Reading my way to better fitness

I normally let up on my gadget gathering on the lead up to my birthday for fear that I'd accidentally double up on a thoughtful gift that my loving wife had already procured, an event that once experienced should never be repeated. This year however I've managed to thread the line of danger by not purchasing just one new toy but two only a week before the big day. Both expenses were of course cleared with the family accountant...

Ever since my first PDA (An unwieldy Cassiopeia E-100) I've been convinced that I loved reading books on electronic devices. What appealed to me back then was being able to carry hundreds of books in my pocket which I could read at any time, as well as the embarassingly geeky satisfaction that I was reading on a PADD from Star Trek. I've always been a stickler for keeping my books in pristine condition, though try as I might I'd never fully avoid making a slight crease in the spine of a paper back or discolouration of the pages from nasty finger oil. Of course something that would never be an issue with electronic books.

Over the years I've continued to read a library of books on various PDAs and most recently my HTC Touch. Two fairly major drawbacks to reading books on these portable devices sadly.

• The screen
  Most people can't fathom how I can read a full book on such a small computer screen. Given my infatuation with electronics I can only surmise that my retinas have adapted to withstand the barrage of backlit devices I expose them to. The bane of LCD screens however is direct sunlight, as anyone who's tried to use a laptop in the sun will attest to. No point in trying to read a book in the park if I need to build a tent around the screen to huddle under.
  


• Battery life
  I'm by no means a fast reader so there's little chance that I'd be able to finish a short novel in the four hours my PDA is willing to give me. Frantically searching for a socket to plug my book into so I can continue reading has a tendency to spoil the mood somewhat.
  

Predictably, these are precisely the two problems I've addressed with my latest spend-fest... a Sony Reader PRS505. While there's something to be said about wisdom of having a device that only does one thing in an age of convergence, boy does it do that one thing well. The secret is in the new display technology that it uses, E-ink. Rather than using an LCD screen which draws power whenever active, the E-ink screen only needs juice to change a page which it does by rearranging the pigment on the surface. As a result we're talking about weeks of happy reading without recharging, and more importantly - no wash out when reading in the sun.



I've given it a thorough test this week and re-read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Readability is absolutely amazing and photos will never do it justice. You just need to see one of these things in your hands. To my delight the battery indicator is still at full charge as I move to my second book. It's only four battery bars though so there's limited granularity.

If I did have any complaints it would probably be that the technology is still in its infancy, clearly evident by the slow-ish refresh rate of the display. It takes about half a second for the display to rearrange itself to show the next page which you quickly get used to. Sony also made some pretty lame brained decisions with the interface including the lack of a filter on books in the library, something that hamstrings the potential of loading thousands of titles onto memory. The other issue, which I'll be honest I haven't had experience with, is the bundled library software that Sony has developed. Given the weight of negative opinion against the application, I found a fantastic open source alternative prior to ordering the device and started formatting books in anticipation.



All in all I'm super enthused about the reader. It's definitely the way forward though I'd suggest that anyone that isn't an early adopter should probably wait for the technology to mature a little more.

The other purchase, which I won't gush about nearly as much since we haven't used it much, is Wii Fit. We were walking around Indooroopilly the other day after work and on whim I thought I'd check to see if the title had been released. It had, we bought it, we rock.



Well... maybe not so much on the rocking. My disloyal Wii had little issue with telling me what an overweight slob I am. The whole premise of the game is that it comes with a new Nintendo accessory, the Wii Balance Board, which detects pressure as you stand on it. The minigames that it comes with centre around improving your balance as well as exercises designed to catapult you down the path of physical well-being. It's thankfully not the sort of game that one would play for hours straight (in my case for fear of grievous bodily harm) so we probably won't have an accurate impression of what it's like until we've used it for a few weeks. If I don't bring it up again then let's assume the Balance Board is collecting dust under the TV cabinet. :)

I believe I can fly

I've loved my time at Michael Hill over the past three years. A truly special crew have made it a great environment to grow professionally and personally. There were lots of fun times, a few tiring times and literally a bucket load of food consumed through it all. It's a sad thing to say but I've felt for a while now that it's just about time to move on to see what else there is out there.

Today I've submitted my four weeks notice and am very happy to announce that I'll be starting a new role at Flight Centre on the 2nd of June. It's a software development position in a pretty large IT group (about eight times the size of Michael Hill) with some pretty exciting upcoming projects. I'm especially stoked at the thought of getting my mitts on trying out Test Driven Development which I've been trying to push at work with no real success for a while now.

Other perks that I'll be looking forward to include an individual training budget, CBD location and travel/holiday discounts. I'm practically salivating with anticipation.

House guest

Alison and I had fun on the weekend as we had a chance to play host to Rudi for two days. It was a sadly short visit with less than ideal weather but we did our level best to showcase the nicer sides of Brisbane, knowing that little could live up to his death defying and suicidal experiences in kiwiland.



The rain persisted through most of Friday despite our shallow promises to the weather gods but thankfully our planned activities weren't ruined. As is traditional on our practised Brisbane tour, Mt Coot-tha made an early appearance on the itinerary accompanied by a politely received lecture on the geography and history of our little city. This was followed by an afternoon on the City Cat and walking through the city proper where our resident tourist picked up a strikingly Australian Akubra. Well... to be precise I believe it was a knock off but I'm sure no one back in Malaysia would be able to tell the difference.

For dinner we'd booked a table at Tukka where we sampled local flora and fauna in a gastronomical treat. I'd only been there once before with mum and Cel so I'm glad to say that the second visit didn't disappoint. Our selection for the evening was somewhat less adventurous than my last visit and while possum wasn't on the table this time I think we were quite happy with our selection of Emu and Wallaby dishes.



Saturday morning saw us returning to more honest fair with a heart clogging Bacon and Egg roll from the local bakery. Freshly nourished we raced away to the Gold Coast in hope of beating the predicted heavy showers. By the time we got to the beach I'd describe the landscape as definitively drenched although that would not deter Rudi from having a play in the water. Alison and I were happy enough to sit back and enjoy the show and though the final outcome certainly looked painful, I'd like to think that Rudi had a good time in the waves. I've been meaning to have a little play with Comic Life and dedicate the following short strip to our brave albeit accident prone friend.



After tending to his wounds, we drove up the coast to Southport to get some fish and chips. The fish mongers were over populated with a placid flock of pelicans that were patiently awaiting feeding time. Alison held up remarkably well and pushed her ornithophobia aside to focus on the meal at hand.



Some of the birds opened wide to take advantage of the rare Brisbane rain and have a quick drink. Rudi thought he'd see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't long then before we had to take Rudi back to the airport for his flight. We said our good byes and were left with the promise of more frequent visits in the future.

Sunday was fairly uneventful although I had a short surge of excitement when I discovered that the local Harvey Normal at Indooroopilly had a Rock Band demo set up for use. I got to try the drums and wowed surrounding eight year olds with my purposeful percussion, well constructed and definitely great fun. The guitar on the other hand was far too spongey for my taste compared to Guitar Hero 3 though I'd assume that one would grow accustomed to that over time. None of the staff seemed to know exactly when the game would be released in Australia though reports indicate sometime in September for the shiny sum of 300 AUD. Time to start saving me thinks.