Holiday Gift Cards

OK it's the end of the year when all good friends need to use up previous gift cards before they expire. Huh! What a joke. What a scam. Your friends pay good money to buy you a nice gift, say $100, from somewhere that they think you'll enjoy the merchandise. You take your time to think carefully about how or when to spend it. Finally you have it. But alas, the fine print on the reverse of the card says it's only good for one year. Last Christmas to this Christmas. Oops! Minus one gift from last year. The merchant has effectively stolen your friend's money. They paid. But the store did not deliver. And you didn't receive.

What's the deal? The $100 isn't going anywhere. The store has had the use of it for an entire year. It's like paying for an outfit in advance, allowing the store to order it, then telling you it's too late to pick it up. They're keeping the outfit and your money. Is this cheating or what?

Or worse: when they deduct a "finance charge" of $1-2 for your not redeeming the gift. Like they're really working hard to keep your friends money. It is really costing them a fortune while you decide how you might spend the gift card. Exactly for what is the "fee" paying?

All of this really irks me. I implore anyone reading this: read the fine print. Do not purchase any gift card which has any sort of expiration date. Urge your friends to do the same. Better yet, boycott the whole business until they come up with a better gift idea than that.

TSA Restricting Lithium Batteries Starting Tomorrow

I think someone at the Transportation Security Administration has been reading my last two posts about lithium-ion batteries. The Associated Press and C|NET reported a couple days ago that, starting January 1, 2008, travelers will no longer be allowed to transport lithium batteries (whether rechargeable or not) in checked baggage. There will also be restrictions on the number of spare batteries travelers can bring.

The limit is determined by "equivalent lithium content" (ELC) measurements, which applies to both spare and installed batteries. Batteries up to eight grams ELC are permissible, as well as up to two spare batteries with up to 25 grams ELC. Read more details at the Department of Transportation's Safe Travel page.

Reasoning for the new restrictions comes from Federal Aviation Administration findings that passenger aircraft cargo hold fire-suppression systems can't put out fires in lithium batteries. The Safe Travel site insists that devices such as cell phones won't be affected by the new limits, as batteries for those devices are well below the established numbers.

In a way, I guess this is a good thing. Lithium batteries have been known to cause fires in the past, and the cargo hold of a passenger aircraft is not the best place for them to be when such fires spark. At least in the passenger cabin, there are fire extinguishers available.

Silverlight vs. Flash Battle to Heat Up Next Year

It's been a while since I last blogged about Silverlight, Microsoft's newest (?) "me, too" application. So long, I had to search for the post in my blog dashboard (it's no longer on the first page of results for the tag "Microsoft"). But the news media is covering it again, this time as part of New Year's stuff (predictions for 2008, duh).

PC World's article from a couple hours ago suggests, using mostly quotes and its tagline, that the battle between Adobe and Microsoft will get hotter next year, as Silverlight battles Flash, Flex, and AIR for supremacy in the rich Internet application (RIA) arena.

Microsoft's biggest challenge so far has been to just get people to download the plugin. As the article's author, Chris Kanaracus, wrote, "Every good general knows that even the biggest army is useless if you can't get it on the battlefield." Silverlight won't do Microsoft any good if it stays on the download servers and doesn't get installed on client PCs.

My take is, I really don't want Microsoft to succeed. Adding another application to the mix just means we consumers have to install yet another program to be able to use the Web without any missing content. Needing Flash, QuickTime, Java, and Shockwave is bad enough; add AIR, Flex, and Silverlight, and we'll start to spend all of our time on the Internet installing plugins. Even just one is pushing it, in my opinion.

The best way to go, I think, would be to simply expand existing offerings, perhaps adding one more plugin to do offline (read: out-of-browser) stuff. Silverlight isn't that one plugin; it still focuses on Web- and browser-based content. AIR is OK; I'll probably end up getting it eventually as more application developers start to use it. (So far, all I've seen using AIR is a Twitter client, which I don't need thanks to IM and Firefox integrations.)

Actually, we already have out-of-browser applications, based on Java. We don't need AIR, even. Why can't we just build on existing frameworks, instead of introducing additional platforms? Sometimes, I think the software world has gone mad... I guess I should just be thankful that Silverlight is available for Internet Explorer (Windows), Firefox (Windows/Macintosh), and Safari (Mac). But what about Linux? Honestly, nobody seems to care about releasing plugins for browsers on the operating system that basically runs the Internet (a majority of servers run some variety of Linux). Harrumph. And I want to switch at some point, too.

Update (12/31): Given i80and's comment below, I should clarify something. I say that nobody really supports Linux because the existing solutions either are horrible and pathetic (Linux Flash) or rely on external libraries/applications (Mono, WINE, etc.). It's not that things aren't available for Linux; it's just that there's very little native support, that I can see.

Gmail Social Network Feature?

Uh-oh. As if the recent Google Reader fiasco wasn't enough (still unresolved, by the way), some speculation from Google Operating System suggests that Google will be adding an activity feature to Gmail, similar to Facebook's news feed. Now, at least Google doesn't have something like Beacon (yet), but it's still annoying that they keep doing these things. I really hope they don't add this feature, because I'm still waiting for them to add an "Off" switch to the Google Reader sharing function.

Really, who needs updates from friends in Gmail? As I mentioned before, we have perfectly good services like FriendFeed to keep track of Web activity from our friends. Sure, they have to opt-in, but it's better than automatically spamming people with updates from everyone they've ever emailed (even once). Unrequested sharing of items in Reader is annoying. Updates from other Google services would be worse.

I've already had the Web Clips bar disabled for over a year now; reading feeds in Gmail is not something I want to do (Reader's better), and putting things from my contacts in that chat box (which you can't hide anymore, by the way) won't improve the interface. Imagine if they make it so you can't turn off the Web Clips bar because they change their mind and put the updates in it. Then there's wasted space at the top of the screen.

Google, if you're reading this, please stop trying to turn your services into social networks. You do what you've released very well, but there are plenty of other social networks out there. We don't need another one. Especially if it intrudes on our other activities.

Software Don'ts (Short)

In the midst of all that drama over Netscape's demise, I came across a link to a great series on software don'ts, written by Joel Spolsky of Joel on Software. Despite the fact that they were written in 2000, I think they still apply. I'll just post a link to the first part, and let you all follow or not at your leisure.

The articles (what I've read so far) are great, and I myself have experienced a lot of what he talks about. Especially the "my code is messy" part. And the fact that it's harder to read code than write it. Anyway, take a look.

Netscape Getting Killed Off Next Year

AOL/Netscape has announced plans to kill off Netscape Navigator, the venerable old browser that once held 90% market share, spun off its code into open-source Firefox, introduced the world to JavaScript, and showed us what CSS could do. The end of support: February 1, 2008.

The official recommendation is to switch to Firefox. Extension developers from Netscape's development team have been working on creating Netstripe, a Firef0x version of the Netscape 9 default theme.

I used Netscape briefly to test website designs, back at version 8, and quit simply because it switched between the IE and Firefox rendering engines, providing no quirks of its own. Old browsers like Netscape 4, I've tossed already. I also used Mozilla for a time, and also quit that for similar reasons: Mozilla uses the same engine as Firefox, so rendering doesn't change.

There will be a Netscape Archive for die-hard fans of the browser, where users will be able to download versions of the program, without support. Meanwhile, TechCrunch, Web Worker Daily, and Zoli Erdos all mourn the announcement. I wish I could share their feelings, but I've never really used Netscape; I most certainly didn't start the Internet with it (that was horrid Internet Explorer), and now Firefox has begun climbing up the charts (16% last I heard, to IE's 77%).

But in the interest of Internet history, let me say farewell, formally, to Netscape Navigator, and hope that its innovations will continue to be mirrored in all the competing programs that drove it out of business.

Google Reader Just Doesn't "Get It"

The latest post to the Official Google Reader Blog concerns the recently launched share-with-your-"friends"-automatically feature and the uproar it's caused among the users. I myself have no real reason to care, since (sadly) nobody I know uses Google Reader, but I agree wholeheartedly that Google's launch of the "feature" was, in its own way, worse than Facebook's Beacon program.

The fact that Google's system assumes that anyone you talk to in Google Talk is a friend is the first part of the brokenness. Add to that the fact that you can't turn it off and have just the feed, with nothing automatic. And add to that the completely useless solutions Google has published to work around the problem.

So, what would be the logical way to give control to the user? How about a Shared Items control icon on the Tags tab of Settings, in the same column as the public/private toggle for the other tags, that allows you to turn off the automatic subscription of your "friends"? How about, since we can hide friends from showing up in our list, a function to block certain friends from seeing your feed automatically (for more-granular, Google Talk "Block" function-like control)? How about both?

What's Google done? Neither. Nothing. They've only just now begun to admit that they might have been wrong about the feature's usefulness. It's already ruined Christmas for someone, according to Garett Rogers' post on ZDNet (there's also a great Lolcat in that post).

Before today's post, Google's responses to the problem have included things like:

December 17: "There's a "clear your shared items" link on the Settings > Friends page if you urgently need to remove the items you've shared in the past."

December 18: "We just added a new option for those of you wishing to rearrange your sharing habits in light of the new features."

December 19: "Additionally, please note that blocking a person in Google Talk doesn't remove them from your Reader friends list. They'll need to be actually deleted for this to happen."

December 21: "This should help with the issue of unrecognized nicknames."

December 21: "Let me reiterate: If you're uncomfortable sharing items, you can unshare everything in a single click."

None of the features or processes that those posts refer to actually solve the underlying problem. Why would I want to clear my shared items? Why should I even have to? Why can't Google go back and hit the Undo button? Sure, I can move things to a new tag, too, but then everyone to whom I've ever sent the Shared Items URL has to get an updated address from me to continue following the items I shared under the protection of an obviously obfuscated address.

And notice that December 19 comment, about blocking people in Google Talk. I have to delete my contacts to keep them from seeing my shared items (if I don't want them to)? Sheesh!

So, to keep this post from getting too long, let me just say that I think Google should rethink this "feature." I won't go through every possible point, but this has been, all in all, a very bad move on Google's part, and I hope that, by January 1 (or at least the first week of January), Google will have switched off the feature, and maybe provided an option to turn it on.

Of course, this might be the least of our worries if what this post at Wise Bread says is true. There are rumors that Google wants to build a "universal activity feed" that will show up in Reader and possibly other services like Gmail. If I want to broadcast things I do on the Internet, there's a wonderful little service written by former Googler Paul Buchheit to do just that (it has privacy controls and you opt-in for each service you want to broadcast). Perhaps George Orwell was right about everything (except who would be doing the watching)...

Amusing Holiday Greeting

Steve Bass published an interesting, amusing holiday greeting in his latest column, sent in by a reader:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the recipient of said wish.

By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Apparently, the author works in a law firm, which would explain the stilted, formal language. I think it just makes it more amusing.

Whole Foods Makes Amazing Decision

Well, it wasn't the whole chain, just one store, but it really makes one wonder what the world would be like if all companies (hey, just start with the airlines) had the same attitude.

West Hartford, CT: A Whole Foods Market store's computers go down during a systems upgrade. Rather than make customers wait until they're fixed, everyone going through the checkout lines gets their groceries for free. An estimated $4,000 worth of merchandise was given away before the glitch was repaired.

You can read more of the story at Courant.com (though it does have a small, completely-unrelated section at the bottom).

I kind of wish all businesses were run like this. I've been places where, if the credit card machine (say) goes down, they don't even know how to use the manual slider (or don't have one, sometimes). Man, if they'd behave like Whole Foods did in this situation...

Gmail Adds Macros-Like Help Panel

This is probably old news by now (OK, it is), but Gmail added a help panel that looks a lot like the one from Gmail Macros (and Google Reader, come to think of it). It includes all the default shortcuts. The panel is only available in the new version of Gmail, but if you use the new version (most readers of my blog should, since about 70% of visitors in the last month were using either Firefox or IE7), you can get at the help by hitting "?" on your keyboard.

First colored labels, then this help panel... What's next? Full-on Macros integration? I hope so!



I would have blogged this when it came out (and I thought I did), but I've been extremely busy this whole week with a production of The Nutcracker, and have been spending most of my time away from rehearsals and performances either just catching up on Wikipedia, in Google Reader, or on sleep. Theater takes a lot out of you... Hopefully the amount of news will come back up shortly after the holidays -- I'm running out of my primary material source!

Internet Explorer Patch Fix Released

Microsoft has released instructions for fixing the Internet Explorer installations messed up earlier this week by an update. The fix entails editing the Windows Registry, that hulking configuration database that is the bane of all consumers (due to how often it gets corrupted).

Apparently, the problem affects certain customized installations of IE6 on WinXP SP2. While Microsoft didn't say what customizations caused the problem, users of some newsgroups speculate that the problem was related to antivirus software, seeing as how users of Norton (Symantec) and McAfee users who experienced the problem were able to solve it by uninstalling the patch, uninstalling the antivirus software, reinstalling the patch, and reinstalling the security suites.

So, Microsoft issues instructions involving editing the Registry. Why do they always do that? Can't they provide a simple patch file to do it automatically? So often I have seen Knowledge Base articles with instructions for delving into the Registry, but it is rare to find someone comfortable with tweaking those values. I myself shudder at the thought of messing with my Registry. My grandmother, more the average computer user, would be lost. Same goes for those convoluted configuration file edits. Make an EXE or an MSI package, Microsoft; don't leave your often-clueless users to fend for themselves!

Yuck! Proprietary USB Cables

Chris Pirillo makes a good point in this video. Before I say anything further, you should watch it:

There, now that you've seen his ire, you can read my reasoning.

Plenty of us know that proprietary anything is usually bad for the consumer. Proprietary data formats force us to use the same program (switching would be a pain -- manual re-entry -- because the software company didn't make a converter or export function). Proprietary procedures mean patents, trademarks, copyrights, or whatever, and mean no two companies will necessarily do things the same way. And proprietary connectors lock in an accessory market, with purchases often costing more than generic products would simply because the company that makes them has you in a death grip.

Now, while Chris's reaction is an emotional one (no doubt inspired by a conversation on his IRC channel), he makes a very, very good point. Proprietary connectors do nothing but irritate the consumer. Finding which USB connector fits which USB device is a nightmare. I'm happy to say that my camera uses a standard Mini USB cable. My iPAQ uses a proprietary connector, but that's because it performs more functions than just charging and synchronizing.

Microsoft and Sony use proprietary connectors for their gaming devices (these are only a couple examples), and as a result, you have to buy their authorized accessories. The prices can be whole factors higher (twice as much or more) than standard cables and connections.

Lego is also a user of proprietary connections. Within its Mindstorms robotics line, the cables used to connect the NXT computer with the various sensors and motors look, at first glance, like ordinary RJ-11 wiring, but the release tabs are pushed to the side, making them incompatible with other devices and standard cables incompatible with Lego's products.

I haven't had to replace any NXT cables yet, but there's a definite boon to companies like Canon (and Olympus; my mom's five-year-old camera also uses a Mini USB plug) using accepted standards. I could use the cable from either camera in the other in a pinch, or buy a standard camera cable at any electronics store should I lose or damage the one that I got in the box. It also means that if I have multiple devices that use the same connector, such as a camera, a phone, a PDA, and an external storage device, I can share one or two cables between all of them, as I'm unlikely to use more than a couple devices at a time.

So you see, standards are a good thing for the consumer. Even if the companies make a little less money, they'll make up for it in consumer happiness.

Thanks for the inspiration, Chris!

HP Doesn't Support Weird Problems

As you all should know if you've been following this blog for a while (well, actually, since my first post, which is doubtful), I have an HP iPAQ with Wi-Fi that hasn't worked for a long time now. That was nearly two years ago, and since then, I've been through several conversations with HP's technical support team, over various media, with no solution.

First I tried a chat, then an email, then another chat, and another, but nobody has been able to solve my problem. In fact, the email support request was rejected for some odd reason.

Before the most recent chat attempt, I isolated the problem for them. All by myself, with no instructions. I got the idea that since the Wi-Fi works after a hard reset (which clears all data and programs installed after manufacturing), but it fails after restoring a backup, there must have been something changed inadvertently. I set to work on that hypothesis, and found that the problem lies somewhere in the Registry, Windows' worst feature ever.

Armed with that knowledge, I asked HP what keys and values I should restore to their original state to make the wireless work again. I was met with denial. Apparently they don't give out that information (or they don't know it). I asked what manufacturer produced the networking chip, and was again met with ignorance (though I did get some suggestions). After failing in attempts to contact the possible manufacturers, I had to give up.

So, I've done all this legwork and still have no answers. The fact that I can no longer synchronize with my computer (another thing that broke, and which HP was unable to fix) doesn't help, since I can't lose the data and programs on the device. My only hope now is for someone at HP to read this and do something nice, out of the ordinary. All I need is a few pieces of Registry information, but I can't even get that.

For anyone who might be able to help, I have an HP iPAQ hx2755 from October 2005, running Windows Mobile 2003SE (the WM5 upgrade, which I aborted before it could actually start, was what broke the syncing capability).

ZUG Credit Card Pranks

John Hargrave at ZUG has made a few credit card pranks over on that site, and I thought I'd write about them. I'm not sure how true they are, but they sure are funny.

The first two involved trying to make cashiers actually check the signature he left on the receipts. I won't give anything away, promise. The third pokes fun at those personal questions you always get asked when you call a credit card company. The fourth was a huge one, involving tricking people into thinking Michael Jackson (yes, you know; that guy) was paying a visit to Boston. (Payment note: ZUG wants $1.99 for the video of the Michael Jackson prank, but it's perfectly funny without the video.)

All of them are very amusing, and I suggest you read them at some point (but only when you have time -- they're not especially short). Hat tip to Steve Bass at PC World for pointing out the original prank in one of his columns.

Review: Remember The Milk for Gmail

Remember The Milk today released a Firefox extension to add an RTM sidebar to Gmail. It looks cool, I must say. The sidebar can create tasks when you star a message or apply a specified label (useful for me, because I usually star messages that require action). It can also auto-suggest events from your calendar and contacts from your Gmail address book. The full feature list is available on the RTM website.

I can see it becoming very useful, because I like to have as few tabs open as possible, and integrating RTM into Gmail would eliminate a tab from my usual setup. However, there is a big bug they need to squish before I can truly start using the extension.

The problem occurs when opening Gmail's Settings pane with the RTM panel collapsed if you open anything with the RTM pane initially collapsed (did I mention you can collapse it, Google Reader sidebar-style?). The Settings page, and all subsequent views, Whatever you open, and all items after it, become squished to the width of the RTM pane. Changing views or re-expanding the pane and changing views does not eliminate the problem. It can only be fixed by reloading the Gmail page.

Oddly enough, it does not happen if the Settings page was opened before collapsing the pane. I'll point out this bug write-up in the RTM forums and see if I can get a statement.

So, once that bug is fixed, I'll definitely be able to eliminate completely a tab from my usual startup set. Well done, RTM!

PS: For the benefit of the RTM staff, if they read this, here's a list of all the extensions I think might be interfering with theirs:

• CustomizeGoogle
• Better Gmail 2
• AdBlock Plus
• Gmail Manager
• Greasemonkey

Hope that helps you guys! I'd try to isolate it myself, but I really haven't the time today.

Update (12/20 01:21): Now that I revisit the bug, I see it's more widespread than I thought. I've marked up corrections to the third paragraph above, using (of course) semantically-meaningful <ins> and <del> tags.

Update (12/21 04:35): The bug's been fixed! Great job, RTM devs!

Microsoft Cripples Internet Explorer

Now that I'm done catching up, I can talk about today's news.

One of Microsoft's security updates for this month has been causing problems for Internet Explorer users, of both versions (6 and 7). Users have been reporting that IE either won't start or crashes when trying to load certain sites. Microsoft is reportedly looking into the issue.

It doesn't happen on all machines. My computer's perfectly fine. Admittedly, I use Firefox for everything but my school website, but at least I don't have trouble starting the browser.

As long as Microsoft is only messing up their own browser, I'm happy. If one of their security updates destroys Firefox's functionality and leaves IE smelling like roses, though, I'll be really mad.

Google Reader Shows Talk Friends' Shared Items

Google must really want to become a giant social network. Last week (boy, am I late) they added Google Talk friends' shared items to Google Reader, meaning you don't have to subscribe to their feeds; you just get them automatically.

Of course, that means all your Google Talk contacts also get to see your shared items. And people in your friends list aren't necessarily your friends. I'm not sure how I feel about this new feature, mostly because I don't share things (I star them, as you can see in the sidebar), and none of my friends have yet discovered Google Reader. It's an interesting idea, and a good one (and from what I've seen in screenshots, well-implemented), but I don't have a use for it.

OpenID Commenting Released from Draft

Two weeks later, Blogger's OpenID comment tests are over. The feature has been released to all Blogger blogs. They've also fixed handling of URLs with "www" in them, added OpenID comments to post pages, instead of just on comment.g, and added a Blogger favicon to Google Account/Blogger Account comments.

Now all they need to add is the ability to use Blog*Spot URLs as OpenIDs themselves, and we'll be set. I can't wait to ditch the AOL delegation I put in my blog's header, which is broken anyway.

Google Developing "Knol", a Knowledge-Sharing Service

Looks like Google's taking aim at Wikipedia with this one. Maybe they got tired of having Wikipedia articles being number one on the SERPs for so many queries.

So, what's a "knol"? According to the Official Google Blog post, it's a unit of knowledge. Earlier this week, a selected group of people began receiving invitations to try a new Google service, named (speculatively) Google Knols. Why they don't include the other five letters of the word is beyond me. I think it would sound better, if nothing else.

The service will allow anyone to write an article on a topic they know a great deal about, and the article will then show up as a normal web page in Google search results, ranked just like any other. More interestingly, there is the possibility of revenue-sharing from ads placed on the knol pages. If the author of a knol elects to include ads, Google "will provide the author with substantial revenue share" from the ads' proceeds.

I shudder to think how Wikipedia will be affected by this when it goes live.

At the moment, the ServiceLogin page returns an Invalid Request error if you try to log into the service. It also identifies itself as "New Service", which indicates to me that Google Knols might not be the final name of the service. As the official post says, a knol is a unit of knowledge, not the name of the service, so my above speculation and opinion on the name Google Knols might just be unfounded. If they use a different name for the final product, I have no idea as of yet what that might be. It does look interesting, though, and it appears to be distinct from the rumored Q&A service, a successor to Google Answers.

Opera Files Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft

OK, I swear I won't take anything else verbatim from my source article other than the title. Kudos to James Niccolai for coming up with such a hot headline!

That said, I'll get down to business. Opera Software, the Norwegian maker of the alternative Opera browser, has filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the European Union. The suit accuses Microsoft of stifling competition by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows and not following accepted industry standards within that browser.

As my friend i80and pointed out earlier today, something similar happened with Netscape about five years ago. Microsoft ended up paying $750,000,000 to settle the suit with Netscape, which was by then owned by AOL. Also included in the settlement was a seven-year, royalty-free license to use Internet Explorer technology.

Back to today's issue, Opera's complaint reasons that by not following standards, Microsoft is hindering interoperability, because Web developers and designers will program their sites to work in the most widely-used browser. Thanks to Microsoft's bundling over the years, that browser is Internet Explorer, heretofore and hereafter referred to as The Bane of Every Web Developer (or Suckernet Exploder for short).

The fact that IE renders sites differently from all the other browsers I've tested on has caused hours of troubleshooting work for me alone. Not to mention, each version's rendering changes slightly, requiring multiple stylesheets with layout fixes specific to the IE version in use. That doesn't even address the vastly different JavaScript methods used in IE, which cause countless headaches for all kinds of people. The fact that XMLHttpRequest() is, in IE, an ActiveX control means the simple call to the standard function (in all non-Microsoft browsers) must be turned into a twelve-line try-catch statement to not only allow for IE's different method, but make sure to use the right version of IE's method, as there are two different versions.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) says it strongly endorses Opera's complaint.

"By tying its Internet Explorer product to its monopoly Windows operating system and refusing to faithfully implement industry accepted open standards, Microsoft deprives consumers of a real choice in internet browsers. Browsers are the gateway to the internet. Microsoft seeks to control this gateway," said Thomas Vinje, an ECIS spokesman.

The complaint bears some similarities to the 2004 ruling concerning the bundling of Windows Media Player. Microsoft was forced to sell a second version of Windows, sans-WMP, but priced it at the same amount as regular Windows. It was no surprise that the second version, dubbed "Edition N", didn't sell.

I personally hope that the ongoing antitrust problems Microsoft has been having in the European Union will percolate through to the United States and help reduce usage of Internet Explorer the world over. For now, time will tell if Opera's lawsuit is to bring any benefits to the world's general population.

Google Toolbar Updated, but Only for IE

It often seems as though Google's Firefox releases lag behind their releases for Internet Explorer. Recent case in point: the Google Toolbar. Just yesterday, a new version of the toolbar was released, with new features like Google Gadget support, saving settings on Google servers so they can go anywhere you do, revamped Google Bookmarks functionality, integration with Google Notebook, and Web History access. I'm very happy about the news, and I looked for a Firefox version. Is there one anywhere? No, of course not. As with the last version of the toolbar, Google will probably not release an update for another few months at least.

I remember the Firefox T3 update well. The Internet Explorer toolbar had bookmarks for weeks and weeks before I could get the same functionality in Firefox. Now it will likely be the same length of time before I can finally dump the Google Notebook extension for the integrated toolbar features. That's what I did with the bookmarks; I had a third-party extension for Google Bookmarks access until the feature was finally added to the Firefox toolbar.

This is nothing new, for sure. Google has always lagged a bit with updates for Firefox. It's understandable, considering Internet Explorer holds about 80% of the browser market, but that doesn't make it less annoying. None of the Google extensions I have in my browser right now have been updated in the last six months, with some going over a year with no changes. Some I've disabled because they no longer even work due to changes in infrastructure (such as the Blogger Web Comments extension, which doesn't support Google Account logins) or because they're just so buggy.

I can't ask Google to issue updates for all their products overnight, but I hope that in the future they'll be a little faster at issuing updates for the second-most popular browser in the world.

Facebook Licensing Application Platform

Apparently, Facebook is going to be helping "other social networking sites to run applications developed for its own software platform." I'm not sure what they mean by "licensing," though. They already have a taker, actually; Bebo will be supporting both Facebook's APIs and Google's OpenSocial.

Oh come on, you had to see this one coming. After Google launched OpenSocial, it was only a matter of time. I'm not sure how I feel about Facebook launching its own platform as a standard, though. With the recent Beacon controversy, I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't like to see the company just disappear (not likely).

Google Webmaster Tools Adds Content Analysis and Sitemap Details

Google Webmaster Tools now has two new features: Content Analysis and Sitemap Details. The former advises webmasters of problems with title and meta description tags and un-indexable content. Sitemap Details provides insight into how submitted sitemaps are processed.

Since I have a whole bunch of other things to do, I won't rewrite what the Webmaster Tools blog says about the new stuff.

Google Analytics Rolls Out New Graphing Tools and ga.js Tracking

Google Analytics just announced new graphing tools for the service. Now, apart from comparing two date ranges, users can compare different metrics to look for correlations ("Do pageviews increase as time on site goes up?"), as well as comparing individual segments with the site total.

The new ga.js tracking code, which I've been awaiting since the new code announcement made in October, has also been rolled out. The new file replaces the old urchin.js script. It is completely rewritten, appears to load faster, and has new object-based methods instead of functions and variables, meaning tracking a site in multiple accounts is a bunch easier.

The Google Analytics team also rolled out support for six new languages.

Now all I want to happen is automatic external link tracking and event tracking, both in limited beta at the moment.

Why FireFox is Blocked: The Misguided Campaign to Stop AdBlock

Image via WikipediaYesterday I mentioned the Why FireFox [sic] is Blocked campaign in my post revisiting Explorer Destroyer. I said it was a subject for another post. This is that other post. I will deconstruct some of the reasoning behind the campaign, and will point out why it is flawed.

First, some background. The blocking campaign was most likely started from this long thread on AdsenseChat.com, where Danny Carlton and others presented various methods for catching AdBlock usage and redirecting them to a "Stop Thief!" page. Several rational-minded users tried to talk some sense into the Firefox-blocking fanatics, to no avail.

There is no attribution or statement of ownership on the Why FireFox is Blocked page, possibly because the owner does not want to reveal who he or she is. A whois lookup confirms this; the domain is registered to a company named Domains By Proxy, Inc., which obviously exists as a means to anonymize domain registrants.

Now, the campaign is based upon the fact that viewing ad-laden websites and blocking the ads is "stealing" from the site somehow. Even if it were, AdBlock is not the only application that blocks ads, and most Firefox users don't use it. The fact that Danny Carlton was so adamant about blocking Firefox is because he didn't want people viewing his site without the ads. Since AdBlock doesn't provide a way to detect itself, he had to block Firefox (or rather, "had to").

The problem with that approach is the fact that Firefox controls now about 15% of the browser market. What's worse: Losing a few ad impressions to savvy Firefox users, or losing all Firefox visitors? Surely the percentage of Firefox users with AdBlock installed is lower than 50%, and it is probably much lower than that. Even with a liberal estimate, 25% of Firefox users, that's still only about 4% of visitors. Is losing all the other innocent traffic worthwhile?

Internet Explorer also has plugins and addons to block ads, not the least of which is part of the Norton product family. Were Mr. Carlton to take his AdBlock-blocking campaign too far, he might end up with no visitors. Every browser has a way to block ads, whether it is built in or available via a plugin. Blocking Firefox solves no problem.

I'd also like to point out that throughout the page, the author refers to Firefox as FireFox, with two capital F's. This is incorrect, and it decreases the credibility of the campaign (even further). At least, it does to me, hypersensitive spelling and grammar Nazi that I am.

So what can ad-using sites do to make sure their ads are viewed by their users? Nothing. Anything you do to try and block users who block your ads will almost certainly bounce back and hurt you in some way. Open-source browsers are especially likely, since they can be easily modified to bypass any restrictions set on useragents. Firefox can report itself as Apple Fireflocks 13.5, and that will effectively bypass any useragent-based filters, on server-side or in JavaScript. And for JavaScript blocks, it's pretty easy to temporarily disable JavaScript, which usually hides the ads anyway.

Update (2008-06-21): I haven't checked in a long time, but it seems that the Why FireFox is Blocked site has disappeared. I get a DNS error trying to access it now. I also just added the Firefox logo to this post, rather late.

Litigation: Something We Do Far Too Much

So, Steve Bass' latest column in PC World brings to my attention a recent lawsuit concerning nothing of any consequence at all. Apparently, Seagate just settled a class-action suit concerning the definition of storage units. It's a long-standing issue -- I myself have dealt with it on Wikipedia -- but to have a lawsuit over it seems ridiculous.

In today's world, though, we are constantly barraged by a series of increasingly trivial lawsuits, addressing things from software shrinkwrapping (yes, that was an environmental suit against major software manufacturers) to lawnmower-powered hedge trimming (real suit; guy won, too, as I recall) to spilling hot coffee (remember the McDonald's suit?) to, now (or again), the definition of a gigabyte. The decimal version of 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes, and most storage manufacturers use that when they're selling products. However, operating systems and other software use the binary definition, equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes, instead. This has caused many, many instances of useless legal battles and disclaimers.

Ever notice the little footnotes on storage device packages that say something like, "1 GB = 1 billion bytes. Actual indicated storage capacity may be less than package labeling"? The companies are trying to protect themselves from suits like this. Seagate now gets to hand out $10-$15 rebates to anyone who asks for one.

Today's society is becoming increasingly prone to litigiousness, and unless it stops, we're going to continue handing money to lawyers who are doing nothing but argue trivial linguistic issues. Note that the lawyers in the Seagate case are taking home about $2,000,000. The net benefit to each member of the class would seem pretty low compared to that. When will people stop arguing about junk like this and just understand the difference between the decimal and binary systems? More importantly, when will they stop arguing about this and focus on real issues?

Revisited: Explorer Destroyer Opinion

A long time has passed since I wrote "Excuse me?! This Sounds Like an M$ Strategy" -- over a year and a half -- and I realize I have a slightly different opinion on the site now than I did then. While I still think it's ridiculous to block IE, I somewhat agree with the site's sentiment, if not its methodology. Going so far as to block Internet Explorer completely is probably a little extreme. The first option, a simple note, is probably better. Even better would be for the site owner to simply work the message into their content. I have done so with a couple of my sites, which detect IE using server-side useragent analysis, and print an extra sentence in the footer if the visitor is using IE. No muss, no fuss, and it's certainly unobtrusive.

I no longer smell conspiracy here; it's just a group of extremists doing much the same thing as those fanatics who block Firefox because it just might possibly have AdBlock installed. The only difference is, I sort of agree with these crazies. Why FireFox [sic] is Blocked is a topic for another post (and note that link is rel="nofollow"); but for now, let me stand with head held high, knowing that I have clarified a hastily written opinion from the dark ages of MSN Spaces. (Hey, that rhymes!)

IE7's Blocking of prompt()

I haven't experienced the supposed goodness that is IE7 first-hand as of yet, but I have heard plenty about its shortcomings and annoyances. Another I just read about today is the default settings that blocks websites from using the built-in prompt() method in JavaScript.

It wouldn't be super annoying if Microsoft handled user permission intelligently, though. As it is, IE7 displays the by-now familiar Information Bar (introduced in IE6 with Windows XP's Service Pack 2) and the user can allow "scripted windows" on the page. Unfortunately, the scripting engine simply ignores the prompt and moves on through the rest of the script, which does nobody any good. Choosing to allow scripted windows reloads the page, but for some reason still blocks the method. I have seen hundreds of sites use this technique, and I am sure there are hundreds of thousands more.

Microsoft's release notes for IE7 say:

Generic Spoofing Risk Reduction in Internet Explorer 7--The window.prompt script method is blocked and the gold Information bar is displayed by default in Internet Zone for Internet Explorer 7. The helps prevent websites from spoofing things such as the logon screens of other websites. This is a new security enhancement for Internet Explorer 7.

This can obviously be remedied by changing the setting (located in the Advanced Settings tab, of course) or trusting the site ("default Internet Zone" means sites that are not trusted or restricted), but the fact that it requires a conscious effort on the part of the user is ridiculous. Most people using IE don't even know what prompt() is, much less why they should allow it or what it does for them. I think Microsoft should add a change to this in the upcoming Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, disabling the option by default.

I complain mostly because I used to use this function a lot, and I know a lot of sites still do. (I've moved to DHTML-style overlays now.) I really hope Microsoft makes this better, because as it is, the Information Bar isn't going to tell users much about what they're allowing, nor does it actually fix the problem.

Why I Hate Typosquatting and "Parking" Pages

I haven't complained enough about typosquatting here. It's really a despicable practice, and I always hate ending up on a site that is doing it.

What is typosquatting, you ask? It's when some person or company buys a domain that is a misspelling of another company's or person's with the intent to capture mistyped traffic to that other site. For example, if you type www.google.cm instead of www.google.com, you could end up on a typosquatting site (in this case owned by the government of Cameroon, at least as of this past summer). Often, such sites will serve up ads, and I wouldn't put it past them to serve up adware or spyware, too (that would probably be reserved for malicious hacker cracker-owned sites).

I have ended up on these sites many times in my Internet life, and always hate it. I also dislike "parking" pages, which some registrars set up for sites that do not yet have hosting. They often exhibit similar behavior to the typosquatters, showing ads and "related keywords."

Personally, I declare war on all of them, and have installed the URL Fixer Firefox extension to counteract typos. It doesn't always work, though. I'm considering enabling OpenDNS on my computer, possible also suggesting to my dad that we enable it on our home router. I refuse to be directed to a page full of ads simply because I forget an 'o'...

XKCD Roundup: My Favorite XKCD Comics

I've selected a few exceptionally good xkcd comic strips and embedded them here. I find them all particularly amusing, over and above the normal strips. The tooltips have been preserved as well. I advise you to read them; the comics sometimes don't make sense without.

If the pics are too small for you, just click them (Ctrl+click or Shift+click would be better, actually; new tab, new window) to get the full-size version. And you can fix the annoying title truncation in Firefox using this nice extension.

Centrifugal Force


This is one of those things that just hits my funny bone but I don't know why. Perhaps it's the Bond reference. Or maybe it's the fact that I just read about centripetal force in my physics class.

Network


A network of Windows PCs that are randomly infected with viruses. O-kay...

Fight


Never, ever, get a tech-savvy person mad at you.

Ballmer Peak


Now I know why Windows ME was so bad...

Exploits of a Mom


This has to be my favorite of these five. I'm so involved with Web development that I just can't help but be tickled by the idea of a n00bish developer forgetting to sanitize inputs for a database-driven front-end. The fact that it was a school's record system is even funnier.

[Images licensed under CC-BY-2.5, xkcd.com]

IPv6 vs. IPv4: The Day The Routers Died

Most geeks these days have heard of the upcoming IPv6 standard to provide an exponential increase in the number of available Internet Protocol addresses. Regular users don't need to worry; the geeks have probably already written compatibility into your favorite programs.

For us humor-loving geeks, though, there's a certain love of funny songs and parodies, one of which I'd like to share tonight. The song is titled "The Day The Routers Died". You can probably guess what song this is written to ("a possibly recognizable tune"). On the very off-chance you don't know, even after watching the video, I'll post the answer below the embed.

Also, if you want to read along, I have copied the lyrics from the original YouTube page and included them at the end of this post.

The song, for those who didn't know, is "American Pie" by Don McLean.

It kind of reminds me of "Weird Al" Yankovic's "The Saga Begins", except that was about Star Wars and this is about the Internet. They're both parodies of the same song, though, so I guess that's why. They're all funny, aren't they?

Lyrics:

The Day The Routers Died... a song performed by the secret-wg in the closing plenary of the RIPE 55 conference

a long long time ago
i can still remember
when my laptop could connect elsewhere

and i tell you all there was a day
the network card i threw away
had a purpose - and worked for you and me....

But 18 years completely wasted
with each address we've aggregated
the tables overflowing
the traffic just stopped flowing....

And now we're bearing all the scars
and all my traceroutes showing stars...
the packets would travel faster in cars...
the day....the routers died



Chorus (ALL!!!!!)

So bye bye, folks at RIPE 55
Be persuaded to upgrade it or your network will die
IPv6 just makes me let out a sigh
But I spose we'd better give it a try
I suppose we'd better give it a try

Now did you write an RFC
That dictated how we all should be
Did we listen like we should that day

Now were you back at RIPE fifty-four
Where we heard the same things months before
And the people knew they'd have to change their ways....

And we - knew that all the ISPs
Could be - future proof for centuries

But that was then not now
Spent too much time playing WoW

ooh there was time we sat on IRC
Making jokes on how this day would be
Now there's no more use for TCP
The day the routers died...

Chorus (chime in now)

So bye bye, folks at RIPE 55
Be persuaded to upgrade it or your network will die
IPv6 just makes me let out a sigh
But I spose we'd better give it a try
I suppose we'd better give it a try

I remember those old days I mourn
Sitting in my room, downloading porn
Yeah that's how it used to be....

When the packets flowed from A to B
via routers that could talk IP
There was data..that could be exchanged between you and me....

Oh but - I could see you all ignore
The fact - we'd fill up IPv4

But we all lost the nerve
And we got what we deserved!

And while...we threw our network kit away
And wished we'd heard the things they say
Put all our lives in disarray

The day...the routers died...

Chorus (those silent will be shot)

So bye bye, folks at RIPE 55
Be persuaded to upgrade it or your network will die
IPv6 just makes me let out a sigh
But I spose we'd better give it a try
I suppose we'd better give it a try


Saw a man with whom I used to peer
Asked him to rescue my career
He just sighed and turned away..

I went down to the net cafe
that I used to visit everyday
But the man there said I might as well just leave...

And now we've all lost our purpose..
my cisco shares completely worthless...

No future meetings for me
At the Hotel Krasnapolsky

and the men that make us push and push
Like Geoff Huston and Randy Bush
Should've listened to what they told us....
The day...the routers....died

Chorus (time to lose your voice)

So bye bye, folks at RIPE 55
Be persuaded to upgrade it or your network will die
IPv6 just makes me let out a sigh
But I spose we'd better give it a try
I suppose we'd better give it a try




Words and performance by Gary Feldman

YouTube Down Temporarily?

I don't know what's up with YouTube right now, but I can't get at it. Embedded videos I've tried to watch don't load players, and visiting the homepage just gives me a long wait before a "connection reset" error. Anyone else seeing this?

Update (22:38): It's working now, but some personalized functions are unavailable (like the My Account page).

Airlines Planning to Offer Internet Access

Four airlines have announced plans to offer wireless Internet access on-board domestic flights. The four are American Airlines, Virgin America (the newest player), Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue. The planned offerings vary from mere email and IM connectivity to full-fledged broadband.

American Airlines and Virgin America will both be using Aircell, a company that obtained the rights (through affiliate AC BidCo) to a three megahertz swath of the 800-MHz spectrum for use delivering in-flight connectivity to airliners. Alaska Airlines will be using a satellite-based system by Row 44. Finally, JetBlue will be using LiveTV, which obtained rights to a separate 1 MHz slice of the 800-MHz band.

I might actually not mind flying if airlines start offering Internet connectivity at 30,000 feet. They will need power outlets, though, or it'll be nearly as bad as not having Wi-Fi.

Offline for Half a Day

I was without a computer today. Actually, I'm writing this post on a PDA (with a keyboard, of course). Not having access to the Internet (my iPAQ's Wi-Fi is broken still) gave me some time to actually read books and watch television, things I seldom do these days, it seems. I watched Hawaii Five-O, maury, The Brady Bunch, and even tyra. Two of those -- I'll tell which in a bit -- were so ridiculous I've sworn never to watch them again.

I also had occasion to read a chapter of my book, "Designing with Web Standards", second edition, by Jeffrey Zeldman. I read about the histories of CSS, browsers, and the DOM, all of which were fascinating. I played a couple games of pinball on a real machine, averaging about 6,000,000 points per game, and then got the idea to blog while (for all intents and purposes) offline.

If I'm making shorter paragraphs than usual, it's probably because I'm using a small screen that makes a few sentences look the length of Hamlet. I'll try to re-edit once I get back to the PC. Or perhaps not; maybe I should just post this as-is and leave this post open to feedback on the abnormal style. This might be easier to read, I don't know.

I'm also much more prone to errors on this keyboard, because the right Shift key is too far to the right, and the keys are cramped. I've hit Return when I've meant to hit the apostrophe about five times so far, and have missed the right Shift at least twice that many times. I keep hitting the up arrow instead, which is in the place I expect Shift to be.

But I'm digressing from my point here. I started this to muse on my disconnection from teh internets (I didn't know my pocket notepad had autocorrect), and so I shall continue musing away.

Anyway, I've been having quite a bit of fun, actually, even while disconnected from Pidgin, Wikipedia, Google Groups, Gmail, Google Reader, and all the rest, and have gotten plenty of reading and absorbing done. It's really amazing, considering the amount of my life that is stored on the Internet. I haven't gotten any homework done, obviously, since all that is in the cloud, but I've been kind of relaxing and entertaining myself, which is OK.

I could see myself taking a sort of iPBloWriMo at some point, once I've gotten more practice with this keyboard. Eventually, I hope to become just as fast on it as I am on the full-size Gateway laptop. Writing all my blog posts on an HP iPAQ could be interesting, and would likely be a good exercise for working on a plane, where my computer is just too big for the tray table. I'd be limited on time, of course, just like with the laptop, but hopefully I can exercise my PDA's battery enough by then that it'll actually last longer than my laptop's. (Though with my slowed typing speed on this keyboard, I'm not sure how much it would extend my productivity. And in case you haven't figured it out by now, iPBloWriMo is my spoof on NaNoWriMo, meaning iPAQ Blog-Writing Month, rather than National Novel-Writing Month.)

So back to the television shows. As I mentioned, I watched maury, tyra, The Brady Bunch, and Hawaii Five-O. (Why are the talk shows' names all lowercase?) The two I couldn't stand were, of course, those lacking capital letters in their titles. It wasn't because the shows' premises were bad -- they both addressed very real issues -- but the ways they went about their goals were disappointing. maury especially annoyed me, both because of all the talk about getting help from experts (but only showing such for about five minutes out of an hour program) and the continued repetition of the fact that the show was the "last hope" for the guests there to get help. That statement is definitely arguable. The fact that I heard it about 15 times (due to the number of commercial breaks taken) didn't help.

tyra was a bit better, but the format didn't gel with what I expect from a television program. It was slow-moving for no real reason, and so I quit about halfway through. I also didn't like the lowercase first letter of the title.

Now I'm writing this after having been online for a few hours and catching up on email, RSS feeds, and Wikipedia, with a very liberal sprinkling of instant messaging. Then I'll be off to have a (very late) dinner, and I'll come back for (yay) homework before bed. I hope I can find something more interesting to write about tomorrow...

Wow! This turned out longer than any of my holiday rants!

Cool Stuff: XsX Alpha-Blended Cursors for Windows XP and Vista

A little idea got to me through Google Reader today. About an hour ago, I installed the XsX alpha-blended cursors on my computer and already I'm loving them. It's neat because almost all the cursors are the same shape, just with different colors. They're bigger than the default Windows set, and they look almost Mac-like, which is generally a plus. I suggest you try them, if you're on a PC. There's an "untested" pre-XP instruction set for those willing to experiment. I highly recommend them.

You can find instructions and the self-extracting download at Tiensivu.com.

IE7 Bashed by Users and Developers Alike

I've definitely made my share of complaints about Microsoft's Internet Explorer, versions 6 and 7. Apparently, I'm not the only one who doesn't like IE. Lots of people turned out to bash various aspects of the browser and the development practices behind it in the comments on an official blog post celebrating the one-year anniversary, as it were, of the browser's release.

OK, so I knew I wasn't the only IE hater in the world, but the turnout was so significant, PC World published an article about it. Well, Computerworld did, but you know what I mean.

Posters complained about everything from the browser's rendering and scripting bugs and limitations to the slower-than-molasses release schedule Microsoft has maintained. Personally, I don't mind the slow release schedule, since it means less work for me (IE changes completely with every version...), but I do agree that they should turn over development to a group that actually cares about the Internet (stated by Ryan G.). And I won't be playing with Silverlight; nor will I deal with any Live widgets or Microsoft search products (dk, a front-end developer, shares these thoughts). What the heck is a Live widget, anyway? Some sort of Google Gadget clone?

Perhaps Microsoft should hand over IE development to another group and let them turn it into a standards-compliant pleasure to code for that works as predictably as Firefox and the rest of the crowd. Maybe Mozilla. Maybe Microsoft should hand the browser development over to Mozilla so Mozilla can bury IE and let Firefox win. That sounds good...

Always Title Your Posts, Unless You Want Duplicates in Google's Services

I learned a lesson last night. I published my game show idea post without a title by accident. Then in the chaos of trying to correct the mistake (and the permalink), I cut-and-pasted the post into a new one with an actual title and deleted the old one. It took three hours, but Google Reader finally picked up the new post, albeit with the old one still in the list as a duplicate (it did pick up my change of that one's title, though). Google Blog Search still doesn't have the new version, even now. The version it does have does not have a cached version and leads to a 404 page, so needless to say I want it out of the index.

It is my hope that the removal request I submitted last night, along with bumping the feed with a new item (Feedburner could be sending a 304), will finally correct all this trouble.

The lesson for you is, always title your post before publishing it. Unless you use a blogging platform that URLs like /archives/?id=123, that is.

Programming Game Show Idea

My friend i80and had an interesting game show idea the other day. He thought of a show where contestants (probably two) are given a whiteboard, a marker, and a programming problem, and the person who designs the simplest and most efficient data structures for that situation wins. It gave me an idea, too.

What if the show involved not just data structures, but entire class abstractions? Or perhaps actually writing code for a specified operation within the given situation? I think I need to give an example.

Let's say the show begins with the original idea of designing data structures. Whoever comes up with the simplest and most efficient means to store the necessary data gets points, and the other player gets a smaller number of points based on how much less efficient/more complex their idea is.

Next, the challenge would be to write a class (in PHP, Java, JavaScript, or whatever, depending on the problem) to handle the given task, including all member functions and variables, excluding abstraction layers (which could be referenced in contestants' code just the same, with comments to describe what the call is doing). Again the results would be analyzed for efficiency, and points awarded.

Finally, the contestants would develop a user interface, if applicable to the problem set forth at the beginning, graded on usability. Tally up the points, and the player with the most points wins a prize such as a trip to Apache, Google, or somewhere (I'd have to work on the destination list).

It's not fully-baked (neither was i80and's idea, let's be honest), but it would be an interesting idea, and probably much more intellectually stimulating than shows like Fear Factor. What do you all think?

Update (2008-01-04): In light of all the views I've seen this page get, just let me say that if you steal this idea and get some studio to make it, I expect a cut. Gotta protect intellectual property rights. And set aside an equal share for my friend i80and, too; I did get my inspiration from him.

Web 2.0: Here Comes Another Bubble

When I come across genuinely funny songs, I sometimes like to blog about them. This particular one was posted on Google Blogoscoped, and I traced it back through Reddit to YouTube. It's quite amusing. While you watch, pay attention to the lyrics and the video; there are some fleeting visual jokes, and the lyrics are always good.

And yes, I will blog about this song (obviously).

Update (12/17): YouTube removed my original embed "due to a copyright claim by a third party." A quick search brought up another copy, which I've used to replace the old video. Meanwhile, other versions have been uploaded and deleted again. As TechCrunch writes, though, the song should fall under the umbrella of fair use. YouTube's deletions seem to be somewhat unreasonable...

Hat tip to i80and for pointing out the removal in the comments!

Update (12/18): Apparently the video was taken down in response to a DMCA complaint from Lane Hartwell, a photographer whose photo of Owen Thomas (managing editor of the Valleywag blog) was used in the video. Read the analysis from PlagiarismToday for more details.

Update (12/19): Enough already! I'm so tired of posting updates... Anyway, I've changed the embed again to use the new version the Richter Scales uploaded, this time with a (much too fast) credit reel (in small print) and without Hartwell's photo. Can I focus on new content now, please?

Gmail Chat AIM Integration Rolling Out

Google Blogoscoped is reporting that Google seems to be rolling out the rumored AIM integration in Gmail Chat. The screenshot (which I've also posted below) shows a new section in the Gmail chat options tab with status information on AIM. I don't have it yet, and neither does Philipp, but the hat-tip at the bottom of the Blogoscoped post hints that a forum user named Luka (who pointed out some information on the colored labels yesterday).

Google has added information on the AIM integration to their Help Center, noting that you still need an AIM account to use the feature. Since I already got one for use with a Jabber transport (I found a little trick to do that), I'll be able to simply remove the transport and its associated contacts from my list. Or I can keep using the transport; it really depends on how the new feature works. After all, I don't have to keep signing into the transport.

When Google said they'd be iterating faster, they weren't kidding!



[Image credit: Luka from Google Blogoscoped]

Acquisition Practices: Microsoft vs. Google

Another day, another acquisition, but this time it's not Google. Microsoft has acquired a service called WebFives, which provides file-sharing for mobile video, photos, audio, and blogs via a Web-based service. The technologies, trademarks, patents (including pending patents), and all other intellectual property of the company, named Vizrea when it was started, will be integrated into Microsoft's Windows Live offerings.

This is no different from what Google does when they acquire a company, except there's one niggling little difference. Microsoft has granted WebFives a "license" to continue their services through the end of the month. After December 31, 2007, the WebFives service will cease to exist, and all user data will be deleted.

Microsoft's practice is the complete opposite of Google's, which is to keep the service running during integration. Sure, they might close registration of new accounts, but existing users aren't affected. WebFives' closing means users must now find alternative services to host their potential gigabytes of content and get the word out that they've moved everything. WebFives won't be doing redirection, as far as any of the literature indicates.

Imagine that Gmail or YouTube were acquired in this manner. Given that YouTube doesn't even provide a means within the service to download your content, it would be pretty devastating. And your comments would be very difficult to take with you. Gmail would be easier because of the POP and IMAP access, but still inconvenient. The fact that Microsoft is closing the service is, to me, ridiculous. They should plan a migration for existing users that will take place after the relevant technologies have been integrated into Windows Live's offerings, not simply cut people off.

The acquisition practices of Microsoft versus those of Google are definitely one reason I like Google a lot better. Not leaving users in the lurch is a key part of Google's business model; and while there have been some hiccups (the Google Video purchase program, for instance), they usually do pretty well. Microsoft isn't doing so good.

Gmail Getting Built-In Label Coloring

Several users at the Google Blogoscoped forum are reporting that their Gmail accounts now have the option to apply colors to labels. Previously, this was accomplished with a Greasemonkey userscript; however that script, along with practically all the others, no longer works with the new Gmail code. And it looks like it won't have to.

Personally, I never used that particular script, but now that the feature is getting baked into Gmail, with a nice convenient color picker no less, I might start coloring some of my labels (the userscript required renaming labels with a hex color suffix).

Also added is the ability to click an 'x' to remove a label from a conversation. Gmail development has been anything but stagnant lately, I'll say. Lookin' good!



[Screenshot credit: Bas Quentin; posted on Google Blogoscoped]

Update (20:12): A Ctrl+F5 later, and I have the new functionality, too. Time to play with it. This is fun!

Update (00:15 12/04): And it's been officially announced on the Gmail Blog. Their post hints at more new label features coming in the future, too. Folder emulation anyone?

Times Square Display Crashes

For some reason, I really like putting equations in my titles...

Anyway, by way of Zoli Erdos, here's a nice high-profile crash for you:



Yep, that's Adobe Flash on Windows XP, just after it "encountered a problem and needs to close." I love it when stuff like this happens. Here's a nice closeup of the error dialog:



Who knew Windows was so funny? I know I'm linking to Zoli a lot lately, but seriously, where else would I get these amusing little gems now that This Is Broken has gone the way of the Dodo Bird?

Photos taken by Andrew Flynn; second shot presumably cropped by ZDNet blogger Michael Krigsman.

Google Confirmations: JotSpot and Gears Access, Among Others

There are several sources of information regarding statements made by Scott Johnston at a recent Google Apps presentation in Ann Arbor, and all the statements are very interesting. Among other things, Google announced (or hinted strongly at) the launch of the JotSpot wiki service, now branded Google Sites, next year; Google Gears access to Gmail and Google Calendar; offline editing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations; integration between GrandCentral and Google Apps ("they are working on it and it is a 'huge priority' for them" -- ZDNet); and, in the far future, videoconferencing within Google Apps.

Now, I don't know how many of these products will make it into mainstream Google Accounts (I would really like to have GrandCentral connected to my Google Account, personally), but they are very exciting, especially the Gears access for Calendar and Gmail. Who knows how many days of calendar will be downloaded, or how many emails (with or without attachments...), but the features are quite welcome.

Google Page Creator has been pretty anemic for its entire life, and if pages.google.com turns into sites.google.com, I won't complain. Also, offline document editing will allow me to finally ditch Word! (Except for those few niggling instances of complex formatting, of course.) Combine all these Gears integrations, and suddenly the Web browser starts looking like an office suite. The times ahead will be very, very exciting, I think, for Google's users. Hopefully all the improvements start with regular users and work through to Apps, like the new Gmail code...

Views to a Game: Thoughts on Information Display

Last night, I went to a local sports bar with my family to watch the Big Game between Stanford and UC Berkeley. While I'm ecstatic that Stanford won the game (20-13, ha! Take that, Cal!), the network's information display made it very difficult for me (a very non-sportsy guy) to follow the game. The method used displayed very little game information, and the essentials were sometimes left out in favor of non-essentials. The network was Versus, and it was a big change from the one I'm used to (Big Ten, no pun intended).

For starters, the info was confined to a small box in the corner of the screen. The Big Ten network uses a full-width bar across the top. While the latter constantly displays the game clock, possession, yards-to-go, downs, play clock (even when not running), and timeouts remaining, the former displays the current quarter and game clock only, along with the scores and abbreviated team names, relegating information about remaining yardage, timeouts, and the play clock only when they are "relevant"; i.e., when they think they should be on the screen.

Having room for all game information, even when it's not relevant, is crucial, in my mind, to the experience. Since we, the viewers, are generally paying to watch the channel (if at home via satellite) or have gone out of our way to watch (such as going to a sports bar, which we did), it only seems fair to optimize the display for our benefit. I didn't see any advertising or anything of the sort in the place of where the additional information would be; it was just wasted space. The network just didn't think very well about their display layout.

Granted, Big Ten's display is probably patented or otherwise copy-protected, but that doesn't mean Versus couldn't come up with a better way to show game info. For example, do we really need to always know what quarter it is? Isn't information on the current down more relevant? Why not move the quarter display to a pop-out section that shows up every few minutes, or have a "tab" sticking out the side of the box with the clock and quarter, and put down info, yardage, and ball position in the space formerly occupied by the clock and quarter indicators? That was my main gripe with the display. Also, three little dots in vertical rows on the outside edges of the box wouldn't be too much, would they? Display the number of timeouts each team has left with those.

And finally, don't keep moving the display! It was extremely irritating that the little box kept switching sides of the screen. I have little hope that someone from Versus will actually see this post, but perhaps in the future I'll have enough influence to make people think about their interface designs. Or maybe we'll all have moved to LCARS...

mzwriter DMCA Successful!

Looks like my DMCA complaint to The Planet.com was successful. As of yesterday morning, I checked several of the links I submitted to them as violating my copyrights and found that they had been removed from the offending site, tutorials.mzwriter.com. I was kind of expecting some sort of response from them, but it looks like the content was simply taken down. Either way, I've won that battle.

(Ce-le-bra-tion!) Let's celebrate...

OK, I won't finish that. ;-)

From the Linux Idea Bin: i80and's mod-boot

You may recall me quoting my friend i80and recently in my post about the new features in Gmail Chat. Well, he just posted a new entry to his blog last night, and the idea looks quite interesting.

Basically, what he wants to do is speed up boot times on FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software, like Linux) systems. So his idea was to have init (the default boot script) call a C program of his own writing that would basically optimize the boot process and help bring the system up faster. He explains it better than I can, so I'll just point you to the mod-boot post from last night and let you read the details there.

I will say one thing, though. If my friend's work goes into the Linux core, I just might have to switch to Linux. It already sounds appealing, to not have to deal with Windows...

PS: Congratulations to i80and for being this blog's post #300!