Jobs on Music: Pandering or Profound

I can't tell if Steve Jobs' latest rant against the music industry is simply pandering to the masses while whining about the European regulators, or if the "DRM will likely never work" sentiment is sincere. My first two thoughts are:

• Convenient excuse provided for not inviting others to the table: If it's broken, then we can't fix what we don't own...
  
• Instead of whining/blogging, go do some market research or broker a limited-scope deal. Maybe even run a trial and charge a premium for unlocked content (e.g. $0.99, or $1.49 for DRM-free)...

Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has graduated from beta, and has sucked a $200 pre-order out of my bank account. I've been using the beta for over a year on both Windows and, more recently, the Mac. I'm sure Aperture is nice, too; but the tools and features of Lightroom met my needs and the bounce across platforms didn't require re-learning. I use it as an image library and a RAW processing engine.

Now, I just have to wait for Photoshop CS3 to come out, and I'll be in image-manipulation Nirvana....

Before the Music Dies

Update: Got it, watched it, dug it. Erykah Badu still has freaky hair, and her interviews were fun. A bunch of clips and some promo stuff is on the DivX Stage 6 site -- Check it out...

Gonna have to go buy this soon... The Before the Music Dies documentary is now on DVD, so maybe more of us can all learn to enjoy the music while leaving the music business behind...

What would it take for me to buy an iPhone?

I may be the last standing survivor of the "old school," wherein my phone is mostly a phone, my iPod is a non-video-playing Nano, and my PDA is primarily a portable GPS and game machine that fills in as VGA-resolution video player and photo browser on the many excursions where I choose to leave my laptop at home. (Note that none of the three non-converged small devices listed above contain a camera; I use a real one, thank you very much.)

The mere fact that I have these three gadgets and gizmos makes me sound like an ideal candidate for a Blackberry, a Blackjack, a Treo, or a newly-announced iPhone (or some other converged device); but that makes the errant assumption that I don't pick-and-choose which device(s) will be carried for a given situation. Since my primary personal and work computers are both laptops, I don't actually use the PDA for so-called traditional PDA-type activities, such as maintaining my contacts and calendars, trying in vain to take notes at meetings, etc... Similarly, the "organizer" features and the stamp-sized photo-browsing ability of the iPod Nano are lost on me -- they don't get used, ever; the same is true of the truly bad games that came on the Nano, each of which have been played exactly once. I do occasionally check my Gmail account from my phone, but it's mostly to justify the fact that I'm paying a few quid every month for a minimal data plan. I access the Gmail app an average of 2-3 times per week. Did I mention that I don't have any games on the phone, or that I use the phone's network connection for non-Gmail things like news or weather less than once a month? It's slow, and the interface sucks.

So, with all that out there to set the context, here are a few key missing features that iPhone 2.0 will need to have in order for me to consider forking over the obscene chunk of change that 1.0 will be listed at, not to mention the --ahem-- massively-lube-requiring fees that Cingular requests for their unlimited data plan. The following incomplete wish list is displayed in no particular order:

• > An actual, legitimate, "3G" (or beyond) data network connection, and the ability to "share" this connection via tether or Bluetooth. EDGE is slow and sucky for anything but the most casual use. If you want me to believe I can surf real websites with a real browser, give me a real connection. Granted, the iPhone 1.0 may well offer the ability to use it as a "modem," but it wasn't part of the announcement. This is a requirement for the version I buy. If I'm forking over service-provider fees for an unlimited data plan, I want to be able to use said plan with my laptop.
  
• > Direct downloads from the iTunes Media Store. If I'm traveling sans-laptop and want a movie I can watch on the plane ride home, or other content I wish to enjoy while on the go. I should be able to take advantage of the fast data network connection (or an available WiFi hotspot) and download content straight to the iPhone while I'm doing the early check-in for my return flight. I would, of course, expect to be able to "reverse-sync" said movie/content to my iTunes library on the computer at home. With the iPhone 1.0, you need a computer to be the middleman, and this sucks rocks.
  
• > An open API, an extensible OS, and a supported development environment for 3rd-party applications. If you want to replace my PDA, your platform had better allow me to acquire and load 3rd-party applications.
  
• -> You can't think of everything that I will want to do with my iPhone, and will never be able to provide for all of my desires. My name isn't Steve Jobs, which means I didn't have the luxury of asking you to build-in every little thing that I may want in my device. I want to use the device how I want to use it, and I may not even know how I want to use it until after I've mucked around with it for a bit.
  
• -> The first app that I want, assuming that OpenSSH isn't an included feature of OS X Embedded, is an ssh client with tunneling support. Since there isn't any Blackberry Enterprise Server pushing encrypted content to it, I want the ability to secure my own communications. Safari-lite had better support proxies, too... Otherwise, I'm gonna need Opera (the actual purveyors of the first "true mobile browsing experience" for all the Windows Mobile devices out there) or another 3rd-party browser.
• -> A close second on my wish list would be a compelling moving-map GPS navigation offering. I don't need a built-in GPS receiver, Bluetooth is just fine. However, the Google Maps applet isn't good enough for me -- it's fine for static situations, POIs, and general overviews; but (unless I'm missing something), it doesn't provide the standard you-are-here triangle, auto-scrolling map display, and voice prompts that a GPS navigation app includes.
  
• -> I would also like to be able to see how a diverse and talented "community" can make clever use of the multi-touch interface. I'd be willing to bet that freeware, shareware, and open-source game offerings, for example, would trump the dross that the iTMS offers for the video iPod.
• -> If this functionality isn't present, then I will not consider the device, even if the price drops to $100. My current phone supports the mobile JRE thing, but otherwise it's effectively a closed platform. Closed platforms suck the nasty scum-ridden rocks from the bottom of the bog.
  
• > More native memory, support for standard flash memory cards, and the ability to access media on those cards. I've got 8GB on my Nano -- and it has a low-dpi, low-res screen and doesn't play video. I shoot still photographs onto a 4GB CF card. If I'm supposed to put my life in my pocket, then I need more flexibility than the built-in 8GB can offer (I'd settle for 16 GB, but for $600 would prefer to see 32 GB; remember you're telling me I can carry my life in my pocket -- I watch and produce high-quality video, and shoot 8MP RAW images with my DSLR -- big files add up fast...).
  
• -> I carry a fleet of SD cards with my PDA -- one for games, one for short-term media, one for my GPS application and its map data, etc. If I want to take content that I have created (or format-shifted per rapidly-diminishing fair-use standards) and enjoy it on my PDA, I can just dump it to a card and play it -- no sync operation is needed, so it works from other people's systems, too.
  
• -> The idea of having to round-trip content through iTunes (on a computer) just to be able to access it on my so-called converged device sits wrong with me... I understand the need to have a system in place for purchased (and therefore rights-restricted) content, but I reserve the right to vote with my wallet and tend to avoid this type of content. Having to use the same mechanism to access user-generated and/or legally-obtained non-protected content is a bunch of hooey! For example, my PDA has a CF slot, which I can use to review the JPG versions of the photos that I capture alongside the RAWs... I take the card out of the camera, stick it in the PDA, and -- viola -- it just works (with either the native app or a 3rd-party app that I purchased because it was a better fit for my needs). With no support for removable media, the iPhone 1.0 would (once again) force me to use a full-fledged computer as a middle-man. Again, the middle-man requirement sucks rocks, and is a complete deal-breaker for me.
  
• -> (For the record, I feel the same way about ActiveSync, I generally prefer to get my WM5 apps as cab files, and load them directly on the device. The same is true for Word docs, Excel sheets, PDFs, MP3s, etc. that I view on the PDA; I'd rather dump it to a card than deal with the way some damn sync app thinks that I want to use my device. If I want it local, I'll copy it local... Don't tell me how to use my device, just let me use it however I see fit! Bleagh!)
  

Finally got around to...

I finally went out and grabbed the OS X Wacom tablet driver. Even tried messing around with Ink, but so far it is doing worse than WM5's handwriting recognition on my PDA. Therefore, it is probably destined to be a novelty. However, when Photoshop CS3 comes out later this year, I will be glad to have the absolute-positioning capabilities of the pen back -- it makes it so very much easier to work with masks and to add subtle effects..

Photo Gallery and Map Updated

Now that my photo gallery from Costa Rica has been posted, I have also updated my photo map to have a link to this gallery. The place marker is based off of a GPS read that I pulled from the top of Poás Volcano, near the main crater.

Everyone: Everyone (Else) is an Idiot

New York Times columnist and tech book author David Pogue muses on the utter lack of "netiquette" in his blog. He calls out sites like Slashdot and digg, wherein the comments on each post quickly devolve into an uber-juvenile festival of petty pre-K sandbox-esque name calling and finger pointing.

One of trends that I have observed is the tendency to find assertions that ignorance on the part of a [ahem] "fellow member of the community" is directly attributable to one of the following: idiocy, stupidity, apparent mental retardation, poor breeding, or a (clearly) incorrect system of beliefs. These poor, disrespectful, divinely-entitled, internet-flame-trolling dolts are clearly superior to the other disrespectful, divinely-entitled, internet-flame-trolling dolts whose bait they accept so readily and whose posts they attempt to ridicule in the most ridiculous fashion imaginable.

The most disheartening revelation regarding this behavior is tied to the demographics of these groups. The median age of these posters is generally well beyond the lawful drinking age, not merely the voting age or the driving age. You may be tempted to ask "Why is that disheartening?" Simply stated, it means that the posters of such well-reasoned, respectful, and meaningful comments as "wut a 'tard prolly cudn't evn git it if it wuz tattood on his mamas arse that he oviusly came outta. and dont even try to tell me my grammer sux cuz i lernt it from yer mom so yer jus dissin dat skank"* are participating in the real world. Common activities (and rationalizations for each) of these posters include the following:

• routinely cutting off other drivers
  
• other drivers are clearly idiots for lawfully being on the part of the roadway where the posters suddenly decided they deserved to be
• only a truly mentally deficient driver needs do things like look in a mirror or use a signal, posters are entitled and invincible
• failing to vote, but complaining about the outcome to everyone
• already posted "meaningful debate" about each topic and candidate
  
• why vote: everyone in the race (and everyone who votes) is a total loser
  
• only the opinion of the poster matters, everybody else is an irrelevant jackass
  

Another "Quote of the [Arbitrary Time Period]"

Seagate CEO Bill Watkins, in this CNN/Money interview, stated:

"Let's face it, we're not changing the world. We're building a product that helps people buy more crap - and watch porn."

Makes you want to run out and buy a new hard drive, eh?

Google Broke the Hike and Bike Trail!

There's a Google satellite image tiling glitch on Austin's Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail. Either that, or the Balcones Fault is way more active that we thought...

Well, we got newer, higher-res images, and this problem no longer exists...  C'est la vie.

Round-Trip Translation Hilarity Engine

The "Lost in Translation" site is a great way to make fun of machine translation. For example, consider the following:

Original Text: "Now is the time for the small, furry animals to unite and rise up in unison against the oppressive reign of mankind."

Super-crazy Result: "Hour the hour stops of the small one, with the skin of the animals it is due to moor and GONE until the expensive outpost in the agreement to satisfy to press of the rule of the humanity."

The Path: English > French > English > German > English > Italian > English > Portuguese > English > Spanish > English

Google Maps API Update

Well, I got bitten by the Google Maps API update that happened on Wednesday. The code for my Photo Gallery Map used several conventions that were rendered obsolete. So, I employed my not-so-mad programming skills, looked at the API Reference, and managed to "H4X0R" my map back into operational status.

The good news -- it works again, and I'll be OK until API version 2 is made obsolete at some undisclosed future date. The other good news, there was an upgrade cheat-sheet that made my life easier.

What did I have to change in my simple page code:

In addition to the trivial required change from GMap to GMap2, GPoint now refers to a location on the bitmap, and not a geographical location. I was using it "the old way." A new GLatLng class was introduced to reference geographical points. This new version also swaps the position of the Latitude and Longitude data with respect to the old convention (Gee, imagine that Lat/Long specified in that order...). So, all references that used to look like this:
new GPoint(-115.173019, 36.095472)
now look like this, instead:
new GLatLng(36.095472,-115.173019)

Also, the zoom factor got reversed, so my old zoom factor of 13 is now a zoom factor of 4 to display the same view (it's more intuitive now, bigger number=more zoom).

Finally, the "Map Type" convention changed. What used to be _HYBRID_TYPE is now known as G_HYBRID_MAP... This was also made easier, as setCenterAndZoom and setMapType have been combined into a single setCenter operation.

Red-Letter Day or Red Pill?

Today I received my new MacBookPro. It's the first Apple computer that I've owned since the ][e that my folks got for me "back in the day." It also means that I've added to my OS collection yet again; my current tally includes not only OS X and Windows, but also Solaris, OpenBSD, and Linux... I've only been using the system for a couple of hours, but I'm digging it so far... Of course, it's hard to argue with the horsepower that this baby has! I think my poor little Athlon XP (Barton) desktop is going to start feeling a bit lonely...

110 Years, Zero Lessons.

You may recall my earlier post regarding how the whole "marriage protection" movement was entirely too reminiscent of the blatant civil rights travesties that have left an indelible mark on the United States. Well, now New Jersey's Supreme Court has declared that participants in same-sex unions are entitled to the same rights as "married folk." It has been widely reported that this decision allows the state legislature to decide whether to declare same-sex unions as a type of marriage, or whether to establish some sort of separate-but-equal categorization. Unfortunately, the justices failed to pay any attention to the events that transpired after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision (ah, that's where that "110 years" reference comes from); they certainly failed to read the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision [*]. Cleary, these justices are unaware of the inequities and iniquities that continue to this day. Nice to know that my little illustration continues to "hold water."

* (I have chosen to redact liberally to strip out the direct race and education references in my quotes below; look here for the un-cut text of the Brown decision):

In Sweatt v. Painter, ..., this Court relied in large part on "those qualities which are incapable of objective measurement ..."

...To separate them ... generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

...The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating ... is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the [minority] group.

...Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.

We conclude that, ..., the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate ... facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Airport Security

Schneier on Security presents this post regarding a "boarding pass" generator. Some of the comments are quite entertaining...

I had previously realized just how silly the whole "boarding pass as authentication token" thing was the last time I was getting ready to fly home. You see, I used my SSH/proxy connection to log on over the hotel's wireless and then printed my boarding pass to a PDF file, which I then carried down to the hotel's business center on my spiffy SD/USB card and transferred onto actual paper. I realized that since I have a (rather dated) full copy of Acrobat, I could easily modify the contents of the PDF and create variations of the boarding pass. The security screeners don't have bar code readers, so the codified information doesn't even need to be correct (until you actually want to step onto an airplane).

Update 1: The man has yet again demonstrated that ignorance is the preferred state for all of us citizens. That's right, the student that posted the code had the "opportunity" to visit with the nice people from the FBI. Apparently, the agency can actually live up to their moniker and act Frequently Bungling and Inept.

Got Style?

No? The Strange Banana Style Generator can help (so long as the style you seek is of the CSS variety).

White and Nerdy

Weird Al is at it again, with the Straight Outta Lynwood Album's lead track, White and Nerdy. I was already experiencing episodes where the original Ridin' (by Chamillionaire) would get stuck in my head from time to time. Now, it's just that much worse...

Chris Pirillo's Post (w/ YouTube video of the music video for White and Nerdy)

Built-in Bike Rack -- Cool

This is a pretty cool concept: a built-in bike rack that Opel is incorporating into some of their European models.

Yet another Sudoku article

From ABC Australia: Why Sudoku makes your brain ache

Obscenely Huge Zoom Lens

Zeiss custom monster zoom: 1700mm focal length at f/4 with a coverage area designed for a Hasselblad 203FE 6x6 inch medium format camera. They don't specify whether or not the customer is also using one of the Hasselblad 39 megapixel digital backs on said camera (the older 22 megapixel backs retail for $25k, the cameras go for about $4-5k on the used market -- no FE-series lens included)...

Other useful stats: It's 5.5 feet long, and weighs over 560 pounds. Want one? Better win the lotto first...

Bicycle Helmets Make Car Drivers Care Less

Want to increase your odds of getting hit while riding your bike? According to this UK study, you should wear a helmet and ride on roads frequented by busses and delivery trucks. This combination should help ensure that you are given a minimal amount of space in which to ride safely. No wonder advocacy groups oppose adult helmet laws...