Tag Archives: industry

Diaspora social fu, why it’s too early to be enthusiastic

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Hey. It has been some time, but let’s blog again.

Diaspora, the self-claimed privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network. let’s examine each of those ambitious claims one by one.

Privacy aware. The question here is really: can a network be privacy aware? Is an infrastructure even able to make such promises? As long as this promise is just written, it makes only little sense to me, as privacy is most often not a question of the protocol or idea running a service, but rather of it’s implementation and mostly dependent on its users.

Personally controlled? Facebook is also controlled by it’s users. The problem is actually not control in the net itself, but control towards additional use of your data, e.g. for advertising or some other third party stuff. Again, a protocol or idea won’t be able to change that problem. Just by allowing a net to be just that, there is still a considerable chance of data being accumulated by one provider, like facebook, again. And, as long there is some data concerning you on a database server that is not exclusively administrated by you, your data is not personally controlled.

Do-it-all. I’d rather not comment on that one. But that’s what it is about here. Do-it-all. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s not. Doubtlessly, those smart guys are ambitious and gifted ( at least concerning PR ), but do-it-all is a bit.. over the top. Small steps. Just develop one application, show it, next one. It’s okay and cool and I really appreciate that the protocol can be used for anything, but that also implies complexity. And time.

Open-source. That’s just fine, but at the moment, it’s not. Neither the sources they’re working on, nor the protocol, which is, of course, the more interesting part, are available anywhere. Being a programmer myself, I really understand why the project source is not available at such an early development stage, but it’s crucial for this protocol to become published, even in an early version, as soon as possible.

The protocol, the heart of diaspora, is what invites other people to read and study it. Which may have some desirable consequences: I’d like to build a diaspora node, for example. And I’m pretty sure some other people like to as well. But even more interesting are the ones analyzing it from e.g. a security perspective, commenting on it’s scaling ability or just throwing in new ideas?

Diaspora is fine. I really respect the guys running this project, they are doing a great job, right idea, right time, nothing more powerful. But still, they should really take their time to consider changing some things. Let’s create a google group, let’s share some technical details with the ( really interested ) mass, let’s communicate.

Still no Java 6 for Intel 32 bit and PowerPC based Macs

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Running Mac OS X, i forgot to mention that in the headline. Why? Apple is most likely busy updating it’s own stuff, promoting it’s platform, and since the iPhone came up, many people started learning Cocoa, so the developer base there has grown, too. Additionally, the general user base is also growing, making it a more interesting target for Software Companies. And there are not many basic rules, valid everywhere, but one is for sure that Java Desktop applications just don’t integrate well. There is maybe an exception for programs using SWT, but still, the native look and feel is something different.

So the question I’m asking is whether it’s that bad that there is no Java support? Yes! Absolutely! At least if you either use programs or build programs depending on it. Of course, most programs just work fine with Java 5, but there are some that just don’t. And so one of the main reasons for Java is obsolete: write once, run everywhere. And while Sun, the company behind Java, is providing Runtime Environments for Windows and Linux, it’s not for Mac. So it’s not Apples fault alone. But careless of who’s fault it is, it just sucks, clearly spoken.

The top 25 programming errors: Watch and avoid

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Security is always a big issue, whether you are writing for a big company or just for fun. But many people, especially beginners, tend to underestimate the importance of securing their applications dramaticially. While stuff like a well-designed interface and the proper function of the application is directly visible, security works the other way round: it’s presence ( or a lack thereof ) are only visible when it’s in most cases too late. So, as for testing, security is a important quality attribute of your software, and you should care, and if you don’t know where to start, the SANS-institute released a very comprehensive list of the most wanted programming errors.

The list was created in collaboration with major actors, like Microsoft, Cisco and other popular names. While not all of them are applicable to all kinds of applications, you will certainly find some that do, and this list is certainly a very good source to start reading on that topic.

Enough written, the document can be found here: Top 25 programming errors.

Microsoft to receive the annual award for the funniest bug

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Keep looking for that headline! The reason is simple, and you will agree ( hopefully ) that this is indeed a freaking funny bug description. The bug itself is funny, too. And I just don’t understand why, but let the details rest aside, and let’s enjoy it:

A Web site cannot set a cookie if the Domain attribute is in uppercase characters and has an odd number of characters in Internet Explorer 7

You can read find that bug in the Knowledge Base. This post features nothing else but this bold bug description, so here’s my question, to be answered in the comment: what do you think was the code that caused this bug looking like? Any languages ( even brainfuck! ) welcome..

Edit: I stumbled upon a video demonstrating that by getting the square root of 4 and subtracting 2 from the result, the calculator.. outputs some rather unique result. Any explanation here? Try it, works in any Windows version. Buggy times.

Still include IE6 support when creating a Web Application?

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I really don’t know if i shall. And this time I’m really asking for your opinion on that, just leave a comment. A Pro is that many users in corporate environments are still forced to use our favourite old-school browsing grandpa. And excluding a mentionable amount of users just for the sake of less work? 

On the other hand, I guess that most people using really modern WebApps are nevertheless forced to use modern browsers. I don’t know, really not. A short yet true list of cons is presented here as well, and a rather radical point of view presented by nick cowie.

Microsoft Songsmith on a MacBook Pro

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I guess you’ve already witnessed Microsoft dropping it’s zero-drug policy, and the first obvious result. The Microsoft Songsmith Spot was certainly created by some kind of PR-genius. They are using a MacBook Pro to actually demo the software in the clip, a good choice, but don’t you think that it’s a bit too obvious how they’re making fun of themselves? “Microsoft, so it’s pretty easy to use, hu?” should be enough. But it’s about your opinion, so just watch and learn.

Windows 7 Superbar vs. Mac OS’ Dock

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In case you haven’t heard about, since today, Microsoft’s Windows 7, the successor of Vista is available as a free download. Of course, it’s just a beta, and maybe they do it to distract a bit from not-so-well performing Vista, but anyway, if I had a PC, I’d certainly give it a try. But because I don’t, and I’m not sure whether bootcamp supports Windows 7, I was forced to simply read some reviews and build up an opinion.

And there was this one thing. Imagine a system-wide menu bar featuring all your current apps, plus the one you are using most often. Of course, it’s up to you to decide what you want to place in that amazing menu-bar. You can even use a very, very hot ability to place items using the mouse called “drag and drop”. Finally, after using an application and closing it, the corresponding icon will just disappear. Unbelievable, I know. There is one other amazing ability this dreambar, as I call it, offers. The grouping of windows belonging to the same application. This is indeed something total new, something I have dreamed about for years, and now it’s finally happening. 

Well, in case you thought it sounds like the Mac OS Dock. It’s not. It’s the new taskbar in Windows 7, called “superbar”. It seems people at Redmond are a bit desperate these days, instead of being creative.. 

But let’s be serious, just for a moment. I’m really wondering where the innovation is. Even searching for “Windows 7 Innovation” doesn’t return much. There is the mentioned superbar ( wuhhzza ), some eye-candy and a multi-touch interface ( if I got that rumor right ). The multi-touch interface is a gift for hardware manufacturers, but not for people with ordinary PCs eating French Fries while surfing the web, the superbar is pretty much a bad copy of several already existing concepts and the rest? Is there still this ridiculous Flip-3D thingy that is so not boosting productivity? Oh it’s so spacy I can’t see the contents of the other windows..

Windows definitely has some fields where no one is at the moment able to compete with it, but not because of the superior technology but rather because of hardware manufacturers still keeping that platform up, and game vendors still building mainly for it, too.  

But actually, this hasn’t necessarily to be something bad. Mac OS simply is the best system when it comes to usability, consistency of an interface etc.. And Windows can only profit from … reinventing some stuff already present there. Calling it Superbar seems a bit exaggerated, but after the Zune disaster I guess it’s to polish some Egos.

Follow your rights: statement as tweed.

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This is an experiment. And I want to clearify that I’m neither a communist nor someone who never buys music, both isn’t true. But an industry not getting tired of trying to control very important aspects of our lives just to guarantee some profit is indeed driving me nuts. So here’s my plan.

Maybe you’ve heard that the music industry finally decided on dropping charges against individuals, and that from now on the strategy is to work with ISPs to simply cut off unprofitable users. This reminds me of ancient laws ( that are, unfortunately, still used in some parts of the world ) where a criminal would get his hand cut off if he used it to steal something with it. 

While some countries like France are already in the process of passing such a law, elsewhere lobbyists are still busy convincing politicians to do so. If you want to get into the topic, a good place to turn to is certainly the Electronic Frontier Foundation, featuring an article covering the topic.

If you are just like me, and many other folks, just follow a specially created twitter-user called #ourrights. This account will link nowhere, it’s just a statement to follow it. Please also spread the word by posting an update on your tweed. Thank you, and always keep in mind that we are the masses.