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Archive for August, 2009

Why is Business Objects Code So Slow?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

It is damn frustrating to use the code below to get to the label name of a specific Universe object. It just loops over and over again looking for a specific object id in a specific class. The object id is unique across all classes. So, the class part is redundant. There is inexplicably no function to obtain the object by giving the unique id. So, we loop and hope the desired object id is near the top.

Set oDesignerClass = m_oUniverse.Classes.FindClass(sClassName)
For nIndex = 1 To oDesignerClass.Objects.Count
Set oDesignerObject = oDesignerClass.Objects(nIndex)
If oDesignerObject.id = nBIObjectID Then
sLabel = m_oUniverse.Classes.FindClass(sClassName).Objects.Item(nIndex).Name
Exit For
End If
Next

When we know everything about the object that we want and could just get it with one line of code that doesn’t need to execute uselessly and repeatedly.

m_oUniverse.Classes.FindClass(sClassName).Objects.(Name).Name = sLabel

Or better yet, by ObjectID (SHOCK!!! I know)

m_oUniverse.(nBIObjectID).Name = sLabel

If someone knows who the idiots are that thought this was a good idea let me know their address. I would have no problems sending the team a book from Amazon on the binary search algorithm were learned in Computer Science 101.

Posted in My Story, Programming, Rambling | No Comments »

Computer Changes

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

I’m very excited about the changes to the computers in the house recently. The wires are moving off the floor and computers are going in and out of the computer room.

One Mac Mini was moved into the bedroom to make video files from TiVo and VCR tapes. It’s a new one and unfortunately they only work with digital TVs (none of mine) and I had to resort to dragging in a computer monitor to put on the floor. This really bugs me. Now though, I have run coax cable from the bedroom to the kitchen and computer room and move the computer. The new Mac OS 10.6 should arrive on Friday and this little gem is the only box to get the upgrade. It’s been working great at transcode DVDs to AppleTV and iPhone formats. The VCRs can move with the Mac Mini too. Clears up a lot of clutter.

The cable used to run along the floor and stop in the guest bathroom. Now it goes through the walls and runs down the hallway (still visible) to the kitchen TV. We’ve been using the AppleTV a lot and it only spits out digital, which is very expensive to move around the house. VCR, DVD, and TV all work fine over the coax. The new wire cleans up the signal a lot and we want AppleTV in the kitchen without spending $200 to do it.

So, I checked an older Mac Mini that I wasn’t sure of, one that can output analog composite video, and discovered that it works fine. Better than fine since it can play on any of my TVs. With the proper cable that is. Which will come in on Friday too. This Mini was 10.4 and is upgraded to 10.5. It’s flakiness came from a possible botched upgrade from 512 meg to 2 gig. Seems like the upgrade was successful. This little gem will go in the kitchen TV. I need to run an Ethernet wire to this spot, but the wireless is ok.

Running the wires along the wall is annoying, but the attic is just too hot, cramped, and awful it’s worth it. The drop in the kitchen works for both the kitchen and living room. That’s very handy. This wires most of the house; kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and one bedroom (computer room). Though I still need coax and Ethernet to the bathrooms and a bedroom. And the “server closet” in one bedroom might need to move to the garage or hall closet.

I’m really hoping for new Macs in September or October. Not so much to get a new one, but to get a current one on clearance for $200-400 less. Maybe, a 24″ with 4 gig and a dedicated video card. The Minis are fine and I love my overheating upgraded Cube, but I would really would like to have transcoding take 1/3 of the time and to have at least one powerful machine. For a long time I wanted a Mac tower, but I just don’t have enough work to make up the $2200+ price tag. This box would replace the Cube as the desktop machine and I could use it as a spare web browser. It will output S Video to a TV, a very handy ability.

A little separate note on cutting off the cable..
The antenna works well and money spent on cable has gone to buying cheap movies and TV series at Walmart. The AppleTV has been a gem, but only because we rip the DVDs we buy and transcode them for it. All the shows are in one enormous list. Purchasing though Apple is ok, but they have not obtained new episodes and shows for everything and rental fees and terms are outrageous compared to Hastings, and downloads take hours or days through standard DSL. There are cheaper boxes that do the same thing, but without iTunes, and I would have chosen one of those if I were doing this again. The Mini going in the kitchen is saving transcoding time and space and $200+ worth of hardware. It’s outrageous how expensive it is to push a component video signal 50′ vs coax.

Posted in Computers, House, Mac, My Story, Projects, Rambling | No Comments »

Mexico Vacation Photos

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

These are the links to the tiny versions of the vacation photos with movie files.

Thursday
Friday
Swim with the Dolphins
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Canopy Tour
Tuesday

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Puerto Vallarta Vacation 1

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

We set out Thursday morning with passports in hand and bags full of 6 days worth of clothes headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Jennifer found a really great deal for an a package that included flight, hotel, and food for 6 days and 5 nights. It was in the off season or rather the rainy season. When the weather is nearly 100F and the humidity seems somehow to reach beyond 100%.

This was to be the first airplane flight for her son, Dalton, a very large nearly 13 year old boy. The plan was to fly down and then book 3-4 tour items like dolphins, a show, snorkeling, etc. Neither of us had been to PV before and all that we knew was from Jennifer’s two previous Mexican trips and the internet. The hotel looked workable, though a bit far from the airport on the south side of the bay, where PV is in the center. It was in a little town, Mismaloya on the Mismaloya river right on the beach. Two months ago we had applied for passports when booked the tickets and the whole thing seemed a lot more academic. Now passports in hand, we got ready to leave the country.

The flight was routine down to Houston Intercontinental and to Mexico. As soon as we landed in PV the plane was warm and going through the entrance proceeds was muggy. The air pressure is sea level combined with heat and humidity it was like a persistent pressure on everything; skin, lungs, chest, face,.. Within minutes we were sweating or rather dripping. Everything drips in PV often for no apparent reason. Maybe you can point to condensation as the cause sometimes.

Entry was a bit of a joke. The passport checking official looked bored and sleepy repeatedly writing, scanning, and tearing bits of paper. Once our luggage was restored to use it was X-Rayed again in Mexico for illegal substances. Then, unbeknownst to us we were through. There is a significant lack of signage at the small PV airport, which has a larger terminal than Amarillo, but a much smaller airstrip.

Going through the foreign airport in a throng of people from the 737 we came upon this big room with desk along each side featuring tropical floral pictures and men with standard airport security badges around their neck. A man in the middle of the floor called out hotel names and directed people to various counter, which oddly did not have any names as you might expect of say rental car companies sharing counter space; Avis, National, Hertz.

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iPhone Review

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

So, back in June, just before the Seattle bike ride I got an iPhone. The expense is a bit much, but I would like to program it when summer is over. At least that’s my rationale.

For the bike ride, I looked to conserve weight were ever possible and the iPhone does a lot of things. The camera, internet, phone, and text messaging are the beginning. The apps are like the cherry on top. The inability to send or receive photos is annoying. So, I took the iPhone and left the Netbook and camera at home. There were reports of dead batteries and cracked screens (Jessica). So, I got a case that doubles as a spare battery, the Mophie.

Right before the trip I realized that I could put video on the iPhone and then, with a special cable, play it on the motel TV. This was an invaluable feature. I thought I had a cable to do it, but was mistaken. After a visit to a nearby Apple store in Seattle I was all set. The cable is pricey at $50, but probably a knockoff would be cheaper. Since then I convert all my DVDs to play on the iPhone so they can come along. When we went home to Canadian a couple of weeks after the Seattle ride we brought Gran Torino and played it for Grandma.

The phone worked great most of the trip. I got 150 photos in the first 3 days. The phone worked and the internet is just really handy to have. The motel’s internet was unnecessary and the lack of a tactile keyboard really just kept my typing short and my thoughts down to 1-2 sentences, because that’s all you can see at a time. The text messaging was very helpful. And I found an app for Facebook to update that status too. As I went along on the ride I would send a single word, the name of the town I was in.

Somewhere in the despair portion of the second day the iPhone died. Nothing I did would wake it up. It’s really too bad. I wish I had photos of the finish line and last rest stop. The best photos of me taken by Marathonfoto were of that last 10 mile or so stretch. I got 4 of them. They are really good. Because of the rain all the second day I thought little iPhone was dead, but I charged it up anyway to see and within 10 minutes it was apparent that the battery had totally drain somewhere along the ride and my backup hadn’t helped it.

It was great for the rest of the trip with my cousin and her family. Monday morning I got to listen to my TWiT (This Weak in Tech) podcast. Now, I did bring along my iPod Nano. That was and still is the music box. The battery life is just so much better than the iPhone. Which is one of the major reasons I got it. The Nano is 16 gig and it holds a lot more music without competing for photo, video, and app space.

The first App on my iPhone was Pandora. And it’s really helped me discover music like I used to. I can listen at work and tag songs. Normally streaming music is blocked. The iPhone’s Internet connection gives me a private “unfiltered” Internet. I’ve been playing with it to find and tag music to buy for the Mexico trip.

The second App was Facebook. My peeps are on Facebook instead of Twitter. And the third was a copy of the bible for when I forget mine for church. It’s come in very handy.

I really like the iPhone, much more than I expected. It’s very nice to have the Internet so close at hand. And I discover new apps or features. Some are quite amazing. For example the Amazon Mobile app lets you take a photo of something and then matches it to a product Amazon sells and displays a list of sellers. It’s not for everyone. The slick glass keyboard and 1 day long battery life are problems. And it would just confuse my grandmother. It’s a good device for me.

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