Things I hate about Zend Framework (a non-comprehensive list):
- Zend_Config
- Zend_Db
- Zend_Session_Namespace
- Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap
- The fact that the Bootstrap has a Bootstrap
- Zend_Forms
- Action name CamelCase management
Things I hate about Zend Framework
Google+ vs The World where Twitter loses
When I first jumped on Google+, there were a few things I really loved: refreshing aspects to the UI; a lack of limitations on post length and linking; circles concept; usage of existing web applications (YouTube, PicasaWeb/Picasa, Buzz) to tie services together.
But, mostly, I had complaints: no API; no exclusion based permissions; no RSS/ATOM feed; no integration with Twitter or Facebook; difficult to share only a handful of photos in an album; default stream is not customizable.
I knew I would still use the service because, even with those short comings, it felt better than anything else. But I honestly expected that Facebook would be the service that I gave up time with to spend, instead with Google+. That isn’t the case, though.
Instead, it seems that I’ve reduced my usage of Twitter. Sure, I still post there as my primary “microblogging” location. It feeds to Facebook, so they both get updated with the same content. I have to manually cross post to Google+ so, in that regard, some things just never make it there. And, if someone leaves a comment (or a mention, or a reply) on any service (Twitter, Facebook, whatever) I almost always read it and respond when appropriate. But when it comes to catching up with the updates of other people, I’m fully caught up on Google+ and Facebook, but I’m way, way, way behind on a regular basis when it comes to Twitter.
I think there are a few main reason for this. First, Twitter encourages content-less updates. 140 characters is just not enough. It’s good for a link with a little comment. It’s good for a quick update on an ongoing event, issue, or topic. But, in many cases, it’s just not long enough for a complete thought or idea. So most of the updates there are meaningless.
Secondly, Twitter doesn’t give you an easy way to ignore, hide, or mute someone while still following them. Yes, you can make a list and just read that list. But adding people and removing people from a list takes like a billion clicks. Too many. Compare to Google+: when I first add someone to a Circle I also add them to “Inbox”. If I find they are too noisy or not interesting enough to take time out of my regular reading intervals, I just take them out of “Inbox”. I can still catch up with them later when I check “Friends” or “Family” or whatever other group they fall into. And if they don’t fall into any other group, then there’s no reason to catch up on them. Facebook doesn’t give me that much flexibility without jumping through some UI hoops, but, at least I can quickly hit the “Hide” button and never see posts from that person again.
Ultimately, it’s the mobile interface that helps to keep me up to date. And with both Facebook and Google+ I can quickly get the list of updates that matter most to me. I can’t do that with Twitter and, therefore, it eventually becomes too much to keep up with, so I just start reading back at the top.
Also, one more interesting note is how much Circles have changed things for me. On Twitter, everything I write is Public. Which leaves me frightened to post anything too off the cuff for fear that it’ll come back to haunt me with such permanence. On Facebook, everything is “Friends Only” because it’s too hard to switch back and forth. Google+ is the only service where I have a nice mix of content going “Public”, “Extended Circles”, “Circles” and even individual circles for more “security”. It’s true that nothing on the web is “private” and I don’t expect it to be. But keeping some things out of the eyes of a would-be employer/client/future-father-in-law armed with Google Search is a good thing.
I want CLICKLESS, paperless billing!
I love paperless billing. Companies push it as a green initiative. Some even go so far as to charge to continue paper billing. And it is green. But companies are more concerned with the money “green” that it brings and not so much the “eco” green. But, regardless of why they are doing it, I’m a fan.
I like saving the planet. I prefer email to snail mail. The only way it could be any better is if I could force EVERYONE to send me email so I’d never have to check my postal mailbox again.
But, there is one part about the paper bill that I miss. When I get a paper bill, I open it and everything I need to know is right there in front of me. I don’t need to look up passwords or account numbers or payment amounts. I open the bill, I pay the bill, I throw the bill away. It’s that simple.
With paperless billing, it’s hit or miss. Some companies provide all of the information on the paper bill in the emailed bill. I love these companies, but they are few and far between. Chase is the worst of all. First, they provide NO information about anything other than the last 4 digits of the account number that the bill is for. Secondly, their online site will not show you your account number and they won’t give it to you on the phone. So you have to either go into a branch office or turn paper billing back on.
I’d like three options when it comes to billing (well, really, I only want one, but, I offer the other two for people who like complicated lives): 1. Paper Billing; 2. Paperless billing requiring a click and a login; 3. Clickless, Paperless billing with all the information from the paper bill present in it. If my email account isn’t secure, that’s my own problem. It’s not like the postal service is at all secure.
Bring me the Sync!
Hardware providers: listen up! Your users need data Synchronization, and you need them to have it. You lost the Desktop market to Laptops. Users were given very few good reasons to have both. Without Sync, you’re going to lose the Laptop market to Tablets and Smartphones. I know software isn’t your job. But if you don’t sponsor or otherwise encourage OS creators to build this it’s going to affect your bottom line.
In the beginning, there was the desktop, and it was good. Then came Laptops and Notebooks. At first, these were luxury items owned only by enthusiasts and business travelers. In almost every case, the user had a more powerful more useful Desktop at the home or office that they relied on as well. Over time, Laptops became more prolific.
Instead of Laptops augmenting the Desktop experience, eventually, the “Desktop Replacement” Laptop was created and highly sought after. In 2008, Laptop sales were greater than Desktop sales, and now there is no looking back. Only the power users and businesses remain as Desktop customers, and even those markets are starting to dwindle.
Part of this shift is due to the increase in available power at an affordable price in mobile computing platforms. Laptops could do more than they could in previous years and offered portability, many consumers were left wondering what they needed a desktop for at all. However, many Desktop users would have happily continued using both if they had an easy, built-in, fool-proof way to ensure that the media, documents, and settings they needed would be there regardless if they were using their Desktop or Laptop. But even today, 3 years after the scales tipped, this is not simple. Documents are getting easier, though not without added monthly fees that not every user is willing to pay. But media and settings are still a long way off.
Now Smartphones and Tablets are knocking on the Laptops front door. Netbooks blur the line a bit, but not for long. The newest versions of Microsoft Windows and Mac OSx are “touch ready”. Tablets and Smartphones are getting more and more powerful and more and more capable. Some analysts predict that mobile internet users will surpass desktop internet users somewhere in the middle of 2013.
So, hardware manufacturer, how can you keep as many Laptop users as possible, encouraging them to maintain both devices instead of trying to replace their Laptop with their Tablets and Smartphones? Sync.
Sync needs to be offered to the user as soon as a new device is detected. The user needs the option for automated synchronization that does smart things like always provide a happy combination of the newest media and the most often used media. Seamless remote access to additional media is the best way to ensure that, even if automated Sync made the wrong choice, the user can still get the files they want. All of the new cloud services make this easier on developers than ever before but can also be expensive for the user. If external services cannot be made free in most cases, then a service on the desktop should fill the gap.
The bottom line is, get Syncing, or lose customers.
shared living: searching for community
image by 27147
As we live a life of ease
Every one of us has all we need,
Sky of blue, and sea green,
In our yellow submarine!
I’m amazed at how many of my friends are interested in living together. It makes me believe that maybe the culture I’m looking for here in Dallas isn’t lost after all. I’ve seen an outpouring of ideas and offers from lots of people over the past week or so and it’s really helped me flesh this out a bit.
One of the most interesting offers was to share a home with a family in Austin. The family is already very dear to my heart and like-minded in terms of family and responsibility. And I long ago decided that Austin was an ideal city for me if I was going to stay in Texas. This seemed like a perfect situation.
But, the more I consider it the more I realize how much risk and difficulty there is involved with it. I’d have to take C away from her Mom. It’s only a few hours away and she’d still be able to see her almost as often as she’d like. But, it adds some complication. Factor in that I’d need to drop everything, move, look for a job, rent out my house, and leave everything I know and love here in DFW, it was just too much to do all at once. I still think this is ideal, and if I haven’t found what I’m looking for in Dallas within a few years, I’ll start looking out that way again. But for now, I think I have to let that go.
Another amazing offer I received was to share a home with a family in North Richland Hills. This place is beautiful! There’s lots of room! I’ve been friends (though not incredibly close friends) with half of the parental unit for over 10 years. I met the rest of the family and we all got along wonderfully. I’m still having conversations with them and working some bits out in my head.
But, as I see it now, there are a few limiting factors. Despite being a huge home, there are only 4 bedrooms. 3 of them are occupied by this family, so C and I would share a room. We do that now, so that’s okay. But as she gets older I’d prefer she share with another child. There’s nothing to say she couldn’t share with one of the other kids though. So that’s a wait-and-see kind of thing. The other limiting factor is that this house very much belongs to this family. I had envisioned a “our home” mentality and perhaps this would blossom into that as time progressed, but that isn’t the feel I got right away. So, another wait-and-see. The biggest limiting factor, though, is that, because after I move in all the rooms would be taken, it will be, at most, a two family home. Again, the family there said that there might be opportunity for more but wants to do it on a wait-and-see basis. So there’s a whole lot of wait-and-see.
I’m okay with wait-and-see. But I’d like to limit the disruptions to my daughter’s life as much as possible. With a move, a change in schooling/daycare, a whole new city, and the need to untie us from our current house, that’s a LOT to go with for so much wait-and-see. I’m still talking with them, and we’re going to have lots of sleep overs in the future, both to see where this goes and also because I’m excited to have met a friendly, open, like-minded family with an open-door policy so similar to my own.
So that leaves me with three options for now. I intend to pursue all three until one pans out.
I am going to keep looking for an existing home that I could share with another family. Ideally, there’d be room for at least three families but I’m flexible there for the right situation. Proximity to Irving, Denton, or Dallas is ideal, though not required. If you know of anyone that lives in a home with a room or two that they would spare and are interested in an intentional community of this nature, please let me know or send them my way.
I am going to think of ways to make my current home more suited to multi-family living and seek out families to share it with. I got an offer from a friend who would be willing to share my home. However, with her and her daughter here, that exhausts all of the “conventional” sleeping space my home has to offer (and that’s with our daughters sharing a room). The rooms in my house are large, however. So I’m looking for creative ways to split them into smaller spaces suitable for children as well adults who would consider even more open-minded living arrangements (like large rooms being shared by adults, etc). If you’re creative and budget-minded and would like to help me think of ways to split up this space let me know. If you would be open to “interesting” living arrangements with a very small financial obligation, contact me.
Finally, I’m looking to buy a home more suitable to what I want. Something large-ish with emphasis on the number of rooms not the size of them. Ideally in the Denton, Coppell, or Dallas (Oak Cliff, likely) areas. If you know of a home like this, or would be interested in helping to find one and share it, please let me know.
Running with Pandora and other digressions
Image by James Booth
Have you ever heard Akon’s “Right Now”? WAIT! STOP! Don’t click that link! I don’t want to be responsible for what may happen afterward. I’m sure you’ve heard it. I’m quite far removed from the “cool guy” scene and I’ve heard it before now.
Maybe in the bathroom at that bootie-bumping club. Your “accidental” stop on the Top-40 station on your way across the dial. Standing outside the changing room waiting for your new fling to try on what must be the 40th pair of shoes. Through earbuds in an attempt to drown out the nagging about how fat and lazy you are that reminds you far too much of the last fling you had and this one isn’t even half as cute. You’ve heard it.
This song must be the worst song ever written. Ever.
I wanna make love right now now now.
Wish we never broke up right now now now.
We need to link up right now now now.
So why didn’t I just turn it off?
I started Couch to 5K (C25K, A program designed to take you from the Couch to running a 5K in 9 weeks) today. I had done it once before in December of 2008 but was abruptly halted due to (ah hell let’s use the oh-so-PC-term) Life Change Events. Unwilling to give myself any further cause for delay and working toward being a satisficier instead of a maximizer, I opted to let Pandora choose my music for me this time around. I’ve heard lots of warnings (no more ColdPlay!) about how inappropriate Pandora’s music selections can be. Trapping myself into them by starting a run and not wanting to stop to fiddle with music was probably not the best idea.
Don’t do this.
I picked one song that I thought was a good song to run to. Something with an upbeat tempo, uplifting lyrics, and not anything too heavy or thought provoking. I picked “I Gotta Feeling” by the Blackeyed Peas. Yeah, not the best song ever written, but it met my criteria and is apropos for my day considering I have a hot playdate tonight. (Yes, I used the words “hot” and “playdate” at the same time. Admit it, you’re jealous of me and my high-rollin’ life.)
I can’t lie
Watching everyday that goes by
‘Till I get you back I’m gon’ try
‘Cause you are the apple in my eye
Pandora spit out track after terrible track of the most boring, uninspired, uninteresting, nonsense music I have ever heard. Ok, that isn’t entirely true. It did break out with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” which was quite welcome considering what had come before it and what was to follow. But that was the one and only exception and it isn’t even remotely similar to the song I seeded it with. Among all of them, however, “Right Now” was the worst.
The run went well, though. Day 1 of Week 1 is meant to be easy. It wasn’t.
20 minutes of a 90 second walk followed by a 60 second run sandwiched in between two 5 minute walks to warm up and cool down. I traveled a little over 2 miles giving me a just under 15 minute mile. Pathetic I know, but it sure beats the running I did yesterday (“hey, I’m going run into the kitchen for another bowl of popcorn”). I can tell how far off I am from where I was last time by how many streets in my neighborhood I was able to cover. Before I could hit each of them once and a couple of them a second time. This time, I skipped an entire chunk. But it felt good, anyway. Okay, the very first running interval felt good. Even the second one did. The eight one sucked and I felt like my heart was about to rip itself out of my chest for a more suitable mate.
I want you to fly with me
I miss how you lie with me
I wish you could dine with me
The one that’ll grind with me
But still this song haunts me. You’ve heard it, right? The guy is basically saying, “I’m lonely and I want to have sex with you.” And he’s doing so in the worst possible way, over and over again. Any oversexed Junior High student with a Casio keyboard and Autotune could have made it.
Here, erase it from your mind. Instead, listen to a terrible Ukulele cover of “Right Now” that is, somehow, actually better than the original. What, that didn’t help?
lunch break
Image By Sarah Bodri
For over two years I’ve been taking baby steps and big jumps toward simplifying my life. A couple of time I’ve touched on simplifying my diet as well, but have never really made a strong effort. That’s about to change.
The over all plan is to find myself eating mostly raw foods — vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, etc — as often as I feel the need to do so through out the day. Then to supplement that with 2-3 larger cooked meals per week. Anything that comes in a package (including cereal) will be removed from the house entirely with the exception of a few forms of easy to eat on-the-go type foods — wholesome granola bars, dried fruits, etc. Someday, I’d like to even make that stuff at home. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
So, my first little baby step is to deal with Lunch. It’s a good place to start because it hardly affects my daughter, will buy me some free time during the middle of the work day, and will drastically reduce one of the sore spots in my budget. So here’s the plan.
I will bring my lunch to work four days a week. It will consist of only raw foods or of leftovers from dinners that week. On the fifth day, I’m free to go out with a friend and I should do so without worry about cost, or time, or calories and just enjoy myself.
This little baby step should give me a good step toward weight loss and hunger detection and will also server as a good taste for which raw foods work well and how to prepare them for “on the go” consumption.
Wish me luck, or, better yet, join me and encourage me. Picnic lunch dates could be a lot of fun.
a common goal
My dream is to live in — for lack of a better term — a commune. A group of 10-50 people (adults, kids, animals, etc) living on the same property, occupying the same communal spaces, and spending at least part of their energy working toward a common goal. Something similar in feel to La Selva. But, I also realize that finding a like minded commune to join or finding a property and financial means to start my own may be far off. So, in the mean time, I’m seeking what has recently been dubbed the “mini-commune”.
My vision of the Mini-Commune is between 2 and 5 families (depending on the size of those families and the size of the dwelling) sharing a single, larger house. Ideally, the house would have lots of smaller rooms to be used as bedrooms as well as several larger rooms to be used as communal living spaces. Certainly some properties will lend themselves better to this than others but, as long as it’s large enough, almost anything can be made to work.
The benefits of even the mini-commune are quite impressive.
First, there’s the sheer financial aspect of it all. Based on a house I’ve been able to find in the area and average expenses, with even 3 families living together the monthly cost would be around $575/family. When you factor in group meals (less eating out), bulk purchases, and reduced needs for travel, you save even more. Consider the fact that, under this arrangement, it might be possible to get rid of as many as half of the vehicles owned by the group, there’s even more savings. Once you bundle in the social aspects of always having a “family” of people around to lend a helping hand, to make tedious tasks more enjoyable, to provide comfort, and to encourage it, the cons seem entirely manageable.
The cons, of course, having to share a space with other people. If people are inconsiderate, rude, sloppy, or selfish, sharing a space with them can be difficult if not impossible. Obviously, this would require appropriately minded people. I think it’s very important to select fellow commune (or mini-commune) members based on their nature and their lifestyle and how close to your own that those things are more so than how well your interests mesh with theirs or how close of friends you may be now. As you get deeper into the communal unit, more cons can arise, like not having certain amenities (cars, showers, etc) available to you the very second that you want them. It is very much about personal sacrifice in order to increase the benefits for all, including yourself. However, in an ideal commune, these issues will be worked out as a matter of routine. In the fully fledged commune, one could alter the dwelling to more closely match the needs of those that lived there. In this mini-commune one would have to be willing to adapt to what was available.
The fully fledged commune would, of course, be able to grow vegetables, raise a garden, and contribute space to the greater community as well. These things would only be possible in much smaller doses in a mini-commune.
I haven’t fully fleshed out where I’d like to live. But, my tentative selections are Denton, Coppell, Western Dallas (as long as we have home schoolers), and “The Sticks”. If you’re interested — truly interested — in joining let me know. And, if you have any advice (other than, simply, “COMMUNES SUCK”) I’d love to hear it.