Charging mobile devices

By Martin Murphy | Published: January 17, 2007

Just saw this report from CES by Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service about powering devices wirelessly.

I saw this sort of technology proposed years ago, where you have a pad the size of a mouse mat and you just place your mobile devices on it to charge them. I’d find that extremely useful for all the devices that I currently have different chargers for at the moment (phone, pda, camera, gps, laptop, etc). A single charging point for all devices. It’s a pity that it takes so long to get a product like this released. (I’m sure that it’s a nightmare trying to get manufacturers to standardise)

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Working in a Fridge?

By Martin Murphy | Published: January 2, 2007

The heating system at work seems to break down a lot. I just found this link mentioning a minimum of 63°F within 1 hour (in the Irish Statute Book Database.) I must remember to bring a thermometer with me tomorrow morning. I suppose I should also check if that has been superceded.

Posted in Uncategorized, Work | 2 Comments

IRCSET – Embark Initiative – Grant Schemes

By Martin Murphy | Published: December 20, 2006

I was just notified of this today.  Probably of use to people planning on postgrad research.

IRCSET – Embark Initiative – Grant Schemes

Post Graduate Research

The Embark Initiatives Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme is designed for either Masters or Doctorate level researchers in the sciences, engineering or technology.

2007 Programme [First Call] NOW OPEN

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology invites applications for funding from intending postgraduate researchers under the Embark Initiative Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme 2007.

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IRCSET – Embark Initiative – Grant Schemes

By Martin Murphy | Published: December 14, 2006

May be of interest to anyone who recently completed a PhD.

IRCSET – Embark Initiative – Grant Schemes
Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme

CALL FOR APPLICANTS (2007)

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology invites applications for research funding under the Government of Ireland’s Embark Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme (2007).

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Tip for a forgetful software developer

By Martin Murphy | Published: December 4, 2006

Lately, when writing JUnit tests I’ve been doing things like:

...
String result = some.method();
assertTrue("Expected " + expected + " but was " + result, result.equals(expected));
...

However, a similar result can be achieved with the semantically more accurate

...
assertEquals(expected, result);
...

This is even easier to type :-)

I did know this, honest!

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The Lockdown: Locked, but not secure – Engadget

By Martin Murphy | Published: December 1, 2006

Just noticed this on Engadget. It’s a discussion about the security of doorlocks, it will need further investigation on my part.
The Lockdown: Locked, but maybe secure (part 1)

refers to the previous articles:

The Lockdown: Locked, but not secure (Part I) – Engadget

The Lockdown: Locked, but not secure (Part II) – Engadget

Posted in Personal, Security | Leave a comment

Software Deployment info

By Martin Murphy | Published: December 1, 2006

These are some links for me to read, that may be of general use to anyone development Java software using Maven

Java/JAR

Adding Classes to the JAR File’s Classpath

Maven:

[#MPDIST-22] Use <dist.bundle> property of dependencies to include dependencies – jira.codehaus.org

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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Ancient Moon ‘computer’ revisited

By Martin Murphy | Published: November 30, 2006

A 2000 year old computer looks interesting BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Ancient Moon ‘computer’ revisited

I must keep a lookout for the radio program on Dec 12th

Posted in Entertainment, Technology | 1 Comment

MacBook or MacBook Pro?

By Martin Murphy | Published: November 27, 2006

Decisions, decisions! Should I buy a smaller, cheaper MacBook or a 15″ MacBook Pro with its larger screen? (I don’t like 17″ laptops, they’re just too big)
Since I’ve written down the question, the answer is obvious — it depends on what I want to use it for! (unsurprisingly this is echoed by others). Space is probably only an issue on an airplane, and I don’t spend that much time travelling, so I’d be better off with the larger screen and faster processor.

I also noticed today that Apple have an educational discount that might come in handy.

I’ve just had a dreadful thought — Maybe I should be asking myself if I need a new laptop at all.

Posted in Personal, Technology | 2 Comments

Nokia Software Updater

By Martin Murphy | Published: November 24, 2006

Just found out about the Nokia Software Updater, it’s available for upgrading several phone models. I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll hopefully get it installed and my 6680 upgraded over the weekend. (Although my connection problems seem to have gone away since I selected the network manually)

Update: It appears that my phone already has the latest version (dated August 2005!) :-(

Posted in Technology, Telecomms, Uncategorized | Leave a comment