Current Project: Orcon NZ Usage Meter Gadget

So I have been meaning to have a play with building a Sidebar Gadget and I had an idea to build one that I can use to see my current broadband usage on Orcon. Orcon currently show you your current usage on their website but I thought it would be great as a learning excersise.

And it sure has been a learning curve! Either way I have a functional (emphasise on functional, havent put any time into the layout) example which I am going to contact them about, just to make sure they are ok with me using some of their code and taping into their feed.

If you are currently on Windows 7 (should work in Vista or the Sidebar plugins for XP) and use Orcon as your provider, please check back as I will be in need of some testing :)

I have spent a total of a solid day on this, getting my head around the structure and the ways to get the Settings/Flyout views working. In the end I have scrapped using the Flyout, purely as there was no need for it.

So I am going to package it up and send it to @Orcon to see what they say before spending anymore time on it :)

Update 13/01/10 - I have heard back from @Orcon and they have been very supportive (Thanks Duncan). So now I am going to make it look nice as best I can and put it out for feedback.

Update 21/01/10 - Ok so here it is Orcon NZ Usage Meter (unofficial). Go ahead, download, install and let me know what you think :) Please note that Orcon may change somethings on their end that may stop this from working. If it does and you notice, please let me know. Thanks!

Update 24/01/10 - At the request of my brother there is a Mac version in the works and not to far off.

Update 09/02/2010 - Two releases this time. An updated one for Vista/Win 7 and one for the Mac (Intel).

The new Windows one has some changes to it. First I have removed the ability to set the update time, instead it is set at 60 min and there is now a 'Update now' link. Some feedback was that this would be better. There are no other changes so you can keep the first version if you wish.

The Mac version (currently tested on Intel based OS X 10.4.10 / OS X 10.5.8 / OS X 10.6.2) and resembles the new Windows version in functionality. If it works (or if it doesn't), please comment with details of your Mac.

Update 02/03/10 - Have now updated both the Windows Version and the Mac version to include a check to see if there is a new version available for download and a link back here. Download Links updated. Only one version for each OS will be available for download (ask if you want previous versions).
Update 19/06/10 - We now have a PowerPC version! Also I have updated some of the wording in the other versions (thanks @bnorozi).

Windows (Vista/Win 7)
Windows (Vista/Win 7) via Windows Gadget Gallery
Mac (Intel)
Mac (PowerPC)

As always let me know if there are any issues.

Current Project: Tiger Lily

This is a project that I have been working on with Clarence Lomiwes for his Masters in Arts. In short it's an application that uses Clarence's strokes and style to paint a person sitting in front of a webcam. It's built using Open Framworks and developed on Xcode and CodeBlocks. Prior to this I had only played around a little bit with OF and Clarence had never seen it, so it's been a huge learning curve for the both of us. We are currently working on a version that we will release to the web in order to get feedback and suggestions. It will also be interesting to see what people's reactions are to it. So stay tuned :)

Current Projects

I have quiet a few projects running which deserve a mention. So I've created a tag called current projects which I will assign to posts for those of you who are interested in what I am working on after hours. Stay tuned :)

t61

Been listening a lot to http://www.thesixtyone.com/ recently, and am loving it. My music taste varies something crazy and I'm loving having access to so much music that is varied and quite good! Also getting Rep points and Hearts talks to my competitive side :)

I have come across a few interactive issues like some buttons don't seem to work across browser etc. However the keyboard integration is really sweet as I get interrupted quite a lot so being able to quickly switch and pause etc the player without using the mouse is definitely a plus.

Anyways check it out and if you decide to join drop my user name (Wayferer) in the referred field if you could :)

Domain Redirect

yay for blogspot allowing free domain redirect. now to see how flexible the customization is...