July 2002 Archives

Dave Winer says, "Very little really usable software has come from people who are willing to work for $0. (I chose my words carefully, infrastructure is another matter entirely.) Further, it's weird to say, as Richard Stallman does, that by coercing programmers to work for $0 that that's freedom. To me it seems obvious that that's slavery."

Heh. Freedom is slavery. Go figure. Put another way, is coercing programmers to work for $100,000 freedom or slavery? Very little really usable software has come from people who are willing to work for six figures either, Dave.

[David Watson via Sam Ruby]

I agree with David Watson here. The issue is not how much a programmer is paid at all. I think the issue is programmers (of which I am guilty of being) are general the worst points of reference in regards to usability. We have a high pain threshold when it comes to interfaces. Many of us learned about programming using the command line and text editors. Many of us still work there. As programmers we also have a tendency to *want* to be challenged. We find coding fun. (Read Tim O'Reilly's weblog post "Creativity, Flow, and Joy in Programming." According to a survey presented at OSCON, 56% of open source contributers do so because its a hobby or for fun and learning.) We want to tackle the really difficult problem or the sexy new technology. We have short attention spans and get bored when something becomes simple, rote or repetitive.

Which leads me to another point worth noting. Usability work takes time, often money, patience and commitment. MovableType is so well done and usable because Ben and Mena are committed to making it so usable. I do recall reading that they went out and hired (as in paid money) for a usability firm to make recommendations in improving the interface. (With all due respect, can Dave Winer say the same? I'm going to guess he cannot and if he can then he should ask for his money back.)

In regard to the lack of participation of the usability community in free and open source software, I'm curious to know why more usability experts have not gotten involved or voice their thoughts and criticism (like in a weblog). It seems like a perfect opportunity to hone their skills and make a name for themselves. Perhaps its because usability is not fun.

Sam Ruby published his essay on REST & SOAP. I'm glad to see someone as smart and levelheaded as Sam getting involved by publishing an essay and on the topic. I've been delving into REST theory and trying to understand how its contrasts with SOAP/WSDL/UDDI. I think REST and its often-fanatical supporters have some very good, valid points. REST illustrates that Web services are not just the holy trinity of SOAP/WSDL/UDDI -- something I've written about in the past. RESTful Web services are more lightweight and simple implementation then SOAP and company. They carry too much overhead for simple operations or operations over public mobile networks by low powered devices. REST also better utilizes the existing infrastructure of the Web then the current the incarnation of the SOAP Web services stable which in some ways does reinvent it. However I don't believe REST is a total solution or one that couldn't use more work, as its advocates seem to indicate. My research and interest continues.

Slate published "Tangling the Web: How Web services are changing the Internet" a piece worth reading if your trying to understand Web Services or your an "expert" that struggles to explain it in simple terms to those who are not.

Infoworld recently polled subscribers of their Technology & Business Daily newsletter (Sorry, no link is apparently available) and asked "What phrase best describes the WS-I?" Here are the responses:

12% A) A much-needed industry consortium to promote interoperability.
 2% B) A harmless adjunct to the standards process.
30% C) A thinly veiled industry consortium trying to control the standards process.
56% D) An attempt by Microsoft and IBM to marginalize Sun.
 0% E) None of the above.

The U.K. government confirmed on Monday that it will consider open-source software as a way to avoid getting locked into proprietary information technology products.

Not only central government will be affected by the policy: so too will local governments and the wider public sector, including non-departmental public bodies and the National Health Service. Contracts will be awarded on a value-for-money basis. [CNET News.com]

Microsoft as the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (ADTI) are horrified. The UK aren't the first, other national governments have made similar moves. This is starting to become a trend that Redmond is sure to sure to try and stop. Besides the open source FUD report I highlighted Microsoft is proported to have encouraged, Wired News reports Microsoft has enlisted the US Ambassador in Lima to lobby to kill a bill mandating the use of open source technology in Peru's government system.

On my recent family vacation, my experiment in trying to revive an ancient laptop proved fruitful to a degree and enlightening.

I was able to login, get mail, do a post to the blog, and run some perl scripts I use. I didn't try any extensive writing this outing, but Word 97 seems to be doing fine. The speed in which Windows 95 boots up, even on a lowly Pentium, highlights how fat later versions have become. (Can you imagine how fast Windows 95 would boot on the machines we use now? Has anyone tried this out of curiosity?) Using Windows 95 also highlights how cluttered and complex Windows has become. Granted Windows 2000 on is a true 32 bit OS and I have not had the chance to try out XP, but I have to wonder is all of this heft necessary? To that point, I was quite surprised at how memory intensive, and thus sluggish, Mozilla was. I had expected more since the browser is often touted as the client for lightweight application architectures. I also found what seems to be a bug. Trying to save anything to the file system through the browser -- HTML pages, bookmarks or file downloads -- crashes Mozilla. Also 256 colors seem to not be a concern any longer. Is there a 256 color safe skin for Mozilla? Also of note, I missed the high resolution of my desktop (1600 x1200) and some of the interface refinements in versions that came after Windows 95. I also missed not being able to have my music on my laptop. This has more to do with the 800MB HD and not having a network card or CD-ROM either.

Overall I’m not getting as much as much utility as I had originally hoped, but certainly a fair amount out of a machine that most would considered garbage. At the same time I'm frustrated and disheartened by the general lack of optimization in PC desktop software today that this experiment has illustrated to me. It makes we wish Linux on the desktop was more refined and easier to install. Maybe I should try out OS X. I could audition to do a "switch" commercial for Apple.

Intel missed its numbers this quarter on poor sales. AMD and Transmeta continue to struggle also. Dell is expanding beyond PCs, Gateway is still fighting to be profitable again, and others have failed completely. Entry level brand name machines can be had for just over $500. (See "Computers: Why the party's over".) Microsoft reports a slowdown in the frequency of software upgrades and is tightening the monopoly thumbscrews to get users to upgrade and new licensing plan that will maintain is astronomical revenue stream and cash supply despite the slump. the rest of the software industry isn't as fortunate these days.

It makes me consider have we reached the practical limits for general desktop usage? Do we really need Pentium 4's or have desktop CPUs become "fast enough" for most of us? Have software designers fallen into a because-it-was-there syndrome that current hardware presents? Does Windows need all of these features, options and overhead or are these features an attempt to justify upgrades and new computer sales? What if Microsoft made simple, lightweight and ease-of-use the highest priorities in its product designs? Would their products like Windows and Office still look the same? And more importantly, would customers like me be more happy and willing to spend more and more frequently?

My entries have been so thin lately because I've been with my family on vacation. This post is a quick "catch up" on most of the entries I would have noted if I had the time.

Information Week featured an article on blogging on its front page. "Are You Blogging Yet?" does a pretty good job. It’s exciting to see the use of blogging in business being discussed in a major industry publication like this one. I thought their description of Weblogs was pretty bland and lacked the eloquence or spirit that others like Meg Hourihan have captured in their articles.

The good people who run BlogRoots (which includes Meg) and are the authors of the forthcoming book "We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs" have published one chapter on Using Blogs in Business for free online here.

The NY Times asks "How do I set up a Weblog of my own?"

Reuters (via CNET) published a piece on "floppy TV" technology. This is similar to the "electronic ink" I highlighted not too long ago. This is really exciting to me because display technology has been the lagert in the computing space. While the prices have dropped over the years, my monitor has only gotten larger and it still adds quite a bit of expense to desktop systems. The dropping prices of flat-panel LCDs is helpful, but a replacement for my 19inch monitor is more expensive then a loaded desktop system.

The O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) took place in San Deigo last week. Dan Gillmor blogged his observations and notes the most interesting of the OSCON blogs is the collective one found here using the TrackBack feature introduced in the latest version of MovableType. Incidentally Ben and Mena Trott presented at OSCON. Of note was their avocation of TrackBack in other weblogging systems. Gillmor posted a summary of their presentation here.

Ben Trott: My Favorite Features in Perl 6.

As expected Userland and Salon announced the launch of Salon Blogs. Dan Gillmor writes:

As expected, Salon and Userland have launched Salon Blogs. I believe this could turn into a pivotal moment in the growth of blogging as a media/journalism format of great value and authority.

Congratulations, folks -- you're breaking new ground.

I agree. I'm happier to see clean, readable and well-designed templates being generated by Radio. Not to knock the good people at Userland because I'm not much of a designer myself, but the default templates that Radio use are an eye sore. Too many damn table cells that don't print so well. (Yes blogs are an online medium, but some of us do use it from time to time because paper is still the most portable information device around.) I know they exist, but not by default.

RealNetworks announced an open source streaming media platform project called Helix. Of note is its indended support of Ogg Vorbis the open-source, royalty free audio format that could eventually challenge the MP3 format. Bruce Perens discusses the reasoning of Real's move in this article on CNET.

A highly controversial bill has been introduced into congress that would allow authority to secretly hack consumers if they are caught downloading copyrighted material illegally. Dave Winer and Dan Gillmor, amongst others, weigh in with their outrage on the absurdity of this bills notions and the lengths the entertainment industry are going willing to go to protect their pampered arses.

Shane Michaelson writes he wants to see eBay offer a web service to its site. I completely agree here. If any one web property was screaming for web services APIs its eBay. Its become so integral to many small business' ecommerce operations. Its core engine could be extended in dozens of ways that would only strength eBay's market position and revenue stream -- if it where easily accessible and reasonably priced. I do hope Amazon's recent move does put pressure on eBay to act.

Ephrain Schwartz writes about Mobile Telecommunications Radio and Relay or MOTERAN in his weekly InfoWorld column here.

MOTERAN allows any 802.11X or Bluetooth device to act as a relay in passing information to another device towards its destination point. The belief is that this concept will reduce the number of base stations and switches required and thereby lowering the cost of deployment. (Could it improve the quality of service also?) MOTERAN is being developed by Mitsubushi with Detcon (the engineering and consulting affiliate of Deutsche Telecom) who holds the patent.

Its an interesting concept to watch and see what its potential and shortcomings are. What is interesting is how distributed decentralized technologies can be applied to reduce costs, provide better service and perhaps make an otherwise unfeasible idea possible -- not just "destroying the music industry" and chatting with friends and family.

My guess is that the majority of Amazon's web services access will follow [the REST] route. I hope this doesn't further polarize the REST/SOAP situation, though. The simple, query-oriented APIs that Google and now Amazon have offered are not really a fair test. Partner interfaces that require more complex two-way exchanges, whether in RPC format or document format, are the province of SOAP. These by their very nature are harder to make accessible to experimenters. So let's enjoy the RESTful aspect of Amazon without jumping to broad conclusions. [Jon Udell's weblog]

Jon Udell posted an experiment with the REST (XML over HTTP) Web Service interface to Amazon and a thoughtful reply. Jon's articulate anti-extremist views are always worth reading and noting.

Slashdot: "Will BEEP Simplify Network Programming?" An interesting discussion on Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol (BEEP), a potential alternate protocol for Web Services. In his initial post hensley asks " I couldn't find any applications based on this protocol, regardless of it's promised capabilities. Is everybody still inventing his own application layer protocol?" This sparks a lively conversation including a detailed post by Zeinfeld and follow-up thread that quickly degrades into a flame war over the politics of the IETF and BEEP working group.

I'm of the mind the use of XML for a network protocol is not an appropriate use.

Amazon launched a SOAP and XML interfaces to its store functionality (product info, shopping cart, wishlist, or wedding registry) that is similar to the widly popular Google search. More information, developers kit and registration can be found at http://www.amazon.com/webservices.

Now we need eBay to follow suit.

In related news, yesterday Adam Kalsey announced the availability of his MTAmazon plugin for MovableType.

Version 0.2 of MT-Meta is available here. The folowing enhancements and bug fixes where made to this version:

• Added MTEntryMoreNoMeta. For those who want to store content AND meta data in the 'More Text' field. Suggested by Adam Kalsey.
• Added 'default' argument to MTMetaValue. Insert a string rather then a null if the meta data does not exist or is empty.
• Added 'state' argument to MTMetaExists. Allows a conditional to be created if the meta data does not exist or is empty.
• Fixed a bug where meta data would persist to the next entry if not overwritten.

As always please use with care and let me know if you have any feedback, requests or optimizations.

MT-SetVarBlock is a simple lightweight MovableType plugin for storing a block of template code into a variable. The plugin features one container tags of MTSetVarBlock. Full documentation is embedded in the plugin code for now.

I've found this plugin infinitely useful to the way I develop sites. I like to develop my sites in an object-oriented way. With MT and other systems I've used, I found myself repeating a lot of "framing" template code to wrap a unique layout for the body despite my best efforts. Ideally, and in object oriented fashion, I'd like to take a template and stick the result of a specific layout in the middle. However with MT's templating system (particularly MTSetVar) this is not possible since value is set as string passed as an arguement in the tag. To keep layout seperate from content and keep code redundency to a minimum required some mesy and somewhat confusing measures. I developed MTSetVarBlock to remedy these issues by letting me store a block of template code into a variable that a global template can call.

The tag is pretty simple and I've attempted to do a through test, but I could have missed something. Please use with care and let me know if you find any bugs. Hopefully it will be as helpful to other as it is to me.

Anyone interest in Web Services with an open mind should read this post by State of Utah's CIO Phil Windley.

His 12-point manifesto should be nailed to the door of every government information office. He asks: "What am I missing?" Nothing, Phil! If just your first two principles were broadly applied, the world would be a much better place. [Jon Udell]

I agree with Jon. I wouldn't limit it to just government agencies though. Any organization that make information available to the public could gain from Phil Windley's manifesto. I appreciate his focus and agree on being practical and providing a solution that doesn't limit Web Services to SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. While Windley's views are quite RESTful in nature, he doesn't get caught up in the blinding zealotry that many leading advocates of REST are noted for.

I also was please to see Web Services Inspection Language (WSIL) recognized.

10. Use WSIL to advertise the availability of your service. If it becomes viable in the future we will use UDDI, but having everything documented in WSIL will make that step relatively easy.

Phil's point is spot on. As I've written before, I also believe that the simple decentralized file based nature of WSIL opens the potential for many more interesting and novel applications then UDDI can offer.

Phil appears to raise a question as to the use of WSDL in point 4. If I'm reading his "(?)" correctly, I myself have bene curious about the same thing (particularly with the W3C's release of a public working draft WSDL 1.2 specification), but have not had the bandwidth to look into. Is it possble to represent a non-SOAP Web Service function in WSDL and would it be possible to dynamically bind to that service if useful?

This is a bit of old news worth noting.

Gene Kan, Gnutella inventor and a P2P evangelist, died at the age of 25 by his own hand. This is really tragic and a terrible waste in many ways. I've recently been expose to his writings on P2P and have been impressed and inspired.

Boing Boing's Cory Doctrow noted Kan's weblog This Place Sucks is "a wonderful and outrageous tour of Gene's dour wit, uncompromising cynicism and sharp eye for detail." Cory also points out this eulogistic letter by Joey deVilla.

A memorial fund is being set up in Kan's name at UC Berkeley. Donations can be sent to the following address: In memory of Gene Kan; Manager, Gift Stewardship; College of Engineering; University of California, Berkeley; 201 McLaughlin Hall; Berkeley, Calif., 94720-1722. Checks should be made out to "UC Regents" but clearly marked for the Gene Kan fund.

Incidentally CNet just published a characteristically thoughtful and well articulated piece entitled "Writing File Sharing's Final Chapter" that Kan wrote just days before his death.

I've been a bit lax about posting to my weblog, but I haven't given up and I haven't lost interest. OK -- against the grain of my A+ personality I did try and relax over a long July 4th holiday. Despite my best efforts to take it easy, I've been quite busy researching and experimenting with a number of things that are sure to be the source of many future posts here. Before I return to my regular blogging habits here is a little bit about what I've been working on:

> I've been studying the latest version of MovableType (MT) and considering the potential utility for a number of plugins that the latest version supports. Yesterday's announcement of MT-Meta is just the beginning (I hope) of many more. I still remain intrigued by the notion of applying blogging tools and techniques to other realms such a knowledge management.

> In my quest to develop an "outboard brain" be more efficient and organized in my own personal knowledge management, I've been experimenting with MovableType and Jon Udell's Quick and Dirty Topic Mapping scripts, but neither are exactly what I need. I'm an "infovore" that tends to collect a lot of knowledge in the form of bookmarks to interesting editorials and weblog entries in addition to how-to articles. Much to my dismay, my virtual desktop is litered with a labrnyth of directories and URI shortcuts. I also have reams of printed content from when I maintained 2 desks that is sitting in piles and boxes around my home. Ideally a need a hybrid of browser bookmarks and a weblog where I can keep a list of links with meaningful titles, categorize them in a topic map and optionally attach an entry of my own if warranted. (Incidentally developing MT-Meta came out of this endeavor.)

> To this same point, I've also been experimenting with different news aggregators. I've gone through several in my test (see Jon Udell's article on the topic for a sampling) and haven't found one that suits me. Currently am experimenting with Rael Dornfest's blagg with blosxom because its server-based and I can control the organization of newsfeeds -- albeit it more manually then I'd like. Recently Robert Rainwater released an RSSFeeds plugin for MT that my has some promise also.

> I've been working to revive a 6+ year old IBM Thinkpad 365X laptop to serve as a portable Internet access terminal. (My current employment status has left me without a laptop and the means to drop the ~$2k for a new one.) I've made good progress, but didn't finish the job in time for said holiday. The modem failed on me and only having a floppy and parallel port Iomega ZIP 100 drive (No CD-ROM) has added to the challenge.

Its been quite insightful to recall how much faster and easier setting up a system used to be. I also estimate that 50-75% of what I do on a daily basis with my desktop workstation can be achieved on this revived ancient laptop. I tend towards server-based solutions through a browser or lightweight client which makes this possible. Its not that I don't believe the power on our desktops should be better leverage -- I just believe that generally speaking our desktops are overpowered for what is really needed. Without I can say I miss the high-resolution of my 19" 1600x1200 display of my workstation and that memory is going to be an issue. (The 365X is already maxed out at 40MBs.)

I just finished my first MovableType plugin and wanted to make it available for use to others that run their weblog with MT. The code to this initial release (v 0.1) can be downloaded here.

MT-Meta is a simple lightweight plugin for displaying embedded meta data in a basic XML format. The plugin features two container tags of MTMeta and MTMetaValueExists and a MTMetaValue tag. Full documentation is embedded in the plugin for now.

Repurposing the additional text entry field to store meta data could have a number of uses. The most obvious is having a place to store HTML META tag information such as keywords and description. In a past life running a music zine, I made extensive use of meta tags for developing smart searching and indexing functionality on meta data the reader could not see. Another possible use is for storing additional external link information. I've started using MT-Meta for my own personal knowledge weblog (k-log) where some entries are bookmarks -- a title with a link to an article on another site and no entry text. I've also considered the utility meta data could serve in enabling maintainence scripts that expire or publish.

The tag is pretty simple and I've attempted to do a through test, but I could have missed something. Please use with care and let me know if you find any bugs. I welcome any feedback, requests or comments.

Business 2.0 is featuring a fair article on AT&T Wireless' mMode, the US version of the highly successful Japanese mobile Internet service i-mode offered by NTT DoCoMo. I think they where a bit generous in giving them a C+. I've written up my criticisms of mMode in the past and little seems to have change in the recent months. My grade is a D.

One of my continuing criticisms is that mMode has offers small and independent developers no opportunity or support in leveraging their billion dollar network. It ignores the law of network value -- Metcalfe's Law.

"What remains unclear -- besides the confusing name -- is whether mMode offers anything that consumers would want or need."

Mobile operators lack the background necessary to develop the depth and breath of services needed to attract subscribers. Besides we have calendars, contact lists, news alerts, flight information, and restaurant guides when mobile from any number of existing sources. Attracting a substantial subscriber base will require unique high-value niche applications and services. The only way to possibly achieve this is by leveraging the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the developer community at large.

It astounds me that AT&T has ignored this most fundamental of laws. NTT "got it" with i-mode and opened their network and billing system to thousands of independent content services and applications. The i-mode service has been one of the few mobile computing successes. Could the openness of the i-mode service be a key factor? I believe so.