Use WiiMote to create low cost electronic whiteboard
Incredibly cool tutorial for a unique use of the WiiMote.
Aeron Lust
Recently on the IDGA Writer’s SIG, someone asked for help selecting an office chair. As one might expect, the Aeron from Herman Miller was a fan fave. I used to have one at work and I loved it, so I offered my two cents. Here it is my post, which has been edited and expanded for additional clarity.
I’ll echo the sentiment about the Aeron. Everyone had them at my old dotcom. Yes, they were extravagant. Having said that, I agree with Sherri/Joel about the cost-benefit ratio. Like most dotcommers, we worked very, very long hours and I firmly believe that the Aeron helped prevent general fatigue, repetitive use injury and sickness brought on by exhaustion. The Aerons were so beloved, that most employees made special arrangements to move them to their new offices when our company was assimilated Borg-style by a large telco.
When setting up my home office, I looked the Aeron and the Lifeform but elected to go the cheaper route. Before coming to my senses, I went through three “cheap” Office Depot chairs ($70-$150 each). Each of them broke down relatively quickly and I experienced significant back, shoulder and forearm pain from the hard plastic arms … even through the so-called padding.
After three failures, and over $300 wasted, I chose the Lifeform because it uses memory foam, which greatly improved my sleep patterns when my wife and I invested in a memory foam mattress. Over a year later, back, shoulder and forearm pain are all gone and my productivity is way up. Still, I would have bought the Aeron if I had it to do over. Ergonomically, the Lifeform is champ. However, the build quality is not as tight as the Aeron and the breathable mesh of the Aeron is something I greatly miss.
Bottom line, when people spend as much time in their chairs as writers, programmers and artists do … it is foolish to scrimp on the one tool they will use more than any other. An Aeron is an investment … in you or in your employees. If the price point scares you away from the investment, check eBay. Aerons can always be found there for far less than market prices.
NOTE: I bought the cheaper, fabric covered variety of the LifeForm, which is apparently not available online.
Why isn’t “TinyURL” a pervasive feature of Web 2.0?
Between maps.google.com, digg.com, amazon.com, youtube.com and ebay.com, I send a minimum of 15-30 links a week via email, IM or SMS. The reasons are as varied as the sites themselves … directions, product comparisons, market research. You name it, I have a good reason for forwarding URLs to other people. And, I am sure that I am not the only one.
One thing remains consistent among each message I send, I invariably use tinyurl.com to compress these unwieldy URLs into something far more manageable for both the delivery vehicle (email is notorious for mangling long URLs) and the intended audience (many folks are not web-savvy enough to reconstitute mangled URLs on their own). I love tinyurl.com … it is a brilliant service. But, why aren’t companies baking this into their online applications as a native service?
Technically, it cannot be that complex. It is essentially a redirection service. WordPress, Drupal and darn near every other Open Source CMS has some sort of short-URL/human-language-URL method either baked in or available as a plug-in/module. Is it a licensing issue? If so, acquire tinyurl.com or license the name/engine from them. If not, replicate and improve on the idea.
This is low-hanging fruit. Pick it already!
Combating Email SPAM and Viruses with GMail
My cousin recently wrote for advice on preventing email SPAM and viruses. After writing her back, it occured to me that the information might be helpful to others, so here you go.
You can read the following link and it can provide some general clues on how to prevent SPAM:
http://www.itsecurity.com/features/email-inbox-security-011107/
That article might be a little technically intimidatig for some folsk, so I will add/emphasize a few things:
1) Never, ever, ever …. click on the “Unsubscribe” link on SPAM. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but SPAMers use those links to CONFIRM a good email address and send more SPAM. Only click unsubscribe links from vendors who you are 100% sure you signed up for. Even then, be careful with the information they request in the unsubscribe process, because it may be a “phisihing” scam. See the following link for more info.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/phishing.mspx
2) Never, under any circumstance, post your email on a public web page, forum, etc. SPAMers have tools which harvest email addresses from public websites. For physical security reasons, don’t post home/business address, phone numbers or pictures of your kids on public websites either. Private (requires password and login) are usually OK if you trust and know the company (Microsoft, Apple, etc.) . Even then, exercise discretion.
3) When sending email to a group, always include the group in the BCC field, not the TO or CC field. This way, if the email is forwarded, the entire list is not forwarded to someone who may have an email harvester virus on their PC.
Finally, the best way I’ve found to prevent SPAM and viruses is to use GMAIL from Google. It is 100% free and they have absolutely the best server-side SPAM and Virus tools around. I get almost no SPAM … EVER. People try to send it to me, but Gmail’s filters catch it before it goes in my inbox. And in three years of using it, I’ve never gotten a false positive (where a good email is marked as SPAM).
If you want a Gmail account, I’ll send you a GMail invitation … just email me through the contact form here on the website. I usually recommend that you get one for each member of your family, even the kids. Set up email addresses for your kids now … so, when they are a little older and ask for them, you can give them one that you can monitor if needed. The Internet can be a scary place for kids. A little foresight can help them stay safe without depriving them of all of the significant educational benefits of the Internet.
So, why Gmail? It is free and easy to use. You can access the Internet through any ISP (juno.com, cox.com, etc.) and access your email at gmail.com or your mail client. GMail can be pulled into your favorite email software very easily. I use Thunderbird. And, if you are traveling, you can access your email securely at gmail.com.
Typically, I set up Gmail accounts with firstname.lastname@gmail.com format. That is a great general purpose format (work, family, friends, etc.). For ebills, online bank statement and catalogs and such, I set up one with my street name (i.e. 123MainStreet@gmail.com). This keeps household “mail” … which is subject to a lot of legitimate marketing email … separate from from the work and personal stuff I really want to read.
Finally, if you move email to Gmail, it is pretty simple to import contacts from whatever ISP or mail client your use now (Juno, AOL, etc.). Then, just send an email to everyone telling them to update their address books.
I hope this helps.
PS: I do not work for or own stock in Google. I just love the service!
A thought provoking ad for solar power
Thanks to TreeHugger for the original post.
Welcome to the world of “Minority Report”
What you are about to see was first publicly envisioned in the the film Minority Report. Listen closely to what the presenter has to say about making machines conform to us rather than the other way around. Welcome to the 22nd Century. Thanks to David for the link!
bountysource.com … an idea whose time has come
Imagine a user comes along and submits a feature request to your project. After approval and clarification from someone with the appropriate user role in your project’s development team, that task will become part of the project’s Version Map.
That user, as well as any other user of the Bounty Source system, could then proceed to place a monetary bounty on that task. All bounty amounts are publicly viewable and the total adds up with every posted bounty. When a developer shows interest in writing the solution, they can create a “Solution In Progress” and keep a developer’s journal that will be open for all to view/comment upon.
After a solution has been submitted and approved, the funds will be released to the developer — but not until a “Disputable” period has passed in which any user can raise concerns with the solution, should they have any.
Today, I found bountysource.com by way of digg.com. The quote above describes the site and the services they provide. Recently, folks have started grumbling about the usefulness and relevance of SourceForge.net; long the 800 lb. gorilla of FOSS project management. However, many think it is simply used as a loss leader for the VA Software’s commercial application, SourceForge Enterprise Edition.
Along comes bountysource.com. These folks offer similar services and they have great valueadd … bounties. As someone whose core business depends on FOSS technologies, I’ve often wondered how to get the attention of the devs of particular projects. Also, as someone who has developed against four different FOSS applications, I know how thankless the job can be and how hard it can be to find time to meet the demands of the user base. Until bountysource.com, there was no way I knew to address the competing demands of both sides of this sticky problem.
Bug and feature bounties are the ideal solution for everyone. By placing a bounty on a particular feature, the end user puts his money where his mouth is. This should really help FOSS devs separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to bug hunting and feature requests. Moreover, this concept provides two important processes which can further expand the FOSS infrastructure/agenda:
- First, it provides a business model that should allow motivated FOSS devs a realistic way to make a living from their efforts (or at least a profitable side business) and eventually leave the corporate ghetto behind.
- Second, it provides folks who are building FOSS-based enterprises a concrete way to invest their money into their busniess and feel confident they will see a meaningful ROI.
To be certain, bountysource.com seems raw and still very beta. They are marrying commerce and FOSS in new and innovative way. I wish them well. Their success gives me another tool to build my business by responding to market demands more quickly. Should they stumble or fall, someone should grab this BIG IDEA and run with it.
Clear, Comprehensive WordPress Theme Tutorial
Fellow WP users, check out this great WordPress Theme Tutorial. It is as clear and concise as you will find. If you like this article, be sure to digg it.
Native Speaker … Cringley expands his XP on OSX Thesis.
I believe that Apple will offer Windows Vista as an option for those big customers who demand it, but I also believe that Apple will offer in OS X 10.5 the ability to run native Windows XP applications with no copy of XP installed on the machine at all. This will be accomplished not by using compatibility middleware like Wine, but rather by Apple implementing the Windows API directly in OS X 10.5.
The more I read Cringley, the more I like the way this man thinks.
Cringley sees the Trojan Horse that is Apple Boot Camp
The version of Boot Camp that will ship with OS X 10.5 will likely be very different from the version people are playing with today. The actual shipping version, I predict, will have full OS virtualization so that both operating systems can run side-by-side and a user can cut and paste data from one to the other. Apple may have already developed this capability, or maybe they’ll license or buy it from outside.
Robert Cringley is spot on.
While I understand the logic behind the arguments of Dvorak and Kantor, I think they underestimate Jobs’ desire to win. I find it hard to fathom that, in Jobs’ book, winning means becoming just another Windows reseller and forever sucking the hind teat of Redmond.