Olivier's Blog

Not really a long post and I'll make one longer once I've done something interesting today.

Between 6 and 9 in the lobby of the hotel, you can get complimentary coffee. Basically, it is an automated espresso machine with pictogram buttons. I've been using it for 3 days, and I can't really figure out how to ask for a double espresso (and short ones, not allongé). What I found out is that it is best to simply press twice the small cup button.

Still, waiting in line, there is a blond mid-40 women in front, trying to understand the machine. She is pressing a button, transfering the small styrofoam cups inside her big thermos, then doing the whole thing again. She definitely looks American. Turns out, she's from Texas.

After a short discussion on how difficult it is to get coffee (still, don't forget she is from the US and must be drinking a container of cheap Dunkin Donuts coffee each morning), I just remember the Starbucks I discovered the first day. Asking if she would want to know where the Starbucks is, I get a strong: "REALLY, Where?". I guess she'll be heading there now.

During that time, couple of taxi drivers entered the lobby and took a small cup of coffee for the road. Each morning, they are drinking their small cup while waiting in line for clients. Even the polizei (police) is doing the same thing. At least, some people are happy with that complimentary machine. Rule of thumb, if you want to fill your thermos, you're at the wrong spot.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 06:20 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Day 3 in Wien, that's right, we are now living like the rest of the world and sleeping at night. It also means we can enter buildings and see some sunlight. Although like the other days, it's raining outside. After a pretty good storm, it seems we will be able to get some blue sky, time to get out and show Talie the surroundings.

First thing first, time to start the GPS tracing see if the trick really works. With the iPhone switched on in my pocket, I will try to collect our position as we walk. This should allow us to precisely trace our steps on the map and geocode the photos taken. After some GPX to KML and KML to polylines conversion, here is the output:

Not bad, we can even see where we crossed the bridge in the park to go to the other side of the canal. We can also see where we entered the shops at the end because of the sudden storm (believe me, rain was pouring!).

So, simple walk in the park, but we were still able to see some interesting things. Upon entering near the canal, our first reaction was to see all the flowers everywhere. It is still cold here, around 2-6°C. Still, without any leaves in trees, the grass is green and flowers are surviving. Just on top of us, a weird tree with hairy balls. Don't know what this is, but it scares me. Let's move on before one ball falls on my head.

Walking the length of the canal, the sun quickly reappears. We now have a complete blue sky, with still dark clouds on the horizon. There is a small bridge nearby, we cross it and exit the park on Am Heumarkt. Continuing our walk, we pass by a board announcing future concerts. In big letters, we can read: "Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano". A block away, we are in front of the Wiener Konzert Haus.

Continuing our walk, the sky gets darker and darker. Back on Kärntner ring, we see now opened shopping centre. Couple of minutes after, rain is now pouring. We quickly get inside, even if we don't really need to shop.

On the lower level, we see a market selling fruits and vegetables. We decide to go see if we can find some nutritious food. When eating at restaurants, it's hard to get your daily dose of fresh vitamins. We head down to realize that the market is bigger than expected. We go inside, take some fruits (no chocolate for me..), Red Bull (Austria is where this stuff is from after all) and some bread.

Waiting in line to pay, we are greeted with a somewhat cold women. As she starts scanning our groceries, she's mumbling words that we cannot understand. Looking frustrated, she gets up and walk away from the counter. Not knowing really what is happening, it seems she has scanned everything and I begin packing the items. However, it seems the apples are missing, where have they gone? Talie also seeking the missing bag, the wonderful women comes back with our forbidden fruits.

Looking at the bag, we both realize why she was such pleasant company. In the store, you have to weight your own things and apply a label on the bag. She continues mumbling German words, even if she now realizes we can't speak it. Oh well, let's pay and get out before she jumps on us.

Going back outside, the rain has stopped again. However it is still dark and we decide to head back to the hotel. It will be dinner time soon and we have to wake-up early the next morning.

As for the Sesame Street moment, today's expression: Es tut mir leid (S toot meer lide). This is what we should have said to the poor women, given the fact that we were overall "sorry" for being misinformed.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 23:36 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Second night in Wien, and it seems the rain just stopped. With xGPS installed on my iPhone, I now feel more confident about getting lost, as I now have the maps of the city even without Wifi. Still, let's plan the trip ahead, trying to memorize all the names in my head.

Tonight's challenge: Go see U2. Of course, not the band, Talie would hate me. I'm talking about the U2 line of the underground transportation system U-Bahn. If I'm understanding the map correctly, I just need to enter at Stadtpark station and transfer at Karlsplatz where the U2 line begins. From there, it seems there is a district two stations after with museums and nice buildings. It would make lovely photos.

Now that the trajectory is calculated, let's see where I really went. On the map, indigo is walking, green the U3 and red the U2. Pins are where I was scratching my head trying to find where I was:

Now, walking by Stadtpark, I quickly recognize the big U sign that indicates the U-Bahn entrance. Couple of minutes after, my ticket is bought (1,70€) and I'm waiting on the platform. Surprisingly, this is not an underground station, and you can see the sky from inside.

I only have the time to take a couple of photos and the train arrives with a quiet hum (resembling the Toronto subway). Train stops, and I'm waiting on the platform. Is it normal that the doors are still shut? Looking at them, they do have a door knob. Intrigued, I open one of them. With a simple push, one of the door opens magically. While the doors are automatic, they won't open by themselves. Probably another ingenious energy efficiency feature we just don't use in Canada!

Inside the train, I only have one station to go. 2 minutes later, the train arrives at Karlsplatz. Same trick here, you have to open the door if you want to exit. Looking around, this is a much bigger station. I can connect with two other U lines, but obviously I am only looking for the U2 line. Couple of meters ahead, I'm now on the U2 platform. I quickly enter the waiting train. 2 other stations ahead, I exit the suburban network. Enough public transportation for one night.

Going back to the surface, I realize that I am now completely lost. As usual, I cannot find the street names, and I don't know in which direction to walk. Trying different directions, I then discover where to go. I quickly find the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien and the Kunsthistorisches Museum. With all the lights pointing at these buildings, it makes beautiful night pictures. Continuing my journey (while getting lost again at Karlsplatz), I find the Wiener Staatsoper (or Opera House). Unfortunately, it starts raining again and I must head back to the hotel.

Waiting for the rain to settle down a little, I decide to wait near the tramway stop where stands sell shish kabab and weiners. Near me, the dude behind the counter greets me with a strong "Kalispera". For a unknown reason, I answer back and turn around. The guy now starts to speak with me in Greek. Uh-oh.. let's hope he understands English. He did. However, he was convinced I was greek. Guess it's time to shave then. After a short discussion, I head back to the hotel, grabbing coffee for the run.

Trail is now over, time to upload photos. Since I've seen on the news that they are cutting the Sesame Street staff, let's help education a little. By each day, I'll try to introduce a new German word. So, today's word is: kreditkarten. I'm now able to pay and say thank you. It sure does make some people happy.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 19:09 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

As some of you might already know, I'm currently visiting the city of Vienna, Austria. While I've been there since yesterday, it is the first time I actually have to walk around and try to understand street names.

After a quick walk around the corner (around the ring?), here is a map of where I went:

Basically, I was looking for coffee. I discovered maybe 7 McDonald's, but realized afterwards that these were only signs pointing to 2 or 3 real restaurants. Naturally, every corner you could find a chique coffee shop, but I was missing the caffeine factor of dripped coffee. Plus, the espresso I had last night was exactly tasting like the ones at home. Whether this means I make good espresso or the coffee shop was bad, yours to decide.

After walking a little bit, I found myself in front of the St. Stehpen's Cathedral (Stephansdom). Just on the other side, a huge pedestrian street with a lot of shops (clothing, books, etc). Still, no cheap dripped coffee. After trying for 15 minutes to see where I was on the map (street names are difficult to spot on buildings), I decided to walk on Stephansplatz as it was crossing Kärtner Ring southbound which becomes the street of the hotel eastbound.

Now, don't let me try to pronounce these names, as I would probably insult someone. I'm just trying to find the same sequence of letters on my map. Shame on me, the only thing I can now say is: "Yes", "No" and "Thank you".

Alright, still walking now. While going south, I'm close to Walfischg street. Is seeking now over? Looking at my left, a Starbucks store is there and open. As recommended by Maxim, if you want your caffeine, Starbucks' coffee is the one to choose at 21mg/oz. Good, let's hope they do understand English now.

Just inside, I'm next in line. The women in front of me is struggling to order a cafe latte. Can't understand what they are saying, but it seems this one won't be easy. Taking a deep breath, I'm probably looking terrified. It's my turn now, prepared to play the "point and nod" game with the guy. To my big surprise, I'm greeted with: "Hello, good evening". As it seems, the women in front did struggle, but with her English. Good.. "Grande Coffee" it is.

Time to pay, I see that big credit card machine that accepts the chip thing. Let's try to see if my new card works. Just popping the card on top, Deutsch menus simply change and everything is now in French. Pretty good sign considering the machine knows where I'm from. Typing my PIN, I'm now seeing a "Merci veuillez reprendre votre carte". After 4 weeks of trying to use it at home, I'm finally able to test the chip technology.

Being a happy person with my coffee and credit card tested, it's time to head back to the hotel. There is still a little bit of rain and the humidity makes it feel colder outside. Just have to walk along the park. Couple of minutes later, I'm back in my room, drinking that good (same old) Starbucks, writing this arcticle. Now that the post is over, the cup is also empty. Let's try to see if I can take some night pictures.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Vienna at 17:59 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Stay tuned, I should release my shiny iPhone app on the App Store shortly. Just have to go through that program enrollment thing with Apple, spending $100US at the same time. Oh well...

I'm really puzzled to see if there really is a business model behind building those apps. At 99¢, ROI takes a long time. Worst when you consider development time and costs (more on that in another post).

Posted by Olivier Hill in Mac at 18:05 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

I just released GeoIP 1.0.5 on PECL. An excerpt from the ChangeLog:

• Small bug in phpinfo() when printing version number could crash PHP. (in 1.0.4)
• Fix memleaks, bug #14851
• Small patch for MacPorts by jhohle
• Add geoip_time_zone_by_country_and_region() and geoip_region_name_by_code() (thanks to Sid Dunayer)
• Add continent_code field for City Database, only if using GeoIP lib 1.4.3 or newer

Since most of the features are very dependent on the GeoIP Library version you're using, I do suggest you upgrade the installed library on your system before upgrading the PECL counter-part.

I have also upgraded the PHP documentation, which should appear on the mirrors by next week. I am now working on documenting the added functions, mostly that FIPS 10-4 thing in geoip_region_name_by_code().

One thing to note about this release though is that the time zones returned by geoip_time_zone_by_country_and_region() with library 1.4.5 don't seem to make any sense here. I have opened up a bug report on SourceForge for libgeoip, will see if it gets resolved in the next release.

In the meantime, happy IP Geo Localization with PHP!

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 15:02 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)