revjim.net

technology

Two Twitters, one Daniel

Jul 1st, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
8 comments

7,223 updates ago, I started a Twitter account: twitter.com/revjim. I had locked updates and all was good and right in the world and I knew all of 3 people using the service.

Things have changed.

As I mentioned in detail on Jonathan’s LJ, people use Twitter in very different ways. I have two very different kinds of followers:

1) People interested in my website, my photography, my personal thoughts, and links of interest to me.

2) People interested in the current mostly mundane details of my local life and making small talk about it.

Now keep in mind, there are people who fit both categories. In fact most people who fit in group 2 probably at lesat partly live in group 1. However, not all of those people would prefer to subscribe to each individual source of information as opposed to using twitter to aggregate it all.

Despite the fact that I believe I should continue to use technology in a way that does me the most good, at the same time, if I can do something without putting myself out too far to make more people more happy with the way I’m using that technology, then it becomes even more useful.

So, I now have two Twitter accounts.

twitter.com/revjim: This will be manual updates about my life and, for the most part, all original content. Full of “Celeste just pooped in the potty”, “I’m getting coffee”, “I am SOOOOO drunk”, “I’m eating a chicken sandwich”, “I have a headache”, “I’m in El Paso!”, “I just bought a iPod Touch”, and “I really hate Apple”. There will be location based updates as well (from Loopt or whatever tool I choose). There will also be @replies to other friends, etc. This will be my primary use account. The status updates will be syndicated to Facebook as they are now. Lots of noise here. Very little signal. Mostly useless information but still a large part of the “fun” of Twitter. Should average about 20 updates a day though 80% of them will be replies to people you may not follow, in which case you won’t even see them. This will be locked/private.

twitter.com/revjimweb: Website updates, photos, and links to longer, more thought out posts all over the web including comments made on other blogs and journals. It will consist of only links and responses to those links. Should average about 5 updates a day, give or take. However, there may be some replies if followers choose to interact with the content in that way. For instance, replying directly in Twitter, using Tweetboard, or authenticating with Disqus through Twitter.

Follow (or UnFollow) as you desire. You won’t hurt my feelings either way.

(and I may get a few in the wrong place as I switch all my tools over, so bear with me.)

tell me where I can put it

Dec 12th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

In the long, drawn out battle of where to put what when it comes to my online writing, it seems the dust has begun to settle with the exception of one remaining factor: life.

As I see it, there are really only 2 options.

  1. My own website powered by WordPress
  2. LiveJournal

The big deciding factor between the two is whether I want to write in public or private, and how much I want to cater to lazy people.

First, the lazy factor.

I’ve found that, for entries about Life, I get far more comments in LiveJournal than I do on the same entry posted on my website. It seems that LiveJournal users are either too lazy to click the link and read at my site, or are too lazy to bother to comment once they do.

Question 1:
Do I want to cater to this? Do I care?

Secondly, there is security.

If I’m going to really get deep into the “locked entry” writing, LiveJournal makes the most sense because it has tons of features in this arena. It means that some people will be excluded if they don’t have a LiveJournal account or know how to use OpenID. It also means I’d lost a lot of control over the look, layout, and functionality.

If i just intend to write something locked once in a great while, I can find some other means for distribution or use WordPress password protection and not really worry about it. In which case, I could just write on my own website like I’ve been doing and call it good.

Question 2:
So I ask you, do you think I write enough about my personal life? Am I candid enough in public? So you think I’m too candid in public? Should many of my life entries have a lot more filter on them?

I’m really twisted over which way to go on this. Your comments are appreciated.

Nokia E71 Review

Nov 10th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

A few months ago, the fine people at WOMWorld lent me a Nokia E71 for review. I’ve been putting off publishing any sort of remarks because my mom always said “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” But, lately, they’ve been insistent. So, here we go.

First the good.

The phone is beautiful. It feels nice in the hand. The included case is attractive, easy to get the phone out of, and provides great protection. The keyboard, though a bit tight at first, is easy to get to. Outside of the case, the phone feels nice though it could do well to have a bit more grip. A silicone case should help. The screen is vibrant and has plenty of resolution. Buttons are well placed and mostly intuitive.

As far as the HARDWARE goes, this phone deserves top ratings. It’s the software that I have big issues with.

Getting the phone setup in the beginning is difficult. There are lots of settings and they are spread out in many non-intuitive locations.

The Active Today screen that provides updates on the status of your email, text messages, and mobile service is cumbersome at best. The directional pad did not operate as expected and I found myself guessing incorrectly regarding what various buttons and menu choices would do.

The way data connections work are plain silly. Ideally, the phone would understand that, in most cases, a WiFi connection is better than a GPRS/EDGE connection. It should at least give me the option of switching seamlessly between the two. Instead, most applications require you to set a connections and your choice is either a WiFi connection or a GPRS connection. Even switching to another WiFi connection requires work. An application called PsilocConnect (which costs extra) is supposed to help with this. You choose the PsilocConnect connection. It then either chooses any available WiFi connection or a GPRS connection when WiFi is unavailable. This makes sense and works pretty well except when you have an application that doesn’t allow you to choose the PsilocConnection. Then the fight with each other and the only real loser is the user.

Messaging is the killer app on Mobile and the Nokia E71 software fails in every possible way.

It supports PUSH email, which is great. But the implementation is limited. The phone will either poll at intervals and download the entire message when it does, or it will support PUSH but only download the headers and fail to reconnect if the data connection is interrupted. I could be wrong here. The settings screen for setting up this part of email was very difficult to understand and the manual shed no additional light. If I over looked something, then it certainly wasn’t because I didn’t try. Using 3rd party email applications didn’t help either. BlueWhaleMail was the closest, but still not quite right. Emoze was buggy. Nokia’s Email Service also didn’t function reliably and seems to have a one email account limitation.

The Nokia also didn’t seem to come with any IM applications. No gTalk, AIM, MSN,Yahoo, Jabber, nothing. There are some 3rd party options available here as well. I tried a few with limited success. None seemed to be really well designed, intuitive, or easy to use. Additionally, most of them required additional purchase.

Even the Nokia PC Suite was buggy. I couldn’t import my Yahoo Address book export no matter how hard I tried. In many cases the PC Suite had trouble realizing the phone was connected. It crashed fairly regularly. The built in messaging applications were very slow if they worked at all.

Even simple things like lighting up and sounding some kind of alert when a Bluetooth device attempts to connect were not implemented. I attempted to use a Bluetooth GPS device but the phone didn’t seem to accept that. It’s own built in GPS application never fully indicated location.

In conclusion, the phone hardware seems outstanding and well built. It’s the Symbian OS that needs to catch up with the iPhones and Blackberrys of the world. When you consider the fact that these phones are not really being subsidized by any US carrier, this means that customers are expected to pay full price as well. This just isn’t going to happen with so many other options available with software that actually works as expected.

Tumblr

Oct 30th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

In short, I have a new site you can read: http://revjim.tumblr.com/

There are hundreds of sites begging people to put their cool links into them (delicious.com and the like). But none of them really let you customize the site and make it your own. On top of that, almost every piece of social networking software has some form of link sharing built in (like FaceBook) but most of them are exclusive to the members of that site and require a bunch of hoops to make things start flowing. There’s StumbleUpon which is awesome for finding new content and sharing it but not so good at keeping that content organized or sharing it in a customizable fashion. I find myself sharing lots of things with lots of people in lots of ways, but each of them locked up to a subset of users in it’s own less than desirable way.

And then there is Tumblr.

They are smart enough to not link a single account to a single site. So, any account can post to multiple sites, create sites of its own, or not have any associated sites. They also allow multiple contributors to sites and even allow private posting (though you have to be a member to view).

They offer complete customization even allowing the use of sites like Google Analytics for traffic analysis and Disqus to enable comments.

Their approach to content is intriguing. From short blurbs, to chats, to text posts, to photos, to videos, to audio, to reblogging… the site is based around the concept of formatting differently for different media types and excels at displaying whatever it is you put into it.

It can be used to share links, photos, thoughts, or just about anything else on the web. While most of it’s users tend to focus on sharing found content, it is certainly suited to hosting original content as well.

So, with all that, I’m going to begin using it to share the interesting things I find online. Should I find the content becomming to heavy in anyone topic, starting a new Tumblr specifically for that topic is a piece of cake.

The good news to you is that, you don’t have to sign up for anything to follow along. Just visit my Tumblr and bookmark, subscribe in the RSS reader of your choice, add to LiveJournal (Try LJUser: revjim_tumblr), follow in FriendFeed, ignore it all together or, really, whatever makes you happiest.

I will more than likely start a second Tumblr for the interesting links and photos of a … less than pure nature. Drop me an email if you’re interested in a link.

craigslist love hate

Jul 31st, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
3 comments

I love Craigslist. I don’t post often, though I have before.  I don’t really respond all that often either. I just enjoy the raw nature of it. There so much passion in a missed connection. There’s so much excitement in seeking a companion. There are so many new possibilities and opportunities. There so much freedom in the anonymity.

So, on a fairly regular basis, I read Craigslist.

Usually I read in Dallas, but sometimes other cities.

I read the community section and the trade section and marvel at how money-centric our society is and cheer when I see something I can actually agree with or get behind or understand.

I look at the job boards and fantasize about what I could be doing and curse myself for what I’m stuck with.

I read the women seeking men section and realize how little I know about the kinds of people one might desire. I wonder how many women out there desire someone that fits my description.

I read the men seeking women and compare my tastes to what the men are looking for. Usually I’m bored. Sometimes I’m curious. Other times I’m shocked. Occasionally, I’m repulsed.

I read the casual encounters section and wonder what I’d casually seek if I were seeking casually.

I read the missed connections section and think of all the people that I’ve passed and wish I could find again. I think of all the people that I was close to that I now miss so dearly.

Except for those which obviously aren’t real (which I flag like I’m on a mission sanctioned by God himself), I rarely consider that any of the posters might be a fraud or have motives other than those outlined in their posts. It’s on the rare occasion that I do interact with the site (posting, responding) that I realize how wrong I am that I truly recognize how many traps have been set.

Today I responded to an ad in casual encounters.  I was clear at the very beginning of my response that I was merely browsing and was not actually interested in dating her but that I was intrigued by something she said. I was being nice. I realized how good it would make me feel to get an email like the one I was sending her. And I meant what I wrote, so it was genuine. I thought, at the very least, it’ll brighten her day.

Within 5 minutes she wrote back. At 6:30am, that’s a bit unusual. As soon as I opened the email I understood why. No one had even read what I wrote. The response indicated that if I wanted to hook up I should click on a link and check out her pics. I didn’t bother.

Maybe this should be the start of a mission to find truth in Craigslist.

Maybe not.

My growing frustration with Vista

May 12th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
5 comments

Maybe it isn’t Vista’s fault. Maybe it’s just software developers not implementing their products correctly in Vista. But, much the same as Linux or, to some extent, the Mac, software is what makes an OS useful. If the software doesn’t work then the OS may as well not work.

I can’t seem to get my iPod to recognize under Vista. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled. I’ve tried Media Monkey, USB Mass Storage Drivers, and even resorted to installing the real deal — iTunes *gasp*. All to not avail. It simply doesn’t work.

To make matters worse, my frustration in using VMWare under Vista is growing as well. Despite all the other troubles I’m having, it seems that the “NAT connection” available under Vista does allow my Contivity VPN client to function properly. Other people are reporting success on other host OSes, so it must be a Vista thing. I even jumped over to VirtualBox and the Workstation version of VMWare just to see if either would make a difference. Nope. In most cases, I use a Bridged connection. But in one very specific and important circumstance, I need a NAT connection. And it just isn’t working.

When I return from California on Friday my every effort will be focused on finding XP drivers and getting rid of this abomination of an operating system.

Microsoft: You’ve some how taken the world’s most popular operating system (regardless of whether that popularity was earned) and turned it into a festering pile of rubbish. In terms of software and hardware compatibility, Vista has very little Edge of Linux and is surpassed by Mac OS. Hello foot! Sorry about the bullet hole!

Tweet Digests Suspended

May 10th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
23 comments

It seems that more people hated them than there were people who liked them. So, at least for now, the tweet digests being sent by LoudTwitter (my posts titled “yesterday, in brief”) have been suspended. If this pleases you, please feel free to sound your cheers in the comments below. If you would prefer to see them still, let me know. If there is enough interest, I’ll set up a special feed for it.

Virtual Machines and the search for freedom

Apr 30th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
6 comments

So I bought a laptop.

My employer — heretofore known as the Great White Devil (as coined by Joel Watson of HijinksEnsue) or GWD for short — was giving me some after my request for a RAM upgrade to the impossibly small 512kb that I have now due to the new Encrypted status of my laptop and it’s inability to cope with said Encryption given its resources. So, I just went out and bought a laptop. Of course, GWB requires that any machine on its network be a company asset so using a personal laptop is not permitted and is enforced through the use of a managed desktop suite. Unwilling to give them access to the entire machine (since it is, after all, mine), I decided a virtual machine was the next best option.

I installed VMWare Server and, after 3 long hours of a Windows XP installation, driver installation, software installation, and laptop encryption, I had a VMWare image that mostly worked. There were, of course, a few problems.

First of all, when using VIsta (yeah, cringe) as a Host OS with VMServer or VMWare Player, the clock in the guest OS has a tendency to be inaccurate. I was showing up at meetings early and finding my days a lot shorter than they should be until I realized this little bug.

These few lines of code in C:\ProgramData\WMWare\VMWare Server\config.ini seemed to solve that problem. Of course, you’ll want to algter tje cpuKhz to reflect the actual speed of your processor.

host.cpukHz = “2000000″
host.noTSC = “TRUE”
ptsc.noTSC = “TRUE”
processor0.use = “FALSE”
processor1.use = “TRUE”

The second annoying problem is that, when starting the first VM after a reboot, Vista would hang for 3-5 minutes solid. It would hang so hard that the mouse would even stop moving. In the same config.ini file, I beleive the following lines corrected this, but switched to VMWare Player shortly there after so I can’t be sure.

host.TSC.noForceSync = “TRUE”

The final problem with VMWare Server, for which I have been unable to find a fix, is that Wireless Network cards simply will not bridge properly. I read a couple of people having the same trouble and suggesting various fixes including reconfiguing the Network Interfaces as Administrator and such. No matter what I tried, it didn’t work.

So, I switched to VMWare Player. Of course you can’t have Player and Server installed at the same time, so I had to uninstall Server first. And Player wont alter the VM settings in anyway so, if I want to change anything, I have to go back to installing Server first, which is annoying. But, aside from that Player does not have the same problems with the Wireless Network Bridge that I had with Server. It did however have the “clock too fast” issue mentioned above, so those config lines were still needed.

It’s working pretty solid now. Of course, with the crippled nature of VMWare Player, I’d really like to switch to something else. VirtualBox looks promising. I played with it a bit and rather liked it. Unfortunately, when it reads my prepared VMWare image and boots into Windows, it is unable to find a driver for the Network Interface it sees. So, while it boots just fine, without a working network adapter it’s pretty useless. I’ll play around with it some more in the future and see if I can make some more progress.

Daniel: 0, Linux: 1, Windows: 1 kabillion

Apr 25th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

I’m not misinformed enough to proclaim, “nothing changed, it just broke all by itself”. But, I don’t have any other explanation. My Wireless Card has suddenly stopped working in Linux.

I’m almost certain I didn’t have a kernel upgrade or software install in between the last time it worked and now because I remember upgrading all of my packages and doing a reboot afterwards. lspci shows my card in the list. However the bcm43xx driver doesn’t seem to operate it any more.

There’s no message in kern.log when I plug it in or take it out, which I expected there would be. One thing I didn’t try, now that I think about it, is pulling the card out and then doing an lspci to see if the card was still listed. But that wouldn’t have solved the problem, it would have only provided more information. I tried reloading the PCMCIA modules, but that didn’t help. I tried booting with it inserted and with it not inserted, but that made no difference. I considered upgrading all my packages again but I have no wired access here so there’s no way I can do that at this time.

If this were my only operating system I’d be sitting dead in the water. I’d have no personal computer and, if I used it for work, I wouldn’t be able to do my job. Thankfully, I have other options. The card still seems to be working just fine in Windows XP. Of course, my current use of Windows XP has other problems. But that’s due to my employer, not due to the software I’m running.

I’ll play with it a bit more when I get home and have some free time to waste (*choirs of angels laugh down from the heavens*). But, if I can’t figure it out fairly quickly, I’ll just continue using XP. It’s a shame. I really love Linux I just can’t deal with these kind of interruptions. I can’t tolerate wasting this much time just to get things to “normal”.

Ubuntu Live and Java

Apr 16th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
3 comments

I’m not sure if this is specific to the Ubuntu Live based installs, or if this would apply to any Ubuntu installation. However, attempting to install sun-java6-jre (or sun-java5-jre) has left me with a continuous string of errors until I did this…

ln -s / /cow

It seems as though one of the installation scripts has this path hardcoded in it, and, without it, these scripts fail.

I hope this helps you if you should even encounter the same problem.

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