Staffan Malmgrens blogg

För några veckor sedan var jag på en intensitetsmässig formtopp vad gäller löpningen. 70 kilometer under en sjudagarsperiod - mer träningsvolym än jag någonsin mäktat med tidigare, och allt kändes jättebra.

Tills kroppen sa ifrån. En muskelinflammation i höger lår framtvingade en omarbetning av träningsprogrammet. I väntan på att den skulle gå ner gick jag över till att cykla långpass på Ekerö, och allt kändes jättebra.

Tills cykeln sa ifrån. Jag har nämligen aldrig bytt varken kedja, drivkransar eller kassett under de 500 mil som jag haft cykeln, och det är tydligen dåligt. Genom slitage har tänderna på dreven allt mer börjat anta formen av hajfenor, vilket gör att kedjan börjar hoppa så fort man trycker till litegrann.

Så medans jag väntar på att reservdelarna jag beställt ska anlända, och att det sista av inflammationen ska ge med sig, kan jag bara lunk-jogga korta sträckor, cykla utan att ta i, eller simma. Nåja. Lågintensitetsträning ska ju vara bra som omväxling.

So, I’m setting out to do interesting stuff on the PocketPC/Windows Mobile platform, mostly to do with hardware integration, particularly bluetooth and IrDA communication, so I’m not interested in that sissy Compact Framework stuff that MSDN seems to want to push. Through MSDN Home > Mobile & Embedded Developer Center > Product & Technology Information > Platforms > Windows Mobile, I finally get to “Windows Mobile Developer Resource Kit“, which sounds about right:

The Windows Mobile Developer Resource Kit is essential for developers seeking knowledge about the latest platform advances for mobile technologies.

Bring it on!, I say. But it turns out that the Windows Mobile Developer Resource Kit (WMDRK) is only available on DVD, you can’t download it. Hello? This is 2004, why do I have to wait for a physical disc (and pay $16 for S&H) to get the bits? This is so Amish!

Of course, i understand that the entire WMDRK is a big download, but I really don’t need it all. I have the IDE’s and the SDK’s already, I just want to have a look at the case studies, technical articles and developer power toys. Of course, I’m not sure of any of these actually are, as there is hardly any information about them at all. Hell, those things might already be available for download somewhere else (the SDK’s are), but where?

It feels like I’m back developing for the Epoc/Symbian platform, circa 2000. And that’s not a compliment.

When designing the icon for your application, could you please consider not making it into a blue ball of some sort?

A couple of days ago Dagensskiva.com published a review of Tyla’s (of Dogs D’Amour) and Dregen’s (of Backyard babies) acoustic live album, The Poet & the Dragon, “Live… somewhere in this world” (I would post a link to the record label’s information page about this record, but I cannot find it). Good review, and I became immediately interested in the record. However, as Dagensskiva.com is a somewhat reputable publication, they get sent advance copies of upcoming albums, and review them before they’re available. This particular record won’t be available for over another week. If the review had been published the same day as it was available for regular mortals (something that the record label could easily arrange), I would have been much more likely to go out during my lunch break and buy it. Now it’s probably easier to ask around if anyone I know have any mp3’s of the advance release.

Swedish DVD releases of english-language movies without english subtitles. As my hearing is not as good as it should be, I like to watch movies (and TV series) with subtitles so that I don’t miss anything, but I don’t want the swedish translations. Sure, some translations are OK and some are even very good, but cultural references and word jokes do not translate well, if at all.

Sandrew-Metronome and Nordisk Film are notoriously bad when it comes to this (Nordisk Film even makes the subtitles mandatory — you can’t turn them off!), so I rarely buy their releases, but order the UK or US releases instead. Just today, they missed the chance to sell “O, brother where art thou” and “Bowling for Columbine” to me.

However, if the movie’s in French, Chinese or any other language that I don’t understand, I’ll buy it on the theory that a French-English translator is just as likeable to do a bad translation as a French-Swedish translation (Incidentally, this reminds me of the time that a friend had seen “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and enthusistically quoted key lines — in english).