Gary Sims - Visionary or Lunatic?

Joke: Learning foreign language.

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:14:57 +0300

A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Americans are waiting.

“Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?” he asks. The two Americans just stare at him.

“Excusez-moi, parlez vous Fracais?” he tries. The two continue to stare.

“Parlare Italiano?” No response. “Hablan ustedes Espanol?” Still nothing.

The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted.

The first American turns to the second and says, “Y’know, maybe we should learn a foreign language.” “Why?” says the other. “That guy knew four languages, and it didn’t do him any good.”

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Just rediscovered this picture in my photo library... Romania is stunning!

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:54:54 +0200

From 2009… Romania is stunning!

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SundayWorship V1.3 released

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:51:49 +0200

The main focus of this release has been adding support for downloading and installing additional Bibles for use with the Scripture picker. We’ve also fixed a few bugs and re-worked the multimedia picker to make it a bit easier to use. The new version can be download from here. A new version of the getting started guide can be downloaded from here.

New features in SundayWorship 1.3

Download additional Bibles
Added support for typing non-English Bible book names
Display musical keys for songs
Drag and drop for adding content to the content pickers
Added additional keyboard shortcuts for the Projector view
Updated manual

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Just used Google's Street View to get the phone number off a placard for a hotel here in Bran

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:10:10 +0200

Here in Bran there are lots of hotels and bed & breakfasts. As a
result lots of the people we know are in the tourism business. Anyway
the parents of one of classmates of my boy run a bed and breakfast and
he wanted to go an play around at the boy’s house. We didn’t know
their number to call and see if he could go over, so I used Google’s
Street View to find their house and read their phone number off the
placard of the bed & breakfast!!!!

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Sad News: Our dog "Dolly" died over the weekend... We had her for 8 years.

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:25:36 +0200

Dolly wasn’t a pedigree German Shepherd but we loved her as see was…
She will be missed.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Nova Ball now available for Android devices http://android.garysims.co.uk

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:26:49 +0300

My third (and final for this batch) app is now live in the Android Market: Nova Ball (Note: This link only works from within your Android device). Nova Ball is a space/sci-fi accelerometer game. In the game you control the ball by holding your device parallel to the floor and tilting.

The game has three modes: arcade, mayhem and missions. In arcade mode you need to see how fast you clear each level. Mayhem is all about survival; stop the stars reaching critical mass. In mission mode you have to clear each level to progress to the next.Arcade: This mode is all about speed. Collect the stars to clear the level. The race is against the clock!

Mayhem: Stop the stars reaching critical mass when the star coverage reaches 75% then critical mass will be reached. Not good! On the first level you need to survive for 75 seconds and then with each level you need last
5 seconds longer, e.g. 80 seconds for the 2nd level, 85 for the 3rd and so on.Mission: Clear each level to progress further and further. There are 50 fun levels to play through.

You can find out more here: http://android.garysims.co.ukNote: This app isn’t free… It is my first Android app which users have to pay for… But it only costs £0.50 which is about $0.78 which is about a third of the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks and loads less than a trip to the cinema…
Your coffee lasts about 15 minutes, a film about 90 minutes… Nova Ball will give you hours of entertainment for a fraction of the cost!So go on buy it today… You won’t regret it!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Second Android app published: BibleBase Daily Bread. See http://android.garysims.co.uk

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:13:54 +0300

I am on a roll…. I have uploaded a second app to the Android Market: BibleBase Daily Bread

This app is a Bible reading schedule based on a 3 year cycle.

The Old Testament is roughly three times longer than the New Testament, but as the Bible contains ‘progressive revelation’ it is best to spend equal amounts of time in each Testament. So, in the three year cycle you will read the whole of the Old Testament once, but you will read the New Testament three times.

The reading schedule also has a special order. The books have been linked together in a way which, it is hoped, will reveal the progress and the distinctive message of the Bible.

You can find out more here: http://android.garysims.co.ukPS. If you are having trouble finding this app in the Android Market, you can download it directly here: Daily Bread.apk

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Thunder Clap my first Android app has published and is available in the Android Market

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:43:35 +0300

My first Android app has published and is available in the Android Market!

Thunder Clap

A simple to use utility to calculate the distance to a storm based on the time elapsed between the lightning and the thunder. When you see the lightning: hit the ‘Lightning’ button, then when you hear the thunder: hit the ‘Thunder’ button. The distance to the storm will be shown.

Thunder Clap works on all Android devices using Android 1.6 or higher (including 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2).

You can download it FREE from the Android Market (Note: This link only works from within your Android device).

You can read more about it here: http://android.garysims.co.uk

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Thunder Clap HD screenshots

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:48:45 +0300

Here are the screenshots for Thunder Clap HD for the iPad.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Thunder Clap HD: Big moment for me... I just submitted by first iPad app to Apple for approval

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:41:57 +0300

I don’t have an iPad but using Apple’s simulator I have created an iPad version of my Thunder Clap app for the iPhone / iPod Touch… Here is the description:Following the success of Thunder Clap on the iPhone and iPod Touch, here is Thunder Clap HD built specifically for the iPad.

Thunder Clap HD is simple to use utility to calculate the distance to a storm based on the time elapsed between the lightning and the thunder. When you see the lightning: hit the ‘Lightning’ button, then when you hear the thunder: hit the ‘Thunder’ button. The distance to the storm will be shown. The iPad version has some new extras including higher resolution graphics, full rotation support (it does matter how you are holding your iPad) and an Information Center with some notes about the nature of Thunder and Lighting and a bit about Benjamin Franklin.

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A dog went to a telegram office...

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:38:37 +0300

A dog went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: “Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.” The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog, “There are only nine words here. You could send another ‘Woof’ for the same price.” The dog replied, “But that would make no sense at all!”

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7 or 11: Just submitted my next iPhone app to Apple.

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:56:18 +0300

I have just submitted my next iPhone game to Apple for approval… Here is the blurb:INTRO
Welcome to 7 or 11 where maths meets physics. Using an advanced 2D physics engine, 7 or 11 is a fun game with balloons, cacti and prime numbers!

The idea behind the game is simple, tap on the falling balloons to make running totals of either 7 or 11. If the total goes over 11 you go bust and the game ends! So be quick but be careful.The game has two modes, Easy and Hard. In easy mode you have plenty of time just make sure the balloons don’t fill the screen. In hard mode use the “Blow” button to make sure the balloons don’t hit the cacti.

EASY
The idea of the game is to form a running total of either 7 or 11. So the trick is to not just click on any balloon, wait and see what appears and then go for some combinations to make 7 or 11. Popular combinations include:

6 + 1 = 7
5 + 6 = 11
5 + 2 = 7
9 + 2 = 11
8 + 3 = 11
3 + 4 = 7
and so on…

Don’t forget longer combinations like 2 + 3 + 6 for 11 or even 2 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 1 giving 11!

HARD
This level is a bit more frantic as well as trying to make 7 or 11 from the falling balloons, you also need to keep the balloons from touching the cacti. When you see a balloon getting near a cactus, hit the “Blow” button and a puff of wind will blow them up into the air again! OpenFeint
7 or 11 is OpenFeint enabled. OpenFeint is an easy and free way to get more out of 7 or 11. Think XBOX Live meets Facebook for the iPhone with thousands of games and millions of players. (Say that three times fast.)

With OpenFeint you can compare your scores to the OpenFeint community. Think you are good? See how you stack up?Also you can use Facebook or Twitter to connect with your friends and see how well they are doing at 7 or 11. We all love a little friendly competition right?

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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I installed iOS 4.1 on my iPod Touch and guess what the battery went flat again over night. Aggghhh!

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:17:20 +0300

I was looking forward to the release of iOS 4.1 as it promised bugs
fixes for iPhone 3G users which also means iPod Touch users. So I
installed it last night and didn’t change any of my settings… But
guess what: This morning the battery is completely flat. So now I will
need to start looking again for some odd setting which either Apple
have changed when I upgraded or some other setting which is now
causing the battery to drain… Remember: The battery is being drained
when the device is in standby, asleep. Ho hum. But on the plus side Apple has relaxed their restriction on third
party development tools for iDevices:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/09/09statement.html

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Notes on the Minor Prophets: Habakkuk, Haggai, Jonah, Malachi, Micah, Nahum, Zechariah, Zephaniah

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:58:29 +0300

Download now or preview on posterous

MinorProphets.pdf (131 KB)

Les Wheeldon has put together some notes on the minor prophets from in
Old Testament: Habakkuk, Haggai, Jonah, Malachi, Micah, Nahum,
Zechariah, Zephaniah.

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A man takes his hamster to the vet...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:18:24 +0300

A man takes his hamster to the vet, and after a short look at the
creature the vet pronounces it dead. Not happy with the vet’s
diagnosis the man asks for a second opinion. The vet gives a whistle
and in strolls a Labrador dog. The dog nudges the hamster around with
its nose and sniffs it a couple of times before shaking his head.
“There” says the vet,” Your hamster is dead”. Still not happy the man
asks for a third opinion. The vet opens the back door and in bounds a
cat. The cat jumps onto the table and looks the hamster up and down
for a few minutes before looking up and shaking it’s head. “It’s
definitely dead sir”, says the vet. Convinced, the man enquires how
much he owes. “That will be £1000, please”. “A £1000 just to tell me
my hamster is dead” fumes the man. “Well”, says the vet, “There’s my
diagnosis, the lab report and the cat scan”.

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Joke: More bread - Man goes into a diner every day for lunch...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:44:32 +0300

A man from the Old Country went to a diner every day for lunch. He
always ordered the soup of the day. One day the manager asked him how
he liked his meal. The old man replied, “It was good, but you could
give a little more bread.” So the next day the manager told the waitress to give him four slices
of bread. “How was your meal, sir?” the manager asked. “It was good,
but you could give a little more bread,” came the reply.

So the next day the manager told the waitress to give him eight slices
of bread. “How was your meal today, sir?” the manager asked. “It was
good, but you could give maybe a little more bread,” came the reply. So…the next day the manager told the waitress to give him a whole
loaf of bread with his soup. “How was your meal, sir?” the manager
asked, when he came to hand him the bill. “It was good, but you could
give maybe a little more bread,” came the reply once again.

The manager was obsessed with seeing this customer say that he is
satisfied with his meal, so he went to the bakery, and ordered a
six-foot-long loaf of bread. When the man came in as usual the next
day, the waitress and the manager cut the loaf in half, buttered the
entire length of each half, and laid it out along the counter, right
next to his bowl of soup. The old man sat down, and devoured his bowl
of soup, and both halves of the six-foot-long loaf of bread. The manager now thinks he will get the answer he is looking for, and
when the old man came up to pay for his meal, the manager asked in the
usual way, “How was your meal TODAY, sir?”

The old man replied, “It was good, as usual, but why you are back to
giving only two slices bread!”

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How to solve your iPod Touch battery problems with iOS 4

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:33:06 +0300

Like many people I upgraded my iPod Touch to iOS4… In general it
works well and the new folders feature is brilliant… I am not so
keen on the multitasking and that isn’t Apple’s fault, I have an
Android phone and I don’t like the multitasking on that either… The
most used apps on my phone and my iPod Touch are their task managers
to kill off the running apps… Anyway I digress… Since my iPod Touch has the same processor as the iPhone 3GS, iOS 4 is
quite quick and I don’t see any lags or delays that older iPod Touch
users can see… But one thing that was bad was the battery life… I
say “was” as I have now found a solution!

During the first night after my iPod Touch had iOS 4 installed, the
battery went flat while it was in “sleep” mode. The next night I made
sure that there were no back ground tasks running, but again the same
thing. In the end I stumbled upon using airplane mode to silence the
network activity and wow, the battery didn’t go flat. Now I could use
it as an iPod and a games device without the battery going flat, but
it was pain to have to keep flipping in and out of airplane mode all
the time. Finally I came across some instructions which finally tamed by iPod
Touch and let me leave airplane mode off without worrying about my
battery.

The trick is to make sure that there is no background network access.
To do this you need to turn off Notifications, Fetch New Data (for
email) and New Invitation Alerts (for Calendars): Settings -> Notifications = Off

Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Fetch New Data -> Push = Off Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Calendars -> New Invitation
Alerts = Off

In fact the first two where switched off already, but that third one
caught me, I didn’t realize that this little “New Invitation Alerts”
setting could flatten my battery so quick. So there you have it, now my battery life is better. I still have a
sneaky feeling that the game, video and Internet usage is down but I
need to double yet that with some real numbers!

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V1.1 of Sunday Worship Released - Adds PowerPoint Support

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:54:43 +0300

We are very pleased to announce the release of version 1.1 of SundayWorship.This release adds two major features to SundayWorship.

* Support for running Microsoft PowerPoint presentations from SundayWorship
* The ability to import songs from EasiSlides.You can download the latest version from here.

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Started working on a multi-node ESMTP server written on Go.

Sat, 22 May 2010 17:01:05 +0300

I have started working on an idea I had for a multi-node (cluster
aware) ESMTP server. I have decided to write it using Google’s Go
language (for reasons which aren’t absolutely clear at the moment). Designed from the ground up to work as a cluster, each node keeps an
index of the available messages by using hashes which are distribute
throughout the cluster.

If a message is requested (over POP3 only at the moment, no IMAP4)
that is not available on the local node, a request is sent to the node
with the original message for transmission to the POP3 client. There is also a rudimentary level of replication and caching for
redundancy and to minimize the inter-node traffic.

NOTE: Goesmtp is EXPERIMENTAL and is not yet ready for beta testing or
for production deployment. The initial source code has been uploaded…

The project can be found here: http://code.google.com/p/goesmtp/ For further updates please follow the GoESMTP development blog here:
http://goesmtp.posterous.com/

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My comments about a recent Live Hacking CD vs. Backtrack 4 review

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:53:19 +0300

McGrew Security have published a review comparing the Live Hackign CD
with Backtrak4:
http://www.mcgrewsecurity.com/2010/05/10/live-hacking-cd-vs-backtrack-4/#comm…
. Although the review is generally well balanced, I want to add a few
comments: 1) Competition is good for everyone, the LHCD has only just come out
of beta and is relatively young, where as BT has been around much
longer. The LHCD team are looking to release more versions in the
future and they are all looking for people who would like to
contribute to make the LHCD better.

2) As you quite rightly say “they are two very different beasts” and
they are… The LHCD is designed as a first step into the world of
information security. It is an area that many IT professionals and
managers neglect. The LHCD (and its accompanying book and workshops)
are designed to make people more aware of the need for information
security training and knowledge. A distro like BT can appear to be big
and daunting and so discourage those who want to learn more and start
looking at the basic tools and techniques. 3) Dantevios’ comment “Thank you for sparing me from these knock offs”
is a bit unfair. The LHCD is not a knock-off in any sense, it has been
built from scratch and doesn’t try to imitate or copy BT4 is anyway…
It is a new, young and vibrant distro built as an introduction to
ethical hacking… How can that be a knock off?

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