Norman Richards

Kindle 2

I'm very excited by the early rumor report of Kindle 2. The new design definitely looks better than the current one, and the side buttons look a bit more sensibly placed than on the current device. It looks nice, but the rumor mill is silent on the one feature I need more than anything else - PDF support.

The problem with the Kindle is that although it's brilliant for reading fiction and non-technical books, as soon as you put something with program listings, tables or formulas on it, it falls over. The PDF conversion gets text fine, but technical books just don't translate well. Thanks largely to Manning and Pragmatic Programmers, I have a growing library of PDF books. However, that library doesn't play well on the kindle along side my growing library of non-tech ebooks.

Yes, I know I can get another ebook reader that supports PDFs, but I really love the 1-click buy and download experience of the Kindle. So, I've got my fingers crossed that Kindle 2 will solve the problem.

GPL as centrist - open source licenses

One one the more interesting things I've run into at Red Hat is this explanation of open source licenses. (mov) That has to be the simplest and most concise explanation of open source that I've ever seen. It's well worth a look if you are ever trying to explain open source to someone.

One of the most brilliant parts of the talk is when Mark (the guy in video) manages to make a reasonable case for GPL being the moderate, centrist open source license. That was quite interesting. It's worth watching just to see how to get to that point.

The only thing holding this video back the last 30 seconds or so on GPL virility. Mark is trying to say that when people talk about virility they are talking about how tightly the license takes hold of the code it is in. He tries to make the point that the most deadly license is really the proprietary license because once it infects the code it completely kills it and your ability to redistribute the code. (at least that's what I *think* his point was) However, the last little bit comes off as a bit clumsy and unconvincing.

Despite the dip at the end, it's a brilliant introduction to open source licenses. If you haven't seen it before, go check it out.

Own your own cube farm

If you don't spend enough time at the office, perhaps you'd enjoy the chance to create your own cube farm at home. I saw these at Toy Joy this afternoon and would have bought some if it weren't for the fact they only had a couple of the sets in stock. I'm definitely planning to get a couple of these soon. I just need to find a nice Godzilla figure to go along with it...

Cube dweller bonus: While it isn't the greatest Dilbert strip ever, I think today's Dilbert is definitely on my top 10 list.

10 great podcasts

I've been addicted to podcasts for the last 6 months. I spend almost all of my work day listening to various programs available. Given the sheer number of podcasts out, I thought I'd share my list of what I've been listening to, and enjoying, over time. Here's my top 10, in no particular order.

The Java Posse: Given how popular tech blogs are, you'd think there would be more quality tech podcasts. There aren't many, and the world of programmer podcasts is extra slim. One of my favorites is the Java Posse. They do a great job of covering Java stuff from a developer perspective. They aren't cheerleaders for the latests fads nor are they corporate shills. They are just developers talking about the world Java. It is very well done, and I highly recommend it to all Java developers. [iTunes]
Security Now!: Here's another great tech podcast. It's focus is security, and the first dozen or so episodes have focussed on virus issues, spyware and network security. Right now they are doing a series on VPNs, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode to get some recommendations on home wifi routers with VPN capabilities. I have given up on the unreliable public VPN services and need to set up something at home, so this will be perfectly timed. If you want to get a taste for the world of personal computer security without getting too technical, check it out. [iTunes]
WebObjects Worx: This is the last tech podcast I'll mention. This podcast has been focussed on teaching WebObjects. I've been mentioning WebObjects a lot, and this podcast is why. I think it is a great example of how you convey real hard technical information in a podcast format. I haven't seen any new episodes this month, so I don't know what the future of this one is. But, I hope it keeps on going. [iTunes]
Chinese Pod: This is a podcast teaching Chinese. I've been listening to several foreign language podcasts, but Chinese Pod seems to be the best one. It is high quality and published frequently enough that you could actually learn from it. I'm reasonably fluent already, so the lessons are way too introductory for me. But, having gone through the process of learning Chinese, I really like the approach. This would have been an amazing resource to have around when I was learning. If you want to learn chinese, or if you just want to see what a well done language podcast is like, check out Chinese Pod. [iTunes]
PotterCast: I freely admit that I have read all the Harry Potter books and am a huge fan of the series. In the same way I'm a sucker for DVD commentaries, I love to listen to more in-depth discussion of characters and story lines. I wish there were more podcasts like this. [iTunes]
Podcast Who: I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was a kid. The new series is great, and this podcast is a great companion to the show and to the larger world of Doctor Who. [iTunes]
Erik's Diner: One of the wonderful things about podcasts is you can stay connected to issues that you find interesting without spending a lot of time on it. Erik's Diner is a vegan podcast that let's me keep up with issues around veganism (although I'm a vegetarian, not a full vegan) and animal cruelty issues. I'm not an activist, but I do enjoy keeping up with what is going on in that world. [iTunes]
Ebert & Roeper: I don't watch TV, so I rely on movies for almost all of my visual entertainment. There's only one reviewer I trust, Roger Ebert. The guy always has great insight into movies, and you really can't go wrong listening to him. Being able to listen to the show in podcast form saves me a lot of time. My only complaint is that often times the podcast is posted too late to make a weekend movie decision. [iTunes]
Comic Geek Speak: I gave up comics in the 90's, but I've found that in recent years comics have started getting interesting again. I'm not a huge fan like I used to be, but I have, after all those years, started picking up a few titles on a regular basis. While many comic podcasts focus only on what is happening now, Comic Geek Speak has great interviews with people in the industry, past and present, and great discussions about comic history. They also have a great book of the month club, which fits really well with my desire to be able to dig into things just a bit more deeply and find out what other people thought of a book. My only warning is that these guys are prolific. The podcasts are often 90 minutes and they usually do more than one a week. I'm not enough of a comic geek to keep up, but I do listen regularly. [iTunes]
The Dave Ramsey Show: This is the only commercial entry on my top 10 list. Dave does a personal finance radio show that helped me to make the move to being debt free, and I still listen regularly to make sure I don't lapse into debt. I was actually a subscriber and paid for the daily MP3 downloads long before anyone spoke the words "podcast", so I have to give them credit for being an early player. When they were doing downloadable MP3s, everyone else was still wasting their time on streaming audio. I can't keep up with 3 hours of show every night, but I listen to a couple of hours a week. If you've got too much month left at the end of the money, (to use a Dave expression) take a listen. [iTunes]

So, that's my top 10. I really don't think you'll go wrong listening to any of them. Hopefully I'll find a way to export my podroll from iTunes and list it next to my blogroll, but in the meantime we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. If anyone has suggestions for other interesting podcasts, please comment. I'm always looking for more to listen to. Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our JBoss Labs podcast. [iTunes] I just recorded an episode with Damon that should go out this weekend. But I'll post again when I do.

Bubble mapping

Last week I ran across a cool way to manage my daily work tasks using bubble maps. (via lifehack) I've always tried to list out my tasks for the day, but the traditional todo was never very effective for me. The bubble map style really intrigued me because size (and even color) seem like a much better way to visualize where I am.

I've tried it for the week, and I'm quite happy to say that it is actually helping me stay on track. I've been a good bit more productive when laying my tasks out like this, though it's hard to say how much of that is just the result of making a change to my normal rhythm and needing to pay more attention to things. In any event, it has helped me be more aware of my tasks and my progress towards them. That alone makes it a useful technique.

The only modification I've made to the technique is that I've it helpful to link subtasks as in a normal bubble map. I also find I'm sticking little note arrows out of my bubbles when I want to remind myself of details about whatever I was working on.

The real test is whether or not this will be something I'm still doing 6 months ago. But, surviving a week is a really good sign. I usually don't keep at something like this that long unless it is really helpful.

TV-B-Gone Review

I've had my TV-B-Gone for a while now. I was very excited about it when I first heard about it. But, does the device live up to expectations?

Almost. The most important question is: does it actually work? Yes. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well. The device is very low power and the range was much less than a normal remote. I wasn't able to reliably turn off any TVs from more than 10 feet away. TVs that were raised about eye level were almost impossible except from even closer range. If you are hoping to zap TVs from sort of distance, you are out of luck.

Most TVs that I could reach would turn off in 5-15 seconds. That isn't bad, except that the device as a 70 second cycle that can't be interrupted. If the TV doesn't turn off after 10 seconds, you might want to adjust your location and try again. Unfortunately, with this device you'll have to wait a whole minute to have a second chance. To make matters worse, you don't even know when it is done. You just have to guess. The net result is that sometimes it would be several minutes before I could turn off a particular TV. Not good.

The device is a decent size. It's larger than a car remote, and the shape makes it rather conspicuous, but it's acceptable. I hope future revisions can get the device smaller, but for the time being it's not so big that I can't stand to carry it around.

Should you get one? At this stage, I can only recommend it if you are very patient. It needs a lot of work to be usable. The device needs to give you some feedback on its operation and give you the ability to interrupt/restart the cycle. The limited range makes the usability problems really stand out. It's a nice toy for an extreme TV hater like me, but it's too limited to really be interesting yet. Wait for the second version.

Still supporting EFF

I don't quite understand Dave Winer's problem with the EFF. I love the EFF and have been a supporter for a while. They fight for privacy and freedom and stand up against corporate IP abuse. I encourage everyone to take a look at what they are doing. Take a look at their accomplishments. Take a look at some of of their current issues. If you think they are doing good things, then please support EFF by becoming a member.

blogs operate outside the law

So says "legal experts". I hate it it when writers just make up random things. Even funnier is the notion that Think Secret is a blog. Right. Some people just shouldn't be allowed anywhere near tech stories.

evil twins and promiscuous networking

I've been talking about this for a long time in my crusade, but maybe this slashdot article on evil twins will convince people to pay attention a bit. Ok, "evil twin" is a dumb name, and the problem is much bigger than fake wireless sites. The problem is that in an age of promiscuous networking, you can no longer trust the network.

You can't trust the network to be private: You've never really been able to trust the local network to be free from snooping, but most people are comfortable with the risks on a local network. But on a public network, you the risks increase by on order of magnitude. You should assume that anything you do on a public network is being monitored.

You can't trust the network to be the one you think it is: This is the point of the slashdot article. Matching a SSID is meaningless. You shouldn't assume that just because the network has the right name that it is the right network. I don't consider this to be a big deal, because of the the prior point. If you naturally distrust public networks, as you should, then it doesn't matter what network you think you are on.

You can't trust the network to be reliable: Honestly, this is the biggest problem with public networks. The truth is that public networks have the potential to draw antisocial forces to take advantage of your incorrect assumptions about the safety of public networks, but there is very little actual bad happening. Unfortunately, sheer stupidity dominates over evil intent in the public networking world. You'll often find mysteriously blocked ports and services intercepted by passive proxies. It's gotten so bad with the insane SMTP interception that it is almost a requirement to run your mail server on something other than port 25 to make sure the brain dead network administrators don't intercept your emails.

My solution is to use a VPN service on public networks. This allows you to get around most of the safety and reliability issues of promiscuous networking. However, it doesn't address all of them. First, it's not clear that PPTP style networking really gives you any protection against a man in the middle attack on an unsafe network. Second, dumb public network operators can still find ways to harass you with things like captive portals, but all in all you can get past most of the insanity.

I predict that short range wifi as we know it will not be long lived for these reasons. You just can't trust these networks to be safe or reliable. They will be replaced with wireless networking over larger areas, most likely provided by phone companies. In 5 years, the idea of seeking out a coffee shop or cafe just for wireless will be gone. "When I was a kid, I had to walk 5 miles in the snow to get to a wifi hotspot". Instead, a wireless network signal will be as plentiful as a cell phone signal. You'll still have to worry about security and reliability, but in much different ways than we do now. But, I predict I'll still be telling people to use a VPN.

autocomplete=off is evil

I hate websites designers that think they are smarter than me. One of the most evil forms of this is autocomplete=off. No, dear user. You aren't clever enough to understand how forms work or to use a browser that adequately protects your information. I know what's best for you, I and I say you are going to have to type in that name and password by hand every time. BWAHAHAHA.

Ok, the sad part is the people who do this kind of stuff are probably right. The average user probably is too dumb and will save their bank account number on a public computer in the library for the next user to come along and use. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

The one bright spot in all of this is web browser coders who are smarter than the web designers and can give the user the option to override these things. Unfortunately, my preferred browser doesn't give much power to the users. I guess it's time to move on to a better browser.