chose a size (amount of water), and there would be gurgling for a little while and no brewed liquid would release from the cup. Then the pump would chug a few times, the water would slosh around a little in the reservoir and it would stop. The cup would have a little bit of water in it.
We became dependent on the thing (no more needless runs to Dunkin' Donuts or Honeydew or even Starbucks) but now we're stuck. I've contacted Keurig about it and I hope we get a new unit - or we just take it to Bed Bath & Beyond or something since it was a gift.
Do these things have $0.04 pumps or something?
I was wrong. It rocks, or rather, it rocked. After about thirty brew cycles or so it stopped working.
It would come up ready, we'd chose a size (amount of water), and there would be gurgling for a little while and no brewed liquid would release from the cup. Then the pump would chug a few times, the water would slosh around a little in the reservoir and it would stop. The cup would have a little bit of water in it.
We became dependent on the thing (no more needless runs to Dunkin' Donuts or Honeydew or even Starbucks) but now we're stuck. I've contacted Keurig about it and I hope we get a new unit - or we just take it to Bed Bath & Beyond or something since it was a gift.
Do these things have $0.04 pumps or something?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
EXC_BAD_ACCESS. WTF!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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I've been battling a stupid bug for hours now... calling an AppDelegate method from a UIView subview. I was getting crashes like mad & wondered what was happening. After tear downs and build ups and tossing code around like a dervish, it all came down to a NSLog statement that was malformed? WTF. I'm done for the day. Have a good one.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
PSA: Charging & Food. Unrelated to one another.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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Charging:
It's nearing Christmas and while you might be racking up shopping miles in preparation, don't forget to charge your devices. iPods, iPhones, video cameras, Digital SLRs, 360 wireless controllers, PS3 controllers, etc. Just saying, I almost forgot about some of these things last year and right now my kitchen is a sea of status LEDs.
Food:
If you're looking for decent Polish or Russian staples and you're near Natick, MA, I have it under good authority that a certain delicatessen might pique your culinary interest. Culinary Delights is located in Natick, MA - 229 North Main Street, 01760. Call them if you're interested in a certain item: 508-653-5553. I'm curious if they have zurek or decent kielbasa there. Else it's off to Golemo's in Worcester again. Love that place.
It's nearing Christmas and while you might be racking up shopping miles in preparation, don't forget to charge your devices. iPods, iPhones, video cameras, Digital SLRs, 360 wireless controllers, PS3 controllers, etc. Just saying, I almost forgot about some of these things last year and right now my kitchen is a sea of status LEDs.
Food:
If you're looking for decent Polish or Russian staples and you're near Natick, MA, I have it under good authority that a certain delicatessen might pique your culinary interest. Culinary Delights is located in Natick, MA - 229 North Main Street, 01760. Call them if you're interested in a certain item: 508-653-5553. I'm curious if they have zurek or decent kielbasa there. Else it's off to Golemo's in Worcester again. Love that place.
Friday, December 18, 2009
iPhone Development: My struggle with the distribution provisioning profile
Friday, December 18, 2009
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In the end my solution to building an app bundle the iTunes Connect application would accept for upload would be a head scratcher yet simple enough. It took a long time getting there.
It began with a simple distribution provisioning profile creation and installation. I cleaned my targets and ran a build. No problems. I zipped up the bundle, uploaded it & got a signing error. Hmm. I googled about it and found tons of information about the problem - all with different solutions - some very labor intensive.
I checked my project build settings - I was setting to iPhone Distribution: Eric Dolecki. I then checked my target build settings - it was set to iPhone Developer (Eric Dolecki). Aha I thought. I changed the provision to distribution. Same error on upload.
I revoked the previous distribution provisioning profile and generated a new one. The expiration date was Saturday December 18th which was wrong... but whatever. I installed that and tried again. Same error.
I then changed the settings to iPhone Distribution (without my name trailing the title) & bam! It linked my name with the distribution profile and thus I was able to upload my bundle! Yay!
This didn't make a lot of sense to me (why have the generic distribution profile work & link up and the one with my actual name in it not work). I'm glad I finally figured it out & now await my approval.
It began with a simple distribution provisioning profile creation and installation. I cleaned my targets and ran a build. No problems. I zipped up the bundle, uploaded it & got a signing error. Hmm. I googled about it and found tons of information about the problem - all with different solutions - some very labor intensive.
I checked my project build settings - I was setting to iPhone Distribution: Eric Dolecki. I then checked my target build settings - it was set to iPhone Developer (Eric Dolecki). Aha I thought. I changed the provision to distribution. Same error on upload.
I revoked the previous distribution provisioning profile and generated a new one. The expiration date was Saturday December 18th which was wrong... but whatever. I installed that and tried again. Same error.
I then changed the settings to iPhone Distribution (without my name trailing the title) & bam! It linked my name with the distribution profile and thus I was able to upload my bundle! Yay!
This didn't make a lot of sense to me (why have the generic distribution profile work & link up and the one with my actual name in it not work). I'm glad I finally figured it out & now await my approval.
Labels: iPhone
Monday, December 14, 2009
My malloc double free errors and the solution
Monday, December 14, 2009
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After some time developing, I decided to check the debugger panel. And noticed that I was receiving several malloc double free errors in my iPhone application. Oops. They were not crashing the application, so I didn't notice them.
My problem:
I was calling up a view, and the logic to close the view after a method call providing an animation was the culprit. But I wasn't exactly sure why.
My problem:
I was calling up a view, and the logic to close the view after a method call providing an animation was the culprit. But I wasn't exactly sure why.
- (void) killMe:(NSString *)animationID finished:(NSNumber *)finished context:(void *)context {
[self.view removeFromSuperview];
}I had methods creating objects using init and I was releasing them in the view after use. However, that removeFromSuperview was cleaning up everything for me and thus I was receiving the double free errors. All I did was comment the releases out, let the removeFromSuperview do it's thing, and no more errors.Saturday, December 12, 2009
Oakley customer service rocks
Saturday, December 12, 2009
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Last week during a school drop off my son snapped one of the temples on my Oakley sunglasses. I am quite addicted to sunglasses (I have sensitive eyes), and this pair was premium and thus would not be pleasurable to replace. My wife was out Christmas shopping today and I thought it might be a decent try to see if Oakley would sell new temples for the my model.
I received a text message from my wife during the afternoon saying that Oakley just hooked me up with a brand new pair and that they were free. My wife made a donation to a vision charity Oakley supports as thanks.
That's pretty awesome customer service. The pair that broke were not new by any means. Thank you very much Oakley. I love your products and your gracious demeanor only strengthens my brand loyalty.
I received a text message from my wife during the afternoon saying that Oakley just hooked me up with a brand new pair and that they were free. My wife made a donation to a vision charity Oakley supports as thanks.
That's pretty awesome customer service. The pair that broke were not new by any means. Thank you very much Oakley. I love your products and your gracious demeanor only strengthens my brand loyalty.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Apple temporarily approving applications using private APIs?
Friday, December 11, 2009
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I read an article this morning where a developer received this communication from Apple in regards to their submitted application:
While Apple has taken it on the chin to a degree in regards to it's approval process, I actually think that this approach to the private APIs is a bad thing.
If a developer bases a core bit of functionality in their application using private APIs, their only course of action is to either replace it with something else or try to perhaps try and recreate (if possible) the functionality provided to them by the private APIs in the first place. Who loses there? The user of the application.
From one version to the next something is going to change - potentially dramatically. Which means usage will probably change, GUI or UI interactions with change. Resulting in confusion or a lesser experience.
I think Apple should either make public some of the more interesting private APIs or be strict about them. It's like telling your kids if they don't behave they won't get dessert. And then you end up giving them a little dessert anyway. Not a great thing.
Thank you for submitting your update to iSimulate to the App Store. During our review of your application we found it is using a private API, which is in violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.1; “3.3.1 Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.” While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to resolve this issue in your next update.
While Apple has taken it on the chin to a degree in regards to it's approval process, I actually think that this approach to the private APIs is a bad thing.
If a developer bases a core bit of functionality in their application using private APIs, their only course of action is to either replace it with something else or try to perhaps try and recreate (if possible) the functionality provided to them by the private APIs in the first place. Who loses there? The user of the application.
From one version to the next something is going to change - potentially dramatically. Which means usage will probably change, GUI or UI interactions with change. Resulting in confusion or a lesser experience.
I think Apple should either make public some of the more interesting private APIs or be strict about them. It's like telling your kids if they don't behave they won't get dessert. And then you end up giving them a little dessert anyway. Not a great thing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Google Chrome for OS X
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
1 Comments
I really don't like adopting new browsers all the time, but after using Google Chrome for a day on OS X I might need to put Safari down for a while until it catches up. What do I like?
No status bar on normal pages. Roll a link and you get a tooltip window at the bottom. So it frees up space down at the bottom.
Download history displayed in a bar at the bottom of the page. I like it.
Tabs are displayed by default. I like Chrome's and Safari's handling of tabs a lot - but Chrome presents the ability to make a new tab easy and in your face from the beginning. Safari hides that until you create a second tab. I know why Apple does it (saves space and it's cleaner) but I don't think it helps tab usability.
Themes. They are cute, but welcome.
New window adapting a page history/most visited page UI is very welcome. It's not as beautiful as Apple's implementation but it works almost as well. No stars for updated content, but shows recently closed, etc.
Overall Chrome is sweet. The Developer stuff is pretty nice too. Well done Google.
No status bar on normal pages. Roll a link and you get a tooltip window at the bottom. So it frees up space down at the bottom.
Download history displayed in a bar at the bottom of the page. I like it.
Tabs are displayed by default. I like Chrome's and Safari's handling of tabs a lot - but Chrome presents the ability to make a new tab easy and in your face from the beginning. Safari hides that until you create a second tab. I know why Apple does it (saves space and it's cleaner) but I don't think it helps tab usability.
Themes. They are cute, but welcome.
New window adapting a page history/most visited page UI is very welcome. It's not as beautiful as Apple's implementation but it works almost as well. No stars for updated content, but shows recently closed, etc.
Overall Chrome is sweet. The Developer stuff is pretty nice too. Well done Google.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I am now a swedish hero as well
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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I found the destination thanks to ActionScript Hero.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
a few mw2 observations
Sunday, November 29, 2009
2 Comments
A few Modern Warfare 2 observations:
If you're injured, go prone. Someone may think you've been dunked. Then you can pop them as you heal up. Proning on a capture point isn't a bad idea either but you sacrifice mobility if you see a few enemies approaching.
I think that moving a bit, hunker down and look for targets, and then move to another point generally works. I just got the Scar H with dot and it's a pretty fun weapon for now. I'm only a level 13 so I have oodles of unlocks to go. The recoil on the weapon isn't great, but at least it's auto and it has decent stopping power at range. I have run out of ammo on occasion though.
MW2 MP puts Halo to shame. Shame. I can go from a cold 360 to running around on a map in under two minutes. Much more tactical. No spray and pray.
I have yet to be in a group online that talks much which is weird. With a game like this you need to communicate what you're doing. Maybe because it's not been party groups and people don't care so much - they just want to basically rambo.
This game is awesome - even if you have a few crap matches in a row you're going to get some points for something. So you don't go away feeling awful and put the game down for a while. My KD ratio is getting better, but in the beginning I was getting destroyed (I had to learn the maps, I was coming off a lot of ODST, etc.) Because of the scoring system I stuck with it more and it's becoming even more fun.
If you're up for running around on a map sometime, look me up: edolecki on the PS3 and on the 360.
Update:
I unlocked the holographic sight and I have to say that I am no big fan of it yet. It's probably okay for close fighting, but for medium to long range that extra ring around the dot gets in the way in my opinion. Is there extra zoom? Maybe a HAIR, but the framework for the sight blocks a lot of peripheral in my opinion.
If you kill someone, make sure you move immediately because chances are good he's going to spawn and come looking in that same spot, esp. if you're in a nice spot to nail people from.In my opponents' killcam I see that I die almost exclusively when I am on the move. Crap luck sometimes as they are behind me and I don't sense them (I have to play late at night with the sound a bit down -- which doesn't help much). However, you certainly can't move like you do in Halo unless you are very quick and accurate with your weapons. If you miss your target by even a little bit, you're going to be hosed down by a crouched or prone dude.
If you're injured, go prone. Someone may think you've been dunked. Then you can pop them as you heal up. Proning on a capture point isn't a bad idea either but you sacrifice mobility if you see a few enemies approaching.
I think that moving a bit, hunker down and look for targets, and then move to another point generally works. I just got the Scar H with dot and it's a pretty fun weapon for now. I'm only a level 13 so I have oodles of unlocks to go. The recoil on the weapon isn't great, but at least it's auto and it has decent stopping power at range. I have run out of ammo on occasion though.
MW2 MP puts Halo to shame. Shame. I can go from a cold 360 to running around on a map in under two minutes. Much more tactical. No spray and pray.
I have yet to be in a group online that talks much which is weird. With a game like this you need to communicate what you're doing. Maybe because it's not been party groups and people don't care so much - they just want to basically rambo.
This game is awesome - even if you have a few crap matches in a row you're going to get some points for something. So you don't go away feeling awful and put the game down for a while. My KD ratio is getting better, but in the beginning I was getting destroyed (I had to learn the maps, I was coming off a lot of ODST, etc.) Because of the scoring system I stuck with it more and it's becoming even more fun.
If you're up for running around on a map sometime, look me up: edolecki on the PS3 and on the 360.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Robotlegs releases v1.0.0 - AS3 micro-architecture.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
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Robotlegs is a pure AS3 micro-architecture (framework) with a light footprint and limited scope. Simply put, Robotlegs is there to help you wire your objects together. It provides the glue that your application needs to easily function in a decoupled way.
Through the use of automated metadata based dependency injection Robotlegs removes boilerplate code in an application. By promoting loose coupling and avoiding the use of Singletons and statics in the framework Robotlegs can help you write code that is highly testable.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Through the use of automated metadata based dependency injection Robotlegs removes boilerplate code in an application. By promoting loose coupling and avoiding the use of Singletons and statics in the framework Robotlegs can help you write code that is highly testable.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
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If you're in Canada or the United States of America and celebrate (I think somewhere in the Netherlands does something for Thanksgiving too), I would like to extend my wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you. After the festivities wrap up it's time for some MW2. Of course.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Fortran stinking of fudge
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
1 Comments
The FORTRAN code used for mathematical models by the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in eastern England was leaked along with the emails. This is the code used to create the infamous hockey stick that started the whole global warming climate change fraud. Many pundits claim the attempts to silence dissenting views and violation of British FOIA laws are the most damning information in the leaked emails and files. Programmers are working their way through the messy code used by the CRU. They have found a smoking gun of fraud.
From the CRU code file osborn-tree6/briffa_sep98_d.pro , used to prepare a graph purported to be of Northern Hemisphere temperatures and reconstructions.
From the CRU code file osborn-tree6/briffa_sep98_d.pro , used to prepare a graph purported to be of Northern Hemisphere temperatures and reconstructions.
This, people, is blatant data-cooking, with no pretense otherwise. It flattens a period of warm temperatures in the 1940s -- see those negative coefficients? Then, later on, it applies a positive multiplier so you get a nice dramatic hockey stick at the end of the century.; ; Apply a VERY ARTIFICAL correction for decline!! ; yrloc=[1400,findgen(19)*5.+1904] valadj=[0.,0.,0.,0.,0.,-0.1,-0.25,-0.3,0.,- 0.1,0.3,0.8,1.2,1.7,2.5,2.6,2.6,$ 2.6,2.6,2.6]*0.75 ; fudge factor if n_elements(yrloc) ne n_elements(valadj) then message,'Oooops!' ; yearlyadj=interpol(valadj,yrloc,timey)