After upgrading to iOS 5 on my iPhone, my previously perfect Bluetooth connection to my Fiesta suddenly stopped working properly. After about 15-20 minutes the connection would just stop – the phone still thought it was connected, but the stereo was no longer receiving any audio. In addition, before dropping the connection, the message “Bluetooth audio error reading device” would pop up on the radio’s display every time I used the track skip controls.

Fortunately, there’s a solution – Ford have posted an update on to their Ford Connectivity website here. It’s a DIY fix – download the ZIP file, unzip it and you’ll find a folder called “ford_audio_update”. Simply copy the files from that folder onto a USB stick (make sure it’s not put into another folder on the USB stick), and you’re ready to apply the update.

It’s a simple process but seems a bit flakey. The steps are:

1. Turn off the ignition.
2. Turn on the stereo.
3. Plug your USB stick into your stereo’s USB socket.
4. Turn on the ignition to position II (i.e. the position before you start the engine).
5. The update starts.

After applying the update (which takes about 20 minutes) you’ll find that not only does the Bluetooth connection to the iPhone work again, but track names are now displayed on the stereo’s display, and you can now use the Apple USB > Dock connector cable on it’s own (previously you needed a cable which also connected to the headphone socket).

Coffee. I’m not a fan. I’m not one of “those” people who seem unable to start the day without their “cup of joe”, and I don’t get all cranky if I haven’t got my hands around a steaming mug of black stuff. And given that we have free coffee at work (even proper big-machine-like-in-Starbucks stuff) I really don’t understand why I still see my colleagues with paper cups from Costa or Starbucks on their desk.

So quite why I was chosen to review the Dolce Gusto is a mystery to me. But, thanks to Buzz Agent, I was – so here we go…

There seem to be two types of coffee maker on the market. The high-end, hundreds-if-not-thousands-of-pounds specialist espresso makers and the less-than-£200 cartridge-based machines. The Dolce Gusto, branded as Nescafe but made by Krupps, fits firmly into the later category. Retailing at around £80, it uses plastic capsules (around £3.50 per box) to make each drink. There are 16 pods per box, although the cappuccino, latte and chocolate drinks use one coffee and one milk pod per drink, effectively halving the number of drinks you get per box.

The machine

The coffee maker itself is dead simple to use. You fill up the water reservoir, which holds enough for about 6 drinks, and turn the machine on. After about 30 seconds it’s ready to use; you insert a pod and flip the water selector towards hot or cold, depending on the type of drink you’re making. If you’re making one of the milk-based drinks, you do the milk pod first, and then the coffee. Here’s where the included glass comes in handy – for a cappuccino or latte, you fill the glass with milk up to the base of the handle, then add coffee to taste (I top up to the top of the handle). If you’re using your own mug, then it’ll be trial and error – but since the glass mugs can be had for free (more on that in a moment), you might as well stick with them.

The coffee

As I’m not a “real” coffee drinker, I can’t comment on the coffee the Dolce Gusto makes versus the stuff you get from Costa, but I’ll tell you this: I really like this coffee! The cappuccino is my favourite, followed by the latte, and of course the hot chocolate gets a mention too.

However, because the milk is powdered as opposed to “real” milk, there is a slight sensation of it being a bit artificial-tasting.

In order to compare it to “real” coffee, I did try various cappuccinos from Starbucks, Costa etc, and I found I preferred the Dolce Gusto cappuccino to all of them – in fact, I didn’t like any of the real coffees except for Costa’s.

We also got my wife’s family to try it out – they also liked it, so much so that her aunt and uncle bought a machine when they got back to Germany!

The free stuff

The machine comes with a free glass mug, and by collecting the codes inside each box of pods, you can save up points to exchange for more free stuff later on. So far we’ve received another 6 glass mugs, a pod storage box, and a pod dispensing carousel. If you drink enough of the coffee, you can even get another machine for free…!

The drawbacks

On the whole, I really like the Dolce Gusto. However, it is not without its negative points. The coffee pods are plastic, so not the most environmentally friendly. They’re also a bit tricky to store – but the pod dispenser you can get with your points is worth saving up for. And compared to instant, it’s quite pricey – but then again, it tastes a whole lot better than instant!

Summary

The coffee might not be to everyone’s taste, and there are also machines such as the Tassimo and Senseo which each have their own range of coffees available. The marketing bumf for the Dolce Gusto makes a great fuss about the fact that coffee is prepared using water forced through at high pressure; whether this makes a difference or not I can’t say, though, so I’d suggest checking out the demo machines they often have in Currys, Costco and John Lewis to make up your own mind. All of which adds up to a final conclusion of…

Rating: Worth a look

Little and large...

I’m thoroughly enjoying my Traxxas E-Revo. It’s stupid amounts of fun. The only slight problem is that it’s too big for me to run at home – the garden just isn’t big enough for a 1/8 scale RC monster truck. Especially not one that’s been upgraded to brushless – I pull the trigger and straight away, it’s in the geraniums.

Thankfully (for my wife’s herbacious borders) Traxxas recently released a 1/16 scale E-Revo, the E-Revo VXL, which is exactly half the size of the original. Not only that, but it has a water-resistant brushless motor and ESC. So, does half the size mean half the fun?

Er… no. If anything, it’s even more fun than the big brother! If I had to pick one drawback to the larger E-Revo (note that I said drawback, not flaw!) it’s the sheer size of it – you need a lot of space to run it. It’s also not the easiest thing to carry over long distances, like from a car park to a beach. Of course, the 1/16 E-Revo VXL doesn’t have those problems – it’s half as long, half as wide, half as tall. And of course it’s so much lighter to carry – the car, transmitter and spare batteries can be slipped into a small drawstring bag and slung over your shoulder.

So, apart from the obvious reduction in size, what else is different? Not much, actually. Traxxas have pretty much simply taken the big E-Revo, and made a smaller version. It’s got the same suspension layout, same drivetrain, same wheels and tyres… The only difference is the electronics package. The ESC in the E-Revo VXL is a water-resistant model (the brushless 1/8 E-Revo doesn’t have that), and of course there’s a 1/16-size brushless motor. The receiver and transmitter are the same as the big E-Revo, but I swapped the receiver out for a 2.4Ghz jobbie that mates with my Spektrum DX3S.

So, what’s it like to use? The first outing for mine was in the heavy snow we experienced in December. Since the electronics are water resistant, I took it out and gave it a good run in the snow and on the icy roads, and it didn’t miss a beat! Gentle throttle control was the order of the day, unsurprisngly. Due to the small size it could get grounded on packed snow quite easily, and it couldn’t plough through deep snow like the big one could, but it was still a blast. Back home, I took the shell off, disconnected the batteries, rinsed it under a hot tap to get rid of the worst of the snow that had built up under the shell, and left it to dry. It had a few more outings in the snow before it all thawed…

More recently, it’s also had a run on Highcliffe beach (near Bournemouth). This is where I normally run the big E-Revo, so I know where there are some fun places to go. Although the 1/16 car is too small to really go on the shingle beach (it’d just get hung up on the pebbles), it’s quite at home on the gravel paths and grassy bits. So far I’ve run it on single battery packs (LiPo and NiMH), which are pretty fast – Traxxas quote 30mph – so I haven’t felt the need to swap the pinion and run it on dual packs yet.

However, it does need a more delicate hand – I’ve found it much easier to flip than the big one. It’s also more fragile – so far I’ve managed to break two hub carriers by doing unintended cartwheels! Fortunately, just like the big models, there are plenty of spares and hop-up parts available. I’ve fitted some red aluminium replacements from The Toyz (on eBay) which are much better. You do need to resist the temptation to fit every anodized part you can find – some parts, like the A-arms, need the flex that the pastic parts allow. I’ve also fitted the STRC aluminium front and rear skid plates – these don’t need to be plastic, and they do look quite nice… The next improvement I plan on making is some better shock absorbers;I could replace the oil and springs in the stock ones, but I might as well get some metal-bodied ones and keep the originals for spares.

So to sum up – the 1/16 Traxxas E-Revo is a top choice for a small, fun basher – plenty of spares and upgrades options, too!

Opinion: Get it!!

You're not tied to O2

My iPhone 3G contract with O2 ran out a few weeks ago, and while I wait for the next model to be announced, I thought I’d see if the other networks were any better. Now that O2 is no longer the only network for iPhone, there’s the opportunity to switch provider – O2 has been ok, but sometimes texts are delayed, calls don’t reach me, and 3G performance has not been great.

Fortunately, O2 have made it quite easy for iPhone owners to switch provider, so anyone can give it a try. And, since I’m not actually ready to switch provider just yet, I’ve got a couple of tips if you’re thinking of staying with O2 after your contract has expired.

Read on to find out how you can set up your iPhone with another provider, or switch your O2 contract to something cheaper.

How to unlock your iPhone

First things first: you need to get your iPhone unlocked. This not as scary as it sounds – you don’t need to visit one of the dodgy little shops you find on most London streets these days, or answer some dodgy eBay advertisement – it’s dead simple, and O2 will do it for you. If you’ve heard about jail-breaking, don’t worry – this is NOT jail-breaking your iPhone; it’s perfectly OK and O2 are actually the ones doing it, so there is NO PROBLEM AT ALL.

If you’re on contract, you can unlock the phone at any time FOR FREE; if you’re a pay-as-you-go customer it will cost you £15, and if you’ve had the phone for less than a year you’ll also lose the web & wifi bolt-on. Obviously if you unlock the phone before your contract runs out you’ll still need to pay O2 for the remainder of the contract – you can’t just stop paying the monthly contract charge – but that just means you keep paying your monthly bill as normal. There’s no lump sum or sudden charge if you unlock your contract iPhone, whether it’s after 19 months or after just one month.

All you need to do is fill in this iPhone unlocking form on the O2 website and they’ll take care of the rest; you’ll receive a text a week or two later telling you that your iPhone is now unlocked. It’s that simple – no phone calls, and you can do it even if you’re perfectly happy with O2; but now, if you travel, you’ll be able to put a local SIM in your phone and cut your overseas calling costs when on holiday.

Using another SIM

Anyway, once you’ve received the “We’ve unlocked your phone” message from O2, put in another network’s SIM (use the little tool that came with your iPhone to get the SIM tray out) and connect the iPhone to iTunes – you’ll get a message confirming that your iPhone is now unlocked. You should now see the new network in the top left of your screen. If you don’t, go into your Settings screen, tap General, and then Network – try switching off 3G. I couldn’t get a Vodafone signal until I turned off 3G – this was because the 3G signal was very faint, so my iPhone kept trying to connect to it; as soon as I told it not to use 3G, I got a full-strength GPRS signal instead.

Job done? Nearly…

Vodafone data settings for the UK

Check your cellular data connection settings

There is one more step. When you put in another network’s SIM, the phone will recognise it and change the network settings for you. However, it’s worth checking the data settings for your new network – the Vodafone settings that were automatically applied to my iPhone were incorrect. I kept getting the message “you are not subscribed to a cellular data plan” whenever I tried to access the Internet.

For Vodafone in the UK, the “Cellular Data” section should have these settings:

APN: wap.vodafone.co.uk
Username: wap
Password: wap

Want to stay with O2 after your 18/24 months, but not pay as much?

Although my O2 contract has run the 18 months, I’m going to wait until the new iPhone is announced later in the year before I decide if I want to switch networks – but I don’t want to keep on paying £35 a month.

My wife and I mainly use our iPhones for texting and surfing; we don’t use all of our voice minutes, so it’s not really worth paying that much every month. Well, it turns out that O2 have a new range of iPhone tariffs called “Simplicity for iPhone”, and they’re ideal for people like us – prices start at just £15 a month for 300 minutes, and you still get the unlimited data, free wifi and visual voicemail! That’s for a 12-month contract, and from what I can tell it’s the best deal around at the moment; Vodafone PAYG would work out at £15 just for data alone, no calls (they charge 50p per day for data).

My wife has switched to the £15 plan for 12 months, whereas I’ve gone for the 1-month rolling contract (which means I can cancel at any time with 30 days’ notice) in case I do want to switch network later – that’s £20 per month but don’t forget, it’s just a 1-month contract – I’m not locked in. And it’s still cheaper than PAYG. Even the equivalent contract to the £35 one we both had is now only £20 (per month for 12 months; the one-month version is £25) – and that’s with unlimited texts, not the 600 we originally had.

So, unlocking your iPhone is easy, and assuming your contract is now finished – which a lot of them will be around about now – you can either switch to another network or save yourself some cash! Simples!

You’d think it would be easy to spot when you’re about to send a very inappropriately-worded text message, wouldn’t you? For me, apparently not…

It all started a while back when I finally got around to getting in touch with a very good friend of mine, who I had been a bit lax about staying in touch with recently. She gave me the fantastic news that she was getting married later in the year, and I suggested we meet up to celebrate (and so I could vet the lucky chap). Unfortunately, family issues distracted me and I didn’t follow up. Then yesterday I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t spoken to her for a few weeks, so I resolved to get in touch in the next couple of days.

That brings us to today – a cold Monday morning. The day starts badly – the Jubilee line is down, and as a result the Bakerloo line is overcrowded so they’re not letting people onto the platforms at Baker Street. I eventually have to go via Euston and end up getting to work about half an hour later than normal. As I rush in to the office, I get a text from my friend telling me the date of the wedding – and whilst I am in mid-reply, I walk onto my floor to see my colleague on hands and knees under my desk, power cables everywhere, and not looking happy. Must be another power failure or something – a bad start to the morning looks to be getting worse, so I hurriedly finish my text, basically saying I’ll email her shortly, and get on the floor to help out.

Ten minutes later everything is sorted, and I’m waiting for my laptop to boot up – I’m still a little distracted by the power cables, though. My phone rings.

Me: “Hiya, what’s up?”
Colleague: “Morning. Can you make that design change you suggested?”
Me: “Yeah, sure. I’ll do it when I’m turned on.”
Colleague: “<snigger>”
Me: “What?”
Colleague: “<snigger> What’d you just say?”
Me: “I said I’ll do it when I’m turned on. What’s so… awww, crap, I meant when my LAPTOP is turned…” <pause> <suddenly realising why I’d just automatically used that phrase> “AWWWW, CRAP! NUTS! NOOOO! NUTS! NONONONO NO!” <buries head in hands>

Why had that phrase sprung so readily to mind? Because this is what I’d sent to my soon-to-be-married friend:

“Yay, was just thinking about you last night, will mail you when I’m turned on”

It turns out that no matter how hard you wish for it, time will not rewind to before you hit the ‘send’ button on an unfortunately-phrased SMS. Believe me, I tried…

There’s been a steady increase in interest around Ebook readers in the UK recently, and since I’ve switched back to reading instead of watching video on the tube to and from work (no, really, I must be growing up or something), I decided it was time to have a proper look and see what’s what.

What is an Ebook Reader, then?

Ok, let’s start with a quick explanation of exactly what an Ebook Reader (or Ereader) is. The simple answer is: it’s a battery-powered screen you can read books on. You buy electronic copies of books online, transfer them to the device, and read them on the screen.

However, the simple answer is not the best answer. The key thing about Ereaders is the type of screen they have, and how this makes an Ereader a viable alternative to a normal book.

Normal computer displays are backlit, and this can make lengthy reading sessions uncomfortable since you’re basically staring at a light all the time, which can make your eyes tired. Ereader displays, on the other hand, aren’t backlit – so, just like paper, there’s nothing to strain your eyes.

Not only that, but Ereader displays look very similar to printed paper – they’re black and off-white (just like paper), and have a similar resolution to print. In fact, the first time I saw an Ereader in a shop I had to check that wasn’t just a non-working mock-up – the display really does look like it’s printed text. A few people have commented on the lack of colour, or lack of a backlight, but that’s the whole point – it really is just like a book, only more convenient (and I’ll come back to that point later).

There is one final important thing to note with Ereader displays, and that’s how little power they use. Normal LCD displays constantly use power to keep the picture on the screen. Ereader displays, on the other hand, use something called “E-ink”, and these displays only use power to change the screen – so when you “turn” a page, the display uses power to change the text – but once the text has changed, it will stay on the screen without using additional power. This means that Ereaders can last a very, very long time without needing to be recharged. Indeed, rather than measuring battery life in hours (like a laptop), it is measured by how many times you can turn a page on a single charge – and this is usually in the thousands. You could probably read at least eight average novels on a single charge – that’s not bad going!

How much do they cost?

Well, that’s the bad news about Ereaders – they’re not cheap. You’re looking at over a hundred quid for an Ereader – currently the Sony PRS-505 is going for £150 from John Lewis, which is cheaper than most other retailers, but still quite pricey for a book! The books themselves are pretty much the same price as normal books – which is odd, when you think that there’s no printing or shipping involved, but then there are websites to run so perhaps it balances out…

Where do I get the books from?

At the moment the main retailers for Ebooks in the UK are WH Smiths, Waterstones and Borders. There is also BooksOnBoard, a US website which sells to UK customers, but due to different licencing deals between the US and UK, not all books on their site can be bought if you’ve a UK customer. However, BoB do have books which aren’t available from the other three sites. It’s worth checking all four sites for a particular book, as prices often vary – for example, I bought The Lost Symbol for around £7 from Waterstones, the others were charging anywhere between £9 and £16. Ok, in this case it was more of a P.R. thing – like Amazon and Asda selling the hardback for £4.99 – but you get the idea. Shop around.

Once you’ve bought a book, you’ll be given a link to download the file, and once you’ve got it you can load the file onto your reader. Each reader can hold a large number of books at once, so you don’t have to worry about deleting books when you’ve finished them (unless you really want to).

The only thing to be careful of here is that you buy the correct format of book. Just like PCs and Macs use different software, some readers use different formats of books. However, recently a consensus has been reached between most of the manufacturers to support the “ePub” format, so this should make things simpler.

Some readers can also handle normal Acrobat PDF files – useful for taking a copy of your posh digital camera manual on holiday with you!

So why on earth would I buy an Ereader?

This was the question I asked myself a month ago. My first thought was that the average book costs around a fiver (from Amazon), so why not just keep buying normal books, the normal way? What’s so special about an Ebook reader that makes it worth that sort of money? Well, in my opinion, I can sum it up in one word – convenience. I was reading a 400-odd page novel on the tube the other week, and it was a bit awkward and uncomfortable trying to hold it with one hand (and I hate holding books with two hands for some reason). It was just too thick, and every time the train jolted it slipped in my hand. An Ebook reader, however, is slim enough that it can be held with one hand easily – no matter how many pages are in the book! Also, it takes up hardly any space in my bag (unlike the latest Dan Brown hardback would), which also means that, when we go on our cruise, it’ll be so much easier to take a load of books loaded on the Ereader rather than trying to fit real ones in my luggage.

Aren’t real books just, y’know, better?

I’m actually going off real books. As far as I can see, the only way real books are better at the moment is in the way you can very quickly flick through them to see what’s on each page. You can easily jump to the start of a chapter, or even a specific page, in an Ebook, but you can’t quickly flick through every page, front to back, to find that diagram or whatever. Ereaders take a second or so to turn a page, so fast flicking, in current models at least, is out. But it’s not like I do that all the time, so actually, it doesn’t bother me. There are a few other possible drawbacks, but I guess it just depends on your personal opinion as to whether they’re dealbreakers – to me, they’re not:

Sure, if the battery runs out, you’re kinda stuffed – but as I said earlier, you could easily read eight novels on a single charge, so the chances of you having to go that long without a chance to top it up are pretty remote (and if you were going to carry eight novels around with you, you might just as well carry the Ereader and a spare novel in case the battery runs out…!).

And of course, since it’s electronic, if you drop it in the bath it’ll probably be ruined – but then so would a normal book (albeit slightly cheaper to replace).

And finally, you wouldn’t be able to lend a book to someone else once you’d read it – Ebooks are tied to the buyer.

So, compared to the hassle of carrying ruddy big books around, I think an Ereader is pretty neat!

And finally – what’s the deal with the Amazon Kindle?

There’s been a few mentions of Amazon’s Kindle Ereader in the press this year, which is odd considering it’s not available in the UK yet. It’s been out in the States for over a year, though, and has proven to be quite popular.

The main thing with the Kindle is that you can easily buy books for it from Amazon – straight from the device itself, without having to use a computer. However, unlike readers from other manufacturers, you can’t buy books from other websites for it (and Amazon books won’t work on other readers). Is this a bad thing? Well, yes and no. The downside is that there is no competition – you can only buy the books Amazon sell, at their prices. The upside is that Amazon do seem to have a wider selection of books available (in the US anyway) and they seem to have a bit more influence over publishers than smaller retailers. And there’s also the fact you can browse and buy books on-the-go, and even download a sample chapter to see if it’s worth buying that book from the writer you’ve never heard of.

Anyway, until the Kindle is available in the UK – and currently there’s no firm date – we won’t know how the UK service compares to the existing offerings from Borders, Waterstones and WH Smiths.

Answer the question, then – are Ebook readers worth buying?

In my opinion, yes. I like that they’re smaller and more convenient to carry than real books, and you can slap a bunch of different books (and other documents) on an Ereader so you’ve always got a choice of what to read. I don’t like that they are relatively expensive, and the convenience may not be worth it to some people, but I’m not one of them!

I’ve bought the Sony PRS-505 and – so far – I’m happy with it. I’ll be writing another post on it soon.

Update – I also have a Kindle 2, which is now my preferred device.

Spektrum DX3S transmitter

After unpacking, charging up the batteries and checking everything worked, the first thing I wanted to do with my new E-Revo was replace the radio gear. Don’t get me wrong – the transmitter and receiver that come with the model are fine, and I’ve not read any complaints about them, but since I bought a Spektrum DX3S for my touring car, I’d much rather use that.

The main benefit of using the DX3S is that it’s a 2.4GHz system – so it should have a greater range, and no risk of interference from other transmitters. There are other benefits too – it only needs 4 batteries, not 8, and since has a 10-model memory, I can set it up to work with the E-Revo and the T2R Pro straight away using the two receivers it came with, and by picking up another receiver I can  control the AX10 with it as well. I might even use it for the boat – one transmitter for all my non-flying models…

Anyway, the point of this post is to describe how I got everything set up to use the DX3S with the Traxxas E-Revo, so let’s crack on.

I’m choosing to use the SPM SR300 receiver in the E-Revo. You could use the SR3300T receiver which also comes with the DX3S, but as that is the one with the telemetry options I’ve put it in the Xray. The Spektrum receivers are nice and small, so should fit quite nicely.

1 - Open up the receiver box and note which wires are throttle and steering

The first thing we need to do is check everything works happily with the new receiver, so open up the receiver box and make a note of which wires go into which socket – two are for the steering servos (labelled CH1) and one is for the ESC (CH2). Fortunatly, the DX3S is a three-channel transmitter with matching receivers, so the presence of two steering servos isn’t a problem.

Next, you’ll need to trim off the tabs on the plugs so that they’ll fit into the Spektrum receiver. Use a sharp knife of a pair of snips, and be careful not to break the plugs. Once you’ve trimmed the plugs, fit one of the steering servo wires into the Aux port on the servo. On the DX3S transmitter, enable the Aux channel. Plug the batteries into the ESC and turn it on – now test that the steering works. If it does, you’ve successfully set up the second servo on the Aux channel.

2 - Check it all works

Next, unplug the batteries, plug the throttle plug and the other steering servo into the throttle and steering ports on the receiver, and unplug the Aux servo. Turn on the transmitter, plug the batteries in to the ESC and turn on the ESC – blip the throttle trigger on the DX3S and the wheels should spin, turn the wheel and the steering should work (this proves that both steering channels are working, and you’re not just using the one). Next, disconnect the batteries, plug the Aux servo back in and you’ve got everything working. If anything hasn’t worked, check it’s all plugged in the right way around and in the right ports. If at any point you can’t turn on the ESC, chances are you’ve got a steering servo plugged in to the throttle port.

3 - Remove Traxxas receiver and replace with Spektrum receiver

Next, you’ll need to remove the old receiver – first, loosen the screw you can get to on the cable-holding box alongside the receiver box. This is a neat little device that keeps the receiver box waterproof – the cable are fed through some foam inside it, which keeps moisture out. You’ll only need to undo the one screw, and then you can pull the aerial lead out from the receiver box. The 2.4GHz aerials are very short, so don’t bother trying to feed the new one through – it should be fine just tucked inside the receiver box. With the old aerial lead free, you can gently (but firmly) lever up the Traxxas receiver. Use a bit of servo tape on the new one to stick it in place, carefully replace the blue waterproofing ring around the edge of the box, and screw the top back into place.

That’s it – job done!

Not much blogging lately – mainly ‘cos of 1) putting together a Sharepoint 2007 Intranet prototype for work and 2) studying for my dual MCTS exams. I’m on a Firebrand bootcamp this week, did the first exam today – 70-631 (scored 945) for WSS configuration. Two  more days of training, then I’ll be doing 70-630.

MCTS: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Configuration

Since this is stuff I deal with day-to-day at work, and WSS 3.o isn’t massively different to 2.0, it’s been fairly straightforward so far (although I have learnt lots of new stuff about firewall configurations and network load balancing – didn’t expect that). However, from working with it for the past few weeks, it seems that MOSS 2007 is a whole new ball game compared to Portal Server 2003, so I’m both looking forward to, and dreading, the next couple of days.I’m keen to learn how all the new stuff works, but it’s going to be hard un-learning four years  or so of SPS2003…!

The BBC recently reported on trials being carried out on speed limiting devices being fitted to cars. Personally, I think this is an excellent idea, and here’s why…

I’ve already got one, although not quite as smart as the ones being proposed, and I love it. It’s standard equipment on the Citroen C4, and works in a similar way to the cruise control – you choose a speed, but instead of keeping you at that speed, it prevents you from exceeding it by accident. It’s entirely optional – I can choose when to turn it on, and it automatically disengages when cruise is engaged or the car is turned off. There are a couple of differences, though – the C4′s speed limiter doesn’t know what the speed limit is for any stretch of road, and it doesn’t apply the brakes to slow you down – indeed, if you’re exceeding the set limit by more than couple of MPH it doesn’t even bother cutting the engine, it just waits for your speed to get below the limiter then it cuts back in again.

So, although it’s not as smart as the speed limiters being proposed, it does come in very handy. First off, I much prefer not having to keep an eye on my speed all the time. Less time looking at the speedo = more time looking at the road. I particularly don’t have to worry about speed cameras – since I can’t exceed the limit, I know I’m not going to get flashed and can instead concentrate on the idiot in front, who has only just noticed the camera and slammed on the anchors. Also, I know that in, say, a 30 area, I’m not going to accidentally creep up to 35-40ish and increase the risk of causing serious injury to any pedestrian who jumps out in front of me. Sure, there might be people stuck behind me who wish I was doing 35 or 40, but If I was to hit and injure someone because of exceeding the limit it would be me who’d have to suffer the consequences – so excuse me if I’d rather stick to the limit.

Now, as always, there’s some muppet giving it all that about how it’s the Worst Idea Ever. In this case, it’s Claire Armstrong, from the road safety campaign group Safe Speed, saying that the devices could be dangerous.According to her, and no jokes about women drivers please, truck drivers have gone into “zombie states” when using speed limiters. Ok, first off, we’re talking about regular car drivers here, not truck drivers who drive all day and are under a totally different set of stresses when it comes to driving. If you were faced with 400 miles of motorway at 60mph every day, you’d be a zombie as well. And secondly, if people do stop paying attention, isn’t going to be better that they crash at 30 instead of 60 or something?!

Claire has backup, though – Derek Charters, from MIRA, says limiting speed automatically could cause accidents.

“The last thing you need is one car to be overtaking and then pull back in, in front of the cars in front, because that braking event will then cause everybody to start to slow down, which will then compress the traffic, which then causes an incident.”

Again, Derek is missing a few subtle points here. First off, if every one was using these things, there’d be no overtaking of the sort he describes. Secondly, if everyone was using these things, the traffic would be going at slower speeds anyway, and apparently this helps to avoid those “phantom” traffic jams – you know, the ones where you’re stuck in a jam for no apparent reason.

So those are a coiple of negative views on the idea – how about a positive? How many times have you been driving along in a 30 zone, and it’s gone into a 40 or 50 zone – only the car in front isn’t paying attention and is sticking at 34mph? Surely that’s just as dangerous – the driver behind the slower car knows the limit has been increased, and that the car in front hasn’t noticed, and is now getting worked up about being held back. He’ll start to look for any way to overtake, possibly choosing a risky spot and putting his, and other’s, safety at risk. However, with these speed limiters, the car would know about the higher limit and – assuming you’re already pushing the accelerator – your speed will increase too. Result: less road rage, fewer hold-ups due to people not observing the limits, and possibly smoother journeys. And be honest, how many times have you beend riving through one of those 40 areas where there are houses, then it’s gone into a 30 zone and you haven’t noticed? Again, these devices would ensure that you if you round a bend and come face-to-face with Mr Plod and the business end of his radar gun, he won’t be waving you over for a little chat.

Sure, there could be problems – the addition of braking does raise the possibility of accidents. For example, the system glitching and accidentally thinking you’re on the 30mph service road alongside the dual carriageway you’re on, and slamming on the brakes by mistake. Anyone with a satnav will have seen it get a bit confused and think you’re on the next road over or something – there’d need to be some serious accuracy for this to not be an issue. And I assume if it can’t get a GPS lock it’ll disengage. I guess the “optional” part of this tech means that you can turn it off – of course, if you have an accident (or are caught speeding) and you’ve turned the system off, that would probably not help your case – so that’s another reason to use it!

Anyway, if they can ensure there are no false positives (for want of a better term), I can’t wait for this kit to be available – I’ve added to it to my list of “Things any car I buy must have”, along with aircon, ABS, cruise control, iPod connectivity and a panoramic glass sunroof. Which pretty much means I’m tied down to Citroens or Mercedes at the moment…

After much faffing about with CMS sites, I’ve decided that it’s just simpler to go with a blog format for my site. Having set up a blog for our wedding (www.peggyandandy.co.uk) already, I think it’ll do what I need it to do without any major limitations.

I’ll mainly be blogging about tech, but there’ll be the odd topical observation here or there as well. Hopefully a little more useful than “by ‘eck it’s cold tonight”, but don’t count on it.