http://www.johnarch.net/blog/ en-us johnarch.ma@gmail.com Copyright 2006-2009 2007-02-11T12:22:32-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0015.php Rolling out creative new applications that enhance communities . . . and doing it really fast!iPhone Developers Meetup that was hosted by The Boston Globe. I went to high school directly across the street from The Globe, and as this was my first visit to the venerable newspaper, I reflected upon how our society’s rapid assimilation of digital technology has been so disruptive to the newspaper industry’s business model; walking through the newsroom felt like being in a museum. By hosting this event, The Globe was hoping to get some perspective on how digital technology could help it survive.

Eight developers gave ten-minute demos of their recent projects. Several were interesting, but the highlight was Anna Callahan’s demo of rapid-prototyping techniques. In the days before the meetup, Anna brainstormed some ideas, built some simple apps, and put respectable skins on them. But what impressed me most was how freely she was able to use her creativity to develop applications that challenge the norms of what digital technology should be. The most interesting application she developed was a google mapish tool that one could use to see and notate the presence of potholes in and around the Boston area. I overheard one technical staffer at The Globe say that he was "blown away" by her presentation.

Anna was a professional jazz singer for ten years before becoming a software engineer, and I feel that her experience as a musician makes rapid prototyping easy for her; the process is a bit like improvisation, after all. After the presentations, she and I talked about how bringing an artistic mindset to one’s job leads to innovation, no matter what the field. Having a creative spark, and the ability to channel it, is at the heart of inventiveness.

About a month ago I read this article about a newly-released iPhone app, looking just like the one Anna demoed, and which can be used to report potholes directly to Boston’s City Hall. The full application was developed by a firm called Connected Bits, but I suspect that Anna’s idea was the seed that led to the flower . . . it amazes me how quickly her application went from concept to reality.

More and more, digital technology is becoming an ad hoc tool for the formation of inter-community connectedness, and with each passing day there is a growing need for each of us to possess the skills required to create such technologies. No matter what profession (or what stage of life) one is in, one needs to form relationships with others. The more quickly one can create new digital mediums, the more quickly one can connect with others in meaningful (and unique) ways.

I guess it’s time to improvise . . . ]]> Digital Technology2009-08-12T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0014.php We are getting closer to robust web development via an elegant, intuitive interface.review of Apple’s iWeb tool for web design, and was impressed by how it enables users to create their own custom websites - websites that are as distinct and unique as the people who make them.

Still, if non-professional developers, working in the comfort of their own home, are to ever create the sort of e-commerce websites that today’s businesses often pay big money for, many improvements need to be made to iWeb-like software, especially regarding the need for "hackable" code and the necessity of terrific (and automated) database design. Coupling improvements in these areas with a simple, elegant interface will allow anyone to create the most sophisticated of websites.

Because digital technology is a long, long way from understanding all the desires and intentions of the humans who use and create it, hacking code - I'll define the term as actually writing some of the website’s code oneself - is an essential part of nuanced web development. Sure, it's great that iWeb can save me a lot of time and energy by taking care of the mundane details of coding, but I need to be able to fine-tune a site to make it perfect. It’s really no different than what engineers do when they program microprocessors by fine-tuning the Assembly language that is created from C code.

Truly, hacking is important to more than just expert programmers; many of my friends on CouchSurfing.com embed bits of html right in their profile, just as mySpace users create or download css files. In 2009, the average American high school student knows several basic html tags, and as time goes on, more and more Americans will have the ability (and desire) to make basic, simple changes to the elaborate websites that programs like iWeb can create. iWeb needs to be great at auto-generating code, but flexible enough to allow customized hacks.

Work still needs to be done so that iWeb will make reliably effective databases, but given how many people are familiar with MicroSoft Access, it’s fair to say that relational databases are not a difficult concept to grasp for the average person; there must be a way for a software application to help a non-developer create a worthwhile (and accurate) database. A user should be able to tell a program like iWeb what sort of data needs to be managed, and the program should then create the appropriate tables. Most people will never need a complex database schema, but most people will need a program that understands how to make the schemas they need.

There’s much to do before great web development comes to the masses, but I’m heartened by the progress that is being made . . . baby steps!]]> Digital Technology2009-03-16T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0013.php Plugins are a blessing and a curse for developersBoston JAVA Meetup Group, a sociable group of programmers who meet for lectures about and discussions of the JAVA programming language. Recently, while discussing eclipse, several of us began to lament the performance (and diagnostic) issues that can arise from having too many plugins. One group member said he has gone so far as to have three or four instances of Eclipse installed, so as to assist with the diagnosis of plugin-related performance issues.

I left that meetup thinking about the problems I've noticed while developing for Firefox; a plugin I had installed was inhibiting the proper display of PDF files within the browser, and I only have about four plugins. I've grown accustomed to the fact that any Firefox-specific bugs I encounter may be plugin-related, but then I have to determine which plugin is creating the problem. This is complicated even more by issues that arise from software updates.

What can be done to make dealing with plugin issues easier?

It seems tedious to sift through developer forums for the answers to such problems. Should I really need to invest that much time? When I look at the Firefox Ad-On Page, I see very little that can help me. Is there anything to be found on the eclipse, site? I see nothing. Plugin-related problems are likely to grow exponentially as plugin usage becomes more prevalent, so a more practical solution needs to be arrived at to enhance the open-source experience.

Perhaps a first step would be to develop some sort of web database tool to assist with tracking known issues that arise due to plugin incompatibilities - a place where users can search for entries by plugin name. But it would be really great if someone created a diagnostic tool that could examine what plugins are installed for a particular program, and then alert the user to known or potential performance issues. Ideally, it would be best to find out about potential problems the moment a user begins to install a plugin.

Maybe we'll have a plugin to diagnose plugins ;)

I have confidence that the open-source community will respond to this emerging issue appropriately. More than likely, a team will be formed, consisting of developers who have been motivated by their own bad experiences. Hopefully, this will happen soon - doing so will only accelerate the adoption of the open-source philosophy. ]]> Digital Technology2008-07-23T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0012.php CBS as benefactor to the less-than-famousarticle about music producer Rick Rubin that I keep thinking about. Rubin - whose fame and unorthodox managerial style have brought attention to his tenure as co-head of Columbia Records - is attempting to guide Columbia through the turbulence that is changing how the music industry operates. Ultimately, most of the challenges that Rubin faces are about the decentralized and asynchronous ways in which we now consume information (including art) on the Internet - ways that are creating the phenomena of microCelebrity.

CBS and other organizations like it lost their hold on culture when the public's need to use television, radio and newspapers disappeared. As a result, not only are these organizations making less money, but the star system that has been so central to their business model has become outdated. Honestly, could Beatlemania ever happen again? How about Walter Cronkite as America's newsman? These cultural events only became as big as they were because of the lack of asynchronous communication. Even with YouTube allowing for art and culture to be asynchronously consumed by the whole world, it could never duplicate the emotional significance associated with watching the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan show at the same time as tens of millions of other people.

So where do things go from here?

Right now we're in a time of do-it-yourself microCelebrity: people are using basic tools to become famous on the Internet amongst a very small following of people, all the while being completely unknown to the rest of the world. Occasionally someone has mass appeal (see RocketBoom), but such appeal is difficult to maintain as cultural change now happens at an even faster pace than before.

Rubin seems to be exploring the idea of CBS as corporate benefactor to the digital/entrepreneurial artist, and he's right to do so. If Columbia simply provides seed money, a network of connected individuals, and resources - all on a modest scale - most new artists will be enterprising enough to take care of the rest. It is no different than the days when artists were sponsored by wealthy benefactors. Just as William Butler Yeats had Lady Gregory, so musicians can have Columbia Records, only the artist won't be quite so famous.

My belief is that eventually - probably within five years - an enterprising artist will find a way to make first class art that is consumed via the Internet and is also profitable. With a new business model, Columbia Records can be right there to cash in on the artist's microCelebrity. ]]> Digital Technology2008-04-24T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0011.php Programming will be like reading or writinglatest book on the death of IT has inspired me to do so.

I often feel that we are moving into a future where sophisticated programming will be an essential skill for everyone, almost as much as being able to read and write. Today we have teenagers hacking their mySpace page; tomorrow they will build fairly elaborate databases with web front ends, and, as time goes on, even more elaborate projects will be undertaken. One of the basic epistemological assumptions of the One Laptop per Child project is that children will learn how to program by first playing around with ("hacking") their own code, then freely sharing what they've learned amongst their peers. In twenty years, I see pretty much everyone being able to create fairly sophisticated programs beyond the capability of all but today's most expert coders.

I (sort of) think Carr (partially) agrees with my hypothesis, at least if by "IT" he means "data center. " He does write about how "individual employees will be able to control the processing of information directly... " and this will happen. There will be so many tools freely available to assist with the creation of databases, security controls, etc., that there's no reason why an individual can't manage bytes and bits on his/her own. You need to know where your bits are - mine are located on a machine in Utah, managed by the folks at bluehost.com - but as long as you know the location of your bits in Carr's information cloud, you will be able to do whatever you want with them.

Carr and I seem to differ about the manner in which one will manage one's bits; he makes it seem like people won't be writing code. I feel that the number of people who write code all the time - aka, professional programmers - will decline, but mainly because the number of people who are capable of writing some code is going to jump exponentially. There will still be a need for professional programmers, but mainly as gurus for the rest of the population, and as managers of the data cloud.

I see data as a sea of bits - having the ability to safely sail across it allows one to harness its awesome power to one's advantage; an entire generation of humans is about to set sail... ]]> Digital Technology2008-01-08T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0010.php An Airline with a PC-TV interfacehere.

I'm starting to think that any interface with a hybrid TV-PC machine would look a lot like it.

The controller, which was stowed away in the armrest of my seat, was a little bit smaller than a standard TV remote. On one side it had the standard setup for changing channels, etc, but on the flip side it had a querty keyboard (with Blackberry-sized keys) as well as some buttons for navigating menus in lieu of a mouse.

The sides of this half-inch thick remote had buttons for usage in gaming; they were easy to manipulate, as the device had rounded sides.

Overall I think this remote has the right idea, but a few changes are needed for the shape; it's way too long to be practical for texting, and would be a bit cumbersome for gaming. Perhaps a shorter, more oval-shaped device like this would be an improvement? ]]> Digital Technology2007-09-08T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0009.php With the Stiletto, SIRIUS has something serious to offerStiletto.

The first thing I noticed was the familiar "click wheel" navigation device that Apple pioneered, making the Stiletto easy to navigate. I was unfamiliar with the SIRIUS business model, so I asked about it and was told that aside from being able to listen to an extensive array of radio stations, a user can save songs heard on the SIRIUS network to their Stiletto - a great idea for those times when you are out of wifi/satellite range, like on a subway train. You can also load music files from your own collection onto the device. So essentially, a SIRIUS subscriber gets a portable music player for $250 and an unlimited amount of music for $13 per month. Compare this to an 80 GB iPod that costs $350, plus the cost of buying and downloading music.

For the first time, I think I've seen a device that can challenge the iPod/iTunes model. The question is: what will Steve Jobs do about it?

As a user, I would definitely prefer to keep my iPod; as a piece of hardware, it's a better device. But as a music fan, I've lost the splendid spontaneity of discovering new music via the radio, and I want it back. I could be tempted to make the switch to SIRIUS for just this reason.

Right now, Apple has nothing to worry about; SIRIUS would need a huge influx of subscribers to chop into Apple's lead. But this could happen, unless Apple can proactively do something about it.

To this observer, the challenge is similar to what Apple faced in the 80's when it dominated the home computer market. Back then, Apple wouldn't modify its business model - they refused to let their products work with products from other companies, and eventually, it cost them everything. I'd love to see Steve Jobs create an iPod that does all the same things as the Stiletto, and the easiest way to do this would be through cooperation with SIRIUS. But what are the odds he would ever do this? If he tries to compete directly against SIRIUS, will he succeed?

I hope he's learned his lesson. ]]> Digital Technology2007-07-27T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0008.php When semantic search arrives, will Google still dominate?
Google is constantly refining its search engine, and I have no doubt that they are working on ways to incorporate the semantic web into future versions of their search algorithms. But with the exact manner in which the semantic web takes shape yet to be determined, it would be really easy for a small start-up to create an innovative tool that knocks Google off its perch. It would be the same as Achilles getting killed by an arrow that strikes his heel, and it could easily happen - after all, Google was once that company. Can they maintain their edge?

It is my opinion that Google will be the leader in semantic search, primarily because of the creative freedom given to their employees. It is this freedom, paired with the totality of Google's intellectual capital, that gives them the ability to develop the best new products and find innovative solutions to problems. All this happens in spite of the fact that Google is so much larger and more bureaucratic than it once was - something which ordinarily might inhibit such innovations.

Still, the undefined nature of a semantic application's look and feel will give small David-like organizations the opportunity to knock off Google's Goliath. The only sure thing is that the leader in semantic search will make a lot of money in advertising - and probably become the next big thing. ]]> Digital Technology2007-06-07T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0007.php Will the use of Windows servers become more appealing?pro-linux ads that spoof Apple's well-known "Mac versus Windows" marketing campaign. In one of the ads a young lady playing the role of Linux mentions that there are over 30 million Linux users, a number which is sure to grow significantly over the next decade, especially amongst average users.

What does a future where Linux becomes a major player in home computing look like?

I attended a lecture last year where it was noted that because the source code of Linux is so widely available, hackers have ample opportunity to develop new techniques for accessing a system's kernel. To me, it seems logical that an increase in the prevalence of Linux is only going to make the problem worse, at least for a while. All this is will be going on while Microsoft's code remains proprietary.

In today's world, Linux is mostly for servers. But in tomorrow's, should sysAdmins switch to Windows?

So many people, especially in the developing world, will know how to use Linux, and so many of them will be programmers capable of hacking into another computer; it seems inevitable that, barring more effective and systematic thwarting of hackers - especially better regulation of ISPs in places like Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia - it will become much, much more difficult to manage Linux servers. This alone will make Windows a more attractive alternative for sysAdmins.

Think about this - if we eventually live in a world where Linux is the OS of choice for most homes, why not rely on a proprietary, "obscure" OS for serving data? What hacker is going to spend his/her time trying to crack a system whose source isn't open?

A couple months ago I installed a trial version of Windows Server 03 on a machine where I work, and I can't say that it's awful. I'd prefer Linux, but this machine is plenty serviceable. And if using Windows means less hassle when it comes to security, I'd just assume bite the bullet.

By no means do I think this role reversal is certain, and I certainly would prefer that open source software become as safe as possible. But the possibilities are intriguing. ]]> Digital Technology2007-04-13T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.johnarch.net/blog/entry0006.php We need a remote control for a fused TV/PC machine.
Beyond this are computers that are actually designed to work with your television: Apple's iTV is an example that comes to mind, and the internet has gotten in on the act with youTubeish websites broadcasting video. As we move closer to a point where a television is also a computer with a giant monitor, a question arises: what will the user interface be?

Several months ago I read an article on wired.com in which the author got rid of his cable TV plan and tried to live entirely off of video content downloaded from the internet. As I read the story, I kept wondering why there isn't some sort of device that allows the user to seamlessly move back and forth between television and internet-based content, all while being able to sit comfortably on a sofa or in a reclining chair.

Just now I did a search on google for "remote control computer" and found a few devices that supposedly allow you to control your computer with an ordinary TV remote, but what is really needed is a way to seamlessly integrate the experiences of watching a TV and using a computer. Having a simple, elegant user interface will be the key to this; there needs to be a way to consume all this media while reclining in a chair and holding a drink in your hand. There needs to be a device that lets a user interact with this machine using only one hand, much like with an ordinary television.

I've been prognosticating about the eventual union of television and personal computers ever since a particular sixth grade science project, and the machines necessary to make this into reality are almost here. Now what is needed is the right type of interface for the viewing habits of the typical user. ]]> Digital Technology2007-03-08T06:00:00-05:00