Playing with Pano app at Niche Cafe on Queen West #Toronto with a nice lavender-black tea.

Link to iPhone app: Pano app

Mozy 2.0 client is a fiasco

Just a heads up to current and potential new clients of the Mozy online backup service: The Mozy 2.0 client is a big flop. Do not install it, in its current form, barring any major updates, under any circumstances. Not only is it a nightmare from the customer perspective, but potentially in the wider public relations sense -- though, obviously not quite to BP proportions!

I have been a happy MozyHome (exactly like MozyPro, but for non-commercial use) user for over 3 years now (yes, that makes me an early adopter) and have often cheer-leaded for them to family and friends. It has given me peace of mind for my 150 GB worth of data as I bounced from one side of the Atlantic to the other with my laptop.

Then came last week. As I had never experienced any issues with their service, when I received the latest client newsletter (that looked a bit like the following post on the Mozy blog) exalting the benefits of the newly released version 2.0 client, I didn't hesitate to download the upgrade. Big mistake. I'll spare you the gory details, but, in summary: it failed to install properly in Vista 64-bit, forcing me to reinstall the old client, version 1.16 (but only after a forced brute-force uninstall of all traces of Mozy, which caused the loss of all my customized settings) and somehow made it not work anymore (despite anything the tech support tried to suggest), finally making me resign to trying 2.0 again, which now oddly installed, but now failed to upload a complete backup set (this seems to be a common issue mentioned on message boards) all the while growing in CPU resources over time (rendering the computer useless). And that's just the beginning of the oddities.

Luckily (though, truly, it's a bastardization to call all this useless time and effort anything remotely related to a fortuitous situation), the evil Mozy 2.0 client accepted to be deinstalled cleanly this time and I was able to once again install the 1.16 client (1.16.4.0 to be precise, still available here). My good luck did not end there, 1.16 now worked perfectly again, just as it did 10 days ago...

Given all the unhappy, sometimes ireful, posts in the Mozy Community message boards, this is brewing to be a serious problem that Mozy's farmed-out tech support is having difficulty handling. Of course, this is not a tech support issue, but a software development issue; more specifically a gross failure in proper stability and regression testing.

It's just one big flop in a company with a good track record, but hopefully they can fix this soon. We're currently all seeing how a single mistake can quickly grow to a debacle and threaten a previously-strong company's very survival. (Yes, I'm talking to you BP!)

Reducing DPC latency on your laptop

If you plan on producing or streaming high-quality live audio (or video) from your laptop computer, or you just happen to be a bit of a tuning nerd, then you definitely should care about DPC latency. (Otherwise, you might want to skip this post, as this is not about making your system run faster per se.)

The Deferred Procedure Call (DPC) latency is a Windows concept. Suffice it to say that audio/video to/from an external device is handled by a queue of such low-level priority function calls. The time delay between a DPC call and execution is the latency (typically measured in microseconds, μs) and varies over time, depending on such variables as system load and running system services (of course), but also hardware and, most importantly, device drivers. To see live measurements of your system’s average DPC latency over time, this free tool is invaluable: Thesycon’s DPC Latency Checker.

A low DPC latency is what we are aiming for, but it’s not just a low mean value, but a constantly low number without any spikes. It’s the spikes in latency that will cause audio or video to stutter, skip, crackle, or pop (only a good thing if you developing a new Rice Krispies commercial). A good system would have no latency spikes above 250 μs; a setup like this or better is a requirement if you plan on being a laptop-DJ performing live, non-pre-recorded sets (next, you’ll need some software like Ableton Live, Native Instruments Traktor, Atomix Virtual DJ, etc., not to mention a good external audio interface, but I digress…).

If you find that your system has a horrible DPC latency profile, you’ll have to do some digging. The sad news is that you’ll mostly be blind in this hunt for low DPC latencies. A general rule of thumb is to make sure that you have the latest drivers for your graphics card (as the display is a big performance hog, even when a system is idle). Next, try stopping any unessential services or background running programs -- one by one -- and seeing if the situation improves (by running the linked-above DPC Latency Checker utility). Generally, background applications like Dropbox, a weather widget, Mozy, etc., don’t affect the DPC queue, but you never know! On my computer, the ESET NOD32 Antivirus real-time protection was the cause of some “minor” periodic 500 μs peaks. Another serious culprit on my machine was CPUgenie, a CPU power management application I installed that reduces CPU voltages to decrease CPU temperatures and increase battery life. I can only infer that other undervolting tools such as RMClock should also be considered potential targets in this war on DPC latency.

If all else fails, try a web search for your notebook computer’s “MODEL NAME” and “DPC LATENCY”. (Come to think of it, you should probably do this first!) In my case, I found out that some hard-core gamers were complaining about the Nvidia graphics card on their Sony Vaio Z’s. This gave me the idea to switch to using the integrated Intel graphics system on my system’s motherboard (conveniently, Sony provides a useful external switch to do this on the machine: “STAMINA” switches to the built-in Intel graphics processing, whereas “SPEED” means the Nvidia graphics card will be used). Although I lose 3D graphics performance by using the integrated graphics unit, my average DPC latency was more than halved (now down to the 50-70 μs range) and, more crucially, eliminated the last of the remaining spikes.

Time for me to enjoy my laptop’s newly lowered DPC postponement statistics… but first, my human priority calls for a short period of dormancy.

Project Blinkenlights, rewind to 2002 in Paris.

First came Berlin, then in 2002, Project Blinkenlights moved to Paris to put up the "Arcade" installation. I recorded this news report off the high-quality BBC World live video stream (which was freely accessible at the time). It's a little late to be posting this, but interest in Project Blinkenlights has spiked again recently due to the current installation ("Stereoscope") in Toronto.

Electronic symphony composed for Blinkenlights in Toronto

If you were standing outside at Nathan Philips Square an hour ago and was wondering what the cool music was that was playing, here's a link to satisfy your curiosity (and ears!): http://kraftfuttermischwerk.de/stuff/blinkenlights-symphony.mp3 It's an electronic symphony commissioned specifically for this year's Nuit Blanche in Toronto, and the Project Blinkenlights "Stereoscope" installation in particular.

Project Blinkenlights is in Toronto. Tonight!

Some people must be reading this blog after all. Either that, or I'm just psychic. (I'm quite unscientifically discarding the random coincidence hypothesis.) I've been a fan of Project Blinkenlights since I first heard about it a few years ago on a report on BBC World, and about 6 months ago I mused on this blog (here) about how Toronto's financial district could use some high quality live building animations of the calibre that only the German Chaos Computer Club seem to be able to do. Well, just a few minutes ago, when casually perusing the web site of Toronto's Nuit Blanche to figure out what I might what to go out to see tonight (2008 marks Toronto's 3rd Nuit Blanche event), I stumbled on the entry for Stereoscope -- what they are calling Toronto's Project Blinkenlights installation. It's going to be at City Hall, which happens to be a stone's throw from where I live. (It might already be live, as it's gotten dark outside as I am typing this!) To think that I might have missed it, and I live so close...

Animated light show in downtown Toronto

Finally, some computer-controlled building animation here in Toronto. It's not quite the best setup -- only 1-bit pixels (i.e., no shades of gray possible) that are very narrow -- but it's a good start. Hopefully this catches on and we can get some nice building animations, of the calibre of Project Blinkenlights, on this side of the pond.

Challenge: Can you decipher the displayed message? (Hint: The building is currently vacant.)

Fear switching to Linux no more!

Yes, fear not, you can still sync up your iPod. In fact, if you choose to use this open source iTunes-replacement for Linux -- Banshee -- you'll get all the features of the original, and more (such as built-in scrobbling to Last.fm). Now, isn't it time you tried Linux? Even if just for "fun", it's worth trying out a Live CD of Ubuntu Linux. Boot with the CD, poke around, and when you're done, just pop it out and reboot back to Windows. (Assuming you're not a Mac user; in which case, you're technically already using a version of Unix! Yes, shocking, isn't it.)

Of course, if you really want to get geeky, and still need to keep Windows running on your hard disk for other reasons, you can always install Linux to a USB stick -- that's what I did. You can boot from it, but unlike the Live CD option, it's a real system where your customizations are persistent. Install software (like Banshee), create documents, whatever... It's a true working installation. And it can travel with you! Pendrivelinux.com has several step-by-step guides to help you achieve this. You can get by with a 1 GB USB key, but I went all out and went for 8 GB; I want room for programs, documents, and even some music! (You will, of course, be able to access files from your machine's hard disk, but obviously those won't be able to travel with you.)

A good option to consider if you don't like iTunes

On this very snowy Sunday morning, after making a fluffy omelette and while sipping on my coffee, I find myself here at the computer listening to some music. I personally use iTunes, not for the iTunes Store, but for the software -- partly because I have an iPod, partly because it links up seamlessly with my Airport Express router to stream tunes live to my stereo, wirelessly. (True, I could use Airfoil, but it's just an added hassle to load up a separate little program to stream the audio.) However, if you have no iPod to sync to your computer, there is no big reason to use iTunes. I've found an excellent alternative called MediaMonkey. It's completely free, it looks nice (the default skin looks suspiciously iTunes-like in fact), has all sorts of playlist options and supports song ratings. However, the big deal is that it can very easily be customised with all sorts of scripts, most are user-submitted and can be found in the forums. One that I came across, for example, converts old MusicMatch song ratings; very useful since MusicMatch doesn't work anymore under Windows Vista (for you poor souls that decided to upgrade!).

When life gets hectic, get a new toy!

As you can probably tell from the lack of posting lately, my life on the eighth floor in Toronto has been keeping me very busy lately. I've been workin' it at both eights; the office and the home. I'm generally not a workaholic, but I've been making a conscious push to finish a large, multi-year project that I affectionately call "the beast".

However, all work and no play is not what I'm about! Yesterday I got myself a new toy, an Oxygen8 USB MIDI controller. I've been hunting around for a long time for some sort of affordable MIDI/USB device to take my hobby electronic music composition to the next level (who am I kidding, I'm just one step above beginner). Sometimes it pays to keep a close watch of craigslist's for sale sections; I got a great deal on this second-hand toy.

For now, my plan is to use it in concert with my copy of FL Studio. It's early times, but there doesn't seem to be any setup necessary. It was recognised automatically as a MIDI input (as long as it is plugged into the USB port before the program loads) and piano key input works automatically whenever an instrument channel is highlighted. Assigning functions to the knobs on the controller is done by right-clicking on any setting or knob on the screen, whether it's instrument properties or a software plug-in.

Latest Toronto photos on your iGoogle

I just created a little Google Gadget that you can add to your personalized iGoogle homepage, or embed into your own web page. The widget simply displays a tiling of the most recent photos uploaded to my Flickr account with the tag "Toronto".

To add it to your iGoogle homepage, the easiest way is to follow this link. Otherwise, go to www.iGoogle.com, sign in (or register), then click the "Add stuff" link below and to the right of the Google search box (or just follow this link directly). Next, select the little "Add by URL" link to the right of the search button. Finally, enter the following URL:

http://lifeoneight.googlepages.com/lifeoneight_google_gadget.xml

To embed it into your own web page, add the following code to your HTML source file:

<script src="http://gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://lifeoneight.googlepages.com/lifeoneight_google_gadget.xml&up_title=Photos%20from%20Toronto&up_user_method=username&up_userid=&up_username=lifeoneight&up_count=6&up_size=s&up_display=latest&up_interval=no&up_tags=toronto&synd=open&w=278&h=180&title=Flickr+Photos+from+Toronto&border=http%3A%2F%2Fgmodules.com%2Fig%2Fimages%2F&output=js"></script>

Unlocked iPhone: Still crippled for Canadians

I just read about George Hotz's exploit; he is the first to manage to fully unlock his Apple iPhone (instructions can be found on his blog). It's not so trivial a task, at least for the moment, for an avrerage user to achieve (no simple crack.exe to run, we're talking about some precise soldering here), but a flood of unlocked iPhones will surely appear on eBay shortly. Gadget geeks in the USA won't likely be the most interested in these, however, but rather those in the rest of the world. Americans will now be able to choose T-Mobile service instead of AT&T, but for the world citizen it means that the iPhone now becomes an actual option. Here in Canada, unfortunately, an iPhone would be effectively still crippled. It would be a nice looking and performing phone for sure, and a sleek iPod replacement to boot. But Internet/data? Forget about it. Unlike the competitive rates in many countries around the globe, where some service providers offer unlimited GPRS data transfers for a reasonable monthly fee, here the best option we have is currently around $100 for a mediocre 200 MB per month. Forget video or music streaming, and forget using your new eBay-iPhone as a connected camera to populate your Flickr account on the go... unless you have deep pockets...