Visible clothes

AMD graphics drivers have for some time had a bug that makes rigged mesh clothes in Second life invisible. This has been fixed in the latest 15.7 driver which is now out of beta testing, I updated today and so far all is good. Yay!

Second Life uses Open GL which AMD don't support that well, though fortunately I've never had the problems others struggle with. The biggest visual glitch is with visually overlapping alpha textures which are often displayed the wrong way round.

Android lollipop

My Sony tablet is at the back of the queue now for updates, but Android 5.0 arrived unexpectedly last night. Could I stay awake (I was in bed already) to install it? Of course!
OK it took maybe a half hour and that was mostly checking apps (>300 of them?).

Lollipop is a 'back to basics' version, gone is the 3D look which looked nice on a tablet but maybe phone users were not so enthused by it. The App icons are bigger with a row at the bottom staying on screen whilst the rest scroll. The update went back to default so I had to spend a happy time this morning putting my favorites back and removing Google things. Folders are now easier to edit.
There is now just one drop down menu, Google put the Settings button as one of the permanent ones so I'll leave it there.
The running Apps button now displays as a window cascade, not sure about this but it does have a 'Clear All' button now.
Sony as usual haven't tweaked Android much. The Camera menus have changed (again!). A new App 'TV SideView' integrates the Remote Control with a TV Guide, though I have an App for that already.

Oops! SychMe my excellent folder App lost its settings as well... but rebuilt successfully.

Spacesheeting

To make stuff in World of Warcraft you need a hammer. In EVE Online you need a spreadsheet.
This is just a corner of my currently 1.2Mb monster, which pulls down data from game databases and tells me what's worth manufacturing. It also does stock control.

I had old XML maps that weren't being used and Excel wouldn't tell me how to delete them. I was looking in the wrong place, the DATA menu and not DEVELOPER which has the XML management section. Bah.
The next step will be to compile a raw material shopping list.

Books 2014

I don't read as much as I used to, but here are the best:

The Particle at the End of the Universe - Sean Carroll
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Particle-End-Universe-Discovery/dp/1780742320
An account of the confirmation of the Higg's Boson by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in 2012. Carroll makes a crucial and often ignored point about Science when he quotes:

 "My hope for what the LHC will find is 'none of the above'. I honestly think it's going to be a surprise, because I think nature is smarter than we are [...] and we're going to have a hell of a fun time trying to figure it all out".

As it turned out, the theorists were correct. But sometimes they are not, and unlike politicians, economists,  priests, quacks, frauds and the rest they aren't looking for confirmation of what they already believe. They want to be wrong.

Why Nations Fail - Acemoglu and Robinson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Nations-Fail-Origins-Prosperity/dp/1846684307
The basic thesis here is a simple one. Trying to avoid the conventional Left vs Right axis, the authors coin two terms with less emotional loading, 'extractive' and 'inclusive'. Successful polities they propose are those in which citizens believe that if they work hard they can make money and use it to better themselves. They are 'included'. Extractive regimes by contrast offer no incentives aside from basic survival to most workers.
One example taken is Nogales, a town on the USA/Mexican border. Another is the two Koreas.

The Book of Barely Imagined Beings - Caspar Henderson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Barely-Imagined-Beings-21st-century/dp/1847082440
Inspired by Borges' famous bestiary, equally extraordinary but nevertheless real creatures become a springboard to all kinds of subjects.

Bird Sense - Tim Birkhead
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bird-Sense-What-Its-Like/dp/140883054X
What is it like to be a bird? Each sense is considered including one humans don't have, being able to detect the Earth's magnetic field.

The Signal and the Noise - Nate Silver
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Signal-Noise-Art-Science-Prediction/dp/0141975652 
Having tried various predicting money making schemes - poker, baseball, the stock market - the author found fame by being getting every State right in the 2012 US election. He covers these and other subjects in which we often try to fool others but only succeed in fooling ourselves.

Another boring committee meeting!

Monthly Moot in Winterfell: Her Bunnyness Miss Eilidh, Beware Hax the CEO of Haxworks a Cosplay costume store and a faun with a waffle.

Another world

Recently I was persuaded by some Second Life friends to take a look at Inworldz. It uses the same Open Source coding as SL to the point where third party viewers such as Firestorm run OK with it, and indeed it looks much like SL did a few years ago. At present it is in Beta so land is much cheaper - $75 monthly for a Region as opposed to $295 and there are other advantages, uploading is free for example. The devs seem to be making some sensible decisions based on SL hindsight - not renting out small land plots themselves for example which should cut down on land blight.
The obvious snag right now is content, but SL merchants and creators are starting to open up stores ready for the official startup next year. Here's an example of what is being done already, sunrise at the Waking Edge, Castle of Lar.

TVR - Humax HDR1010

Since I last checked Freesat have put some effort into improving their service in areas where News Corp's bigger budget for Sky can't stomp all over them, such as technology. The latest range of satellite boxes is the result.
This one has "Freetime" a front end for the various TV players that gives seamless access to past programmes via the Internet. Back space on the TV guide and any programmes from the past week that are available are shown.
The HDMI connection is now handshaking properly and outputting Dolby sound. The picture is flawless, software having caught up with the BBC's sneaky tweaking of their signal that messed up HD for many users.
HD channels are now up to 11 on Freesat.
 One neat trick is that the hard disk makes a temporary recording the current program so if you get interrupted you can press Record and it has the whole thing.

The box can play media off the computer, something that Windows 7 blocks by default and then hides permission setting in a nest of menus:
Control Panel - Homegroup - Choose homegroup and sharing options - Show devices on All Networks - Allow All.
Windows Media Player can now be used to set up which folders are accessible to the TVR, which hides them in the 'Humax - Media Share' menu.

PGP revisited

Since PGP Corp was bought out by Symantic I've not updated my old version which still happily encrypts my sekrit files but no longer works with Email, something blocking it in Win7 I guess.
So I finally got around to installing an Open Source PGP, which seems to be working after the usual installation glitches.
First I needed GNU Privacy Guard for Windows. It's installation wizard rejected my existing key, but it was willing to add it once up and running.
http://www.gpg4win.org/
Then I added Enigmail, a plug in for Thunderbird, told it to check my Address Book and there were my security minded friends again:
https://enigmail.net/home/index.php

Solar Panels - first year

I received £569 in the government pay back scheme. My electric bill is down by £144, so that's £713 savings in total, a 10.5% return on my investment.
The panels have been almost fault free - the circuit tripped out once.

Ascot

Ascot 2014

One of our Relay for Life Events - a day at the races! From the left Professor and Countess Eldemar, Admiral Beaumont, the Duchess of Trikassi and Lady Oriella. A fine build by Countess Cassie, except for the green starting gate which my own creation. More pictures at Ascot slideshow

Android Kitkat

4.4.2 arrived today for the tablet as a direct download. So far so good...

There is apparently a battery drain problem caused by a Google App. That would explain why it says I only have 8 hours on a full charge! Sony has proposed a temporary fix until Google can sort it out:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sony-acknowledges-battery-issue-xperia-z-zl-zr-tablet-z-android-4-4-2-fixes-available-1451677

Maps of nowhere

A map exhibition at New Kadath lighthouse.

Tablet update

At Christmas Sony offered a major update to the tablet, not over wi-fi but via PC. This requires using their 'PC Companion' program to download and then transferring to the tablet using the USB cable that doubles as the charging connection. I guess this is to avoid "Oh noes my internets just died!" problems.

Anyway all went well, Android went from 4.2 to 4.3 and several Sony bits changed. The most obvious change is that the camera interface is a lot easier to use.

Squareworld

Another wonderful Aley creation, it's Squareworld! Anyone who can identify the maps on the walls gets bonus points.

Wireless and useless

The wireless keyboard wasn't working. Oh wait - some keys were, some not.
So I searched the house for PS/2. This is the second temperamental wireless setup I've had, maybe all the other wireless things are interfering. Yes, there were my old gunged up ones, and they worked. Except - why was the mouse running round the screen on its own? Naughty mouse! Could it be... yes, it needed a different surface, light colors but not shiny.
So now all is fine, except for the sticky 'b' key and several unreadable ones that if I don't think my fingers can find by themselves.
Enough of this Mr Tesla, I'm buying a new set with wires.

Solar Panels

Installed three weeks ago.

The UK has referral websites that promise three quotes. The two I tried were both poor - one got me a single reply with a sales visit but no quote, the second also a single reply with an on the spot quote from the salesman. Neither referral site contacted me again. Based on that experience, you're on your own.

I went for my only quote which matched what I was expecting. Installation took half a day with the only problem being that the original plan for 15 panels had to be amended to 13 as the roof was inches too short. That gave me a capacity of 3.4 Kw.
The panels are connected to an Inverter in the loft that converts from DC to AC and that joins the mains supply next to the existing meter under the stairs. A new meter records the panel output.
Right now (computer on) I'm using 0.6Kw. The panels generate 0.2Kw through thick cloud, 1Kw with thin and a maximum of 2.6Kw with a blue sky.
[added: maximum midwinter is 1.9Kw]
So where are the savings? The Government pays a subsidy for 20 years for every KWh produced, plus a lower rate for each KWh exported to the Grid. And, of course, the electric bill goes down. Estimates suggest a 12% return, ie the system will have paid for itself in around eight years.

One thing I looked into was batteries, but they are not cost effective yet. Like panels the technology is improving, and in a few years it might be worth adding them.

Privateers Ball

The nearest Saturday to Pirate Day is the Privateers Ball, and here we are on Nepenthe Bridge again.

World cut off

Sunday, pressed PC ON button, nothing.

So, another good excuse for buying the tablet I thought, activating the Email App.

Tuesday engineer arrived, pressed ON button - fine! Fortunately he didn't assume I was an idiot and as I was paying for an hour of his time tried again, it was indeed a dodgy power supply as I suspected.

Tablet!

Sony Xperia Tablet Z

The new toy! The Tablet Z is a 10" Android, I have the Wi-fi only version. There are plenty of reviews published ranging from 'good' to 'excellent', this is just a personal impression.

Yes, it's pretty: awesome black, thinner and lighter than an iPad, easy to hold one handed. I bought the Sony docking cradle with it, recharge is slow - overnight is recommended. It will recharge while switched off. There are plenty of cases on Amazon for it, I got this one, a bargain at £10.

It is uniquely for a Tablet waterproof as in "drop in a bucket for half an hour", or in my case "coffee spill alert!" On the minus side, that means the ports are sealed by fiddly plastic bits that I hope Sony have tested for durability. The cradle uses contact points to connect. The glass front is a finger grease trap, but this doesn't interfere with vision. The screen has slightly larger pixels than the iPad but not so much as to be noticeable.

The manual... no manual, just a minimal start up guide. Wifi connected easily to my router, and the Support App links to online help pages.

I've never used Android before, this implementation is the reviews say fairly standard. I soon discovered how to delete the free crap and load up some goodies. It comes with 16GB of memory of which I presently have 9GB free.

Apps synchronised easily with their desktop PC counterparts.

Google Maps said it needed a permission switched on to use GPS and that took a while to find:

Settings/Personal/Location services/ON and GPS on

and

Settings/Accounts/Google/Location Settings/ON

Once activated however, fine. I now know where I am if I step into the garden.

I've only caused the OS to get confused once, losing the Wifi connection, and a reboot cured that.

A built in universal IR remote was easy to set up. It does its best to be quick to use, and for simple changes it is.

Apps?

Skype. "Better picture" my first video contact reported, "sound keeps fading though." The microphone is on the top edge, I assume a compromise for the front and back cameras, so tilting affects it. Sony have promised a control with the next update.

Lumiya, a gallant attempt at a Second Life Android Viewer, is a dancing bear. It took several minutes for Ori to work out where she was standing! For checking messages, fine.

Office Suite Pro is an Office substitute.

The Google keyboard is for me simpler than the supplied SonyXperia offering. I tried a Bluetooth keyboard but it keeps disconnecting the WiFi.

SynchMe is a simple folder synchroniser.

Castle in the Cloud

A fairytale castle in Second Life, built for the Relay For Life charity weekend. We all walk round a big course and do silly things - just like in Real Life!