Acura Service

Tonight we took in Shira's Acura TL (named ZZ) for his schedule B service. Usually, this wouldn't be anything too exciting to blog about. Yet, as I have probably written here before, I'm very impressed with the Acura service department.

It's not the free wi-fi or drinks that impress me (though they are nice touches), it's the hours they keep. They keep the service department open till 2am nightly (well, most nights). When they told me this while I was buying the car I thought they were joking - but it's true. And it's as nice as it sounds. No more missing work just to fit to some garage's schedule.

This is a perfect example of Ben's third rule of running a successful business: find out what your customer's want and give it to them.

In the case of a car garage, I want to be able to have it fit my schedule, not vica-versa. And that's what they did. It meant hiring a night shift, but who cares, they've earned my, and I'm sure many other's business.

So next time your customers want something, and it doesn't seem like you can give it to them - think about what Acura is doing.

--Ben

Getting bash key-combinations to work

I'm a really big fan of bash's (readline, actually) ability to have nice command line editing features. One that I use an awful lot is the ability to jump between works using Alt-b and Alt-f.

At this point, it's so hardwired into my brain, that I don't even think about it.

Which is a good thing, unless of course you run into a situtation where Alt-b spits out garbage on your screen instead of going back a word. I can't tell you how frustruating it is to hit Alt-b, notice the garbage and think: "Argh, now I have delete the crap I spit out, and I still have to slowly left-arrow back a few characters. I gotta fix that..." It gets even worse, when you consider I probably do this about 15,000 times a day.

So, I finally found a fix. Put the following in ~/.inputrc:

set meta-flag Off
set convert-meta On
set output-meta Off

Poof, now my Alt-b and Alt-f key works like a champ. Along with their friend, Alt-d, which deletes a word.

So, if you use bash, learn to love Alt-b, Alt-f and Alt-d. And when you find a linux box that doesn't work with your new tricks, try adding the above code to your .inputrc.

Do a man bash to learn more.

Security, casino style

The shot included here is a photo of a small sampling of the slot machines available at the Wild Wild West in Atlantic City. Hanging out here, trying to track down my wife among the hundreds of other gamblers, got me thinking. Thinking about security, specifically.

Take bank security. A big aspect of that is intimidation. Big vault doors. Armed men standing around. Tellers behind thick walls. Cameras in obvious use. The whole experience when you walk into a bank just says: "don't try anything, we are ready for you."

A casino is 100% opposite. Players stand a few feet away from stacks of chips. I've never seen an armed guard or camera keeping an eye on me. I walked around using my sidekick and had a laptop on my shoulder, yet nobody seemed to care. The whole experience says: lets have fun, and you can easily win all this money.

It's almost like they want you to feel as though they don't have much security at the casino at all. Seems like it wouldn't be that tricky to rig up a card counting system or something like that (not that *I* would ever consider doing so).

Yet, I'm pretty sure that there's no place more secure than a casino. That I am no doubt being watched at all times, and that while it may look like I could grab a stack of chips and run, I probably wouldn't make it 3 feet.

It seems to me that website developers need to be thinking like casinos. How can they give the illusion that they are relaxed and fun places to be, yet provide bullet proof security.

On the other hand, a computer network should be like a bank. Intimidation all the way.

So, I wonder how I could learn about casino security? That is without having my library card records siezed and my phone tapped. Seems like you would get some good best practices.

--Ben

Why conservatives hate MP3 players

collision detection: Why conservatives hate MP3 players

This article is a version of the typical: "Technology x is inherently evil." In this case, the discussion is about personal audio players, but I've heard this same argument time and time again. One of the more common ones is "thanks to computers, kids today just don't think!"

I usually have two responses to a discussion like this.

First, technology can almost always be used for good or evil. You can watch hours of reality TV and pronounce TV nothing but garbage. Yet, you can also use TV to teach kids and spread important ideas. The fact that most of the time, people are melting their brains watching the latest sitcom isn't something wrong with TV, it's something wrong with the person watching the TV.

Take the personal music player. It can, as they suggest, be a way for people to close off the universe around them and to be as self centered as possible. It's also a way to listen to podcasts -- which is effectively a way to broadcast your ideas to any number of people for almost free. In this scenario, you could easily argue that it's the personal audio player that gets credit for helping to spread an individual's ideas. Hardly a self-centered, egotistical thing to do.

The other argument I typically make is that people have to remember that at any given time in history, what we now consider a commodity, was typically some cutting-edge-controversial piece of technology. The phone, telegraph, car, etc. were all invented at some point, and I am sure somebody said that they were inherently evil.

Consider the phone. You could probably argue that people don't know their neighbors as well, all because they spend so much time yacking on the phone. And of course people don't write letters any more, because they can just pick up the phone and call. Gosh, the phone is evil and responsible for bringing down our society. Yet, if you have a heart attack, I'm sure the phone and 911 looks pretty useful.

So, that's a bit extreme of an example. But the point is, what we find to be safe and excepted technology, at one time was quite risky and undefined. Heck, I can just imagine the kids who were learning to use written language, while their parents didn't yet have that skill....

Dad: Kids today, they don't think anymore. Why, back in my day, if we learned something, we had to remember it. Now, kids just scratch it into a rock, like a bunch of lazy bums. What's this world coming to?

The Website Development Process - In Legos

The Website Development Process - In Legos

It's just too cute...read it and enjoy.

Ultra Low-Fi: Sounds from the casino

While Shira sat down to play blackjack, I took a walk around the casino with my trust Mach 256 MP3 Player and recorded some sounds.

I don't exactly know what I was hoping to capture, but I thought it might be an interesting experiment. Well, it turns out I didn't really get anything of interest -- except for one short clip.

How does this sound for some gambling music?

Quick Trip - Atlantic City

Shira and I decided to take a quick trip to Atlantic City. Shira enjoys the gambling, I enjoy the quiet time in the hotel room. We both win out on this type of trip.

Attached are a few shots of AC by night. Of course there are the flashy, bright lights of the casinos. But most of the area is just dark and run down. The unflattering shot here is taken from the boardwalk between casinos. Yuck.

Well, Shira's at a blackjack table and I've got my laptop attached to a wireles network. All is well with the world.

--Ben

Gifts for a family in need

Here are the gifts my team bought for a family in need this holiday season. What little girl wouldn't want her own shopping cart and scanner?

My clever wife solved the question of which type of Barbie we should buy - and bought a multi pack. Smart wife.

--Ben

PrototypingTools

HCI at Stanford University: d.tools

This is a very interesting project, the goal of which is to make prototyping physical devices a fairly straightforward process. The technology, in this case, takes advantage of both hardware and software components. Watch the video on the page -- it takes just a few minutes, but explains the project well. And if you are like me, you'll be really impressed with what they are doing.

I bring this up, because software prototyping is still something I think we can do better at. I've seen realatively good results by using photoshop, plain HTML, or even recently MS Frontpage (thanks to Tim). While these approaches kinda work well for representing a simple GUI mockup, it would be nice to be able to wire a bunch of GUI mockups together easily to form a prototype of some kind.

So what do you use to prototype and mock stuff up?

Gmail Mobile

Gmail Mobile

Google's at it again, announcing more nifty features for gmail. The feature that is most impressive is that you can now check your gmail from your cell phone.

And yes, the site looks good on a Sidekick II.

Cork Boat

Listening to a new book on tape - Cork Boat by John Pollack. This is the story of one man's journey to build the first, well, cork boat. His goal was to make a watercraft made essentially of wine corks.

Now, we aren't talking about a cork raft, or a cork floatation device. We are talking about 165,000 indvidual corks put together to form a 2000lb boat.

At first I thought the story would be a kind of riomantic tale of how a boyhood dream came true. And it is. But the story is much more than that too.

First, there are the engineering challanges. How do you turn 100,000 indvidual small pieces into a solid boat? The solution was pretty remarkable: rubber band corks into disks, attach disks together end-to-end to form a logs, logs put together to form a boat. The process had to be able to scale. Additonally, each step needed to form a solid foundation for the next step could be built on. All of this had to be figured out, from the simplest grouping of 6 corks, to how the boat could be loaded on a trailer.

Second, there are the social challanges. This is a brute force effort. Every step of the eay involves people and lots of manual labor. How do you streamline the process as much as possible? How do you keep people motivated when they have an apparently impossible task? How do you meet crazy deadlines? How do you get media attention while having a $0 budget? These questions and lots more are all part of tackeling the cork boat project.

So, to my surprise and enjoyment the story is a rich and enjoyable one. Give it a listen and appreciate that challanges can be met head on, even when you have no idea how on earth you'll pull it off.

If you excuse me, I have to go assemble 160,000 bits into a useful software program.

--Ben

Second worst way to start your day

The first worst is to forget your laptop.

The second worst is to bring the *wrong* laptop to work.

And that's exactly what I did. Argh. That's annoying.

--Ben

Under the knife

I just finished having very minor surgery on my neck. I'm not even sure it counts as surgery, as the goal was to remove a harmless cyst. Still, a scalpal was used so in my book, it counts.

The process was pretty painless. Though the only thougt I had during the whole event was - gosh, this Dr. Has the worst customer service ever. I kept thinking to myself that I really do have to switch doctors, as this one is ridculous.

How so?

- She didn't know my name.

- she didn't know anything about my last visit

- she did nothing to try to make me feel comfortable during the process

- the majority of the words she did say were to her nurse, talking about the surgery (training her maybe?)

- she used the side of my head as a table to hold supplies, and didn't applogize or explain to me what she was doing

- she complained about how little money doctors make these days

- I had been trying for 3 weeks to get her to fill a prescription or at least call me back. She never did, nor did she acknowledge my efforts over the weeks

- she treated me like an interruption in her day

All of these issues could have been resolved by reading my chart, annotating it with a few small details, and simply putting forth a bit of effort.

Does she need to do all that fluffy stuff? Not at all. Of course, I don't need to go to her in the future either.

--Ben

The Rosenthal Effect

I dropped my car off yesterday at the dealer (Rosenthal Chevrolet) for the 100k mile service package. Ya know, the service that has a big long list of things they do and costs and arm and a leg? Most of the items on the list are overpriced, even I know that. Yet I really trust the guys there and they have always taken good care of me.

Anyway, the Rosenthal Effect is what happens every time I drop off the car. I get the call back: "Ben, we got your car...and the mechanics were checking it over and foud _____ wrong with it." Actually, they usually find 3 or 4 things wrong with it. 3 or 4 expensive things of course.

This time it was the AC compressor and the rear brakes (about $1200 total for parts + labor).

This happens everytime.

Now, all is not lost because I have a buddy Justin, who is a car hacker. That's a good friend to have. Need something on your car fixed, like say an AC compressor and he'll do it. And if you are nice, he'll even let you help. When I needed my frony brakes done he helped out by doing one brake and supervising me while I replaced the other. (Note to readers: given the chance, ride in Shira's car)

So, now I look to the Rosenthal Effect as something of value. For essentially free, they will diagnose my car problems. Then, I take it out of their shop and have a friend help me learn to make the repair. How cool is that?

--Ben

Zero Cash, A Little Talent and 30 Days - Day 1

Zero Cash, A Little Talent and 30 Days - Day 1

This is an inspiration/interesting buisiness experiment. The goal is just what the title says: start a profitable business in 30 days with no initial cash invested.

From a quick scan of Day 1 this appears to be the real deal - not just some get-rich-quick scheme.

Go, read, and get inspired to start your own business.

Holiday Extravaganza

Tonight Shira and I attended my company's holiday party. It was lots of fun and included all of the features you would expect to find in a top-notch shindig: good food, booze, party favors, a chocolate fountain and of course a nice group of people.

As Shira noted, it was nice of the company to have a nice big party a few weeks after I joined the organization so she could meet everyone.

I did make it out on the dance floor, making a partial fool of myself. But that's all part of a day's work.

--Ben

Is this Entrepreneurship?

The Entrepreneurial Mind: Is This Entrepreneurship?

I shoveled plenty of snow growing up. But it never once occured to me to try a stunt like this one.

How to Make a Chicago Hot Dog

How to Make a Chicago Hot Dog - WikiHow

Mmmm....Chicago Hot Dogs. My family is originally from Chicago, and the first order of business upon returing for a visit was to order Chicago Hot Dogs. Lots of them.

The HOWTO seems pretty accurate -- Vienna beef, Neon-Green relish and of course a steamed poppy-seed bun.

I think of all the foods out there, this one probably brings back the most memories of familiy sitting around a table eating away. Forget a Thanksgiving turkey, give me a Chicago dog instead.

Gosh I'm hungry now.

Emacs for Microsoft Windows

CVS Emacs for Microsoft Windows

In my quest to make windows an ever more usuable platform I've been playing with different versions of emacs (emacsen?).

First I tried cygwin's version. The X version isn't bad, but in general it integrates pretty poorly with other windows software. Besides, it doesn't really work with JDE (the Java Development Environment).

Next I tried NT Emacs. This has better integration with windows, and still allowed me to access cygwin tools. It works with JDE and is pretty slick in general.

However, some of the latest features of emacs weren't present in that version. So now I'm trying CVS Emacs. So far so good (of course, it's been about 3 minutes). This version of emacs builds on ntemacs, adding a slicker look and feel and at the very least support for inline images.

So, if you are an emacs geek, stuck on windows, save yourself some trouble and just start with the CVS version. You won't be disappointed.

Perhaps one day I'll get around to writing up why I'm even still using (and enjoying) emacs. But that post will have to wait for another day.

Logo choices

The above are two choices for an Ideas2Executables logo. Which one do you prefer? We have a few more choices, which we'll try to post later today.
Thanks!

MetaUML -- UML for LaTeX/MetaPost

Welcome to MetaUML, UML for LaTeX/MetaPost

I'm not usually a big fan of formal UML diagrams because usually they are clumsy to create on a computer.

This library looks like a promising alternate approach -- instead of drawing, you simply describe in a code-like-language what the diagram should look like. And poof, the library seems to render what you were thinking.

Of course I know nothing about this library, so I may be using my imagination to guess what I'd like this library to do rather than what it actually does do. Got that?

Could be a nice alternative to struggling with the mouse to draw things just right.

MAKE: Blog: The MAKEbot is here!

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/12/the_makebot_is_here.html

I've blogged a bunch about how I think AIM bot provide for a fairly unique and powerful UI. And now, as if to prove my point, Make provided their own bot.

In the past I've talked about how AIM bots allow you to query a service quickly. The make bot also IMs you when new info is available. In other words, they are using IM to push messages to the me, not even waiting for me to ask it for data. Very cool.

I did realize another reason why I like IM - especially on the sidekick. That's because you can have more than one IM conversation going at a time. Whereas you can only be browsing one page at a time. So now, I can check make's site, chat with my wife, figure out how to spell "fiddlesticks" and search for a kosher chinese restaurant all at the same time.

--Ben

Good Experience Games

http://www.goodexperience.com/games/

I'm not a gamer - but I could imagine there would be times when being able to play an online game or two could be useful. Maybe you are babysitting for your friend's kid, or maybe you are trying to figure out a wicked problem at work and need a bit of distraction.

For those reasons and dozens more, the above above link may come in handy. It contains a list of well done, mostly free, games.

I haven't tried any of them on the list. So please try them and let me know your favorites in the comments of this post.

--Ben

Football - a day of firsts

Hang'in out watching football. We not only had fun, but I managed to have quite a few firsts...

• First football game I've ever gone to a bar to explicitly watch
• First shot of jaegermeister + redbull. Which was essentially like drinking candy mixed with cough syrup
• First time I ever consumed a fried pickle. Which tastes like a ... pickle wrapped in fry batter. Very tasty.

It was definitely a fun way to spend a Sunday.

Seth's Blog: Please hold

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/12/please_hold.html

Some interesting insights into the problems of dealing with the wait time in an in-bound call centers (like Dell's order center).

The important point he makes is that folks immediately thinks cost cutting when they think about call centers. But in the case of call centers that are taking orders the emphasis should really be on improving the customer's experience so they will spend *more* money.

This reminds me of an idea I read about a while ago - though I don't recall who's idea it was. And that was when a user hit's an error page in your wbe application you attempt to give them a coupon code, or something free. In other words, rather than saying, "oh well, guess you just aren't lucky enough to buy our product today" you say - "whoops, we are totally embarrassed - please take $20.00 off your next order."

Bad things will always happen to customers (they'll be on hold for too long, they'll find a bug in your web application, etc.) but as Seth reminds us - we can actually do something productive about it.

--Ben

The Bomber - concluded

I just finished the book on tape "The Bomber" - and really enjoyed it. I thought it was going to be your typical crime/adventure novel but I think it ended up being a bit more.

My first thought when I finished the book was that of pride. I had managed to figure out who the bomber was before the author came out and told the reader.

But, once I thought about the story some more I realized a couple of things. First, the story was an excellent tale of how people can start at same place in life, and exerience similar circumstances - yet have totally different outcomes based on fairly small details.

Second, I realized that there many details of the book which I had yet to truly understand. There is a small story that is told in-between the chapters of the main story. Which character wrote this text? What was the point of this text? And why did the main character behave the way she did during the epilogue?

So, it turns out, I didn't have it all figured out. Which means the author did indeed do her job.

This book is definitely worth a read (or listen). As a bonus, you'll get to learn about Sweden and have a craving for Glog when you are done.

I give this book a rating of 8.5/10 for just being an enjoyable book.

--Ben

Saying goodbye

My last view of the old cage being powered off. Ahhh, the memories of sitting in that over-air conditioned little box.

I can remember more than one all night session trying to revive a dying system. My scariest night came when I couldn't get IPVS to load balance traffice to our webservers. I ended up using Apache Rewrite rules to simulate a load balancer. Oy was it a hack. But it was also 5:30am and the world would be waking up and wondering why things were broken.

Yep, those were the good old days.

--Ben

Unix Power Tools

Here's part of the team doing some "real" work.

What's most exciting part - I'm now running a dual-head setup. That's dual whiteboards, not dual monitors. But anyone who knows me knows that I'd much prefer whiteboard real estate to screen real estate.

--Ben

Off by a few degrees

Looks like DC missed a bit of a bullet this morning. We had a bunch of snow and slush - but luckily, it was a few degrees too warm.

A few degrees the other way and every surface would have been coated in ice. Instead it's just a wet mess. Whew.

Of course a nasty ice storm storm may have ment a snow day with the if. I guess I'm not *that* lucky.

--Ben

My Next Stove

This evening I've come up with a must have feature for my next oven - internet access. Why on earth should I have to leave a nice warm bed to go downstairs to the kitchen, just to get a simple piece of information - is the oven on.

Instead, my next stove will be able to answer this question anywhere I have an internet connection (like from my sidekick, which I can use in the warm bed).

At first I though the answer was a wb sever on the oven. I'd hit some URL and get the vital stats.

But now that I've thought about it, I think an I'M bot interface would be way cooler. Imagine the conversation we (me and the oven) could have...

(Of course the oven is named Ken...)

...

Ben> hey Ken, yt?

Ken> oc, what's up?

Ben> you turned on?

Ken> Yeah baby!

Ben> How hot are you?

Ken> Really hot

Ben> Come on Ken, be serious. What are you set at.

Ken> You are no fun Ben. I'm current 225 degrees

...

Now, how could that be a bad idea?

--Ben

One man's trouble is another's opportunity

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/81032/us-blackberry-users-could-face-cut-off.html

So Blackberry is in a bit of trouble these days. Which seems to me to leave a real opportunity for a company to play in the typical Blackberry space: corporate mobile communications. And of course, I think the company that should get more involved is T-mobile and the product, Sidekick. I think that T-mobile has a chance to go after the very lucrative market that Blackberry is trying to defend.

First, from a abstract perspective the Blackberry device and the sidekick aren't *that* different. Both accomplish the same thing: get your e-mail on the road. But the marketing of each device is totally different: Blackberry is the corporate solution while the Sidekick is for kids. And each marketing campiagn is working - corporations buy up Blackberrys while teens buy up the Sidekick.

So, for T-mobile to tap into the corporate market, the first thing they are going to need to do is to change their marketing message. They need to stop pushing the device to kids and start making it an option for their working parents. I would think, though, the best place for T-mobile to focus is in the small/startup organization world. Don't be a me-too product going after the Xeroxs and GMs of the world, instead pitch yourself as the ideal platform for the little guy.

Small companies know they need to behave differently than large companies if they are to succeed. And if I were T-mobile that's the message I would be sending: if you're an old stuffy company, sure, go for a Blackberry. But if you are a fast-on-your-feet company, then your team needs Sidekicks.

One thing to consider is that a lot of professionals have no view of the Sidekick whatsoever. So T-mobile can shape the message as they see fit. This happens to me all the time, when I pull out my Sidekick at meetings. The screen-flip gets folks interested - though there's no real other official message from Sidekick, other than "this device is cool."

So, what exactly should the marketing message of the Sidekick be? How about ...

The device is standards compliant. You can hook this up to your pop e-mail account in seconds, and you all are set. No special, expensive, backened services needed.

This device is cheap. Unlimited - let me say that again - unlimited, bandwidth for $20.00/mo. Compare that to, what, $80.00/mo? Small businesses need to be thrifty and this is one more way to do so.

All the data on the phone is maintained on redundant, backed up, servers. Small companies are already struggling with their IT departments, this can just be something they don't need to worry about. And when your director of sales leaves his cell phone on a flight accidently, simply stop by any T-mobile store and get a new device. Within minutes, all your e-mail, to-do list and addresses are back again.

The Sidekick offers a ssh terminal, so your IT staff can use it to connect to and fix servers remotely. In other words, the Sidekick passes the "will geeks love it" test.

One of the most powerful apps on the Sidekick is the instant messenger application. It's the best mobile IM I've ever come across. Once you get used to the speed of IM, e-mail seems like a slow way to conduct busines. And this should be one of the Sidekick's primary marketing messages: e-mail is fine for a big company, but for a small agile company, nothing beats IM. Of course e-mail plays an important role in communication, but for that quick question between the director of sales and the director of marketing, IM is much more appropriate.

The technology - both the hardware and software - is there. All T-mobile needs to do is to start telling a new story. And my guess is that it is a story the market wants to hear.

--Ben

Holy Crepe!

Tonigh I got to go for a run - the first in too long. It was both dark and cold, which makes for some interesting running conditions. I had forgotten, but quickly remembered, that burning sensation you get in your lungs from gulping chilly air.

Afterwards, we went for dinner at La Creperie. I ordered a bunch of stuff off the menu which I couldn't pronounce and was quite impressed with the food. We split a salad which contained less than 60% lettuce and was covered in a most delicious (and bad for you) dressing; a mushroom crepe which was very tasty; and a potato thing which was to die for. And I'm not exaggerating, I'm pretty sure my cholesterol went up during this meal. But it was worth it.

I'm most impressed because the food seemed pretty unique and authentic. I recall ordering some fancy sounding potato dish from Wolfgang Puck only to get a bunch of fries with some seasoning poured on top. In this case the food was different, and unexpected.

Oh, and the place is cheap - $15.00 for the whole meal.

So, if you see a La Creperie, consider stopping - I give it an 8/10 for authentic and unique taste.

--Ben

Learning to Program

Learning to Program with DrScheme LG #119

A nice plug for using DrScheme as a language useful for learning to program.

If you want to give the gift this holiday season of learning to program you could buy a copy of How To Design Programs and burn a copy of DrScheme to a CD. Gift wrap the set, and you are good to go.

Don't think of it as teaching them to program in Scheme, think of it as teaching them to think like a geek.

MAKE's Mostly Under $100 Gift Guide 2005!

MAKE: Blog: MAKE's Mostly Under $100 Gift Guide 2005!

A nice gift-guide for those who have to buy for the geek in the family.

Hint to Mom: two items that caught my eye on this list were the disposable CVS camcorder and the MiniPOV 2 kit.

Test...

Did T-mobile fix their issues yet?!

Test...

What is this - test 3? Or 37? Anyway, if you can see this, images are working again...

Disaster in the making

This shot from my office may not appear to be a big storm. However, here in the DC world, this might as well be 2 feet of snow.

I'm just hoping it'll melt soon. Very very soon. Otherwise I'm going to get the chance to blog about how slow traffic is tonight :-).

FlipClips : Turn Your Digital Video Clips into Paper FlipClips!

FlipClips : Turn Your Digital Video Clips into Paper FlipClips!

I blogged a while ago about how you an make your own flipbook from a digital video. Lets say you don't have a lot of time, and you still think the idea is neat -- the site above will do it for you for around $9.00. It may not be as fun as making your own from scratch, but it sure is a lot easier.

Now, if only my Sidekick would let me take videos...

Birthday Lunch

For Shira's birthday lunch we tried a new Chinese resaurant - Oriental Star in Alexandria, VA. Their claim to fame (for us anyway) is that will make any dish (chicken, beef, pork, seafood) vegetarian by substituting tofu for the offending animal.

I tried Kung Pow Beef, Shira had Mushu Chicken. Both dishes were tasty and filled with tofu as promised.

The only questionable part of the experience was Shira's fortune cookie: "You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth." Ouch. The first time I've ever been offended by a fortune cookie.

If you eat veggie food - this place is worth a try.

Lunch

A new chinese restaurant we just tried.

The Vegetarian Guide to Washington, D.C.

http://www.vegdc.com/restaurants.php

Shira just found this - a guide to veggie restaurants in the area. I was pleasently surprised with the lenght of the list. The list is nice because it gives you some details about exactly what to expect at the restaurant.

If you eat vegetarian and will be in the DC area check it out.

Digital Divide

http://anina.typepad.com/anina/2005/12/digital_divide.html

This blog entry points to an interesting article about cell phones in the developing world. The $100 laptop may be a great device for kids in the developing world, but their parents could really use cell phones.

The article lists some clever uses for even the simplest cell phone (from basic communication to using SMS as am electronic wallet). I can only imagine what a smart phone or sidekick could be used for in those areas.

Also, the article makes the point that countries with cell phones don't need to develop the way we did. They don't need to go: signal telegraph, electronic telegraph, local wired phone, national wired phone, very expensive local cell service, cheap local cell service with expensive roaming, etc. Instead, they can jump right to cheap national/world communication via cell phones - skipping lots of steps in between. This should make for an interesting development pattern, as it should be less easy to predict than simply going through previously known stages.

Breakfast

Mmmmm...healthy birthday breakfast.

Last Date

Tonight was the last date I will ever go on with a 28 year old woman as tomorrow is Shira's birthday. To celebrate this fact, Shira and I went to a "fancy" restaurant - our usual Italian place, Tutto Bene (in Arlington VA). As usual, the food was very tasty - thanks most likely to the generous use of olive oil.

I call this place fancy because the tables had candles on them and we used cloth napkins. Not to mention the bill was over $19.99. Though the mood was broken a bit by all the kids at the table next to us singing along to the Italian opera playing on the sound system.

I'm kind of excited to see what being married to and older and wiser woman will be like. In just a few hours I'll find out.

Midbook Review: The Bomber

The Bomber by Liza Marklund was supposed to be a nice little novel about some pathalogical bomber. Ya know, something to make the commute easier to my new job. Though I have been plesantly surprised as the book so far (on side 9) hasn't been so much about a bomber - but about life in a daily paper.

It's been fun watching the story unfold through the eyes of the crime-desk editor. The author does a good job of letting the story unfold at a decent pace - where the main character figures out stuff when she should.

At first I assumed that the book took place in England, as the narrartor had a kinda English accent. But I realized that none of the place names sounded familiar - and everybody was driving a Volvo. Then it hit me - this is taking place in Sweden. This helps to explain the funky names - Olf Olfeson, or Anika, and why day care seems to be brought up so often. There were also references to what a small country the main character lives in.

So now I have this mental model of Sweden. The people are nice, their news agencies hard working, and they like to cuss a lot. Oh, and it's cold there.

So far I give the book and 8/10 for lisenability as it's been fun and the story works for me.

--Ben

Local Search Conference

[Sorry, can't include a conference photo...my Sidekick still can't send image e-mails]

I got to attend the Kelsey Group Local Search Conference yesterday evening and watch the big guns (AOL, Yahoo, MS, Google, etc.) talk about Local Search, and more specifically, maps. The title of one of the more impressive sessions was Maps, Mashups and Monetization.

There were some very educational points in this session, but the main take away is that the map isn't being used in advanced applications for just getting from place A to place B. Instead it's being used as a visualization technology - a new form of UI canvas.

In other words, say you have some data such as where movies are playing. You plop it on a map to simply help the user to visualize the data. An interesting and powerful notion. One that I could use in apps, but also a reminder that visualization metaphors can be powerful. It doesn't have to be a map per se, but next time I have a result set I'll be thinking of other ways to display the data rather than in rows and columns.

One speaker also made an interesting comment about where mapping is going. At this point they, and other companies are focusing, on APIs simply because having an army of creative third party developers is much more likely to produce the next big thing rather simply having a product developed internally.

Of all the companies, the google spokes person seemed the most like his company image. Relaxed and not out to prove anything. His slides were all white with a simple google logo in the upper corner. And he spent quite some time explaining why the google search API is and will remain free - even to commercial sites.

Lots of fun.

--Ben

Moblogging Blues

Apparently, Danger Inc, (the company that supports my Sidekick) is having server issues. It's odd, because my attempt to send e-mail with pictures fail (well, they don't fail - just never leave my outbox). This makes moblogging tricky especially because I really like using a picture or two to give the message some extra context.

But this note isn't all bad. It's worth noting that T-mobile has their support system setup to direct all sidekick questions to a Danger help desk. That means that I don't have to some generic clueless person who thinks that every problem I have is related to me not being able to send SMS messages.

Instead, I talk to a person who knows my network and my device. And in no time he confirmed that they did indeed have a known issue.

It's a nice setup and reminds me that customer service doesn't have to be hell.

--Ben

InBubbleWrap - Free Stuff?

InBubbleWrap

I don't claim to understand it -- but it sure is hard to argue with free. InBubbleWrap is a site that has contests you can enter on a very regular basis to win business related books and related materials.

As I said, I don't quite understand what the goal of the site is. But the tone is more of one where business ideas are informally exchanged, rather than a FREE FREE FREE contest site.

You may want to give the site a try and see how you fare.

textually.org: Mobile phone firm launches handset for four-year-olds

textually.org: Mobile phone firm launches handset for four-year-olds

As long as I'm on the theme today of how good kids have it...check out this item. A cellphone for kids. And by kids I mean 4 year olds.

I'm telling you, kids today - they have it so good.

Buy.com - FLY Pentop Computer

Buy.com - FLY Pentop Computer

Here's a chance to get (what seems to me) to be a pretty good deal on the new FLY Pentop Computer.There are reviews around and a good article in the latest issue of wired that talked about the device.I think it's a risky, but neat idea. Essentially, the toy is a computer that uses the pen as the input device and voice/the paper-you-draw-on as the output device. This makes the device portable, and gives you some interesting abilities to mix a computer with old-fashion media. In fact, the pen supports the ability to "scan" over a piece of paper and interpret the results as code to be run. In other words, LeapFrog could trivially publish a magazine that could contain "paper programs." It should also be nice and portable, which is something I assume parents will like. No clunky devices, just the pen and whatever sheets of paper they would like.

I'll guess I'll see what the hackers out there do to this device before I start drooling over one and consider buying it. Perhaps this is another good reason to consider having kids, so that I can buy them the gadgets I'd like to play with?Between this, and the $100 laptop, kids have it so good these days. Back in my day, after my 10 mile hike uphill to and from school, all I had to play with was a stick and some rocks.

TECTONIC: MIT's $100 laptop to run Redhat

TECTONIC: MIT's $100 laptop to run Redhat

More on the famous $100 laptop. They even included some pictures which I hadn't seen before. I think it's fairly clever that the form factor allows for the device to be used in the typical laptop fashion, as well as being held like an oversized novel.

Duct Tape Workshop

3M Canada | 3M Scotch� Duct Tape | Duct Tape Workshop

Step by step instructions for making something out of duct tape -- need anymore be said??

Thanks to my Dad, who knows my fondness for this all purpose utility device.

The "long hours at the new job" solution

So, I've been working and talking about my new job to Shira pretty much non-stop lately.

To thank her for putting up with me and for being so very supportive, I made a stop at my favorite jewelry store: Jared.

The result was an amethyst bracelet - and a happy wife.

The bear in the photos is also something Jared's is doing - you donate to St. Jude's Children Center and they give you another thing to give your wife to make her smile.

--Ben

Good Programming Style

Tutorial on Good Lisp Programming Style | Lambda the Ultimate

At work, the team I'm on is considering coming up with some more defined coding standards. The discussion above points to a well known tutorial on the topic. Yes, I know the title of the article contains the word "Lisp" -- but that's not why the article is interesting. It's interesting because the topic of standards is looked into with so much depth.

You can check out a PDF version of the tutorial here.

And when you are ready for a little laugh, you should also read the the guide to writing unmaintainable code.

MAKE: Blog: HOW TO - Make Flipbooks

MAKE: Blog: HOW TO - Make Flipbooks

An interesting project -- deliver a .avi movie on paper, how cool is that?

I agree with their suggestion: this could be a neat gift for that special someone.

Ben's law of printer behavior

Today I printed a short 1 page document (if you can call it that) from notepad. I walked over to the printer after a minute or two and found it saying: "Calibrating..." It then did so for approximately 5 minutes (which felt like 2 hours).

Excuse me? Do you really need to spend 5 minutes calibrating yourself to print a 1 page black and white document? That's a a rate of .2 pages per minutes.

Which brings us to Ben's law: the faster you need a document the longer the printer will "calibrate."

What laws have you discovered?

--Ben

Cool Tool: The Curtis Creek Manifesto

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001044.php

Seems like more and more I can depend on Kevin Kelly and his Cool Tools blog to provide some thought provoking insight. Tonight's cool tool - a fly fishing manual.

Yep, you read that right. What makes this manual interesting is that it is written as a cartoon. As Kevin points out, cartoons are one of the most dense ways to pack information into a book.

I find this interesting, because as a programmer, I'm always curious how others solve the problem of packaging information. I do it with programming languages - where the goal is to have a concise program that is easy to read and understand.

Hmmm, I wonder if I could invent a cartoon based programming language? Or maybe we should use cartoons for the documentation? I guess the more serious question is to contemplate why cartoons are so dang effective.

Like I said, stuff to think about.

--Ben

Lucky via a Stranger

Tonight's entertainment was provided by a perfect stranger. Somebody let $10.00 in a lotto-card machine. We figured that someone else was going to take the cards, so why not us? We got 5 $2.00 cards.

In the end, we won $55.00. I'd love to know the story behind whoever invented the scratch-off game piece. What a novel concept - simple, yet apparently very hard to "beat."

Thanks to this anonymous stranger, we got to have that unique thrill of scraping off a paper card and hoping you would make $25,000 in the process.

And don't worry, the money is going to charity. So if it was your $10.00 you left in the machine, you can be happy you did something good for the world.

--Ben

Reuters: Cranberries may help prevent cavities: study

Reuters: Cranberries may help prevent cavities: study

Cool, I can stop brushing my teeth and just drink cranberry juice. That's ok, right Jeff?

(Jeff's my dentist friend, who I turn to whenever I make big dental decisions. My recommendation is, if you don't have a dental friend, get one today. I can't tell you how handy they are to have around.)

Tricycle of the Future

While following Cool Tools, I came across this article for the Sun USX Recumbent Tricycle (not exactly the model shown in the picture above, but I just couldn't resist). I particularly liked the comment:

What's significant about the USX? It's the most comfortable human powered vehicle ever, more comfortable than many cars. It's safe, practical, and affordable.

In other words, this $800 bike isn't being reviewed because it's an extreme machine, a custom made bike for Bike Geeks (there are Bike Geeks, aren't there?). It's because this is an alternative to buying a $15,000 car. I find that just remarkable.

How cool would it be if vehicles like this could become more mainstream? Perhaps you could even mix this concept with a the Zip Car concept. For your daily activities you could use a bike like this, and for longer trips, you could get access to a car.

This does remind me of a comment (joke?) my dad made about the current oil crisis. He explained to me that the US and China are changing places. Today, parking lots of American companies are jammed with cars, while the same parking lots in China are crammed with Bicycles. In the not-too-distant future, the roles will be reversed, we'll all be riding bicylces, while China will have the cars.

If the bikes are as cool and as comfortable as the one described in the review, I'm not sure I'm as bothered by that vision.

Software Teams

Glenn Vanderburg: The Right Team for Rails

Glenn Vanderburg had some interesting thoughts about what would make an ideal time for a Ruby on Rails project. Now, I know basically nothing about Ruby On Rails (my preferred framework is SISCweb of course), but I was still struck by his comments. He summarizes a quality team as:

• Writing clean, expressive code
• Avoiding duplication
• Keeping responsibility well defined (in layers, components, classes, and methods)
• Testing thoroughly
• Aggressively employing automation for repetitive tasks

All I would add to his comments are this: I don't care if you are writing COBOL, Ruby, or Scheme, the above set of goals are still what you should be shooting for.

A Minor Redesign

A Minor Redesign

Joel Spolsky did a minor redesign of the look of his blog. What I found impressive was that he did it not to add more fluff, but with a very specific goal. I guess that's what a redesign should be about: recognizing what is broken, making sure you can test it to see if it's fixed, and then actually fixing it.

Check out his comments, and get inspired to do your own redesign.

AIM bots...again...

I mentioned earlier that I'm a big fan of the AOLYellowPages bot, as I find it much easier to get address data over I'M than by using a browser.

My new favorite bot is SmarterChild - it's a kind of general purpose bot. One feature I really like is the spell checking. Just type:

Spell <yourword>

And the bot will give you suggested spellings. Spell the word right and you can get a definition.

Again, a useful UI that seems much more efficient than a browser.

Remember, to use these bots just add them as buddies to your AIM list and send them a message saying hello.

--Ben