Leap Day

Leap Day is one of those events that happens once every 4 years and just happens to be today. It is necessary to keep the calendar from getting out of sync. Of course it would be convenient if every year had the same number of days, but that's not how the universe works.

A few years ago, I had a co-worker propose that we were off on the number of days during the year. He had noticed that the seasons seemed to be starting later and later. I had had a similar thought before and ran through the mental exercise. I realized that while seasons were directly effected by the rotation of the earth around the sun, we really use the length of day to calculate how long this voyage takes. I pointed that out to my co-worker and he agreed with my logic.

Computers are kind of like the earth. It would be nice if they all used uniform time units to represent a day. Unfortunately that is impossible, simply because of tiny differences in how computer clocks are made. So that means that every once an a while you might want to resync your computer's clock with a trusted time reference. What better day than Leap Day to make that adjustment? After all, sometimes it is very important that your computer has the right time.

Proper Software Development

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.

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.

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.

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.