OK, I know it’s of interest to a no-one but me, but today I took a break from gettting my head around Java with XML Schemas and had a go at converting my Mum and Dad’s “BBC Big Challenge” pedometer to use Imperial measurements rather than metric. Not that I’m against metric, quite the opposite, but I hate the idea that the option has been removed. Particularly when people of my parents age want Imperial. OK, I’m not reprogramming it or anything clever (and impossible) like that, but it clearly had the capability, as it had ‘inches’ and ‘lbs’ on the LCD, so I thought I’d give it a go. A few blobs of solder later and it was happily dealing with inches, miles and lbs. A very small victory I know. In fact, just ignore this.
Yesterday I had a go at the Sourceforge/Cloudscape contest to win an iPod. You have to download their database engine, install it, and then install a competition database. Then you need to write a JDBC app to search their tables for a magic word – which is different for every applicant. There’s probably an easier way and if you know it, please don’t tell me. It took me a couple of hours, to be honest, but I got the magic word right….and then I read the terms and conditions…and it’s only open to US and Canadian residents! ARSE! So, American readers, if you want to enter this comp, fill out the form, send me the e-mail you receive and I’ll give you your password.