State of Play…
Just a quick update to let everyone know what's happening with Skype Boot v2. Well a lot of work has been happening. Right now v2 has the same functionality of v1 but based on a complete rewrite which should be alot more stable, cover more versions of Skype and Start Skype no matter what version of Skype you need or the version of android your running, be it stock or flavoured.
I want to work on the UI some more and then I will start working on the extra features that will be coming in v2 :-) But alot of the hard work is done and basically from this point on when i'm told from people that they are having issues with the current version I will start handing out Alpha/Beta versions of v2 to those people.
But enough of me yapping, its time to get back to work.
Busy Busy Busy and my time with GiffGaff…
Right. Right lets get the app update news out of the way.
I've been busy. Like really busy. Its 1am right now and i've just come back from a 20 hour day... And its been like that for a while and it will be like that for a few more days. I'm bloody looking forward to a day off.. A 4.2 compatible update (with some other bug fixes) is on its way. I just want a few hours I can set aside to finish it off and fix the issues my beta testers have reported. Its on its way I promise...
Right. Now on to the other news. I have left GiffGaff as my mobile provider. Why? Because of O2.
GiffGaff is owned by the same company that owns O2 (Telefonica). Recently the 3g signal where I live took a crap... thinking it was a little hiccup, I left it a few days for speaking up. At one point I decided to check my postcode on the O2 website and BOOM... for some reason, I used to live in a 3g enabled area but now where I use mobile data was no longer classed as 3G.... (At home, work and friends I use wifi so thats not an issue).
Well I use mobile data for well as you would of guessed it Mobile Data... I was no longer getting this.
NOW. this isn't really a GiffGaff Issue as they have to use the O2 network as the company is owned by the same people who own O2. You live with O2 or your jump ship (which I did).
Now speeds have improved locally after a bucket load of O2 customers complained about the drop in speed, but O2 don't want to hear about the issues GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile (who also use O2) have.
But this was enough for me to jump ship.
In the time I have been with GiffGaff there are atleast 3 major network failures I can recall. 2 of which were O2 issues, which were do do with the database servers they use for subscribers (And even though you pay your money to GiffGaff you are on the O2 database for 1) if you wasn't you wouldn't be connected 2) Legal Reasons). So these 2 outages where not just GiffGaff outages, but O2 outages which had a roll on effect to GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile. But one of these outages was also a GiffGaff failure....
GiffGaff had a flood in its one and only data center... Sorry but as the geek I am, you never NEVER put all your eggs in one basket. GiffGaff's answer to this... Not to put in a redundancy system in another datacenter. But if the shit hits the fan again to just give everyone free calls, texts, mms and data while they fix the issue. Yeah but that never sat well with me.
So finally it comes down to this. If your in a Good O2 connection area and get a fast connection (I rarely ever got faster then UTMS speeds where I used the service) then GiffGaff is the network for you. But because the virtual network is at the whim of O2 (and to be far so is every other virtual network, they are at the whim of the "real" network that powers it) it is no longer the network for me.
so GiffGaff, in words of someone who is no longer with us "So long and thanks for all the fish". Its time for me to port my number away from you and we part ways.
If you ever break the chains of O2, feel free to drop me an email and I might give you another go. But until then... Sorry but there are other providers who charge the same as you and offer me a better connection. A connection like you when you don't get HSDPA+ your wondering why.
Thanks for the almost past year. But like an overly attached girlfriend, its time we parted ways.
Bloody FireWalls :-p
I "tweaked" The firewall on my server last night in a bit of a rush and didn't fully test it. And you guess it I took out my web and mail servers in the process :-p (Well I didn't take them out but they were only accessible to a handful of ips.)
Doh... All should be back up and running now though.
Nexus 7
My last project is complete so work can resume on Skype Boot V2 :-). Well I say my last project is done, the prototype is done and being tested and I've come up with idea's for the next prototype but for now that project is on the shelf while I work on Skype Boot. Its time I needed to get off my arse and finish it.
I've just added a Nexus 7 to my lineup of devices. This is so I can also create app's based around the tablet layout. Yeah thats it. It has nothing to do with me wanting one for a small tablet I can take to the pub with me and use as an E-Book reader... :-p
So the next version of Skype Boot will play nice with tablets WOOHOO. But to get it to play nice with the UI I've taken the decision to start again with v2 for like the 6th time :-p but it will look nice and play nice with devices 2.1 and up (The min Android version you need for Skype is 2.1 so I took that as a baseline to build on).
So back to work for me.
Mail Server issues?
Hi there, The other day I messed something up on my server, I decided it was a good time to test my backup systems. If my back up systems worked then the mistake I made could be fixed in minutes by running a handful of commands instead of an hour or two undoing what I did. So I ran the restore.
Well Everything worked fine :-) Well almost. Since running the restore I have noticed an increase of email to my contact address. I was getting mail but I've noticed an good increase to these addresses. So just a PSA, If you have contacted me recently and never got a reply try sending the mail again. I'm not sure if my spam filter went crazy and were blocking mail or if its just a natural increase in emails.
When I get chance I will go though my logs and check if any mail was blocked that should of come though.
Anyways, I'm working on a hardware project atm (paid work) so Skype Boot has been put on the back burner as well I gotta pay my bills :-p But I will finish it off when I get chance. There is just a handful of features I need to finish and test it on Jelly Bean. I noticed on my own handset the Play Store version seems not to be signing me into Skype, but I think thats a timing issue (something the new version will not suffer from) and I've yet to test the current build of V2 on jellybean because Well I've been busy as hell.
Anywho. just a quick update and a PSA.
Another Quick update.
OK. I had a issue with my web server which I've been working on. And Thanks to my provider that issue is now sorted. I can now happily get on with my projects :-)
I do have a few other projects other then Skype Boot (nothing I can really talk about right now, Hopefully I will have some news one that soon.) But Skype boot has been sitting on the back burner.
Hopefully I will be able to spend some time on it over the next few days (Well Sat/Sun are planned with the misses :-p) we will see how it goes. I want to get it sorted. I do have a test version on my own device, but I still feel it needs more work, and there is 2 feature I have yet to finish coding before I can give you guys a timed beta to test and then get it pushed to the market :-)
Skype Boot is a labour of love, and sadly I need to arrange my time with things that pay the bills. I wish I could spend a ton of time on my pet projects, but such work takes away from my family life :-( so I hope you guys understand.
:-)
Quick update.
Just a quick update.
I've been busy with a project, which has meant I've not be able to put much time into Skype Boot v2 as I would of liked. :-(
But rest assured that its still on my "to bloody get done" list. But as Skype Boot is a free app (The ad's only brings in a little for the beer fund, and no where covers my time in coding, Skype Boot is a labour of love then done for profit) I have to work on things that actually pay the bills and keep the lights on.
I hope I can get some work done on it soon. I might book Wednesday off and spend it on Skype Boot... That is unless something else gets in the way.
CEJ.
Skype Boot v2 Teaser
Just so you know, I've managed to put in a couple of days work into Skype Boot v2 and I thought I would drop you guys a Teaser. I felt the UI needs a work over, This is what it currently looks like. Now this might not even be the final UI. Things are going to be added/removed/renamed and might even be ditched and redone completely. Atm this is the Settings UI I'm using during building and testing. I'm not a UI guy but I do feel that the UI is cleaner and simpler then in V1. Work continues. Watch this space.
So many projects, so little time :-(
Just a quick post to explain that a couple of older projects have sparked my interest again. So I've been working on these, sadly this has put SkypeBoot on the back burner. Its still on my todo list but its took a slip.
Work is stopping me giving SkypeBoot my full attention until the weekend but all being well I will be able to give SkypeBoot a few days of coding at the weekend.
Hang in there :-)