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I have an idea for an application I think could be really cool. Ideally, it would be Mac-based, since I exclusively use Macs at home, but it could exist just the same on Windows or Linux or any other platform. The problem is, I'm not a programmer - at least I can't build native apps, only web ones.
So my question is,? Should I post it here? Submit it to OSNews? I've contacted the developers of MarsEdit, because that's the closest thing that exists to my idea, but he opted out without hearing the idea, so I'm kind of at a loss. What should one do if they have an idea for a potentially useful application?
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2847 view(s)
As a general rule, 15% of any online community is comprised of ninnies, fools, and jerks. On some sites, this percentage is much higher, and for others, it's slightly lower. But every community has them and too often, they are impossibly loud and attention seeking.
On the whole, I find OSNews to be way above average. The noise ratio is generally low, so it's really only the trolling - both intentional and unintentional - that gets people riled up. But the rule still applies.
Recently, I had a user incredibly angry at me because I "forced" him to use the mobile site on his mobile device. I reminded him that it's been that way since the first day Eugenia rolled out the code, but he was having none of that. I told him that most devices won't support the site and he said his did. Finally, he uploaded a video of his usage and saw him using... an iPhone! The best part? The iPhone is not served the mobile version. So he was going to mobile.osnews.com and them complaining that we served him the mobile version!
Then yesterday, in an admittedly heated discussion about KDE4, I was discussing how I am disappointed with the release as a 4.0 release and some got incredibly angry. They pounded upon me that the only proper thing to do is release the code and let users find the bugs. But I didn't relent when I probably should have just ignored it, I was a bit too salty at worst, I should have just moved on and stayed above it, but alas, I didn't, and it ended with a bang.
A lot of people think that by being a part of the OSNews staff, we're not allowed to have any opinions. They forget that we're software users too, and that we participate in our own community.
So, anyway, in this KDE4 "ready or not" discussion, I insisted that it was naive to suggest that the average user would follow the development or news closely enough to know that the KDE team suggested that 4.0 is not ready for users, I was called "stupid" by one user and "an ejit" by another. It's a fatal flaw for IT people to assume everyone is like them, that everyone is subscribed to 400+ RSS feeds and knows the news before it's even cooled off. But the battle waged on. In retrospect, I really don't think anything I said was wrong or off base, so I'm not really regretting this interchange.
While digging through the responses, I found a user misusing his mod points - a clear violation of OSNews rules - by modding down every comment that disagreed with his (not just mine) and modding up every comment that agreed. A cursory review showed that every up-mod he's handed out in the last few days was to pro-KDE posts, while every down-mod in the last several days dared to question them. This is a cleare violation: this doesn't help us prevent forum misuse, it just filters out differing opinions, which leads to groupthink. I was tempted to reverse all of his recent moderations straightaway, but I witheld and swallowed his downmods of even my own comments. You stay classy,K-------- (name redacted).
Yes, even the best communities have a few bad apples, a few sour pusses who want only to be stroked and reinforced in their own opinions, and when there is any challenge, they lash out. They're present in every community, real life included.
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1924 view(s)
Whilst reading Bruce Byfield's "Divining from the Entrails of Ubuntu's Gutsy Gibbon" today, I began pondering the evolution of Ubuntu. Ubuntu began live as Warty Warthog back in 2004, and rose quickly to fame. Its biggest selling point was that it was user friendly Linux, the best, most accessible Linux distribution to date. Now, just a few short years later, Ubuntu has truly conquered the Linux market with an estimated 30% of the field, and suddenly, there is some pushback.
I've seen a project take this path before, but project was Mozilla Firefox. The Firefox devs suddenly turned their back on their userbase in favor of catering to a wider audience. As a result, I - an obsessively dedicated Firefox user since at least Phoenix 0.2 - have sworn off the software completely.
Enter the "equal accessibility paradox." I see this often with software projects especially, but it exists in all sorts of arenas, from websites to cell phones, cameras to iPods, from cars to TVs, even in restaurants and stores. The problem exists as such: you have two distinct groups of customers, one who prefers additional options or features even if it introduces complexity; and another, possibly larger, audience who prefers elegant simplicity at the expense of features. The goal is to provide everyone with the options and abilities they expect without overwhelming them. Can a new, non-savvy user control the product to do what they want equally as well as an advanced user can configure the product to do what he wants?
The problem comes from the fact that all too often, like with both Ubuntu and Firefox, you begin to favor one community over the other. I believe the Mozilla Foundation, at least in the provided example, unfortunately decided to cater to a wider audience by making decisions at the expense of its current users. They have made decisions that have cost them at least one user. Ubuntu, if the article is to be believed, has provided plenty of advanced options but over-simplified the non-advanced procedures. In short, if you aren't a complete novice, you're an expert. Thus the paradox takes shape: the gap between your two user groups becomes greater. Hopefully, along the way, you don't so aggravate your most vigilant supporters so that they abandon you.
I'm positive I haven't best expressed what I intended to say, but I think there's a theory in there. As your userbase grows, the gap between your two user-types widens, and your target generally becomes one or the other.
As Apple grows and branches out from the Macintosh computer line, I can only hope they don't cater to new users to a degree that forsakes the current users who kept them afloat for so long. As Microsoft has grown, they have taken more and more steps to frustrate the people who best support their products, so much so that my business now uses Linux on web servers and PHP for programming and I always recommend Macs and Linux to my friends and colleagues. As Firefox grew, I felt they left users like me behind. As Ubuntu grows, I hope they can control the divide before they find themselves head-to-head with the "equal accessibility paradox."
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1065 view(s)
This weekend, a family friend for well over 20 years, Dr. Richard Weltman, died. Shortly after our wedding last July, Rick was diagnosed with a paricularly aggressive kidney cancer and it eventually weakened him too much. He passed away on Friday, 7/27/07 from problems associated with high dose chemotherapy. Although I was distanced from the Weltmans for several years due mainly to geography, I never really lost the special connection I always had with them from my childhood. I was reunited with them when my father had a medical episode last year, and we immediately caught up.
Rick, a gifted hobbiest photographer, took fantastic pictures at our wedding - pictures of people - that served as the perfect complement to our photographers' photos. Our wedding memories are only complete with the photos from both of them.
Rick was also a talented doctor, and he lovingly and gently treated my grandather up to the weeks before he died. If only for this, I would be forever grateful. His knowledgeable but honest approach led me to have complete confidence in him.
The fact is, Rick was not a part of my everyday life and I knew he was sick, and that is why it is so surprising that I find myself so dismayed by this news. Rick was a great all around guy - a caring person, a good friend, a sympathic ear, serious when it was called for and humorous at all other times. Rick had a contagious smile and big bushy signature eyebrows that couldn't be missed, and I truly believe that all who knew him liked him.
It says something special about a man's life when, even if they only realize it after he dies, people recognize the way he touched their lives. The people who assemble to celebrate Rick's life will do so knowing that they are better for having known him. There will be a hole in the lives of everyone that knew this kind man who was taken from us far too soon.
Comments (0) |
1675 view(s)
There is currently a headline on Digg today entitled "LOST's Producer Breaks "Radio Silence" to Reveal Why Charlie Died and More." If you read the comment (which on Digg, are all too frequently inane rants rolled with inside jokes), you'l see the poor submitter getting roasted for his title, which includes a "spoiler." Wikipedia calls a spoiler "A spoiler is a summary or description of a narrative (or part of a narrative) that relates plot elements not revealed early in the narrative itself."
In colloquial use, a spoiler is revealing something either as yet unrevealed or any major plot twist. Today is Saturday and people are complaining that the headline contains a spoiler, that Charlie died. Forget for a moment that anyone who has seen Lost in the last few months knew this moment was coming - my question is, "is this actually a spoiler?"
By strictist definition, Darth Vader being revealed as Luke's father is a spoiler, despite its presence as a pop culture reference. By loosest definition, spoilers are revealed every day.
First off, the submitter on Digg was quoting an article on E Online, which, for the record, shared the same title. Secondly, well over 1,000 people dugg it up - do they not share any blame. And thirdly, is this even a spoiler? This information was in several online articles the day after the Wednesday finale.
The fact is, nearly every major news outlet "spoiled" American Idol within a day of the finale, but I didn't hear people complaining about that. And although I've heard people say "Digg isn't just for the US, and other places are broadcast behind you," ABC does share the full length episodes on their website and... well... this is the INTERNET! It's the age of instantaneous information.
So what is an acceptable amount of time to wait before something is no longer a spoiler? I believe spoilers are real time only for TV, and pretty close to it for movies. It would've been a spoiler on Wednesday day or before, but once the episode airs, it's no longer a spoiler. And if you don't want to know, stay off the internet, certainly sites that will features reviews of a show that is very popular.
Movies are close to real time; it's bad class to give away the twist to a movie, but how long until people generally know the twist? Is "The Sixth Sense" still fooling anyone?
Spoilers are only spoilers until the general public gets access. Then, I'm afraid, it's every man for himself. You are responsible for navigating yourself away from the data you're trying to avoid, because the world doesn't owe it to you to not discuss something popular because you didn't get a chance to watch it.
Comments (1) |
2044 view(s)
I didn't know William Dember, but apparently, he was my cousin. He was my grandmother's first cousin - her mother's brother's son - which makes him my ...uh ...cousin. A few times removed, probably.
Anyway, it turns out he was a fairly decorated man in the field of psychology. In truth, I didn't even know he existed until he died, so it really makes me wonder how much family I have running around out there that I have never even heard of.
Comments (1) |
1750 view(s)
"What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story"
"When they turn the pages of history,
when these days have passed long ago,
will they read of us with sadness
for the seeds that we let grow?"
Comments (0) |
1755 view(s)
The Phish shows in Hampton are over. New Years is over. My finger is probably broken, but at a minimum, hurts like hell, I'm sick and generally feel like poo, and my car is bashed up and I don't know why. Plus, work sucks!
I'm having a crappy day, can you tell? I'm going to go home and watch TV and get hammered off of Hycodan cough syrup.
In the meantime, Hampton friggin ruled. So much fun. God, I missed Phish.
Comments (0) |
694 view(s)
What the hell is porridge? And who is eating it?
According to dictionary.com:
porridge: por·ridge Pronunciation Key (porij) n. A soft food made by boiling oatmeal or another meal in water or milk.
Where do I start? What other "meals" are there? Corn meal? How many meals might make for a sensible porridge? Secondly, who is mixing meal with water? If I take the liberal definition, all Oatmeal as we know it is porridge. If I take a stricter route, someone is apparently looking at a grainy substance and saying "This 'meal' would be mighty tasty boiled in water or milk."
Furthermore, I think we're all familiar with the oft repeated nursery rhyme that ends "Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old." Oh my! Are peas a "meal?" If so, does mixing peas with water or milk make a pea porridge? My peas are always cooked in water, but I've never considered it a porridge. Also, who would save any porridge for nine days? I can't imagine a 9 day old oatmeal, am I off track in assuming other "meals" would be equally unappetizing after 9 days in a nasty pot, doubtlessly unrefrigerated?
Next week, we shall discuss the nutrional value of curds and whey.
Comments (1) |
1491 view(s)
I'm so tired. I was at work for like 12 hours today. Admittedly, I the last hour was me just yapping about at Identix, but I'm feeling completely and totally energy-less. I'm so tired that even though I have dinner downstairs I want to call Dominos and try their new "kicker" boneless chicken wing things.
Whenever I say I'm going to go to bed early, I never do. So, although I'm dog tired, I guarantee I'll be up until midnight.
What I wanted to write is that until about 2 hours ago, I hadn't paid much mind to tomorrow being 9-11 and all. However, Tommy Ridge jacked us up to Code Orange on the Homeland Security scale, and now I'm thinking, "Man, if I were a terrorist, and I were going to somehow suicide bomb something or other, 9-11 would be the day to do it - I'd seal it as a day that every American would be scared s**tless forever!" Gotta say, now I'm kinda scared for tomorrow. I think something is going to happen, and I'm praying it ain't in DC.
Comments (0) |
880 view(s)
>> An Idea for an Application 2008-03-20 11:57:29
Tags:
I have an idea for an application I think could be really cool. Ideally, it would be Mac-based, since I exclusively use Macs at home, but it could exist just the same on Windows or Linux or any other platform. The problem is, I'm not a programmer - at least I can't build native apps, only web ones. So my question is,
Comments (5) |
2847 view(s)
>> The Fifteen Percent Rule 2008-01-22 09:04:37
As a general rule, 15% of any online community is comprised of ninnies, fools, and jerks. On some sites, this percentage is much higher, and for others, it's slightly lower. But every community has them and too often, they are impossibly loud and attention seeking. On the whole, I find OSNews to be way above average. The noise ratio is generally low, so it's really only the trolling - both intentional and unintentional - that gets people riled up. But the rule still applies.
Recently, I had a user incredibly angry at me because I "forced" him to use the mobile site on his mobile device. I reminded him that it's been that way since the first day Eugenia rolled out the code, but he was having none of that. I told him that most devices won't support the site and he said his did. Finally, he uploaded a video of his usage and saw him using... an iPhone! The best part? The iPhone is not served the mobile version. So he was going to mobile.osnews.com and them complaining that we served him the mobile version!
Then yesterday, in an admittedly heated discussion about KDE4, I was discussing how I am disappointed with the release as a 4.0 release and some got incredibly angry. They pounded upon me that the only proper thing to do is release the code and let users find the bugs. But I didn't relent when I probably should have just ignored it, I was a bit too salty at worst, I should have just moved on and stayed above it, but alas, I didn't, and it ended with a bang.
A lot of people think that by being a part of the OSNews staff, we're not allowed to have any opinions. They forget that we're software users too, and that we participate in our own community.
So, anyway, in this KDE4 "ready or not" discussion, I insisted that it was naive to suggest that the average user would follow the development or news closely enough to know that the KDE team suggested that 4.0 is not ready for users, I was called "stupid" by one user and "an ejit" by another. It's a fatal flaw for IT people to assume everyone is like them, that everyone is subscribed to 400+ RSS feeds and knows the news before it's even cooled off. But the battle waged on. In retrospect, I really don't think anything I said was wrong or off base, so I'm not really regretting this interchange.
While digging through the responses, I found a user misusing his mod points - a clear violation of OSNews rules - by modding down every comment that disagreed with his (not just mine) and modding up every comment that agreed. A cursory review showed that every up-mod he's handed out in the last few days was to pro-KDE posts, while every down-mod in the last several days dared to question them. This is a cleare violation: this doesn't help us prevent forum misuse, it just filters out differing opinions, which leads to groupthink. I was tempted to reverse all of his recent moderations straightaway, but I witheld and swallowed his downmods of even my own comments. You stay classy,
Yes, even the best communities have a few bad apples, a few sour pusses who want only to be stroked and reinforced in their own opinions, and when there is any challenge, they lash out. They're present in every community, real life included.
Comments (0) |
1924 view(s)
>> The Equal Accessibility Paradox 2007-09-20 15:32:05
Whilst reading Bruce Byfield's "Divining from the Entrails of Ubuntu's Gutsy Gibbon" today, I began pondering the evolution of Ubuntu. Ubuntu began live as Warty Warthog back in 2004, and rose quickly to fame. Its biggest selling point was that it was user friendly Linux, the best, most accessible Linux distribution to date. Now, just a few short years later, Ubuntu has truly conquered the Linux market with an estimated 30% of the field, and suddenly, there is some pushback. I've seen a project take this path before, but project was Mozilla Firefox. The Firefox devs suddenly turned their back on their userbase in favor of catering to a wider audience. As a result, I - an obsessively dedicated Firefox user since at least Phoenix 0.2 - have sworn off the software completely.
Enter the "equal accessibility paradox." I see this often with software projects especially, but it exists in all sorts of arenas, from websites to cell phones, cameras to iPods, from cars to TVs, even in restaurants and stores. The problem exists as such: you have two distinct groups of customers, one who prefers additional options or features even if it introduces complexity; and another, possibly larger, audience who prefers elegant simplicity at the expense of features. The goal is to provide everyone with the options and abilities they expect without overwhelming them. Can a new, non-savvy user control the product to do what they want equally as well as an advanced user can configure the product to do what he wants?
The problem comes from the fact that all too often, like with both Ubuntu and Firefox, you begin to favor one community over the other. I believe the Mozilla Foundation, at least in the provided example, unfortunately decided to cater to a wider audience by making decisions at the expense of its current users. They have made decisions that have cost them at least one user. Ubuntu, if the article is to be believed, has provided plenty of advanced options but over-simplified the non-advanced procedures. In short, if you aren't a complete novice, you're an expert. Thus the paradox takes shape: the gap between your two user groups becomes greater. Hopefully, along the way, you don't so aggravate your most vigilant supporters so that they abandon you.
I'm positive I haven't best expressed what I intended to say, but I think there's a theory in there. As your userbase grows, the gap between your two user-types widens, and your target generally becomes one or the other.
As Apple grows and branches out from the Macintosh computer line, I can only hope they don't cater to new users to a degree that forsakes the current users who kept them afloat for so long. As Microsoft has grown, they have taken more and more steps to frustrate the people who best support their products, so much so that my business now uses Linux on web servers and PHP for programming and I always recommend Macs and Linux to my friends and colleagues. As Firefox grew, I felt they left users like me behind. As Ubuntu grows, I hope they can control the divide before they find themselves head-to-head with the "equal accessibility paradox."
Comments (0) |
1065 view(s)
>> In Memory of Dr. Richard Weltman 2007-07-30 11:02:28
This weekend, a family friend for well over 20 years, Dr. Richard Weltman, died. Shortly after our wedding last July, Rick was diagnosed with a paricularly aggressive kidney cancer and it eventually weakened him too much. He passed away on Friday, 7/27/07 from problems associated with high dose chemotherapy. Although I was distanced from the Weltmans for several years due mainly to geography, I never really lost the special connection I always had with them from my childhood. I was reunited with them when my father had a medical episode last year, and we immediately caught up. Rick, a gifted hobbiest photographer, took fantastic pictures at our wedding - pictures of people - that served as the perfect complement to our photographers' photos. Our wedding memories are only complete with the photos from both of them.
Rick was also a talented doctor, and he lovingly and gently treated my grandather up to the weeks before he died. If only for this, I would be forever grateful. His knowledgeable but honest approach led me to have complete confidence in him.
The fact is, Rick was not a part of my everyday life and I knew he was sick, and that is why it is so surprising that I find myself so dismayed by this news. Rick was a great all around guy - a caring person, a good friend, a sympathic ear, serious when it was called for and humorous at all other times. Rick had a contagious smile and big bushy signature eyebrows that couldn't be missed, and I truly believe that all who knew him liked him.
It says something special about a man's life when, even if they only realize it after he dies, people recognize the way he touched their lives. The people who assemble to celebrate Rick's life will do so knowing that they are better for having known him. There will be a hole in the lives of everyone that knew this kind man who was taken from us far too soon.
Comments (0) |
1675 view(s)
>> When Is A Spoiler No Longer a Spoiler? 2007-05-26 14:46:07
There is currently a headline on Digg today entitled "LOST's Producer Breaks "Radio Silence" to Reveal Why Charlie Died and More." If you read the comment (which on Digg, are all too frequently inane rants rolled with inside jokes), you'l see the poor submitter getting roasted for his title, which includes a "spoiler." Wikipedia calls a spoiler "A spoiler is a summary or description of a narrative (or part of a narrative) that relates plot elements not revealed early in the narrative itself."In colloquial use, a spoiler is revealing something either as yet unrevealed or any major plot twist. Today is Saturday and people are complaining that the headline contains a spoiler, that Charlie died. Forget for a moment that anyone who has seen Lost in the last few months knew this moment was coming - my question is, "is this actually a spoiler?"
By strictist definition, Darth Vader being revealed as Luke's father is a spoiler, despite its presence as a pop culture reference. By loosest definition, spoilers are revealed every day.
First off, the submitter on Digg was quoting an article on E Online, which, for the record, shared the same title. Secondly, well over 1,000 people dugg it up - do they not share any blame. And thirdly, is this even a spoiler? This information was in several online articles the day after the Wednesday finale.
The fact is, nearly every major news outlet "spoiled" American Idol within a day of the finale, but I didn't hear people complaining about that. And although I've heard people say "Digg isn't just for the US, and other places are broadcast behind you," ABC does share the full length episodes on their website and... well... this is the INTERNET! It's the age of instantaneous information.
So what is an acceptable amount of time to wait before something is no longer a spoiler? I believe spoilers are real time only for TV, and pretty close to it for movies. It would've been a spoiler on Wednesday day or before, but once the episode airs, it's no longer a spoiler. And if you don't want to know, stay off the internet, certainly sites that will features reviews of a show that is very popular.
Movies are close to real time; it's bad class to give away the twist to a movie, but how long until people generally know the twist? Is "The Sixth Sense" still fooling anyone?
Spoilers are only spoilers until the general public gets access. Then, I'm afraid, it's every man for himself. You are responsible for navigating yourself away from the data you're trying to avoid, because the world doesn't owe it to you to not discuss something popular because you didn't get a chance to watch it.
Comments (1) |
2044 view(s)
>> R.I.P. William Dember 2006-10-03 11:31:32
I didn't know William Dember, but apparently, he was my cousin. He was my grandmother's first cousin - her mother's brother's son - which makes him my ...uh ...cousin. A few times removed, probably. Anyway, it turns out he was a fairly decorated man in the field of psychology. In truth, I didn't even know he existed until he died, so it really makes me wonder how much family I have running around out there that I have never even heard of.
Comments (1) |
1750 view(s)
>> More Rush Quotes 2006-09-04 20:18:09
"What you own is your own kingdomWhat you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story"
"When they turn the pages of history,
when these days have passed long ago,
will they read of us with sadness
for the seeds that we let grow?"
Comments (0) |
1755 view(s)
>> D'oh. 2003-01-06 11:00:00
The Phish shows in Hampton are over. New Years is over. My finger is probably broken, but at a minimum, hurts like hell, I'm sick and generally feel like poo, and my car is bashed up and I don't know why. Plus, work sucks! I'm having a crappy day, can you tell? I'm going to go home and watch TV and get hammered off of Hycodan cough syrup.
In the meantime, Hampton friggin ruled. So much fun. God, I missed Phish.
Comments (0) |
694 view(s)
>> Peas Porridge Hot. 2002-09-19 14:25:00
What the hell is porridge? And who is eating it? According to dictionary.com:
porridge: por·ridge Pronunciation Key (porij) n. A soft food made by boiling oatmeal or another meal in water or milk.
Where do I start? What other "meals" are there? Corn meal? How many meals might make for a sensible porridge? Secondly, who is mixing meal with water? If I take the liberal definition, all Oatmeal as we know it is porridge. If I take a stricter route, someone is apparently looking at a grainy substance and saying "This 'meal' would be mighty tasty boiled in water or milk."
Furthermore, I think we're all familiar with the oft repeated nursery rhyme that ends "Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old." Oh my! Are peas a "meal?" If so, does mixing peas with water or milk make a pea porridge? My peas are always cooked in water, but I've never considered it a porridge. Also, who would save any porridge for nine days? I can't imagine a 9 day old oatmeal, am I off track in assuming other "meals" would be equally unappetizing after 9 days in a nasty pot, doubtlessly unrefrigerated?
Next week, we shall discuss the nutrional value of curds and whey.
Comments (1) |
1491 view(s)
>> He was such a stupid git... 2002-09-10 19:21:00
I'm so tired. I was at work for like 12 hours today. Admittedly, I the last hour was me just yapping about at Identix, but I'm feeling completely and totally energy-less. I'm so tired that even though I have dinner downstairs I want to call Dominos and try their new "kicker" boneless chicken wing things. Whenever I say I'm going to go to bed early, I never do. So, although I'm dog tired, I guarantee I'll be up until midnight.
What I wanted to write is that until about 2 hours ago, I hadn't paid much mind to tomorrow being 9-11 and all. However, Tommy Ridge jacked us up to Code Orange on the Homeland Security scale, and now I'm thinking, "Man, if I were a terrorist, and I were going to somehow suicide bomb something or other, 9-11 would be the day to do it - I'd seal it as a day that every American would be scared s**tless forever!" Gotta say, now I'm kinda scared for tomorrow. I think something is going to happen, and I'm praying it ain't in DC.
Comments (0) |
880 view(s)