I wrote the original pump tools back in 2002 as a JavaScript calculator.  As I moved into web service development, I ported the crude calculations library to a Java bean interface to a set of libraries.  I put a jsp front end to collect data from the user.

This is great and one of the reasons I got a domain for my site: I can book mark these pages and use them on any device that has a browser.  I use a simple CSS schema to present the information well but keep costs down – there are no graphics on these pages either – typical download size is less than 7kB.

So how did I port this app – I didn’t.  Android allows you to link to content on the web, so that’s what my app is.  First time round, this took two days and the majority of that was spent scripting and testing and improving the user interface (hopefully).  Now I now what I’m doing, publishing an application should take much less time :-).

Ideally, the pump tools would work off your phone without the need for an internet connection.  How am I going to do that and allow the small footprint it currently enjoys?

 Many of our earliest written records focused on economic transactions and approved histories.

Personal records didn’t begin to be treasured until paper and school made such enterprises easy, perhaps the best known diary and letters were kept by Samuel Pepys in 17th century London.

Letters were being sent between individuals during these times: often to make arrangements or to make agreements in business but also the personal correspondence between family and friends.  The penny post in 1840 made this as easy possible but the first postal service in the UK relied on the receiver paying the delivery service… unwanted mail just didn’t get get revenue hence wasn’t an issue.

When the telegraph came in the 19th century, many heralded that as the end of the humble letter.  But many still sent personal letters well beyond the introduction of the telephone.  Email did end many business letters but having invaded the work place, many do not wish to use email outside of work hours, especially for short messages.  Text messages seem to fill the personal gap – dedicated, personal and easy to send.

The film, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, featured a major contender to the personal correspondence: the blog.  As Judy Dench’s character leaves England and her family for India, she doesn’t promise to write or email but they can follow her on her blog.

And blog she does, providing her audience with an entry a day – that’s a lot of paper and stamps.  Like a postal letter, the response is not required though it is always welcome.

The killer of the personal letter was not email, it’s going to be the blog.

I woke up on Wednesday morning and groaned at the latest “diabetes” story on the radio 4: Diabetes amputation rates show huge regional variation.

Rather than teach the newly diagnosed that actually, checking your feet regularly (and if you have a diagnosis of neuropathy, daily) is an effective way  of picking up infections that may lead to amputation, Diabetes UK wish to ensure diabetic feet are checked annually.

After all such infections only occur just before our hospital visits.

My experience with topical infection has shown that seeking treatment for subcutaneous infections meets with complete disinterest from doctors who very reluctantly will prescribe the appropriate level of antibiotics.  I have had a skin cream, much like E45, prescribed in these instances to end up three days later in hospital having an abscess drained!

GPs need to understand that diabetics, especially with severe nerve damage, need access to antibiotics.  Much like a human missing a spleen, our bodies do not fight infections easily and time is of the essence.

We need to understand, that we need to look after this.  I met a soldier once who examined his feet and legs daily to ensure his most precious equipment worked well: he saw this as his responsibility.

As a diabetic, we have the responsibility to look after ourselves.  We need to check our feet regularly ourselves or ask a loved one to help.

We also need the medical profession to understand the risks we carry.  Antibiotics, even given out of hours, are much cheaper than operations and prosthetics.

How to check your feet

1. Check the skin for tears and abrasions (cuts), punctures and splinters (large and small).   You are checking that the skin is intact.
2. Have you any new blisters or corns? – remember them, that’s where you’ll start your check tomorrow!
3. Are there any red or hot patches?  When you have a skin infection, you will often have a localised rise in temperature round the primary site.  If you can’t tell, some adults have difficulty detecting differences in temperature, ask someone to check for you.  If you have a “hot area” and have been wearing shoes and socks – remove them for 30 minutes and recheck.  If it’s still hot, seek medical attention.

I hate bad design: it shows that an idea hasn’t been tested and proven before implementation.  A great example of bad design can be seen here in the discussion by Wayne Pein (thanks Wayne) – you have to ask, who had it in for the cyclists and pedestrians of Raleigh, NC?  (Note the unintended victims in this case).

For me, this terrible design of cycle lanes is reflected in many corporate web spaces.

Two companies who really should know better are BT and HSBC.  On the face of it, both sites have a clear layout, uncluttered and bite sized information delivered to the user beautifully.  Yet, these looks can be deceiving: both have used the “while your mouse is hovering round the top of the address bar, we’ll drop down some huge menus”.

With a mouse this is a nightmare, a stray finger or rotation on a tablet or phone this behaviour is truly irritating.  When you are actually trying to get to the search bar, it’s all rather hit or miss.  The test and images below are completely obscured while you are trying to move up quickly enough to hit the search.

I love clever menus and have implemented a few in my time, but please, not on screens where users are moving about the screen to read and view the content.

My career in the past five years has enabled me to see how work will evolve going into the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

It’s enabled my company to make effective use of social networking and harness the creativity provided by Web 2 tools and real collaboration.

Now, I’ve been seeing how cloud is coming to the fore.

Why?

OK, so I started working for a company with global presence back in 1997.  When I started work, the computing equipment I had back at home was not only newer and in many respects better than the equipment I was given at work – it enabled me to meet my objectives more effectively.

This was not the case for my husband, who started work in 1987 – then the machines he used at work were far superior to anything he could afford at home.

This change is accelerating.  Machines like the iPad2 and Galaxy Tabs are great tools for enabling maintenance of social networks and consumption and creation of collateral.  Relatively, they are very cost effective and cheap and easy to use.

But switching between work and home was not trivial and often cumbersome.

My life would be much easier if I could run the corporate desktop on my personal equipment and use the tools I need from my personal equipment as I need them without digging another device from my bag.

And trialling such services is lovely – running IE8 on my android device is fantastic, getting to files and applications with one device is freeing.  Sharing the great camera and video capabilities without compromising either my hardware with an inappropriate build or risking the corporate network by allowing access to viruses or inappropriate material empowers me to achieve what I need to for my company while freeing up my time, as these virtualised desktops are quick.  The freedom is amazing.

Virtualisation is coming to the fore: this is one piece I want in my work tool kit.

All I can say now, is when can I have for my home network?

This year celebrates 90 years since insulin was first given to a type 1 diabetic: before then the only treatment for patients was a strict starvation diet which prolonged lives by not more than a year in teenagers and much less in younger children. Often these children died from malnutrion as well as complications from type 1.

I was diagnosed in 1977, I’d been ill for about three months, losing weight and energy and when I found it difficult to cross the lounge, my mum borrowed the family car and drove me and my two year old brother to Ipswich Hospital.
As a pharmacist, my mum suspected diabetes – she could smell the ketones on my breadth, but the diagnosis is never welcome.

As I waited to the results to come back, my mum told me about insulin. Insulin would make my body work and give me the energy from my food. As a four year old, who had constant pain from any physical exhurstion, an injection felt like a very small price to pay. Thankfully, my mum had got me there in time and I didn’t go into a coma and my veins hadn’t collasped.

I had an intravenous drip overnight providing insulin and saline and by morning I felt pretty good.

It took about two months to replace the muscle I’d lost but I got to go home after three days in hospital and did that recovery at home and school.
Insulin works: but it is stupid. Injected insulin lives in your body for about four hours and lowers your blood sugar throughout that time. If you haven’t got that amount right you then need an adjustment, either food or more insulin.  Sometimes this is easier to achieve than others!

It’s not easy running one part of my endocrine system, but I get to spend my life enjoying it (including working, spending time with my family and friends) rather than having some of the complications associated with diabetes.

I feel very lucky.

It’s been a busy year, but I thought I’d take the opportunity to share my experiences of living with a Kindle.

Figure wise, it looks like hope over reality

• Books downloaded = 84
• Books read = 25

But actually, this is deceptive. I use the Kindle as a reader for work documents (obviously not the highly sensitive or confidential ones) but it does PDF rendering beautifully and 5 of the books on my kindle are manuals, including the one for my car and my Galaxy Tab 10.1. Having that information with me everywhere without the risk of losing the original is fantastic.

I’ve loaded 75 PDFs on to the Kindle and use collections to find the documents I need quickly. Average size of these documents is 50 pages.

I’ve recently started a job as a designer of Virtual Desktop Installations and having that material to take home and study has been great – in fact, I’ve recently borrowed some cloud philosophy books from the library at work and it’s a real pain having to remember whether I’ve brought them home with me!

I’ve had to modify the Library to store these electronic books as well. In many ways, it would be great if I could go from the completed ereading page to buy a hardcopy (only 7 of these books, but still…) This would allow me to lend the books I’ve loved with my friends and family.

And that’s really the big problem: Amazon still don’t have an easy way to lend documents without giving up my device. While “the device” is actually my phone, tablet, e-reader and computers (lap top and desktop), the best to use is still the kindle.

Well designed in terms of function and form, I do prefer it to paper.  If only my local library could provide me with Kindle books 🙂

As some may or may not know, I had tried a Hayabusa back in 2008 as the restriction came off my license. I had no intention of going from my 650 Bandit to a 1300 “supersport” bike in 2008 but I also had been largely stuck with the Bandit until my restriction came off and was keen to see what was out there.  A friend had suggested it when I admired his – I quite liked the looks of the busa, but the power seemed too much – who could need that in an everyday bike?

my bikes

Most of my riding, especially for business trips, involves motorway riding and then doing the last 5-25 miles through a variety of roads. This makes fairing more than a luxury, keeping the wind off you keeps you awake and much more alert in the seat.  The Hayabusa cuts through the air like a knife through butter and its weight feels confidence inspiring in the highest of wind.

The ability to carry luggage is really useful, whether it’s smart suits for a presentation or an evening dress for a formal dinner or running shoes to complete the final pieces of set up. Then there’s the event material, whether handouts or memory sticks, the merchandise needs to look the business and you still need to be able to find a cheap parking space. Working in my old job, a motorbike capable of doing all that was essential.  Plus, there’s the daily commute over the Orwell Bridge.

Which meant that when my Bandit was written off (a tragic tale and not at all gory) I booked test rides of Blackbirds and K1300Ss expecting to have a very grown up bike in my garage before too long. Or maybe even one of the new touring 1250 Bandits.  All of these bikes are beautiful packages: easy to use, comfortable and good tank ranges.

When it came down to it, I couldn’t get a test ride on a Blackbird from Lings, the Fireblade was not a good ride in town, the K1300S lacked a good gearbox and the Bandit would take 6-8 weeks to deliver.

That, and Suzuki have a cracking bike in the GSX1300RR. I don’t use the power switch very often, and it really does shift, but the gear box is to die for and the balance is sublime.  The bike is a gent in town and a hooligan on the straight: it’s a long bike which still daunts me on some corners which is completely psychological, the bike is more than capable.

The riding position for me is very close to perfect – the distance from neck to base of spine makes the bike feel like it was made for me and given it’s 15kg heavier than the 650 Bandit (dry), that means a lot.  I can flat foot it too.

On the order, I had heated grips and a Scottoiler and crash bungs. I’ve fitted the wiring for the sat nav. I have a rack with a top box on as standard and detachable panniers and I bought the double bubble screen last summer, to cut down on noise and buffeting. Since September 09 I have put 11,000 miles on the clock (I know, shockingly little).

It does prefer high octane fuel, but on a summer’s day, keeping away from major towns (stop start is not good for fuel econ) I can get more than 200 from the 21 litre tank without being overly careful.  The mirrors are not great, the blind spot if the mirrors are set up correctly is huge and I do change them for a longer stint in town. I have to say, it means I need to check my blind spot much more frequently than I did on the bandit.

I do pay attention to my speed, and sometimes I do forget I’m not on the bandit any more.  So far, the brakes have brought me back to a more appropriate speed very well, keeping the balance in check.  While on the racing track in Folembray, I did miss a corner in the pouring rain, but I didn’t high or low side it, and if I’d kept my confidence up, and just coasted, I may have kept the bike upright.  As it was, we had a very soft landing in some mud when I pulled the brakes in hard: only my pride was dented.  I lack confidence when pushing it around and take care when parking.  I need more practice 🙂

The bike is heavy: if you foul up a slow manoeuvre, there is very little you can do.  But we came in 2nd on the slow riding race we took part in, one of the few to complete the course.

I might have bought the VFR 1200 if it had been available in September 2009.  Then again, I can ride my Hayabusa for 7 hours in a day, empty the bike of luggage, have a cup of tea and think, I could do that again 🙂

But as budgets tighten have social networking sites gained in more ways than one in recognising our fundamental relationships?

Facebook knows to whom I’m married: Jon and I can easily shared things on line with each other without too much hassle.  It’s not that we count as one; Facebook recognises us as individuals who are closely related.  Many of the games don’t work this way, but media sharing does.

Let’s talk about how my family lives.  We’re lucky, we share network resources, including photos and music we’ve made ourselves and this can be accessed anywhere in the world by our phones and laptops and tablets.  We’ve been in the cloud for a while.

Only one person owns the telephone wire – this is how telecommunication services work.  Thankfully it’s me who owns it, but if my husband wanted to buy a service over that medium, he would need to go through me and my account.  I owns the wireless service.  Do we think the telecommunication providers are missing something here?

Now, let’s talk about iTunes (neither me nor my husband have an iTunes account – which is why we don’t have any apple kit).  If we did, we would be counted as individuals: we could share non-DRM material, but anything else, we would need to use a device which logged into the perspective account.  Essentially, we would need to swap login details to achieve the same thing as borrow a CD or DVD and play it on my device.  BTW this is what seriously annoys me about the PS 3, if I login as anyone but the owner I get a cut down experience.  Compare this to the Wii, where I can put anything I like into the Wii without “logging on”, yet when I play a game, I’m me.  Needless to say we have many games for the Wii and not many for the PS3…

Then there’s the Kindle.  I love my Kindle.  We’re still buying paper books though.  My husband or son can buy a new title and if it’s good, I can borrow it off the shelf.  The same deal cannot be achieved without me providing them with my account details.  At first this didn’t seem too much of a problem, but I am considering ceasing my newspaper subscription.  A paper copy can be read by all of us simultaneously, not easily achieved with the electronic copy and why buy both?

The argument for companies like Virgin and Sky, is that someone needs to be responsible for the bill and it should be controlled.  But you’re missing out on sales.  That’s only if we’re counting the parents.  As the young fail to move out, even if they manage to find a job, they are reaching for mobiles rather than land lines to enable them to spend their money and use media.  Do you think they are going to invest in new media when it doesn’t offer the same social experience they enjoy with their own photos, videos and hard copy books.

Much media on cinema and television still see a secondary partner (whether heterosexual or homosexual) as a part time worker happy to not share the media they enjoy on their devices.  We all buy into this model: there is a primary wage earner and this is the family head.  Typically, we see this person as being male.

The individuals listen to their play lists in isolation, only coming together away from online to share experiences.

But the recession has meant some interesting changes.  Even if children get jobs, they are staying at home for far longer.  The mobile sellers can really benefit from this, this selling model is based on the individual.  But it isn’t so good for the traditional telecos: remember if you don’t have a telephone line or cable line, that buyer doesn’t exist.

Will these models hold out if the recession lingers or will there be a return to hard media that can be shared?

I live in the south east of England, part of the UK. I live in a village close to but far enough away from one of the main towns in Suffolk. So I need to have a car but I also ride a motorbike and use a push bike depending on the journey. I hate to say this, but cycling to work is not an option. By car the journey is an average of 30 minutes, by motorbike, I can almost guarantee a 25 minute journey. By push bike, at a fair lick, I would be really lucky to do the journey in an hour and twenty minutes.

My house is reasonably energy efficient, built in 2000 it came with cavity wall insulation as well as an insulated roof and good quality double glazing – in the winter we need to keep some of the curtains closed to keep the heat down in the lounge and dinning room.  But we are consumers of generated power and as such limited to the whims of the markets.

Given the house exists on a modern estate, facing east/west, solar power isn’t easily or predictably harvested: our south face has few windows and is the gable end and between October and March the amount of direct light dramatically drops.
It seems impractical, given our plot, that a Geothermal heat pump would be at all feasible either.

So what options are there?

Well, 55% of the homes in Denmark use combined heat and power (CHP) boilers, one of these products available in the UK is the Ecogen

CHP boilers are a little larger than a normal boiler but while they generates heat for your house and hot water, they also generate electricity, typically 1kW per hour (an old unit).  Micro-generation is the key here, it can reliably supply 46% of your household needs and feed in back to the grid, but it’s not a big supplier of your electrical needs, though it may be able to supply electricity during power cuts (aside from the green credentials, this really appeals to me).

Obviously, more electricity is produced during the winter but that’s when we need more electricity to power lights 🙂