Wayne's Spot

Sudoku rEvolution

2010-06-01T11:24:00.000+02:00

A couple of years ago, I posted about a pet project of mine - my Sudoku Solver program. Over the years, I have continued to tweak it and I am pleased to say that it is evolving nicely.

In my previous post, I showed the results of solving a "Super Difficult" Sudoku puzzle from Carol Vorderman's "How To Do Sudoku" book using my Sudoku2 program. This puzzle required 496 recursions to solve and was solved in 228 milliseconds on my old Pentium D 3Ghz machine.

Well, computers have evolved. The same "Super Difficult" puzzle, using the same Sudoku2 program, was solved in just 156 milliseconds on a single core Windows 7 virtual machine with 1.5GB RAM, hosted on my Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz i5 machine. Not bad!

Sudoku2 - SOLVED after 496 recursions in 156 milliseconds

239 485 167

751 396 284

846 721 593

628 173 945

913 542 876

475 869 321

187 254 639

364 918 752

592 637 418

My latest version, Sudoku3, makes use of the same recursive, backtracking algorithm as its predecessor, but I have used Lambda expressions to dramatically simplify the code. I also implemented an optimisation to cache row, group and column assignments for cells and changed the algorithm to reduce the number of recursions. These changes have resulted in simpler code and significant performance improvements. Sudoku3 solves the "Super Difficult" puzzle in just 94 milliseconds on the same virtual machine. I am really stoked with these results!

Sudoku3 - SOLVED after 248 recursions in 94 milliseconds

239 485 167

751 396 284

846 721 593

628 173 945

913 542 876

475 869 321

187 254 639

364 918 752

592 637 418

I have uploaded the code for Sudoku3 to MediaFire for those who are interested.

In future, I plan to make use of threading to see if I can further improve performance by modifying the code to run parallel solution attempts on different processors. This is more tricky than it sounds. My first attempt showed that the thread management overhead resulted in a performance degradation.

I am going to try the new the new .NET Framework 4 parallel programming features and Reactive Extensions to see whether I can harness the power of parallel processing and make it faster. Watch this space...

Working with Equitel in Bogota

2010-05-24T04:45:00.000+02:00

Last month there were several press announcements about the partnership between MiX Telematics and Equitel. Myself and three of my colleagues from MiX Telematics have had the pleasure of working with Equitel for the last week and what a pleasure it has been!

Russell Simmonds (Team Leader, MiX Telematics) & Ricardo Correa Pulido (Development Director, Equitel) in front of the Equitel building in Bogota.

I must admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about travelling to Bogota, Colombia as it is a city that has received much bad press in the past. I am pleased to say that my concerns have been completely allayed. Apparently Colombia fell victim to a high crime rate in the past due largely to corrupt law enforcement officials. A strict national security policy and eradication of corruption has turned this around and Bogota is a city alive with construction and other development activity.

Bogota is a great city and Columbia a beautiful country! The people are friendly and helpful and have a real zest for life. Like every city, there are areas to be avoided, but we have not felt unsafe at any time during our visit. We spent the day walking around an area in the North East of the city today and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite getting drenched in a downpour on the way back.

The team from Equitel are extremely professional and it is truly a pleasure working with them. We have found communication easy despite the language barrier. Most of the people at Equitel speak English very well. It is exciting to participate in this integration project and we are very enthusiastic about what will arise from our partnership.

Juan, the head of Equitel, and his team have been outstanding hosts! In all my travels, I have never experienced such excellent hospitality. They have given us a taste of Colombia and we are totally hooked. We have had the privilege of visiting several fine establishments and places of interest and built relationships that will last a lifetime. I will always remember Bogota for it's vibey music.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this great venture. It will be with fond memories that I bid farewell to our colleagues from Equitel when we leave on Wednesday. I look forward to my next visit to Colombia with great anticipation.

A panoramic view of Bogota with the Andes mountain range in the background.

Dusting off Wayne's Spot

2010-05-24T00:04:00.000+02:00

I think the time has come to dust off this old blog of mine. It's been a while since I posted anything and I plan to pick up the pen again so to speak. Watch this space...

Breakthrough

2008-12-05T08:06:00.003+02:00

Looking in through tear-stained aching eyes,
Swirling threads of choking pain engulf the one I love.
The ever-tightening, overwhelming web keeps closing in.
Helplessly I cling to the One who shares our pain.

Faith the shield that quenches fiery darts,
Too small it seems to raise us from the depths.
In quiet desperation I call upon His precious name.
I wrestle with all my might to leave it with Him.

Building up, the wave intensifies,
Dark blue turns to deepest, blackest night.
Every fiber of my being stretched in burning anguish,
Breathing hurts too much and tears run dry.

When will You reach out and hold her hand?
Will You fill the gulf that can’t be crossed?
You speak of purifying fire that will burn up every thread.
I trust in You alone my God and King.

In loving memory of Gag

2008-09-10T00:02:00.000+02:00

Hey G,

I can't believe you've been gone a year. It feels like yesterday that we were enjoying those lovely low clouds on a cold winter's morning. I miss you now more than ever! I'll never stop missing you my boet!

I miss flying with you so much! I really miss your smile! I miss your enthusiasm, your zest for life and your handshake! The world is not as bright since you left but you left us with memories that will never fade. I am so grateful for all the awesome times we had together.

I love you and I'm looking forward to seeing you again some day. Have a ball up there and enjoy the flying!

Lots of love,
Your big boet.

Fun at Keisie

2007-11-22T06:28:00.000+02:00

We had a great weekend riding our bikes on a beautiful farm in Keisie Valley near Montague this weekend. The terrain is absolutely fantastic with great riding for all tastes. GraZer organised the trip for us after thoroughly enjoying the regional enduro event which took place there earlier this year.

I managed to drop my bike on a rocky section and smash my odo on the first day. Francois had a nasty fall in the same spot the following day. Charles got a puncture and little Jonathan almost passed out from heat exhaustion and dehydration at one point. But despite all that, we had a ball!

GraZer was an outstanding host as always and patiently led us all through a variety of terrain ranging from easy to eish! The man is a machine! I don't know where he gets the energy from. The family rode like champions and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

This was taken on top of a koppie on the farm. There is an awesome 360 degree panoramic view from the top of it. We were so proud of Reece for making it to the top! It was the steepest hill climb he's ever done on his little bike.

GraZer managed to pack all our bikes into the braai lapa at night. The sun shining on the bikes in the morning reminded me of a bike shop showroom window.

We're hoping to go back again in January. It was really excellent fun!

It hurts!

2007-11-05T06:09:00.000+02:00

Since Gareth died, I just haven't had anything to write about. Things I used to enjoy (like blogging) just seem so irrelevant now.

I have always sympathised with people who have lost a loved one but I never imagined how difficult it would be to bear the tremendous grief that comes with the sudden, unexpected loss of a brother in the prime of his life.

This grief is like an unbearable weight that never seems to lift. It comes in waves. Its effects are profound. There are good days and bad days. Life goes on but it will never be the same again. The world somehow seems just a little bit darker.

I know Gareth is having a ball! He is with his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is rejoicing, reunited with Laddie, Nana and all the others who went before him. I know that we will meet again when my time comes, but I miss him so much! I am so grateful for the wonderful memories. Memories which I will treasure forever.

To G

2007-09-25T21:13:00.001+02:00

Gareth Davies, my precious brother.
15 July 1973 to 10 September 2007.

Your radiant smile will never fade.
You were a gift sent from above.
You visited us for just a while.
You filled our lives with joy and love.

You lived your dream and gave your all.
You loved with love that will not die.
You lived each moment to the full.
Your gift you used, taught us to fly.

We find it hard to understand,
Why you had to go away.
We say farewell and not goodbye.
We’ll be with you again someday.

We thank the Lord for sharing you.
Our loss we know is just your gain.
You’re living out your dream with Him.
So long until we meet again.

PicooZ

2007-08-26T18:03:00.000+02:00

A while ago, a friend of mine brought a tiny remote controlled helicopter called a PiccoZ to the office. I was really impressed with it and hoped that I would one day be able to get one. I searched online and found that they were quite reasonably priced, but the shipping costs, which would have been more than the cost of the helicopter, made it too expensive.

We were in Toys 'R Us on Saturday shopping for a birthday gift when to my delight, I found that they have them in stock. I bought one and have had great fun flying it in the house over the weekend. It is quite easy to fly and I'm hoping to teach the boys to fly it.

Here is a picture of it flying in our lounge. Great fun on a rainy day!

Flickr Toys

2007-08-18T21:46:00.001+02:00

This is probably old news for Flickr veterans, but I thought I would share it for the benefit of other Flickr newbies.

There are some really neat free tools available on the Big Huge Labs web site. These tools enable you to create calendars, posters, cool photo widgets and a whole host of other fun things using your Flickr photos. The example above was created using the "Framer" tool, and the one below using the "Hockneyizer" tool.

Ode to the Thunderbird

2007-08-07T21:45:00.000+02:00

There is no freedom to be found,
Like that I find in clear blue skies,
Rising up above the clouds,
Soaring where the eagle flies.

There is no thrill like that I feel,
Turning tight and flying low,
Seeing things that can't be seen,
Going where men cannot go.

There's nothing that relaxes more,
Than floating on a gentle breeze,
Trees and mountains dwarfed below,
Flying high with graceful ease.

Oh Thunderbird you set me free,
You liberate my weary soul,
I dream of flying you once more,
When the world around me takes its toll.

Quicksand

2007-08-04T19:45:00.000+02:00

We took advantage of the great weather today and went riding our bikes. I took James for a ride on Dump's bike and what looked like hard pack turned out to be quicksand.

It took six of us to pull her out using a rope. That quicksand really sucks (literally)!

Prepare to be amAzed!

2007-07-24T14:00:00.000+02:00

Over the weekend I discovered free navigation software for mobile phones called amAze. I have been using it for a few days and I must admit, I am really impressed - or should I say amAzed! I can highly recommend it.

The great thing about amAze is that it is written in Java 2 Mobile Edition and therefore works on most modern mobile phones. You don't have to have a phone with an integrated GPS like the N95 to use it. It works brilliantly with a Bluetooth GPS receiver connected to your phone. Two of my friends have installed it on an N70 and N73 and are using it with Bluetooth GPS receivers with excellent results. The amAze site lists phones which have been verified to work with the software and many phones from most major vendors are included.

Even if you don't have a Bluetooth GPS, I'd still say it's worth having as the maps and address search feature are useful even without the turn-by-turn navigation.

The address search is very easy to use and works well:

During navigation you can switch seamlessly between the map view and the arrow view. I have found that the voice prompts are very good and I don't even need to look at the screen.

Here is a Flash video clip from the amAze site which gives an impression of how it works (you need sound to hear the voice prompts).

I was planning to one day purchase a Nokia navigation license for my N95, but now that I have amAze on my phone, I will be able to put the money to better use. It's not quite a Garmin but hey, it's free, and I always have it with me!

Flying N95

2007-07-20T10:38:00.000+02:00

I have tried out the Sports Tracker software on my N95 to log trips in my car and it worked brilliantly (I'm not into running or cycling - I try to avoid any exercise that involves less than 10 horse power).

I planned to give Sports Tracker a try on my off-road motorcycle by placing my N95 in the pocket of my hydration pack, but before I got a chance to do that, a more interesting opportunity arose...

Whilst on holiday in Jo'burg, I decided to try it out in my brother Gareth's model aeroplane. He has a Funtana S40 3D aerobatic radio controlled aircraft.

I created an activity named "Flying" in Sports Tracker with the settings I required and got it up and running, ensuring that the GPS had lock. I set the phone to use the "Offline" profile to avoid unwanted RF interference.

Next we placed the phone in a bubble-wrap envelope inside the fuselage of the aircraft. Unfortunately I had to close the phone's slide due to space constraints.

Then we closed her up carefully. I threatened Gareth with his life fearing the potential demise of my beloved N95 (when a radio controlled aircraft crashes, there is usually nothing but toothpicks left over). He gave me the usual "There are no guarantees" speech.

Finally Gareth took her for a hair raising, high speed, high G flight. When he landed after about 15 minutes of redical manoeuvres, I said a prayer of thanks that my phone had made it unscathed and we eagerly opened her up to review the results.

Sadly, Sports Tracker only recorded the first minute or so of flying. I think the GPS lost lock during the first aerobatic manoeuvre and was unable to re-acquire it because of the high speed and rapid acceleration. Having the phone's slide closed probably also inhibited the GPS's performance.
BUT we still managed to get just under 1km of track recorded and clocked the Funtana at 120km/h straight and level (about 840km/h scale speed) - not bad. We wanted to give it another go but ran out of time. Perhaps some other time...

Boys and their toys - all in the spirit of fun I say!

New firmware for N95

2007-07-02T21:30:00.000+02:00

I have read several posts about the new N95 firmware which was released by Nokia in May. All of the articles I read spoke of the cool new features and improvements included in the new release and I couldn't wait to get my grubby little mitts on it.

Like a good compliant user, I faithfully tried to upgrade my phone using the Nokia Phone Updater software once or twice a week for the last four weeks or so. Each time I was disappointed by a message saying that there is no new version available for my phone.

Just as I was starting to get really frustrated, I stumbled upon this great post on Simply Symbian over the weekend. Following these instructions, I successfully changed my phone's product code using the Nemisis Service Suite so that the Nokia Phone Updater believes it is a European model. I was then able to download the new firmware and upgrade the phone successfully. Yeehaa!

The new firmware is awesome! My GPS now acquires lock in seconds thanks to the new Assisted GPS feature. The phone's UI is much more responsive too.

I guess Nokia will eventually get to releasing the new firmware in this region, but if you're like me and just can't wait for them to decide when we Africans need access to their latest technology, give this a go.

Book of faces

2007-06-30T20:20:00.000+02:00

I first heard of Facebook aeons ago but never bothered taking a look. Then suddenly, a few weeks ago, there was huge hype about South Africans on Facebook in the press. There was mention of it on the KFM breakfast show and then Eishman, author of a blog I read regularly posted about it. I decided I should take a look.

At first I struggled to find anyone I know. The methods provided for finding friends are pretty lame. None of the schools I went to showed up in the search list. Neither did the companies I have worked for.

One of the expectations I have of this kind of site, is to be able to link up with long lost buddies whose e-mail addresses I don't have. I don't know why they don't just provide a facility to search for friends by name like other sites do. That would be the simplest and no harm could come of it as people have to confirm they are interested in linking up with you before you can interact with them.

The only way I eventually found a friend of mine was when I went to invite him to join Facebook. I happened to enter the same e-mail address he used to register on Facebook (an unlikely coincidence as he, like most of us, has several e-mail aliases) and then it told me that he was already a member.

Once I had found one friend, I was quickly able to find some others through his profile. To my surprise, it seems that half of the company I work for are Facebook addicts. I wonder why my company name search never yielded any results?

After playing with Facebook for a few weeks, I have concluded that it is a clever web site with some great ideas, but that is all there is to it. I don't think it's going to change the world and I certainly don't see what all the hype is about.

I heard from a network admin at the office that over 2GB of bandwidth went to Facebook this month. No, it wasn't me and yes, I guess it won't be long before it gets added to the blocked sites list.

Mobile codes

2007-06-23T21:12:00.000+02:00

I discovered a neat technology on the Nokia web site called Mobile Codes. Nokia have included barcode scanning software on the N95 and other S60 devices facilitating scanning of 2D barcodes using the built-in camera.

2D barcodes can carry much more data than old fashioned 1D codes so there are loads of possibilities for this technology. For example, it would be possible to print a 2D barcode containing your contact details on the back of your business card. Contacts could then scan your business card directly into their phone's address book. Pretty cool!

I think I could use this technology to scan a Sudoku puzzle into the N95 and then have the N95 solve it as suggested by Craniac in response to my post entitled Sudoku Success.

Here is a 2D barcode containing this site's URL:

These are screenshots of my N95 reading it off my computer's screen. After the phone has read the URL, clicking on it opens the phone's web browser and navigates to it.

The Blind

2007-06-23T20:03:00.000+02:00

Stretched beyond the limit
Straining, pressing in
Looking but not seeing
Reeling deep within

Tighter than a drum
Icy steel-cold mind
Heart of stone not flesh
This side of the blind

Prison bars still choking
Walls where doors have been
Radiant light once reaching
Too far to be seen

Tender hearts are aching
Solutions hard to find
Hear the cries for answers
From within the blind

What is a Dad?

2007-06-18T05:45:00.000+02:00

Jusin and Daniel speaking on what Dads are all about...

Father's Day

2007-06-16T08:16:00.000+02:00

It's Father's Day tomorrow! Time to wax soppy...

Dad, what can I say? You played such a big roll in moulding and shaping me throughout my life. Words can't describe how grateful I am for all your input and endless encouragement. Your unwavering grasp of what's right and what's not has always been an inspiration to me. Thanks for eveything you've done for me. I love you!

Wow, what a blessing it is to be a father! I am so grateful for my four precious sons. They are such amazing gifts. Guys, I love you too. You are the little lights of my life.

Mobile GMaps

2007-06-13T20:51:00.000+02:00

On Saturday I posted about Google Mobile Maps on my N95. Well I found a much cooler application called Mobile GMaps which supports Google Maps, Yahoo Maps and a host of others.

Unlike the current version of Google Mobile Maps, Mobile GMaps integrates with the built in GPS in the N95 so now I can see my current position and navigate using any of the map providers it supports.

GPS integration is available in Google Mobile Maps for some phones but not for the N95. Maybe Nokia have arm wrestled Google into omitting it because it would impact the sales of their proprietary navigation software?

Unbelievable!

2007-06-13T20:23:00.000+02:00

After being without electricity for twenty four hours, we were finally able to buy a token just after 8PM.

While I am thrilled to have electricity again, I am extremely annoyed that the Oostenberg / Helderberg municipality took so long to get the system up and running again!

I sincerely hope that they learn from this incident and put suitable backup systems in place!

Electrical blues

2007-06-13T08:25:00.000+02:00

When we did extensions to our home a couple of years ago, we required an upgrade to our electrical system. The municipality forced us to change to their shiny new prepaid system. At the time we were not too keen on the idea because we knew we would be at risk of forgetting to top up. That happened a few times and we quickly got into the habit of checking the meter and topping up timeously.

Last night I noticed that we were running low, so I used my cell phone to attempt to purchase some units from iBuy. To my dismay, I received an SMS from their server indicating that the municipal server was down and that they were unable to issue me with a token. Dump and I jumped in the car and raced down to the 7-Eleven on Main road only to be given the same story there.

The iBuy site had a notice on it that said that the server would be back up by 21h00. As we were critically low by then, I ran our generator (thank goodness we have one) until we went to bed. I kept checking the iBuy site until about 22h00 and it seems the municipality kept moving the goal posts.

This morning iBuy had posted a new notice on their site with no indication of when the server might be available. They included a number to phone for "EMERGENCY electricity".

Now I know this is no fault of iBuy's - they are just an agent who sells tokens on behalf of the municipality, so I phoned the municipal "EMERGENCY" number and the lady who answered politely told me that there was no-one there who could issue me with a token because they had all worked until 3AM and had now gone home. They would be back in the office around 8 and they might be able to help me then.

I have been involved in IT for donkey's years and am very familiar with problems that keep one at work until all hours. I have worked countless all nighters on systems that are down, but I have never quit and gone home at 3AM with a system down and paying customers getting more and more irate!

Dump has just phoned the "EMERGENCY" number again and was told by the bright individual on the other end of the line: "Sorry maam, the main server is down. It has a virus so they are busy replacing hardware and we cannot issue any tokens." Clearly he has no clue what's going on!

So we have no electricity at home and no hope of getting any in the foreseeable future.

How on earth can a critical system like that have no backup infrastructure? This shocking service would never be tolerated by our customers. Why should we have to put up with it?

Sudoku source code

2007-06-10T03:26:00.000+02:00

For those intersted, I have put the executable and source code for the C# Sudoku solving program I mentioned in my previous post on MediaFire.

Running the executable without any commandline arguments will solve the hard coded demo puzzle and display the solution.

The program will also accept a single commandline argument containing the path to a text file with a puzzle to solve. I have included four sample text files in the .ZIP file so you can see what format they must be in. There is no exception handling in the program so if you pass it a bad file it will display an ugly exception.

Sudoku success

2007-06-09T22:25:00.000+02:00

During the Christmas holidays a couple of years ago, I wrote a program in C# to solve Sudoku puzzles. My first attempt was able to solve some puzzles but not all of them. I realised that I did not know enough about Sudoku solving strategies and I ran out of time (the holidays came to an end), so I left it for a while.

A few months ago I bought a book entitled "How To Do Sudoku" by Carol Vorderman and I got stuck into learning to solve Sudokus starting with easy puzzles, all the way through super difficult ones.

Armed with more knowledge, I decided to have another go at writing the program and I am delighted with the results. I managed to get it right this time, using a recursive, back-tracking algorithm. I am pleased to say my second attempt can solve any Sudoku that is solvable.

It solved this "super difficult" puzzle from Carol's book, which she says would take an expert around an hour (it took me almost 2), in just 228 milliseconds!

Zero represents a blank cell:

000 000 000
000 390 280
040 021 093

600 070 900
900 502 006
005 060 001

180 250 030
064 018 000
000 000 000

Here is the output from the program:

SOLVED after 496 recursions in 228 milliseconds

239 485 167
751 396 284
846 721 593

628 173 945
913 542 876
475 869 321

187 254 639
364 918 752
592 637 418

Google Mobile Maps

2007-06-09T11:13:00.000+02:00

I downloaded Google Mobile Maps for my N95 this morning. Wow, it is really cool and it works really well.

To download it for your N95 or any other S60 3rd Edition device, simply browse to http://www.google.com/gmm in your device's web browser.

Screenshots thanks to Screenshot For Symbian OS.

Brick layer or architect?

2007-06-08T10:17:00.000+02:00

I am one of those fortunate people who can honestly say that my job is my hobby. I have always had a passion for computer programming and electronics. Over the last 12 years or so, I have had the privilege of being involved in the development of some awesome products. I am really grateful to those who have enabled me to mould and shape my job into the dream job it is today. You know who you are!

Some of my favourite days at work are those when I can get stuck into serious programming without interruptions. I had a few of those days this week. I find it mega rewarding to end my day with the sense of accomplishment that comes from having built something.

Dump says I become distant when I am in this mode. It's not intentional. It's just that writing software is an all consuming pastime. It utilises most of my CPU cycles leaving just enough processing power for breathing.

As much as I love programming, I love working with smart people around a flip chart or whiteboard designing something cool. Through the years, I have had the privilege of working with some exceptionally bright people. You know who you are too!

Last but not least, there is little more rewarding than having the opportunity to show off the fruits of our labour. I really enjoy getting to travel from time to time, meeting customers, demonstrating our products and training people to get the most out of them. My job affords me this privilege too.

So in the debate about whether it’s better to be a brick layer or an architect, I say a bit of both, with a dash of salesman and a dose of trainer does it for me.

There's a lot of negativity out there...

2007-06-05T09:37:00.000+02:00

I haven't been blogging for long (see my first post, The Web Heads made me do it), but in the short time I have, I have noticed that there's a heck of a lot of negativity out there in the blogosphere!

Now don't get me wrong, I have found some great blogs that put a real smile on my dial. There are some excellent writers out there and I am really impressed with the quality of some of the posts I've read, but I am continually amazed at how much unnecessary flaming, whining and moaning goes on.

Maybe I'm being a bit too idealistic? Maybe I'm just naive? Or Maybe I'm just a wuss, but I think the blogoshpere would be a better place if there was more agreeing to disagree, more constructive criticism and less antagonism?

UFO?

2007-06-03T05:33:00.000+02:00

Spotted this real early this morning.

Carting Fun

2007-06-02T05:34:00.000+02:00

This mobile blog post was created and uploaded using my Nokia N95.

Dump's Dad fixed up the cart he built for us in Jo'burg many years ago.

G will remember it too well! He crashed into the wall and broke his hand when he and I were doing time trials in the garden back in the late 90's.

Dad has added an automatic clutch now making it easy for the guys to drive. We had a ball.

Can't wait to get airborne!

2007-06-01T07:43:00.000+02:00

Yipee! We have booked tickets for the whole family to go to Jo'burg in July. I can't wait to be with the family there and I am really looking forward to flying the Thunderbird again. I haven't flown for ages.

My Dad, Mom and brother run a business called Davies Aircraft Corporation from their airfield named Crosswinds in Tarlton on the West Rand. They build Thunderbird ultralight aircraft and operate a top class flying school. It's a real tough job but somebody's got to do it.

Girls just wanna have fun

2007-05-27T08:16:00.000+02:00

Dump is having a girlie moment. I don't know why she is so depressed about her dirt bike riding progress. Considering she never owned a motorcycle before and considering she was out of action for a while with her knee injury, she should hardly expect to be riding like James "Bubba" Stewart already.

Her rant about cow poo is unfounded. As I recall, I was the one who had patties flung at me when I rode behind her at Duniefontein. As for testosterone, I believe it is advantageous but not essential. Oestrogen generates far more aggression than testosterone - I have the scars to prove it. Girls have the potential to be much better on the track than guys!

As I said when I posted a pic of Dump getting air, how many mothers of four do you know who can do this?

The boys and I are proud of you Dump. You're the only mom I know who realised it was unlikely we would all take up sewing so you got involved in biking with us. You're doing well and we love the fact that you're doing it to be with us. We love you! Don't give up!

Sunset

2007-05-27T06:58:00.000+02:00

This beautiful sunset was captured from the deck outside my brother's house in Tarlton back in 2003. For some reason spectacular sunsets with beautiful colours are a regular occurance on the highveld.

Foolish me!

2007-05-24T11:10:00.001+02:00

Foolish me!, originally uploaded by WayneTD.

This is a pic of James waiting patiently (not) for Dump to fetch us.

I had one of life's truly humbling experiences this morning!

I pulled in at the petrol station and asked the attendant to fill it up with unleaded. Only problem is I was in Dump's Golf TDI! Eish!

Thankfully I realised what I had done just before starting her up. Dump had to come and tow us to VW. She was very gracious about it. I am so lucky to be married to her! VW are going to drain and flush the tank.

Expensive mistake! I feel like a right royal moron. I am truly humbled.

Darling Harbour

2007-05-24T03:36:00.000+02:00

I began populating my new Flickr photo stream with some of my favorite old digital photos last night. This photo of Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia was taken one evening whilst Wez and I were there on a business trip back in 2002.

Rainbow

2007-05-21T09:01:00.000+02:00

"The rainbow's in the sky to show God's promises are true ..." from "Rainbow" by Hillsong, off the album "Super Strong God".

This beauty was captured from our office window using my N95.

Nice 95

2007-05-16T08:29:00.000+02:00

The gadget freak in me is well and truly pleased! My shiny new Nokia N95 arrived a few days ago. It's taken me a few days (and nights) to familiarise myself with all of its features, but I must admit, I'm not disappointed. It's an awesome little device. It turned out to be smaller than I thought it would be which is great because I always carry my phone in my pocket so small is good. It's a bit smaller than my old Nokia 6680.

I like the fact that it does a proper job of fulfilling its primary purpose - it's a great phone with excellent voice quality and a familiar Nokia interface. I have owned various devices with styluses and qwerty keyboards but I still find the phone keypad with T9 dictionary by far the best for fast typing, especially when I only have one hand available like when running through an airport trying to reply to an SMS.

When it comes to connectivity, there is nothing lacking. It's got every connectivity option you could ask for from infra red through HSDPA. The WiFi is a big plus for me both at home and at the office and makes the phone's great web features much more useable.

There's very cool integration with Flickr. I uploaded a pic from my phone directly to my newly created Flickr photo stream and it was quick and painless.

The GPS works well and the mapping software is very nifty. I'd like to try out the navigation service at some point. It seems to be reasonably priced. I'd also like to try out the free LifeBlog software which apparently facilitates posting to your blog directly from the phone. Might be useful to be able to blog whilst sitting in a boring meeting.

The jury is out on the battery life. I know there's been a lot said about poor battery life. I need to use it a bit more to see how that goes. But when all is said and done, I think this little gadget is a very nice package indeed.

Mother’s Day

2007-05-13T05:48:00.000+02:00

We owe so much to our mothers! They play such a crucial role in moulding and shaping us throughout our lives. They put so much of their hearts and souls into their children. They devote hundreds of hours to telling stories, listening patiently, kissing filthy stubbed toes, helping with homework and ferrying us around faithfully.

On this beautiful Mother’s Day, I want to thank God for my mother and for the mother of my children. You are precious women! You have made a huge difference in the lives of your sons. Thank you!

Bright sparks

2007-05-08T04:03:00.000+02:00

Why is it that no matter how simple you make a product, someone’s going to find a new and creative way to break it? Often, this involves using the product outside of its design specifications.

Design a product to run on 12 volts. Some clown is going to install it in a 24 volt vehicle. It’s only a matter of time.

“Oh! I didn’t know it wouldn’t work!” … “But the installation manual states 12 volts only!” … “But why doesn’t it work?” … “Because it’s designed to run on 12 volts not 24.” … “Well that’s not very good! It should work on 24 volts.” … “It wasn’t designed to work on 24 volts!” … “So how am I going to fix it?” … “Remove it from the 24 volt vehicle.” … “But the vehicle has gone.” … “Didn’t you test it before you let the vehicle go?” … “Yes.” … “And did it work ok when you tested it?” … “No.” … “<Homer Simpson> Doh! </Homer Simpson>”

I guess I shouldn’t complain. This is job security for product developers!

Stress...

2007-05-04T11:31:00.000+02:00

We are all exposed to stress at some point in our lives. There are several kinds of stress. Some is easy to deal with and some downright debilitating.

For an analytical person like me, the most difficult stress to deal with is the stress induced by a problem that I feel I have no control over – a problem I can’t reason my way out of. In my profession, working with computers a lot, I am subject to this kind of stress quite often.

Computer software is written by human beings. Human beings make mistakes. Therefore, computer software is highly likely to contain mistakes – bits that don’t work the way they should. These mistakes, affectionately known as bugs, are not unexpected. I don’t think there’s much software on the planet that doesn’t contain a liberal dose of them.

Bugs don’t usually bug me, but after hunting for an elusive one for any length of time and failing to find it, I start to stress. Why? Maybe it’s an ego thing (Dump always says that the male ego is the most fragile thing on Earth and she should know, she lives with 5 of us, but male ego is another whole discussion). I guess the hunter can’t bear coming back from the hunt empty handed?

Leave me struggling with a bug for a few days and I become a raging lunatic. After a week I’m ready for a sojourn in the lunatic asylum.

So why do I do it? Shouldn’t I get over my passion for computers and go and work at the post office? Not a chance! There is nothing – let me repeat, nothing more satisfying than finally nailing those little gremlins. The amount of satisfaction is directly proportional to the time taken to hunt them down. Go figure.

Awesome riding at Misverstand

2007-04-30T07:06:00.000+02:00

My desperate deisre to ride was well satisfied yesterday. I went riding with GraZer at Misverstand Dam near Morreesburg .

I must say, I'm feeling really guilty about going riding without the rest of the family. I'm hoping to take everyone for a spin at K-Mountain tomorrow.

What a great place Misverstand is! We had an awesome time. Lots of technical riding with hill climbs, small river crossings rocky river beds and lots of tricky off-camber. Also lots of wide open space to open up.

RB was in her element. She got nice and dirty in the mud. Took me the whole afternoon today to get her clean again.

Rain rain go away

2007-04-27T08:17:00.000+02:00

I know we need the water and I know Capetonians love this weather because it gives them an excuse to sit in front of their fire places and vegetate, but man I am desperate to ride my bike!

It's been nearly two weeks since I last rode her and every time I see RB (my Honda CRF250X) parked in the garage, I itch to fire her up.

The rest of the family are also dead keen. Reece (our 8 year old) is trying to satisfy his throttle hand's twitch by playing Motocross Madness 2 on his PC. The twins (12) are trying to keep their testosterone at bay by driving like maniacs on Need For Speed Carbon on their PS2. We really need to get out!

Dump has recovered from her knee surgery and is trying to prove to us that she's ready to get back on her bike by hopping all over the house on her injured leg. Talk about desperate! But then again, she hasn't ridden for nearly 3 months.

Weather.com says it will be partly cloudy tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. Last night they said it would be raining on all three days. Is it impossible to predict the weather in the Western Cape, or is it true that weather bureaus are the only companies on the planet that pay their employees to get it wrong 90% of the time?

PS: I heard a good one today: What is the definition of optimistic? A South African batsman putting on sun screen before going out to bat :-)

The Web Heads made me do it

2007-04-26T10:49:00.000+02:00

I have never understood what possesses people to keep a diary. I mean come on! Why relive life's painful moments by writing about them in a little book which you don't expect anyone will ever read, but secretly hope they will?

Life is too short to spend a significant percentage of it writing about the past!

Enter the blog. The most efficient and effective way to share those precious moments and pearls of wisdom which deserve to be shared (I think).

My friends craniac and the lush, both accomplished Web Heads have convinced me, without saying a word, that there must be something to blogging. So here I go...