Kaspar to help children with autism

Kaspar is a newly developed robot that can express basic human emotions.
Children with autism have difficulties picking up on human body language because of it’s complexity and subtlety.
This makes Kaspar especially suitable to teach these expression to autistic children because the robot is designed to “express emotion consistently and with the minimum of complexity”.
The name Kaspar is a creative acronym for Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics.
May Kaspar succeed in making life a better experience for autistic children!
[Via]

The expensive truth behind 0870 and 0871 numbers

old phoneType in 0870 or 0871 in a search engine and you’ll see loads of advertisements for companies that provide this “service”. They all promise revenues of 4, 5 or 6p per minute.
This revenue is generated by charging the caller and sharing the profits between the number provider and the company being called.
The costs are often disguised because the numbers are presented as national rate or sometimes even local call charges.
The fact is that these numbers are very seldom (never?) included in any free minutes nor in any discounted calling plans.
While there has been a trend of cheaper and cheaper calling to regular regional and mobile numbers these new 0870/0871 numbers bring back calling chargers to the level of 1995.
I could be called conspirational if I claimed that it must be the phone operators behind the idea of these new “national rate” numbers. Even if they are not behind the scheme they must be very pleased to see a renewed increase in charged minutes.
There has been an explosion in use of 0870 numbers by large and small companies.
A few years ago it was rare having to call a 0870/0871 number and it was possible to choose another service provider with a local number.
Nowadays it seems as if every service company is using 0870/0871 number to boost their bottom line. This is very frustrating especially if there are 40 minutes waiting times before getting through to a customer service representative.
By the way, if it is profitable for a company to keep you waiting on the line you should start worrying about their true intent. Customer service or profit?
Some companies have gone too far. They rely on incoming phone calls to make a sale (hotels, mortgage companies) but offer only 0870/0871 numbers.
This means it now costs to make a reservation or to inquire about the costs of a product (shame on you K-West).
There is a growing uproar against these phone numbers with hidden charges.
Phone regulator Ofcom has announced that from next year firms will be banned from sharing in the profits of 0870 and 0871 numbers. New numbers will be introduced, this time starting with 030.
These new numbers should not cost more than traditional regional numbers (e.g. 01/02) and should be included in discounted calling plans and inclusive minutes.
While we wait for the 030 numbers you may want to check out the Say no to 0870 web site for alternative contact details.

Sjukstuga

Is a Swedish word for a kind of small hospital or more correctly a smaller emergency ward.
Which is exactly what it looks like at home at the moment.
We came back from Brazil last week and together with the fond memories of the trip our baby son also brought back a violent flue.
The symptoms are fever for 2-3 days, then excruciating body ache, then a short spell of extremely runny nose followed by a heavy and painful cough.
His mother got it shortly thereafter.
Then it was the grandmother’s turn. She is only visiting for a short while but wasn’t spared nonetheless.
The nanny was holding out until last Friday but surrendered shivering and with a splitting head ache.
She had to take a few days off which brought havoc to the delicate ecosystem of baby care taking at home.
So here I am, last man standing and wading through an avalanche of used tissues, dirty dishes and empty paracetamol packs.
I am under no illusion that I will escape this vicious bug but maybe I can avoid it at least until the rest of the family has recuperated (and enjoy special treatment).
From Sjukstugan with love,
David.

Wishlist: GPS enabled mobile phones

I am all for device convergence and over the last few years I have seen more and more devices blend into the mobile phone and disappear from my pockets.
With the SonyEricsson K800i I find my self listening to music (MP3 and radio), securely reading company emails, browsing the web for news, watching short video clips, taking decent digital photographs, playing games and even doing the occasional phone call.
While the mobile phone hasn’t completely replaced a digital SLR, a portable game device or a portable music device (iPod) it is perfectly good at those tasks for everyday usage.
One last thing missing is GPS support so I still have to carry a GPS enabled stop watch during running sessions, rent a car navigation device when abroad, geotagg photos manually and have a separate personal locator for our child.
What I would like is future mobile phones to have integrated GPS functionality (but not at the cost of size or price).
When GPS on future mobile phones is as common as Java support is on today’s phones, a wide new range of possibilities will open up.
I have experimented with j2me application development on my mobile phone and it turned out to be a piece of cake. With integrated GPS a host of mobile applications can be created personally or in an open source environment:

  • personal tracking for the whole family
  • workout performance measuring
  • simple tourist sightseeing (never be lost in a foreign city again)
  • automatic geotagging of photos
  • location based games
  • and much, much more

Nokia N82It looks as if my prayers may be answered with the rumored Nokia N82:
Quad-band GSM, GPS, Wifi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, FM radio, 5-megapixel digital camera with Carl Zeiss lens, auto focus and Xenon flash.
One familiar with SonyEricsson phones will see that the form factor and feature set of the Nokia N82 is a identical to a K800i with added Wifi, GPS and an upgraded digital camera.
The N82 is rumored to ship Q4 2007 and thus one cannot be sure it will materialise with all the mentioned spec. Also by Q4 I wouldn’t be surprised if SonyEricsson had an upgraded K800i with added GPS on the market.
In any case the holy grail of convergence is near, very near.
[via Symbian-Guru]

Globalsat TR-102: personal GPS/GSM tracker and locator

globalsat tr102 personal GSM GPS locatorA palm sized device with built in global positioning (GPS) and mobile phone connectivity (quad band GSM). Put it in a pocket and you can be located anywhere in the world where there is mobile phone coverage.
The tracking can be done either by SMS messages or with a continuous flow of of positions in GPRS mode.
In SMS mode you can either send an SMS or call the device and it will send back an SMS with the current position. This mode is the easiest one to set up and to use.
SMS is universally supported by all mobile operators whereas GPRS isn’t.
In GPRS mode the device sends the current position at predetermined intervals (for example every 60 seconds) to a server.
GPRS mode is great for when you need continuous updates like in a sailboat race or during logistics tracking.
This mode can also be the safest option in personal tracking as in the case of a lost GPS signal, you can view the latest acquired positions.
GPRS mode requires a PC running the supplied “Call Center” software or a server with custom software to collect and publish the data.
Incidentally I have developed such custom software to collect TR-102 data from multiple devices and a Google Maps front-end to view it. This allows me to use GPRS mode without maintaining a PC and to monitor a device from any browser in the world (more details about this later).
The GPS unit in the TR-102 consists of a SirfIII chip which is a top of the line GPS chip. It is highly sensitive to allow tracking even inside a building.
The GSM module is quad band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) which means truly global support. Still you should look into the GSM and GPRS support of an obscure country before traveling there.
Globalsat TR-102 can also serve as a rudimentary phone because it can receive calls and make calls to up to 3 predefined phone numbers.
Finally the TR-102 personal locator unit also features an SOS button. If pressed, the unit sends an SOS SMS message with the current location to 3 predefined numbers.
Charging is done with 5V and a 4mm plug with same dimensions as for a Sony PSP. This means you can use a PSP USB synch and charge cable for charging the unit on the go.
All in all the unit is a fantastic piece of technology but it has some issues. Hopefully some of the issues can be addressed in the next version of the device.
1. Non-standard mini USB connector. If you misplace the original USB cable that came with the unit you have to get a replacement from Globalsat as standard mini USB cables will not fit. Update: the connector appears to be a 4-pin mini USB. It does not appear to have a specific name but has a single grove that allows it to be identified.
2. The TR-102 does not support commands OTA (over the air). It would be useful being able to send an SMS to instruct the unit to switch from GPRS mode to SMS mode.
You have to connect the unit to a PC to be able to do any kind of set-up.
I would suspect such functionality can be supplied in the future with an updated firmware.
3. Not yet a truly transparent solution due to the size of unit and GPS signal loss issues. Transparent personal GPS tracking will only be possible when devices can be worn as a wristwatch or be integrated into personal clothing.
Dimensions: 115 mm, 45 mm, 22.5 mm, 100g
Update 14 May 2007
In a twist of faith the unit was stolen last weekend. The unit was switched off or else I would have been able to locate it and together with it the thief.
This incident points out additional weakness of current personal locator devices: if the unit is switched off or batteries are dead or if it is discarded or destroyed by the perpetrators it is rendered useless.

Bennetts motorcycle and scooter insurance renewal

bennetts motorcycle insurance renewalIt is a real shame but it seems as if you have watch closely all the companies you are paying for a service.
Forget to watch them and “mistakes” will be made which will always result in you paying them more.
The latest company to act questionably is the motorcycle and scooter insurance broker Bennetts.
Their business model is to get a quote from several different insurance providers and let you select the best value one.
My first year with Bennetts scooter insurance costed me £260 (third party, fire and theft). The second year costed me £250.
Towards the end of my second year I realised that having 1 year of no claims discount should have resulted in a better quote than I had been given.
I inquired Bennetts about this and was assured that my third year with them would be “considerably cheaper”.
The renewal quote arrived a few days later in the post and had the figure of £176. This sounded like a really good value.
The letter further stated that I did not have to do anything because the policy would be automatically renewed at the end of the term. At that point my credit card would be charged the quoted fee of £178.
One day before the renewal a Bennetts sales agent called me to inform me that my policy was due for renewal and that the best quote she was able to find was £220.
I was a bit puzzled by this and informed her that a lower quote was already sitting at the kitchen table back home and I did not wish for her to do anything at this point. I would be calling them later that day with the previous reference number in hand.
When I called Bennetts later that evening I was told that the higher fee I had been quoted earlier that day was currently in my account and had I not have called, I would have been debited this figure.
At this point I was about to explode with how unjust this was when the sales agent quickly told me that he has yet another quote and that it is £150. After going through the terms and conditions of this policy it turned out that it was the best one so far.
The Bennetts sales agent was not able to explain what had happened but insisted that if I “finalise it with him there and then” he could guarantee this figure.
One has to ask what motivation Bennetts has to actually give you the lowest quote they find. If they operate on a percentage based commission it would be in their interest to sell a more expensive cover.
Oh, one more thing.
Bennetts adds an optional fixed “legal protection” fee to all policies. You can request to remove this £25 fee to further reduce your annual insurance cost if you do not require it.
Cheap scooter insurance alternatives:
Lexham Bike insurance
Carole Nash
Bikesure
Photo credit: Signalstation

One mighty year

party hat face birthday babyMy dearest son, you have completed your first year – on to Level2. How much of it will you remember in years to come?
You came on Cupid’s wings and landed in our arms
Do you for example remember when you took your first breath – a breath of sweet life in an otherwise sterile operation room?
Do you remember when you tasted real food for the first time or took your first tumbling step?
I sure do and the memories will be for ever etched into my mind.
You are growing up surrounded by technologies one could not even dream about when I was I child.
You are wearing a GPS/GSM tracker in your pocket, watching high definition baby television, space tourism is about to take of, open source software is challenging commercial offerings on many fronts and the Internet is becoming just another utility like tap water is.
There are some unfortunate things to be sad about like the decaying environment, advances in genetically modified plants and organisms, greed of pharmaceutical companies and cruelty going on in the world wide world.
Hopefully these issues can be improved upon with a generation of bright children like you and your sister.
I kissed your face and you said my name – Mwuuaaaaaahhh
You stand on the shoulders of great man and can achieve anything you set your mind to. However let’s start with some potty training because you cannot conquer the world while wearing a diaper!

Replacing a VAIO laptop (TR2MP) hard drive

Clickety-clickety-clickety-krrzz-krrrrrrrz-clickety-clickety was the sound that started coming out my wife’s laptop the other day.
If you hear this sound from your laptop’s hard drive then I am afraid it’s end is near. It is time for a full back-up and hard drive replacement.
1. Copying data files to an external HD or another PC
This turned out to be the most time consuming part of the hard drive replacement.
I had made regular backups but wanted the latest data so chose to copy everything important manually.
Windows Explorer copy is very poor as it does not support resume, nor does it show a detailed progress. Since you are copying from a defect hard drive there are bound to be several file errors and you will need all the help you can get.
Secure Copy 2 from Pineda Networks is a better tool for the job. It is a bit unstable but free, allows resuming of file transfers and gives detailed progress information.
2. Purchase a spare identical or similar HD
To find out what hard drive model your laptop is using right-click on “My Compyter”, select properties, then Hardware, then Device Manager and check the drive(s) under Disk drives.
Google for the drive model and see if it is for sale.
In my case the drive was a 40GB Toshiba MK4004. I was not able to find that exact model but a MK4006 seemed to be a replacement. There were 60GB drives available. While that would have been a nice upgrade I could not gurantee that the larger drive would work with the VAIO system restore disks.
Cost of drive: £85.
3. Install the new HD
Do not attempt at opening your laptop if you are not comfortable with screwdrivers, fiddly electronic contacts and the possibility of destroying the laptop.
With the replacement hard drive in hand you should be able to take the laptop and drive to a back alley computer shop and have it replaced for a bargain price.
If you attempt at replacing the drive yourself I recommend you to do a dry run even before purchasing the replacement drive.
open vaio laptopStart with the laptop closed and with the bottom side up. Unscrew all 13 screws and note the sizes and locations as there are 2 different sizes.
Two of the screws are hidden under the (top) rubber pads. Peel them off with a screwdriver. When you put them back they will stick to the case just as before.
open vaio laptopTurn the case around and open it. You should be able to lift the top of the bottom part. If it doesn’t it means you have forgotten one or more screws.
Don’t attempt to take of the top completly because the keyboard is attached to the bottom part and you don’t want to mess with those connectors. Just lifting it will be enough to get at the drive.
Unscrew one last screw which holds the frame around the frame (see arrow above).
open vaio laptopTake away the frame and disconect the hard drive connector (see arrow above).
The drive is now free to be lifted away. It is surrounded by four little rubber pads which you need to move to the new drive.
It is a bit tricky placing in the new drive with the rubber pads on the sides so have patience and be careful. Replace the frame around the drive and the screw that holds it down.
You can now close the case and put all the screws back.
4. Restore the data
With a VAIO laptop you should have restoration disks which are a quick way of putting back the operating system and any proprietary software.
I chose not to install any of the VAIO extras as I believe they only slow down the computer.
Continue with installing any previous software and finally replace the backed up data.
Don’t forget to run Windows Update as soon as you can. Installing Service Pack 2 and 95 other critical Windows updates was quite the exercise.
If you at a later point need to restore data from the removed HD then have a look at external 1.8″ or 2.5″ USB hard drive enclosures.
Connecting via USB 2.0 very convinient as it doesn’t require the opening of your PC case to connect the hard drive via a HD adapter.
External enclosures are only £10 on eBay, shipping included!
PS I have one spare screw after replacing the drive so please do a better job than me and let me know which screw is missing from the photos above!

Iza wee baby girl!

wee baby girl dressA little baby girl is on the way.
The ultrasound operator was 99% sure… and apparently she has never been wrong before. I bet that the last 1% is to avoid angry customers.
Both mom and dad to be are very proud and happy; mom a little bit more.
Celebrations commenced with a jump and heels clicked together followed by a pink shopping extravaganza at the first baby shop in sight: pure baby.
I can’t help but worry that taking care of and raising two babies is possibly double work compared to a single child.
Cue cold sweat on forehead, lack of breath and a taste of blood in my mouth.

Greedy property circus

estate agentsWe are in search of a new home and had been viewing several properties last Saturday. Most had been charming and it was always nice to have a chat with the owners and trying to find out the peculiars of their homes.
Last property was an “open house” viewing. An estate agent (no names) had invited many, many interested couples and families to view this property.
The house was in great shape, the fire place was lit and the previous owner was the producer of one of our favourite British TV series (his BAFTA award was standing on the coffee table)…. but the previous owner was nowhere to be seen.
Instead we were met with a very camp articulate agent who signed us into a book at the entrance and briefed us about the house in 1 minute. Then he was off to receive the next couple waiting at the door.
While walking around the house there was nowhere to sit down or relax and discuss what we liked/disliked. Everywhere you looked there were other couples talking away.
The open house viewing concept might be understandable in quite periods where any possible buzz needs to be generated to sell a property.
However currently the property market is extremly busy. Most decent properties recieve an offer that matches their asking price after a single day; often it recieves multiple such offers.
In such a climate it is terrible seeing all the other potential buyers. There were easily 15 other couples during the 20 minutes we stayed.
The estate agent was informing some other people that the property already had 4 offers at the asking price. This can only mean a fierce bidding war if you want the house badly.
Just as we were leaving the house after a very dissapointing viewing a lady stopped us, introduced herself as a newspaper journalist (was it from the standard?) and asked if she could ask my wife a few questions about the open house viewing concept.
A big grin appeared on my wife’s face and she started telling the journalist just how wrong the idea was.
How important it is to have a chat with the previous owners, how it is important to feel the potential privacy and comfort of a new home, how it instead feels like being at a fish market and finally how it’s all about greed and nothing about providing a service.
Photo credit Anyhoo