Lifts in Radisson

The lifts in the Radisson are very poorly designed. They may appear to be cool because you pick what floor you want to go to from the outside and it indicates a designated lift for your floor. As a result you're a bit restricted.
I experienced this today, as a lady had selected her floor and the entered the lift, the doors had opened and had it been a conventional lift I could have hopped in. I hit my floor, and since the lift she was in hadn't moved, I thought that would also be my designated lift but no, it designated a different lift. So 2 people in 2 different lifts both about to move at the same time. What a green way of doing things!!

Testing blogpost via iPhone

This is a test

Can Twitter Lead to Crime?

On the way to work this morning, I was reading the metro and I came across an article about how twitter updates can increase crime rates. There was an incident where a guy had mentioned he was going on holiday for a week, which lead to his house being robbed. What are your thoughts on this? Is this a serious concern. I personally lock down things like twitter and facebook so only people I know can see my posts. Does this mean as a result, the full features of the tools are not being embellished?

Utilising WATiR to Test in an Agile Environment

Free talk happening in London on 30th June. Click here for more information and to register.

iRise

So for the past 2 weeks I've been working on a visualisation for a client using iRise. The visualisation is a mock up of functionality specified by the client.

iRise is much more sophisticated than Axure. It is possible to mock up applications as well as web pages. With iRise it is possible to use data sheets and manipulate data adding to the level of sophistication.

As well as that, it is possible to add comments to the visualisation when demonstrating it and associating the comments to the widgets.

There are many more advanatages to iRise which I won't outline here.

Some of the drawbacks are that it's a little bloated and if you're a technical minded person it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to do everything perfectly and technically correct.

Another drawback is that in order to view the simulation, iRise reader needs to be downloaded. Although it is possible to download iRise reader for free.

As I've only been using iRise for 2 weeks, I am still in the process of learning the full range of features.

Another tool I am looking into at the moment is Balsamiq. which focusses more on mocking up functionality than perfecting the UI. The UI is demonstrated through electronic representations of hand drawn elements. Can't wait to try it out :)

The Beginnings of a Robot

A few months ago, I purchased and old lego mindstorms kit from a friend. He wasn't using it much and I wanted to play around with some robotics in my spare time (as PhD funding is so hard to secure). I figured before investing in a new kit, it would be good to have a play around and install LeJos on an older model.

Since it is not a USB kit, it has in fact caused a lot of hassle. Firstly, connecting to the Com1 port and making sure that the environment variables are set up. Secondly, ensuring that the battery that is used for the infra red port doesn't drain quickly and thirdly having to re-install the firmware for LeJos everytime the battery dies on the RCX block.

All I want to do is install LeJos so I can write code, instead of using the mindstorms software, which is in fact for kids!!! So tomorrow, I will set out in buying a new battery for the IR tower.

In the mean time, here is a photograph of the robot so far. Currently, I have only built it in it's basic elements. Additions to come soon...



I am hoping to invest in the newer NXT Model soon.

Lastly, watch this space for more updates on progress.

End of Sprint Feeling

Is this how you're supposed to feel at the end of a sprint?

(drawing by Wadz)