{"id":629,"date":"2007-10-02T21:34:20","date_gmt":"2007-10-02T20:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.randomwire.com\/2007\/10\/02\/back-to-basics\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:02:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T15:02:59","slug":"back-to-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/back-to-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September was all about Korea so it’s about time to get back to the basics and a little more random<\/em>! The past few weeks have been predictably busy at work. I’ve been busy designing a web service API (Application Program Interface) for a major organisation which basically allows it to syndicate its content and data to others for various purposes. It’s been an interesting challenge with many different aspects to it, not just technical, but that’s about all I can say here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

iPhone UK Launch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve been waiting so long for this magical<\/a> piece of technology to hit British shores that you would imagine the hype would have died down by now but since getting my hands on an iPod Touch for a few minutes I for one am still very excited! Yes, it’s not cheap, not 3G yet, and Apple hasn’t exactly warmed to the 3rd party apps\/hacks but it still marks a landmark device which fuses a host of technologies in revolutionary ways to create something pretty unique. The iPhone is just the first step in changing the way we interact with technology, the internet, and ultimately each other. I’ll certainly be lining up on Nov 9 to get my hands on it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Potter – WARNING: *POTENTIAL SPOILERS* <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my long flights to and from Korea, I read the final Harry Potter instalment. To be honest I was a little disappointed. Two-thirds of the book is spent with the characters in a tent arguing with each other and the rest watching countless other characters getting killed in rather predictable ways. After all that Rowling could have at least killed Harry off properly without all this resurrection nonsense and then a sappy flash-forwards to their future lives. I guess there’s no satisfying everyone and it’s somewhat sad to see the end of the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September was all about Korea so it’s about time to get back to the basics and a little more random! The past few weeks have been predictably busy at work. I’ve been busy designing a web service API (Application Program Interface) for a major organisation which basically allows it to syndicate its content and data […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,4],"tags":[60,59,58],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-tech","tag-harry-potter","tag-iphone","tag-work"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22415,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/japanese-quick-reference-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":0},"title":"Japanese Quick Reference Guide","author":"David","date":"14th February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I moved to Japan in 2013 I spent the first six months taking intensive Japanese classes at a language school in Tokyo. During that time I got frustrated with the\u00a0quality of the teaching materials and in particular the explanation of grammar rules which I found over-complicated things for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How-to"","block_context":{"text":"How-to","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/howto\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/nihongo-quick-ref.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":501,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/iwant\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":1},"title":"iWant","author":"David","date":"11th January 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"WOW - Thank you Apple (took long enough!)","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/iphone.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4734,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/shanghai-apple-store\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":2},"title":"Shanghai Apple Store","author":"David","date":"23rd August 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The weekend before last I paid a short pilgrimage to the new Apple Store in Pudong, Shanghai. It's Apple's second store on the mainland (the other is in Beijing) and as with many of its other stores, the facade sports a cylindrical glass entrance with glass stairs which lead down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/apple-store-shanghai.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/apple-store-shanghai.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/apple-store-shanghai.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/apple-store-shanghai.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":704,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/tufte-on-iphone-resolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":3},"title":"Tufte on iPhone Resolution","author":"David","date":"24th January 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Edward Tufte, the undisputed master of information visualisation (described by The New York Times as \"the Leonardo da Vinci of Data\") and PowerPoint hater extraordinaire, has posted a very interesting article and video about the interface design of the iPhone [via]: \"The iPhone platform elegantly solves the design problem of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/design\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":826,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/useful-iphone-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":4},"title":"Useful iPhone Apps","author":"David","date":"15th July 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"After the initial glitches Apple had with their iPhone 3G launch and 2.0 software update launch last Friday settled down I was pleasantly surprised to find that, aside from all the new features, there are some pretty useful 3rd party applications already available and even better many are free. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mandarin_phrasebook1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3793,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/asian-music-videos-made-with-iphones\/","url_meta":{"origin":629,"position":5},"title":"Asian Music Videos Made With iPhones","author":"David","date":"30th March 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"With its many sensors (touch, proximity, direction, sound, camera) the iPhone has become a versatile platform for both developers and artists alike. Apps like\u00a0Drum Meister,\u00a0Bassist,\u00a0iDrum,\u00a0NLog Synthesizer,\u00a0I Am T-Pain, Ocarina, and\u00a0BeatMaker (to name but a few) turn the iPhone into a\u00a0veritable\u00a0collection of musical instruments in a single device which you may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/design\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pixietea-playing-piano.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pixietea-playing-piano.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pixietea-playing-piano.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}