"Your identity will be displayed by what you don't use." -kk

Another excellent article by Kevin Kelly on our continuing Convergence.

ONN: New Apple Macbook Wheel

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Giles Bowkett: TDD And Experiments: I Was Wrong

Giles Bowkett: TDD And Experiments: I Was Wrong

If you are extending an existing system, or architecting a framework TDD (Test Driven Development) is supreme.

But if you are inventing, the organic process of creative coding allows you the ability to stub things out in real-time... all neurons firing.

All your data are belong to Redmond

It seems Facebook violated their own privacy policies when it comes to sharing data with 3rd parties.  With Microsoft investing in Facebook to the tune of 240 million, this could have been predicted.

Last week the Borg released their own social-network enhanced version of Windows Live.  

Alden Anderson 2.0 celebrates 4 years

Alden Anderson 2.0 is celebrating it's 4th anniversary this month, and we've put together a new website with information on our super not-so-secret project, RAVEN.

RAVEN stands for Relevence Action Value ENgine, it's our patented Business Rule Platform.

We will be producing a case study soon, more information to follow here and at the new site.

I guess you can say we're out of "stealth" mode.  ;)

Some election tracking links

Novel:

NYT: Election Wordtrain
http://www.perspctv.com/

Citizen:

http://www.videothevote.org/

http://www.youtube.com/videoyourvote

http://www.ourvotelive.org/home.php

Distraction:

http://blog.indecision2008.com/

http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar

Essential:
Google election gadget (Note to self - make a timely gadget get a gajillion hits...)

Apple is losing the Hearts & Minds battle

Apparently, the new sexy MacBooks come with a version of iTunes that won't recognize an iTouch or iPhone that has been jailbroken or unlocked.

But, if you have iTunes on Windows somewhere (like in Fusion or that old HP notebook) you are still in luck.

Why would you jailbreak an iTouch/iPhone? Because Apple has a stranglehold on the applications that can be added to the devices, and has refused to allow alternatives to built-in apps like Safari, Mail or iTunes. Or, maybe you don't want/can't afford to pay AT&T's outrageous international roaming rates. 

This is another slide in the descent of Apple becoming the old Microsoft - only worse, because they own the hardware too.

1,000 Web APIs

Read all about it at the Programmable Web Blog

Learn Arduino in Seattle

MAKE reports: 

Josh Kopel will be teaching an Arduino workshop through Seattle's 911 Media Arts Center.

The Arduino is a small programmable device capable of big things. With it you can examine the world through various sensors and use the data to control motors, lights and just about any other electronic device. Come learn how to build kinetic sculpture, audio sequencers, home automation systems or whatever you can imagine. This class will focus on controlling motors using the Arduino, and we will be investigating how to recycle/re-use commonly discarded ink jet printers for their component parts. Bring your best ideas and wildest concepts and lets get them moving. Course fee is 255.00 plus 40.00 lab fee: total 295. The lab fee will over a motor control kit, some additional electronics, and a supply of printers to hack. You will need to have a laptop computer (win XP or Vista, OSX, or Linux*), and you should purchase your own Arduino Diecimila.

Schneier on Barack Obama's Security Mindset

I have made this general point again and again -- about airline security, about terrorism, about a lot of things -- that the person in charge of the security system can't be the person who decides what resources to devote to that security system. The analogy I like to use is a company: the VP of marketing wants all the money for marketing, the VP of engineering wants all the money for engineering, and so on; and the CEO has to balance all of those needs and do what's right for the company. So of course the TSA wants to spend all this money on new airplane security systems; that's their job. Someone above the TSA has to balance the risks to airlines with the other risks our country faces and allocate budget accordingly. Security is a trade-off, and that trade-off has to be made by someone with responsibility over all aspects of that trade-off.

I don't think I've ever heard a politician make this point so explicitly.

More at Schneier's on Security

VFP Investors to get their own bailout?

I wish I had heard the conversation leading up to this point. Why is Ken telling people to go out and buy copies of VFP9, so they can be sold on ebay when MS stops selling?

Android'd

I've had 3 of the last 4 Windows Mobile offerings, I didn't jump at the first iPhone, but I did try out the 3g when it first shipped. So my wife was not surprised when I left the house early this AM to stand in line for one of the first G1 phones in Seattle.

OMG.

It's not as slim and sleek as the 3g, but what it lacks in footprint it makes up for in sheer geek-ability.

I've had a hard time doing anything today other than fondling this lovely piece of gear and downloading (for free, for now) every app that I would ever want to think about using.

If you are a Facebook user, you'll find the process of adding apps to the phone familiar. It lets you know what services you are exposing to the app.

I've read several reviews, and yes -- there is room for improvement but... OMG.

I spent a long weekend trying to jailbreak my G3 just so I could capture videos and secure (crypto) email. With the G1, it's Prego baby -- it's all in there.

OMG.

Is It Worth Upgrading to SQL Server 2008?

Nice article by Nigel Maneffa, covering the features that come with the SQL2008 upgrade. It appears that most of the new features that were part of the CTP are Enterprise only.

Free registration required @ SQLServerCentral.com, worth the time.

Geekthink on a Resource Based Economy

Zeitgeist, the movie has an addendum. If you haven't seen the original it makes for interesting viewing.

In the addendum there is a presentation of the Venus Project and the concept of a Resource Based Economy. Geeks are responding @ Microsoft's Channel 9. Good read.

Universal Design Pattern

Excellent, detailed discussion of the use of the "Properties Pattern".

  

FoxPro on Youtube and other tubes

Watch this (or at least skip through it), then check out related videos.

Props to the SWFoxPro Conference for putting the keynote up.  Great to see VFP grassroots conference attendance is growing.

May be a good time to start the SeaVFP group...

More on the Zune - MS Genuine Advantage

So I kept the Zune. The hardware is a great bang for the buck, the software will come along -- and eventually a hacker culture will develop around it that will provide the level of control I want on the device.

I've ranted in the past about the Transnote. Lovely form - function... rivals many tablets on the market today -- except it's a 700mhz with 320 mb maxed.

Unfortunately I can't get a wireless solution to work with it. I've tried PCMCIA and CF Slot devices. They lock up or can't handle the slightest load before reseting.

IAC, I also can't get (many) updates from MSFT. XP is not what shipped on this machine, I bought it from eBay and received it with the XP upgrade. I updated to XPSP2 via CD, but once I hit Windows Update live I found out I was running an upgrade that did not qualify as "Genuine".

So now I only get "security updates".

With XP, this means it is more inconvenient for me to get security downloads. However with Vista it's a whole new ballgame. If Vista determines it is not "Genuine" it will start to "gracefully degrade". I've not seen this work yet -- but it will be interesting to see how such a feature goes over.

Zune vs PS3

Bought a Zune, thinking about taking it back.

The software locked up my 6 month old laptop 3 times during install, feels like a munge between Media Player and iTunes and doesn't run on Vista.

But here's the kicker -- no Podcasting support. The work around? Use a 3rd party tool to manage the subscriptions... for many that will be iTunes.

Hey Microsoft, this is how you launch a damn product!

Update: Microsoft's Zune Only Looks Simple covers it.

What has MSFT done for us lately?

As part of my recent gear swapping, I've had the chance to rebuild a few machines and test-drive some newer MS software.

IE7: If you haven't checked the Beta, I recommend it. The RSS support is pretty slick, there are Tabs (and a cool Quick Tab feature that lets you see all your tabs graphically on one scrollable page) and performance seems snappy.

SQL Server Express: It's free, and the Management Studio tool works against SQL2K databases. Another new interface which I generally like, combining Enterprise Manager w/ Query Analyzer and again, tabs. You won't find a Data Transformation Wizard or access to Profiler in this free version, but it is quite functional for ad-hoc queries, writing sprocs and doing general table maintenance. One complaint; comments are now done with the odd shortcut of Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C -- that is, you have to do both key combinations. Ctrl+Shift+C was strange enough but this is just lame.

OneNote: not new, not even recently updated -- but I *love* this tool. Not just for use on Tablet PCs. In addition to a personal notes I keep client records; one folder per client, one page per day, each issue designated with a checkbox (Ctrl+1). When an issue is solved I can check it off with another Ctrl+1. When it is time to triage I create a note summary. Open issues show up on top, then with a few other Ctrl+# combinations I can assign priorities and severities. Onenote also supports locking a page, a password is required to read / search and the file is encrypted on disk. Another cool feature is creating a shared session. This allows for real-time collaboration on one or more pages in a meeting or even remotely.

Back on the Mac

After the 2001 crash that took out our dotcom (Pacifiq Technologies -- you can still find the old website at archive.org) I spent a few years doing small gigs. There wasn't a lot of work in Minneapolis for ex-CTO's -- and there were plenty of us around.

So when our house was broken into in 2003 and my 3rd laptop stolen I had no specific reason to buy a WinTel machine. I'd always loved the Macintosh, and had started doing some Linux work -- so I decided to buy a G4. I bought the 1Ghz Powerbook. It was the last model that was made out Titanium.

Loved the machine -- most elegant laptop I've ever worked with. If you've never spent time with one on your lap you've missed out.

I also loved OSX. It was still pretty new at the time, but it sat on Debian and was rock solid. It took awhile to get used to where everything was. I've been on MS machines since DOS 2.0 and I can make any MS OS sing, and there were definately times when I felt lost on the Mac.

I was Mac only for a few years until we moved back to Seattle and I started my contract gig with the Fox team. After a year it was re-starting Alden Anderson -- and of course working in MS software exclusively. So the Mac became mostly a music machine; Itunes, Abelton Live and MAX-MSP.

So last week my Dell 5160 gave up the ghost. Power supply went bad, I'd already fixed it once and new another few hundred $$$ was a bad investment. But before I pulled the trigger on another Dell I thought long and hard about what I used my laptop for these days.

1) Email - Outlook... which is a pig, but is still the only email client that will let you tag a message to be reviewed for follow-up at a specific date/time in the future.
2) Onenote - Invaluable tool for documenting day to day client activity
3) Web browsing - Firefox
4) Remote Desktop
5) VFP
6) SQL Server
7) Visual Studio

Why are VFP, SQL et al so low on the list? I do most of my dev work remotely with RDC, if you've got a good connection it is a superior way to work IMO. Easier version control and much less exposure when the laptop suddenly disappears, again.

So, I decided to dust of the Mac. Installed my recently upgraded 100gb 7200rpm hard drive from the Dell, got the latest OSX release (10.4.6 or Tiger) and installed Virtual PC for the Mac.

Well, I love it. I've got VPC setup with VFP9 and SQL Server and the rest of the MS apps, installed Firefox Mac and other than that I'm using what ships with the OS.

Of course what I'd really like is a NEW Duo-Core Powerbook. With Boot Camp and Parallels it gives me the best of both worlds -- but a sudden $2500 hit on cashflow isn't in the cards, so I'll sit with my 3 year old Powerbook and enjoy working with a work of art on my lap once again.