Man-made flying objects are almost universally inspiring. As a kid, I launched Estes rockets and always wanted the model that had the 110 camera (film!) built in (http://www.apogeerockets.com/estes_snapshot.asp). Looks like even that has been replaced with video now: http://www.apogeerockets.com/Estes_Astrovision_Video_Rocket.asp. Well, I still have the rockets, but figured I'd start small. A local toy shop had a nice selection of kites. I found a plain, triangular kite with a 7' wingspan.

That would be enough to lift my cheap-o flash-based camcorder. I knew that I would just rig the camera to the kite's keel. After several too-complicated harnesses, I settled on just the thing: duct tape. I secured the camera to the keel on three sides of the camera. Low-tech, but it worked just fine. The whole family got involved, with the kids helping launch the kite. We made several runs, only two of which I've added in the video. Turned out to not be a really windy place and time. I've left the audio in the picture, unaltered (which, yes, is odd for me). Turn your speakers/headphones down as the high-end is kind of raw. The audio does serve one purpose, though: it points out how much stress that kite is under as it fights the wind and the attached line.

This was clearly a very version-1-point-oh effort. Some things to improve upon for next time:

- Stability: how can I stabilize the video? (without hoisting up a really expensive camera that has a video stabilizer built in...which probably even couldn't compensate for the shaking).

- Longer line: In the first half of the video, the reel is all the way out. I want it higher.

- Optimal camera angle: The first half of the video has the camera pointing down the kite's keel. The second half has it facing forward on the keel. Seems like the ideal is somewhere in-between.

Thanks to H.264 compression, this movie compressed down nicely, and still looks decent at double-size. If you're into that sort of thing, get the movie file directly here:

http://www.radiotope.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/Marczak_KiteCam-2008110...

Enjoy, and, as always, suggestions welcome.

Virtualization changes everything. Well, at least, a lot of things. It is a huge change in the area of testing in particular. Being able to snapshot a test environment, abuse it, and easily return it to some known state is enormous. However, I'm having a problem getting OS X Server running under VMWare Fusion on the new MacBook Pro. Fusion itself runs fine. I can virtualize other operating systems. However, the combination of VMWare Fusion v2.0 (build 116369), OS X Server and the new unibody MBP doesn't work as far as I can tell. But it fails in a way that doesn't look to pin the blame on Fusion.

Running the OS X Server installer under Fusion gets to the point of displaying the desktop, but then beach-balls indefinitely. Similarly, copying a working Server install from another Fusion 2.0 install (basically, any machine but the new unibody) displays the grey boot screen with spinner - again, indefinitely.

What's changed? The major architectural change on the new machines is that they no longer use an Intel chipset. They use a very nascent NVidia mainboard chipset; the likes of which has never been used in a Apple product thus far.

But shouldn't all of this be abstracted away from a virtual machine? If it were truly virtualized, it would only know what the virtual container told it about its environment. This doesn't seem to be the case here. In some respects, this unique case has benefits for people testing on OS X, as it should provide a truer experience. However, it other ways, it betrays the basics of virtualization.

There seems to be no mention of this on VMWare's support knowledge base. Looks like I have another letter to write to a company insider for support.

One thing that has really irked me since OS X 10.5 shipped (and even before, for that matter), was that Microsoft Office didn't "understand" Apple's Spaces feature. Invoking Spaces while Word is running would leave document windows and toolbars strewn across different spaces and half-operable. Looks like the latest Mac Office Update, 12.1.4, fixes this.

The scant release notes make no mention of this, but I torture tested Word while moving through Spaces and using the Application Switcher to jump between Spaces and applications. Word remained intact with all toolbars staying put. The update is available via the Microsoft Auto Updater, and downloadable directly via the support page, currently at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx.

Been meaning to post something about the iPhone purchasing experience. On the day the iPhone 3G was released, I went to an AT&T store and placed an order for two phones, and received them 3 days later. The salesperson I dealt with was an absolute professional, and a pleasure to work with during the provisioning and transfer process (I was formerly on Verizon). Overall, it was just about the easiest process ever, which is why I've been confused by reports of people having a difficult time or still waiting in line. There's a simple remedy: go to an AT&T store.

While the iPhone is an Apple product, it's a phone. You'll get the same product at an AT&T store that you will at an Apple store. Also, since it doesn't seem to matter who you know at Apple, there's no reason to stress over going to the store itself.

I have to get the store manager's name and write a letter praising the salesperson I dealt with, as I'm sure they hear the negative side all too often.