I am working on several software development projects. Some for work and others for my own personal edification. One of my projects has recently come under some deadlines and so I have been forced to take one or two short cuts. This generally means that proper software development methods get thrown out the window in favor of getting something done quickly. You might be able to get away with it for a day or two, but eventually it will come back to bite you.
Having been in the software business for the past 26 years, I have learned when it is best to avoid certain short-cuts. This saved me today. Even though I was told to move a piece of code into production, I did so long enough to run a single test. Then I backed out the new code and put the old working code in place until the results of my test could be properly verified.
The new piece of code seems to be working correctly. To me, it works exactly the way I wrote it and the way the user asked for it. However, sometimes those looking at the results don't like what they asked for and request more changes. If I had left the new code in place, it would have meant a lot more work should any changes be requested. Guess what? There are always more changes and I saved myself quite a few hours of work.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Pandora
I flew back to Utah on Friday night with a plane full of skiers. Seated several rows behind me were two buddies headed to Park City for 3 days of fun in the snow. One of them mentioned that he worked for Pandora. The whole plane seemed to explode with the question, "You work for Pandora?" It was as if he was a rock star. Children asked for autographs, women swooned, and men passed out business cards.
The plane was alive with chatter the whole 90-minute flight and I got to hear every word. Everyone wanted to know what the Pandora employee did. He confessed that he wasn't technical but sold advertising. He then proceeded to explain how much information they keep about their listeners. This allows them to target advertising with a laser-like focus. It was a great story for someone interested in promoting products. It was a bit concerning for someone interested in privacy.
So what information does Pandora really keep? First, they know your music interests. While that doesn't give them your exact age, it can give them a pretty good idea. For instance, I don't know a single adult that enjoys Selena Gomez. If that is on your playlist, then they can be sure you are a teenage or tween girl that has been force-fed Disney since birth.
Pandora also keeps track of your IP address, which is geographically specific. That means I must confuse them. Sometimes I am in Utah and other times, I am in California. However, it allows them to target ads for my general listening area. As I am in Utah today, I see ads for older single sites specific to the Salt Lake area. I wonder what that says about my playlist?
The information that Pandora tracks that should really bother you is their ability to go through your browser cookies and see the websites you like to visit. I frequently remove all my cookies for this very reason. While I don't visit questionable websites, I also don't feel comfortable sharing my personal interests with the world. I have a hard enough time not buying skis on a daily basis. Imagine if I was constantly bombarded with advertising about great deals. I don't think my credit cards could survive.
The plane was alive with chatter the whole 90-minute flight and I got to hear every word. Everyone wanted to know what the Pandora employee did. He confessed that he wasn't technical but sold advertising. He then proceeded to explain how much information they keep about their listeners. This allows them to target advertising with a laser-like focus. It was a great story for someone interested in promoting products. It was a bit concerning for someone interested in privacy.
So what information does Pandora really keep? First, they know your music interests. While that doesn't give them your exact age, it can give them a pretty good idea. For instance, I don't know a single adult that enjoys Selena Gomez. If that is on your playlist, then they can be sure you are a teenage or tween girl that has been force-fed Disney since birth.
Pandora also keeps track of your IP address, which is geographically specific. That means I must confuse them. Sometimes I am in Utah and other times, I am in California. However, it allows them to target ads for my general listening area. As I am in Utah today, I see ads for older single sites specific to the Salt Lake area. I wonder what that says about my playlist?
The information that Pandora tracks that should really bother you is their ability to go through your browser cookies and see the websites you like to visit. I frequently remove all my cookies for this very reason. While I don't visit questionable websites, I also don't feel comfortable sharing my personal interests with the world. I have a hard enough time not buying skis on a daily basis. Imagine if I was constantly bombarded with advertising about great deals. I don't think my credit cards could survive.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
A Keyboard for my Tablet
Lately I have noticed that I have not been using either of my tablet computers for anything more than playing casual games or listening to Pandora. Yesterday I decided to go get a case for my Samsung tablet to see if that would spur me to use it more. So when I finished skiing, I got in the car and headed down to the local Best Buy store.
I wasn't sure if I should bring the tablet computer or just leave it home. Since I wanted to make sure everything fit nicely, I brought the tablet. It turns out, that wasn't really necessary. The Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1 is so popular, there were tons of accessories specifically made for it. That is important if you plan to use things like the built-in camera and so I looked at cases specially made for my tablet computer.
I looked at 3 different cases and finally decided on the most expensive one. All 3 cases were very similar in style and appearance. The only real difference was that one contained a Bluetooth keyboard. I played around a bit with the keyboard and was convinced I could touch-type on it without much difficulty. Given that it only increased the price by $10, I was sold.
I have had the keyboard for less than 24 hours and I have to say that it actually makes the tablet a much more usable tool. I wouldn't say that my tablet can now replace my laptop, but it does come close. Now we will see if I use my tablet for more than just entertainment.
I wasn't sure if I should bring the tablet computer or just leave it home. Since I wanted to make sure everything fit nicely, I brought the tablet. It turns out, that wasn't really necessary. The Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1 is so popular, there were tons of accessories specifically made for it. That is important if you plan to use things like the built-in camera and so I looked at cases specially made for my tablet computer.
I looked at 3 different cases and finally decided on the most expensive one. All 3 cases were very similar in style and appearance. The only real difference was that one contained a Bluetooth keyboard. I played around a bit with the keyboard and was convinced I could touch-type on it without much difficulty. Given that it only increased the price by $10, I was sold.
I have had the keyboard for less than 24 hours and I have to say that it actually makes the tablet a much more usable tool. I wouldn't say that my tablet can now replace my laptop, but it does come close. Now we will see if I use my tablet for more than just entertainment.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
An Interesting Network Problem
Last week I had a bad case of the stomach flu. Normally that is the type of illness that is done in a single day. Not the strain I had. It was with me for a good 5 days. When it came time to take my normal flight back to the office on Monday, I wasn't able. Instead I stayed at home in Utah and rested in bed. Eventually I had to get out of bed and read e-mail.
I tried to use my Linux desktop to read e-mail, but couldn't get the computer to connect to the Internet. Normally it only takes me turning it on for a connection to happen. When that wasn't sufficient, I tried to reset my cable modem, followed by power cycling the network hub. That didn't work. The rest of the computers in the house were all connecting to the Internet just fine and so I resigned myself to the fact that I needed a new networking card.
I wanted to try one more thing before heading to the store to get a new network card. I unplugged the computer and put it up on my work bench. I pulled off the cover and checked all of the connections. I was going to vacuum out the dust, but there wasn't any. I put the computer back together and booted it up. Amazingly it worked. It turns out that the real problem was that even though the computer was turned off, the motherboard was still getting power. Simply unplugging it after turning off the computer was sufficient. I must remember that the next time there is a network issue with one of my computers.
I tried to use my Linux desktop to read e-mail, but couldn't get the computer to connect to the Internet. Normally it only takes me turning it on for a connection to happen. When that wasn't sufficient, I tried to reset my cable modem, followed by power cycling the network hub. That didn't work. The rest of the computers in the house were all connecting to the Internet just fine and so I resigned myself to the fact that I needed a new networking card.
I wanted to try one more thing before heading to the store to get a new network card. I unplugged the computer and put it up on my work bench. I pulled off the cover and checked all of the connections. I was going to vacuum out the dust, but there wasn't any. I put the computer back together and booted it up. Amazingly it worked. It turns out that the real problem was that even though the computer was turned off, the motherboard was still getting power. Simply unplugging it after turning off the computer was sufficient. I must remember that the next time there is a network issue with one of my computers.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Free Content - Part 2
My last posting provided a little history about how we went from software pirates to music pirates and now to movie pirates. Congress has proposed legislation to help curb this piracy, but is has been put on hold for the time being. This brings up the question: Is legislation the answer? In a nutshell, no.
If you look at the software and music industries, enacting new laws didn't really help. A combination of enforcing existing laws coupled with simple technological advances like software licensing keys had the largest success for the software industry. As for music, piracy just went underground. The same will happen with movies.
Talking with one of my co-workers exposed a mindset of the younger generation that was new to me. He expressed that teenagers and young adults expect certain things to be free. If you look at the software industry, open source is a large movement that gains more and more projects every day. The same thing is happening with music. If you look at iTunes, they constantly have the free song of the week. There are also bands that make their music freely available from their websites. One would think this would kill innovation. I personally believe it has the opposite effect. If you are a commercial software company and put out a sub-standard product, there is an open source project that your customers can replace you with. That means your product had better be good enough that people will pay money for it. I see the same thing happening with music.
So what is the solution for Hollywood? My suggestion would be to embrace the Internet and don't try to litigate or legislate it. Use it as a new medium for distributing your products. While fewer people are interested in actually buying DVDs, more people are interested in streaming movies from places like Netflix. Think about it. If you don't have to create a DVD and ship it somewhere, you shouldn't have to charge nearly as much, but still be able to make the same amount of profit.
Unfortunately movies are not the end of free content. Today I saw a prototype of a new electronics device created on a 3D printer. It is only a matter of time before you will be able to download plans from the Internet and create your own Ferrari. Let's see Congress try to figure out how to legislate that one.
If you look at the software and music industries, enacting new laws didn't really help. A combination of enforcing existing laws coupled with simple technological advances like software licensing keys had the largest success for the software industry. As for music, piracy just went underground. The same will happen with movies.
Talking with one of my co-workers exposed a mindset of the younger generation that was new to me. He expressed that teenagers and young adults expect certain things to be free. If you look at the software industry, open source is a large movement that gains more and more projects every day. The same thing is happening with music. If you look at iTunes, they constantly have the free song of the week. There are also bands that make their music freely available from their websites. One would think this would kill innovation. I personally believe it has the opposite effect. If you are a commercial software company and put out a sub-standard product, there is an open source project that your customers can replace you with. That means your product had better be good enough that people will pay money for it. I see the same thing happening with music.
So what is the solution for Hollywood? My suggestion would be to embrace the Internet and don't try to litigate or legislate it. Use it as a new medium for distributing your products. While fewer people are interested in actually buying DVDs, more people are interested in streaming movies from places like Netflix. Think about it. If you don't have to create a DVD and ship it somewhere, you shouldn't have to charge nearly as much, but still be able to make the same amount of profit.
Unfortunately movies are not the end of free content. Today I saw a prototype of a new electronics device created on a 3D printer. It is only a matter of time before you will be able to download plans from the Internet and create your own Ferrari. Let's see Congress try to figure out how to legislate that one.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Free Content - Part 1
I recently had a conversation with several coworkers and we talked about the new anti-piracy legislation that seems to have been put on hold by Congress. On one hand, Hollywood wants to protect their movies, and on the other, Silicon Valley doesn't want censorship, which is what they felt was happening. This brought up a very interesting discussion.
When computers first came out, there was little to keep friends and family from sharing software with each other. If you had a program your friend wanted, simply make a copy of it and he had it too. Then software companies came up with anti-piracy methods to keep this from happening. After all, why should software developers miss out on lost revenue from software pirates.
Then the Compact Disk or CD was developed. The deterrent that kept people from copying and sharing music was the massive size of one single song. Twenty years ago, 75 megabytes was huge and that only got you a single song. Back then, a 100 megabyte hard drive was considered massive. Eventually better compression techniques were created and the size of disk drives increased. Gigabyte hard drives emerged and MP3s shrunk the size of a song to around 5 megabytes. Then the same problem the software industry faced years earlier, plagued music companies. Their solution was to litigate. Sites like Napster were shut down and several high-profile offenders were slapped with huge fines and threats of jail. Unfortunately the music companies were not nearly as effective as software companies and stolen music continues to be a problem.
Now we face the same issue with movies and Hollywood isn't too happy with the music industry's success. Hard drives have continued to increase capacity to the point where countless movies can be stored on even the most basic laptop. The movie industry has enough trouble making profitable films and they don't want to loose any potential revenue. So what is their solution? Lobby Congress to enact tougher laws regarding copyrighted material. This includes creating a new police force, which is made up of Internet service providers (ISPs). Furthermore, anyone can claim a copyright which could force ISPs to suspend service to anyone with a false claim against them. If you don't like the content found on a website, claim it is yours and force the ISP to remove it. Then wait for the court system to churn through all of the false claims, which takes a lot of time.
So that is how we got to this point. What do we do now?
When computers first came out, there was little to keep friends and family from sharing software with each other. If you had a program your friend wanted, simply make a copy of it and he had it too. Then software companies came up with anti-piracy methods to keep this from happening. After all, why should software developers miss out on lost revenue from software pirates.
Then the Compact Disk or CD was developed. The deterrent that kept people from copying and sharing music was the massive size of one single song. Twenty years ago, 75 megabytes was huge and that only got you a single song. Back then, a 100 megabyte hard drive was considered massive. Eventually better compression techniques were created and the size of disk drives increased. Gigabyte hard drives emerged and MP3s shrunk the size of a song to around 5 megabytes. Then the same problem the software industry faced years earlier, plagued music companies. Their solution was to litigate. Sites like Napster were shut down and several high-profile offenders were slapped with huge fines and threats of jail. Unfortunately the music companies were not nearly as effective as software companies and stolen music continues to be a problem.
Now we face the same issue with movies and Hollywood isn't too happy with the music industry's success. Hard drives have continued to increase capacity to the point where countless movies can be stored on even the most basic laptop. The movie industry has enough trouble making profitable films and they don't want to loose any potential revenue. So what is their solution? Lobby Congress to enact tougher laws regarding copyrighted material. This includes creating a new police force, which is made up of Internet service providers (ISPs). Furthermore, anyone can claim a copyright which could force ISPs to suspend service to anyone with a false claim against them. If you don't like the content found on a website, claim it is yours and force the ISP to remove it. Then wait for the court system to churn through all of the false claims, which takes a lot of time.
So that is how we got to this point. What do we do now?
Saturday, January 14, 2012
A Break from TV
This weekend I have a guest from Japan visiting me in Utah. He came for business last week and has business at our offices next week. Rather than get stuck in San Francisco over a long weekend, he asked if he could come skiing with me in Utah. Seeing as I had already invited him when I was in Japan, I was more than happy to host him this weekend.
I didn't watch much TV when I was in Japan because I didn't understand anything being said. There is only so long that you can watch people on the screen speaking a different language before you get really bored. Rather than subject my guest to a similar fate, we have all gathered in the living room this evening and are reading, working on the computer, or playing hand-held video games. I have to say that I don't miss television.
This has me questioning the future of TV. While I don't plan to toss my idiot box out the window any time soon, I may rethink my cable subscription. Why pay a fee every month when I could pay a fraction of the cost and get better service. After all, most networks allow you to watch recent episodes of your favorite show at the time is most convenient for you. If I want to watch a movie, there are a number of services that offer downloaded or streaming content via the Internet. Perhaps I should look into replacing one of my current televisions with one that has built-in Internet features. In the past I haven't given an Internet capable TV a second though, but maybe these electronic companies are onto something.
I didn't watch much TV when I was in Japan because I didn't understand anything being said. There is only so long that you can watch people on the screen speaking a different language before you get really bored. Rather than subject my guest to a similar fate, we have all gathered in the living room this evening and are reading, working on the computer, or playing hand-held video games. I have to say that I don't miss television.
This has me questioning the future of TV. While I don't plan to toss my idiot box out the window any time soon, I may rethink my cable subscription. Why pay a fee every month when I could pay a fraction of the cost and get better service. After all, most networks allow you to watch recent episodes of your favorite show at the time is most convenient for you. If I want to watch a movie, there are a number of services that offer downloaded or streaming content via the Internet. Perhaps I should look into replacing one of my current televisions with one that has built-in Internet features. In the past I haven't given an Internet capable TV a second though, but maybe these electronic companies are onto something.
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