October 2007 Archives

It's quiet all through the house, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse... I had to take a picture of a Sirah I'm enjoying on so many levels. I have about 20 minutes worth of homework left for the evening and I'm hoping tonight will be one of those nights where I actually sleep when my head hits the pillow.
Today has been one of those days where I had meant to accomplish so much, yet achieved so little. I spend far more time on understanding MovableType 4.x and fastcgi than I wish to admit. (I do feel better about the server configurations we have in place, but there is still much to learn.)
I also still owe this little weblog of mine an update on my philosophical battles with thoughts on Walworth County funding private operations like WCEDA. I noticed a piece in the Janesville Gazette Xtra from Mr. Burkhardt about the necessity of WCEDA in providing the County with planning guidance so that we can enjoy the benefits of bringing more tax revenue our way. Tomorrow, I'll tackle that issue with some more direct comments, but for now, I am still stunned that people believe in economic planning. There are plenty of fancy arguments for government creating zones for economic development, etc. None, however, are more powerful than an easy to read legal guide to a given municipality and low taxes. Only big business seems to be interested in games and tax dodge schemes. The small guys - i.e. those like us or to be more specific, between $50,000-$200mil per year in revenues (perhaps that top number should be higher) - prefer rules they can know and that they will generally be left to go about doing their business as they see fit. If we provide to the market we intend to serve in an efficient and responsible manner, business will come and our revenues will grow (positive revenues, not just money for the sake of making more, but more profits, etc.). There is no honest person out there who would argue otherwise.
Planning means that a person expects to forecast the future. No bureaucratic body has ever succeeded in doing so for any amount of time. History appears to be ignored again. By the way, ad hoc development is what an efficient market is about. Ad hoc means to concentrate on a specific mission and good businesses typically find ways of doing just that.
Back to work so I can go off to bed.

One of the struggles I'm having with managing my photos - i.e. taking photos and displaying them the way my mind intends to see them - is providing the viewer the type of detail I see on my screen when I look at the photo. For example, I'm viewing the photo here:
The problem is that you see this picture as a thumbnail on the screen and may or may not go to flickr to view it in one of the six modes available. I'm looking at it on a 24“ monitor in all its glory (and if you are a mechanic buff of any type, you realize how amazing some of these old workhorse tractors are considering the use and abuse they have seen). This photo really doesn't evoke much emotion in the 3x2 cm square I'm currently viewing. Blow it up and it takes on a whole new meaning. I recently changed the layout of my flickr page to show larger versions of the pictures automatically, but they still aren't in the format in which I see them. This one, too,
is much better as a larger version. Ode's eye is relatively sharp and it looks like he's concentrating on something (not that I know or believe that animals concentrate on things like humans). Without seeing the image in the right setting, it is hard to get across the emotions I want you to feel as the viewer.
Flickr is the greatest photo tool currently available. It has an ”extensible“ API that allows developers to make plugins for programs like Aperture or iPhoto and subsequently, makes it easy for people like me to check in, modify, and upload our photos with little hassle. The problem is that I can't tell it to display photos the way I want you to see them. I don't mean that I want to control what file size you have access to, but I would like to control the background and how they are displayed initially. I'm not trying to set down a complaint here. I'm trying to explain how hard it is for us to really convey a point or statement without controlling the context in which something is seen. And isn't context everything?*

*No, really... I don't know and now am wondering...

One quick mention: Aaron did me the favor Saturday eve. of lugging me around (I took the train into Chicago instead of driving) to visit Intelligentsia Coffee on Broadway St. to pick up some long overdue Black Cat Espresso. On the way, he asked if I liked tea. I said sure, depends on quality, etc. but usually, yes. He suggested we stop at Argo Tea on Broadway - two or three stores north of Intelligentsia. I am extremely glad he made the recommendation. If you are a borderline tea lover or simply enjoy a good cup of tea, I can't more highly recommend this place. The service was great, but just as important, the tea was absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed a second brew of their Earl Grey with cream and vanilla mix as we left. (Yes, I imagine die-hard tea fans are just as fanatical as coffee junkies, like myself. You mustn't destroy the taste of a fine cup of tea with pollutants like milk and sugar. Sorry, I don't buy into that. The underlying flavor of the base - whether coffee or tea - will shine through, and good is still good; and bad is certainly bad.) If you're near any of their stores and are on the edge as to whether you would consider yourself a fine connoisseur of tea, they will do a good job of making you a tea snob. Now I can't wait for my next trip to Chicago and may even use visiting their store as an excuse to go and learn more about the fine art of brewing [good] tea.

This is a scene from a cab as Jeff and I headed back to his place from dinner at the Signature Room at the John Hancock Building. I was doing my best to focus and steady the camera, but alas, we were moving at a good clip ourselves and there is only so much you can do to steady your hand in the back of a cab. A few details to notice:
- Different tires on all four wheels. For whatever reason, the driver could not make up her mind as to whether or not to pass us and we saw her and her passenger from both sides.
- This is the classic car you saw in our high school parking lot back in the day.
- Imagine this car speeding up and slowing down every few hundred yards. Both driver and passenger looked intently forward as if every moment was going to slip away and ruin there chance at making it to a big meeting.
Perhaps you had to be there...

Today is one of those rare occasions where I'm not schlepping my 17" MacBook Pro around with me. It's bad enough that I have 20lbs (7kg) of camera gear with me. I decided to put my Fujitsu P1610 to work on this trip and take it with, since the situation I'm in is where I intended to use it. I really don't like using Windows, though. It is less of a disdain for Windows than I have when doing technical things with that OS that bother me, it is more of I could be doing this more easily...
Anyhow. What I wanted to make note of is two tools I really take advantage of on the Mac - for which there really is not a good Windows alternative (that I can find as of today):
- Quicksilver
- Spotlight
Yes, Google Desktop could be compared to Spotlight, but sorry. It is an amazing resource hog on my system that I end up turning off all the time just so that I can conserve battery power when not plugged in. Every time I restart my system, it spends far too much time re-indexing things and creates a frustrating experience. Quicksilver just makes it so easy to do so many things, too. Its API has been used by many hackers out there to add very simple functionality - from posting to Twitter to changing volume and songs in iTunes. Do the above applications mean that OS X is better as an OS? Perhaps one could argue this, but my argument follows the thought that it is indie OS X developers who really have a knack for developing software that is pointed, simple, and amazingly useful. It could be that in the Windows world, because of the sheer size and mass, that it is hard to wade through all that is out there and find your perfect application. If that is the reason why I find applications written for OS X better than those that are similarly written for Windows, then so be it. I think OS X users are generally more demanding and therefore the software tends to be better. There is no way for me to empirically prove this.
Either way, if you are on OS X, try learning and using quicksilver and Spotlight. (Especially for those who avoid the mouse, quicksilver is a godsend.)

Links:
- Ten quicksilver alternatives for Windows
- quicksilver Software
- Apple's Spotlight

Sorry to those of you whose comments have been held up because I was sending notifications of those awaiting approval to a defunct email address. I fixed the problem and your comments will be published and responded to in a more timely manner.

I didn't pre-order Leopard (aka Mac OS X 10.5) like I have with every other OS X release since 10.2. Do I feel like I need to rush off to the nearest store to do so? No. Do I want a bunch of goodies offered with the new version of OS X? Absolutely. My life won't be complete until I get my hands on the new Finder functions, improved AppleScript and Automator functions, and Mail improvements. (Apple Mail is a program I love to hate. I love it because of how searchable the "database" of email I have collected is. I hate it because on my MacBook, it loves to hang from time to time when I come out of suspend mode. Plus, for some reason - and I can't explain this in a scientific and well thought out manner - it flakes out with IMAP accounts and my process usage goes to over 100% until I quit Mail and restart it.)
My current situation is proof that I'm getting older and finally am less inclined to obsess over new technology. It feels good. Unfortunately, I can't seem to apply this same patience with everything I become obsessed with (ahem, photography, etc.). Maybe with more time...

I received a call from a colleague a few days ago about a meeting coming up over Thanksgiving. In the process of talking about said meeting, we drifted off onto other subjects relating to some decisions our county board is going to be making. One of the issues that will be coming up is whether or not the county (Walworth County, WI) should refund a development project that is nothing more than paying consultants to tell the county how to subsidize businesses they feel are the key to the long term growth in our county. The presentation that was given yesterday at Gateway College makes the following statements:
- We are living in a rapidly changing economy where industries are coming into existence which a) never existed ten years ago and b) are being valued at higher numbers than companies with greater physical assets and who have been in existence longer.
- Market driven forces have been the foundation of said changes.
Yet, in the same breath, the presentation makes the claim that local and state governments should be involved in fostering growth by:
- Researching and predicting the future industries that will bring the greatest benefit to the area being served - e.g. Walworth County.
- Provide incentives for said industries.
I argue that businesses like Google, Apple, Yahoo!, and Microsoft exist despite government interference and not because of it. Google's phenomenal growth is due to dollars and eyeballs. They built a platform on which people would be drawn to their service - i.e. search engine/search results - and in the process presented with ads that generate revenue to support further developing their search techniques. Apple has gone from a perceived second rate, second tier software and hardware developer to a class A developer of equipment, software, and ideas. Their brand is recognized on the level of a fashion icon in an industry known for beige box, bland hardware. No one could argue in any intelligent manner that the government was responsible for helping foster the growth of these two winners. There are basic infrastructure services that we have allowed the government to assume responsibility for that have helped in the growth of the companies, but I would argue that inconsistencies in policy and regulatory burden burn more human creative energy at both companies than is necessary. It is despite government that these companies exist, not because of government.
The propaganda being thrown about in Walwroth County via the new WCEDA initiative is akin to socialist market planning. If you remove subject identity indicators from their reports, you find that the goal is to research historical changes in the county and use those statistics, coupled with information on industries that have shown to be high-growth and high-paying, and mash them together to create a plan for the future. What? Historical statistics have done nothing more than show that the market changes much faster than any government could possibly react. Yet, somehow we are going to delude ourselves into believing that the government can foster growth by predicting the winners? Nonsense. The way government can assist in fostering growth is by making the rules of the game simple and easy to read. In order to enter the business market, you mustn't be required to hire lawyers and consultants to found your business. Company XYZ shouldn't be given advantages over Company ABC because they are perceived to be more vital to the growth of the County. The market will determine which provides greater benefit to the area residents and prosperity will follow. It always does. What makes us in Walworth County think that we can divine otherwise?

For the past few months, I've been going nuts (collectively with my brother, Dave) on buying books. We've been buying everything from books on oil to wiring diagram design to politics and to photography (me). The obsession with photography continues and there is a photographer on flickr whose photos I really enjoy. Ying Tang put together a book of her photos from San Francisco that can be bought at blurb.com. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Her photography is a perfect example of telling a story that can carry meaning for any person viewing them. (Nothing is too avant garde, nothing too simple. For my sensibilities, she delivers a perfect mix.)

Lately I've been obsessed with photography. It is something akin to computers and small internet devices for me. There's always something new to learn, to see, to play with. There are a few things I'm obsessed with in life and they always seem to come full circle (and this is outside my obsession with work): cars, triathlon/training, photography, reading, and computers/technology. Thank goodness in the case of photography, the analogy stops with the “something new” part - i.e. in photography, you can take the same stuff and simply look at it from different angles and doesn't require spending hard earned money on a new gadget that will eventually end up in a junk drawer.
Take the screen shot of the page that got me thinking:

I don't even know whether or not this shot was taken inside or out on a street. Either way, if I can imagine what the rest of the structure looks like, I don't think I would have taken the time to think, “hey, there's a great shot to be made... the lighting, the shadows...” It makes one sit back and realize (if one even likes this stuff) that even in the most ordinary circumstances, there might be something extraordinary to behold. To me, this picture is an example of that.

This is a random, random post. I'm working on a customer's warranty claims and am finding two things missing on my Mac that I would find quite useful.
1) Somehow link my del.icio.us bookmarks tagged “weblogs” to my NetNewsWire account. All of the items tagged weblogs should automatically show up on my list of accounts under NetNewsWire. I'm not surprised no one has done this, but I am that no one else has mentioned how useful something like this would be. The problem I have with using disparate programs that keep track of the same data (in this case a web “application” and a real desktop application) is that there are seldom good ways to link the two.
2) I want more hosting providers to offer receiving email via ssl. Even if email in it, of itself is not secure (and it *isn't*), I'd like to see more show explicit support for at least encrypting email passwords. I travel a lot and am becoming more and more wary of snooping on wifi hotspots.
3) The wonderful and invaluable OpenBSD pf ported to OS X. Yes, a ridiculous request because of a) the difficulty I imagine something like this would entail and b) I haven't seen anyone else make the request through the right channels. I still prefer pf over ipfw for so many reasons, not the least of which that the designers/hackers of pf really do *understand* how a normal person uses a firewall.

An NYT column ends with:

"Here’s a suggestion to every Internet executive: take a Post-It note, write “EBay wasted $3 billion on Skype” and stick it to your monitor. Stare at it the next time some hot social whatever-2.0 company comes by and talks about growing fast and finding a revenue model later."

I thought the purchase was insane when it happened and feel better that I've been proven right. Old business valuations do apply in the new market and for some reason, people still do not want to believe this. Anyone looking at Microsoft's potential $500 mil. "investment" in Facebook with the same chagrin as I (i.e. embarrassment on behalf of MS)?

NYT: eBay's Billion Lesson in the Value of Hype