wrighters.net

I got an interesting survey this week from ESPN.  The survey asked about ESPN360, ESPN’s online video site.  I first used it during the last world cup (2006?  it’s been that long?) to watch a few games at work.  ESPN has decided that instead of using a pure ad supported model, they would go to the ISPs just like they go to the cable companies and demand payment for carrying their ‘network’.  Since I use Comcast I am currently out of luck since Comcast and ESPN have not been able to agree on whatever this payment is, so ESPN360 is not available for me.  There have been hacks in the past that have worked, such as signing up for a free Verizon business account, but that doesn’t appear to work anymore.  ESPN wants you to do what all those new cable network  ads say – “To get the new Knitting channel, call your cable provider right away and ask for us by name”.  That seems a little ridiculous to me, they need to provide a better mechanism for this, maybe some kind of voting site or petition process.

This really stinks the few times a year when there is a game I really want to watch that is not available elsewhere.  Also, since I have the $9 cable from Comcast, I don’t even get ESPN.  ESPN360 would be perfect for the few games a year that I really want to watch.  I’d even pay per game if it was available.  I think if ESPN would jump on board with an ad supported model, they could do very well.  Just look at Hulu as an example, people will pay much more attention to ads in smaller doses online in exchange for good content.  I think ESPN360 could deliver the demographic that advertisers would pay premium dollars for.  Should be interesting to see what happens over the next year or two.

This article from the New York Times was interesting.  Turns out that by being very frugal, the Japanese have possibly made their economy worse.

However, I’m not sure if “underconsuming” is really that bad of a thing, even if it causes some economic pain.  I love the quote from a 20 year old Japanese woman, ““I’m not interested in big spending,  I just want a humble life.”

Maybe this is where we are headed, and it might do us some good.  If we had all lived more simply sooner, the current financial crisis would probably have been avoided from the beginning.

I saw the WordPress iPhone app come up on the iPhone applications unofficial feed. I grabbed it right away and started this post. Setting up a new blog is easy, you just add the URL and username and password. Once setup, you can see the last 30 posts (configurable), or create a new one. Each post has tags, categories, the title, and the content. All HTML had to be entered manually, so you definitely won’t be doing anything too complicated. Maybe there are plans for some tag shortcuts in the future. And with no cut an paste on the iPhone, you will be doing all the typing in your post.

The preview function works great. I also tried the picture link and took a new picture using the built in camera. The app then crashed, but the post was still intact in the drafts folder. Of course I’ve had lots of apps crashing with the new 2.0 firmware, so who knows whose fault that is.

The big benefit over using your browser is the fact you can now create posts offline, which should encourage more writing. You do this by saving it as a local draft. Once it is moved to draft, it shows up in your blog interface.

This app is also a quicker way to do a quick edit of an existing post because of the simple interface and lower data transfer needed. Best of all, it’s open source just like WordPress. Get it now.

Like many iPhone owners I couldn’t wait to try the new 2.0 firmware. So when macrumors reported it was available early, I downloaded and installed it against my better judgment. You have to download the file separately and then use option click on the “Check for update” button in iTunes to install the firmware.

First, I thought I bricked my iPhone when it wouldn’t install. iTunes then recognized the iPhone was in recovery mode, but a restore failed with the error “iphone could not be restored (20)”. Turns out you can also use option click on the “Restore” button to get another attempt to install the firmware. The second try worked.

The new firmware is great – the app store is nice. I put twitterific, facebook, and a few more apps on right away. Now I’m finding my first synch will not get past the “Syncing contacts” step. This may be an adventure.

I think a lot of geeks will be pretty worthless at work tomorrow.

I read Serve God, Save the Planet a number of months ago, but was prompted to write about it based on the story in the NY Times today about a change in the Southern Baptist Convention’s official stance on climate change and another story on the addition of pollution to the official list of sins in the Catholic church. Obviously, climate change, pollution, the environment, energy consumption, and similar issues are not going away any time soon.

Serve God, Save the Planet, A Christian Call to Action is written by Matthew Sleeth, a former ER doctor from the East coast. He was living the good life, with a big house, nice cars, and a good career. Then he began to notice how many of his patients were coming into the ER with sicknesses related to environmental issues, from asthma to breast cancer. As he started to look into the issues behind these illnesses, he was convicted by his own lifestyle and how it contributed to the environmental damage that was causing these problems.

This book is an easy read with lots of practical advice. He backs up his viewpoints with scripture, and shares some fascinating stories. Most of us have heard “tree huggers” telling us how to live, but this book really prompted me to action. After reading it, I immediately made a couple of changes that I have stuck with since:

• I have stopped taking my lunch in plastic bags to work that I threw out – I’m now recycling all plastic bags
• I am not going to put pesticides or herbicides on my lawn – I still have a bag of Scotts in the garage from last spring
• I am turning off lights like crazy around the house
• I turned the thermostat down one degree this winter

One thing I like about this book is that it doesn’t spend time debating whether climate change is real or not – it concentrates on the real measurable impact of our consumption on the world’s resources. It really is an environmentalist primer for Christians, with scripture to back it up. This would make a great book for discussion in a small group or among friends.

I got a new iPhone today, and thought I would try to activate it with a prepaid plan – known as a GoPhone with AT&T.  This would allow me to not have to sign a contract and since I use almost no minutes anyway, it would be $5/month cheaper than the lowest postpaid plan.  I quick google search shows that there used to be a nice hole in the activation process where you could send in a garbage SSN like all 9’s, fail the credit check, and then get an option to go with a prepaid “pick your plan” option. It looks like that hole has been closed by Apple or AT&T. This looks like a server side fix – since it allows you to submit the form before telling you the SSN is no good.

There’s really no other apparent way to activate prepaid without having terrible credit. I guess that’s the punishment I get for good credit – no choice. Now I get a 2-year relationship with AT&T – a company I had managed to get rid of for a few year.

After a regular activation, the phone has been pretty good. We’ll see if the number ports over from prepaid T-mobile ok. I bet it won’t be ported into AT&T for at least 24 hours.

Yay!  Apple has apparently announced a fix for the keyboard freezing problem on MacBooks and MacBook Pros that I was noticing.  The software update notice says:

This update addresses a responsiveness issue on MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers. Some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems may occasionally experience a temporary suspension of keyboard input which can last a minute or longer. The Mac OS X 10.5.1 update is required before installing the MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1.

We’ll see how this goes.  I had not noticed as much of this since updating to 10.5.1, but it was still happening occasionally.

I was first exposed to Michael Lopp’s writing from his blog, Rands in Repose. Rands is his pen name, and the blog deals with issues around managing technology professionals, from a Silicon Valley perspective. When I heard that he had published a book, I knew I had to read it. Managing Humans is 34 chapters divided into three parts: The Management Quiver, The Process is the Product, and Versions of You. Each chapter reads like a short essay, some of them have already been published in some form on his blog. Since I am not a manager, the first part was not as relevant for me in my day-to-day work, but really helped me to better understand my current and past managers. Just like watching Office Space, this book will give you so many “That’s so true!” moments. I’m sure anyone reading read the book will have the same experience, even if they have not worked in technology in any capacity – just being in an organization with more than one layer would suffice. I am going to make sure my manager reads this book, especially the first section. The second section is very helpful for anyone involved in software or technology projects. The third section has some great chapters on resumes, interviews, starting a new job, and navigating meetings.

I think having my wife read the chapter on N.A.D.D. (Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder) and A Nerd in a Cave will do more to help her understand me than hours of conversation on the subjects covered there. For example, N.A.D.D. is essentially that condition that enables a nerd to listen to music, read through 5 blog posts a minute in Google Reader, carry on 5 IM conversations, and write code all at the same time. Any Nerd will read these chapters and find themselves nodding and agreeing with the way the topic has been dealt with.

I also appreciated the chapter on outsourcing. There is some really good career advice in this book, especially for those of us in technical jobs. The book is also a quick read, in N.A.D.D.-friendly 5 page chapters. I found I could digest a few chapters on the commute home with no trouble. Take a look at the blog, and if you like the writing, pick up the book.

I got a new MacBook (white 2.2 GHz CPU) on November 3rd, just after the update to the new Santa Rosa chipset.  It has been quite nice, especially since I updated the memory to 4 GB using third party memory.  Apple wanted $850 for a 4 GB upgrade, I did it for $150.  The extra RAM came in really handy using VMware Fusion.  Leopard has for the most part been stable and impressive with most of the new features working great.

I have had some problems with the keyboard freezing occasionally.  I found that if I closed the lid and reopened it a few times, the keyboard would sometimes come back.  The trackpad works fine the entire time, but the keyboard would completely stop working.  Looking around a bit, it appears this is possibly a major issue with Leopard on MacBooks and MacBook Pros.  I installed the 10.5.1 update about three days ago and haven’t had the problem since, but it appears that some people are still having the issue after the update.  Apple better get to the bottom of this quickly, or word will continue to get out and the mainstream press may stop fawning all over them.  The story hit techmeme today, so I guess the word is getting out.

I have used a Fisher bullet pen for a while now. These are the pens made famous by the Seinfeld episode where Jerry accepts the pen from his parents’ arch nemesis in the condo association, and they want him to give it back. Hilarity ensues. The big deal was that the pen could write upside down (which it can). I like the bullet pen because it is really small and can fit in your pocket. The problem is that it is in two pieces and the cap has to be removed and placed back on the main part of the pen in order for it to be long enough to write with.

I just got a new Fisher Telescoping Pen on Friday. This pen is made from “F-16″ aluminum (did they buy an F-16 to cut into pieces?) and consists of one piece with a part that extends out the back for a balanced feel when the pen is open and you are writing, then closes up to 3 1/2″ when closed. So far, I really like it – let’s hope I don’t lose it.