iRead

It's not often I'm fooled by technology. I like to know how stuff works. It helps me evaluate the relative merits of the common consumer gadgets on a purely technical basis.

But on the run up to Christmas last year, as I was browsing the technology section of our local department store, I got completely taken in by one gadget in particular - Amazon's Kindle.

I'd played with Sony e-readers previously while killing time in an airport, but this was my first close encounter with a Kindle.

Well, actually, a dummy Kindle. Because of the two on display, only one was a working model - the thing I was uselessly prodding was a mock-up, with a printed sticker for a display. I really was convinced the thing had just hung and needed a hard reset.

So not only is the actual Kindle as light as an in-store fake, the screen - the e-ink display - is as convincing as a printed label.

I was impressed.

However as an iPad owner one has to make do and to be honest at that point I had yet to fully read a book - a novel - on it, from cover to cover. So to speak.

So now, it's late April, nearly a year of iPad ownership behind me and I have actually got around to reading again, the idea of getting down to some good old science fiction (Philip K. Dick) as impetus.

A few novels later, using both the Kindle app, and Apple's own iBooks, what's it like, reading on an oversized iPod?

First is the weight. iPad, 1st generation, weighs 690 grams. A large hardback picked randomly weighs in at 898 grams. Yet amazingly the book seems lighter. Crazy, I know. Something, I suspect, to do with the relative density of the two. But my gut tells me the book weighs less.

What does this prove? It proves that the iPad is a heavy old thing that needs propped up for lengthy sessions. I tend to use it landscape, resting it - well, balancing it really - between my thumb and forefinger. Mostly, though, I look to rest it up against something, like a leg, or an armrest. Or just an arm.

Anyway we knew this already. And iPad doesn't get heavier the more books you add - one of the key benefits of an e-reader.

Another important factor seems to be about location i.e. where one does one's reading. For example, on a recent flight, the iPad proved awkward to position to avoid reflections from the bright sunlight cascading through the window. This is true of viewing anything on iPad in bright daylight, something the Kindle excels in.

Conversely, in a darkened room, with the brightness of the iPad dialled as low as it will go, the reading experience is perfectly comfortable, the soft light from the screen invisible to a dozing partner.

Beyond physical aspects, the actual process of reading is just like, er, reading. Forget the arguments over eye-strain - sessions of up to one and half hours (an yes I know many people read for hours on end) were perfectly fine. In fact I'd go as far as saying that the experience is so convincing, I'd lose the notion I was reading a device, rather than a book.

Which brings me to the software.

As a book reading experience, I found the Kindle app closer to the real thing. A simple tap or swipe enough to bring up the next page. In contrast, although iBooks will flick pages on a tap, the whole, beautiful page animation thing only served to get between me and the words. I found it easier to swipe back a page on Kindle on the occasions I needed to review the last words before the page break - you know, when you lose track of the syntax of a sentence.

In conclusion, this leaves iPad as a perfectly good e-reader, but without the crisp outdoor readable display and the almost weightless feel of Kindle.

Nintendo 3DS

OK, so the above patently isn't a 3DS, but it did remind me that for better or worse I've owned nearly all Nintendos' handheld devices.

There was the original Gameboy, a Gameboy Color, the Gameboy Advance, a phat DS and a slim DS. I still have a space reserved on the list for a Gameboy Micro, but fear my eyesight isn't up to it. (And they still fetch quite a lot on eBay...)

So, after a cursory look at the 3DS in a store, I came away suitably impressed with the depth of field the screen lends to the action. It is true that you have to find (and keep) the 'sweet spot' for the stereoscopic effect to work, but even with the older systems gamers tend to hold their devices in a constant comfort zone anyway, so the 3DS shouldn't require too much effort. Pity about the battery life, which got better on older models as the tech matured. Maybe they're keeping that improvement for V2.

It seems likely, then, that I'll get myself a 3DS to keep the lineage of portable Nintendo systems going (I'm allowed to skip the DSi, OK?) and also for the inevitable Advance Wars 3DS. Happy days.

Rubik's Touch Cube

The Rubik's Touch Cube is a great idea on paper that actually made it to product. The familiar look of the Rubik Cube is replicated here not with crude stickers on a rotating frame, but with multi-coloured LEDs projected onto a blank shell. As the name suggests, the cube is operated by touch, and not only that, but by gesture control.

Even before you reach the product, the packaging is premium quality. One would expect nothing less as this is not a cheap toy, even if I did pick mine up at a bargain price at the local Costco. The packaging consists of two halves of quality boxwork, with the cube nestled in a neatly cut foam inner lining. Beneath this is the charger and cradle.

The cube itself is a well constructed item and despite its looks, each face consists of smooth, clear plastic. Actually, this plastic film picks up scuffs really easily - if you have an iPod you'll know what I mean. Also, as it's a sensitive electronic device, you'll need to handle it like any other electronic device - I wouldn't like to drop it or leave it buried at the bottom of the toy cupboard.

Now, in a normally lit environment, this is a light up cube. So far so good. But in moderately dim or even darkness, the cube is positively dazzling in intensity. The pictures don't do it justice, for the colours are rich and vibrant. Each facet has the ability to show one of the six Rubik Cube colours.

The red, green, orange and blue are achieved using discrete LEDs, the white with (I'm guessing) a combination of the red, green and blue LEDs, while yellow is the green and blue LEDs mixed. The effect is arresting, because of the brightness and evenness of the light. It's almost like holding a movie special effect, it's that good.


Each face carries it's own function, operated by the centre facet under which is a microswitch. These need to be double clicked to operate, I guess to avoid accidental operation. There's a power button, scramble and unscramble, volume (yes), a hint button and an undo button. The other cool aspect of this cube is that only the upper face is sensitive to touch at any time. So the device must have some sort of gyro aboard to determine this.

Stroking a slice in either axis will cause the cube to simulate a twist, complete with an unconvincing and repetitive sample of a real cube being twisted. The touch also responds to a diagonal 'rotate the top face' type gesture, but this is harder to successfully pull off, as it often sends another face spinning inadvertently. In the end, one resorts to one dimensional stroking to achieve the desired move.

The scramble option applies 20 random moves to the current state of the cube, enough to get any cube fiddler started. Unscramble appears to work by applying a minimum move type algorithm to the current state of the cube and a lot of the time it's not completely obvious what's going on other than a series of unrelated moves. More on this later.

The hint option makes the cube wink the next move you need to make towards completion, again using the same algorithm.

Undo is obvious, but is most useful for those mistaken moves, especially when handling the cube or getting the orientation set. Solving the cube with my own archaic level-by-level approach is doable, even easy with a bit of re-training of the muscle memory - the need to keep the operating face uppermost can be frustrating at times and the undo facility (which can undo a whole series of moves) is really useful.

Now let's look at what I'd call the missed opportunities of this device.

Remember that each facet is individually settable to one of the six colours. Forgetting that the designers could have used a tri-colour LED with a huge colour palette, there was still an opportunity to set the device to display an evolving set of patterns and colour shifts. Throw in a microphone, and the cube could pulse away randomly to music. In a half hearted attempt at this, it does at least scramble and unscramble itself whilst on charge, lending a nightclub glow to the immediate surroundings.

Taking that idea further, why not add an mp3 player? Not only would you have sound to light, but it could be it's own sound.

Moving on, there's the solving algorithm. Yes, it solves itself, but doesn't in any kind of meaningful way, to me at least. It would have been better to allow the option to solve via both methods - layer by layer is arguably easier to memorise as a novice as there are only half a dozen or so simple move combos you need to know to solve the cube from any position. If, like myself, you do solve by layers, then choose the hint option, the cube goes off on a tangent and messes up your work to that point.

Lastly, and kind of obviously, there's the battery. Disappointingly, for a puzzle that's meant to be studied for hours to get the hang of, a little over an hour of play is offered by the inbuilt NiCd cells before the thing, rather alarmingly, flashes red all over a few minutes before shutdown. And it takes ages to charge, easily several hours. I guess in the age of rapid charge Li Ion batteries, going back to NiCd is a bit of a culture shock.

And while the little charging cradle is neat - the cubes' little metal contacts making, er, contact when the device is propped on one corner - extended play would have been possible if a simple cable attachment had been designed in.

Despite these failings, the Touch Cube represents the ambitious attempt of a toy manufacturer jumping on the 'touch' revolution that has swept through the consumer electronics industry, and for that alone, they must get a little credit.

Shortcomings aside, I really like the Touch Cube. There are a zillion websites and mobile apps devoted to helping solve the original cube, but this is the first fully electronic cube that does what it says on the tin, in a really satisfying way.

Now, if only my 5x3x3 cube could solve itself...

App of the week

Among the flotsam if the itunes app store - and in the case of the iPad - one rarely finds apps that are totally unique not just to the platform, but the form factor.

One such app is Holographium (App store link), whose purpose is not immediately apparent, even after a brief twiddle.

Presented with oversize controls, Holographium first prompts you to enter a phrase, then it asks you to choose one of several neon style colours. You then set a 'depth', then a duration.

The app then does a little calculating before flashing up a bizarre sequence of bright lines and rectangles.

At first, it makes no sense whatsoever, until you realise that the flashing imagery is not meant for human consumption - at least not initially.

No, the idea is startlingly simple. What Holographium wants you to do is move the flashing sequence in front of a camera with an open shutter.

The long exposure captures the animation as it move across the cameras field of view, spelling out the phrase you first keyed into the app.

The results are surprising.

Robonova steps up to the mark

My Robonova doesn't get out much these days. It's a time thing, see. If you're as time poor as me, you don't waste the precious little you do have on fiddling around with little humanoid robots.

Granted, like a good book, video game or movie, programming up your own 'droid can both be rewarding and a black hole for time. That's not a good analogy, really. Black holes make time stand still... anyhoo, you get the idea. It's an interesting hobby but vastly time consuming which is why I suppose I haven't written about it before.

Robonova, if you haven't met him before is a low-ish cost bipedal robot constructed out of servos, an aluminium frame and a micro-controller board to drive the servos.

Programming is done via a PC using the supplied Robo-Basic programming tool.

Now, out of the box, Robonova doesn't do very much, other than the stock moves supplied with the software. These moves are varied enough to give you an idea of what the little chap is capable of, but there are no sensors or AI out of the box like you might find in, for example, Robosapien.

But there's a wealth of information in the online robotics community if one cares to seek it out, and one of my future aims is to equip Robo with some sensors to facilitate some autonomy.

One task I was particularly keen to see was Robonova tackling some stairs. There are few videos on youtube showing this and those that are there are a little underwhelming. But credit is due to the roboteers involved for at least trying.

Which moves me on to the inspiration for my own set of moves: Honda's Asimo.

Here's one example of Asimo 'doing stairs'.

Now, despite costing probably millions of dollars, I can't help the feeling that, like Robonova, Asimo isn't just being asked to 'go up stairs', but rather he's been meticulously programmed to climb and descend the no doubt carefully designed staircase.

So, taking my cue from Asimo, I set about getting Robonova to 'do' a set of simple 18mm fibreboard 'stairs'. The result is below:

Come on, Windows

Something has been bugging me for a while. Ever since I upgraded our old iMac to OS X 10.4 (Tiger), I've always been surprised, or rather, caught out, by the speed at which it boots.

At the same time, I've been impressed by the time it takes Windows 7 to boot to the desktop, on fairly modest hardware. Good work, Microsoft. This in contrast to a Vista laptop at work which seems to take an eternity to settle down after switching on from cold.

So, in the interests of Science (and geekdom), I undertook to prove, once and for all, that we haven't really moved forward in the last ten years.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that a 10 year old iMac with a hockey puck mouse is better than a relatively new (if cheap) laptop. That would be madness.

But you have to admit, it's not too shabby either.

Art, cubed?

Crazes. There don't seem to be that many going around these days. In this super-connected era, there isn't one single product that every child must own. The new Buzz Lightyear is just, well, meh, even with a whole new movie to star in. Who cares if the fully poseable action figure has over 50 phrases? Mine (circa 1995) has three. And is just as poseable.

But anyway, I have to trawl all the way back to 1980 to find a real craze. Call it a global phenomenon. I'm talking cube. Rubik's Cube. The one single object that can identify a decade. Ok, that and the Motorola 8000X.

But I'm not talking about technology today, I'm talking puzzles.

Back in the day, I felt a need to know how to 'do' the cube. There were no computers to help solve it. No Youtube videos show you how. No robotic Lego contraptions to actually twist the cube for you. No. You either had the Krell machine-enhanced brain of Morbius (er, but not The Brain of Morbius) and worked it out for yourself, or, like me, you bought one of the umpteen books published on the subject. Or you just took it to bits to reassemble correctly. Or peeled the stickers off.

Needless to say, I learnt 'the moves'. Ok, after 30 years of cube I can't quite remember all the shortcuts, but enough to solve a standard cube in a couple of minutes or so.

Now, I still have my original cube from 1980. I keep it in my desk drawer at work. Now and again I'll whip it out, scramble it, then solve it. Just for the sheer heck of it. It's the one on the left, pictured below. Paradoxically, it's not even an original Ideal Toys Rubik Cube, but one of the many many rip offs. A clone.

So it was with a mixture of surprise, delight and a modicum of fear, that I stumbled on Puzl.co.uk, an online store almost completely devoted to puzzles of a twisty nature.

Let's just say that there is a bewildering assortment of cube like puzzles, in an equally bewildering assortment of geometries and configurations. Almost all unsolvable, probably, by my learnt by rote methods. Or any method, for that matter.

So with a little trepidation, and tempted by the unique engineering, I ordered up a 5x3x3 cube, shown below.

As you can clearly see, this cube differs from the norm by having an extra plane of cubies (look, I don't know what the terminology of the little cubes is - cubies, cubits, cubelets?) that rotate independently from the others. The pleasing aspect of this puzzle, is that when scrambled, it looks like a work of art.

I'm not kidding. Look at the picture. Is it Bauhaus? Mondrian? Cubism?

Another surprise is the fluidity of movement of the faces. This is a really well engineered item. Helped by the precise moulding of each cubeling, lubricated and sprung just right, the result is a smooth, tactile objet.

With a little sleight of hand, it's possible for me to make this cube look scrambled, yet solve it as normal for muchos kudos.

But then it's just as easy to fuck it up completely.

Struxx iPad Stand

Just got an iPad? Got an empty wallet? Wondering what to do with that Struxx robot you bought last year and left, forgotten, under the bed in the spare room?

Have no fear, mygadgetlife has the answer!*

Ok, I admit it, I had a... let's call it a nerdgasm, because let's face it - anyone with an iPad soon finds out that the device spends a lot of its time on its back when not being supported by hands or lap. Not much use for the fancy pants photo frame mode let alone the video playback mode.

Oh sure, you can prop up your iPad or couple it with Velcro, or you can just buy a stand. Have you seen the prices for some of the stands?

With that in mind, I sought a DIY solution and ended up discounting Lego, down to lack of confidence in its structural integrity. Fine for an iPod touch, but not for the iPad.

Then I remembered Struxx, the alternative construction toy.

What you'll need is shown below.

For the spars, you'll need 3 x 14 length, 2 x 12 and an 8.

Start by fitting a ball-socket to each of the spars. It helps if both sockets are in the same orientation at each end of the spar.

Next, form a triangle with vertices of 3 x size 14 spars, with 3 x 3-way ball joints. Angle the ball joints about 45 degrees so that the axis is pointed inwards.

Position the triangle so that the shortest side faces you. This is the front. Clip the two size 12 spars to the left and right ball joints, then clip a 8 spar to the back.

Position the triangle so that the point faces away from you. Clip a further two 12 spars to the left and right ball joints, then clip a 8 spar to the back corner.

Bring all the spars together and join them with a further 3 way ball joint.

Take the 75 degree angle joints and fit a single ball joint to each. Fit the angle joints to the inner left and right axis of the 3 way ball joints so that they poke out of the frame. These are what the iPad will rest on.

Take the 2 way ball joint and fit it to the axis of the top 3 way ball joint. To this fit the parts with the vinyl tips that were the robot's fingers. Angle the fingers slightly up and out to provide a suitable angle for you iPad.

You're just about ready, but first even up the frame a bit, make sure your angles are symmetrical and that the thing lies evenly on a flat surface.

There you have it, an iPad stand made out of Struxx.

*of course, it goes without saying, but build and use this at your own risk!

my gadget holiday

Ok, so I kinda cut down on the gadgets for this year's Spring holiday to Wales, insofar as only packing my Sony HCR-5E camcorder, Panasonic Lumix G1 and a Nintendo DS.

And the Tom Tom for directions, my Android powered phone, and our iPod Touch.

And the Belkin Tunebase FM car transmitter for the iPod. And our Macbook Pro.

Oh and the 3G dongle for internet access. And my Gerber multi-tool for those times we get lost in the woods.

And of course not forgetting the all the chargers and cables for the above.

Quite honestly, I don't know how we managed to get by that week.

On buying an iPad...

Those outside the UK will probably never have heard the term 'Dixons' to describe a chain of electronics retailers - and sadly, never will, because the Dixons we all know and love has been rebranded to Currys.digital. Whatever.

The important part is that the Dixons name lives on in airports up and down the country. The last time I was in one it was called Dixons Tax Free. As the name implied many of the goods were on offer sans the Value Added Tax we in Britain pay for mostly all goods. Sadly, it too has succumbed to rebranding and has now become Dixons Travel. I fear it has something to do with not quite offering the same VAT free prices.

Anyway, there was a slight saving to be made by purchasing an iPad in the airport, so I waited, oohhh, at least a week after the UK launch before making use of a handy business trip to facilitate said saving.

As soon as I got though security, I proceeded straight to the tech store, narrowly avoiding the bar.

There were at least four staff, all seemingly preoccupied with their own duties.

I hesitate. Unlike the Dixons at, say, Luton airport, the purpleshirted staff here were positively sanguine towards the new, easy prey that had just walked in.

They have an iPad on display. It is being probed by some bearded traveller with a backpack. (Readers please note: By this time, I have already spent some quality time with an iPad at Apple's Regent St store. With 500 other people.)

I've been the shop for quite a number of seconds with nary a glance from a member of staff, except from a bloke I initially think is security and therefore ignore. Later, I realise he's a blackshirt from another tech store located deeper within the bowels of the terminal's retail space.

To my right are the laptops, to my left the cameras. Ignoring both I head manfully to the back of the store hoping, on the way, to be accosted by an eager staffer. I reach my destination unmolested.

Here, there appears to be about 10 feet of rack space devoted entirely to iPod cases. I bloody hate iPod cases. Nevertheless I casually pretend to be interested in the hope of an approach of a member of staff. Imagine their surprise, I chortle to myself, when instead of a cheap(ish) iPod accessory, I ask if they have any iPads in stock!

The staff ignore me. They seem to be preoccupied by replenishing the already full shelves.

Slightly annoyed at the staffs' lack of attentiveness, I wander out of the store to check the departure board. I have 45 minutes.

I hesitate, still not utterly convinced of the financial realities of actually purchasing an iPad. It's a lot of wonga, my brain tells my heart.

The moment of doubt passes and I once again amble into the store.

You'd think that sales floor staff in electronics stores, especially ones located in airports, would be trained to look out for yo-yo doubters like myself and be ready to pounce at this obvious sign of weakness.

I begin to wonder if my loitering hasn't triggered some semi-sentient security system somewhere, and that an armed Tactical Response Team is on its way to take me down. I wait. Nothing happens. Now I start handling 'the goods', a tactic that never fails to draw purpleshirt attention.

Well, I say 'handling', but down to fear of setting off the hypersensitive alarms, it's more a stroking of expensive kit. For some reason, I'm looking at a Canon EOS 5DMkII with a serious looking lens. The lens too, has a little alarm umbilical that means I'm twice as likely to set the ruddy alarm off..

I put the camera down, gently, and reassuringly see an older member of staff near the iPod docks. I stroll over, confident that his obvious seniority will enable him to process my request with utmost efficiency. On my way, I'm momentarily distracted by an Alienware laptop, it's neon lit keyboard beckoning to be touched. Strong of will, I ignore these glittering temptations and proceed past the Toshibas.

To my bewilderment the senior sales chap has disappeared!

Unnerved by this development, I now pretend to be interested in iPod docks. Apart from that oversized rugby ball of tech, the B&W Zeppelin, they're all rubbish. Still no interest from the staff, whose numbers have dwindled to three. Surely, I think, there are rules governing the number of staff present in the store at any one time. I mean, what if a huddle of wealthy Japanese tourists were to shuffle in? They [the store] would be swamped, unable to cope... I dismiss the idea quickly - Japanese tourists are unlikely to bring back Japanese goods from Britain, to Japan. That'd be like me flying to Tokyo to buy a bottle of Glenfiddich.

Having worryingly lost track of time, I head back to the departure board. 35 minutes to go. Phew. I decide to ponder the purchase over lunch, and head to Pret for a Super Club and a cappuccino.

The coffee is hot. I mean really hot. 20 minutes later I'm quaffing back the last of the foamy goodness, and having possibly quite definitely made my mind up over the iPad, make my way back to the store.

There are 15 minutes until my flight is due to be called. As I double check the departure board to make sure I'm looking at the right flight, the banner changes to green. Goto Gate 88.

Sod it. I march into the store, right up to a sales assistant who is checking, on the computer, that the shelves are indeed full.

He is startled by my sudden appearance. I do not mince my words. "iPads," I say, "Got any in stock?"

"Uhh, yes." he replies, moving swiftly to where the demo unit is perched. He unlocks the undercounter storage. His cupboard of iPad boxes is full, save for the one he'd extracted for me. It looked a lot like a game of Tetris that was about to end.

At the till, I have a frisson of fear that my credit card will be rejected. It is not and I leave the store much poorer than when I entered.

I rush to the aforementioned Gate. Come my precious, I think to myself, bag in hand, let us board the winged stallion and travel to the Northern territories, for the ceremony known as the "Unboxing".

Nissan Leaf Test Drive

Nissan’s Leaf will be one of the first mass produced fully electric vehicles to be introduced to UK roads.

Last week, I had the privilege of taking one of the prototypes for a short test drive, as part of Nissan’s rather low key efforts to raise awareness of this new model.

With the Leaf, Nissan are attempting to bring to market a battery powered car in the shape of a regular family sized hatchback. And, to an extent, they’ve largely succeeded.

Of course, the usual caveats of EVs persist - limited range and (at the time of writing) poor recharging infrastructure.

However if, like me, you drive a 20-25 mile commute and have a garage within which to charge the vehicle, then the Leaf starts to become a serious proposition. Fuel is relatively cheap and is free of the duty levied on petrol and diesel. Being a zero emission vehicle, it attracts zero Vehicle Excise Duty - or road tax to you and me. There are fewer complicated oily bits to go wrong, so servicing should be cheaper.

As a result, the Leaf should be a cheap car to run. And, unlike the Tesla Roadster, the Leaf is approaching affordable, even if it is expensive for the size of car it is. Entry to the EV club was never going to be cheap for early adopters. The same was probably true for ICE automobiles until the Model T arrived.

Back to the Nissan event. The roadshow, if you could call it that, was held at 2 locations; the 02 Arena in London, and at the Centre for Life, Newcastle Upon Tyne. As the car is planned to be built at Nissan's Sunderland plant, Newcastle was the obvious choice for this demo.

Having driven down from Glasgow, and not knowing what to expect, we were a little underwhelmed to find a couple of small Nissan tents and a small exhibition trailer parked up in the courtyard that forms the campus of the Centre for Life.

That said, the Nissan staff were helpful and I quickly got signed onto the test drive list. The car was still being charged (unceremoniously left in a corner, near a power outlet), so we decided to come back after lunch.

Under one tent sat the 'static' Leaf showcar. Cordoned off, this was strictly hands off, because apparently they only have two - a left hand drive model and a right hand drive model. Present was one Nissan gentleman sporting white cotton gloves who was good enough to open the rear hatch and doors so that we great unwashed could get a better look at the interior.

Whilst the cream insides of the prototype might not be very family friendly, the blue tinged dash and controls looked very Star Trek. Whether this makes it to the production model remains to be seen.

Overall, we liked the look of the Leaf. The slightly bulbous look is deliberate - apparently it makes it look like an eco car - and I'd agree. And because it looks unique (as opposed to fitting the electric gubbins in, say, a Micra or Note), it's sure to leave it's eco mark wherever you leave it.

It was time for my test run. Turns out the test vehicle was actually a Nissan Versa, a production car available in the US, and thus a left hand drive. It had been modified to accommodate the electrics and drive train of what will be the production Leaf.

The first lap was with the Nissan test driver at the wheel. Let me tell you, this car can shift. And it does it silently.

Within the limits of the tiny track, the vehicles' performance was surprising to say the least.

My turn, now, to drive Nissan's only working model.

As I slid behind the wheel I found the controls were exactly like an automatic, and as my current car is a CVT equipped Nissan, I was right at home.

Still, I forgot to put my foot on the brake before engaging Drive, so nothing happened initially. (The CVT has a mechanical interlock - the gearshift won't move unless the the footbrake is depressed. Not so on the fly-by-wire Leaf.)

Underway, the car was surprisingly smooth. Nissan have obviously put a lot of work into making the drivetrain respond in a similar way to that of a petrol car and dipping the accelerator provided a pleasing burst of power.

The car does all this silently, of course. There is legislation being introduced to make EVs emit a sound to alert pedestrians of their presence. If not, I imagine the death toll in local supermarket car parks to be quite high.

So, test drive complete, the serious question of would I actually buy one quickly came up. I certainly fit the profile of a low-mileage commuter, and as we're a two car family, we always have a fossil fuel car for those long trips up and down the country. So yes, if the price is right, the Leaf seems a viable proposition.

Prices are to be announced in for the UK at the end of May 2010, so watch this space.

Struxx your stuff

The Struxx robot is a sad old thing, really.

You see, he's much bigger than the other construction toy robots. Bigger than any Bionicle. Larger than many a Meccano. Taller than a Transformer. (OK, that last one isn't actually a construction toy...). And K'nex... let's just forget K'nex.

He's a bit left out, ol' Struxx 'bot is.

Much better to think of him as a kind of kiddie Terminator, a T0.5, silently wishing he could grow up to be, at the very least, a human smushing composite steel T800 Model 101.

Sorry to say, it's never going to happen. His 29-inch wibbly-wobbly frame is just too weak for such aspirations. Not to mention the propensity for joints to pop out of their sockets at inappropriate moments. At least his eyes light up, giving him a freakish orange stare.

And it's a shame, really, because at it's root, the Struxx construction system verges on the actually-quite-good.

Struxx is a product from the 'brick-compatible' non-Lego Mega Bloks. Now, to any fan of Lego like myself, inviting a Mega Bloks product into your home is the equivalent of inviting Dracula himself over the threshold. Once he's in, he's welcome any time.

In it's favour is the fact that it doesn't directly compete with anything on offer from Lego. It doesn't particularly look like anything from Lego. The parts don't have studs. There aren't many right angles. The colour palette is limited to silver, charcoal and green. And as the name suggests, constructions are largely built from struts connected mainly by ball-sockets.

By and large, it's a well made toy. Attention has been given to the important interlocking pieces. The ball-socket joints are reassuringly snug, with sufficient friction to hold parts in place. There's even a larger, green ball joint part that makes possible a stronger joint like the hip and shoulder joints.

There are many types of joint in this kit. Single, bi, tri and quad ball joints. Fixed angle joints. Buttress style joints. It's all very bewildering, coming from the comforts of Lego's established brick system. But the parts go together easily and I imagine a fairly large construction could be built rapidly.

On completion of Spindly here, the end result, despite being a bit unsteady, is quite a pleasing articulated space-frame type thing.

Now for the not-so-good bits.

A construction toy is only as good as the instructions accompanying it. Here, Struxx robot is a little let down. To start with, there a a couple of addendum sheets that need careful studying. Mainly because they're a bit wrong. Some pieces, the angle joints, have a handedness to them. That is to say, the illustration in the manual is of the piece in a particular orientation. Except that in the addendum, the piece can never look like how it's pictured, because someone has flipped the piece image in the vertical and then had it printed. It's not that much of a problem really, but it's annoying and confusing.

Confusing, also, are the bits in the manual that are correct. It's sometimes not clear how the socket parts should be aligned in the strut - the octagonal socket and pins allow for four possible angles (for symmetrical parts - eight for asymmetrical) and only after an assembly has been built and joints start a-poppin' do you have to go back and revise the alignment of the part. Even harder is making sure that tri-pieces are lined up properly.

I also found it difficult to get my completed assemblies to look exactly like the ones in the manual, mainly down to the lack of perspective used in the illustrations and the large amount of freedom of movement in 3D some of the assemblies have.

Having said all that, getting the parts right and put together is ultimately quite rewarding.

The Struxx Gears block is a bit disappointing. Lego Technic it is not. Looking like it might be a differential, it tries to allow some sort of mechanised articulation but its function is quite limited. You can't transmit the rotation to other parts of the model because other parts don't allow it. So the robot has a limp left arm that turns the head when swung. That's why he's a bit sad. As a mechanism, it's a bit rubbish, particularly when compared to this.

I was also a bit disappointed that there were no secondary model instructions. There are plenty of pictures of them on the box and in the manual - but no step by step guide on how to build them. The Struxxworld website - well it doesn't really exist. You are re-directed to the Mega Bloks product pages where Flash abounds and the only remotely informative alternate build instructions take the form of 360-degree images of lots of models.

Be prepared to have your laptop handy (and a magnifying glass)when your child demands you build the Range Rover lookee-likee.

Overall though, I like this toy - it's sufficiently different to make it interesting, but doesn't quite have the appeal (or compactness) of Lego's Bionicles, or the technical detail to meet the Technic range.

Finally, the Struxx robots inability to self-terminate, means a slow death by dismantling, or maybe being chucked in to a vat of molten... chocolate.

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

... someone updated their blog on a more regular basis than I do.

Today I'm looking at a really neat USB gizmo - the Sandisk Ultra II 4Gb SD card.

This is one of those SD cards that also slots into a USB port and presents itself like any other USB flash drive. If your laptop doesn't sport a SD slot, this little device is a godsend.

The 4Gb capacity means that it's only compatible with SDHC equipment such as my Acer Aspire One and digital photo frame.

However, flip open the cover, and the card can be used in any USB port. It mounts quickly on the Mac desktop, as well as Windows and Linux.

The double hinge mechanism looks flimsy, and it probably wouldn't stand up to rough handling, but it's well engineered and snaps shut with a satisfying click.

There's even a tiny activity light that remains invisible - I mean you really can't see where the LED is - when the card is unplugged from the USB port.

Transfer speeds are fast - what you would expect from this class of device.

All I need now is a few more gadgets that support SDHC!

Sandisk V-Mate

The Sandisk V-Mate has been around for a couple of years now, but not only has it been discontinued, but no replacement device seems to exist that replicates the V-Mates' functionality.

The concept behind the V-Mate is simple: take a video source and encode it directly to memory card in mpeg4 format, without using a computer. The mini- and micro-SD slots on the unit mean that you could encode something for direct viewing on a mobile phone. There's a MS Pro Slot that takes Duo cards without an adapter, so encoding directly to PSP cards is straightforward too. 

In addition to standard SD cards, the V-Mate accepts SDHC, MMC and RSMMC. It's a comprehensive list but so far I've only been able to try the unit with standard SD cards. Partly this is due to not having spare cards to hand, and partly due to mistrust of the V-Mates' ability not to corrupt cards from other devices.

I say this, because my first attempt at recording resulted in a SD card that could no longer be read by my camera (although the Mac could see it) - a format sorted it - but the V-Mate had done something to the FAT on the card to render it unusable by the camera.

Now, I only have one high capacity MS-Pro Duo card and that's in the PSP and carries a fair mixture of game saves, some music , pictures and config files. I'd rather the V-Mate didn't muck it up - so I've not yet tried direct to PSP recording. (Yes I know I can backup the card... but I don't have time for that...).

The V-Mate packs a couple of extra features in addition to recording video. Tied to the core function is a scheduler set much like a VCR - this in turn drives an IR blaster to change channels on a set top box. I've not tried this because it's not how I intend to use the device (clue: I have a TiVo). A mini USB port allows connection to a PC or Mac and allows the V-Mate to double as a multi-format card reader. Remember that, unlike the bulk of card readers, this handles those pesky micro and mini-SD cards.

Now, all this is packaged in a compact form that looks a little lost even next to an Apple TV. Video to and from the unit is a simple composite signal, together with left/right audio channels. Most video devices put out this signal, but they're usually part of the Scart socketry instead of a discrete, dedicated socket. So, a switchable Scart adapter (from eBay) is required to start using the V-Mate.

Ah. Using the V-Mate. This is where concept meets real-world and the result is a train wreck. Ok, I'm being a bit harsh. The main problem is the unresponsive remote. The annoying bubble-texture buttons, when prodded, don't do anything... most of the time. Sometimes, the unit buffers two remote operations, by which time you've pressed the buttons a few times more to be sure and the interface ends up where you don't want it.

The result makes using the V-Mate thoroughly unenjoyable, which is a pity because I really like the idea.

Recordings can be made in various resolutions, to match the intended playback device. One problem is that resulting mpeg4 files are in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Most TV in the UK is broadcast in 16:9. V-Mate will still record this, but the result is squashed and unwatchable. A solution is to re-encode the video, adjusting the aspect ratio along the way. This scheme works but the overall time and effort required to process even 1 hour of television leaves me asking the question: is it worth it? The answer depends on how important it is to get the video onto the computer. This process is something I'll describe in a future article.

I like the V-Mate. It has an appealingly unique function. The operation of the device could be better, but it does what it sets out to do and the results are not too shabby. I got mine cheap on eBay and despite the gripes, this is quite a cool bit of kit.