It has snowed a lot while we were away. The weather is cold and clear and beautiful.
Fay wanted a snowman, so we built one using the fine powder snow that has collected on our little balcony.
It is really too cold to build a proper snowman – the snow crystals does not sinter into lumps when it is so cold and dry – so it became more of a snow-pile than a snow-man.
Finally the pile was high enough, and a small snow-lump on top served as a head. Fay carefully placed jellybeans for the eyes and nose:
Voilà! Casper the snow-man/monster. With a bit of left-over christmas wrapping he got a bit of hair too…
Very stylish, don’t you think?
Here is one we saw in Behai Park in Beijing earlier…
He has a a stick pipe and arms. More of a proper snowman than our snow-mountain.
January 10th, 2010
While staying in Beijing, you will spend a lot of time travelling around by subway. The signage at the stations and in the subway cars is well worth discussing from an information design perspective.
Beijing takes the same approach as most other major cities – with dedicated tracks for each line. Transfers between lines requires a walk to a different set of platforms.
When you come down the steps to a platform, the name of the end stations is the first thing you notice. This helps orient you to the correct side of the platform.
As you walk along the platform and look up you see the name of the station, and the ones immediately preceding and succeeding it are shown along the platform, along with an arrow indicating the direction of travel.
This tells you where you are and where you will go. Note that the preceding stations are greyed out to de-emphasize them. The remaining major stations (transfer stations and landmarks) and the end station is marked.
This is a typical use of focus + context. You see the nearby locations, and the overall picture, without being overburdened by details. The complete map of the network is also available on the platform and on the back of your travel-card. If you need help planning your journey, a red-armbanded helper is nearby to assist you.
Once you get on the train, the travellers task switches to keeping track of where you are, and when to get off. Inside the train is a map above each door, that tracks the current station and the direction of travel. These update in real time.
The red dots indicate visited stations. When travelling between stops, the corresponding dots between stations are half red and half green.
When you arrive at a station, the station name is visible on the pillars outside, and the next stations is also shown underneath in smaller type. Along with the route map inside the train this helps you maintain your own map of the network.
It is re-inforcing the direction of travel and giving you extra context. Context you need if you are going to push through the crowd to reach the door in time.
Despite the helpful markings on the floor indicating where to queue and where to let out passengers, getting on and off the train requires a hefty shoulder and a good push to get out.
I’m guessing that a lot of these signage upgrades are a result of the Olympics, but whoever is responsible has done a really nice job with the information design. It helps keep travellers oriented and helps them maintain their internal maps of the subway system. These information hints will become more important as the network grows in size and complexity.
The Beijing subway is growing quickly – it has doubled in size since Fay left a few years ago. A new line opened just in the eight months since our last visit in April, and it is on route to become the world’s biggest subway system by 2020.
January 10th, 2010
Christmas dinner, originally uploaded by xt1.
Sweet and sour deep fried perch, with spiced duck to follow.
December 24th, 2009
Queen of East and West Badaling, originally uploaded by xt1.
Fay gave me the great wall for Christmas. We took a taxi out to Badaling and walked up the shorter eastern section first. In december we had the wall practically to ourselves. Lovely and not too cold in the sunshine. After finishing the trip down to the bottom, we chose to attack the steep western section instead of going back to the taxi. The wind picked up, the sun was hidden by the ridgeline. Thus began a long climb up, one watchtower at a time. ‘This one will be the highest! This time for sure!’ only for another set of stairs to appear around the corner. Finally we reached the summit. The view is pretty impressive.
Now i just hope i can walk tomorrow.
King and Queen of the Great Wall – we are even more impressed by Stephen Robert’s achievements, having tasted a bit for ourselves.
December 22nd, 2009
Welcome Obama, originally uploaded by xt1.
Sealing the manhole covers, in advance of the nobel ceremony.
December 2nd, 2009
Apartment relocation in progress, originally uploaded by xt1.
29 boxes into the truck. Take one down. Pass it around.
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Christian via Mobile
November 8th, 2009
SuperOffice Expander World 2009, originally uploaded by xt1.
100 people showed up for our conference in spite of swine flu and traffic.
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Christian via Mobile
November 6th, 2009
Apartment++, originally uploaded by xt1.
After a back and forth with the bank, we got the keys to our new place today. 89 sq.m
at Ensjø
Tomorrow leave for SuperOffice EW09 in Amsterdam. Back on friday. Move on sunday. No problemo.
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Christian via Mobile
November 3rd, 2009
I just wanted to play with OnTime, and figured I could install SQL Server 2008 Express as a database and be off and running quickly. Hah!
First attempt: download SQL Server 2008 Express from Microsoft.
The installation wizard starts and eventually gets through its prerequisite checking to get to the point where it has installed something, but I don’t know what. I’m lost in a maze of twisty wizards, all alike. The Express front end is the same as the full cluster-fail-over installer. The express front end is way way too comples.
Ok – uninstall 10 pieces of software and try the simpler approach.
Web Platform Installer apparently scripts the Express installer to get a default instance up and running with minimal fuss. Just what I need. Too bad it doesn’t work. It looks like I’m in good company.
I’m installing on a simple WinXP box – but the WebPI shell says the SQL Express install failed. Event log says
FCB::Open failed: Could not open file e:\sql10_main_t\sql\mkmastr\databases\objfre\i386\MSDBData.mdf for file number 1. OS error: 3(failed to retrieve text for this error. Reason: 1815).
The SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS) service terminated with service-specific error 1814 (0×716).
Where the hell is E:\ coming from? I have nothing there.
I’m going to try uninstalling SQL Server again and trying WebPI again – maybe something got installed that it needed without realizing it…
Frakking black magic MSI.
All I want to do is play with OnTime
September 12th, 2009
Sunrise in Alvekilen, originally uploaded by xt1.
It’s going to be a beautiful day.
August 22nd, 2009
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