Programming niggles

Wow, so it's been quite a while since I last wrote anything. No matter though, I'll soon catch up again.

In the course of my job at oncampus:uk, I do a bit of Java programming. Recently I stumbled upon a problem which had me totally stumped. No matter how I looked at the problem, I couldn't get the result I wanted from my programming efforts. This killed hours of my time, until I finally came to the conclusion that part of the Java code itself was to blame. A quick Google search confirmed that others had suffered the same fate, but the whole process got me thinking.

How many times have I been saved by other people writing about their troubles on the Internet? Whether it's just a general outline of the problem, or a complete solution, I find that the Internet is a key resource for troubleshooting and it's far better than any programming manual. I'll try to document my problems on this blog in the hope that I can pass on some of this 'good will' to other people with the same problems I end up getting.

The Rabbit Saga, pt. 2

The last time I wrote, the Nabaztag I received for Christmas had been rather difficult. I had overcome many problems, including the wrong type of plug and the official website being totally useless. Now, it seems to have decided to do nothing much at all.

Despite setting it up properly and following the instructions to the letter, it just sits there. The idea is that it will receive messages from the Internet, read news and do a variety of other things. It doesn't do any of these things, despite appearing to be working properly.

I have to wonder at this point whether this thing was a big mistake. Despite the guys at the Nabaztag forums being extremely helpful, I am getting nowhere in a hurry, and from reading some of the other posts, many many people have been disappointed. Granted, I don't expect anyone to go to the forum and just post that their rabbit is working perfectly, so I expect the forum to be a little woe-heavy, but it is very active.

I did make a complaint to Violet, the company behind these rabbits. I received a very short, horribly informal response telling me that their website was now working properly (it wasn't). This is just so disappointing, because you realise you have invested in a product made by a company who, having gladly taken your money, could not care less whether you have received what you have paid for.

Because of all the problems, I am not going to recommend this to anyone. If you are thinking of getting yourself a Nabaztag or a Nabaztag/tag (the 'upgraded' version, on which most of the functions aren't yet working anyway) then please spend your money on something else. If anybody from Violet happens to stumble across this blog, I am waiting for you to send me a polite, understanding email telling me that your company has failed me and offering what help it can.

Other Rabbit Blogs

• Play6 reports (in French) on the server trouble
• bonvga reports (in French) about the death of his rabbit
• skrubu.net reports on the press release about the server downtime
• Michelle Lentz is not happy with the official servers and lack of documentation
• Yet another unsatisfied Frenchman!
• Headworx's frustrations
  

The Rabbit Saga, pt. 1

It is such a wonderful idea on paper. A wireless device that sits on your desk and reads you emails, RSS feeds, the weather, the news, random messages and whatever else you can think of. Best of all, it is in the shape of a cute bunny with wireless antennae for ears.



Unfortunately, all is not well in the world of Nabaztag. These cute little wifi devices are made by a company called Violet, who seem to have made a bit of a mess of the festive period.

First off, I got this thing as a gift. It looked like the perfect thing to ask for because it is something I would never buy with my own money, but something I'd enjoy having around and get a decent amount of use out of. On opening the box, the first thing I noticed was the power adapter. It's... European. These things won't plug into British electrical outlets. Why don't we all just use the same kind of plugs and sockets?

See also: Domestic AC power plugs and sockets at Wikipedia

Being Christmas Day and all, nothing is open. Nothing is open on Boxing Day either, so I have the pleasure of waiting until the day after that until I can get this thing working. I tell a lie: I had a rummage through the vast box of cables, wires, plugs and other electric peripherals that has accumulated in my home over the years (doesn't everyone have a box like that?) and found a 9V DC adapter that had the right connector. The Nabaztag operates on 8V, but I figured that the extra volt wouldn't make too much difference, right?

Wrong!

It started making quite an alarming buzzing noise as soon as I plugged in the power, so I unplugged it again rather hastily.

Let me explain how this rabbit works. It connects through the Internet to the Nabaztag site and communicates with it by itself, behind the scenes. That means that it totally relies on the site. You cannot give the rabbit any commands yourself, and it has no built-in web browser or method of doing pretty much anything at all. Without the Nabaztag site, it has no brain.

I needed to register the rabbit on the site so that it would be activated. I figured I'd get a headstart, even though I couldn't begin to use it without that electrical adapter. To my surprise, I discovered that the registration and services sections of the site were down. The bit that describes the product and makes it look all glossy and appealing is still working. Apparently, even though it is obviously in this company's interests to keep track of how many units they have sold, they were so surprised by the Christmas demand on the website that they had to take it offline. But not the sales area. Oh no. That was working fine.

I managed to get the power adapter from Curry's for a whopping £7.99. It's a piece of plastic with some appropriately shaped metal prongs inside it. It must cost pennies to manufacture. Nevertheless, I opted to part with my eight pounds.

Switching this thing on and teaching it how to interact with my wireless network at home was the most painless part, it has to be said. Apart from needing to change my wireless channel to 11 (I could find no explanation for this, despite every other wireless device being able to use whichever wireless channel is necessary), the setup was straightforward. I am fairly technical, so I know my way around my router's configuration well enough to be able to switch wireless channels. For the rest of the population: good luck. I anticipate a lot of people will be poring over their router manual trying to work out how to do this.

The thing is switched on, and connected to my wireless network. However, the Nabaztag registration site (without which the rabbit is just a box with flashing lights) is still not working. It's now well after Christmas and although server load has probably not diminished, this is ample time to increase capacity to a level that should have already been reached before this problem arose.

So now what? I will have to wait to be able to use this thing. I wouldn't say that it ruined my Christmas; that would be going a little far. It is very disappointing that a company has been so incompetent though. If you are thinking of getting one of these things, I can't recommend it now, although I hope to be able to recommend it once it starts working. If you have already got yourself one, and have been affected by the server problems, I urge you to write a complaint to Violet.

Useful Links

• Nabaztag official blog
• Nabaztalk forums