The Bit Bucket: The Blog of Lucas Sherwood

Foursquare - will it last?

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:31:00 +1000

So I like cool apps on my iPhone just as much as the next geek so much so I have three Twitter clients that I switch between depending on how I am feeling so when foursquare launched down under I grabbed it and started to checkin everywhere. The train station, the tram stop, the coffee shop, basically everywhere. I had it auto posting to my Twitter feed the lot. Now, all of that is starting to change, Now that the novelty has worn off now it is time for foursquare to earn it's keep in my online social network. Will it cut it? Well the answer is unclear as it depends on the rest of the community. The bit that I like is the fact that I can see where my friends are and thus work out if I can join them for an impromptu catch-up ( made all the more accessible thanks to push notifications ) but this doesn't work when they checkin at Domain Interchange or Flinders St station as the will only be here for a few minutes at best. So that checkin and the resulting beep from my phone is annoying now (yes once it was cool) The badges are cool and add to the game aspect as do the points. The Mayor status is just perfect for bridging the gap between online and real life as companies slowly 'get it' and start tying their online feed into their real world business practices. The idea of a free beer or a room upgrade is a perfect low cost way to start generating real world buzz for your business. So back to the question, will I keep using it now that the shine is starting to wear off my new toy. Well that really depends on what happens with 'noise' checking. I don't want to start un-friending people but I need to be able to mute some peoples checkins or better still filter them so that they only make it through if the are at a real venue. Not sure how that could be policed, maybe a tag or a flag or something. With an ever growing group of super users I am sure that they could keep an eye on it somehow but unless it gets sorted I can only see bad things for foursquare well at least from the perspective of it being uninstalled from my phone. Anyway for the time being you won't see me checkin at the train station and my mayoral hat will be passed on to someone else but if you do see me check in it will be where I am at right now so come and join me.

Playing with Photosynth

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:20:00 +1000

Finally I have gotten around to playing with Microsoft's latest toy, Photosynth. What is Photosynth I hear you say? well it is a very cool combination of technologies that allow you to create a psudo 3D representation of something from 2D photos. To make this synth (as they are known) I took around 300 photos of the living room of a property that my neighbor, George has just finished building. It sounds a lot, and it was but the more photos you have the more the synth engine has to work with. They were then linked together and using the textures in each photo, the synth engine works its magic and produces a 3D work of art! Now at the moment, you can only view the results using using Microsoft's Silverlight plugin so you will need to install that first. For my first attempt, there are some fairly major flaws, mainly due to the initial photos that I fed the synth engine. Next time, more light!!

not broken anymore...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:03:00 +1000

So it has been a while since i have posed anything here. So long in fact that things broke whilst I was away... In the last year or so twitter has basically substituted for this blog as 140 chars is easy and I was never the best writer anyway. I am not going to make any grand promises to post once a week or anything like that, just that i will try to post more. The hard thing is to find things that I find interesting that that other may actually like to read. Yeah, I know this is the internet so that shouldn't count but it does. I guess that is why I like twitter so much, it doesn't matter at all there! anyway, now I am off to Dalesford for the weekend now that the blog is no longer broken!

The Omnivore's Hundred

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:40:00 +1000

I am a bit of a sucker for these big list style memes,and I have not updated for a while so I thought this would be a little fun...

What to do:

Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you've eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore's Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth ﾣ60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Eaten a fair few weird things but there is some stuff I just won't touch

iPhone countdown widget

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:05:58 +1000

if you are like me and can't wait for the new iPhone 2.0 handsets to come out and need to know just how long you will need to wait, you need a desktop widget. I spent a bit of time tonight looking around for a good looking one but couldn't find one that was actually for the 11th and not the original iPhone 1.0 shipping date.

So, I just downloaded the best looking iPhone countdown widget i could find - the one from the lads at Jaws software is great (just scroll down a bit). Go ahead and download/install it...

then start a little diging around.. inside the widget code (found here ~/Library/Widgets/iPhone CountDown.wdgt) is a little file called attributes.js. Open it up in your text editor of choice and and just ignore that big fat 'DO NOT EDIT' warning and just change the line starting TargetDateTime to the following

targetDateTime: new Date('11 Jul 2008 9:00:00 +1000'),

and away you go!

Free flickr exporter for iPhoto

Sun, 25 May 2008 21:12:22 +1000

I just came across this very cool plugin for iphoto called FFXporter it makes life so much easier and the best thing is that it is totally free!

Any just thought I should share!

testing (please ignore this post)

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:50:04 +1000

just playing with ScribeFire it is a sweet little plugin for firefox that lets you blog from a panel in the browser...

Melbourne Summer Cycle

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:31:00 +1000

I have registered to take part in the 2008 Melbourne Summer Cycle. It is a ride to raise funds to help support of those affected by Multiple Sclerosis. This can only be achieved with your help. Please take a moment to view my online fundraising page and help me reach my goal. It is easy and will take no time at all, just donate online via your credit card by clicking on the link below: http://register.melbournesummercycle.org.au/?lucassherwoodlightmakercom All information is secure and all donations will be sent electronically to Multiple Sclerosis NSW/VIC. A tax deductible receipt will be sent to your Inbox once the donation is verified. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system affecting more young adult Australians than any other neurological condition. Your donation will go towards providing a wide range of equipment, support and services to those people affected by this horrible disease. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Help me!

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:51:00 +1000

Apparently xobni is damn cool but I am not on the cool list :( Help me out and use this link to sign up to get it! Apparently it gives you stats in outlook on people you interact with..

Web Trivia Night

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:42:00 +1000

So I was hanging out with some cool geeks at the Aimia Intimates event last night and one of them told me about a trivia contest that I might actually be able to win! I am not sure if I can make it to Sydney again, but if you are in Sydney and know who invented the internet? Have an idea what WWW stands for? Clued up on who the first blogger was? then this will be a sweet night! Keep August 9th free, as News Digital Media and Web Directions are hosting a night of networking for fun and profit on August 9 at the Vault Hotel in Sydney. Compete with your peers in a world first: a trivia night where all the questions will focus on the web, tech, and online life. http://www.webdirections.org/2007/07/22/geek-trivia-night/ There'll be free drinks and food and all manner of awesome prizes, so be sure to RSVP now as numbers are most certainly limited. Don't worry about forming teams or otherwise, this will all get sorted out on the night. Just bring yourself and your friends, and a bag to carry home all your bounty.

What: Web Trivia Night
When: August 9, from 5.30 for 6.15 start
Who: Anyone who thinks they could have a stab at answering the question "Who invented the internet?"
Where: Downstairs at the Vault Hotel, 122 Pitt St Sydney 
Map: http://tinyurl.com/2cxfq3
RSVP: Head to the website to RSVP, places are running out!

Testing Testing one, two three...

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:34:00 +1000

I just came across the best guide I have ever seen on how to write a good bug... Reporting bugs - a how-to guide this is a must read for anyone working with support or doing any sort of testing!

Google Streetmaps

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:00:00 +1000

Google have built this really just for the voyeur in everyone... For me it has been really fun, checking out all the places I loved in San Francisco. I just spotted this great sight outside the Westin on Taylor st.. Yeah ok, ignore Victoria Secret, just look up to the left... Yep, that is the Australian Flag! Nice work Google!

You broke the build!

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:22:00 +1000

I am so glad someone put this in writing! Phil has a link to a larger version on his blog

Getting SSL running on IIS under Vista

Thu, 31 May 2007 08:50:00 +1000

I often use Self Signed SSL certs for testing to make sure that my SSL code is all good. Normally it is a bit of a pain but in the case of vista it is MUCH EASER (I know, shock horror!) Check out Scott's blog post entitled Tip/Trick: Enabling SSL on IIS 7.0 Using Self-Signed Certificates It shouldn't take you more than two minutes now!

Tower Defence

Wed, 30 May 2007 08:16:00 +1000

I am not normally one to post about great flash games but when Frank Arr twittered about Desktop Tower Defense, I had a few seconds to spare so I thought I would have a look. ... after about five minutes I realized that I would not put this down unless I stopped right now! So I decided to check it out infront of the telly later.... ... Well there goes three hours of my life - yes the TV was on but I wasn't watching it! I was cursing the creeps that kept coming wave after wave.. Especially those flying waves!! Anyway, enough rambling - just a warning, do not play this game!