Olivier's Blog

Good news of the week, AMT Mobile 1.0.2 is now available on the App Store.

This minor release fixes the Info-Train panel to use the new shiny (and less functionnal) AMT website.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Mac at 09:04 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Well, a new version of AMT Mobile will soon be finished. Once submitted, it should hit the App Store in a couple of weeks. The next version will bring even more features and ease of use.

In the meantime, a new domain is now available, the whole project will be available through www.amtmobile.ca

Posted by Olivier Hill in Mac at 20:31 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Didn't take long, AMT Mobile is available on the App Store.

I have created a small landing page with the application details. I will add support and FAQ soon to that page, as well as the French version of course.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Mac at 06:18 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

After a lenghty process, AMT Mobile will hit the Apple Store in the next hours.

If you take the train in the Montreal region and you want something to track the schedules, or even know when the train is out of service (believe me.. this happens quite frequently), go grab a copy, it's just 99¢

Am I working for the AMT? No.. Do they know about this iPhone App? No.. Why did I do this? Because I was bored back in March and some people were insisting on me putting this on the App Store.

By the way, between the time I submitted the App and the actual launch date, someone has released a global public transportation mobile app. I think it's something like YUL Mobile or something (not to name it!). Of course, my app is better, faster, more efficient and saves the environment, but feel free to try both, I'll read the comments and improve as necessary.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Mac at 19:38 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

7th day in Wien and since this number has a strong religious meaning, what a perfect day to go see inside Stephansdom cathedral, the katacomb and the rest.

But first, let's go visit a museum. We decide to go at the Natural history museum, since they are supposed to have specimens of dinosaurs. When we get there, we quickly realize that it is closed on Thursdays. We can go to the building on the other side, which is the Kunsthistorisches Museum (or Museum of Arts).

Once entered, we can appreciate the architecture of the building. Looking above, we can see a large painting on the ceiling.

First exhibition, coins from around the world. We go through rooms, seeing different coins from different time spans. Last room we enter, we come accross a enormous coin, from the Canadian Royal Mint. This pure gold coin, is at the moment the largest coin ever made. Worth over $2M, it weights 100kg. Not very practical if you want to use it and carry it in your pocket though.

Next rooms, paintings from the 15th to 17th century. Not being very informed (or educated?), we quickly look at all the paintings, mostly religious or related to suffering (plague, wars, etc.)

Last rooms, artefacts from Egypt, pyramids, etc. Very interesting indeed. It is amazing looking at all those little hieroglyphs, not just on tablets but everywhere. They even had a mummified crocodile, which is odd at first looking at the shape.

Museum tour is over, getting back outside, it is still raining. We decide to take the subway to go to Stephansdom. Basically, this means taking the U1 after streetcar #2 (sorry, no U2).

Inside the cathedral, the humidity is strong, making it very cold and wet. Except for some plasma TVs on walls, original architecture has been preserved. Not much light inside, but just enough is coming from the outside through the large windows. Having looked around, we wait for the next Katacomb tour to begin.

30 minutes later, the guide arrives. Unfortunately, we won't be able to take pictures downstairs. Too bad, the visit is still worth it.

Going underground, we didn't really know what was there. We then learn that the katacombs contain graves of thousands of people. In each rooms, we can see piles of bones. In certain rooms, piles represent a certain era with the Black Death. Bodies were not burned as it would have destroyed the after-life of the victims. We are even told that at a certain point, the cathedral had to be closed due to the smell. Creepy.

Out of the katacombs, we head back to the hotel, and take a shower... just to be sure we're not infested. No really, we went for dinner instead.

Now time for the Sesame Street Moment: nicht verfügbar. It means not available. We had a hard time understanding what was wrong with the TV at the hotel, every button we used gave that message on the screen. It seems the hotel was doing a remote update of the system and it failed. Back to normal now.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 03:46 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Plans for day sixth were simple: try to visit places Talie would not be very interested to see. Let's try to visit the Freud Museum, take streetcars and go see Naschmarkt. With the GPS turned on, this is mostly where I went:

First stop, the Sigmeud Freud Museum. As it seems, Mr. Freud lived most of his life in a house in Vienna that is now hosting the museum. It sounded exciting at first, but after entering the museum, you quickly realize he moved back to London at the end of his life with all of his belongings. The museum is hardly empty rooms with pictures on the wall and text about his life. Next time, I'm reading Wikipedia instead.

Exiting the museum, it is time for a quick lunch. Picking up a sandwich at Billa, I continue my journey walking towards the Donau Kanal. There, walking on the bridge, you have a good scenic view of Vienna.

Time to go back on the streetcar. Taking the streetcar #1, I transfer to #2 at Stubendring. Then, passing our hotel, I go west to Karlplatz. Exiting there, I am only a couple of steps away from the Naschmarkt.

Once I enter the market, you can smell (at first the fish) different odors and spices. It is filled with small merchants, selling fruits, nuts, fish, meats, spices and candies like the wasabi sugary thing. As I approach the Kettenbrückengasse U-bahn station, rain starts. I go inside and take the subway go to back to Karlplatz.

Now back on the ring, I take back the streetcar #2. I then enjoy the view from inside while travelling all the way to the end of the line. After a while, I'm back at the hotel, not so wet.

As for the Sesame Street moment, today's sentence: Nicht malen unsere Zimmer, während wir weg sind. If Google did this right, it means: Do not paint our room while we are away.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 03:07 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)