WebCarolinas.com

Has It Been A Year Already?

2008-08-22T01:04:11Z

Guess I should post a bit more frequently. I'll think about it.

Adobe's AIR: The Future Is On The Desktop?

2007-08-21T00:37:20Z

The Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) is Adobe's new client runtime that brings Rich Internet Application (RIA) functionality to the desktop. I started hearing a lot about AIR (then code-named Apollo) at MAX 2006. Then, as now, there are some fundamental things about it that I simply don't get, and this post by Doug at CubicleMan.com got me thinking about it again.

Let's first take a step back to Flex, Adobe's platform for RIA development. Flex solves the "dumb and disconnected" problem of Web applications by keeping a channel open between client and server when using LiveCycle Data Services. It combines the best of desktop applications (a rich and intuitive user experience) and Web applications (a centralized data store and easy application distribution). I can understand why Flex is compelling.

AIR on the other hand requires both the runtime environment and the application executable to be installed on each user's local machine.

It's apparently quite easy to convert a Flex application to an AIR application. It's great that AIR applications are cross-platform. And the ability to interact with the user's local file system is a nice new addition. But the real argument I always hear for AIR applications is that the applications can function when the user is disconnected from the Internet, and data can be synched to a central repository when reconnected. The example of sales staff in the field is invariably given.

This is where it begins to lose me. Why is Adobe pushing the desktop as the future platform for deployment of Rich Internet Applications? We've just spent the last ten years forcing the Web application to a point of maturity -- thanks in no small part to Macromedia and now Adobe -- where the richness of the desktop is finally available on the Web. After all that effort, why now turn back to the desktop, and the days of calls to a tech to come install some application on some machine up on the 20th floor?

With increasing Internet ubiquity and relatively affordable mobile broadband, AIR strikes me as something of a solution in search of a problem. At best, it seems a Band-Aid to tide us over to the days of true always-available Internet. I hope there's something to it that I'm not getting yet.

Virgin Festival 2007: Awesome When Not Disastrous

2007-08-13T22:43:43Z

We had a lot of fun at last year's first Virgin Music Festival, so despite a somewhat less compelling lineup this year and the expanded two-day format, we were up for making the trek again, this time with a friend from work in tow.

It started to go to hell about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore. The 1994 Mercury Villager minivan that Jen's folks let us borrow for the trip started to shimmy and handle erratically. Odd, since it had just been serviced. We pulled over and checked the front passenger tire, only to find that it was very hot. And then we saw the flames coming from behind the tire.

The tow truck driver sent by AAA gamely let the three of us pile into the truck as we towed the van to my cousin's house, where we were staying. After a chilled Friday night at The Wharf Rat, on Saturday morning before the fest we carefully drove the van the couple of blocks from my cousin's house to the Ford dealership for them to have a look. We were in no position to spend time trying to find a more affordable garage. We then borrowed my generous cousin's Jeep and made our way to the Festival while we awaited an estimate from the dealer.

There were shuttle buses to take festival-goers from one of the MTA stops to Pimlico, the site of the festival and home to the Preakness stakes. I was impressed at how efficiently this process went.

Once we finally made it to Virgin Festival, we had to contend with the heat and dust of the racetrack. Last year's festival was held in late September; this year's was early August. I'm not sure what made them change the schedule, but it was a bad move. The prospect of spending 10 or so hours in 100+ degree heat is as nightmarish as it sounds.

We were allowed to bring in two water bottles. On day one, there were huge lines at the two free water refill stations. Jen brought a couple of battery-powered misting fans that were a major hit with us and anyone who saw them.

The festival for me opened with Fountains of Wayne on the North stage, the main stage. It was great to see one of my favorite bands so close, and it was the first time I had seen them since 2004. I've found their current album, Traffic and Weather, to be weaker than previous efforts, but an uneven FoW album is sill better than most anything else. Besides, the lead single "Someone to Love" is excellent and sounded even better live.

This time through "Radiation Vibe," they threw in a little bit of the extended piano outro from "Layla." They did several acoustic songs, including "Hey Julie," and Chris Collingwood remarked that he hadn't been up this early since the eighties. I didn't even notice it at the time, but they didn't play "Stacy's Mom." I think they don't want to be pigeonholed by it. I'm sure some were disappointed by the omission, but I think it was probably a good move.

After Fountains of Wayne, I had a tough choice. I don't know why they scheduled Cheap Trick and The Fratellis at the same time since they are both basically power-pop outfits that appeal to the same crowd. Figuring I had very little chance to ever see The Fratellis again, I took off for the South stage to catch them. They started a few minutes late, and about that time I nearly passed out from the heat. I wasn't even drinking; it was simply unbearable. The Fratellis sounded great and I remembered why I loved their album so much. Apparently, I missed a fun show in Cheap Trick, with Rick Nielsen's five-necked guitar, not to mention a fat shirtless guy rocking out in the audience.

I wasn't able to hear their entire set, as I wanted to make it back to the North stage for Amy Winehouse. Her band was tight, and she sounded good. Seeing Amy Winehouse was one of the major draws of Virgin Festival for me this year. Obviously, there is a lot of concern about her health. She is rail-thin, especially when compared to how she used to look. She was a little shaky - at one time, she seemed frustrated when she pulled the cord out of her mike - but overall, I thought she gave a fine performance.

Winehouse was one of several artists to play both Virgin Festival in Baltimore and Lollapalooza in Chicago on the same weekend. I saw her on Saturday, and by Wednesday, she had collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, canceling her tour.

She tore through the best songs from Back to Black, including "You Know I'm No Good," "Love is a Losing Game," and of course closing with "Rehab." She also performed The Zutons' "Valerie," which was released on Mark Ronson's Version (which I picked up at the on-site Virgin Megastore. Sweet.).

I love Back to Black and I think she is one of the most exciting artists to come along in a long time. I wish her well, and I don't want to see how her tragic rock story in the making ends; I've seen that movie before.

In another somewhat questionable scheduling accident, Incubus followed Amy Winehouse, so a bunch of trashed obnoxious jerks came perilously close to seriously pissing me off. Put your damn shirt on. After her set, we got word from the Ford dealership that the van needed $2136 worth of repairs: front brake calipers, lines, pads, and rotors. Rear wheel cylinders, rear shoes and drums. WTF. We obviously weren't going to pay anything close to that. Now, it was time for some tough decisions; what to do about the van? How and when are we going to get home? Trying to answer questions like these, over the weekend, can seriously impede one's ability to rock out.

I tried to get into Peter Bjorn and John, but honestly, I don't see the appeal. I did enjoy the late afternoon cowbell action of LCD Soundsystem. It was so freakin hot that I couldn't bring myself to eat much of anything on Saturday, but by the time Beastie Boys took the stage at 6:15, the worst of the heat had let up and I was ready to sit back and take it in. I expected to do the same for The Police. I did not expect to be completely riveted by them, which I was.

I enjoyed every minute of that band; and that's exactly what they were. There were three people contributing equally to produce their sound, and it was incredible, an absolute highlight of the show and one that I am glad to be able to say that I have seen, their meandering seven-minute jazz "reimagining" of "Roxanne" notwithstanding.

After crashing out at my cousin's (I have to say, my cousin treated us incredibly well, but for some unknown reason, her house is not air conditioned), we tried on Sunday morning to secure a rental car for Monday's trip back to SC. We started out by going online, as we always do.

Following a frustrating period of not finding available autos or acceptable pricing, we broke down and called AAA. For the second time in the trip, AAA came through, securing us a great price on a RAV4 big enough to get us home without breaking the bank.

On Sunday, the decision was made to relocate the minivan to a garage near Jen's uncle's house in Manassas, where a second opinion on the repairs could be done and where Jen's uncle could handle selling the car if it came to that. AAA had been incredibly useful so far; now, we would only need them to tow the minivan the 30 or so minutes from the Ford dealership in Baltimore to the garage in Manassas. Should be no problem...

The opener on Sunday was Cansei de Ser Sexy. They railed against United Airlines, who apparently caused the band to miss their Lollapalooza gig on Saturday. Sorry, Chicago, but you missed out - they were great, a lot of fun, and totally weird.

Sunday was overcast for most of the day, which gave the festival a completely different, more relaxed vibe. People were less on edge and less likely to get carried out on stretchers. I did see one guy during Interpol get wrestled down by staff and escorted out of the facilities. There was a huge crowd gathered around him and everyone was asking each other what he had done. By and large, the crowd was incredibly cool.

The day rolled on with Regina Spektor, who performed solo - a capella, on piano, and guitar. In addition to her recognizable tracks from Soviet Kitsch and Begin to Hope, she did a great version of John Lennon's "Real Love," which she has recorded for Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Apparently she has a pretty big lesbian following - news to me. Jen can't believe that I like Regina Spektor but not Tori Amos. Their sound and sensibilities are similar, but I find Regina Spektor to be a more interesting songwriter.

Spektor was followed by the mighty Spoon, which was another of the major draws for me this year, and they did not disappoint. Well, not much anyway - they didn't play "The Way We Get By" or "Sister Jack," but damn, "I Turn My Camera On" and "Lines In The Suit" sounded freakin' great.

After Spoon, there wasn't anything I wanted to see until Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The next band up was Panic! At The Disco, who I had Heard! About But Had No Opinion Of. I was highly skeptical but I have to say, they were incredibly entertaining, if a bit loud to these old ears. It was great to a band like this incorporate the piano so centrally into their sound. Their cover of "The Weight" by The Band was a well-executed surprise.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs found us back on the lawn, relaxing as much as one possibly can to the dulcet tones of Karen O. Around that time, the clouds started rolling in. We checked out both Interpol (Smiths-influenced but sterile) and Velvet Revolver (thankfully playing both GnR and STP), and I was looking forward to closing out the night with MIA, but when the skies opened up, we decided we'd had enough of the great music, food, and scenery. Besides, on Sunday night we were staying in a hotel on the way to DC and we all just wanted to crash out with some AC before the long drive on Monday.

On Monday morning, we loaded up my cousin's Jeep and headed back up to Charm City to pick up the RAV4 rental car for the ride home. We also needed to get AAA to tow the minivan from the Ford dealership to the garage in Manassas. And that's where AAA finally let us down. See, they have a policy of "one tow per breakdown," and of not towing from a garage where a car can be repaired, even if it is for $2136.

So we carefully drove the minivan to the IHOP across the street (definitely not a garage) and called AAA for a tow to Manassas. They were pretty much on to us from the get go, but they also were pretty cool about it, and a tow truck arrived before I had finished my coffee. AAA comes through yet again.

We thought we were well on our way home with the worst behind us, and that probably would have been true, if I hadn't had so much fun driving the RAV4. 88 in a 65 on HWY 29 near Lynchburg. Damn. I guess I had it coming.

Get Your AK-47 Right Here

2007-07-26T22:03:53Z

People have a right to hunt, if that's what they like. It's not my thing, but I understand that people like to do it.

And people have a right to have a gun in their house, if that's what they want. If you accept the risk that a gun in the house is 22 times more likely to kill you or someone you love than it is to be used in self-defense, that's your determination to make.

But do either of those cases call for an AK-47 automatic assault rifle, an instrument designed quite simply to kill people?

I took this picture at the pawn shop (right next to the cash advance place!) a couple of blocks from my house. Lord.

The local paper has a story on the sale of AK-47s at David's Pawn Shop:

[Owner David] Dresner said most guns used in violent crimes are bought illegally or stolen from a responsible owner.
"Could it get into the wrong hands? I guess," he said about the AK-47s. "But the average person who buys it is legit."

And yet, local police are already finding evidence at crime scenes:

Locally, Lt. Les Herring of the Rock Hill Police Department said several shell casings from the high-powered rifles have turned up at crime scenes recently. He said there are two or three unsolved shootings, none fatal, where investigators found the bullet shells.
"We know people are shooting them, but that's about all we know," he said.

There ought to be a law.

Welcome Back Online, Netflix

2007-07-25T01:25:14Z

Netflix returned this evening after being down for nearly a day. For a company whose Web site represents their entire existence for their customers, such a long period of downtime is devastating. Somewhere in Los Gatos, there is a very sweaty Server Admin.

To add insult to injury, the stock was down 7% as the company announced losses.

Netflix is in a serious battle with Blockbuster. Customers of Blockbuster Online have the option of returning their movies to one of those brick-and-mortar stores taking up space across America, and picking up an additional film while they are there.

I hate Blockbuster with every fiber of my being and haven't been inside one of their stores in years. They were the first company that I came to despise - even before Wal-Mart. But I have to admit, Blockbuster has taken the apparent liability of all this real estate and turned it into a competitive advantage, one that Netflix currently doesn't have an answer for.

The Netflix Watch Now feature is a step in the right direction. It's an interesting counter to Blockbuster, but until they release a Mac client (which doesn't seem too likely right now) I can't get too excited about it.

Come on Netflix, pull out of these doldrums. It's time for Act 2: get these movies over the Web onto my TV.

Umm...Looks Like We're Going to Have To Fight Them Over Here

2007-07-19T03:15:08Z

One of the most persistent yet hackneyed arguments from the right for maintaining current Iraq policy is that we're "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." It's been repeated countless times by the echo chamber and the President himself.

But the release of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) this week points out that Al Qaida is more likely to attack on US soil because of its association with the separate Al Qaida in Iraq.

It's another instance of the hypocrisy. We're going to fight them over here because we're fighting them over there. Can anyone rationally believe that we are not creating more hatred and increasing the number of terrorists by our continued presence?

It's a tragedy on a global scale, and there is no truly satisfactory answer in sight. But we must begin to get out. Now.

...And We're Back

2007-07-13T02:32:43Z

After a few months of trying not very hard to convert this blog to Ray Camden's open source BlogCFC, I've decided to stick with TypePad. BlogCFC is a great example of open source ColdFusion, but it does require cfdirectory and cffile tags, which my Web host has disabled. Not only that, the Web host now requires a static IP in order to connect to my SQL Server using Enterprise Manager; otherwise, you have to do all database work using a lame Web interface.

The biggest challenge I saw in porting this blog to BlogCFC was to export the posts and then import them to the database. Typepad's text-export does not export posts in a structured format, but a friend wrote a Perl script to transform the plain text into XML, and I wrote a ColdFusion page to import that XML into the database.

So to find another Web host that supported cffile, cfdirectory, and Enterprise Manager connections but didn't charge $300/yr for hosting was tough. Since Typepad is pretty cheap, I'll be sticking with this platform for awhile.

Migration is a Pain

2007-04-05T00:56:24Z

I am trying to migrate this blog to Ray Camden's Blog CFC so I can run it in-house, but Typepad doesn't make it easy. Their blog export function creates an HTML file that includes all the relevant columns, but the format of the file doesn't make it easy to parse and import to SQL Server. So posts here will continue to be light until I can figure out how to get this thing moved over.

Household Tip: To Prevent Ice Cream Freezer Burn...

2007-03-15T00:07:38Z

...Eat all the damn ice cream in the house.

It works great.

Apple Overhauling Logic?

2007-03-01T01:10:09Z

Much speculation today on Digg, Ars Technica, and Create Digital Music on whether Apple is overhauling ditching Logic in favor of a new DAW that uses a touch screen interface and competes more directly with Pro Tools.

It's an interesting proposition, and Logic is certainly in need of an update - hopefully one that will make its notoriously arcane interface more intuitive and, well, "Appley."

On the Pro Tools front, I am continuing to research Pro Tools after my long and disappointing experience with Logic Express. But now I am having trouble differentiating the MBox 2 Factory from the similarly-priced MBox 2 Pro. I know the MBox 2 Factory is a USB interface and comes with additional plugins and the Pro drops the plugins but sports a Firewire interface, but is that it? If so, I'll probably go with the non-Pro factory version. Firewire is nice (I have it on my Edirol FA-66), but not critical. And doesn't Pro Tools require a stupid USB dongle while in use? Lame.

Bill Gates Gets Nervous

2007-02-04T20:20:14Z

In Newsweek, Bill Gates shows he can have a reality distortion field of his own as he goes off on Apple, Steve Jobs, and the John Hodgman "Get a Mac" ads. A few choice quotes, shown completely without context:

I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say they are.

And I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it’s superior. I don't even get it. What are they trying to say? Does honesty matter in these things, or if you're really cool, that means you get to be a lying person whenever you feel like it?

I mean, it’s fascinating, maybe we shouldn't have showed so publicly the stuff we were doing, because we knew how long the new security base was going to take us to get done. Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine.

What's most interesting about this article to me is not the tired old platform debates that inevitably ensue, but how it shows Gates' current state of mind...Major chip on his shoulder. It's clear to me that Gates is nervous about what has been happening with the Mac over the last couple of years. He's mentioning Apple and Steve Jobs by name a lot more. But Microsoft actually innovates when they have a persecution complex like this, so maybe everyone will benefit - as long as they don't drop Office Mac as a retaliatory move.

I also like how he perceives the Hodgman commercials to be putting down Windows users, rather than putting down the OS itself. It's pretty clear either he completely misses the humor of the ads or that he's in denial about the kernels of truth in them. Either way, I don't buy that he hasn't seen them.

Finally, in response to the "major surgery" ad, he says "Well, certainly we've done a better job letting you upgrade on the hardware than our competitors have done." And then just a bit later says that Windows will continue to have big releases. It seems that the point of these big releases - especially Vista - is to push the hardware envelope to the point where users have no choice but to buy new hardware that will support eye candy that doesn't really improve productivity.

Gates brings up Apple before the interviewer does, and the tone of Gates' responses about Apple reveals that he's scared. Microsoft goes for five years without releasing a consumer OS, and for their big coming-out party, everyone's asking about Apple.

Even Jon Stewart asked if Vista has flying toasters.

Is It Weird...?

2007-01-15T02:56:15Z

Is it weird that the new commercials for UPS feature "Such Great Heights," which is by The Postal Service? Surely they must realize that. Odd choice.

2006 in Music: Is That All There Is?

2007-01-02T02:42:32Z

It's 2007 already, but in typical style, I never got around to posting the third annual obligatory yet needless list of the top albums of 2006. What is an album anymore, anyway?

The Hush Sound - Like Vines. I have to credit Jen for bringing this one to my attention. Just a great album with strongly crafted melodies, split vocals between male and female, and excellent production. Hope to hear much more soon.
The Beatles - Love. I really enjoyed hearing these tracks remixed and remastered.
The Feeling - Twelve Stops and Home. Good harmonies, with songwriting and production reminiscent of ELO - and that's a good thing.
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere. "Crazy" is one that will be with us for a long time. Almost single-handedly created an indie soul genre.
Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels. Strong, hook-filled, well-produced. Plus the tap dancing percussion is completely original.
Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors. Just the fact of a new album is pretty much enough to guarantee Morrissey a spot on any of my lists. Exactly what you would expect, and that's just fine.
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Under the Covers, Vol. 1. Hate to include a covers disc, but this brought two of my favorites together and posed the question of whether to keep multiple versions of the same song by different artists on the iPod (answer: yes). Looking forward to a volume two.
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife. The band ventured into prog-rock territory with hints of Yes and Rush, leaving behind some of the melodic turns but not abandoning their literacy. What I consider a weaker Decemberists album is still better than 90% of the stuff out there. Plus, you gotta love the whole thing with Stephen Colbert.
Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. - The Land of Pure Imagination. Great to hear an ex-Jellyfisher making music (where are you, Jason Falkner?) and not just on a Moog. Lush pop.
Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers. Not the earth-shattering power-pop/blues summit that I expected, but promising nonetheless.

Honorable mention to Nellie McKay for finally releasing her second album, The Ditty Bops, and The Scissor Sisters. I may be leaving something great out, but I can't recall too many others making a big impression this year. Looking over the list, I can't think that 2006 was a banner year for music. Maybe 2007 will have more to offer. And here's last year's list.

Choosing Boot Camp or Parallels

2006-12-14T03:10:31Z

I absolutely love my MacBook Pro, but I had a hard time choosing whether to run Windows under Boot Camp or Parallels. Parallels is certainly a more elegant solution, providing less interruption to your workflow, but there is something to be said for truly booting into another OS versus running an emulator.

I think it all comes down to what you plan to do with Windows. First, if you can manage not to run Windows at all, that's probably the preferred solution. Assuming that Windows is an unavoidable presence, Boot Camp seems best if you're a gamer or wanting to do music production using Cakewalk or another Windows-based DAW; otherwise, run Parallels. My intent was to use Windows primarily for Web development - Flex Builder (coming to Mac soon), ColdFusion (which can run under OS X with some configuration), and Dreamweaver (requires Rosetta emulation for now under OS X), and secondarily to use it to run music applications. Based on these needs, Boot Camp seemed best and has been a great solution.

If I could have done anything differently, I probably would have allotted more disk space to Windows. The Windows partition can be easily resized in Parallels, but in Boot Camp, you've pretty much got to start over by reclaiming the disk space for OS X and then reinstalling Boot Camp.

If going with Boot Camp, another consideration is Windows file system format; NTFS is more secure and would be preferred, but with FAT32, you can easily copy files from OS X to Windows. This point may be made moot by the new Parallels now in beta, which if I understand correctly may provide the best of both worlds by allowing a Boot Camp partition to be booted into from Parallels without a restart.

And as if running Windows on a Macintosh weren't unnatural enough, the new Parallels also features something called "Coherency," which promises to allow Windows apps to be launched straight from the OS X dock and run as if they were OS X applications. Freaky-deaky.

A comprehensive guide to choosing between Boot Camp and Parallels can be found here.

WPA Coming to ROKU M1001

2006-12-14T02:50:19Z

One of the big knocks against the Roku Soundbridge has been the lack of support for wireless networks with WPA encryption. Only WEP security - which isn't very secure but is better than nothing - has been supported thus far. Not only that, but the Soundbridge is a wireless-B device, which, if I understand correctly, brings everything on your wireless-G network down to wireless-B transfer rates...

So if you aren't inclined to run Ethernet cable fr0m your computer to your Roku (which is probably nowhere near your computer, which is why you needed it in the first place), you've been left with WEP.

Roku has been very good about publishing updates to the system firmware and involving the community in the testing process. The 2.7 version of the firmware, currently in beta, is the first to support WPA. Unfortunately, older Soundbridge models, such as the M1000, are left in the cold because they support an older WiFi chipset and driver. Still, the presence of WPA is enough to give the Soundbridge the one thing that was missing and keep me from thinking too much about Apple's iTV for awhile.