geek

Successful web applications

brad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:36:08 +0200

I have a little theory I have been working on, it is probably dead obvious to some people, but it only crystalised in my head relatively recently. I have had a few ideas in my time (so far none have made it to the real world), and in mentally stepping through these ideas I have started to refine my methods of evaluating an idea. One of the mental tests I have been using recently is: Does this idea:

Help some business/cross section of people do what they do, more efficiently/economically?
Would the technology associated to my idea help me act more efficiently in an environment of competition?
Or, does this idea earn me income by facilitating other people earning income

So, Point 1 and point 3 interact in an interesting way, since helping people operate more efficiently/economically in their business, I am effectively providing a service which facilitates other people earning income. There is a subtle difference, but I guess point 1 could be considered a further classification of point 3. Basically, for me, the pencil test of an idea, deciding on its value and functionality, is "Does this make other people money", and that is the difference that social applications have brought to the table. Generally the oft touted value in a web app is "create eyeballs, and sell advertising", and it is valid, but it is not the only golden egg. Facebook has pretty much gotten the lion-share of eyeballs in recent time, and they have a powerful and subtle distinction over other eyeball generators: targeted advertising. If you look over the questions you answer on your profile it reads just like (but, is disguised well enough not to seem like) the kind of thing you see on marketing surveys. They offer a fantastic platform to advertisers: you can choose your segment _exactly_, pay per advert, etc. etc. Either way, facebook is successful on two fronts, it helps people be more efficient in their social networking (i.e. something they do normally), and provides a platform for companies to advertise efficiently (lets not get into effectiveness). So, they win on point 1, and they win on point 3. They also perform well on point 2, because they used technology well to achieve better efficiency in a competitive market. But I didn't come here to praise just the facebook, I was only trying to illustrate my point. So, how well do the ideas floating round your head fit into my picture? If you hypothetically test your idea, does it honestly do well against those criteria? And, if it doesn't could you modify your idea to fit into that framework? I think too many web applications are hyped up (the hype curve, duh), and brush over these things. There are lots of apps floating around which I know I will try out, say "neat" and never use again, because they don't help me be more efficient or help me make money (not to say that said app may not be good for other people). The other further classification is "does this make it harder, or easier for someone to do said task" and that must take into account factors like bandwidth, computer availability etc. Good ideas meld into our lifestyles. A good example is 3D, interactive displays, they are a cute concept, and wow the audience on the bourne identity, but they are unrealistic until certain things happen that make them _easier_ to use than our current interactions with the tech around us. Its for that reason that people bleat about the iPhone not having a keyboard, because, well, the keyboard is a banging idea (still), and quite hard to beat. A recent example of this was the new South African foray into cellphone based money transactions called "wiWallet". Their site claims it is "payment simplified". They are trying to crack the nut that people have been trying to crack for ages...turning your cellphone into a "wallet". But IMHO they have fared poorly. I personally have moved from using cash to using my credit card for everything, so I could get away with sticky taping my CC onto the back of my phone, and have a better opportunity of being able to pay almost anywhere. The idea of coding your CC onto your phone removes that physical token, but doesn't seem to add much value beyond the romantic idea of not having to carry a CC around. So your target market is now: People who have credit cards, and are willing to pay more money per month, for the chance that they will be able to pay for something without carrying their wallet (if their vendor has a machine which can do it). If they removed the need for having a credit card (like taking the money out of your airtime, etc.) then they would be moving into an interesting territory. Since I have to carry my driver's license (because I drive most of the places I am going to shop), carrying my credit card does not cost me anything extra. wiWallet does not make it more efficient for me to make a payment, it does facilitate making people money, but it doesn't improve on the model the credit card already provides. To me it feels like a hi-tech solution for a low-tech problem. Just my 2c. Also, for real, genuine success, in the words of J.D. Hitchcock "Make your (website|application) awesome".

On Internet statistics

brad — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:05:35 +0200

Because I am on the internet, and because the apps I use offer statistics, I figure I would share some of them, feel free to do the same, if you feel the urge.

Google Reader

From your 157 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 1,698 items, starred 17 items, shared 48 items, and emailed 0 items.

Last.fm

16,205 plays since 8 Aug 2006

Twitter

Bug Report: Chocolate Flavour ProNutro

brad — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:13:21 +0200

Hi, I have a demonstrably repeatable problem which keeps cropping up at around 7:30am every morning (and at other sporadic times). So far, as best as I can understand, the problem is triggered by putting the ProNutro in my breakfast bowl (I have tried multiple bowls and still have the same show-stopper). Once I have added the ProNutro I add the milk, but I can only estimate how much I need, based on how much ProNutro I have put in. I assume everything is alright, because the bowl holds the milk and powder correctly, there is no visible overflow. I start eating the ProNutro and encounter problem after problem: The cereal remains too wet, or becomes too stodgy too quick. I am now faced with a tough choice, add more ProNutro, and risk making it too stodgy, or add more milk and risk it becoming too liquid. This is poor usability, and I would call it a show-stopper, or a near show-stopper. It seems to be a serious regression from Original flavour, and the developers seem to be unwilling, or unable to fix this. Members of the community have been unhelpful, telling me "If you don't know how to do something so basic maybe you should rather be using coco pops, or some other dumbed down breakfast from Kellogs". Original flavour members said "Well, what do you expect, the packagers of Chocolate flavour know nothing...they are a bunch of ricers". This kind of thing makes me want to leave the packaged breakfast cereal community entirely and go back to fruit, or even raw kernel's, and make Breakfast from Scratch (BFS). If the packagers/developers are unwilling to help out with this they are going to risk chasing a lot of users away, and ultimately cave the project, or worse, force members to fork the product and fix the problems by themselves, and confuse newbies even more. P.S. I am a regular user of ProNutro, and I didn't ever have this problem with ProNutro Original flavour, and I am thinking of going back to Original flavour, and rolling in my own chocolate in, but until now I have not made PFS, and maybe I should just go right back to BFS. P.P.S. I have found that I am also incredibly thirsty about an hour after eating, I suspect this troubles all versions, although it may only be limited to the newer versions which have slower milk up-take.

Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 co-habiting on Ubuntu 8.04

brad — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:29:11 +0200

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). I was pleasantly surprised when Firefox 3 greeted me as the default browser, but then hit a few speed bumps. Being a web developer I constantly use tools like firebug and MeasureIt. Unfortunately, until Firefox 3 is widespread (and released), many extensions don't work (there are hacks, but they come with problems). So I don't want to go back to Firefox 2 as my browser, because when I did try there were some issues with downgrading my profile, and I have become quite used to bookmark tags, awesomebar, the incredible difference in memory consumption, and the Save & Exit prompt. Running Firefox 2 concurrently is possible though, it comes at a price though. Firstly, install firefox-2:

sudo apt-get install firefox-2

I went the route of using a separate user for FF2, but you could probably use profiles? So: Create a candidate user:

sudo adduser firefox2

(where firefox2 is the username) Then you can run firefox-2 as the user firefox2 using:

xhost +local:
sudo su firefox2
export DISPLAY=:0.0
firefox-2

The caution...using xhost +local: means any user logged onto your box (i.e. local), including ssh sessions, can access your X session. You will not have your bookmarks etc., but you can make a copy of bookmarks.html from your ~/.mozilla/firefox/%default profile%/bookmarks.html. You can now install the conventional FF add-ons etc. This should be treated as a hack and an interim measure, because once FF3 is supported by all your favourite extensions, then there is no need to carry on using it. I use my FF3 as my primary browser, and FF2 as a development environ (so not having bookmarks is fine for me, because I literally only use it for opening the site I am currently working on). Would appreciate constructive comments and crit. of better ways of doing this.

Dear Standard Bank, Internet banking division

brad — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:50:23 +0200

Hi, The improvements to internet banking have some bugs, it seems. I have had the experience twice now during "once off payments" that I get an error of "Internet banking is currently unavailable" when I go through with a transaction. It seems to be related to sending payment confirmations. It is bad behaviour because the transaction goes through, but the user (me) does not get a valid indication the payment has succeeded until a notification (sms, or email) comes through, or manually checks if there is a mention on the account transacted from/to. I would also like to say that some of the "improvements" are actually a degradation, in terms of usability. The screen is more cluttered with graphics and text, and on my screen (which is running at 1280x800) has information pushed "below the fold". I would suggest that whoever is in charge of usability and new features looks into buying a copy of "Defensive Web Design" (http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Design-Web-improve-messages/dp/073571410X), and other texts discussing usability on the web. While not absolutely correct, the EyeTRAC studies are a good reference point. I (as a web developer) find it depressing that a service I am paying for has degraded usability, when the changes were supposedly improvements. It is not a wholely poor experience (there are some improvements, but my general experience is that the interface has become more confusing, not less confusing) I am posting this email on my blog, and you are welcome to respond publicly (in the form of a comment), or as an email response. -- Brad Whittington

Periodic Status Update (exclaimation, exclaimation, one, exclaimation)

brad — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:59:39 +0200

Because Blogging has become a secondary industry to Having a Family, and Working, and Living In Cape Town, I figured it was time for a generic status update, for those of you who dont use Twitter, and/or live near me. It is a hodge-podge, so apologies to any random internet search victims who think this page contained what they were looking for.

We moved to Cape Town at the beginning of the year, for me to take up a position as a Web Architect at openVOICE, and for the whijos to start living the Cape Town dream. About a month after I joined OV the decision was taken to split the company into different parts, to maintain focus. I was offered a position in the still to be formed company (which is now called nvent, and for a short time was called Richtrau no. 201). So, the company split, and I started to work for the new company (April 1st). In the run up to the split I became a bit unhappy with the uncertainty involved, and I ran into the problem (which I have had for a while) of being "the Web Guy", and, while talented and handsome, I am very much keen to be part of a web team, in a web company, to see what it feels like, to have peers who worry about the same things I do, etc. So I put my CV out there, hoping to find a web firm that does python (my one true programming love after pascal). I didn´t find that, but I did find a very nice PHP web firm called Persuasion Lab. So, I interviewed with them, and decided to quit my position at OV/nvent, and take up a position in PL.
Now, I was not convinced of PL at first, on paper, since they specialised in...Online Dating. I chuckled to myself, and decided to give them an interview, since it was either going to be new material at parties, or something genuinely intriguing. They won points out the box because they are located within walking distance of our home. To be honest I was expecting red velvet, and a handful of programmers wearing black silk shirts with long, slicked back pony tails. The former was true, the latter was devastatingly not. I interviewed with the directors of the company, David Burstein (there is only one n in burstein), and Duncan Forrest. They were nice, and I enjoyed the interview (I was unusually nervous, FNAR). I did a small amount of research before I went to the interview, and was satisfied by the info that turned up (even if it is not 100%, 4 errors is better than this web page). So I was pleasantly surprised. They have the online dating game wrapped up in SA, powering most of the newspaper dating sites, including ¨Date Your Destiny¨ IOL dating (which always makes me smile when I read an IOL story). They seem to have grown, or split, out of Ogilvy Interactive (information courtesy of some retrospective facebook research), they have been going since 2000 (which is dog years in the web game), and Duncan seems to have done a lot of the development, and currently still dives into the code (which is something that makes me happy). They have a good number of employees, split over varying roles (which also makes me happy), and they also have a London office, for their British clients. I think I stand to learn a lot there, and hopefully pick up the skills and understanding I will need when I build my own empire.
We visited JHB for two weeks to go to Pippa and Vaughn´s not-a-wedding-wedding, which was frankly amazing, and, to date, is one of the most heartfelt and enjoyable weddings I have ever been to, but maybe it is just because they invited all our friends. The time we did spend with them we used productively to encourage them to get pregnant, so Fin has friends. We stayed with Pippa and Vaughn, Hannah and Mau, and saw a lot of Marc Bradley Lewis and Bokkie/Sweetie, Alison Green, caught up with old school friends Marc Patrick Lewis, and Breton VDB, among others. Unfortunately we did not see everyone I would have liked to, but JHB is a big place hey, and, with traffic, two weeks goes by quick.
In May we are going to visit Grahamstown, to attend the wedding of Mamello Wheee Thinyane, and Dr. Hannah Barbie Sparkles Slay, and I did not want to fork out for the plane trips, so Mandy said we could drive if we had a new car (I am sorry Telburt, I loved you like a man loves a car, and It Was Her Idea). I really wanted a Toyota Prius, but they are PRICY, and still the first generation of hybrids, so I am a bit cautious. Instead, after narrowing down the choice between a low mileage VW Polo Classic, and a low mileage Golf 5, we went with the Golf. The Polo Classic came with mostly the same features, but the Golf FEELS incredible. I find the fittings and interior of the Polos to be quite plasticy, and sensible. So, parked outside our house is possibly the most expensive toy we have ever bought, but shew, it´s nice. I have taken every opportunity to drive it over the long weekend (we recieved it on Wednesday, when I traded Telburt in), including an airport run for Russell and Les. It feels like heaven to drive, and features like being able to wind down the electic windows using the remote blows my mind.
We bought a new VW Golf 5
Over the past few months I have steadily been attending more Geek things, like CLUG (actually, the first CLUG talk I attended was the one given by Jonathan and Me). Attended two[1][2] Geek Dinner(s), during the second of which I did slideshow karaoke, and designed the random grape graphic (SVG here, needs gradients and blur filters) using inkscape. There are some blog posts about GeekDinner on Planet Geekdinner.
I upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04 ´Hardy Heron´, and I am in love with Linux once again (every six months Ubuntu re-ignites the spark)
I have accounts on, and I am going to write for, ILML (the brainchild of my brother Kyle, and his mates), and the still-to-be-launched TechLeader

That should cover it for now, thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Give Your Eyes a Treat

brad — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:59:23 +0200

I subscribe to the IEBlog because it is always good for a laugh, or good to see exactly how much they are copying from the rest of the community. Recently Bill Hill, the Program Manager for Internet Explorer posted a little blurb about using their nice Consolas font for use in CMD.exe (Microsoft's built in emulator of the 1980's command prompt, for the linux readers out there). Now, I dig the Microsoft fonts, they are very pretty, and very unfortunately licensed (sidebar: who decides to improve web, terminal, and printing with a series of fonts, and then puts licenses that impede their adoption?). I Have them installed on my Linux system, and while the may not have the full features of ClearType under linux, they still look damn good. So, Mr. Hill posted this how-to use it as your default console font, so I thought I would do the same. I am going to repeat his instructions so it benefits any windows users. I am not going to cover installing the fonts on either platform because it is pretty easy.

Windows

    reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont" /v 00 /d Consolas

    logoff

     Note: In Windows Vista, you need to run the reg command from an elevated command prompt.
When you log back in, Consolas will be an option in the “Command Prompt” Properties. (n.b., Bryn tells me it actually shows up before you relog, but it won’t work.)

Linux/Gnome/Ubuntu

You can do the equivalent in Ubuntu using gconf-editor from the command prompt, but you don't need to elevate privileges, and you need to browse to apps -> gnome-terminal -> profiles -> Default, and change the "font" key. You could also do it system wide and browse to desktop -> gnome -> interface, and edit the monospace_font_name key to "Consolas 10". I find this a little complex, so I tried to see if there was a less obscure way. Turns out there is: Open a terminal: Right click the terminal, choose "Edit Current Profile...", and left click: Uncheck "Use the system fixed width font", and click on the named font (not sure of the default, I already had it set to Consolas 10): Choose Consolas (or any installed font), and I prefer 10 points, because it ends up being about the same size on screen:

Alternate method

Alternately, you could do it system wide (well, gnome/free desktop wide), by navigating to the top menu in the Gnome environment, choosing System -> Appearance, click on the Font tab, and change the Fixed width font with the font chooser. If you prefer using the keyboard you can just hit Alt-F1, right, right, down, right, down, down, down, Enter, right, right, Alt-F, then type 'Consolas' (or type until it reaches the desired font, I find this is about 'Con'), Tab, Tab, enter "10" or select with the down/up keys, and hit Enter, and Esc. [sarcasm]Boy, I wish the Linux desktop wasn't as complex and niche as the Windows desktop. I find everyday tweaks require such effort.[/sarcasm]

On internet history meme

brad — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:17:12 +0200

I saw this on B-List and I am not one to stop the marching hoardes of an internet meme about geeky stuff.

$ history|awk '{a[$2]++} END{for(i in a){printf "%5d\t%s\n",a[i],i}}'|sort -rn|head
  103   ls
   67   cd
   62   vim
   48   svn
   23   sudo
   21   ssh
   18   mysql
   16   date
   13   xrandr
   11   mv

GNOME Blueslick

brad — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:19:15 +0200

I just entered the GNOME 2.24 wallpaper competition, attached is my entry. I would appreciate critism, and suggestions. If you like it, use it, and share it! Attached are more resolutions, and original SVGs. I built the SVGs using Inkscape 0.46

Google smacks down Microsoft (again)

brad — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:02:55 +0200

In a recent post on the google blog they lay some smack down for Microsoft's continued attempts to get their OOXML standardised. The kicker is:

Currently, the technology industry is evaluating a proposed ISO standard for document formats. Given the importance of a workable standard, Microsoft's submission of Office Open XML (OOXML ) as an additional international standard has caught the attention of many. In September 2007, the original request to ISO was defeated. After further technical analysis of the specification along with all the additional data available on OOXML, Google believes OOXML would be an insufficient and unnecessary standard, designed purely around the needs of Microsoft Office.

Yes, Microsoft, you are now no longer the big cheese.