michael brown

F1 and cutting the cord

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:32:51 +0000

I’ve been a F1 fan since the late 80s and since the 1996 season I don’t think I’ve missed watching a single race. I used to watch them live (even the ones in Australia and Japan that start at 4 in the morning), but since I became a father, and with the advent of easy to use and reliable DVRs like the one incorporated into the set-top box of my FTTH IPTV provider it became more practical to just always record the races and watch them later.

For many years I watched F1 on free to air TV channels (BBC or ITV when I lived in the UK), and then RTP or RTL once I moved to Portugal. You might wonder what I was doing watching the German RTL channel in Portugal. Well, it was included in my cable TV service and RTL have far better coverage of F1 than the Portuguese RTP ever did. I’m fluent in German so there was no language issue either.

That was all fine until RTP could no longer afford Bernie Ecclestone’s licensing fees for transmitting F1 in Portugal and F1 moved to the SportTV premium channel in 2007. Fine, I thought, I’ll just keep watching it on RTL. Unfortunately the cable TV companies had thought of that and in the periods where F1 races were being shown, the RTL channel was blacked out. Obviously there was the threat that a significant number of Portuguese fans would rather watch F1 for free on RTL (even if they didn’t understand a word of German), than pay €25 a month for SportTV.

I was not happy that I had to pay €25 (now nearly €30) a month for SportTV when all I wanted it for was to watch 3 hours (1 hour of qualifying and 2 hours of race) of F1 once every two weeks. I couldn’t care less about the football and other sports that SportTV shows 99% of the time. Added to that, SportTV has commercial breaks during the F1 races! Yes, advertisements during the shows of a premium, paid for TV channel. To top it all off, the SportTV coverage of F1 is pretty poor. They don’t send a crew to the races, not even the European ones. They have two guys sitting in a studio in Lisbon watching and commentating on the same images that everyone else has, plus a laptop to one side showing the live timing screens that anyone can have access to. I was paying a lot, and getting nothing for it. This compares to the coverage of the BBC and RTL, both free to air channels, which send out a sizeable reporting crew to every race, all over the world.

I’d be happy to pay to watch F1 races. I’d love it if they were Pay-Per-View, provided of course that you got something extra for the money. I’d love to be able to watch F1 races on the web, or on my iPad, but Bernie’s business model for F1 is far too entrenched in the old way of doing things. Well, since the mountain won’t come to Mohammed…

Of course there are always dodgy internet streams for watching F1 races online. But they change from week to week and the URL is often only known shortly before the event. Apart from being illegal, they’re just not very practical, especially for someone like me who can’t necessarily watch the races live. However, almost by accident, I found a solution that would solve all my problems: a VPN.

Both RTL and the BBC have live streams of their F1 coverage on their respective sites. They’re free to access. You just have to be located in the UK or Germany to be able to watch them. A VPN was the answer. Most people use a VPN for the encryption and security they provide. However, a VPN has another very useful ‘feature’: to anyone else on the net, your connection appears to come from wherever the VPN server happens to be located. All I needed was a VPN with servers in the UK or Germany, preferably both, so I could choose.

After a lot of research, I found Witopia.net. They have great reviews, are relatively cheap, and most important of all for my needs, have a huge choice of server locations, including both the UK and Germany. I signed up for their basic service which costs $50 a year. A VPN connection is easy to configure on OS X and iOS (and probably Windows and Android also), and Witopia even provide some nice client software which makes selecting different servers around the world and connecting very straightforward. Literally 10 minutes after signing up I had everything configured on my MacBook, iPhone and iPad.

Using the BBC’s iPlayer service works like a charm. Ditto the RTL live stream. It was ridiculously easy. After creating a UK iTunes account (no credit card required) I could also install the UK version of the BBC iPlayer App on my iPhone and iPad. With a London VPN connection active this also works beautifully. The great thing about iPlayer is that the shows are available for download up to seven days after airing. If for some reason I can’t watch a race live, I know I’ll be able to watch it later on iPlayer and I don’t even have to remember to setup a recording!

A side benefit I hadn’t even thought about, is that I’m now able to watch all BBC TV shows (like Top Gear, for instance) live, or up to seven days later. That’s awesome.

The $50 I’m paying for the Witopia VPN service for a whole year is slightly more than what I used to pay for SportTV for just one month. That’s a huge saving, and I get to see F1 the way I want, when I want, on the device I want. I also get to see all the BBC shows I can find time for. Last but not least, all this is perfectly legal.

Yesterday I cancelled my subscription to SportTV and I’ll be watching the final and championship deciding race of the 2012 F1 season on BBC iPlayer, all for less than €4 a month.

Twin Towers

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:55:01 +0100

About 12 years ago, in the middle of a 2 week business trip to New York, I spent the weekend wandering around sight seeing and taking photos in what would become to be one of my favourite cities in the world.

I took quite a few photos of the World Trade Center towers, and visited the top floor of both of them, the regular tourist visit to the South Tower, and to have lunch at the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower.

Little did I imagine that a slightly more than a year later they would be a pile of rubble and twisted metal.

The two photos below are my favourites, and they still make my spine tingle a little to look at them.

It seems like it was in another lifetime.

The Foolproof Dock Connector - with analog audio?

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:48:28 +0100

Saw Marco Arment’s comments on Dan Lehman’s excellent analysis of photos of what might be Apple’s new Dock connector.

Like Marco and Dan, I too think this is almost certainly going to be the new Dock connector, and I too love the fact that it’s reversible. It’s an awesome bit of design.

However, I do have one major concern: will this new Dock connector still provide analog audio out? Are 8 pins enough for this? I really hope so, because if not I won’t be able to listen to podcasts or music in my car using the new iPhone.

I would bet that the vast majority of audio equipment (car radios, boom boxes, hifis etc.) that have a Dock connector for hooking up your iDevice use the analog audio outputs on the connector, and don’t get the audio digitally via USB and then do digital to analog conversion. A new Dock connector with no analog audio output would break pretty much all existing audio equipment with dock connectors. Would Apple really do that?

Of course they’ll provide an adapter like they did with the new MagSafe 2 connector, but you can bet that any adapter won’t do digital to analog audio conversion. Obviously in an adapter that’s converting 30 pins to 8, something has to get left behind. I just hope it’s not analog audio. Or perhaps Apple has something ultra clever that repurposes the 8 pins depending on what’s required? That would be awesome, all though I can’t quite see how it would work. Anyway, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Flash elephant in the room

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:48:23 +0100

Marco Arment recently tweeted

If you’re a web designer, you really, really need to get a Retina MacBook Pro so you can see how bad your site looks on it and fix it.

…and then blogged about the (mostly negative) reactions he got.

I totally to agree with Marco and Daniel Jalkut that you have to Target The Forward Fringe. However, there’s a much more important thing that web developers need to be doing first, for the very same reasons: remove all use of Adobe Flash from their sites, or at the very least have a decent looking version of the site for browsers without Flash. A site may look bad without HiDPI support, but it’s still usable. It still works. If a site requires Adobe Flash, it doesn’t just look bad on non-Flash browsers, it’s simply unusable. It might as well not exist. And we’re not just talking about The Forward Fringe here, a significant and rapidly increasing percentage of people are using iOS devices as their primary device for accessing the web. Android won’t support Flash from version 4.1 onwards. As far as we know Microsoft Surface won’t support Flash either. It won’t be long before the majority of web clients don’t support Flash. Removing Flash from web sites is far, far more important than adding HiDPI support.

Only in Portugal

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:46:34 +0100

Mesmo depois de 12 anos a viver em Portugal, a sua burocracia e falta de bom senso ainda me consegue surpreender e deixar estupefacto. Tenho um Audi A3 onde decidi meter películas para escurecer todos os vidros traseiros (atrás do Pilar B para usar o termo técnico). Não, não sou um daqueles tipos de “tuning” que acha que ter os vidros do seu 106 todos pretos é “cool”, junto com um tubo de escape que parece um cano de esgoto. A verdade é que tenho um filho de 3 anos que anda no banco de trás do carro e não gosta de apanhar sol através dos vidros, para não falar dos riscos para a saúde dele de apanhar tanto sol.

Sim, há tudo uma panóplia de filtros com ventosas que existe para tentar resolver o problema, mas todas elas sofrem dos mesmos problemas:

nunca tapam a totalidade do vidro, e inevitavelmente o sol vai sempre ficar num ângulo para encontrar esses buracos.
nunca ficam bem colados ao vidro, muito menos quando uma criança de 3 anos acha piada brincar com as ventosas.
não filtram os raios de UV.
não se pode abrir as janelas enquanto estão postos.

A solução mais eficaz é ter todos os vidros traseiros escurecidos de maneira que absorvem a grande parte do calor e da luz do sol, e 99% dos raios UV. Não é por acaso que muitos carros novos hoje em dia trazem este tipo de vidro de série. Seja o vidro fumado de origem ou tratado por uma película o efeito é o mesmo, e no caso de películas de boa qualidade e bem aplicadas, é impossível de detectar a diferença.

Ora, se há muitos carros que já trazem os vidros traseiros escurecidos de origem, e se há ainda outros carros (p.ex. alguns comerciais) que nem sequer tem vidros atrás do pilar B, não devia haver qualquer problema em meter películas escuras nos vidros traseiros? Isso foi o que pensei.

Depois de algumas pesquisas na net encontrei a Valdemar Películas em Linda-a-Velha. Pedi um orçamento e eles tinham disponibilidade no próprio dia. Entreguei o carro e foi o buscar duas horas mais tarde com as películas já colocadas. Escolhi películas de 80% opacidade, sendo a opção que mais se aproxima aos vidros escuros que os fabricantes metem de origem. Fiquei satisfeitíssimo com o resultado. O trabalho dos senhores da Valdemar foi 5 estrelas. Paguei €125 que não achei nada caro. O meu filho também já deu o selo de aprovação aos novos vidros escuros, ficou mesmo muito contente.

Mas agora começou o pesadelo. As películas tem de ser legalizadas. Ah pois. Welcome to Portugal. Primeiro é preciso fazer uma Inspecção Categoria “B” do veículo. Uma Inspecção B é exactamente igual à qualquer outra Inspecção Periódica Obrigatória mas em vez de custar €28 custa €98. Para já não percebo porque raio é necessário re-inspeccionar o veículo todo só para ver se as películas estão bem colocadas e com a marca de homologação visível. E ainda por acima, esse trabalho de verificar as películas, que nem 30 segundos demorou, faz a inspecção custar mais €70 do que uma inspecção normal? Isso faz algum sentido?

Tudo bem. Engoli o sapo da inspecção. Mas agora, com o certificado da inspecção, é preciso ir a IMTT averbar o Documento Único Automóvel com a informação das películas. Ao contrário de alterações significativas e importantes como, por exemplo, mudar a cor do veículo ou admitir um novo tamanho de jantes e pneus, que custam ‘apenas’ €30, colocar películas é considerado uma alteração às características do veículo, equivalente a alterações à carroçaria ou transformações de comerciais em passageiros. Isso custa €150 para averbar no DUA. Que falta de bom senso!

Contas feitas a brincadeira dos vidros escuros custou-me €375, dos quais €250 foram para a burocracia da legalização. Legalização de uma coisa que não tem qualquer influencia na segurança nem na condução do carro.

Antes de 2007 era simplesmente ilegal de colocar películas nos vidros dos carros, mas isso não impediu que muito gente o fez, sem quaisquer controlos. Para remediar essa situação o governo criou o Decreto Lei Nº 392/2007 de 27 de Dezembro que torna legal as películas, com algumas restrições, e devidamente homologadas. Mas infelizmente, com o custo da legalização ser o dobro do custo das próprias películas, penso que nada vai mudar. A grande maioria vão por as películas que lhes apetece, sejam elas homologadas ou não, e arriscar a multa. Só os totós certinhos como eu vão fazer as coisas como deve de ser e pagar uma fortuna por isso.

É mais um exemplo do que em Portugal compensa não cumprir.

"Apple iPhone Will Fail"

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:28:00 +0100

"Apple iPhone Will Fail":

parislemon:

Matthew Lynn, January 14, 2007:

To its many fans, Apple is more of a religious cult than a company. An iToaster that downloads music while toasting bread would probably get the same kind of worldwide attention.

And:

Don’t let that fool you into thinking that it matters. The big competitors in the mobile-phone industry such as Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc. won’t be whispering nervously into their clamshells over a new threat to their business.

And:

First, Apple is late to this party. The company didn’t invent the personal computer or MP3 player, but it was among the pioneers of both products. Yet there is no shortage of phones out there. There are already big companies that dominate the space, all of whom will defend their turf. That means Apple will have to fight hard for every sale.

And:

Yet Apple has never been good at working with other companies. If it knew how to do that, it would be Microsoft Corp.

And:

Lastly, the iPhone is a defensive product. It is mainly designed to protect the iPod, which is coming under attack from mobile manufacturers adding music players to their handsets.

And:

It won’t come from the iPhone. Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.

Nailed it.

I mean…

I’m absolutely flabbergasted. Where to begin? Nokia Oyj?!

Hindsight is 20/20 and all that. But come on. What a huge jackass. If he had said the exact opposite of everything he said, he would have been much closer to the truth than he was.

[thanks Tobin]

"I Get Frustrated."

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:45:31 +0000

"I Get Frustrated.":

parislemon:

Actor/comedian Aziz Ansari shares my Games of Thrones pain. As he tells GQ:

The way people release media is so far behind the way people actually consume it. There’s so much frustration. I mean, I get frustrated. I want to watch Game of Thrones. I’d love to see it before it comes back. Is it on iTunes? Do I watch it on HBO On Demand? What’s going on? What do I do? I bought the DVD, but I can’t watch it on my iPad?

And:

This is $5, and you have a video file that you can watch anywhere. I think people like the simplicity. Many surveys have people who stream TV shows or steal content saying that if it was available at a fair price and in a convenient form, they wouldn’t steal. And I believe that. Let’s say you hear that show Homeland is great, and you don’t have Showtime. You want to buy it. You go to Amazon, it’s not there. You go to Netflix, it’s not there. OK, fuck it, you’re just going to steal it from a torrent. But if you saw that it was $10, you could get all the episodes and watch it on anything, wouldn’t you do that? If you knew that the quality was proper and everything?

A-fucking-men.

And unlike me, Ansari is in a position to do something about it on his end. He has put his comedy special online Louis C.K.-style.

For $5, you buy it, you own it, you can watch it anywhere. Support sanity.

[thanks Eric]

The new iPad

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Not iPad 3, not iPad HD, not iPad 2S, just iPad.

A great move by Apple to finally get rid of the model number. It eliminates all the utterly pointless speculation about what the name will be. It also eliminates the possibility of being disappointed when a new iPad or iPhone doesn’t increment its model number and is therefore labelled as a merely incremental update. Lastly, it brings the iPad and iPhone into line with Apple’s other hardware products, which haven’t had model numbers for a very long time.

It’s a smart move which had to happen sooner or later. Can you imagine in a few years time talking about the iPhone 9?

I’m looking forward to the launch of “the new iPhone” this summer.

Piracy and entitlement

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:48:00 +0000

The Oatmeal’s brilliant cartoon about piracy sums up the problem better than I’ve ever seen it done before.

By trying desperately to hang on to outdated business models such as regional distribution deals and DVD sales instead of eagerly adopting global electronic content distribution, all the studios are doing is creating much more demand for piracy than would otherwise exist. As iTunes and online movie rental services such as Netflix (and MEO here in Portugal) have shown, if consumers have an easy and reasonably priced way of paying for digital content, they will gladly do so. However, if the content their willing to pay for is not available then pirating it becomes the alternative.

The other point here is that piracy is not, in many cases, causing lost sales. Especially outside of the USA, the movies and TV shows that people are looking for often just aren’t available legally in any format, they can’t buy them even if they want to.

In response to The Oatmeal’s comic, Andy Ihnatko counters with:

The single least-attractive attribute of many of the people who download content illegally is their smug sense of entitlement

The problem is that the internet and globalization have taken the entitlement genie out of the bottle and there’s no way you can put it back. Anyone from Chile to Vietnam who cares can know when each episode “Game Of Thrones” aired (or will be aired) in the US. The demand has been created, and if the studios refuse to fulfill it, the torrents will.

The world does not OWE you Season 1 of “Game Of Thrones” in the form you want it at the moment you want it at the price you want to pay for it. If it’s not available under 100% your terms, you have the free-and-clear option of not having it.

I’d argue that most consumers are not looking for “availability under 100% their terms”. Reasonable terms would be enough. Delays of weeks rather than months or years for example. However, outside of the US the content is often not available legally under any terms, ever. Unlike movies, US TV shows often never get aired outside the US and even when they do it’s often years later. As for digital distribution, just look at how few countries have access to TV Shows in iTunes. ‘Never’ is not a reasonable time frame. Pirating content that isn’t available to buy legally in any form will cause very few moral dilemmas for most people.

v1.3 de Farmácias de Serviço

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:49:59 +0000

Acabou de sair na App Store a versão 1.3 da minha app Farmácias de Serviço.

Incluí a opção, pedida por muitos utilizadores, de poder ver todas as farmácias, e não apenas as farmácias de serviço. O botão ‘24h’ no canto superior direito muda entra os dois modos.

Também mostra os vários tipos de ‘serviço’ das farmácias que estão de serviço utilizando cores diferentes nos alfinetes no mapa:

Verde: Permanente, aberto 24h.
Amaerlo: Reforço, aberto até as 22h.
Laranja: Disponibilidade, disponível por chamada.

Por favor instalem (é grátis) ou actualizem, e se gostam, deixem um comentário na App Store :)

http://itunes.apple.com/pt/app/farmacias-de-servico/id389764591?mt=8

rickwebb: God. I am getting so fed up with Google. This is this...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:00:33 +0000

rickwebb:

God. I am getting so fed up with Google. This is this morning’s comparison. I experience this at least once a day now for a variety of things.

I may not be done with Google yet, but I can see the day I will be on the horizon, and I am looking forward to it.

v1.2 de Farmácias de Serviço

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 23:02:10 +0000

Acabou de sair na App Store a versão 1.2 da minha app Farmácias de Serviço.

Além de ter as localizações das farmácias muito melhoradas, agora também podem ver as farmácias de serviço perto de sua localização. De resto, está mais rápida e mais estável.

Por favor instalem (é grátis) ou actualizem, e se gostam, deixem um comentário na App Store :)

http://itunes.apple.com/pt/app/farmacias-de-servico/id389764591?mt=8

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make..."

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:08:32 +0100

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

- Steve Jobs - via @pedrocustodio (via dramalho)

Rope-A-Dope, Indeed

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:20:42 +0100

parislemon:

Sometimes you want so badly to say “I told you so!” after months of getting kicked in the ass, that you do so without really looking into what you’re writing about. Or even thinking, really.

Such is the predicament Dan Lyons finds himself in today.

The artist formerly known as Fake Steve Jobs wrote the following this morning immediately after hearing about Google buying Motorola:

Read More

2010 iMac 27" Core i7 por €900? Com certeza...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:00:21 +0100

Estava a procura de um iMac em 2ª mão no coisas.com quando encontrei este belo exemplo de um iMac 27” de topo e quase novo por apenas €900. Isso é quase metade do preço do mercado, então como é que isso podia ser possível?

Toca de enviar um email a mostrar interesse. Passado um dia recebi o seguinte email de resposta. Basta dizer apenas “a fool and his money are soon parted” :-)

Email recebido de “fred.bitmanager@gmail.com”:

Hello,

I write you this email because you contacted me regarding my product,iMac
Intel i7 2.8ghz 1TB 7200 8GB ram 27 excellent .The product is as new, it
comes with 23 months warranty ,all original packaging and accessories. Now I
work in London, for Britain’s Royal Guard and I received it from a friend of
mine as a gift on my birthday,one month ago.
I decided to sell it together with my wife because I want to do a good
deed: the money which I will get after selling will be donated to people in
need from Japan who suffered after earthquake and tsunami flood. Also, I
want to sell it at a good price ( 900 € ) to somebody who really need it.
Due to the job I have, my free time is limeted and because of it I can
not meet somebody face to face for my sell. So, I sell it via DPD
International and I will pay all the shipping cost, you must only pay for my
Apple iMac. You will make the payment to DPD and they will withhold the
money until you receive and inspect the product (you have 7 days for
inspection).
The inspection period will begin as soon as you receive the product at
your address.Meanwhile DPD International will protect your money! You can
see the product before you decide to buy it. This way we are both protected:
I will know that I have a serious buyer, who has the money to pay me and you
will be able to
see and inspect the product before buying it.
You will receive the package in approx. 48 hours after the payment to DPD is
checked!
After you will inspect the product and decide to keep it, DPD will forward
me the funds and the deal is done.
Remember you have 7 days to test it. If by any reason the product is not as
described or if you find any problems, you will return the product to DPD
International with no expenses. The payment details will remain at DPD until
you confirm that everything is OK and you want to keep it.
If you think the delivery terms are OK please send your shipping detaills:
- First & last name:
- Address :
- City & State:
- Postal Code:
- Country:
- E-mail & second e-mail address:
- Phone number:

I am waiting your reply,
Kind regards,
Fred Bates

PS: I attached you some pictures.I would rather talk about our bussiness in
English for a better communication.
———————————————————————————————————————————————

iMac Intel i7 2.8ghz 1TB 7200 8GB ram 27” excellent
RAM memory has been upgraded to 8GB.
The mouse and keyboard have never been used.
I just did a fresh install of the Snow Leopard. All CDs are included, even
the Apple logo stickers.
Please note no aditional software is included - just the Snow Leopard, just
like when you buy it from Apple.
Processor: Intel i7 2.8Ghz Quad-core
1TB 7200RPM hard drive
8GB RAM
SD card slot
27” glossy screen
Superdrive (burn and read DVDs)
Comes with Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic mouse (also wireless).
Will be sent in the original box.

alanvanroemburg: Apple iCloud icon golden ratio Alan van...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:43:59 +0100

alanvanroemburg:

Apple iCloud icon golden ratio

Alan van Roemburg thanks to Takamasa!

App Farmácias de Serviço de novo a funcionar

Tue, 10 May 2011 16:45:12 +0100

Depois de mais de uma semana “em manutenção” o site da Associação Nacional das Farmácias (www.anf.pt) voltou, e assim, a fonte de dados para a minha App também voltou. Tudo está novamente a funcionar como deve ser.

Embora sendo um problema fora do meu controlo, peço desculpa para o incómodo.

App Farmácias de Serviço não funciona

Tue, 03 May 2011 11:36:22 +0100

Pois é, a App deixou de funcionar porque o servidor da Associação Nacional de Farmácias (www.anf.pt), onde vou buscar os dados para a App, deixou de ter registo de DNS a assim, por todos efeitos, não existe (experimentem ir à www.anf.pt e vão ver o que acontece).

Num ‘whois’ (na www.dns.pt) parece que está tudo OK, mas qualquer ‘lookup’ de DNS para o domínio anf.pt não devolve nada.

É um problema totalmente fora do meu controlo, infelizmente. É isto que dá criar serviços que dependem dos dados dos outros.

Só posso esperar que essa situação se resolve o mais rápido possível, e vou fazer o que posso para tentar alertar as pessoas que podem ajudar a resolver o problema.

dramalho: Impossible Lego - frustrating Hu-mans every day

Tue, 03 May 2011 11:16:23 +0100

dramalho:

Impossible Lego - frustrating Hu-mans every day

Taken with Instagram at CGD Sede

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:23:05 +0000

Taken with Instagram at CGD Sede