A little bit of frivolity doesn’t go amiss at this time of year, so why not brighten up that dull grey PC, and yourself, for a few days over the holiday season?

A USB Christmas Decoration kit would do the trick nicely.

Broadband connections suffering from interference will experience the biggest benefit from using the iPlate. Though, even if your interference is low, you’ll still benefit from 20% fewer re-trains (denoting lost connections) and a 45% reduction in errors.

1. Date/time tests for multiple time zones. Putting the readings into the database in one time zone and reading out in another and ensuring that the date/times are correct. Also need to validate the daylight saving time to regular time transition;
2. Database locking — currently very naive. Need a mechanism for a process wanting to read from or write to the database to wait for the file to unlock.

Most effort this week has gone into creating development documentation in the PowerTime Google Code Wiki. Whilst I’ve made a reasonable start there is still plenty more work to do.

The following items still outstanding before a beta 1.0 release are:

• Timestamps need to record their time zone information. Failure to do so would mean that the wrong timestamp would be given if the time zone changes on the machine eg changing to/from BST;
• Locking is currently extremely naive and needs to be much more fine grained;
• Import/export mechanism needs to be implemented;
• Implement counter, derive and absolute data sources;
• Test to make sure all equivalent archives have synchronised slot timestamps.

Now that the summer vacations are over I expect to be able to get back to working on PowerTime much more. The current state of progress is demonstrated through the large body of code available at the PowerTime Google Code project home.

Update: Alpha 7 now has import/export functionality

It’s weird how companies have a certain kind of corporate DNA built into them when they grow. Whatever they do subsequently they just can’t shake off their world view. In Microsoft’s case that is a PC mindset. Everything is a PC to Microsoft even a console.

I was expecting a post install reboot too.

What should worry Sony a whole lot is developers using the XBox 360 as the primary target and PS3 as the secondary. All of those nice cell processors are going to go to waste if the developers don’t put the effort into tuning for the PS3.

Shame. I think Sony tried to jump a generation. They didn’t need to go for the next generation DVD. I doubt they’d swap setting the next high DVD format for losing the console war with Microsoft. Seems like a bum deal to me. But that’s the way it’s looking at the moment.

Maybe I’ll pick up a PS3 next year when the prices start falling fast.

As a PS2 player, the obvious upgrade path would be to go for a PS3. In fact, I really, really do want to go the Sony route. Problem is, I would be buying more on the promise of what the PS3 might do than anything else.

I remember telling my nephew that all that matters are the games (after he bought a N64). The hardware is just so much plastic and metal without games.

So being mindful that I don’t want to be hypocritical, how can I go for the PS3 when there are no compelling games around for it? Especially when there is a next gen console that does have a number of killer titles: the Microsoft XBox 360.

But there again, my favourite PS2 game is KillZone. KillZone 2 is coming to the PS3 exclusively early next year. I absolutely must play that game!

I am a bit stuck. If I buy the XBox 360 then I can’t play KillZone 2. If I buy the PS3 then I won’t be able to play titles like BioShock.

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was so much easier last time.