Apple releases a Big Bad Boy.
Meet the latest addition to the Mac Pro family: The world’s first 3.0GHz, 8-core Intel Xeon-based Mac Pro. Consider the bar officially raised.
This box is smoking. These Xeon's really fly.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
DotNet developer comments on Apple Service.
I read an interesting post from Kevin Hoffman about his experience in dealing with Apple.
He was having some problems extending some example code and emailed Apple for some help.
They responded with help in reproducing his problem, gave some optimization tips and treated him like a real person.
I'm sure that there's lots of cases where Apple is like a black hole, but I like to think that the 'cult-of-the-apple' is because of this more human approach.
Maybe thats a lesson to us all.
He was having some problems extending some example code and emailed Apple for some help.
They responded with help in reproducing his problem, gave some optimization tips and treated him like a real person.
I'm sure that there's lots of cases where Apple is like a black hole, but I like to think that the 'cult-of-the-apple' is because of this more human approach.
Maybe thats a lesson to us all.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Mailinator architecture
Paul Tyma (who now works at google) talks about the architecture of Mailinator. I love its simple design.. its fundamentally a stripped down java SMTP server which holds all the emails in memory, so disk IO is not a problem.
He says that 99% of emails received are not read, so he compresses them to reduce the memory footprint; to limit spam an aged hashmap is used based on IP and subjects. He obvious used the KISS approach... nice.
He says that 99% of emails received are not read, so he compresses them to reduce the memory footprint; to limit spam an aged hashmap is used based on IP and subjects. He obvious used the KISS approach... nice.
Scoble on Joel
Scoble recently interviewed Joel (from Joel-on-Software) about what its like running a software company.
I can definitely agree with some of the points Joel is making. Once companies get VC money, their can be a tendancy to splurge. The message I hear repeatedly from entrepreneurs that have been successful is about being frugal.
I can definitely agree with some of the points Joel is making. Once companies get VC money, their can be a tendancy to splurge. The message I hear repeatedly from entrepreneurs that have been successful is about being frugal.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
time for school
Went all day to startup school in Palo Alto. It was a lotta fun meeting up with fellow tech-heads/entrepreneurs.
They had some really good speakers who were both educational (on the most part) and humourous. Heres a nice summary.
On one hand, I'm completely drained (it was a long day) and the other completely motivated to start creating.
They had some really good speakers who were both educational (on the most part) and humourous. Heres a nice summary.
On one hand, I'm completely drained (it was a long day) and the other completely motivated to start creating.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Reac Table
Reac Table, an explanation of an new audio electronic instrument.
A very cool demo is here . I love the strangeness of the UI, not sure how intuitive it is. I guess the explorative aspect of it generates creativity.
Maybe this is the future of DJs. Hmm..
A very cool demo is here . I love the strangeness of the UI, not sure how intuitive it is. I guess the explorative aspect of it generates creativity.
Maybe this is the future of DJs. Hmm..
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Power desktop
People are complaining about information overload and the amount of electronic content they are starting to accumulate.
I often think how user-interfaces are going to be like 5 or even 10 years from now. The last 10 years have been remarkable. I remember using Microsoft Windows 2 and thinking it was cool. Well I was using MSDOS at the time.
Using macosx now, its soo far ahead of what I thought would happen.
10 years from now, could we have something like this virtual desk?
I often think how user-interfaces are going to be like 5 or even 10 years from now. The last 10 years have been remarkable. I remember using Microsoft Windows 2 and thinking it was cool. Well I was using MSDOS at the time.
Using macosx now, its soo far ahead of what I thought would happen.
10 years from now, could we have something like this virtual desk?
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Cocoa development
I've been toying with cocoa on and off for ages but couldn't find anything that I really needed to implement. (Necessity is the best learning tool they say.)
This has got been intrigued. Every week an application is posted. You have to figure out the functionality and implement it. Source code follows a week later.
Maybe this will provide me the motivation to keep going.
This has got been intrigued. Every week an application is posted. You have to figure out the functionality and implement it. Source code follows a week later.
Maybe this will provide me the motivation to keep going.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Not putting up with crap tech
I have to admit I mostly think like this recent blog posting about steve jobs.
That extra bit that you do really-really does make a difference.
Maybe technology is a zen experience for me..
That extra bit that you do really-really does make a difference.
Maybe technology is a zen experience for me..
iPhone
You've probably already heard about the iPhone. Gizmodo created a nice specs page. Time also is worth readling.
IMHO it truely is a fine piece of technology. At the moment I have a crappy phone (pay as you go virgin mobile) as the technology out there is just crap. The treos are reasonably, but the technology is ancient. I have the Palm Tungsten-C with wifi and it crashes 80% of the time when connecting. I've been looking at the Palm Lifedrive to organize my life but everyone complains how terrible it is.
Palm keeps promising the new version of their opsys based on linux. I'm excited about it but I've been waiting for this for the last 3 years.
My Mrs has the Samsung i730 which is a fairly advanced Windows phone. It has bluetooth *and* wifi yet the Windows UI is a joke that I can't tolerate using.
I'm an apple fanboy.. I admit it.. but you can't say that this isn't a phone done right? Virtual interfaces are where things are going.
Thinking back.. I bought the 2nd generaion iPod. This was a time when only apple folk knew what it was all about. It cost a fair bit but I loved it. The standard video iPod is soo far ahead of my old one its not funny anymore.
I look forward to how this will progress and how it will cause telecom and phone makers to shape up.
A lot of people have complained about it being tied to Cingular. What do you expect them to do? Verizon and the other telecoms routinely disable advanced hardware features so they can knicke-and-dime you. WTF?? You want to charge me $2 for what?? Paying for wallpaper and ringtones are a joke. Apple will not let itself be blackmailed like this.
I'm also excited about it running OSX. Yes.. they haven't said whether you can create applications for it.. but common.. do you really think that Apple won't let people improve the whole experience?
Think small steps..
IMHO it truely is a fine piece of technology. At the moment I have a crappy phone (pay as you go virgin mobile) as the technology out there is just crap. The treos are reasonably, but the technology is ancient. I have the Palm Tungsten-C with wifi and it crashes 80% of the time when connecting. I've been looking at the Palm Lifedrive to organize my life but everyone complains how terrible it is.
Palm keeps promising the new version of their opsys based on linux. I'm excited about it but I've been waiting for this for the last 3 years.
My Mrs has the Samsung i730 which is a fairly advanced Windows phone. It has bluetooth *and* wifi yet the Windows UI is a joke that I can't tolerate using.
I'm an apple fanboy.. I admit it.. but you can't say that this isn't a phone done right? Virtual interfaces are where things are going.
Thinking back.. I bought the 2nd generaion iPod. This was a time when only apple folk knew what it was all about. It cost a fair bit but I loved it. The standard video iPod is soo far ahead of my old one its not funny anymore.
I look forward to how this will progress and how it will cause telecom and phone makers to shape up.
A lot of people have complained about it being tied to Cingular. What do you expect them to do? Verizon and the other telecoms routinely disable advanced hardware features so they can knicke-and-dime you. WTF?? You want to charge me $2 for what?? Paying for wallpaper and ringtones are a joke. Apple will not let itself be blackmailed like this.
I'm also excited about it running OSX. Yes.. they haven't said whether you can create applications for it.. but common.. do you really think that Apple won't let people improve the whole experience?
Think small steps..
Silicon Valley Tech Meetup presentation
We did a presentation at the Silicon Valley Tech Meetup last Tuesday and to the people I talked to, it was quite positive.
Rafe Needleman mentions us on his blog with the very nice title 'PowerReviews: Cleverest user reviews site so far'.
The Beta is open. Please go check it out.
Rafe Needleman mentions us on his blog with the very nice title 'PowerReviews: Cleverest user reviews site so far'.
The Beta is open. Please go check it out.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Spheres
I never knew that spheres were so much fun!
The site that I can't get enough of is cgsphere. The galleries are awesome!
The idea is you start with a very simple sphere scene and use your imagination.
Unfort. I'm nowhere near that level. I've still tinkering with cheetah-3d. Its very simple (and yet powerful). It has a gradual learning curve that keeps me motivated. A lot of people rave about Blender, but theres too many buttons for me to remember.
The site that I can't get enough of is cgsphere. The galleries are awesome!
The idea is you start with a very simple sphere scene and use your imagination.
Unfort. I'm nowhere near that level. I've still tinkering with cheetah-3d. Its very simple (and yet powerful). It has a gradual learning curve that keeps me motivated. A lot of people rave about Blender, but theres too many buttons for me to remember.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Sprites of yesteryear
Very interesting art. Richard Horsman has taken sprites from old games and converted them to 3D images. Cool.
Great article about what its like living in the valley during the web2.0 growth. I agree there is less money squandered on stupid ideas. Also the cost of development is a lot lower.
During the first boom-bust, startups were spending silly money of areons, party launches, clustered oracle servers, huge sun boxes and weblogic bea server-apps. With the maturity of Open Source, we have real stable frameworks and operating systems for free.
Communication is better now. IM is another cog in your communication rather than the exception. With better high-bandwidth penetration in the home, it means that everyone is contributing and producing content.
Fantastic! :)
Great article about what its like living in the valley during the web2.0 growth. I agree there is less money squandered on stupid ideas. Also the cost of development is a lot lower.
During the first boom-bust, startups were spending silly money of areons, party launches, clustered oracle servers, huge sun boxes and weblogic bea server-apps. With the maturity of Open Source, we have real stable frameworks and operating systems for free.
Communication is better now. IM is another cog in your communication rather than the exception. With better high-bandwidth penetration in the home, it means that everyone is contributing and producing content.
Fantastic! :)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Stores rave about web reviews
We got a mention in the chicago tribune about how stores love reviews.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Lunch with Eric
Some of us from powerreviews had a very pleasant lunch talking to Eric Miraglia from yahoo YUI team. We talked about the YUI library and cool things that can be done.
He posted his comments on his blog.
He posted his comments on his blog.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Mash up or shut up - Yahoo Hackday.
Yahoo opened their campus last weekend for their developer hackday. There were lots of workshops and talks and had a great time absorbing.
They really have some talented people working on api's that make the average developers life a lot easier.
Anyhoo.. I was the first to get registered and was given a whole bunch of cool swag. woohoo!
The offices are pretty cool and every hack need was taken care of.
They had Beck play and it was a fantastic concert. They truely are original both musically and in their performance. They also had some very superb puppets!
In fact the puppets themselves made a very funny yahoo video.
If you ever get a chance to go to one of these, I would recommend it. Great day.
They really have some talented people working on api's that make the average developers life a lot easier.
Anyhoo.. I was the first to get registered and was given a whole bunch of cool swag. woohoo!
The offices are pretty cool and every hack need was taken care of.
They had Beck play and it was a fantastic concert. They truely are original both musically and in their performance. They also had some very superb puppets!
In fact the puppets themselves made a very funny yahoo video.
If you ever get a chance to go to one of these, I would recommend it. Great day.
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