Wesley's Tool-Box

App now listed in "What's Hot"

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:02:00 +0900

Korean Power Grid Info is selling like hotcakes (click for full screenshot)

A couple of days ago, before end of August, Korean Power Grid Info app for iOS devices surpassed 2,000 downloads. That took only about three weeks, and considering the somewhat obscure nature of the software, I think it's selling pretty well. It's consistently present in top 50 free downloads chart in the Business category. I think the word is going out somehow, and there's always quite a bit of people who download it every day.

Now, it seems that Apple has noticed this and put the app under "What's Hot" section of the Korea iTunes App Store's Business category. That's pretty hot! I'm glad it's getting a favourable recognition. Thanks for everyone who downloaded.

스마트폰 앱 출시 관련 신문기사 모음

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:36:16 +0900

1주일 전 앱스토어에 등록된 "대한민국 전력망 정보" 앱에 대하여 아래와 같이 여러 언론에서 보도가 잇따르고 있습니다. 참고로, 등록 닷새만에 1천 다운로드를 돌파한 상태이며 매일 꾸준히 순위 및 다운로드 수가 유지되고 있습니다.

- 전기신문 2010.08.16 "전력거래소, 스마트폰에 적용할 응용프로그램 개발"

- 전력신문 2010.08.12 "전력사용 현황 스마트폰으로 본다"

- 한국에너지신문 2010.08.12 "전력사용량도 '스마트'하게 체크"

- 에너지데일리 2010.08.13 "전력사용 현황 스마트폰에 떴다"

- 에너지경제 2010.08.12 "스마트 폰으로 전력사용을 한 눈에…"

- 투데이에너지 2010.08.12 "전력사용 현황, 스마트폰에"

- 디피뉴스 2010.08.12 "스마트폰으로 대한민국 전력사용 현황 볼 수 있어"

Selected again - this time in US App Store

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:18:03 +0900

Recognized in the USA, too (Click to enlarge)

I suppose the Korean Power Grid Info app isn't particularly interesting to the people in the United States. The rank has been steadily moving down (started at 113, now at 160). Maybe I need to find a way to let the folks in the power grid business in the US know about the app? Still, at least I can take comfort in the fact that the app will nevertheless be staying on top of the Business category for a while. The Apple has selected it as "New & Noteworthy" for the US App Store, as well. Thanks for recognizing!

ADDENDUM 12:18 - The New & Noteworthy has added a few more apps and now my app is pushed out of the first page, although it's still in the list if 'See All' is clicked. Meanwhile, the visibility did apparently garnered some interest as the rank got boosted to #109 for now. Interesting...

ADDENTUM 17:38 - Hey, it's now #95. Finally broke into top 100! Pretty cool.

App selected as "New & Noteworthy"

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:42:00 +0900

Thank you for noticing! (Click for larger image)

Only into its third day of sale, Apple recognized the "Korean Power Grid Info" app and put it right on top of the Business category of the Korean App Store, listing it under "New & Noteworthy" section. It's doing okay on the popularity as well (peaked at #15 on the free apps in the category, and doing #16 as of this writing), so I hope a lot more people will notice and download the app for some time to come.

Meanwhile, the app is chugging along slightly below top 100 in the Business category in the US App Store. I'm guessing a few Koreans are downloading from there, which in turn keeps the rank up. An app review and listing site called PodGate is listing the app as one of the top 100 most popular. Rank floats around #92 to #98 so far.

Chip off the old block

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:34:00 +0900

Left: Me (1981), Right: Daughter (2010)

People ask whom my daughter resembles the most - me or my wife. To them I answer with this photo I took yesterday. On the left, a picture of myself when I was barely a year old is on the screen. On the right, my daughter Celine is being hugged by my wife. We look a lot alike, don't you think?

First iPhone app now in App Store!

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:44:00 +0900

Korea Power Grid Info (대한민국 전력망 정보) listed in iTunes App Store

Three months of labouring has finally seen light. Apple has approved my first iPhone app and is now listed under 'Business' section of iTunes App Store worldwide. It's called "Korean Power Grid Info" - more info on WDSoft.com or App Store. Folks who want to see how much Korea as a whole spends electricity in real-time should find this app useful.

FYI, the app is released under Korean Power Exchange instead of my name or WDSoft.com because it represents the app best. All relevant data and information comes from there.

WDSoft.com gets a makeover

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:03:04 +0900

WDSoft.com Logo for 2010

WDSoft.com website got a complete makeover, and moved the hosting to XiGL.net instead of a subpage in Tool-Box.info. The old pages still exist, but are not actively linked anymore. Why the change? One reason is that the old one was languishing - it has been left as it is for about five years now. But of course, if there was nothing to add, there wouldn't have been much of a reason to overhaul it. So... you know what this means. A new application is coming up! And it's for iPhone, no less.

You can head over to the Products page at the new website to check out what's new. This new app called "Korea Power Grid Info" is a result of 4 months of self-teaching and 2 1/2 months of hair-pulling development. This app should be most useful to folks in the electric industry, but general users who has an interest in conserving electricity should take a look, as well.

The app is currently in the review process at Apple, and I hope it gets approved soon.

Grandpa passes away

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:11:48 +0900

My grandpa had become seriously weak since last year, and his health never really recovered since then. I did took two days off to visit him a couple of days ago with my wife and daughter - grandpa was barely able to open his eyes then. Little did we know that this was the last we would see him alive.

He finally passed away around 8AM today.

I'm taking a plane to Ulsan now. May he rest in peace.

KTV 한국정책방송 취재에 잡힘

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:02:00 +0900

지난 3월 8일부터 10일까지 서울교육문화회관에서 '2010 범부처 녹색기술 포럼'이 열렸습니다. 팀장님과 차장님을 보좌하려 참석하였는데, 트위터로 알려드리기도 했던 내용입니다.
http://twitter.com/namuori/status/10144126600
http://twitter.com/namuori/status/10144643814

정부 관련 행사라 KTV 한국정책방송에서 취재를 당연히 해갔습니다. 3월8일 저녁6시에 방송이 되었는데, 친절하게 사이트에 동영상과 대본이 올라와 있습니다.
[ 정보와이드 6 관련 페이지 ]
[ 동영상만 보기 ]

방송 내용을 보니 아쉽게도 워낙 참여기술 수가 많다 보니 팀에서 진행하는 K-EMS 개발사업이 방송에 나가지도 못했고 팀장님의 장관 표창장 수여장면도 편집되었더군요. 그런데 유심히 보니 참석자 전체 화면을 담는 과정에서 저를 포함한 저희 팀 모습이 다 찍혔습니다. 1:23 ~ 1:25 사이에 나오는 화면이 이렇습니다.

1: 이효상 팀장 2: 김성구 차장 3: 정우덕 대리

화면 캡쳐에서는 너무 작게 나왔는데, 당시 행사 참석하면서 찍은 셀카와 비교해보시면 확실해집니다.

2010 녹색기술포럼에서 김성구 차장 & 정우덕 대리

참석 인증은 된 셈인데, 회사에서 홍보효과를 인정해줄지는 미지수이군요.

블루투스 키보드 BHK49 리뷰

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:52:00 +0900

두 손으로 쥔 BHK49

이것은 블루오션샵에서 나온 BHK49라는 블루투스 무선키보드입니다. 보시는 대로, 두 손을 잡고 엄지로 자판을 칠 수 있도록 만들어진 휴대용 키보드입니다.. 이 제품은 과연 저를 만족시켰을까요? 궁금하시면 계속 읽어보시기 바랍니다.
Continue reading "블루투스 키보드 BHK49 리뷰"

Earthquake in Seoul

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:21:49 +0900

It might not be much to folks living in Japan or California, but Seoul and the neighbouring area had an earthquake that a lot of people were able to clearly feel a couple of hours ago. That does not happen very often. In fact, it's the first quake I was able to feel while I was in Seoul area.

Preliminary analysis from Korea Meteorological Agency states that the magnitude was 3.0 and the epicenter was at 37.45N 126.80E, which is 8km north of Siheung, near Siheung IC of Expressway #100. That's just southwest of Seoul.

It definitely ignited a flurry of twits from all over. I hope things don't get worse than this.

Curiously, the President was out of the Blue House to visit Chuncheong province today. Maybe he knew something?

3G망 VoIP 통화 차단노력의 '불편한 진실'

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:29:49 +0900

"스마트폰 공짜통화 편법 판친다"
"KT 탈옥폰, 아이폰 음성 통화 막는다"

위의 제목으로 미디어다음에 뜬 기사에 댓글이 폭발적이죠. 미디어다음에서 리플 수 많은 기사는 주로...

- MB 관련 소식
- 기자가 이상한 소리를 적거나 전달한 것

아... 둘 다 이상한 소리이긴 하겠군요. 아무튼. 이번 기사도 후자에 속합니다.

VoIP통화, 즉 쉬운 말로 '인터넷 전화'를 3G망, 즉 휴대폰 데이터통신망에서 하는 것이 불법이다, 차단하겠다는 요지의 기사들입니다.

트위터에서 이미 적어놨지만, 통신사에서 3G망의 VoIP 통화를 편법이나 불법으로 간주하는 데 있어서 기본적으로 2가지를 제시합니다.

1. 3G망 사용량 폭증에 대한 우려
2. '음성통화 수익' 악화에 대한 불쾌감

그에 따라, SKT는 이미 스카이프를 차단하고 있고, 얼씨구나 KT도 차단하러 들어가겠다고 엄포 놓았습니다.

근데 둘 다 말이 안됩니다.
Continue reading "3G망 VoIP 통화 차단노력의 '불편한 진실'"

Thoughts on Apple's iPad tablet

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:59:49 +0900

The newly announced Apple iPad (Image courtesy of Apple)

Everyone's talking about the much-rumoured, and now much-talked-about Apple tablet, the iPad. Let me have my take on the device, relating to how it'll play out in Korea.

1. The 3G-enabled version will cost you $30/month on AT&T's network

The deal includes free use of AT&T's WiFi hotspots as well. This means it could be used practically anywhere with persistent internet connection. Plus, the device is unlocked out of the box, and the deal does not need a contract. KT, which introduced iPhone to its cellphone network in Korea, should follow this model, and match or best the pricing, although the price range for unlimited data is strikingly similar to what KT already offers for its Wibro modems. Which leads to my next point...

2. Apple plans to roll out the 3G-enabled model internationally around or after June

KT had been rumoured to be in talks with Apple to bring out a new Apple device by June, and everyone speculated that it'd be iPhone 4G. Well, looking at this iPad's planned timeline, it seems that the device in question was really iPad, not iPhone. Talks about iPhone 4G should be taken over by how KT should roll out 3G-enabled iPad in Korea, namely what sort of data plan it should introduce.

3. Pricing and app compatibility shows that it's targeting the netbook market

The base model with WiFi and 16GB storage is tagged at $499, which is about how much a mid-range netbook runs for these days. Meanwhile, iPad chose to be compatible with iPod instead of Mac. Mac's presence in PC market is insignificant, but iPod/iPhone platform is the biggest player in PDA/smartphone application market, so it seems logical that Apple wanted to ride on that wave.

Netbooks rely on PC (mostly desktop Windows) apps, but because of the poor performance, they are mostly relegated to casual web browsing. But iPad will absorb the responsive and lightweight apps developed for iPod/iPhone, so the choice to forgo desktop apps will pay off well. If iPad was a tablet version of Macbook, they could never have made the price point, nor the battery life (iPad will run for 10 hours on single charge), making the device an odd man out, much like how the previous tablet PC attempts turned out to be.

Another thing I'm expecting iPad to be huge in Korea is this - with the introduction of iPhone, a flurry of internet banking, day trading, and online shopping apps are soon to come out for the platform. Due to the special nature of the 'Korean internet', those things have not been possible for the most part on Macs, and the platform was largely neglected. But iPad will ride on the back of the iPhone, realizing the dreams Korean Mac owners had for years.

4. iPad is touting a new form factor in portable game console market

This one is a bit ambiguous. iPhone has lots of games that make the platform a good competitor to Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. iPad can make use of those games, as well as new games targeted specifically for itself. But to play a game holding a tablet the size of an A5 sheet? I'm not completely sold on the idea yet. I hope the game developers will come up with some innovative ideas.

There you have it. Looks like I'll be getting one in half a year, after I sell my notebooks.

iPhone 3GS camera's actual resolution

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:06:00 +0900

The dizzying ISO 12233 Test Chart

Point-and-shoot digital cameras have reached the end of the 'megapixel race' at around 12 megapixels, giving you a photo with the resolution of 4000x3000. One of the reasons for this peak is that the typical image sensors used in this class can produce only around 10 megapixels of actual data at best, and even less with internal post-processing applied. As a result, camera's 'actual' resolution will be far less than 4000x3000, even if the 'output' resolution is that large. Increasing output resolution any higher without better sensors would be no better than doing a digital zoom - bigger picture without more detail.

A smart shopper would therefore avoid blindly following the megapixel number on the spec sheet, and instead check the sensor size as well as the actual sample images posted in independent product reviews. In many professional reviews, an ISO 12233 Test Chart(partly seen above) is used to check the actual resolution of a camera. DPReview has been extensively using it.

So, why am I talking about this 'actual' and 'output' resolution today? I carry a nice compact digital camera - Kodak Z1085 IS - and an excellent smartphone - iPhone 3GS - with me at all times. The image quality is good for the given class, and they have the maximum native output resolution of 3648x2736 (10MP) and 2048x1536 (3MP), respectively. But I suddenly got curious as to what their actual resolution would be. Unfortunately, searching the internet did not come up with any resolution testing - it was time to do a little testing of my own...
Continue reading "iPhone 3GS camera's actual resolution"

전력수요 폭등! 예비율 비상! 그 배경과 문제점

wesley96@gmail.com (Wesley) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:02:16 +0900

요즘 폭설과 맹렬한 추위 때문에 전력수요가 무진장 올라간 상태입니다. 언론에서는 전력낭비가 심하다면서 절약을 종용하는 기사도 흘리고 있고요.

하지만 여러분은 전력수요 폭등에도 딱히 뭔가 전기를 쓰는데 느껴지는 게 없을 겁니다. 정전이 되는 것도 아니고 말이죠. 그건 저희 회사에서 전력수요에 따른 공급량을 정신없이 맞춰주고 있기 때문입니다.

이게 잘 되려면 '버퍼'에 해당하는 '예비율'이 있어야 하는데, 지금 그 예비율이 사상최저로 떨어진 상태입니다. 그래서 비상이라는 것입니다. 보통 10% 이하로 떨어지면 안 좋게 보는데 어제 6.1%까지 떨어졌습니다.
Continue reading "전력수요 폭등! 예비율 비상! 그 배경과 문제점"