Google RANT: Google services are amazing but they dont show it off enough and loose out!

I love Google services and use them daily. It really does annoy me though that it just seems to be missing a way to make this usable to the mass markets. I mean I have everything on here....

Coding a synchronous backup tool for Linux.

SYNCQUICK UNDER DEVELOPMENT

After a long discussion with my father who required me to remotely access his workstation to monitor a backup which he had done using the Linux Mint Backup Tool we both came to the conclusion that his backups for the last 2 years were worthless.

Android Voice Commands - Beam me up Scotty!

So we all own a Star Trek tri-corder these days but we just call them mobile phones or if your in the US, a cell phone. Now if your wise enough to choose Android over the blundering competition then the following tips are pretty cool to know or at least occasionally remember.....

Due to the list being quite extensive now I will break into categories below. Also I am referring to Google Now voice commands, if others arise outside of Google Now I will be sure to label the app that is relevant.

Here goes....

RANDOM

• Where was [William Shakespeare] born
• How old is [Clint Eastwood]
• What does [symptomatic] mean
• Search for [Mercedes Cars]
• What time is it in [London]
• What is the weather like in [Paris][this weekend]
• Show me pictures of [Tokyo Tower]
• Show me a video of [playstation 4]
• Define [nautical]

PHONE CONTROL

• Open [blogger.com]
• Take a picture/photo
• Record a video
• Open[app name]
• Turn on [wifi / blutooth]
• Turn off [wifi / blutooth]
• Set Alarm for [6.30am]
• Set timer for [30 minutes]
• Create a calander event [title, day, then time] (eg Fly to rome, saturday, 4pm)
• Make a note [get a valentines card]
• Find [James Witherington][phone number][address] (works with your contact list)
• Show me my bills
• Wake me up in [4] hours
• Turn [On / Off] Torch

MATH AND CONVERSION

• What’s [182 yards] in [miles]? What is [12 ounces] in [liters]?
• What's [444] divided by [13.2] (most mathematical operators will work ( + - / * % etc))
• What's the tip for [$124]
• What is Spanish for [I have a headache]
• How do you say [I missed my flight][in Korean]
• How much is [forty thousand dollars in british pounds]
• How many [litres are in a gallon]

PRODUCTIVE

• Remind me [to call Joe at 3pm]
• What is my schedule [for today / for this week / for this month]
• When does [shop name] close
• When is [fathers day / mothers day / easter etc]
• What is area code [02392]
• Who is the CEO of [company name]
• Who invented [object]
• Post to Google Plus [Its a wonderful day today]
• Remind me [next time I'm at][sainsburys][to get grapes]
• Is it going to rain tomorrow
• Show me [document name] on Drive (Document required on Google Drive)

COMMS

• Text [James Whitby that I am running 5 mins late]
• Call [John Appleby]
• Call [London Science Museum]
• Send email to [person] subject [subject title] message [your message]
• Post to [twitter / facebook][I went bowling in the desert today]

NAVIGATION

• Where is the nearest [Japanese restaurant]
• Navigate to [cardiff wales]
• Directions to [Gunwharf Quays Portsmouth]
• Where is [The Eiffel Tower]
• Show me my flight information (must have some flight info in email)
• Where is my hotel (must have a hotel in email)
• How far is [Inverness] from [London]
• What are some attractions around here
• What is the flight status of [British Airways][Flight 344]
• Map of [India]

ENTERTAINMENT

• Show me the menu for [Sakura Restaurant]
• Play some music (Im feeling lucky radio will open)
• Next song
• Pause Song
• Play [wild one] (must be in your google play music)
• Listen to TV
• Watch [oblivion] (film must be in your google play films)
• Read [bible] (has to be in your google play books)
• Whats the score [chelsea against liverpool]
• Whats this song [music played into microphone]
• Author of [book title]
• When is the [next MotoGP race]

EASTER EGGS

• Do a barrel roll
• Flip a coin
• Roll Dice
• What is the loneliest number
• Make me a sandwich
• Who are you
• Beam me up scotty
• Tell me  a joke
• up up down down left left right right
• sudo make me a sandwich
• When am I
• Tilt
• Whos on first
• Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
• What does the fox say
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood

Where the hell have you been?

Okay okay.......

I have not been posting regularly I know. I do have a large list of incomplete "DRAFT" posts here but to be fair most could be scrapped and some will raise their ugly head and be posted.  Right this very second I am sitting in a chair watching my daughter smash my living room to pieces while I cough and gurgle with a case of man flue which feels like its closer to a strand of Ebola.

I am currently writing a post for here to try and list every game on every platform that I have played since birth. Trust me, I have the worlds weakest memory but with help of Google and YouTube memories are slowly flooding back and the list is growing.  Still in shock with what games I used to think were amazing. How far the industry has come.

I am also looking to sell my car at the moment and buy an old Mercedes (might even do a post on it) definitely will do a post if I buy.  Might also be moving house. Wife could be getting a job further north a few hundred miles from where we live now. I am all for it. Better house prices will leave Hana with a garden, me a garage, and the wife a kitchen she can dance in. Sounds perfect compared to the tin box we live in down South for the money.



The World Superbikes season has just kicked off and MotoGP will follow soon. Then that's me back into summer mode and my smile will return.

Project Cars should be coming out in the next month or two (I think it's been delayed to May 4th). This is the one that I have been waiting for. A proper racing sim for the PS4. I will be reviewing it. With past racing knowledge and having raced on many of the circuits in the game I feel I can give it an accurate review even although I was two wheel based and not 4.

With regard to content....  I want to definitely move forward with some more Java Tutorials for you. I made the lamest of starts and then did not write anymore. This will be rectified. I need to get back into coding myself as I have one or two projects on the go at the moment which I have neglected.

Also I am still religiously playing Dying Light. Yep it is that good in my opinion. Have not played a game in a long time which is so much fun. More Linux tutorials will come and also might even do some phone (Android tutorials or discussions) stuff too.


Sorry for the slow posts.....

Dying Light -my metacritic post.

Still playing this game frantically. Really love it. Although some say the missions are repetitive, I am finding that they still are all fun packed mini adventures worth doing. There are that many missions aside from the main mission it gives me the feel that this open world is like Fallout 3, plenty of people to meet, plenty of things to do. The more you level up the more fluid the game is. Very Impressed. Strongly recommend this to anyone. Still to play coop... which I already know will be amazing.... come on slacky friends... buy it now!

Tropical Fish tank in your home.... it's easy enough! Here is a quick howto.

Often when people come visit my house they are fascinated with my fish tank. Its a fairly simple fish tank which does require some maintenance but not huge amounts.  So I thought I would write a very quick blog on my fish tank setup, maintenance, and how much time it would take up if you wanted such a thing in your home.

Firstly I shall explain the tank. The tank is Chinese make called Boyu. I liked the tank as it was slimmer (less depth front to back) than others as I knew space would be an issue in our house. It also had rounded glass edges which makes for a nicer appearance without structural corners getting in the way.  The tank is 100 cms long and about 50 cms tall. It holds 130 litres of water which meant that I could stock a fairly large amount of fish. Many fish need a certain amount of water and size of tank or they don't fair well. The tank sits on a stand which is designed for the Boyu fish tank range. It fits perfectly and is robust enough for the job.

To set a tank up of this size does require a couple (maybe even 3) weeks of preparation as stocking a tank from day one would cause you a lot of problems and a large loss of fish and money. Every new fish tank has to have the following....

• Substrate (Many to choose from gravel, mud, stone and sand)
• Filtration system
• Plants (Artificial or Real... in my eyes real is the only way to go)
• Thermometer (measure temperature accurately)
• Heater (for a 130 litres of water I requires a 180 Watt heater)
• Anti Chlorine solution

Once you have added your choice of substrate and aqua-scape the tank you can add your plants and water. The water will need to be treated with some anti chlorine juice. This stuff can be bought in any fish shop and I would imagine pet store. The brand I used is called TAP SAFE. When choosing the substrate please think of what sort of plants you would like to include and what sort of nutrients will be required to maintain these aquatic plants. It is all in the planning. Substrate changes are meaning you have to start the whole tank again so this is a very important step to get right.

Right you have a nice tank with water in it now. Time to get the heat on. Install your heater and start thinking of what fish you would like to stock. Fish take different temperatures so please research the fish you want. Some fish don't even get on with each other. In your research you will find the temperature required for that species of fish. My tank is running exactly at 26.4 Celsius and I chose my fish accordingly.

Filtration comes next.  The Boyu tank does come with a built in filter which runs in the lighting hood. Although this is an acceptable filter there are better. Water filtration really is important so I decided to go for a U3 Filter by FluVal. The best filters are external but I chose to do an internal filter as I did not want to risk any water being lost out of the tank onto the floor. Most external systems of quality wouldn't do this and have fail-safes in place but for peace of mind I made my choice for the internal. There is also a significant price hike for external filter systems over internal plus if you don't have a cabinet it would look pretty ugly sitting on your floor.

Okay so now the tank is empty of livestock but otherwise up and running. Really now you should buy yourself a water testing kit for tropical aquariums.  What your looking for to happen over the next few weeks is an ammonia spike and then it to slowly return to normal. Ammonia is poisonous to fish and this is why you have not stocked the tank. Once this spike returns to normal levels you should be ready to start adding the fish. If no ammonia spike happens after a week you might need to buy some ammonia powder to get it started. Once the ammonia has calmed down this is a clear indication that the fish tanks life cycle has now kicked in. Good and bad bacteria are working in an ecosystem which your fish and plants require.

Hot tips on adding fish? Yep... DO NOT add too many to quickly. You can also look up how many fish your size of tank can support. Loads of info on the web. Why not add many fish quickly? Because you will cause another one of those ammonia spikes in your cycled tank.  It is also very stressful for a fish to adapt to a new environment. Stress can induce many fish diseases which will affect your entire tank and everything in it.

When adding fish I follow this method.  I keep them covered or in the dark until I get home.  Once home I leave them in their sealed bag and put the whole bag in the tank. I let the temperatures between both tanks equalize and let all the fish settle. This takes around 20 minutes.  After that I open the bag slightly and let in some of the fish tank water into the bag. You have to bear in mind that the fish shops PH values might differ from yours. After about 10 mins with mixed water I then release the fish into the tank.

So that is pretty much it. Keep an eye on your Ph and ammonia. Other than that fish tanks once cycled tend to look after themselves.  I do an almost half water change every two weeks and check filter elements and clean the tank. Other than that I just feed them once at night and once in the morning. A tiny pinch that all the fish can clear the food in 2 minutes.  With regard to buying fish, please choose your local fish shop wisely. Far too many people will sell you poorly looked after fish which already have signs of disease.  Once you found that store...support it and try not to venture away from them. All it takes is one poorly fish and you could possibly kiss the lot goodbye. Seriously.

Extras you may want to consider.....

• I have a planted tank so I have added a CO2 unit to deliver higher parts of CO2 in the tank. This helps dramatically with plant growth. Keep a careful eye on your CO2 levels though... overdosing will kill your fish.

• LED lighting makes a massive difference to a tank and to the plants within. highly recommended upgrade which I have not done myself but wish too in the near future.

• Choose Amazonian ADA substrate soils. Best in the marketplace and definitely the best substrate for growing plants.

• Add some scenery. I chose a large peace of bog wood. Helps lower the Ph (very marginally) but makes for a great scen in the tank. The fish and shrimp love hanging around it.

*Please excuse the poor pictures..... Mobile Phones and Bad Lighting create disastrous images.

Project NFS is a go....

Work has commenced on an alpha build of Project NFS.  Finally there will be a simple Java Gui for setting up a NFS server and Client on linux machines.

Please be patient I will release builds when things are working to a usable standard.