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For future reference: XML-RPC from PHP.
- jim 3-31-2001 3:31 pm [link] [add a comment]

For future reference: XML-RPC from PHP.
- jim 3-31-2001 3:31 pm [link] [add a comment]

Dry wall is going up in the new office. Bright blue Cat5 has been strung to every work station. Finally some movement.
- jim 3-31-2001 3:25 pm [link] [add a comment]

Dry wall is going up in the new office. Bright blue Cat5 has been strung to every work station. Finally some movement.
- jim 3-31-2001 3:25 pm [link] [add a comment]

Danny Hillis red herring interview. He's leaving Disney, where he held one of the incredibly super-cool "disney fellow" positions. That's one of those ever dwindling "pure research" jobs where you get a big budget, and no requirements to make anything particularly marketable. Hillis made a giant mechanical clock out of nothing but stone age tools that should run for 10,000 years (it gets wound by the stream of tourists who visit the site and take the tour which climbs up through the inner workings - I said it was giant.) Cool. Anyway, he's also responsible for more traditional high tech, like the idea of massively parallel computers. He's got the goods, and I think he knows where we're going.

"...[t]hat's why Bill Joy's article struck such a chord. People are uneasy because they literally cannot imagine the world their children will live in. But I don't think intelligent machines will happen suddenly. They'll happen gradually. For example, people believed a machine couldn't beat a human at chess, or thought it'd be the end of the world. Then Deep Blue happened, and it didn't matter -- people still play chess, though machines are better at it. We'll see lots of steps like that...."

- jim 3-31-2001 3:10 pm [link] [add a comment]

Danny Hillis red herring interview. He's leaving Disney, where he held one of the incredibly super-cool "disney fellow" positions. That's one of those ever dwindling "pure research" jobs where you get a big budget, and no requirements to make anything particularly marketable. Hillis made a giant mechanical clock out of nothing but stone age tools that should run for 10,000 years (it gets wound by the stream of tourists who visit the site and take the tour which climbs up through the inner workings - I said it was giant.) Cool. Anyway, he's also responsible for more traditional high tech, like the idea of massively parallel computers. He's got the goods, and I think he knows where we're going.

"...[t]hat's why Bill Joy's article struck such a chord. People are uneasy because they literally cannot imagine the world their children will live in. But I don't think intelligent machines will happen suddenly. They'll happen gradually. For example, people believed a machine couldn't beat a human at chess, or thought it'd be the end of the world. Then Deep Blue happened, and it didn't matter -- people still play chess, though machines are better at it. We'll see lots of steps like that...."

- jim 3-31-2001 3:10 pm [link] [add a comment]

Great time last night. I hope this becomes the tradition it is shaping up to be. A little wobbly this morning, but I agree with Alex that it must be that sunspot.

Oh how I wish I had been taping the conversation that was flying at the Local. Bill, Alex, Steve and Tom were dropping some serious science. Our one guest seemed quite well versed in modern music, art, and philosophy, but I'm not sure he fully realized who he was tangling with. I've always been impressed by the level of conversation, but I'm moving toward evangelist. You guys rock.

In the brief part of the conversation where I knew anything about what was being said we did some talking about XML. The link I posted yesterday seemed to have lit a light bulb or two. Here's the offical Tim Berners-lee "Semantic Web roadmap." That's the view from "20,000 feet." Here's the view from 50,000 feet which will fill in any gaps in your knowledge of the pre-semantic web.

Perhaps more interesting, here is Jorn Barger's (of robotwisdon fame) nicely to-the-point argument for why all of this will never work. I love the start: "Every undergrad, encountering Artifical Intelligence for the first time, imagines they can solve its central problem... until they actually try it."
- jim 3-30-2001 4:42 pm [link] [add a comment]

Great time last night. I hope this becomes the tradition it is shaping up to be. A little wobbly this morning, but I agree with Alex that it must be that sunspot.

Oh how I wish I had been taping the conversation that was flying at the Local. Bill, Alex, Steve and Tom were dropping some serious science. Our one guest seemed quite well versed in modern music, art, and philosophy, but I'm not sure he fully realized who he was tangling with. I've always been impressed by the level of conversation, but I'm moving toward evangelist. You guys rock.

In the brief part of the conversation where I knew anything about what was being said we did some talking about XML. The link I posted yesterday seemed to have lit a light bulb or two. Here's the offical Tim Berners-lee "Semantic Web roadmap." That's the view from "20,000 feet." Here's the view from 50,000 feet which will fill in any gaps in your knowledge of the pre-semantic web.

Perhaps more interesting, here is Jorn Barger's (of robotwisdon fame) nicely to-the-point argument for why all of this will never work. I love the start: "Every undergrad, encountering Artifical Intelligence for the first time, imagines they can solve its central problem... until they actually try it."
- jim 3-30-2001 4:42 pm [link] [add a comment]

The best part of the fine print governing acceptable uses of my shell account (italics are mine):

"Don't run software that does not relate to the use of the account for web document publishing. Network diagnostics are related, as are report generating tools. Running programs to calculate the mass of an electron does not qualify as an acceptable use."
D'oh.
- jim 3-29-2001 7:19 pm [link] [1 comment]

The best part of the fine print governing acceptable uses of my shell account (italics are mine):

"Don't run software that does not relate to the use of the account for web document publishing. Network diagnostics are related, as are report generating tools. Running programs to calculate the mass of an electron does not qualify as an acceptable use."
D'oh.
- jim 3-29-2001 7:19 pm [link] [1 comment]

Here's a very detailed beginner level look at XML and the semantic web. Basically no previous knowledge is expected, and that's hard to claim for most of this type of writing. Probably I've said it before about some other article, but this is a good one to start with.
- jim 3-29-2001 3:27 pm [link] [2 comments]

Here's a very detailed beginner level look at XML and the semantic web. Basically no previous knowledge is expected, and that's hard to claim for most of this type of writing. Probably I've said it before about some other article, but this is a good one to start with.
- jim 3-29-2001 3:27 pm [link] [3 comments]

Some hard drive news this morning. Bet you can't wait. IBM has released a new 48 gigabyte 2.5 inch drive. This is the ultra slim size necessary for small portable computers, and 48 gigs is a nice jump in size. And not only is this the biggest drive in its size, IBM is also claiming it is the most quiet. This is very good news for small notebook owners who have been somewhat limited in storage options.

And if you can't get enough space inside your machine (and let's face it, 48 gigs is nice, but still not enough for some) then you have to go external. And if you've been waiting to make that jump, then you might be interested to know that the new Oxford 911 firewire bridge chipset is making its way into external firewire drives. These things are fast. OWC has external cases utilizing the new chipset and packaged with IBM's totally amazing GXP series drives (3.5 inch in 60 and 75 gig sizes.) I have one of these IBM drives (internally, not in the firewire case) and can attest to their complete butt kickingness. This is the drive for your MP3 collection.
- jim 3-29-2001 2:59 pm [link] [add a comment]

Some hard drive news this morning. Bet you can't wait. IBM has released a new 48 gigabyte 2.5 inch drive. This is the ultra slim size necessary for small portable computers, and 48 gigs is a nice jump in size. And not only is this the biggest drive in its size, IBM is also claiming it is the most quiet. This is very good news for small notebook owners who have been somewhat limited in storage options.

And if you can't get enough space inside your machine (and let's face it, 48 gigs is nice, but still not enough for some) then you have to go external. And if you've been waiting to make that jump, then you might be interested to know that the new Oxford 911 firewire bridge chipset is making its way into external firewire drives. These things are fast. OWC has external cases utilizing the new chipset and packaged with IBM's totally amazing GXP series drives (3.5 inch in 60 and 75 gig sizes.) I have one of these IBM drives (internally, not in the firewire case) and can attest to their complete butt kickingness. This is the drive for your MP3 collection.
- jim 3-29-2001 2:59 pm [link] [add a comment]

Sitting here at my desk I can look out the window (assuming I open the blinds which I will admit often doesn't happen) and see the World Trade Center. No, I can't see Bill's office; he's on the other side. But I can see the thing. Bam. Right there. If I go up on the roof, and stand precariously close to the front right corner of the building, and crane my neck just right, I can also see the Empire State Building and the very top (damn you Red Square) of the Chrysler Building.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, every time I see these behemoths I think "why doesn't someone start offering two way wireless broadband served off the top of one of these giant things?" It's almost like they were made for this purpose. All you would need is a line of sight (see above) and a small satellite type dish (something the size of a direct TV dish,) and you'd be cruising in style. Forget you're puny DSL line (well, unless you've got the 1.5 Mb/s connection,) this thing will fly. And while I'm still going to maintain that NYC kicks butt, it's one of those other places that is going to get this first. Chicago, to be exact. Chicago? There must be some political BS going on somewhere because the idea that Manhattan (very small area, very dense, very wealthy, tech oriented population) is not the test bed for some sort of wireless broadband seems completely crazy. Let's see: a couple of ten million extremely affluent consumers with little to no choice in a service they'd be willing to pay close to $100/month for? Hello? Somebody please come take our money. Except not you Verizon. You stink.
- jim 3-28-2001 2:27 pm [link] [2 comments]

Sitting here at my desk I can look out the window (assuming I open the blinds which I will admit often doesn't happen) and see the World Trade Center. No, I can't see Bill's office; he's on the other side. But I can see the thing. Bam. Right there. If I go up on the roof, and stand precariously close to the front right corner of the building, and crane my neck just right, I can also see the Empire State Building and the very top (damn you Red Square) of the Chrysler Building.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, every time I see these behemoths I think "why doesn't someone start offering two way wireless broadband served off the top of one of these giant things?" It's almost like they were made for this purpose. All you would need is a line of sight (see above) and a small satellite type dish (something the size of a direct TV dish,) and you'd be cruising in style. Forget you're puny DSL line (well, unless you've got the 1.5 Mb/s connection,) this thing will fly. And while I'm still going to maintain that NYC kicks butt, it's one of those other places that is going to get this first. Chicago, to be exact. Chicago? There must be some political BS going on somewhere because the idea that Manhattan (very small area, very dense, very wealthy, tech oriented population) is not the test bed for some sort of wireless broadband seems completely crazy. Let's see: a couple of ten million extremely affluent consumers with little to no choice in a service they'd be willing to pay close to $100/month for? Hello? Somebody please come take our money. Except not you Verizon. You stink.
- jim 3-28-2001 2:27 pm [link] [2 comments]

I think I mentioned it before, and I doubt I'm alone in this, but in the early '90's (1991?) I read Howard Reingold's Virtual Reality and it really got me thinking. The book was the result of Reingold's travels around the high tech lab circuit looking at some of the cutting edge computer graphics and networking projects that were then underway. Big stuff was in store. Especially concerning 3-d worlds. Everyone had read Neuromancer (and Snowcrash) and all those people were busy at their workstations trying to make these computer generated worlds a reality.

By the late nineties I think everyone had revised their early, and optimistic, estimates. We couldn't even get simple html tags to work cross browser - the idea of complex 3d worlds we could all inhabit seemed more and more difficult to realize. And what's more, I think a lot of people (myself included) started thinking that text (be it email, or icq, or irc, or usenet, or web boards) is really the killer app after all. We just want to communicate, and while a picture may be worth a thousand words, on a 56k dial up, I'll still take the thousand words, thanks.

But maybe the tide is starting to shift back again? The big two (adobe and macromedia, who collectively dominate the web graphics space - sorry gimp) are each about to introduce 3d world building tools for the web. Macromedia's offering is called Tron (great name,) and you can read some advanced gossip about it here. Tron works inside Macromedia's flagship (read: expensive) Director/shockwave studio web authoring tool. Adobe's entry is called atmosphere. I've yet to find any third party (possibly impartial) info on atmosphere, but I think clearly these two products will be in competition. Both are presently in beta.

Frankly, I'm doubtful about 3d on the web, yet surely it will have to happen eventually. I'll be interested to see 3d on line games, or other specialty uses (architecture springs to mind) but I really hope this doesn't turn into a flash type of thing, where every web site throws in some useless 3d bells and whistles. I don't really need to browse Amazon in 3d or anything. Still, like flash, there will be some good uses. Have you checked your DSL order status today?
- jim 3-26-2001 5:04 pm [link] [2 comments]

I think I mentioned it before, and I doubt I'm alone in this, but in the early '90's (1991?) I read Howard Reingold's Virtual Reality and it really got me thinking. The book was the result of Reingold's travels around the high tech lab circuit looking at some of the cutting edge computer graphics and networking projects that were then underway. Big stuff was in store. Especially concerning 3-d worlds. Everyone had read Neuromancer (and Snowcrash) and all those people were busy at their workstations trying to make these computer generated worlds a reality.

By the late nineties I think everyone had revised their early, and optimistic, estimates. We couldn't even get simple html tags to work cross browser - the idea of complex 3d worlds we could all inhabit seemed more and more difficult to realize. And what's more, I think a lot of people (myself included) started thinking that text (be it email, or icq, or irc, or usenet, or web boards) is really the killer app after all. We just want to communicate, and while a picture may be worth a thousand words, on a 56k dial up, I'll still take the thousand words, thanks.

But maybe the tide is starting to shift back again? The big two (adobe and macromedia, who collectively dominate the web graphics space - sorry gimp) are each about to introduce 3d world building tools for the web. Macromedia's offering is called Tron (great name,) and you can read some advanced gossip about it here. Tron works inside Macromedia's flagship (read: expensive) Director/shockwave studio web authoring tool. Adobe's entry is called atmosphere. I've yet to find any third party (possibly impartial) info on atmosphere, but I think clearly these two products will be in competition. Both are presently in beta.

Frankly, I'm doubtful about 3d on the web, yet surely it will have to happen eventually. I'll be interested to see 3d on line games, or other specialty uses (architecture springs to mind) but I really hope this doesn't turn into a flash type of thing, where every web site throws in some useless 3d bells and whistles. I don't really need to browse Amazon in 3d or anything. Still, like flash, there will be some good uses. Have you checked your DSL order status today?
- jim 3-26-2001 5:04 pm [link] [2 comments]

Amazing dinner last night. Great time. I mean except that I stole a few minutes away from the table to preview the new site on my host's IE/Windows machine. And as one might guess, it didn't work at all. Every page 404'd, and not with my '404 document not found' page, but with a 404 page generated internally by IE. Huh? I managed not to start crying, but just barely. Anyway, I spent a few hours combing the message boards at phpbuilder this morning and I found the fix. As crushed as I was last night, now I am equally, and oppositely, charged. Problem; solution. Problem; solution. Down; up. You could get hooked on this ride.

And while the kind of project I am working on has about as much to do with real serious programming as (insert two things here that don't have anything to do with each other) I still found it interesting that David McCusker made a comment yesterday on the same topic I had just written about: programming and sleep. He said,

"I don't know if you've ever had the experience of designing code when you're trying to go to sleep; I don't recommend it very much. It's like telling yourself to turn out the lights, and some other voice answers, uh sure, right after I work out a bit more of this."
;-)
- jim 3-25-2001 4:13 pm [link] [add a comment]

Amazing dinner last night. Great time. I mean except that I stole a few minutes away from the table to preview the new site on my host's IE/Windows machine. And as one might guess, it didn't work at all. Every page 404'd, and not with my '404 document not found' page, but with a 404 page generated internally by IE. Huh? I managed not to start crying, but just barely. Anyway, I spent a few hours combing the message boards at phpbuilder this morning and I found the fix. As crushed as I was last night, now I am equally, and oppositely, charged. Problem; solution. Problem; solution. Down; up. You could get hooked on this ride.

And while the kind of project I am working on has about as much to do with real serious programming as (insert two things here that don't have anything to do with each other) I still found it interesting that David McCusker made a comment yesterday on the same topic I had just written about: programming and sleep. He said,

"I don't know if you've ever had the experience of designing code when you're trying to go to sleep; I don't recommend it very much. It's like telling yourself to turn out the lights, and some other voice answers, uh sure, right after I work out a bit more of this."
;-)
- jim 3-25-2001 4:13 pm [link] [add a comment]

Chapter 6 of the new O'Reilly peer to peer book is on line. This chapter is written by Jeremie Miller, of Jabber. All the buzzwords in this one, but if you're curious about jabber and other "conversational technologies" this is a good overview.
- jim 3-25-2001 1:25 am [link] [add a comment]

Chapter 6 of the new O'Reilly peer to peer book is on line. This chapter is written by Jeremie Miller, of Jabber. All the buzzwords in this one, but if you're curious about jabber and other "conversational technologies" this is a good overview.
- jim 3-25-2001 1:25 am [link] [add a comment]

Well, that was a long week. A few more coming up. Fun times. I'm very anxious to get this site switched over to the new system software, but that is going to take a back seat to getting that same software running in a more business like context. We'll see if this is possible or not. As I was telling Alex and Bill this week: I don't know if my plan will work or not, but at least I have some sort of definite plan now, and that seems, for me, like a good place to be. I'm still having a little bit of trouble sleeping, but again this isn't a huge problem, as I seem to get some O.K. work done late at night. Today I have a chance at finishing up the commenting system which is the last module necessary for the first release (of the fully operational death star... er, I mean web application.) Perhaps it will take a few more days though. All next week is devoted to the first outside implementation of the system, but I'd like to get this site switched over because that helps me test the whole thing for robustness. Maybe I'll get lucky and everything will go well. Blah blah blah, or in other words, I don't have much to write about these days because my head has been sort of down. I think maybe three weeks or so and then I can look up and reassess.
- jim 3-24-2001 3:38 pm [link] [add a comment]

Well, that was a long week. A few more coming up. Fun times. I'm very anxious to get this site switched over to the new system software, but that is going to take a back seat to getting that same software running in a more business like context. We'll see if this is possible or not. As I was telling Alex and Bill this week: I don't know if my plan will work or not, but at least I have some sort of definite plan now, and that seems, for me, like a good place to be. I'm still having a little bit of trouble sleeping, but again this isn't a huge problem, as I seem to get some O.K. work done late at night. Today I have a chance at finishing up the commenting system which is the last module necessary for the first release (of the fully operational death star... er, I mean web application.) Perhaps it will take a few more days though. All next week is devoted to the first outside implementation of the system, but I'd like to get this site switched over because that helps me test the whole thing for robustness. Maybe I'll get lucky and everything will go well. Blah blah blah, or in other words, I don't have much to write about these days because my head has been sort of down. I think maybe three weeks or so and then I can look up and reassess.
- jim 3-24-2001 3:38 pm [link] [add a comment]

My ISP was down from 1:00 am yesterday until 6:00 pm. That seemed like a very long outage. Good to be back. Everything is moving forward.
- jim 3-23-2001 2:28 pm [link] [3 comments]

My ISP was down from 1:00 am yesterday until 6:00 pm. That seemed like a very long outage. Good to be back. Everything is moving forward.
- jim 3-23-2001 2:28 pm [link] [3 comments]

Well, I think my meeting was a success. I guess I'll know by tomorrow. This is pretty exciting.
- jim 3-21-2001 5:44 pm [link] [2 comments]

Well, I think my meeting was a success. I guess I'll know by tomorrow. This is pretty exciting.
- jim 3-21-2001 5:44 pm [link] [2 comments]

Yes, I know I really should be working, as I had best get the style sheet support into the mix by early afternoon, but I couldn't resist a few pointers to the hailstorm backlash that is predictably brewing. First up is the lengthy David McCusker message on HTP. "Microsoft swears on a stack of bibles that you will not be sorry, as far as you can tell at this time." Aaron Swartz has started a yahoo egroup where ideas for an open version of hailstorm are already percolating (doubtless elsewhere as well.) And Dan Gilmore weighs in with his evaluation ("the idea of confiding in Microsoft with my most personal information is, well, nutty.") Not a lot of love. Probably this is as it should be. Go jabber.
- jim 3-20-2001 3:23 pm [link] [add a comment]

Yes, I know I really should be working, as I had best get the style sheet support into the mix by early afternoon, but I couldn't resist a few pointers to the hailstorm backlash that is predictably brewing. First up is the lengthy David McCusker message on HTP. "Microsoft swears on a stack of bibles that you will not be sorry, as far as you can tell at this time." Aaron Swartz has started a yahoo egroup where ideas for an open version of hailstorm are already percolating (doubtless elsewhere as well.) And Dan Gilmore weighs in with his evaluation ("the idea of confiding in Microsoft with my most personal information is, well, nutty.") Not a lot of love. Probably this is as it should be. Go jabber.
- jim 3-20-2001 3:23 pm [link] [add a comment]

The new site keeps shaping up, but at the same time the finish line keeps receeding into the distance. It's turning out to be some good luck that I am showing it to someone on Wednesday morning (someone who might use the system for their own project.) This is forcing me to simplify in order to have something working reasonably well to show them. I think this will turn out to be a good thing. Focus is important. Programming for your own needs is sure fun, but it's hard to put an end to things. Projects tend to sprawl out of control. Always one more thing. This deadline, although a little ridiculous for coming so early in development, is really helping things along. I can't wait to show this all to someone, yet I know no one will be as excited by it as I am.

Is this like routing too loud for your kid at a little league game?

I could only sleep a few hours last night. It's very hard to stop thinking about all this after working on it for every minute of the day. On the plus side, I seem to come up with some good ideas very late at night.
- jim 3-19-2001 6:03 pm [link] [3 comments]

The new site keeps shaping up, but at the same time the finish line keeps receeding into the distance. It's turning out to be some good luck that I am showing it to someone on Wednesday morning (someone who might use the system for their own project.) This is forcing me to simplify in order to have something working reasonably well to show them. I think this will turn out to be a good thing. Focus is important. Programming for your own needs is sure fun, but it's hard to put an end to things. Projects tend to sprawl out of control. Always one more thing. This deadline, although a little ridiculous for coming so early in development, is really helping things along. I can't wait to show this all to someone, yet I know no one will be as excited by it as I am.

Is this like routing too loud for your kid at a little league game?

I could only sleep a few hours last night. It's very hard to stop thinking about all this after working on it for every minute of the day. On the plus side, I seem to come up with some good ideas very late at night.
- jim 3-19-2001 6:03 pm [link] [3 comments]

Microsoft's hailstorm. If it's SOAP, it's good, but I'll believe it when I see it. This is like the jabber as middleware stuff I pointed to the other day. It serves the same need. More connections, and more importantly, more truely two-way connections. This is where we're going. Internet 3.0.
- jim 3-17-2001 4:46 pm [link] [1 comment]

Microsoft's hailstorm. If it's SOAP, it's good, but I'll believe it when I see it. This is like the jabber as middleware stuff I pointed to the other day. It serves the same need. More connections, and more importantly, more truely two-way connections. This is where we're going. Internet 3.0.
- jim 3-17-2001 4:46 pm [link] [1 comment]

Superconductor breakthrough?
- jim 3-13-2001 10:45 pm [link] [add a comment]

Superconductor breakthrough?
- jim 3-13-2001 10:45 pm [link] [add a comment]

Clay Shirkey's Slahsdot interview responses have been posted. I usually find him quite interesting, and this is no exception.
- jim 3-13-2001 7:44 pm [link] [add a comment]

Clay Shirkey's Slahsdot interview responses have been posted. I usually find him quite interesting, and this is no exception.
- jim 3-13-2001 7:44 pm [link] [add a comment]

Interesting Neil Stephenson letter to Dr. M. Anshel discussing zeta functions (which arise in Stephenson's most recent work Cryptonomicon,) and more interestingly, the line between fiction and reality, and how people like Dr. Anshel are represented (or not represented) in novels.
- jim 3-12-2001 2:46 pm [link] [1 comment]

Interesting Neil Stephenson letter to Dr. M. Anshel discussing zeta functions (which arise in Stephenson's most recent work Cryptonomicon,) and more interestingly, the line between fiction and reality, and how people like Dr. Anshel are represented (or not represented) in novels.
- jim 3-12-2001 2:46 pm [link] [1 comment]

I certainly don't know enough to say for sure, but now it all makes sense to me. For a long time I've been hearing rumors about MacOSX on x86 (intel.) It makes sense in one way since OSX shares so much with FreeBSD, and FreeBSD runs on (among other chips) x86. But it never seemed quite right because Apple's margins are so high on their machines, why would they want to enable cheap Intel based computers? This bit of speculation sounds right to me. This is the "digital hub" that Job's keeps mentioning in a sort of metaphoric way. Here's my further speculation. If apple made a cheap x86 based, airport/ethernet ready computer (an "internet appliance", or "thin client") that would netboot into a remotely hosted OSX session I think they might really have something. For their bottom line, at least, if not for the full good of the customer. What if you bought this really cheap, stylish Apple machine (couple hundred bucks) and then you pay Apple (or Apple/earthlink) $x/month for broadband access. It would seem to you like a regular computer set up. The difference would be that your operating system and programs (but not data) would be running on servers operated by Apple. You would never have to mess with any software. They install, upgrade and keep everything running. Literally ANYBODY could use this machine. But the question is, how much is $x/month?
- jim 3-11-2001 8:43 pm [link] [3 comments]

I certainly don't know enough to say for sure, but now it all makes sense to me. For a long time I've been hearing rumors about MacOSX on x86 (intel.) It makes sense in one way since OSX shares so much with FreeBSD, and FreeBSD runs on (among other chips) x86. But it never seemed quite right because Apple's margins are so high on their machines, why would they want to enable cheap Intel based computers? This bit of speculation sounds right to me. This is the "digital hub" that Job's keeps mentioning in a sort of metaphoric way. Here's my further speculation. If apple made a cheap x86 based, airport/ethernet ready computer (an "internet appliance", or "thin client") that would netboot into a remotely hosted OSX session I think they might really have something. For their bottom line, at least, if not for the full good of the customer. What if you bought this really cheap, stylish Apple machine (couple hundred bucks) and then you pay Apple (or Apple/earthlink) $x/month for broadband access. It would seem to you like a regular computer set up. The difference would be that your operating system and programs (but not data) would be running on servers operated by Apple. You would never have to mess with any software. They install, upgrade and keep everything running. Literally ANYBODY could use this machine. But the question is, how much is $x/month?
- jim 3-11-2001 8:43 pm [link] [3 comments]

Yes yes yes. This is what we need. Jabber-as-middleware (JAM). Jabber is the open source instant messenger project (with fully working/shipping clients and servers.) It interoperates with other IM platforms. It's totally cool. That's jabber. But jabber-as-middleware (JAM) generalizes the idea.

"JAM will give Jabber the ability to send messages between applications, in addition to messages between users. This also means that applications will be able to speak to users, and vice-versa."
I'll definitely try to interoperate with this as it develops.

Dizzd seems like the man behind this. I hope he can code as well as he can pitch.
- jim 3-11-2001 4:09 pm [link] [add a comment]

Yes yes yes. This is what we need. Jabber-as-middleware (JAM). Jabber is the open source instant messenger project (with fully working/shipping clients and servers.) It interoperates with other IM platforms. It's totally cool. That's jabber. But jabber-as-middleware (JAM) generalizes the idea.

"JAM will give Jabber the ability to send messages between applications, in addition to messages between users. This also means that applications will be able to speak to users, and vice-versa."
I'll definitely try to interoperate with this as it develops.

Dizzd seems like the man behind this. I hope he can code as well as he can pitch.
- jim 3-11-2001 4:09 pm [link] [add a comment]

Mac OSX has gone golden master. I love computer speak. That means they are not changing it anymore (so developers and others who get advanced copies can be sure about the final release a little bit ahead of time.) Should ship on the 24th. Supposedly it will ship with Quicktime 5, but with no DVD support. With no DVD I can't believe that they will be pushing it too hard at first. I think this will be a relatively quiet release, and then in July they will release the "real" final version with more hoopla, more carbonized applications, and full device support. Possibly it will come installed on all new Macs at that point. Or maybe this is one of Jobs' "one more thing..." sort of surprises. Maybe the no DVD line is a bit of misdirection. All I can do is speculate. They've got me just where they want me. Here's a review of (what I think is) the build just before golden master (this is a review of 4k78, and I think GM is 4k83.)
- jim 3-10-2001 4:08 pm [link] [add a comment]

Mac OSX has gone golden master. I love computer speak. That means they are not changing it anymore (so developers and others who get advanced copies can be sure about the final release a little bit ahead of time.) Should ship on the 24th. Supposedly it will ship with Quicktime 5, but with no DVD support. With no DVD I can't believe that they will be pushing it too hard at first. I think this will be a relatively quiet release, and then in July they will release the "real" final version with more hoopla, more carbonized applications, and full device support. Possibly it will come installed on all new Macs at that point. Or maybe this is one of Jobs' "one more thing..." sort of surprises. Maybe the no DVD line is a bit of misdirection. All I can do is speculate. They've got me just where they want me. Here's a review of (what I think is) the build just before golden master (this is a review of 4k78, and I think GM is 4k83.)
- jim 3-10-2001 4:08 pm [link] [add a comment]

The author of this LATimes story claims to have tested a sample of that paper phone. This thing still seems too crazy to be true, but evidently they have (at least) working prototypes. (via /.)
- jim 3-09-2001 6:45 pm [link] [add a comment]

The author of this LATimes story claims to have tested a sample of that paper phone. This thing still seems too crazy to be true, but evidently they have (at least) working prototypes. (via /.)
- jim 3-09-2001 6:45 pm [link] [add a comment]

And I thought yesterday went well. This morning I fought my way around what I thought was the biggest problem I was facing with the new site. Damn, the stars must be lined up for me or something. Anybody know about astrology? Is this a good time for a Taurus? Anyway, I've been searching the net for an answer to this one problem, and all I've found are other people with the same problem. But this morning I finally got it to work. At my level - beginner/advanced-beginner - you never really "solve" any major problems, you just find ways around them. I guess that's what they call "hacking". It's a "hack" (instead of a "fix" or a "solution") because it doesn't really solve the problem, it just routes around it, and often inelegantly. But if it works I guess it's O.K. I think a lot of craftsmen/engineers have this sort of attitude. It's an outlook I aspire to. People can theorize all they want, but who has the running code? Somebody else may have a more sophisticated approach, and they may be able to tell you why, but if their solution doesn't work yet, then what good is it? In this spirit I'll point to the Tanenbaum-Torvalds Debate. This is the mailing list debate between young Linus Torvalds (upstart linux creator) with the (then) most respected mind in the academic field of operating system research. A little technical, but skip those parts, and just read the juicy conflict parts. There is a real lesson in there. The "best" product is not necessarily the best product. The best product is the one that ends up working for the most people, not the one that is the most intellectually pure. Good good stuff. I love that linus signs his stuff 'Linus "Benedict" Torvalds'.
- jim 3-08-2001 5:45 pm [link] [1 comment]

I can't believe how much work I'm getting done. There's something you won't here me say too often.
- jim 3-08-2001 12:26 am [link] [add a comment]

I can't believe how much work I'm getting done. There's something you won't here me say too often.
- jim 3-08-2001 12:26 am [link] [add a comment]

Oh my god this Napster stuff is finally getting good. Here's a quick synopsis of the problem: Napster is filtering out songs based on filename. So people figure they can just come up with a convention to change the filename spellings to defeat the system. Maybe 'Metallica' becomes 'Meta11ica'. Fine. That works. But for it to really work you need everybody to know the system (or else people won't know to search using 'Meta11ica'.) And if everybody knows the system, then Napster knows the system (or they will by the next day) and they just block that too. And here's the solution: the aimster pig(latin) encoder. This is the same pig latin system you learned as a kid. Download the program and it will convert all your mp3 filenames into pig latin. As they explain it: "For example, 'Music' becomes 'usicM', 'Hello' becomes 'elloH', and you can guess what becomes 'uckF ouY, ouY pyS astardsB'."

But how could this work? Wouldn't napster figure this out in like .02 seconds? Well yes, but it might well be illegal for them to do so. This is the great part. Under the DMCA, which by the way is one of the worst laws we have, it is illegal to circumvent any copy protection mechanism, and it doesn't appear to matter how trivial that mechanism is. This is the law used against the open source community (most famously in the DeCSS case, where the DVD region coding was cracked, giving linux users the chance to play DVDs they had purchased on their own systems.) IF napster reverse engineers the "pig latin encoding scheme" they will be in violation of the DMCA. LOL. That's the funniest thing I have ever heard. Bravo.

I know probably this won't work, even though it seems legally sound. I'm not stupid enough to think that the law is the law for people with hundreds of millions of dollars. But still, this is going to make it even more clear just how much money does talk. If you use Napster please think about using this device. Very very cool.

In other napster news, looks like a 21 year old Canadian is taking the obvious route, and is looking to set up a napster server (the open source openNap I'm guessing) somewhere in international waters. Probably Sealand is the only place for that. Good luck. The problem is mostly that even if they can't get your data, they can get you. So you have to stay out of the reach of international law too, and I don't think you can live on sealand.
- jim 3-06-2001 4:04 pm [link] [1 comment]

Oh my god this Napster stuff is finally getting good. Here's a quick synopsis of the problem: Napster is filtering out songs based on filename. So people figure they can just come up with a convention to change the filename spellings to defeat the system. Maybe 'Metallica' becomes 'Meta11ica'. Fine. That works. But for it to really work you need everybody to know the system (or else people won't know to search using 'Meta11ica'.) And if everybody knows the system, then Napster knows the system (or they will by the next day) and they just block that too. And here's the solution: the aimster pig(latin) encoder. This is the same pig latin system you learned as a kid. Download the program and it will convert all your mp3 filenames into pig latin. As they explain it: "For example, 'Music' becomes 'usicM', 'Hello' becomes 'elloH', and you can guess what becomes 'uckF ouY, ouY pyS astardsB'."

But how could this work? Wouldn't napster figure this out in like .02 seconds? Well yes, but it might well be illegal for them to do so. This is the great part. Under the DMCA, which by the way is one of the worst laws we have, it is illegal to circumvent any copy protection mechanism, and it doesn't appear to matter how trivial that mechanism is. This is the law used against the open source community (most famously in the DeCSS case, where the DVD region coding was cracked, giving linux users the chance to play DVDs they had purchased on their own systems.) IF napster reverse engineers the "pig latin encoding scheme" they will be in violation of the DMCA. LOL. That's the funniest thing I have ever heard. Bravo.

I know probably this won't work, even though it seems legally sound. I'm not stupid enough to think that the law is the law for people with hundreds of millions of dollars. But still, this is going to make it even more clear just how much money does talk. If you use Napster please think about using this device. Very very cool.

In other napster news, looks like a 21 year old Canadian is taking the obvious route, and is looking to set up a napster server (the open source openNap I'm guessing) somewhere in international waters. Probably Sealand is the only place for that. Good luck. The problem is mostly that even if they can't get your data, they can get you. So you have to stay out of the reach of international law too, and I don't think you can live on sealand.
- jim 3-06-2001 4:04 pm [link] [1 comment]

Use(net) this to search. Great.
- jim 3-06-2001 12:27 am [link] [add a comment]

Use(net) this to search. Great.
- jim 3-06-2001 12:27 am [link] [add a comment]

Broadband2wireless. Yes. I hereby swear to buy any product that will help me live a Verizon-free life. And something like this would be the biggie. Please, please, please, bring this to market quickly in NYC. I'll pay twice their price for what they offer (if it really is 700/kbs up and down.)
- jim 3-05-2001 9:22 pm [link] [add a comment]

Broadband2wireless. Yes. I hereby swear to buy any product that will help me live a Verizon-free life. And something like this would be the biggie. Please, please, please, bring this to market quickly in NYC. I'll pay twice their price for what they offer (if it really is 700/kbs up and down.)
- jim 3-05-2001 9:22 pm [link] [add a comment]

Random shot of the day:



- jim 3-03-2001 7:55 pm [link] [add a comment]

Random shot of the day:



- jim 3-03-2001 7:55 pm [link] [add a comment]

Hmmm. I found a subtle bug last night I have to fix today. I found it because of the link I put up to ftrain (below.) Evidently somebody, we'll call him or her A (a signed in user here, but not me) followed the link to ftrain. Good. So then A shows up in Ftrain's referer logs (browser, ip address, OS, and the URL of the link they followed to get to the page.) The subtle part is that A got to my page from the front page, where my page was showing as having new posts. So A clicked through to my page by clicking on the [posts] which uses the /jim/index.php3?new URL which will print out only the new (to user A) posts on my page. The problem is that someone from ftrain followed the link back in order to check out my page and see who was linking to them. Cool. I'd like that guy (if it was him) to check us out. Unfortunately, he came back in with the /jim/index.php3?new (instead of just /jim/ or just /jim/index.php3) and because he didn't have the cookie there were in effect no new posts for him to read, so the page didn't show anything. D'oh. This is easily fixed. I just have to check if the URL contains ?new (which I look for anyway, of course, so that it can act on the ?new command) and then double check that the user is known. If not, it should just default back to index.php3. Easy. Something like:

if (isset($query_string)) {
     if (!isset($dmtreecookie)) {
          Location("header:http://www.digitalmediatree.com/jim/")
     }
}

The problem, like so much else in this project, is not so much fixing something that is broken. The problem is seeing all the possible ways something might be quietly broken (that is: broken, but still working.) So, I'm sorry to have missed an honored visitor, but I did learn something. I'll have that fixed by later today.
- jim 3-03-2001 3:40 pm [link] [add a comment]

Hmmm. I found a subtle bug last night I have to fix today. I found it because of the link I put up to ftrain (below.) Evidently somebody, we'll call him or her A (a signed in user here, but not me) followed the link to ftrain. Good. So then A shows up in Ftrain's referer logs (browser, ip address, OS, and the URL of the link they followed to get to the page.) The subtle part is that A got to my page from the front page, where my page was showing as having new posts. So A clicked through to my page by clicking on the [posts] which uses the /jim/index.php3?new URL which will print out only the new (to user A) posts on my page. The problem is that someone from ftrain followed the link back in order to check out my page and see who was linking to them. Cool. I'd like that guy (if it was him) to check us out. Unfortunately, he came back in with the /jim/index.php3?new (instead of just /jim/ or just /jim/index.php3) and because he didn't have the cookie there were in effect no new posts for him to read, so the page didn't show anything. D'oh. This is easily fixed. I just have to check if the URL contains ?new (which I look for anyway, of course, so that it can act on the ?new command) and then double check that the user is known. If not, it should just default back to index.php3. Easy. Something like:

if (isset($query_string)) {
     if (!isset($dmtreecookie)) {
          Location("header:http://www.digitalmediatree.com/jim/")
     }
}

The problem, like so much else in this project, is not so much fixing something that is broken. The problem is seeing all the possible ways something might be quietly broken (that is: broken, but still working.) So, I'm sorry to have missed an honored visitor, but I did learn something. I'll have that fixed by later today.
- jim 3-03-2001 3:40 pm [link] [add a comment]

I often check in over at ftrain, but I hadn't seen this great piece. Now robotwisdom is linking him a lot though, so I caught it that way (the RW link had it as "Totally uncalled-for Mahavishnu-Orchestra bashing.") Much good writing on that site.
- jim 3-02-2001 11:46 pm [link] [add a comment]

I often check in over at ftrain, but I hadn't seen this great piece. Now robotwisdom is linking him a lot though, so I caught it that way (the RW link had it as "Totally uncalled-for Mahavishnu-Orchestra bashing.") Much good writing on that site.
- jim 3-02-2001 11:46 pm [link] [add a comment]

Here's a very interesting rumor from MacOSrumors about Lucent/Apple wireless plans:

"Rumors are rapidly building regarding a new Lucent Technologies chipset that will not only shrink Apple's AirPort hardware and add 54Mbps (compared to today's 11Mbps) bandwidth support as previously reported, but would also support the popular Bluetooth wireless interface technology over standard and high-performance AirPort bands....allowing Apple to support Bluetooth without conflicting with its existing AirPort hardware or adding to the wholesale costs of its computers. If the rumors prove true and Apple does plan to be the first to market with this technology, it could be a major strategic advantage."
AirPort (802.11b) and Bluetooth working together? That would be a very good thing.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:26 pm [link] [add a comment]

Here's a very interesting rumor from MacOSrumors about Lucent/Apple wireless plans:

"Rumors are rapidly building regarding a new Lucent Technologies chipset that will not only shrink Apple's AirPort hardware and add 54Mbps (compared to today's 11Mbps) bandwidth support as previously reported, but would also support the popular Bluetooth wireless interface technology over standard and high-performance AirPort bands....allowing Apple to support Bluetooth without conflicting with its existing AirPort hardware or adding to the wholesale costs of its computers. If the rumors prove true and Apple does plan to be the first to market with this technology, it could be a major strategic advantage."
AirPort (802.11b) and Bluetooth working together? That would be a very good thing.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:26 pm [link] [add a comment]

And for my reference, here's the PHP/GTK+ project. Yes, that means PHP language bindings for GTK+ which will allow for building client side graphic user interfaces. Nice.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:16 pm [link] [add a comment]

And for my reference, here's the PHP/GTK+ project. Yes, that means PHP language bindings for GTK+ which will allow for building client side graphic user interfaces. Nice.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:16 pm [link] [add a comment]

Here's a piece explaining how "printable" computers will work. Supposedly, credit card sized disposable cell phones are going to be the first widely distributed printed circuit product, and we might see them this summer. I'm not sure if disposable cell phones are really what we need, but it definitely is a cool technology.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:12 pm [link] [2 comments]

Here's a piece explaining how "printable" computers will work. Supposedly, credit card sized disposable cell phones are going to be the first widely distributed printed circuit product, and we might see them this summer. I'm not sure if disposable cell phones are really what we need, but it definitely is a cool technology.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:12 pm [link] [2 comments]

Great time last night. Thanks to everyone. Hello Friday.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:08 pm [link] [1 comment]

Great time last night. Thanks to everyone. Hello Friday.
- jim 3-02-2001 3:08 pm [link] [1 comment]

Probably, like everyone else, I've linked to this before. But here it is again. Neil Stephenson's (short for a book, long for the web) In the Beginning was the Command Line. It takes some time to get through, but Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, etc...) is a great writer, and really knows a lot about computers. This might well be the first text on the syllabus for some future college class on the Early History of Computing. So, in case you want to get a jump on the other kids, dig in now. I'll be over here on this $!@#%&' Linux box trying to get that %^&*!!@ wu-ftp to work by typing cryptic strings of characters into the command line. There's a lot to learn when you start from the beginning.
- jim 2-28-2001 4:28 pm [link] [3 comments]

Probably, like everyone else, I've linked to this before. But here it is again. Neil Stephenson's (short for a book, long for the web) In the Beginning was the Command Line. It takes some time to get through, but Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, etc...) is a great writer, and really knows a lot about computers. This might well be the first text on the syllabus for some future college class on the Early History of Computing. So, in case you want to get a jump on the other kids, dig in now. I'll be over here on this $!@#%&' Linux box trying to get that %^&*!!@ wu-ftp to work by typing cryptic strings of characters into the command line. There's a lot to learn when you start from the beginning.
- jim 2-28-2001 4:28 pm [link] [2 comments]

older posts...