Google Lively... First impressions

I installed the Google Lively 3D chat application today.  So, I figured I'd write a few comments about my first impressions.

Launching the application the first time is a little confusing, you need to use your Google ID to sign in, then select a Lively ID - I tried to use my Google ID again, but it was already in use.  (Was it saying that my account was already in use?  Or someone else using the ID in Lively at that point in time?  I figured it should be the first problem -- as I have never had an issue my ID being unique before...  So, I selected a new ID, and starting logging into a chat room.

I tried the Google room first.  The UI came up and starting initializing the room.  This took a long time, and a LOT of memory.  There was a note on the bottom of the screen that said something about the room being at full capacity, but it let me in...  So, I waited.  The longer it took, the more curious I became...  So, I opened up Task Manager and was surprised to see the lively.exe utilizing 700+MB of virtual memory, and 140MB of physical memory!  I am currently working on an old laptop that only has 1GB of memory...  So, that explains the loading performance! :(

I thought that the high memory load might be related to the full room, so, I exited out and signed into the High School room.  There were only a handful of people in this room, but the application still needed the 700MB of memory!

I was able to play around a little while in this room.  The lag wasn't too bad, so I tested out some of the avatar sounds, and object interactivity.  It's pretty cool.

Overall, a really neat idea from Google.  I'm sure it'll grow over time and allow more avatar customizations, rooms, etc.  But, for now...  It's a lot of overhead for a "chat" client.  (I'll probably get burned for this...  So, I'll state that I do realize that it's meant to be more than just a chat client!).  So, I won't give up just yet...  But, I will give up trying to access it from my laptop! ;)

A Saturday spent running Cat 5

We have been doing remodeling on the house since we moved in (a year ago).  Installing hardwoods on the entire first floor, remodeling the kitchen, moving walls, finishing drywall, etc.  It's a lot of work for a do-it yourselfer that works 50-60 hours a week at his day job, but I'm getting close to done!

Today was the day to solve the "I'm tired of tripping over the damn network cables when I walk into the office!" day.  I have never created my own network cables, but have had some experience with running cables through the walls.  So, I headed to Home Depot and picked up some Cat 5 cabling, RJ45 jacks, and wall plates.

I spent some time in the basement (thank god for the basement, it made the job much easier being able to run the cables through the open ceiling).  I decided on the location of the wall plates, cut holes in the drywall for each plate and went to the basement to drill some holes.  After guestimating on the location of the wall plate hole above me, I drilled the holes and fished the wire through them.  Back upstairs to find the wires in the wall.  I had to do this a couple of times. :(  But, finally succeeded!  I read the instructions for the wiring diagram for the RJ45 plates and connectors (a few times), set the wires, crimped and it worked!

I screwed the wall plates into the walls, cleaned up the mess, and marked another item off the really long "honey-do" list!

Not a bad Saturday...  Now it's time to grill some chicken and sip some well deserved Crown Royal!  Tomorrow, I'll be back in the basement organizing, and setting up the weight room.

iPhone v2.0 Upgrade Hell!

Apple has finally released v2.0 of the iPhone firmware and the 3G iPhone.  Great news!  At least that's what I thought.  I have owned an iPhone for about a year now...  I have updated the firmware to pick up the new/interesting additions and bug fixes with no issues.  So, I would naturally assume that upgrading to v2.0 would be just as easy.  Well, I guess that's where the saying: assume=ass u me comes from...

The release of v2.0 upgrades for existing iPhone users and the new 3G iPhone at the same time has overloaded the activation server.  I can understand how this happens (technically), but Apple should have anticipated the load and built up the infrastructure prior to the release of the products!  This isn't their first rodeo, they forcasted (and counted) on the demand... So, why didn't they spend a little money to further build out the activation infrastructure to handle the additional activation load?  They obviously handled it from the site that serves the upgrades... Nobody seems to have any problems downloading and installing the upgrade, they just can't re/activate afterwards.

The major issue for previous iPhone users is...  the asinine model that requires the iPhone to be re-activated after every firmware upgrade.  Without activation, the phone is useless...  So, there are lots of people that are extremely upset with Apple at this point because their phones have been bricked until the activation server is upgraded to handle the load (or they get lucky after clicking back and forth between the iPhone button in iTunes).

Another major problem with Apple is...  There is no information about activation delays on their web site!  iTunes prompts you with cryptic errors messages that don't even warrant a search hit on the Apple support site.  What is up with that?  After reading other blogs, I am seeing that some people are waiting on the phone for technical support, and after an hour or so... they get to talk to someone or the call is just disconnected.  Not good.

Apple has made a huge mistake with this release...  They should have invested in the activation server infrastructure to handle the load (the estimated load * 2), and if there are problems...  Post something on your web site!  People are going there first, so at least man up and give the users (that you have screwed) some information on what's going on, and when we can expect the problem to be resolved!

Also, you need to re-think the re-activation requirement for existing iPhone customers.  The last thing you should do is de-activate something that is currently working for an end user.  This is a very quick way to lose customers.  The iPhone is a great product, but it's not the only one on the block.  There are a lot of touch competitors coming into the space, and they will be more than happy to take the disgruntled Apple customers!

So, in closing...  Apple --  WAKE UP!  And take care of your customers!