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Spray-Your-Beverage-On-The-Screen Moments

Wayne Hartman — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:11:23 GMT

Ever had one of those moments when you about spray food or drink all over your computer screen when you see or read something? Yeah, this is one of those:

What is 'The Cloud'?

Wayne Hartman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:38:46 GMT

Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, tells it as it is, tongue in cheek, of course.

Our industry is so bizarre. They just change a term and they think they've invented technology. You can't just come up with "let's just call that 'cloud'" and it sure beats innovation.

Ars Walks The Copyright Walk

Wayne Hartman — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:19:00 GMT

Good to see Ars Technica walking the walk on copyright law. Abuse is rife by both sides of the copyright debate, so it's good to see them take a stand that reflects the true nature of the law:

But of course, you can reproduce and distribute and cache much of this information for a variety of reasons under US copyright law. We told readers that we would look into the issue, and Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher agreed to ask our corporate lawyers about making a small change to the notice.

Wired And The iPad

Wayne Hartman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:36:28 GMT

Really interesting short video from Wired, showing off some user interface designs for iPad-centric content. While the demos appear to be running on Adobe Air (as in, not capable of running on the iPad), the concept is powerful and compelling. The sound bite of the video:

"We also think it's an opportunity to reset the economics. For the first time people may value this experience so much that they'll pay for it."

Wow, isn't that what creating a product is all about? Hope the music, movie, and even traditional print industries are taking note, because Wired has figured it out.

'Getting' The iPad

Wayne Hartman — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:18:53 GMT

People are quick to throw stones at something they have never experienced. With the iPad I'm going to leave the rocks on the ground and take what I've seen at face value. Many have mocked its lack of certain features and 'simplicity'. It's not so much about simplicity, as it is another aspect of that. Maybe it's because I write software for a living, but I like to pay attention to the user experience of what other people write.

As many of you know, people don't like to think. It's not because they're lazy, stupid, or unintelligent. It's that when you are using a tool (by 'tool' I mean in the most generic of the sense), you don't want to have to focus on *how* to use it, or maybe even what it is doing. People want to focus on the outcome that the tool is supposed to provide. When people use a computer, they don't want to have to focus their energies on how to use it or be impeded because the tool seems like an unnatural means to the goal.

The iPhone software takes commodity hardware that all competitors have access to and makes it a *joy* to use. Now, that may sound silly to your ears, but when was the last time you drove a car, or road a bike, or sat in a chair, or cut a steak with a knife and thought that you just had an experience that far surpassed doing those things than with other capable, if clumsy, ways? The iPad is about taking that iPhone experience and not only making it *bigger*, but changing the fundamental way in which you consume media and interact with this tool called the computer.

We like the computer as we know it now just the way it is because it has always been that way for most of us. As much as we cling to it, the interface is clunky, doesn't work exactly what seems natural to us. We have shoehorned ourselves to fit it, not the other way around. The iPad is about changing that. And as someone who likes exploring new, better ways of doing things, that's exciting to me.

So, tell ya what:

I will be an early adopter for you. I will suffer the rotten tomatoes and eggs and name calling you throw at me. I will be a martyr of the new way of experiencing the world. And if I was wrong, I will take my tongue lashing and the missing chunk of change from my wallet, shut up, and go figure out what other 'joys' are to be had in the world.

But if I was right, I will relish in knowing that I found that joy before you and focus my energies using the tool in finding more joy in the other things in life as well and experience them in ways you cannot.

iPad: The Unanswered Question

Wayne Hartman — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:09:30 GMT

Now that the hype has died down a bit over the new Apple iPad, there are quite a few questions that linger over the yet to be released device. The forefront on my mind (and the question no one is asking) is this: Who can publish on the new iBookstore? Apple's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, commented about the new device's revenue generator, hinting that it would 'inspire a whole new gold rush' for publishers. While certainly comforting for those already established, what for those who may now want to get into the market of ePublishing?

Like the much maligned recording and movie industries, the publishing market is fraught with the Good Ol' Boy mentality of crowding out competition. I can hardly think that Apple struck deals with the announced publishing partnerships to let small fry publishers, or even start-ups, to get a large chunk of the iPad pie. Paranoia aside, it would be incredible, like the AppStore, to allow anyone to step up and develop content for the iBookstore. The iPad is supposedly a revolution for distribution of the written word, why not allow the common man to compete against the Old World juggernauts of publication?

Apple only has one shot with this device. No Flash support, no web cam, no multi-task are massive detractors for purchasing this device, so Apple must win a core audience early on with its eBook strategy. Creating a level playing field for people to distribute quality publications will attract the masses in a way that the Nook and Kindle have not. Failing to deliver, on the other hand, could drive that pent-up publishing supply to those less-sparkly, if cheaper, devices.

Time will tell; I'm hoping for the best.

King of the Invertebrates

Wayne Hartman — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:28:05 GMT

Research has found that a certain species of octopus have the ability of using tools, in this case, two halves of a coconut. One Slashdot reader, upon hearing the news, decided to rewrite a favorite Monty Python skit:

OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Halt! Who goes there?
PULPO: It is I, Pulpo, son of Leggus Tentaclus, from the castle of Cephalot. King of the Invertebrates, defeator of the Squid, sovereign of all the Ocean!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Pull the other one!
PULPO: I am. And this my trusty servant Sucksy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the ocean floor in search of invertebrates who will join me in my court of Cephalot. I must speak with your lord and master.
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: What, ridden on a horse?
PULPO: Yes!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: You're using coconuts!
PULPO: What?
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
PULPO: So? We have ridden since the Titanic sunk onto this land, through the kingdom of Laurentian, through--
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Where'd you get the coconut?
PULPO: We found them.
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Found them? In the Laurentian Abyss? The coconut's tropical!
PULPO: What do you mean?
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Well, this is a temperate zone.
PULPO: The dolphin may swim south with the sun or the humpback whale may seek warmer climes in winter yet these are not strangers to our land.
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
PULPO: Not at all, they could be carried.
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: What -- a dolphin carrying a coconut?
PULPO: It could grip it by the husk using its blowhole!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of grasping ability! A dolphin has no means to carry a 1 pound coconut.
PULPO: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Pulpo from the Court of Cephalot is here.
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Listen, in order to maintain the ability to breathe, a dolphin needs to keep its blowhole free from obstruction, right?
PULPO: Please!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Am I right?
PULPO: I'm not interested!
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: It could be carried by a Great White shark!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: Oh, yeah, a Great White shark maybe, but not a dolphin, that's my point.
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that...
PULPO: Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court at Cephalot?!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: But then of course Great White sharks are not migratory.
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: Oh, yeah...
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: So they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway... [clop clop]
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: Wait a minute -- supposing two dolphins carried it together?
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: No, they'd have to have it on a line.
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: Well, simple! They'd just use the stipe of a bull whip kelp!
OCTOPUS GUARD #1: What, tied to the dorsal fins?
OCTOPUS GUARD #2: Well, why not?

Windows 7 Party Pack Arrives

Wayne Hartman — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:07:55 GMT

And it is every bit as cheesy as it sounds.

Among other things I get a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, a puzzle, a deck of cards and napkins (napkins?!). I'm not sure that I particularly care for the 'Signature Edition' containing Monkey Boy's John Hancock, but I'm raffling it off anyway. I've assembled the tote bags (last pic below) that include coupons for discounted software from Norton, Kaspersky, Corel, etc. Check out the unboxing:

Obama To Students: Be Mindless Zombies, Feed On Republican Brains

Wayne Hartman — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:51:40 GMT

First and foremost, I am not an Obama shill, quite far from it. So on that note, why all the controversy of Obama addressing the students of this nation to encourage them to do better? I think Obama understands, as do I, the complete utter lack of accountability that people my age and younger have about their future. We live in an age where our dreams rest upon the fantasies of getting something for nothing. We care not for hard work and determination, where everything in life is granted by handouts and even our failings are assuaged by purple check marks. So it is with a sense of relief that someone in a position of power is standing up to these false hopes and telling it how it is--even if it is Obama.

My favorite part, which appears early in his prepared remarks, is this:

"...at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed."

What's there to argue with that? I've seen rumor-mongering to the effect that Obama is out to brainwash us all into pro-government Democrat robots, to be dispatched to squash any dissent and feed on the brains of those who do. Get real.

Hyperbole aside, if ever there were a time in the history of our country to be awakened to a sense of our own personal responsibility, it is now. We have sown the seeds of our own undoing, the fruit of which we are beginning to reap, because we have surrendered control and responsibility of our destinies to chance and happenstance. We rely on frivolous lawsuits, social programs, and handouts, hoping that someone will come along and solve all our problems for us. And when the Law of the Harvest reaps us all the things we didn't want, we blame it on others or circumstance, looking further for freebies to save us from our woe. Further, I quote, "I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things." Spot on.

I think it's great that Obama has seized this opportunity to speak on this subject and a shame that those of a different political persuasion are letting politics get in the way of our President delivering a message that we all need to hear--regardless if we are in grade school or not. I would hope that school administrators, teachers, and parents who have decided to withhold this opportunity from their students, would use this time to teach those same principles.

Personal responsibility and accountability, indoctrination indeed. But don't take my word for it, read it yourself and draw your own conclusions.

URL Shorteners Are Evil, And Why I Have One

Wayne Hartman — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:01:15 GMT

Url shortening has been around for quite a long time, but it has exploded due to the popularity of Twitter. Money tends to follow the popular so dozens of URL shortening services sprang, seemingly overnight, to fill the gap. The first to go down for the count, tr.im, decided to throw in the towel due to mounting costs that are associated with running what is essentially a redirecting service. I'm not sure what the business model is for these sites, except that they have a goldmine of information to what people are linking and sharing with others. Apparently, tr.im couldn't figure it out, either.

Failed business models aside, this brings up an interesting topic of discussion concerning link rot. The age old problem with the Internet is that everything depends on linkage to sites or pages that may no longer exist. This problem mushrooms when people become dependent on these URL shortening services that go belly up. Instead of link rot existing as a natural phenomena that occurs over time, we can now have link cancer when these services go away. When the service dies, the links go with them.

The logical conclusion, then, is this: why not have sites publish through their own internal URL shortening services? I did just the same with my own site, waynehartman.com, and purchased a short domain name for publishing my own short URLs. I figure that if my site or online persona goes belly up, it doesn't matter much if my short URLs go with me.

The problem I ran into was that I could not just get any short domain name. They have all been snapped up. I had to settle on misf.me. I came up with the acronym Make It Short For.Me. I would have preferred to get a two or three letter domain name, but it appears that most (if not all) have been gobbled up by domain squatters.

At any rate, my $10 domain name is now purchased and the site for creating my short URLs is forthcoming. Goodbye, Bit.ly.