Illuminating Oneself - current events

A Fruity Tweet In The Dark

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:34:00 GMT

The joy of multiple manufacturers of the Android phone is not just selection, it’s fault tolerance.

One company breaks a patent, the others keep on rolling. One company’s distribution deal falls through, the others keep on rolling. One company fails to be as awesome as Apple, the others keep on rolling.

I don’t own an Android phone. And I don’t want one (yet). But in a manner of only months, I now have the same number of friends with Android phones as I do friends with iPhones.

The difference: none of the people I know with an Android phone are fan-boys of anything. They saw a cool phone that they could get from their preferred provider, so they got it. The App(le)-niche goldmine has reached its peak, from here on, it is just over-saturation. From here on, it will be about UIs, multi-tasking nuances, and the number of buttons on (or the presence of) a slide-out keyboard.

That’s why I think Microsoft is doing a good job playing catch-up with their Windows Phone 7 platform. There will always be apps for everything, so make the experience better. (Of course, they still have room to screw up.)

Sometimes I just wish Gruber would just spontaneously combust.

One Bad Apple Spoils The Bunch

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:44:00 GMT

I’ve been struggling the past several months. What used to be a tingle of distaste for a brand has become a torrent of madness. Where once reason and uncertainty made me bite my tongue, familiarity has now bred contempt. I speak of course, of Apple.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll say here and now: I’ve never owned an Apple product. (I’ve also never employed a prostitute or smoked PCP, but I can still argue against their use.)

For the longest time, I avoided Apple products because the only things in that categorization were computers - and I knew how to use my PC quite well, thank you. Fast forward a decade and a half, Apple is the biggest sensation in tech. Even the pundits that despise Apple can’t keep their mouths shut about ‘em. (Myself included.)

Apple has graced us this month with the release of the iPad. For those of you not following the situation, the iPad is basically a giant iPod Touch:

Boasting 9+ hours of battery life, the 1.5lb iPad is heavy enough that you won’t want to hold it for more than an hour at a time lest you change your workout regiment. (Or integrate it in.)
With its “9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display” you’ll get to use your favorite content-consuming apps at double the size, but it’s ineffective “fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating” will make it look like a CSI crime scene and leave you needing to carry a terry cloth with you everwhere.
With it’s built-in speaker, microphone, bluetooth, and video codecs – you’ll be able to do all of your favorite multimedia consumption, except for video conferencing or taking pictures because it doesn’t currently have a camera.
Being one of the only “large” mobile multi-touch devices on the market, it features one of the largest on-screen keyboards out there – but the extended typing they claim you can easily do on it is still so unwieldy they’ve simultaneously released a keyboard attachment.
It also features the all-acclaimed Safari Mobile, supporting large chunks of HTML 5 and CSS 3, so it’s ready for the web of tomorrow - but without Flash support it’s useless for 90% of today’s internet.

Okay, so the hardware sucks. The browser sucks. Shouldn’t it be about the apps?

I’m a software developer, so I can appreciate “apps” - little nuggets of easy-to-maintain code and functionality that are sold individually, for cheap prices, to the masses - little nuggets of code that are small enough, I would be tempted to find a means to simultaneously develop for multiple app platforms easily, so that I can move on to the next app without hassle.

And you know what? Microsoft gets this. Google gets this. Apple hates it.

Fresh out of the pearly gates of Cupertino, the Apple iPhone OS 4 SDK license agreement says, amongst many things:

Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs
(e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

What this means, in layman’s terms, for any programmer or software shop that used to sneak apps across the Apple border by cross-compiling their Flash, Java, or C# into C/C++/Objective-C before deployment, they are simply out of luck.

My brain is simply without recourse in its search for a plausible explanation. The most I can figure is, Apple doesn’t want the slew of upcoming Windows Phone 7 apps to be translated and submitted to the Apple App store. (That is, they want developers to pick a side and stay on it.) Or they just really really really want to absolutely kill Flash. It’s no secret that Jobs hates Flash. The fact that his complaints against Adobe and Flash are retorted with the reality that Apple doesn’t have any decent high-performance APIs to code against, doesn’t seem to weaken his resolve.

Despite my nay-saying in the past, and my general bias towards the Microsoft development stack, I have been secretly enthused the last 4 or 5 weeks with the possibility of writing a .NET app that would run on Windows, Xbox, Zune, & Windows Phone 7 – and then using Mono to run it on Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad – all with 90% shared code – but Apple has eliminated that possibility. I am no longer tempted to take a bite out of the Apple development community.

This one’s got a worm in it.

Global Climate Change and Decision Theory

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:27:00 GMT

A friend of mine recently posted a link into his Facebook feed, of this video:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ)

It is a rather intelligent person, presenting an argument about Global Climate Change, using a dressed up form of Pascal's Wager, which is a form of Decision Theory.

I found it quite interesting. I mean, it *is* simplified, but, as he points out in this video...

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGpYI9LcJkA)

...you can't exactly go into complexities in a YouTube video, A) because he wanted to keep it to 9 and a half minutes, and B) because none of us are certified climate experts. His first video was critiqued, apparently not very constructively, quite a bit.

Then, in a third video:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBy8dEtiCc4)

...well, he quite humorously rebuts as much as he can. He makes a good argument, (I won't detail it, because the videos are worth the watch), though I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion. I'm personally more partial to evidence that supports solar output cycles, natural global climate fluctuation, etc. And you could argue that his videos are all about not knowing exactly what will happen, but those values are also important for assigning values to the grid items, and ultimately, wagering on possible courses of action.

But, since I am not educated in: weather patterns, global economic and sociological trends, solar weather patterns - I can't make my own personal decision on this issue. And as much as I hate for freedoms to be subverted, I whole-heartedly believe that if the government, (as in, us as a people, as a whole), can come to a positive conclusion that we can curtail negative global climate change, I am in favor of structuring industry and municipal regulations to make it happen.

I know a lot of people have really strong, yet uneducated beliefs, on both sides of this issue. There is a lot of sensationalism in one direction, and alot of apathy in the other. But as long as we hold our government accountable for their efforts to research this, and diligently make sure our representatives work for action, we, as a race, might just be okay.

I Helped Bring Digg To Its Knees

Wed, 02 May 2007 05:59:00 GMT

I spent 40 minutes Digging every article I could related to the HD-DVD key leak - which at first Digg staff was trying to censor. This has sense exploded in a Digg revolt. Hundreds of stories with thousands of Diggs each, it is quite insane.

My computer couldn't keep up with the JavaScript of me clicking "Digg" over and over again. But obviously my internet connection *could*. And a whole helluva lot of other people, too.

Eventually, this is what I got, after 5 minutes of it timing out with me just trying to see the front page:

One of the articles is a link to a screen-shot of a comment that Digg founder Kevin Rose left on a topic regarding the madness itself. In summary, Kevin said that they (Digg staff) were contacted by [some HD-DVD affiliated legal lackey] with a cease and desist.

But apparently, at 9PM (possible PST, but I dunno), Kevin Rose posted this on the Digg Blog. Basically saying that Digg was just trying to protect itself (it being a rather small company), but since the people have spoken out, Digg will stick with them. Even if it has to die trying.

Makes me feel kinda bad for all those Diggs I shoved up their asses, if only I had seen that Digg Blog post first. Though, they may honestly suffer more wrath from the thousands and thousands of users who are angry about censorship, then they could at the hands of a *potential* intellectial property dispute, of that magic little number.

Yours truly,

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

HD-DVD Decryption Key Cracked - Now Censored

Tue, 01 May 2007 21:41:00 GMT

Attention MPAA, RIAA, and respective affiliates and associative organizations, or those acting in their interest: You do not have permission to view this blog entry. Doing so constitutes a violation of the Internet Privacy Act.

Blog Entry Starts Here

The HD-DVD decryption key has been posted lots of places. The MPAA has been issuing DMCA take-down notices. I would tell you what the key is, but they might try to censor me too. Even though the key was napped directly out of an ingenious persons computer RAM. In light of that, I've encrypted it here, for my own personal storage:

Security 09 by F9 obscurity 11 never 02 works. 9D There 74 are E3 always 5B smarter D8 people 41 out 56 there C5 who 63 can 56 figure 88 it C0 out.

Do not decrypt it. Just because the sequence may or may not be in plain site, does not mean that it is yours to know. If I find out you decrypted it from my blog, without my express written permission, I will prosecute you under the Internet Privacy Act.

HD-DVD - I'm sure you've heard of it. Along with Blu-Ray, it is part of the next generation of high-definition home movie media, however overlaiden with DRM it might be. Fair use is out the window, or so it seems.

An intelligent computer user explains how he found it here. (Notice I refuse to refer to him using a potentially demeaning title of *acker.) He found the key, by doing memory dumps of his computer's RAM. He didn't "crack" anything, or run any decryption algorithms to find the key. It was just sitting there, in his computer memory, alongside all sorts of other easy-to-read data. He won't name the player software that he snooped, because he doesn't want the software's developer to be unfairly burdened by the MPAA.

DRM doesn't work! It only pisses off the stupid people, and only inconviences the smart ones. If its a product worth selling, then it will sell! Claiming ownership over a pattern of bytes, which travel around on someone else's computer, is morally reprehensible, and irrationally foolish!

Media companies need to stop wasting their money on seemingly complex DRM schemes, undergo a paradigm shift, and focus on having unique products that are worth selling. Pieces of plastic, no matter what movies are "on" them, are not worth $20 or $30. To quote Dr. Phil (McGraw), "Folks, its time to get real!"

Where Do We Go From Here?

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:39:00 GMT

"Forever Changed" - The Season

On just an ordinary day,
A weapon drawn, and lives forever changed
One act of violence made the world stop and watch
And on a drillfield by candlelight we prayed

And with questions on our minds, we wonder where the future lies
As we look up to heaven with hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here
Can we overcome this fear
And find a healing for the pain, and see the sun beyond the rain

We've got the strength to endure,
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world filled with hate, we need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way, for we're all Hokies today

Verse 2:
And to the ones who fell that day
In our hearts your love will never fade away
We're picking up the pieces to build a better tomorrow
We'll find a joy, to move on from the sorrow

By the color of the leaves, you know He has us on his mind
So we look up to heaven with hope in our eyes

Where do we go from here
Can we overcome this fear
And find a healing for the pain, and see the sun behind the rain

We've got the strength to endure,
And someday we'll feel more secure
In a world full of hate, we need to become something great

Oh God, send your mercy this way, cuz we're all Hokies today

The spirit lives on, don't let it be gone, let it shine forever
And through the heartbreak, for the lost and their sakes, let it bring us together

Download or listen to this song, from Planet Blacksburg, here.

April "Funny" Day?

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:22:00 GMT

Okay, so I expected to encounter maybe 1 or two April fools jokes today, instead, I'm already counting on 3 hands. My favorite so far, consist of little pranks on the internet.

For one, Facebook definitely has a sense of humor. All day today, everyone on Facebook has been noticing tidbits of hilarity in their "My News Feeds":

(Oh no! Not two of my oxen!)

Another good one, is the World of Warcraft announcement of the availability of the tinfoil hat. Specifically:

This is supposed to keep your character stats out of The Armory, (which people have complained about.) Blizzard is actually making fun of its own customers with this one.

And my favorite, at the top of the list? None other than the new, Google TiSP. Its free, (mostly) wireless broadband, ala toilette:

To quote the website:

We're actively developing a higher-performance version of TiSP specifically
tailored to small and medium-sized businesses, including 24-hour, on-site
technical support in the event of backup problems, brownouts and data
wipes.

Not to mention that the Google Groups discussion on TiSP is hilarious, with people making cracks about torrents, VOIP being bubbly, packet sniffing, and a Google-advertised additional behaviour - parcel delivery, through the very same medium as this new internet service.

If it were real, this would give us 2 or 3 new reasons to use the toilet, in addition to the 2 or 3 that we all have already.

For other funny internet pranks for this April Fool's Day, check out this article, on Neowin.net. Or you can check out the Museum of Hoaxes, which portrays itself as an actual place (in addition to the web content), but it doesn't acutally exist. ;-)

John McCain's MySpace "Enhanced"

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:57:00 GMT

See the original article on TechCrunch. Lets just say, its damn funny, and McCain deserves it.

Vista activation cracked by brute force

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:12:00 GMT

It is a simple brute force attack, dumb as a rock that just tries keys. If it gets one, you manually have to check it and try activation. Is is ugly, takes hours, is far from point and click, but it is said to work. I don't have any Vista installs because of the anti-user licensing so I have not tested it personally.
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