Hiltmon

Adversarial Review: Making Ai Challenge Its Own Conclusions

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:55:17 -0400

AI agents have bias. The one writing code wants it accepted. The one reviewing wants to find problems. Neither reliably verifies its own conclusions. Adversarial review fixes this: agents find issues, then skeptic agents try to disprove them. Only what survives gets reported.

I ran one on a core library we’ve used for years. What came back wasn’t a long complaint list — it was a small set of real, reproducible issues. Including a few we’d unknowingly built workarounds for.

Xcode's Assistant Editor struggling with C++

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 09:36:12 -0500

One of the best features of Xcode for C++ programmers is its Assistant Editor. This is an editor panel to the right of the main editor where you are working that automatically (and somewhat magically) displays the counterpart to the file you are editing. So for example if I am working on service.cpp, the assistant displays its header service.h.

This is great for productivity. I can glance to the right to see the declarations that I am implementing, and can change both declaration and definition directly without opening or changing contexts. And when I switch to another code file, the assistant helpfully display’s its header. Even better, when I pick a header file to work on, the Assistant shows me it’s matching implementation file.

Zero to One: Stages of Startup Development

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 13:08:15 -0500

The challenge has been set, the startup has been formed, and initial release objectives defined. Now what?

How do we get from Zero (a clean slate) to One (first release)? What do we do first? When do we do it? How many people will be needed? And when do we need the funding for it?

In this post, I will outline the four (4) stages of development needed, and the strategy I will be following this year in our new startup, going from Zero to One.

Increasing File Descriptor Ulimit on MacOS

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 11:17:10 -0500

Warning: This post is only for developers who are having issues when coding against file descriptors in the form of C-style file handles or sockets on MacOS. For everyone else, this does not apply.

Running out of Resources

Right now I am developing an application that uses sockets (underneath a stack of other software) for inter-process communication. The problem is that after a few debug runs or crashes (I did say developing), the application will not start again from resource starvation. And the error message is no help at all.

Who Dares, Wins

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 14:28:47 -0500

Only a few times in a lifetime does an opportunity come along that could change everything. It comes in the form of a challenge that will stretch you and push you to your limits, even though its in a domain you know everything about (or believe you do). It comes as a disruptive force to a stable market. Its both risky and yet eminently doable. And there is tangible demand for this change, a change the incumbents resist (and have good reason to). Its a challenge that has scared off many people (mostly because it is hard, and finding people who can understand the space is even harder).

Update Hugo for Node 16 Github Pages

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:23:01 -0400

Recently, GitHub updated actions from Node 12 to Node 16 (See GitHub Actions: All Actions will begin running on Node16 instead of Node12). As a result, Hugo deploys will fail. All I saw was that I committed the updated site, and the deploy did not happen.

To make it work again, you need to update your gh-pages.yml in the hidden .github/workflows folder to reflect the new Ubuntu and checkout versions:

Two Months with the M1 Macbook Pro

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:01:05 -0400

This is my fourth CPU Architecture transition in the Apple ecosystem, from the Motorolas on the II’s and LC, through the PowerPCs in the Titanium Powerbook, Intels on the Aluminum MacBooks to the ARM M1 today.

This transition has been the smoothest by far, so much so, it’s not worth posting about. But that would overlook the incredible amount of work performed by untold thousands of people in building and testing their software to ensure this invisible transition happened.

And it would overlook the significant changes in hardware too, not just the CPU architecture, but also the move to new GPUs, screens, security chips, ports and keyboard.

Where the Rights Are

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:32:14 -0400

I have been writing software professionally for 32 years. I must have written several millions of lines of production code in that time.

But I do not own the rights to any of the work product I have made. It all belongs to someone else. That is the way.

The question is how can one go about making great software product, still earn a satisfactory living, and yet retain the rights on that work product and create a revenue steam off it?

Innocuous Birthday Career Advice

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:38:51 -0400

Today, I turn 55. I now have over 32 years of work experience. These numbers got me thinking about what I wish I had known when I started my professional careers.

We’ve all heard this before. Maybe it’s time to act on it.

Go to Where the Puck Is Going

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 13:57:16 -0400

“Go to where the puck is going, not where it has been”. - Walter Gretzky (Wayne Gretzky’s father)

Should we be building new product on existing, proven software stacks, or taking the challenge to start using the newer tools? In this post, I take a high-level look at the technology landscape for commercial software development to aid in a thought exercise on how I would want to create new software products.

Discoverability Is Deserved

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 10:17:50 -0400

Discoverability is the user’s ability to find key information, features, services and capabilities in a software application. It enables users to locate, see, learn and understand what capabilities the software provides.

If users cannot discover a capability, how will they know it exists in the application in the first place?

Designers and developers need to keep this in mind when architecting and structuring applications. They need to not only focus on what is being provided, and how users can use it, but also on how users can find it.

What Did I Create as an Asset Manager CTO

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 09:48:37 -0400

I plan to write more about being a coding CTO, but in the mean time, to set my credentials, I posted an article on Noverse describing, at a high level, what software and systems I have built for Asset Managers. Take a look at What Did I Create as an Asset Manager CTO.

Optimizing Short Form Writing for Developers

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:20:09 -0400

The vast majority of non-code writing performed by software engineers is short form standard format, defined here as:

Short Form: A small amount of headings and text up to 1000 words
Standard Format: The same standard structure or pattern of document repeated over and over again

Yet even though its short form and standard format, it takes too much time and effort to produce these, so we developers conveniently “forget” to create these valuable documents (or mess up structure of them).

I have found my way to optimize the creation of these so I can spin them up quickly, deliver the information needed correctly, send them out and get back to coding.

Code Review is not all about the Code

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:12:49 -0400

We all understand the benefits of the code review process in reducing the risk of software issues making it out into the wild, and in improving the skills of developers. Frequently though, the code review focusses wholly on the code and on an eyeball search for potential bugs and no more. There is a better way.

As developers, we read and write code all day, it’s our superpower and wholly inside our comfort zone. So it’s easy and convenient for us to jump straight into reading the code and poking around for bugs. As a result, we miss out on the true objectives of the review process, and on the true benefits that it should yield. In reality, a huge amount of time is wasted on reading, analyzing and understanding code that will likely be thrown away.

Working from Home ... 88 Days Later

Sun, 07 Jun 2020 11:00:50 -0400

Follow on post to Working From Home … Here We Go! written in March.

88 Days ago in New York we all started working from home. 88 Days ago we stopped commuting, sat down for the first time at our fledgeling home workspaces, launched our first Zoom or Slack meetings and started figuring out how best to do our jobs from there. 88 Days later, we’re still doing it and will be for the foreseeable future.

Working from Home ... here we go!

Sat, 14 Mar 2020 09:57:53 -0400

It’s been many years since I worked from home and much is different since I ran Noverse from here. First, my wife has taken over my workspace as hers, so the desk, good keyboard, mouse and monitor are her domain now. Secondly, it’s likely this is not a one-day disaster recovery test, so I need to find a way settle in instead of use the laptop on the dining table. And thirdly, Slack has changed the way we communicate internally, which makes it as easy to maintain contact as it does in our open plan office.

The Theater was Empty

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 14:14:36 -0500

Johannesburg, 1977

It was a crisp, sunny Saturday morning and my grandmother was in town. As we always did when together, we went to the movies. The theater nearby was old, run down but comfortable and in walking distance. I’d go there later again many times on many Saturday mornings.

For the first time, though, I was more excited about the movie than I was about going with grandmother. I was about to turn 10. And I was about to see a Star Wars movie, the original one, for the very first time.

An iPad and a Pencil

Sat, 16 Feb 2019 11:36:39 -0500

In 2018, I switched to using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil when not using my computer, replacing notebooks, scraps of paper, Post-It notes, and ink-leaking pens. After a year of being digital, here are some of the processes and habits I have picked up.

The Setup

I have a late 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" 256GB Cellular model, with an Apple Smart Keyboard and the original Apple Pencil. It’s running the latest iOS 12.1.4 with no problems at all. Both the main unit and the keyboard have been through one repair.

Testing C++17 Projects in Xcode with XCTest

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 13:55:39 -0500

The vast majority of development I perform is in C++17 on an Apple Mac Computer using Xcode. For a while now, I have been using Catch2 as my Unit Testing framework, and its absolutely excellent. But its not integrated into the Xcode IDE and I wanted the ability to use Xcode’s excellent testing and test debugging tools to improve my productivity and workflow.

In this post I will show you how to set up a simple standard C++17 library project in Xcode 10 and then add XCTests to it.

On Removing Comments

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 09:58:09 -0400

Today I removed the comments from hiltmon.com for one reason and one reason only — the comment service, Disqus, that I used — was tracking you across a multitude of sites and is selling your data to strangers without your (or my) permission. I no longer want hiltmon.com to be one of those collection points.

I’m going to miss the comments though. Your comments had been insightful, gracious and a wonderful way to connect with my readers, and to allow my readers to connect with each other. Unlike more popular sites, I never had to deal with comment spam, bad players or any of the common nastiness on the internet, just lucky I guess.

Stop and Think

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 09:21:04 -0400

When I started out as a developer and designer, I know I was clever. When folks asked me to design and develop a software product, I would ask a few questions to confirm that I understood what was asked of me, listen to their answers, then set about making the product. Request, build, ship. Easy!

My mentor, who was definitely smarter than me, used to yell at me to Stop and Think.

Migrate Octopress / Jekyll Posts to Ulysses

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 07:49:38 -0400

I wanted to move my published writing stashed in my Octopress/Jekyll site into my current writing workflow environment, Ulysses. Dragging and dropping the files from the _posts folder was not an option, because:

The file names were messy
There is no title in the file, it’s in the Markdown metadata
I wanted to keep the publication date on the imported files

So, I wrote a horrible script to do it.

The script takes a _posts Octopress or Jekyll folder and processes each file into an OUT_PATH as a set of clean Markdown files, making a few changes along the way. It’s a mix of Ruby to handle the YAML front matter and shell commands to do the actual work. And it runs as follows:

Notification City

Sun, 12 Mar 2017 12:11:29 -0400

It is best for your technology stack to tell you what went wrong as soon as it goes wrong to get the right level of attention in the correct timespan.

I run a massive technology stack at work, filled up with multiple servers, plenty of web applications, loads of C++ programs and massive numbers of scheduled and recurring tasks, and I do it with an insanely tiny team and no DevOps folks. Almost all of the time, our software works as designed and the entire network of systems runs just fine. Just like yours.

Coding Style Standards in 2017

Sun, 05 Mar 2017 12:25:52 -0500

I’ve been writing software for well over 30 years, I’ve spent well over my 10,000 hours and gotten rather good at it. And I still write to a very rigorous coding style standard.

You’re kidding right? Its 2017, code style guides are so passé.

Nope. I’m deadly serious.

Get off my lawn

Some of us remember when coding styles were de rigeur. When you climbed off your commuter dinosaur and joined a coding team, the first document they gave you was the coding style guideline. It was a thick, three-ring binder that covered everything from naming, spacing, commenting, position of braces, white space rules, spaces or tabs and the line length rule.

MathJax in Markdown

Sat, 28 Jan 2017 14:39:08 -0500

Adding mathematical formulae to HTML pages is easy these days using MathJax. But I create all my documents in Markdown format on my Mac. This post shows how to add mathematical formulae to your Markdown documents on the Mac and have them preview and export to PDF correctly.

MathJax in Markdown

Adding mathematical formulae to a markdown document simply requires you to use the MathJax delimiters to start and end each formula as follows:

On the New MacBook Pros

Sun, 06 Nov 2016 11:20:29 -0500

Much has been written, tweeted and complained about the new MacBook Pros released by Apple last week. Complaints about the 16GB limit, all-in switch to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), the removal of the SD-card and MagSafe, the new keyboard, the aged CPUs, the slow GPU, dongles, that they are not “Pro” level machines, and more. More and more influential folks are writing that Apple has forgotten the Mac, that the Mac is doomed or dead.

The Gentleman James V

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 08:31:11 -0400

Last evening a package arrived from Amazon. A package that neither I nor my wife had ordered. A mysterious, enigmatic package. From the outside, there was no indication of its content or providence.

We discussed where it could have come from. What could it be. Should we open it. Maybe Amazon sent the package to the wrong person. Yet the delivery address was certainly mine.

Finally, I opened it.

It contained a bubble wrapped box, a bunch of packing bubbles and three slips of paper. The first slip was a packing slip describing the content of the bubble-wrapped box. The second was a return slip. Where this package came from remained a mystery.

The Annual Dependency Library Upgrade Process

Sun, 25 Sep 2016 14:10:56 -0400

At work, we write a lot of code. In order to remain productive, we reuse the same proven dependent libraries and tools over and over again. Which is fine. Until we start seeing end-of-life notices, vulnerabilities, deprecations, performance improvements and bug-fixes passing us by. At some point we need to update our dependencies for performance and security.

But its not that easy.

Take some of the libraries we use:

Google’s Protocol Buffers are amazing. We’ve been on 2.6.1 for ages, but 3.1.0 is out and it supports Swift and Go, two languages we surely would like to use. But the proto2 format we use everywhere is not available in the new languages. We need to migrate.
ZeroMQ moved to a secure libsodium base in 4.1, making it much safer to use. But the C++ bindings from 4.0.5 are incompatible. We need to migrate.
g++ on CentOS 6 is ancient, version 4.4.7 from 2010. We’ve been using the devtoolset-2 edition 4.8.2 from 2013 to get C++11 compatibility, with a few library hacks. But that version of g++ produces horribly slow and insecure C++11 code. We skipped devtoolset-3 even though g++ 4.9 was better. devtoolset-4 is out, using g++ 5.2.4 from 2015, still not the latest, but it is much better at C++11 (without our hacks), more secure and faster. Yet is ABI incompatible. We need to migrate.

The amount of work seems staggering given we have well over 100 protobufs used across our code base, ZeroMQ everywhere and everything is compiled for production using devtoolset-2. The old libraries and tools are a known, proven platform. The current code is stable, reliable and fast enough. It ain’t broke.

Minimal Project Management - 6 Months Later

Sun, 28 Aug 2016 12:53:50 -0400

Just short of six months ago, I wrote about how I was transitioning to Minimal Project Management as my team was growing at work. So, how did it go? Did it work? Any Problems?

In short, after a few false-starts getting our heads around the intent of the Statement of Work document, it went — and continues to go — very well. Projects we used to start and never finish are now completing and shipping. Communication within the team and with our users is better. And our throughput is up.

Attractive Multi-Line SQL Statements in C++

Tue, 26 Apr 2016 20:19:26 -0400

I often need to embed SQL statements in C++ code. Unfortunately, many of mine are long and complex. Even the simple ones are wide. This leads to the following ugly code:

std::string s8("SELECT id FROM lst_quotes WHERE route_id = $1 AND lst_request_id = $2 AND quote_id = $3;");

… which means I need a massively wide screen to view it (and it violates my 80-column rule), its not formatted legibly and even with wrap, its hard to understand — and this is a simple example. Its a maintenance nightmare.

Apple Watch - After 1 Year

Sun, 24 Apr 2016 10:56:49 -0400

The Apple Watch turns 1 year old next week. If you follow the popular press, you’d think the device was rubbish and a complete failure.

I vehemently disagree.

It may be a limited version one, but it is a flawlessly engineered timepiece that is conducive to small, yet significant, life hacks.

I wear, and continue to wear my Apple Watch every day. I have done so since the day it arrived, the result of a late night wake-up alarm, a few taps on the Apple Store app and a return to sleep on opening night.

Spotlight Only - Nine Months Later

Sun, 10 Apr 2016 11:20:22 -0400

I think one should review one’s productivity tool load-out every once in a while. Operating system updates, other productivity tool updates and your own work practices change over time. Your tool load-out should too. Changing the muscle-memory, it turns out, is surprisingly simple, quick and easy. And your productivity usually increases.

I am a huge fan of keyboard launcher/productivity applications like LaunchBar, Alfred, and back-in-the-day QuickSilver. They were amongst the first applications installed on any new system, and I believed I could not work productively without them.

Text Expansion using Keyboard Maestro (First Cut)

Fri, 08 Apr 2016 08:43:08 -0400

This post presents how I have set up Keyboard Maestro to replace basic text expansion from TextExpander … so far. This post covers (More to follow at some point.):

Basic text expansion
When to use copy vs typing
Limiting to applications
Basic variables

Basic Text Expansion

The basic text expansion macro looks like the macro on the right.

It is triggered when a string is typed, in this case ;gma
It has a single action, Insert text by Typing, containing the text to be typed, in this case git pull; make clean; make -j 8.

Thats all there is to it. Nice and simple.

Apple at 40

Sun, 03 Apr 2016 12:13:14 -0400

Apple turned 40 this week, and it got me thinking about the past 40 years of our individual computing experiences.

In many ways, my own journey to now parallels that of Apple.

And I’m willing to bet your journey is the similar.

The 1980s - Youthful Experimentation

In the early 1980s, Apple was young, surrounded by a wide range of competitors and the Apple II was it. Everybody who could, had one. They used them to work, to play, to learn programming and to experiment.

Dependency Limited and Conflict Free C++

Fri, 25 Mar 2016 08:57:53 -0400

TL;DR: Beware of libraries you need to compile yourself and copy-pasted code, the performance, maintenance and other hellscapes you create are not worth it in the medium and long run:

Do not use dependencies that have dependencies that you have to compile.
Do not use libraries depended on by dependencies anywhere else.
Solve your own problems and understand the solutions. Do not copy-paste from the web.
Always write your own code where performance and maintenance is critical.

This post specifically targets C++, but is really a general set of rules and advice. See NPM & left-pad: Have We Forgotten How To Program? for a NodeJS scenario that this would have prevented.

Talk to Drivers, not Mechanics

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 20:26:13 -0400

How many people really know how their motor vehicle works, or even care to. Very few.

But they all drive.

And when their car breaks down or makes a noise or that ridiculous engine light comes on, they need mechanics. Nobody, except other mechanics, understands the explanation of whats wrong with the car. And therein lies the problem.

Mechanics need to learn to talk to drivers, not mechanics.

Techs are the Mechanics

Technology people are perceived to be painfully shy. I guess its a movie meme. They are not. Just observe a bunch of technology folks get into it on a topic they understand. You’ll never get them to stop talking, arguing, jousting and challenging. Mechanics are speaking to mechanics.

Minimal Project Management

Sat, 05 Mar 2016 17:20:56 -0500

With my team starting to grow at work, its time to add some Project Management to our process. However, I do not want this to add any additional time, meetings or burden on them (or myself) and so all of the popular formal processes are no good for my needs.

In this post, I will outline the Minimal Project Management process, its steps and how it works. I will also cover the issues of change and interruptions. This process only works, however, because of the quality of my team.

Build only what you need

Sun, 28 Feb 2016 13:24:14 -0500

A note as a result of a discussion with a colleague.

I had quickly assembled a simple class that triggers periodic function calls from a timer on to a single worker thread. I need this class to ensure that periodic functions get called regularly. Since each call is quick to run (takes under a second), only needs to run every few minutes and can happily be queued behind another quick function, the simple single worker model is perfectly fine for this task.

Now in HTTPS

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 17:05:36 -0500

My host, Dreamhost, is offering free web site certificates through Let’s Encrypt, a new initative to make encrypted connections the default standard through the internet. They started with free SSL certificates.

So I turned it on.

Most browsers will be warning against unecrypted web sites real soon now, so I thought it best to do this now.

The only change I seem to need was to change the Google Fonts URLs to https as well.

We're better than this

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 09:46:47 -0500

My thoughts on the toxic hell-stew that my Twitter feed is becoming. I follow (and occasionally interact with) a bunch of intelligent, opinionated, sensible tech folks whom I respect immensely and whose timelines and lives are being ruined by an impersonator, a gang of misogynists and their flock of followers.

We’re better than ganging up, taking sides and judging or expressing negative public opinions on people we do not know personally. Topical constructive disagreement is great, we thrive on that, personal attacks are not.

Dangerware

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 13:13:57 -0500

Dangerware is common in business and government. Dangerware is just ordinary software, but the way it comes into being creates the danger.

It starts with a basic prototype written in a hurry.
This is quickly put into production to run the business.
The prototype screws up repeatedly when faced with new scenarios.
Resources are tasked to add (not update or correct) the prototype to deal with the latest screwup.
This process repeats until the resource (or original business person) is tasked to a new project, or the cost of screwup is less than the cost of resources to mitigate.

I call this software dangerware.

A Yosemite Markdown Spotlight importer

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 12:26:13 -0500

All my text and writing is in Markdown formatted files and I would like to search them using Spotlight. The editors I use do not have an importer (they have Quicklook only), so this is not available directly.

Changing the RichText Spotlight importer trick worked in previous versions of OS X (see how in A Simple Markdown Spotlight Importer), but since System Integrity Protection in OS X El Capitan, this no longer works.

Making and maintaining high resolution charts for Indesign CC

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 19:41:45 -0500

One of the biggest headaches I have using Adobe Indesign is the creation and especially maintenance of charts and graphs. In my case, my fund publishes several high quality books and one-pagers monthly and I need to update a bunch of charts and graphs. I also need to print these at a very high DPI, hence Indesign.

I used to use Adobe Illustrator graphs. They are rudimentary, but very customizable. Every month I had to load an Illustrator file for each image, update the graph data and then spend time tweaking the results. Only then could I open Indesign, update links and move on. This took a lot of time.

Brown M&Ms: A Quick Way to Determine Code Quality

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 19:31:20 -0400

My business runs on code. Every day, my team and I deploy new systems, patches and add new features to our mission-critical code base. And we rarely have a problem.

That’s because we have a quick way to determine if the programmer attended to the details of the product and code, and whether we then need to hold the deploy for a deeper check and test or can run a lighter test and confidently push it out.

Why I Subscribed to Apple Music

Sun, 04 Oct 2015 13:54:22 -0400

Just over 3 months ago, Apple released Apple Music and I signed up for the free trial as we all did. My expectation was that I would play with it for a few days, get over it and never use it again. I expected the same experience I got from Spotify and Pandora before and I never subscribed to them. I expected the same old same old and no reason to use it.

The Simple C++ Makefile - Executable Edition

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 22:07:23 -0400

I develop a lot of applications in C++ using Xcode on OS X and deploy them to CentOS Linux Servers to run. I follow the Simple C++ Project Structure (and the Xcode edition) to code up each product.

However, Xcode is not available on Linux. To compile and deploy (and to test compiles and deploys), I use standard Unix Makefiles, available almost everywhere.

In this post I will show you the Makefile I use for multi-platform C++ executable builds and explain what each line and command does in detail. For Library builds, I have a similar, but different Makefile, see The Simple C++ Makefile - Library Edition (Coming Soon).

Saturday Afternoons Watching Rugby Union

Sun, 20 Sep 2015 14:48:38 -0400

Growing up, Saturday afternoons were for watching Rugby Union games with friends and family. No matter what was going on at home, with friends, at school, or in the country I lived, the world stopped for the two games that were televised live. I am as far away from that world as one can be, yet it is with me right now.

It began with my grandfather. He played as a kid as evidenced by a hook nose and a deep understanding of the game. There were only two times we could not bother him, his post-lunch nap, and when the rugby was on. But if we were there when the game was on, he would talk, explaining the rules, the nuances, the players positioning and decisions. Rugby was real-time, dynamic chess for him, a thinking person’s sport, and he imbued that thinking, understanding and love of the game in all his grand-children.

The 'It has happened before, it will happen again.' Apple

Sat, 05 Sep 2015 12:50:09 -0400

The Apple I know and loved was doomed, so the press said. It was the crazy, emo teenager of a company. Willing to try anything, mad, crazy, radical, different and apt to succeed and fail in spectacular fashion. Against all odds, the Apple of old did not fail. Because of this we now have amazing computers, thin and light laptops, iPods, OS X, iPhones and iPads. Can you imagine a world without Apple products?

Open Extension-less Files in your Favorite Editor on OS X

Fri, 04 Sep 2015 09:40:47 -0400

Xcode does a horrible job of editing Makefiles (and other extension-less files like dot-files). If you right-click in Xcode on a Makefile and Open with External Editor, OS X opens it in TextEdit. Which is worse.

The issue is that TextEdit is associated with extension-less files. Usually to change how files are opened, you select the file in Finder, right-click and choose Get Info from the menu. You then choose the editor in the Open with dropdown and click Change All…. But this does not work for extension-less files, it throws the below error.

How the Apple Watch has changed my Behavior for the Better

Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:49:49 -0400

I have the nerd watch, the 42mm Space Gray Aluminum with the Black Sport Band. It was ordered at launch and arrived late. I have been wearing and using it every day since.

The Apple Watch is a perfectly good watch for doing watch-like things, like telling the time. But if you view it as a wrist computer, one that has had a real impact on how one acts and behaves, it is something uniquely special.

The Productive Mac Mindset

Sat, 15 Aug 2015 12:42:13 -0400

I have been using a set of productivity enhancement tools on my Mac for so long now that the standard, out-of-box OS X user experience seems challenging, crawling, cumbersome and somewhat convoluted.

So much so that it has become frustrating for me to use another person’s Mac.

In this post, I intend to outline how the limited set of productivity tools I use give me “ludicrous speed”. Note that I have invested the time to learn these tools and to create the productivity shortcuts they provide. Maybe it will help you with ideas to be more productive too.

C++11 on CentOS 6.6

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 18:07:25 -0400

As mentioned in previous articles, I write a lot of C++11 code on OS X but deploy it on CentOS Linux 6.6 servers. But CentOS 6.6 does not contain a C++11 development environment by default.

Here’s how to set one up.

Install a C++11 Compiler

We need to get the repo files for DevTools2, a Red Hat package that contains a supported C++11 compiler. As root, run the following command to retrieve the repo file:

In the Press: This Week's Hedge Fund Alert

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 11:14:29 -0400

I’m quoted in Hedge Fund Alert, Aug 5, 2015, reproduced without permission.

Muni-Bond Firm in Growth Mode

Municipal-bond investor Maritime Capital is adding staff and developing its own trading technology amid a sharp increase in assets under management.

The New York firm, whose assets ballooned from $150 million to $325 million in the past six months, hired Jarret Roth from Bank of America last month as head of strategy and risk management. His arrival coincided with the launch of an execution-management system Maritime built in-house after outgrowing vendor-supplied software it had been using.

Simple C++: From Makefiles to Xcode Builds

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 11:25:51 -0400

This post will present a step-by-step process to convert C++/C++11 Makefile-based projects to Xcode build tools. I use it all the time to set up, convert, build and debug Unix/Linux executables that I develop on my Macintosh.

Kindred-Family

Sun, 05 Jul 2015 13:43:25 -0400

Here’s to the nights that turn into mornings
and the friends that turn into family
Unknown - Unknown

Your kindred-family are the close, true friends that are your family when your real blood relatives live far far away.
Me - Now

Yesterday was Independence Day here in New York and a popular day to spend with family. But my family lives in Australia and my wife’s is in Japan. No blood relatives here but ourselves.

DuckDuckGo

Sat, 27 Jun 2015 15:59:40 -0400

Note: This is not an advertisement. I love what the folks at DuckDuckGo are doing and want to spread the word.

DuckDuckGo is my search engine of choice (and is the page that opens in all new Safari tabs for me). If you are not using it as your default search engine, I’d advise you to start now.

I started using DuckDuckGo well over two years ago. My initial impressions back then was that it was slow, the results were not nearly as good as Google’s and the name was stupid. None of those first impressions turned out to be true.

A simple Markdown Spotlight importer

Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:33:43 -0400

Note: This is for Yosemite or before, for El Capitan or later, see A Yosemite Markdown Spotlight Importer.

I noticed recently that Spotlight on Yosemite was no longer indexing my Markdown files. Since all my notes are in Markdown format, and Spotlight is how I find my notes, this was a big problem. Reinstalling my current set of Markdown editors did not help.

This did. Huge thanks to Gereon Sommer for the idea in Mac OS X Spotlight Enhancement.

New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition

Sun, 07 Jun 2015 19:47:54 -0400

Last week, Google finally deprecated their non-Oauth APIs, which means that the Google Analytics for Status Board code I have been publishing stopped working. Fortunately for us, Github user erebusnz updated the PHP API to work with OAuth2 and we can access Google again. I have included it in a new version of the Server Edition Package.

Quick Install Instructions

Download the statusboard.zip file.
Expand it in the root of your web server. It creates a statusboard folder.
New: Register your application with Google Developers Console and get your Service Account email and P12 certificate file.
New: Determine your profile ID (its the number after the ‘p’ in the URL generated for your analytics)
**New:**Replace the 3 instances of <—-> in each PHP file with your service account, P12 file name and profile ID.
The URL to use in Status Board is http://<your-domain>/statusboard/analytics_<file>.php, replacing <your-domain> with your server domain name, and <file> with one of views (graph), hourly (graph) or pages (table).

You should get something like this (Yes, my follower count is still tiny. Yes, I live in New York, but I still use Celsius for weather. And awesome Inbox Zero!):

That last effin 20%

Fri, 29 May 2015 16:02:43 -0400

I love creating new products. I love shipping new products more. That last effin 20% of work to create a new product that takes 80% of all the development time kills me. I really want to ship, but it has to be right.

For those who do not know the 80/20 rule, it’s a variant of the misnamed Pareto Principal wherein Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula in 1906 to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth. This was then applied to other areas and seemed to hold true.

Rust hits 1.0

Sun, 17 May 2015 15:28:00 -0400

Rust is a project I have been observing for a while now, an attempt to create a new, fast, safe, systems programming language to replace C++, but with better memory safety and a bullet-proof concurrency model. Last week, Rust hit 1.0, and I think I may start testing it out for highly threaded, small and fast calculation tools that I would normally write and fight in C++. If any of you are using it, please let me know what for in the comments.

The Perfect Keyboard(s) (for me)

Sun, 08 Mar 2015 14:14:56 -0400

I’m not a keyboard snob. But I love using my current keyboards now.

Background: I was very happy with the Apple “chicklet” style keyboards and even wrote about it in Not the Clicky Keyboard. There I declared that clicky keyboards were not for me.

I was wrong. But I did not know it at the time.

A while back, my boss went on a buying bender and purchased a whole bunch of different keyboards, including the DAS and some Microsoft ones. I tried them out too. Neither of us liked any of them, so he returned them all. As a joke, I ordered the CODE keyboard to show that I could buy “better” keyboards than him, and fully expected to return it.

One-Key Format Presets in Scrivener

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 17:37:51 -0500

I am writing a lot of business documents in Scrivener, and even though it’s the wrong way to do it, I use Scrivener’s format presets (think paragraph styles) to quickly format headings, bulleted lists and paragraphs in each sub-document. This way I minimize post-processing (and the business format is intentionally boring so I do not need any fancy layouts).

But it’s a hassle to have to take my hands off the keyboard to click through the Format / Apply Formatting / Apply Preset menu tree or hit the tiny format preset dropdown ¶a to set the current paragraph style. What I want is a single key-combination to apply a preset style.

Merge Asana Projects into OmniFocus (Updated)

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 18:18:59 -0500

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I wrote a script to import Asana tasks into Omnifocus. If you ran it again, it would update the tasks in OmniFocus. See Merge Asana Projects Into OmniFocus.

I recently updated the script to work a smidge better with Asana and Omnifocus 2. The main changes are:

Date formats can be changed (for those of us not in the USA)
The Non-Project tasks now load

Setup

First, follow the instructions from the original post to set up Omnifocus and get your API keys.

Seeing the Bigger Picture

Sat, 31 Jan 2015 10:23:51 -0500

It is quite astounding to me that an astonishing amount of work is done and code written without any knowledge, view or understanding of the bigger picture. And yet no-one seems to have taken the time to consider just how remarkably ridiculous this common situation is. How can people be expected to perform at their best and create the best products when they have no clue as to what the big picture or goal is?

Eliminating Google Analytics Referral Spam

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 10:42:51 -0500

It seems that the Google Analytics use of a public tracking code was a mistake. Anyone can use your tracking code on their site, which adds to your traffic, or they can create ghost visits and spam referrals by hammering Google Analytics with your code while never visiting your site. Oh, and the codes are easy to guess, so they do not even need to know about your site.

In most cases, this is perfectly harmless (IMHO) as only Google Analytics data is affected and your reports look funny. Your ad stats, if not Google, remain the same as they are independent.

StackOverflow Programming

Sat, 17 Jan 2015 16:11:13 -0500

StackOverflow Programming happens when much of the functionality of an application is copied and pasted from the code examples found on StackOverflow. Unfortunately, it’s becoming the most popular and common programming paradigm amongst younger programmers, leading to (1) shockingly shoddy, bug laden, slow, incomprehensible, unmaintainable programs that work only once, and (2) to programmers who do not understand what they are doing, their work and how to solve problems.

For example¹, one of my interns came into my office this week to see if there was a way to do dates and times easily in C++. Java and C# both have easy Date Times classes, he said, why not C++? I told him C++ was a low-level language, and to use time_t and the std::chrono libraries like all C++ programmers do. Off he went.

Write Timestamps containing Milliseconds to MongoDB in C++11

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 18:42:40 -0500

It took me several hours today to figure this one out, so I thought I’d write it up lest I forget.

I have a C++11 application that rapidly writes new documents to a MongoDB instance and I need high-resolution timestamps to determine the order things were written.

The problem is that the C++ standard time_t structure reports in seconds, so

builder.appendTimeT("updated_at",
		std::chrono::system_clock::to_time_t(std::chrono::system_clock::now())
);

creates an ISODate without milliseconds in MongoDB.

There are many solutions to be found using Boost::time¹, but since my code needs to be dependency-free and pure, I needed a C++11 clean solution.

CodeRunner 2

Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:35:50 -0500

Nikolai Krill released a major update to CodeRunner today, and I highly recommend it to all programmers no matter what languages you use.

In my case I write a lot of code in C++, Objective-C, Ruby, Javascript and HTML as part of large, complex projects. Often I am unsure how best to write a snippet or function. One way would be to create a branch in the project, run and experiment, deal with compiling, branch again to try another solution, compile some more and work it out. But that is a slow process (and quite dangerous if you leave these experimental branches in, or forget to branch at all).

What to write about next?

Sat, 15 Nov 2014 15:27:06 -0500

I was asked in a blog comment today how I decide what to write about. And once decided, how do I go about doing it. In this case, the answer was easy, I decided to try to answer the question. And deconstruct the process I go through as it happens.

Instructions: Read this post in black font first, then come back and look at the gray which deconstructs my thinking.

Every story needs a starting point, I added the next paragraph in the second iteration of the post to create some context. And maybe to establish some kind of credentials and an authoritative tone. Why would you, the reader who does not know me, care how I answer this question. My goal was to show you that my answer to this question evolved, that it was not taught. And that I was surprised to find out I have been doing this for 10 years already.

Lose the WWW

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 17:22:46 -0400

I have finally removed the www from hiltmon.com. The 1990’s have passed and www no longer makes sense in URL’s. Maybe it’s time you did the same to your site too.

What triggered this change was that, as of 14 October 2014, Google Analytics started throwing an error if you had links to www.yoursite.com and yoursite.com. This is because it treated links with www and without as different.

Removing the www was easy. I used Global Search and Replace (⇧⌘F in TextMate 2) to find //www.hiltmon and replace it with //hiltmon. Then regenerated the site.

Simple C++ Testing with Catch in Xcode

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:34:32 -0400

Catch is a simple, open-source, dependency-free unit testing framework for C++ projects. In this post I show you how to use it in a Simple C++ Project from Xcode.

Why Catch?

I am writing fast C++ libraries for work and need to wrap them in unit tests to ensure that they continue to operate and perform as they evolve. My number one constraint is that these libraries must be dependency-free. The only tools that I may use to compile or install these libraries on any platform (in my case OS X and Linux) is a C++11 compiler and a C++ standard library. Nothing else.

Gist TextMate Bundle updated for Yosemite

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 12:44:44 -0400

Thanks to Michael Sheets, the Gist TextMate bundle now works in TextMate 2 on Yosemite. The issue was that the UI code in TextMate 2 relied on Ruby 1.8, and Ruby 1.8 is deprecated and no longer installed in OS X 10.10.

Michael created a shim to fake Ruby 1.8 until such time as the code base moves to Ruby 2.0, implemented the change in the Gist bundle and it’s working now.

Create a Bootable OS X Installer Drive

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 12:02:52 -0400

Dan Frakes (@DanFrakes), previously of MacWorld fame, provides easy to follow instructions on how to create a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite installer USB drive on his personal blog. I’ve always done this and I recommend you do too.

Link: How to make a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite installer drive

Yep, mine is a R2D2 8GB USB Drive (called a Star Wars MIMOBOT) I found at the checkout at Kinokuniya in New York several years ago.

TimeToCall Removed from App Store

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 12:14:26 -0400

I have removed TimeToCall from the App Store effective today, for several reasons:

I did not update it for iOS 7 (or iOS 8) and it’s starting to look shabby.
I never made any worthwhile money from it or received blog pageviews from it.
There are newer and better products out there.
I do not want to clutter the App Store with yet another abandoned product.
It no longer showcases my development capabilities, they are far better now.

To those of you who purchased and used the product, thank you.

Any hint of humanity is valued

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 09:09:04 -0400

For decades we have had corporatization, mass-production, and everything becoming the same, having personality drained from it. That became what was common and what was the norm. And then in the last, you know, 5, 10 years, this concept of like the artisanal, the special, the hand-made, like this is coming back …

[interruption edited out]

… I think the reason why everyone loves all this hand-made crap today is because they are starved for authenticity after decades of mass-market personality-less crap, and they are starved for uniqueness, they are starved for personality and they are starved for authenticity and for people to talk to them like, you know, talked to like an adult please.

Standard Markdown

Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:25:56 -0400

Looks like Jeff Atwood (@CodingHorror), John MacFarlane, David Greenspan of Meteor, and folks from StackExchange, Github and Reddit have put their money where their mouths are and released the first version of Standard Markdown at http://standardmarkdown.com.

I believe this will be the future of John Gruber’s (@daringfireball) Markdown.

Up until now, I have relied on Fletcher Penney’s (@multimarkdown) MultiMarkdown on the desktop for all my documents because of its consistency, ubiquity and wonderful extensions for writers (including tables and footnotes). I use rdiscount for this blog for the same reason (especially it’s speed).

The Quick Code Cleanup

Tue, 02 Sep 2014 23:29:19 -0400

The quick code cleanup is a process whereby you run through some or all of the files in a software project and tidy them up. Think about it as the regular tidying of your desk (or room) and filing things away – versus the rearranging and rewiring of a full code refactor. You can get a lot more done on a tidy desk.

Quick code cleanups can and do include some minor refactoring, but they are mostly about renaming items, reformatting code and commenting on or cleaning up messy sections. No features are added or changed.

Aral on Spyware 2.0

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:05:08 -0400

That word is spyware.

Let me state it plainly: Google is a spyware company. Facebook is a spyware company. Any company whose products spy on you is a spyware company.

Aral Balkan https://aralbalkan.com/notes/spyware-2.0/

The first step in understanding and defeating something is to call it what it is.

Read Here

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter.

Quote of the Day

Sat, 09 Aug 2014 13:19:36 -0400

In sum and once again: Amazon is not your friend. Neither is any other corporation. It and they do what they do for their own interest and are more than willing to try to make you try believe that what they do for their own benefit is in fact for yours.

John Scalzi http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/08/09/amazon-gets-increasingly-nervous/

Replace Amazon with any company name of your choice and this remains 100% true.

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter. Mute

An Xcode C++ Client-Server Development Trick

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:57:01 -0400

I’m working on a C++ product that has a series of client executables that need to talk to a server executable. And they all share a lot of common code.

The traditional approach to build and debug this pattern is to create a library of the common code in one project, a separate server project and another client project, then jump between windows to edit and compile where needed.

But I am often coding on my trusty 13" MacBook Air screen and it’s just too tiny to have all these Xcode windows open with their console windows visible. I even prefer this on the 27" Display where I can see documentation and other windows nearby.

WordCounter

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 18:24:10 -0400

WordCounter by Christian Tietze (@ctietze) does one thing, and does it well:

It counts the number of words you type in registered applications and displays the total on the menu bar.

Most writers I know use several different software tools while writing, like nvAlt for notes, Byword for short pieces and Scrivener for the big things. But each of these has a separate word count (if at all). WordCounter brings them all together in one. Perfect!

Sonicwall Mobile Connect for OS X Mavericks

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 18:08:06 -0400

If you are running OS X 10.8 or lower, please refer to SonicWall NetExtender for OS X Mavericks, this only works for 10.9 Mavericks and above.

Step 1: Download from the App Store

It’s available here: Sonicwall Mobile Connect.

There is no Step 2.

The best part of this new edition is that this is a real OS X app and it integrates with Apple’s VPN settings.

Which means you only need to run it once, to set up and test the VPN connection. After that, you can access it from the Network System Preference or the VPN menu at any time.

They will not come

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 16:39:10 -0400

“If you build it, they will come” – Field of Dreams

On Monday night, June 30, 2014, I’ll be taking the Kifu servers down and putting up a static sunset site.

I built it, they did not come. It’s time to go dark.

I know we built it right. We spent years looking at the market for non-profit management systems and found thousands and thousands of potential customers publicly expressing real needs. We met with many, many different kinds of non-profits to talk about that they needed, and with even more to talk about what we could do. We tested the idea, refined it and sought out more to talk with. We did this for three years. Only then did my partners and I decide to go ahead, set up a company and do it.

On the floor

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 11:37:20 -0400

At least once a month, step out of your cubicle or office and spend a day on the floor. It will make you a better software designer and developer, it will help you make better software for the folks on the floor, and it will build a better relationship with them so issues and ideas can flow.

I spent Friday on the floor of my work. As I do at least once a month. My software and their workflows are significantly better for it.

Upgrading Octopress to Jekyll 2.0

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 16:28:04 -0400

So this happened today:

Octopress 2 is now using the latest and greatest Jekyll 2.0.3. Now, back to work on Octopress 3. Happy blogging!
— Octopress (@octopress) June 21, 2014

I’ve been waiting for this. Now that it has, I decided to finally upgrade this site.

It was easy. As per Updating Octopress, I just ran:

git pull octopress master

Then, to ensure all gems were up to date, I ran

bundle update

Finally, I got ready - update source, clean caches and generate the blog. Note that I chose not to update the style as I like my SASS changes.

Server-sided Swift Speculation

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 19:02:20 -0400

Note: This is not a thing, it’s just some idle speculation on my behalf. But maybe, just maybe, Apple will do something like this. Or not. Maybe we will do it.

This week at WWDC, Apple surprised the developer world with their new programming language, Swift. And astoundingly, it’s almost ready for prime time Mac and iOS client software development already.

I would very much like to use a language like Apple’s new Swift on the server side as well. I suspect that we may get some of what we need there, if not all.

Omnifocus My Way

Mon, 26 May 2014 15:39:03 -0400

I’ve been using OmniFocus as my primary tool for task management for years, yet I never read the GTD book. How I chose OmniFocus is a topic for another day, how I use it my way is the topic for today. Maybe some of the alternative ways I use it can improve the way you do too.

My World

I’m a software designer, developer, project manager and part-time writer. I work at a Hedge Fund by day, run my consulting firm at night, write this blog and have a personal life. As of writing this post, I have 260 active line items in OmniFocus. That is a lot of things to stay on top of.

Solve Tab Hell with Fluid and ChoosyOSX

Fri, 23 May 2014 15:49:52 -0400

More and more of our data, applications, communications, reading and work happens via a browser tab on the internet. I don’t know about you but I often have several browser windows open on several virtual desktops all with multiple tabs open.

And I can never find a thing.

So I open a new tab. And start again. Tab hell.

Now this is fine for reading or browsing - you just walk the tabs to see what you were looking at. But for work, when you need to go to a specific web application that you just know you have open somewhere, it becomes a bother. You have to go to each browser window, walk the tabs, switch desktops, walk more. It’s too slow and unproductive.

Melding Scrivener and Marked

Mon, 05 May 2014 20:07:17 -0400

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I do all my writing using Markdown format, short-form in Byword, long-form in Scrivener and generate the final document using Marked.

In short: I write all my work documents, including letters, reports and software documentation in Markdown formatted text files and then format them using Marked and a standard stylesheet (See Letterhead - Markdown Style for how that works). See The Markdown Payoff for why.

The Markdown Payoff

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 12:33:04 -0400

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I switched to Markdown format for documents, notes and other scratchings. (And wrote about it - see the posts in the Markdown category).

Was switching to Markdown a good call? Did it pay off? And if so, how?

I actually wrote this post not knowing how it would turn out. I wanted to know for myself if it paid off, or if I just followed a fad. A fun exercise.

Keep long running UNIX commands alive

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 12:43:53 -0400

Here’s the situation: you have a UNIX script that takes a long time to run, but gets killed when your computer goes to sleep and the SSH terminal or VPN disconnects. Ouch.

I know of three ways to kick long running scripts off and not worry about sleeping computers or disconnections: nohup, disown or tmux.

Simple: `nohup`

From the man page:

nohup -- invoke a utility immune to hangups

Which really does not tell the story. When the parent terminal session terminates, it sends a hangup (SIGHUP) to all child processes, causing them to terminate as well. nohup tells a process to ignore that hangup.

Social Network Precedents for Connecting and Friending

Wed, 02 Apr 2014 19:23:13 -0400

As are we all, I too am active on a bunch of social networks. But I too do not connect or friend everyone on every network. I think we all want some semblance of control as to what we share and with whom we share it. To help me decide, I created my precedents, a set of guidelines as to whom I will connect with on which network and what I share there.

Rebooting OmniFocus

Sat, 29 Mar 2014 15:08:47 -0400

I’ve been using OmniFocus forever to record and track my personal and professional actionable to-dos and ideas. But over the past year, I have been using it less and less, getting less and less tracked and done, and it’s all my fault.

You see, I started to experiment with what could be done with OmniFocus and messed up the whole concept of actually getting things done.

My primary experiment was to create scripts to automatically load actions in from my project files and to merge the company-wide Asana. The big idea was that I could save time and effort by automating task entry and assignment, and let the meat-bag (that’s me) process and review these tasks. If I could spend less time creating tasks and more time performing tasks, I would be more productive.

It's that process that is the magic

Sat, 29 Mar 2014 10:04:40 -0400

CRINGLY: What’s important to you in the development of a product?

JOBS: One of the things that really hurt Apple was after I left, John Sculley got a very serious disease.

It’s the disease – I’ve seen other people get it too – it’s the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90% of the work.

And if you just tell all these other people, you know, “Here’s this great idea,” then of course they can go off and make it happen.

How I use OS X Tools to build a Linux-only Product

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 20:43:24 -0400

OS X really is a developer’s dream platform, a solid UNIX core on which almost everything compiles with a brilliant graphical environment hosting the most amazing developer tools.

It’s the “almost” in the above sentence that has recently tripped me up.

I have a new vendor library that does not compile or run on OS X (yet!). As this is a big project which I will be working on for months, I want to set up my development environment so that I am comfortable and productive.

Open Source Compiles in an Xcode 5.1 World

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:21:04 -0400

So today I needed to work on an older, open-source based C++ application on my Mac and there was no way to compile it under Xcode 5 even though the development tools were installed and working perfectly.

The issue, it seems, is that Xcode 5.1 has finally removed and deprecated a lot of old C++ stuff that is still required by older, popular libraries such as boost and quickfix. It emulates g++ 4.2.1 OK, but is no longer 100% compatible with it. I am quite sure that Apple and the Open Source community will eventually get these to work with the new compiler.

Develop Locally, Stage Nearby, Production Anywhere

Sat, 15 Mar 2014 13:12:08 -0400

One of the things that surprised me as I moved back into the land of corporate software is the number of developers I talk to that commute and work in offices and yet develop on remote computers. I thought, as you probably do, that by now all software development would be local, as in on the developer’s own computer.

Instead, it is not uncommon for corporate developers to rely on remote shells or desktop virtualization to access remote development computers and use them to code. It’s slow, unproductive, frustrating and so pre-1990’s.

From Tool Maker to Tool User

Sun, 02 Mar 2014 10:04:34 -0500

Abstract: Programming is still seen as a single-language, single-platform tool-maker role. That has not been true for a long time. Over the years, the platforms, tools and libraries available have multiplied. We’re tool users now, where a programmer can pick up a new platform with ease, and use the tools available to create complex, reliable products a lot quicker. That which was impossible then is commonplace now.

The role of the programmer has changed over the years, from being a certified single language, single platform tool-maker into a master of application styles, technologies, use cases and platform tool-users. And when you think about it, the tremendous change in the tools we can use and master has steered us here. But we, the industry and the job market still view programmers as singular tool makers (just look at most programming job ads).

Easy SSH to local linux VM

Sat, 22 Feb 2014 14:03:54 -0500

TL;DR: Run avahi on the VM, ssh to the VM name dot local.

Many of the Simple C++ Projects I work on, whether I use Xcode or not, land up needing to be recompiled on a Linux Virtual Machine prior to being deployed to the production Linux server. I do this because I want to be sure the I know what needs to be set up in the Linux environment, that the compile succeeds without errors in a production-like environment and the code works properly before deploying.

I Choose not to be Anonymous

Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:53:47 -0500

A simple premise.

I always post from my own domains or accounts, all of which are traceable back to me.

I sign and add my true byline, which is me, to all my work.
I always use my name, hiltmon, when commenting or responding on other sites or services.
Anyone can always get in touch with me via this web site, email, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Linked-In and other services, I am not hiding.
There is only one hiltmon, and it is I. Google me.

I choose not to be anonymous. Here’s why.

Magical Migrations

Sat, 08 Feb 2014 11:46:50 -0500

As I am writing this, I am using magical migrations to perform a full data transplant across three servers, each with 100+GB of data, with a single command. Yep, I’m chilling and writing a blog post while replacing the entire data scaffolding of my firm as if it were just another cold Saturday. Magical indeed.

TL;DR: Rails migrations and Capistrano deploys create a stable, reliable, testable, reversible and no-fault way to manage and execute production database changes, no matter the platform size or complexity.

View on an Insider as CEO for Microsoft

Tue, 04 Feb 2014 20:01:28 -0500

Today, Microsoft announced Satya Nadella as its new CEO, a 22-year veteran of the business and a true Insider. I wish him the best of luck and success. But is choosing an Insider as CEO good for a mature Microsoft or bad?

I think its a bad call based on documented history of other mature companies and my own selfish (and very positive) wishes for the firm.

And then there’s this, which makes no Outsider sense and means nothing to anyone, from his first letter to employees:

First they came for...

Sat, 01 Feb 2014 14:52:23 -0500

A Modern Version

First they came for the record stores
and I didn’t speak out
because I used iTunes online.

Then they came for the bookstores
and I didn’t speak out
because I used Kindle online.

Then they came for the technology stores
and I didn’t speak out
because I used Amazon online.

Then they came for the grocery stores
and I didn’t speak out
because I used FreshDirect online.

Then they came for the restaurants
and I didn’t speak out
because I used SeamlessWeb online.

More TextMate 2 Basics

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 14:07:30 -0500

Previously, I wrote about the TextMate 2 Basics that I use all the time, and I recommend you read that post first. This post follows up with a mish-mash of more tools, ideas and tricks that I also use surprisingly frequently.

Text Tools

TextMate 2 tries to reduce the number of keystrokes you need to make to generate good code. There are many ways it does this but today I want to talk about auto-pairs and completions.

Reminder: Update your Tools

Sun, 19 Jan 2014 12:06:25 -0500

At the start of every new year, I spend a the time to update all my tools and recompile all my products with them. At the cost of a few hours (or at worst, days) work, I get rid of most the maintenance hassles I faced before I used to do this and gain the benefits of all the new features and performance from updated tools.

I understand that, for all of us, updating our tools is surprisingly hard. Things that used to work now fail, incompatibilities have to be addressed and it takes time, perceived as unproductive time, to do. And then there is the risk that updating production servers will cause downtime for no valid reason. It’s easy to feel that we should wait for the next release, or when we have some mythical down-time, or when we’re forced to do so as the versions of our tools become obsolete. And it’s hard to justify updating tools when there’s real work to be done and no current perceived benefit in changing tools.

Python: It's a Trap

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 14:38:00 -0400

TL;DR: Python is the best language for quantitative scripting (because of its libraries). But it’s a trap. Almost all programmers and libraries require Python 2 when Python 3 is out and way better. Choosing to use an old language for new project traps us into supporting old languages, libraries and platforms. And that’s not smart. The intent of this post is to point out this odd stagnation and encourage the migration and adoption of Python 3, or, as it has happened in the past, we’ll have to look elsewhere for a solution.

Can't innovate anymore, my ass

Fri, 27 Dec 2013 09:26:00 -0400

Over the past few days I have seen so many references to the Quartz post 2013 was a lost year for tech that it has become a meme. “Innovation is dead”, “2013 proves it”, “RIP Innovation”, it screams.

Rubbish!

2013 was a great year for innovation in the tech space.

in·no·vate /ˈinəˌvāt/ verb

make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.

Remember, innovation is not about creating something completely new (that’s invention), it is about making changes to established products that significantly improve their abilities or experience. And we got that in spades in 2013.

Writers: Thank You

Wed, 25 Dec 2013 12:03:00 -0400

I want to say thank you to a bunch of writers, to people who do what they do because they love to do it, from an anonymous one that reads and appreciates what they do every day.

They may never see this, but, in no particular order, a huge thank you from me to you all.

Tech and Opinions

Matt Gemmell at Matt Gemmell is owed free drinks at my house forever. He may be well known for his tech, tweets and speech making, but the depth, emotion and soulfulness of his recent writing has touched us more deeply than he knows.

Cannot find File

Tue, 24 Dec 2013 17:08:00 -0400

“Can you please send me that file again? I cannot find it”

“I’ll have to get back to you, I don’t know where I saved the file I need.”

I hear this every day. Even now, in 2013, more than 20 years after hierarchical file systems became the core and the norm of computing, users still struggle to understand something as simple as knowing the location of their own files in their own computer systems.

Managing Multiple Project's Assembly Notes in One

Sat, 07 Dec 2013 13:50:00 -0400

The problem I have is that I regularly need to open a specific set of Markdown documents scattered all over my file system while I work and have them available at my fingertips. But I need a different set open when working at home and available the same way. The best solution I have found is to use BBEdit projects to manage these document sets. Here’s why and how to do it.

The day he walked to freedom

Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:40:00 -0400

I remember it as a clear day. Sunny, not hot, not windy, just crystal clear blue skies. The rumor mill had it that he would be released on that day. It had been building up for a while. But no-one knew for sure.

I was on campus at the University of Cape Town when it happened. Word spread quickly. He’s out. Really out. They actually let him go. We had no internet or video phones back then, just word. We did not see him walk along that dusty road to freedom until later. But we all just knew. And we knew that he would next be driven to Greenmarket Square, the central square in Cape Town, for all of us to welcome him.

TextMate 2 Basics

Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:00:00 -0400

I have been using TextMate for years as my primary programmer’s editor, but it turns out that I only use a subset of its amazing features. I’ve been speaking with users of other awesome programmer’s editors and they wanted to know what it is in TextMate that I love so much and keeps me using it.

So here are the basic parts of TextMate 2 that I use regularly. Maybe you can divine some tips from it.

Merge Asana Projects into OmniFocus

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 17:51:00 -0400

Note: Updated the script, see Merge Asana Projects Into OmniFocus Updated.

I use OmniFocus to manage my personal tasks and activities, but my company uses Asana to manage Project tasks and activities amongst the team. I am so used to using OmniFocus that I often forget to check or update Asana, and thus miss tasks assigned to me or progress by the team.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the projects and tasks in Asana also appeared in OmniFocus? And were updated when they changed in Asana?

Apples and Rotten Oranges

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 21:41:00 -0400

So Frank Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications at Microsoft wrote a thing called Apples and Oranges in response to the Apple Laptop, iPad, iWork, iLife and Mac Pro event yesterday, and sadly, it got a lot of coverage.

So I put my snark hat on and decided to throw darts at his piece (almost completely reproduced here). The text in grey are his words, the rest is me attempting to be humorous, ridiculous or just plain snarky. Take it all with a grain or two of salt. This is the Internet after all

Sanity Saver: Detox expands t.co links

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 14:56:00 -0400

If you use Twitter and click on t.co links, or use Google search and follow their links, chances are your browser history is a mess of t.co/C*R@A%P& or google.com/S$H@I*T#. Which means there is no way to use your browser history to find that page you just saw (or saw a few days ago) and accidentally closed. And autocomplete does not work either.

Shaun Inman (of Mint and The Last Rocket fame) created a Safari extension called Detox a while ago that automatically expands those pesky t.co links and funky Google links back into their original URLs and titles. Making your browser history and autocomplete useable again.

Rails Tricks - Sharing the Model

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:58:00 -0400

I am building a series of Rails applications for different users and use cases, but they all hang off the same database schema. Using canonical Rails, that means a single, massive rails app with a bunch of controllers, a heap of views and a complex security model.

I prefer small, focussed apps, so I decided to share the model instead. Here’s how it works.

Lets call the the first rails project Master. Generate it as usual and create a few models and migrations to set up the database. In my case, the Master rails application is used to do nothing more than import, export and allow users to view the data in the model’s database tables.

Why Microsoft Word must Die

Sun, 13 Oct 2013 09:57:00 -0400

Charles Stross, yes, that Charles Stross writes in Why Microsoft Word must Die:

The .doc file format was also obfuscated, deliberately or intentionally: rather than a parseable document containing formatting and macro metadata, it was effectively a dump of the in-memory data structures used by word, with pointers to the subroutines that provided formatting or macro support.

He focuses on the usability issues, the compatibility issues, the inconstancies and the forced need to upgrade just to read other people’s documents - and the idiocy of using this incomprehensible, short lived format in publishing.

Using Mac Navigation Keys in Visual Studio

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:32:00 -0400

As a developer, sometimes I am forced to use Visual Studio to code for Windows. Just like a lot of Mac developers, I therefore run Visual Studio in a VMWare Fusion VM. And it works great.

Except it drives me nuts that keyboard navigation in the Visual Studio editor does not use the same keys as on the Mac. Which means I am constantly seeing the window move around when I am trying to get to a line end. And even if I did remap my brain to Visual Studio’s keys, it assumes I have a Home and an End key to use, which the Mac mini wireless keyboard and laptops do not have.

Homebrew Happiness

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 12:12:00 -0400

If you are expecting an article about beer, this is not it. This is about the best product that helps install and manage the Open Source software on the Macintosh computer that Apple decided not to include in OS X.

In short, I use a lot of Open Source products for work, like postgresql, redis, mongo, node, boost libraries and rbenv. Installing and managing them natively on a Mac was a pain. Homebrew makes installing and maintaining these easy, safe and pleasant without messing up my system. To skip the fascinating introduction and get to the information about the product directly, click Take me to Homebrew Happiness.

User Experience Shmecsperience

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:11:00 -0400

We designers of software spend a lot of our time thinking about user experience. We try to eliminate complexity, simplify interactions and to create delightful experiences.

Reality: Most users don’t care about experience.

We, who make and live in software, value such software, value our time and seek out such experiences. We understand how hard it is to make them. We take the time to learn products and find ways to integrate them into our lives.

SonicWall NetExtender for OS X Mavericks

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 12:22:00 -0400

UPDATE: 10.9 or above users, use the Sonicwall Mobile Connect app on the Mac App Store (or learn more at Sonicwall Mobile Connect for OS X Mavericks).

TL;DR: Download from https://sslvpn.demo.sonicwall.com/cgi-bin/welcome. Follow the admin login instructions, then look for NetExtender / Client Downloads.

UPDATE: Saved a copy of the DMG at https://hiltmon.com/files/NetExtender-7.5.757.dmg as the normal login seems to be disabled. (WARNING: Link will eventually get stale).

UPDATE 2: Your company can also register and get the latest versions from MySonicwall.com.

Setup ODBC for R on OS X

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 12:59:00 -0400

Hi Folks, Please do not follow this advice, its an old article that somehow has stayed way past its welcome in the search engines. Use the RPostgresSQL package that connects directly using the C drivers, its a lot faster to set up and run. ~Hilton.

At work, we use R to analyze data and calculate risk. The data is in a PostgreSQL database, so we use the RODBC package to access the database from R.

Common Misconceptions about the App Store

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:17:00 -0400

Over the past few days, new and old friends have been popping up to mention they purchased TimeToCall and were surprised that I did not know that they had done so.

It turns out that this is but one of several misconceptions about the Apple App Store. So let me clarify some for you:

TL;DR

No access to buyer’s information
No access to reviews
No Trials and Upgrades

We do not get buyers information from the Apple

When you purchase an app from the App Store, Apple handles all the licensing, payment and download for us. All we get to know from Apple is that

A Reliable Script File Layout

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:44:00 -0400

I write a surfeit¹ of Ruby scripts that I use every day at work, everything from sending, transforming and retrieving files to monitoring systems to glueing platforms together. Keeping these under control, forgettable² and maintainable is very important to me. So over the past few years, I have migrated to a file layout and programming pattern that enables me to spin these up quickly, forget about them and yet get back and maintain them when things change.

Not the Clicky Keyboard

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 20:32:00 -0400

It’s pretty popular these days for popular bloggers, writers and programmers to use mechanical-switch, or clicky, old-school keyboards like the DAS Keyboard, old IBM keyboards or the original Apple Extended Keyboard. So much so that Jeff “Coding Horror” Attwood went as far as to design the CODE Keyboard with Weyman Kwong of WASD Keyboards which looks droolworthy.

To be fair, these keyboards are amazingly good, reliable, feel great and are the best you can get. I really love them too. All the promises made in their advertising regarding your performance and pleasure are true.

BBEdit lives long and prospers

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 09:16:00 -0400

On Twitter today:

Celebrating back to school? Most of today’s undergraduates have never lived in a world without BBEdit.

@bbedit https://twitter.com/bbedit/status/374280198336028672

All our attention is focussed on the race-to-the-bottom, in-app purchase rip-offs or the current fad app, but we forget that software, well-built and well-maintained software, has no shelf life.

I still use BBEdit every day. It still doesn’t suck!

Kudos to Rich Siegel (@siegel) and his team at BareBones for consistently making such an amazing and useful application.

Intentional Complexity

Sat, 24 Aug 2013 15:21:00 -0400

John Duns Scotus’ (1265-1308) book Ordinatio: “Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate”, i.e., “Plurality is not to be posited without necessity”

William of Ockham’s Razor, modern science version: “The simplest solution is often the best.”

Intentional Complexity is a manufactured situation where product configuration and operation are intentionally made difficult. It occurs when a software vendor exposes all the innards of their products to systems operators and end users.

It’s great for marketing to Managers and sales to CTO’s, but it’s rubbish for operations and business. In this post I will talk about what this is, why this is, how it comes to be, how this is bad for you and the fleeting signs of improvement that I am seeing.

ChronoSync Back to My Mac

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 22:45:00 -0400

TL;DR: You can use ChronoSync to access a remote ChronoAgent if Back to My Mac is turned on for both computers. Which means you can sync from anywhere!

I have been using the excellent ChronoSync for years to ensure that the Documents and Projects folders on my personal laptop are kept in sync, and therefore backed up, with my home OS X server.

These days I have two laptops, the personal one that lives at home and is used for Noverse work, and the work one for my day job at the fund. But sometimes when a Noverse Client calls, I’m at the office and do not have access to my personal laptop which contains their software and files.

The Little Touches

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:42:00 -0400

It’s the little touches that turn ordinary products into great products.

For years I have been using Power2000 NiMH batteries and their chargers that I get in Japan for use in my camera’s Flash. I use these because they really hold a charge and can handle the burst heat from a Nikon flash unit. And they store a lot of energy so they keep on flashing.

So when I moved to an Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, I naturally pulled one of these sets out to use. I loaded a fully charged set of 4 and off I went.

Gist TextMate 2 Bundle Updates

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:31:00 -0400

New updates to the Gist.tmbundle for TextMate 2:

Changed the launch key from ⌃⌘G to ⇧⌃⌘J as it interferes with the Find and Replace All (the TextMate 2 defaults changed)
Am now having GitHub guess the language of a “Gist from Selection” by taking the file extension from the source file you copied from and using that in the pushed file name. Was hoping to use the scope language but could not figure how to get that and map the right extensions for GitHub. This works though.

The update should flow through the TextMate 2 updates process in due time.

Unreasonable

Sun, 04 Aug 2013 14:06:00 -0400

There are two ways to deal with “the ways things are” in an environment where one can change them:

Find some way to justify or meekly accept them, however twisted and delusional they may be; and try to get on with things within those perceived constraints. They call this being reasonable as if it were a good thing.
Or find a better, considered, simpler way for things, which requires effort, argument, time, and sometimes blood; enabling one to actually get on with things with fewer constraints. They call this being unreasonable is if it were a bad thing.

Quick Process Search

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 19:45:00 -0400

I am forever starting and running background UNIX tasks, either manually or via cron jobs. And I am forever checking to see if they are running or not.

The usual command I used to use see if a process was running is

ps ax | grep bash

Where bash is the process that may or may not be running. It gives (headers added):

 PID TTY TIME CMD
 411 ttys000 0:00.04 -/bin/bash
 615 ttys001 0:00.04 -/bin/bash
 773 ttys001 0:00.00 grep bash

There are some issues with this:

Laravel 4 Blade TextMate Bundle

Sun, 28 Jul 2013 11:37:00 -0400

In the comments of My TextMate 2 Setup, reader Bob Rockerfeller wondered if the Sublime Text Laravel 4 Blade bundle could be ported to TextMate 2. So I did.

It was easy because Sublime Text uses TextMate’s .tmLanguage file format for syntax highlighting. I just created a new bundle using the Bundle Editor, created a new Syntax file and pasted in Eric Percifield’s (@medalink7) code. Then tested it with the example in his repo.

The Work Computer Software Loadout

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 07:23:00 -0400

I got Back in the Saddle over three weeks ago and purchased a new Haswell 13-inch MacBook Air as my primary work computer. I plan to write more about it after at least 30 days use. But with the new computer, my plan was to only install that which I needed as and when I needed it. It turns out, I use a lot of different tools for work activities.

Note: No affiliate links were hurt in the creation of this post, all links are to the vendor’s sites, so it’s safe to click through to learn more about each product.

Fast SSH Windows with iTerm 2

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 22:14:00 -0400

I have a bunch of Linux boxes that I need to access via SSH, whether to install things, start or stop processes or browse log files.

But it is a pain to have to launch a new terminal window and type in the whole SSH command line:

$ ssh hiltmon@servername.domainname.local

Yep, I am that lazy. Or really, I do this so often I needed a faster way to do this.

Xcode 4 Code Completion for External Build Projects

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 21:53:00 -0400

In Xcode and the Simple C++ Project Structure, I showed how to set up Xcode as your IDE for the Simple C++ Project Structure.

But one thing does not work, Code Sense. Xcode does not provide code completion or jump to definition for these projects.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could enable this too.

The solution is simple, you need to use the Xcode build system to create the indices that the IDE uses. But since we are working on cross-platform Makefile systems, we do not want to switch compilers.

Good Tools Change

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 11:02:00 -0400

In Good Tools, James Bennett writes a compelling article on how his investment in learning his most used tool, emacs, has paid huge dividends in his productivity for years and years. I recommend you read it, his arguments are cogent and his points well founded and well made. He writes:

Good tools, for programmers, are investments: you give them your time and your brain up-front, and then they pay dividends for years on end. I’m writing this post in GNU Emacs inside a terminal window, for example, and GNU Emacs inside a terminal window has been my day-to-day editor for over a decade now.

Xcode and the Simple C++ Project Structure

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 11:31:00 -0400

In a previous post, I talked about a A Simple C++ Project Structure that I am using to create a bunch of high-speed daemons for work.

It’s been fun using TextMate 2 and a Terminal to make and run the project, but now that I am getting to the meat of the coding, I’d prefer to use an IDE to help me navigate and debug the code.

Here’s how to set up Xcode 4 on the Mac to compile using our Makefile and run/debug the application.

Using the Spike Folder

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 17:48:00 -0400

In yesterday’s post A Simple C++ Project Structure, I mentioned the spike folder. In today’s post, I’ll write more about how I use it.

By the way, I have previously written about spike solutions, wherein I create solutions for the bigger technical problems at the start of a project to be sure they are achievable. This is different.

In this case, being back in C++ and rusty as an old door hinge, I also needed to create and test out snippets of code I could be using without having to make and run the entire product. So I create spike .cpp files in the spike folder to try things out.

RIP Doug Engelbart

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 15:43:00 -0400

Doug Engelbart passed away last night at age 88. I remember him as one of the names behind the beginnings of modern computers, inventing the mouse, hypertext, video conferencing and collaboration. But these were not the ends of his contributions, these were the means by which he tried to achieve his intent, to augment human intellect.

Too bad we use his inventions for Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, LOLCats and flame wars; we degrade human intellect.

A Simple C++ Project Structure

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 22:33:00 -0400

One of the things I need in my new job is a bunch of blazingly fast daemons to capture market information and trade data. I prototyped them in Ruby to see what comes down the line, but I have the need, the need for speed. Which means I need a UNIX C or C++ framework.

So I went old-school. Retro even. Plain old C++. My favorite programmer’s editor. And the good old terminal, er, iTerm 2, just Mac-like.

Keep Building

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 20:18:00 -0400

Marco Arment (@marco) on his blog in Lockdown, writes:

We need to keep pushing forward without them, and do what we’ve always done before: route around the obstructions and maintain what’s great about the web. Keep building and supporting new tools, technologies, and platforms to empower independence, interoperability, and web property ownership.

The context is how the big internet companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google have locked down the open internet, and that we need to overcome their new barriers and keep building so that we can keep the great internet we know and love.

Back in the Saddle

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:39:00 -0400

TL;DR: I got a job! Gonna keep writing though.

As of this week, I’m back in the saddle in the finance industry, designing and developing leading edge platforms and systems for a new asset manager, my favorite kind of business. The challenges in the new firm are new to me and epic. And I love a good challenge.

How does this affect…

My current consulting customers? Nothing changes, all your projects are in support and the support levels will continue unaffected. I will not, however, be taking on new consulting engagements.
My blog? I love writing, and will continue to spend evenings and weekends writing and hopefully improving my craft. Actually, I think this blog may get even more geeky as I am using some very cool, modern open-source products and will likely nerd all over them and just have to share.
My products? Of course, they too will be supported and upgraded as needed. TimeToCall will get an iOS 7 facelift, and Kifu is already rock solid.

I have enjoyed the past few years being an indie consultant (other than working for a royal pain-in-the-arse – oh, wait, um, that’s me!) and delivering some amazing products to a bunch of wonderful customers. It has enabled me to become proficient an a whole bunch of new technologies, be exposed to new industries and processes, face and defeat untold challenges, and to make a lot of new friends like you.

Pinbrowser for Pinboard Updated

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:09:00 -0400

I just downloaded the updated Pinbrowser for Pinboard from the App Store, an iOS app by Mikael Konutgan (@mkonutgan), and it just got a whole lot better.

Pinboard is a paid for bookmarking site that focuses on speed, utility and longevity (and anti-socialness!). Pinbrowser is an iPhone and iPad application to access your Pinboard, other’s bookmarks (making it more social) and the all famous popular bookmarks list.

It’s the social aspect that attracted me to the product in the first place. I love to see what other people I follow on Twitter and App.Net are finding on the Internet in their travels, and the ability to browse their Pinboard lists is the stand-out feature of Pinbrowser.

WWDC 2013 Post-Game Review

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:22:00 -0400

Just under a week ago, Tim Cook walked out on stage to present the keynote at WWDC 2013 (Video here). It was an astounding success. I think Apple has become Tim Cook’s Apple, and the products announced are living proof of that.

After letting them percolate for a few days, here are my impressions of what was announced.

Accessing SQL Server from OS X

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 10:56:00 -0400

Every once in a while I need to access a Microsoft SQL Server database from my Mac, usually to create a data migration script. In the past I used a commercial ODBC driver. But ODBC on OS X was deprecated ages ago.

In this post, I’ll talk about my current stack for accessing SQL Server databases via Ruby and Python and how to set it up. Note that I do not use homebrew, so these are all native installs.

Horizons

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:11:00 -0400

When I was a child, my horizon was the building I was in, my home. I could reach out and touch my family and whomever wandered into the house.

As a teenager, I got a bicycle, and my horizon was the neighborhoods within cycling range. I could reach out and touch my friends in nearby neighborhoods. And I felt less constrained.

Later, I learned to drive, and my horizon grew to the city I was living in. I could reach out and meet people from any neighborhood in the city. And I felt less constrained.

Sharing Reminder Lists

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 08:51:00 -0400

Looking for a quick and easy way to share reminders with other people? Here’s how we do it.

My wife and I share a Reminders.app list called Groceries that we check on the way home. If there is anything on the list, we pop into the shop and pick it up.

Reminders.app is an Apple app included in iOS and the Mac that enables you to create lists, set reminder dates or reminder locations. It syncs via iCloud so reminders on any device are automatically distributed to all your other devices.

Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition

Thu, 30 May 2013 16:59:00 -0400

Google has finally deprecated their GAPI interface which this used to talk to Google Analytics, sorry folks, it will no longer work. See the New Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition for an updated version.

Dropbox went down today, and I found out when my Status Board stopped updating. This spurred me on to migrate my Google Analytics for Status Board scripts from Ruby and Dropbox over to server based PHP. Huge thanks to Carl Franzon for the starter code.

Sanity Saver - Ticks and Crosses

Tue, 28 May 2013 14:11:00 -0400

Sanity Savers are quick tips that help you stay sane when using your computer.

I often create point form lists of things, whether planning a post or a coding sprint or a client activity. And to keep track of which points in the list are done and which will not be done, or what is right and what is wrong, I like to use ✓ and ✗ symbols.

I use them so frequently and am so lazy that even typing ,,tick and ,,cross TextExpander expansions are too much effort.

My Mac Indie Writing Workflow

Tue, 28 May 2013 12:39:00 -0400

Over the past few years, I have been writing more and more on my Mac, whether it be single blog posts, blog series, systems documentation, knowledge bases and other articles. The best part is that all the tools I use are indie developed from all over the world, are amazingly great and way better than their mainstream counterparts.

In this post, I want to share the tools I use to write and why I choose them.

Letterhead - Markdown Style

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:47:00 -0400

So I get this request yesterday to send a document on letterhead. You all may remember letterheads from back in the day when companies had professional printers print their fancy logos on fancy paper that you then ran through the “good” laser printer that then went into matching fancy envelopes and someone stuck stamps on and mailed them.

I thought that letterheads went the way of the dodo about the same time fax machines and US Mail both died out. I was wrong. It turns out, sometimes to make something “official” (whatever the heck that means) you need it on letterhead. And since it’s 2013, a PDF version is acceptable.

The One-Person Product

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:00 -0400

Marco Arment, writing about David Karp, founder of Tumblr, in The One-Person Product. Not only is this piece well written, it is an amazing perspective of Tumblr from the inside. But, for me, the salient point and the highest praise in the piece goes to David Karp, the founder and visionary:

David has an impeccable sense of what’s best for Tumblr, and he doesn’t need anyone else telling him what’s best for the product. Many people, myself included, have tried to convince him to go different directions, and we’ve been proven wrong every time.

Is it time to change tools?

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:15:00 -0400

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

Winston Churchill

Every once in a while I wonder if my programming tools, languages and platforms need to be changed. Maybe, just maybe, the software mix I use every day needs to be shaken up.

And then my mind starts spinning in circles.

As we all do, I find myself using the same languages and tools over and over again. The same programmer’s editor. The same color scheme and fonts. The same language for scripting. The same platform for web services. The same database. The same server applications.

Every 'The Best Programmers Editor' Review

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:58:00 -0400

I read a lot of programmer’s editor reviews and see a lot of arguments about which is best. Yet, essentially, they all do the same thing, help you program the way you want to. So here is my review of your favorite programmer’s editor for the Mac.

My Next Product

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:56:00 -0400

My next product is going to be the best product I ever made. Of this I am certain.

It is going to have an absolutely beautiful design inside and out. The internal architecture is going to be sublime, the code and classes readable and maintainable. The functionality in the first version will hit all the high marks and the UI is going to stand out.

My next product is going to solve a problem that lots of other people face every day. Tens, hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people. And it is going to solve that problem in a new, unique and intuitive way. Users of my next product are going to wonder how they got bye without it.

A Coda 2 Use Case

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:20:00 -0400

I upgraded to Panic’s Coda 2 when it came out, and never used it. Unless it was to trigger a software update.

That was until last week.

Last week I was working on an odd project to create a set of web pages that would be hosted on a payment processor’s site, but must look and feel like they are running on the actual site. This was for some non-profits to enable them to accept credit-card donations and electronic payment of member fees. Think of it as a customized set of Paypal pages that run on Paypal’s servers, yet are customized to the look and feel of the parent. Without Paypal, of course.

Octopress now has Footnotes

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:30:00 -0400

If you update to the latest Octopress and you still use the rdiscount markdown processor, you now get footnotes like this ¹. I was previously using a CSS workaround because I prefer the speed of rdiscount for my growing site² and still wanted footnotes.

To create a footnote, use the standard MultiMarkdown [^1] anchor to create the footnote reference link, and add [^1]: The footnote content. to the bottom of the file³.

Avoiding the Blogger Trap

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:43:00 -0400

I totally agree with Marco in Avoiding the blogger trap:

People aren’t so one-sided. Everyone has a life that goes much deeper than the topics on their blogs.

and

This site represents me, and I’m random and eccentric and interested in a wide variety of subjects.

This site is me, with a hodge podge of posts ranging from opinion pieces, news, geeky ideas, advice, links, jokes, setups and productivity. I write what I find interesting. I experiment. Sometimes I have a point. Sometimes I just want to provoke thought. And allegedly I even occasionally produce a good and useful post.

Reading the Archives

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:20:00 -0400

Most people when they click on a link to a new blog, read the linked article and move on elsewhere. Google Analytics records this as a bounce - a visitor comes in, reads a single page and leaves.

One of my habits when I come across a new blog is to read the archives. Almost every blogging platform has archives and almost every blogger makes these available.

But why read the archives?

Hedge Fund Systems

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:45:00 -0400

I have started a new series of articles on Hedge Fund Systems on my company, Noverse LLC blog. I did not post them here (yet) because I am not sure my readers will be interested – and I am using them to promote my skills and services. Let me know in comments you think I should post them here too.

But just in case you are interested in Hedge Fund systems (or my professional skills), the first post is called The Opportunity where I describe the opportunity I got starting in 2004 to design, develop and grow a brand new end-to-end Hedge Fund system for a completely fresh new business. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I took it.

Fix the Mac Function Keys with Palua

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:04:00 -0400

By default, the function keys on Apple keyboards are mapped to the Apple functions on them, like brightness, volume and Mission Control. To access them as F1 - F12 requires you to hit the fn key as well. You could always reverse this in Preferences / Keyboard by checking Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

But this change is system-wide. What if you want the default Apple behavior most of the time, but Function key behavior in certain applications, for example, in virtual machines?

Instantly grab a high-res icon for any Mac app

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:28:00 -0400

In Instantly grab a high-res icon for any iOS app, the awesome Brett Terpstra (@ttscoff) offered a script and an app to get the icon from iTunes for any iOS app.

I wanted the same for Mac apps. Turns out, it’s a one word change to Brett’s scripts. Just follow his instructions using the below files, but replace the script name with macicon.rb and the application name with MacIcon.

Download and save the script as macicon.rb.
Download the MacIcon Application.

Usual disclaimer: It works for me, should work for you, and no bunnies were harmed.

Email before the Open Web

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:09:00 -0400

Today, April 30, 2013 is the 20th anniversary of CERN making the WWW free, see Twenty Years of a free, open web. I thought I’d share a story about how it was like before then.

The year was 1988 or 1989, and my Computer Science Professor wanted to send his first email. But first we had to connect our University to the fledgling Internet. Since I ran the UNIX lab, I was tasked to set this up.

The Process is not the Product

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:49:00 -0400

Or how many people get so stuck in the processes of how to do the job, they simply forget to actually do the job. Many a product has failed to materialize because the process to make that product has gotten mired, stuck, distracted or waylaid. It becomes about the people and the politics and the process and no longer about the product.

I use this Hiltmonism to help me to focus on the goal, the reason we are creating the product, and the need to be ruthless in getting it done. We are doing what we do to make a product, to ship it, to delight our customers, and to make money. Not because we love following a process for the purpose of process following.

My Workspace

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:25:00 -0400

I have no idea why I am sharing this, but this is my current workspace:

On and around it you will find (left-to-right-ish):

My original iPad 1 running Panic’s Status Board on a Twelve South Compass Stand for iPad.
A Koncept Equo Gen 3 desk lamp, stylish and bright.
An AT&T MicroCell so I can get Mobile Phone service at home in Manhattan!
My iPad 3 WiFi 64GB, gray Apple smart cover.
My primary computer, a 15-inch Mid-2009 MacBook Pro with dual 3.06Ghz CPUs, 8GB RAM, a 240GB OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD in an OWC Data Doubler and the original 500GB HDD.
My rent bill.
A classic Apple Cinema Display 23" connected to the laptop via an old Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter and a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter, and it still works great.
Altec Lansing speakers, about as old as the hills but still sound adequate for my needs.
A Wacom Bamboo Pen tablet for artwork.
Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Trackpad.
An ancient Dell 2408WFP 24" monitor (that does not render properly with OS X), attached to my 2008 Mac Pro server (8 core, 32GB RAM, 4.5TB disk - hidden below the desk) and my original iSight above it.
On top of the Mac Pro tower is my trusty HP 12C financial calculator, an Airport Extreme and several old WD 500GB My Passport drives - link to newer model - that I use for backups.
My favorite Zebra Sarasa 0.7 Gel Retractable pen.
A Zebra Z-Grip 0.5 mechanical pencil.
The desk is a Galant with T-Leg from Ikea, 10 years old and starting to peel and warp.

This is where I work and spend my days. What does yours look like and what do you use - please link in the comments?

Phone Etiquette

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:02:00 -0400

We all spend a lot of time talking on the phone, and have been doing so for many years. It’s far beyond the right time to learn basic voice call etiquette, but here are some of the best practices I have come across.

See other articles in Etiquette, including Email Etiquette and US Dining Etiquette Failures.

Make Perfectly Good Mistakes

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:31:00 -0400

We’re not perfect, yet:

You can only learn from making perfectly good mistakes.

We all know of people’s reluctance to try things out in new software products because they are afraid of making mistakes and looking foolish. They are striving for perfect execution, yet unknowingly fail to learn the product or gain the benefits of its power.

Yet the failure to try new things is the biggest mistake of all. If you do not take a chance and try, you cannot learn anything.

Punctual

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:27:00 -0400

punc·tu·al /ˈpəNGkCHo͞oəl/

Adjective

Happening or doing something at the agreed or proper time; on time.
Denoting or relating to an action that takes place at a particular point in time.

Synonyms precise - exact - accurate - prompt

One of my many peeves is with people who are not punctual. If we schedule a call or a meeting at a given time, I will be there, on time, prepared and ready to go. It’s only right that others do the same.

Analyst Expectations

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:37:00 -0400

Lets take a look at the Widget market. It’s maturing but still expanding, with sales growing to about 2 million a quarter.

An experienced investor, looking at fundamentals, history and buyer preferences, will expect Peach to sell 1 million Widgets and Pear to sell about 250 thousand, with the remaining Widgets being sold by others.

But lets assume the presence of an Analyst that wants to drive Peach’s stock down, and wants to promote Pear. They want to do this because that Analyst’s firm makes more money when Pear shares, securities and derivatives trade.

Apple's Scheduled Releases are a Mistake

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:32:00 -0400

I think Apple’s recent move to annual releases for major products like iOS, OS X, iPhone and iPad is a huge mistake. It opens up too many cans of worms and is hurting the company’s public image and stock price.

Slogger after 6 Months

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:43:00 -0400

I have been using Brett Terpstra’s (@ttscoff) Slogger for the last six months, and I think it’s time to review it. Slogger is a script and a set of plugins that log your online activity each day into Day One, the best journaling application for OS X, or in Markdown files if you prefer. It’s a core part of my Backing up your Online Life process.

TL;DR: It’s totally worth taking the time to set it up and get it going. The data captured is so useful and often hard to gain access to, especially as we operate across many services, and as these services come and go.

Have to Have It Just to Have It

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:43:00 -0400

I often come across users who tell me they just have to have something in the software I am designing for them: some data or a report or an export. When I ask them how they use this requested item, or why they need it, they usually answer that they just have to have it. Sometimes, they even try to justify the request using the excuse that they have always had it, so they should continue to have it.

The people who love something are its best critics

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:39:00 -0400

I have been accused of being an Apple fan-something as if this was a bad thing, a blinkered delusional existence, a sign of mental degradation. I could come back that it is a Stockholm Syndrome like relationship that binds Windows users to Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Or declare that Linux-on-the-desktop users are hallucinating when they claim productivity and usability in a sea of incomprehensibly complex, buggy and mediocre open source software.

18 Months of Octopress

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:23:00 -0400

A lot of reviews are written by people who played with the product for a few hours and report their first impressions. This is all about a product I have been using for 18 months every day: Octopress, the blogging platform behind hiltmon.com.

Before Octopress

I consolidated to hiltmon.com from a series of sites based on Wordpress and a static site generated by RapidWeaver.

The Wordpress sites drove me crazy. Wordpress itself was (and still is) buggy, inexplicably complicated and slow to render. Even though I became “expert” at Wordpress customization, I still found the experience of updates, fixes and customization to be heinous and painful.

Add GA OS and Browser to Status Board

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:02:00 -0400

Reader Brandon Cozart (@brandoncozart) asked if it were possible to add Browser and OS statistics to the Google Analytics for Status Board scripts. So I gave it a shot.

Update: Download again if you use these scripts, a null value bug and sorting bugs have been fixed.

My TextMate 2 Setup

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:42:00 -0400

I switched back to TextMate 2 from Sublime Text 2 full time a while back and I am really happy with the way I have it looking and working. My “My Sublime Text 2 Setup” post is quite popular, so I though I’d create the same for TextMate 2.

Hourly Analytics for Status Board

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:23:00 -0400

Following up last week’s Google Analytics for Status Board graph and Top Pages table on Status Board, a reader asked for hourly stats instead of daily, so I created it (see the bottom-right graph).

Natsukashii - iPulse Sighting

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:37:00 -0400

Natsukashii (懐かしい) is a Japanese word for “feeling nostalgic” or “with fond memories”.

I happened to click on a Mike Zornek (@zorn) link today and noticed that he is still running iPulse on his desktop. I used to run it back in the early days of OS X on my Titanium Powerbook.

Back then, I had already returned to the Mac. But in 2003 or so, OS X was still very buggy and slow. I wanted to know where the bottleneck was, disk, network, CPU or RAM? Also, with PC hardware at the time, they still had the light that flashed when the disk was being accessed, the Mac did not have this.

Top Pages in Status Board

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:06:00 -0400

Following up this morning’s Google Analytics for Status Board graph on Status Board, I also wanted a top pages for today view for Hiltmon.com.

See also Hourly Stats and OS and Browser Stats.

The steps are all the same as Google Analytics for Status Board, so follow along, only replace those script and the launcher files with these.

Google Analytics for Status Board

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:15:00 -0400

I wanted to see the 7-day Hiltmon.com web stats from Google Analytics on Panic’s new Status Board app. Here is how I got it to work.

Update: For a far simpler install that runs on your web server using PHP, see Google Analytics for Status Board Server Edition.

Google Already Is Big Brother

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:14:00 -0400

You can, and probably already do, most of these without paying any money (in no particular order):

Use Google’s browser Chrome to visit web pages, which tell Google Analytics what you did
Find information using Google Search, which tracks and saves your searches, search attempts and selections; with the results customized by Google’s model of you
Jump to your favorite sites using a Google Toolbar extension or built-in search that checks each site you visit
Send and receive all your personal email via Gmail (and probably work emails too), analyzed and filtered by Postini
Find out whats going on (and should be going on) in your life and around you using Google Now
Chat with others on Google Talk
Schedule your life in Google Calendar
Maintain your relationships and connections in Google Contacts
Socialize via Google+ and participate in Google Groups
Use Google Maps for locating yourself and getting around
Check in with Google Latitude
Use a Google phone (Android) for mobile calls, using a Motorola or Nexus handset
Call internationally using Google Voice
Read the news via Google News and get your feeds via Feedburner
Watch TV and other Video on YouTube
Read books from Google Books
Listen to tunes from Google Play
Find a restaurant using Zagat
Plan you next vacation on Frommers
Log in to other services using your Google ID and OAuth
Save and share your personal photos on Picasa
Purchase stuff via Google Shopper using Google Wallet
Save your files on Google Drive
Track your shares and investments on Google Finance
Click on ads served by Google, DoubleClick, AdMob, AdMeld, Teracent, and AdScape
Create, edit and collaborate using Google Apps
Write your blog on Blogger
Save your code on Google code
Access the internet over Google fiber (OK, so this costs some money)
And then there’s bookmarks, offers, iGoogle, translation, alerts and scholar.

Not sure? Click the above links and see how many redirect to a personalized view for you versus a public common page. I was surprised how many were personalized for me.

Is this the end?

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:32:00 -0400

The indie business is cyclical, a sin wave of quiet and busy times. The peaks are high and the troughs are low.

When an indie is busy, there is nothing better, no higher high. They are working with great clients, creating amazing products, solving the unsolvable, slaying dragons and earning enough money to pay the bills.

But when an indie is quiet, there is nothing worse, no lower low. No clients to please, no products to create, no problems to solve, no dragons to slay and no income coming in.

Sharing nvAlt Notes with Ulysses III

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:49:00 -0400

I’m testing out Ulysses III for writing and so far I am finding it postively interesting for a 1.0 rewrite. One thing I wanted to try was to use it for notes alongside nvAlt.

Here’s how to share notes between Ulysses III and nvAlt.

In Ulysses III, click the plus icon on the bottom left (1) and choose Add External Source... (2). Choose the folder in Dropbox where you store your nvAlt plain text notes, then click Open. Note that if you just drag and drop your nvAlt folder into Ulysses III, it will copy all the notes, not reference them.

Go Home

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:30:00 -0400

I was talking with a friend the other night about their number one concern with their new job, in that they expect to have to work until 11PM every night and would therefore give up yoga, movies and dating. I almost dropped my drink (which is a horrifying thought for an Aussie).

WTF! NO! Go Home! You work to live, not live to work.

I was that person, the one who worked all hours. During the 1990’s I worked 18 hour days, 7 days a week, for the whole decade. As a result, I was sickly, pale, miserable, lonely and not financially better off. In the noughts, I went home before 6PM every day, got healthy, got a social life, got married, crossed the planet, made an amazing career for myself and had an incredible amount of fun. All because I went home.

Direct Marketing your App to Tip Lines

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:41:00 -0400

In TimeToCall - After One Month, I stated that my next marketing experiment would be to send a PR style email to popular press site tip lines to see if they worked. In parallel, and unbeknownst to me, Christian Tietze was doing the same thing, just paying for it (See Sales and AppLaunch.us experience for Calendar Paste, worth a read and reminding me to post this).

The results are:

12 PR messages sent (see the actual message sent at the bottom of this post)
1 delivery failure (so I used a backup address)
2 robo-responders indicating that the emails were received, thank you
0 reviews
0 posts about the product
0 requests for promo codes
0 responses
0 sales

To be clear, I do not blame any of these folks for the lack of response (and I did not really expect any). They get hundreds of PR messages like mine every day. They are good people trying their best to sift through a morass of messy messages to find the gems that would interest and delight their readers. Either my message did not stand out, did not resonate, got nailed by a spam catcher somewhere, or was just not the kind of thing they thought would work for their readership. I’m OK with that because I understand their situation. I knew this going in to the experiment.

$60 million to aquihire me

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:55:00 -0400

So this week, Yahoo paid $30 million to acquire Summly and it’s 17 year old founder Nick D’Aloisio (just Google it).

The way I read the deal:

Summly and its product is going to be shut down. So it’s not the product they wanted.
Nick only has to hang around for 18 months to get all his money. So it’s not the founder they wanted.
Summly licensed its technology from someone else, so Yahoo is not getting any IP in the deal either. So it’s not the tech they wanted.

This has to be the most puzzling deal ever!

Oldest Trace of You on the Internet

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:20:00 -0400

For a lark, and in response to this tweet:

what's the oldest trace of yourself you can find on the internet?
— Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) March 24, 2013

I started on the Internet in the late 1980’s when it was still called Arpanet. I connected our University of Cape Town UNIX boxes via UUCP to Rhodes University in South Africa which in turn used UUCP to talk to Oxford University in the UK, which in turn connected to one of the Ivy Leagues in the USA. The first message I sent was on behalf of my Professor to Donald Knuth, and we got a response. But all traces of that are gone.

Bjango's Photoshop Actions

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:59:00 -0400

I’ve already pointed out that you must have Slicy when working in Photoshop to create and manage iOS artwork or when creating assets for web sites.

The other must have not-so-secret weapon for iOS art is Bjango’s iOS and Android Photoshop Actions & Workflows. These are a set of Photoshop actions that speed up the creation and scaling of iOS artwork.

I start all iOS screen designs using the blue actions that create the necessary blank screen files (they even create a nice status bar). And I test the scaling of all icons using the green scaling actions which scale to all the required and supported sizes.

Mixing Legacy and Modern Web Development on OS X Mountain Lion

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:42:00 -0400

Over the past few years I have been developing modern web applications like Kifu on my laptop using Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, Octopress, and Node.js powered by Pow. But over the next few weeks I’ll be helping a friend upgrade a bunch of older legacy static (plain HTML), PHP and Wordpress sites.

I do want to keep using the same smooth workflow processes as I have now. But I do not want to clutter up my pristine OS X installation to do it. So this is how I have my modern web development environment set up, and how I have added almost seamless legacy development capability to it.

RSS Address Change

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:23:00 -0400

Update: This post has been updated with a new feed URL that will become the standard in future releases of Octopress. If you re-subscribed, I’d ask if you could please do it one more time. Thanks.

It looks like Google is about to kill off Feedburner, so its best if we get started on the transition. Going forward, I’ll be using Octopress’ built-in RSS feed. Please re-subscribe to The Hiltmon RSS Feed at:

Someone Else Did It Better

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:48:00 -0400

Over the past year I have been working on a stealth iPad app to scratch an itch of mine. Today, following a tweeted link, I found the product I was working on, just done better by someone else.

The Product

As a developer, I have a bunch of old iPhones and iPads. As a writer, I have a blog. The idea was simple: create a dashboard app to run on the old iPad 1 as a second screen to display my site’s Google Analytics using tiles so I could rearrange the view.

Long on Apple

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:29:00 -0400

Chris Umiastowski in Apple investors: How to stay sane by staying long via iMore:

Realize that you will never have an information advantage over the pros. Most information is geared to short term results anyway. Just don’t pay attention to short term news and rumours when it comes to investing. It won’t help you.

Buy a stock for your own reasons and sell when those reasons are no longer true. This will stop you from making emotional decisions and trading on rumours.

Start to notice the wording that journalists use when they talk about information sources. If the source is vaguely referenced, there is a much higher chance of the information being complete crap. Refer back to rule number 1 and 2.

Point 3 nails it!

I'm doing it wrong: Dropbox buys Mailbox

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:17:00 -0400

On my tweet stream today:

@jnack Makes me wonder why I’ve been wasting years developing a sustainable product through many mature versions.
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) March 18, 2013

Anyone got ideas for a revenue-free product I can make and sell for 100mm?

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter. Mute

Windows Phone 8 support will expire before your phone contract does

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:10:00 -0400

In a seriously bone-headed move, Microsoft has quietly announced that their mobile Operating Systems will only be supported and updated for 18 months:

Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System on your phone, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the lifecycle start date. Distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities. Microsoft Support

Cutting down on Web Tracking

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:46:00 -0400

You may not know it, but lots of web sites use a variety of tricks to track you across the Internet, not just on the site you are currently browsing. These all depend on your browser talking to the tracker’s server without your knowledge or consent. These trackers use huge numbers of servers with different names and IP addresses to make it more difficult to stop them.

If you use a single browser all the time, plugins like Ghostery work very well. But if you, like me, use lots of browsers and scripts, something else is needed.

Premature BlackBerry Sales Analysis by Forbes

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:46:00 -0400

I’m writing this for a friend who tweeted this article to me. Feel free to listen in. Mate, this in an intervention, don’t believe what you read in Forbes. Please.

Lets take yesterday’s post Nearly Half Of BlackBerry Z10 Buyers Switching From iPhone And Android by Agustino Fontevecchia.

BlackBerry’s new smartphone is stealing iPhone and Android users, according to a recent note by RBC Capital markets, which shows 45% of those buying Z10s converted from the two leading operating systems.

Also Destroyed the Ecosystem

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:56:00 -0400

Aldo Cortesi in Google, destroyer of ecosystems writes:

The truth is this: Google destroyed the RSS feed reader ecosystem with a subsidized product, stifling its competitors and killing innovation.

Erhem, see also:

Amazon → book stores
Amazon → music stores
Amazon → video stores
Starbucks → coffee shops
Best Buy → Appliance stores
Home Depot → Hardware stores
Luxottica → Eyewear
LVMH → Luxury goods

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter. Mute

Backup Your Online Life

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:15:00 -0400

The big tech news today is that Google is shutting down its Reader RSS Sync service, and my Twitter and App.Net feeds are full of people upset about it.

I’m not because I planned for it. Free web service shutdowns have happened before and free web service shutdowns will happen again (with apologies to Pythia). So I regularly backup my online life. (Links to do so are below.)

By now, we’ve all been on the Internet long enough to know that everything changes, frequently. We all moved from:

Guessing the Wall Street Journal Agenda for Apple

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:52:00 -0400

I’m not a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal, but I have noted the past few months that the WSJ seems to issue regular negative news, no, opinions, no, rumors, no, rubbish on Apple.

So I ran a test, I Googled wsj apple.

Here are the headlines that came up. I only read the blurb because the content is behind a paywall, and so include my guess as to what I expect would be in the article (and know wasn’t):

Sharing Bash Profiles across Computers

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:48:00 -0400

If you use more than one computer, keeping your dotfiles in sync is difficult. You either need to run a sync program like ChronoSync or set up your own rsync scripts. And then remember to run them.

I’m lazy, I just want it to work. So here is a lightweight way to share your key dotfiles across computers using Dropbox.

Create a folder in Dropbox called Scripts and save your dotfiles there:

Better Bash Shell Expansion

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:33:00 -0400

I’ve been doing a lot of work on TextMate 2 plugins recently and the way shell expansion works in the terminal has been annoying me. Here are some tips to

speed up access to the Application Support folder,
create case insensitive tab completions,
reduce typing to cd to common folders
and to reuse the TAB key for additional completions.

Getting to Application Support

The TextMate bundles I am working on are hidden in the Library → Application Support Folder. If you type this in your shell (⇥ is the TAB key):

Gist.tmbundle Updates

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:59:00 -0400

I just pushed a few small updates to my Gists bundle for TextMate 2. These include:

Adding progress bars for network access (Thanks for the suggestion and tip from Allan Odgaard).
New: Add file to Gist command to add the current file to an existing Gist to create multi-file Gists. For example, use this to gist the header and implementation code files in the same gist. This gets cached so you can blindly update any of the files in a multi-file gist without remembering the gist ID.
New: Gist from Selection command to create a new gist with the selected text. This command, like all the others, leaves the URL of the gist on the clipboard so it’s easy to create a gist from selection, then paste the URL into a blog post or email. Note that gists from selections are not cached as they have no file names.

This Gists bundle is now part of the standard TextMate Bundle distribution. You can find this bundle in TextMate → Preferences → Bundles → Gist where it can be enabled.

Modular Mac Pros, the new Burroughs B20?

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:06:00 -0400

I’ve been watching a conversation on APP.NET speculating about the next Mac Pro form factor, triggered by Dan Frakes’s article The time is (finally) right for a Mac minitower in MacWorld. All we know about it is that Tim Cook said they were coming.

One of the speculative themes in the discussion is a “modular” Mac Pro, where adding CPU’s, drives or expansion cards would be a simple case of stacking another module on and using [thunderbolt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface) to keep it all together:

The diminishing relevance of MS Office

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:25:00 -0400

It used to be a given that we purchased our computers to run MS Office, because that’s all the software we used on our computers. But over the years, we started to use our computing devices for more than work and the use and need for MS Office has declined in importance.

We still regularly need to use MS Office file formats to share documents, but lots of software happily reads and writes these formats. And these days, people are purchasing tablets and mobile computing devices in droves that do not and can not run MS Office and they don’t seem to care about it.

TimeToCall - After One Month

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:46:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is a follow-on to a 10 part (and growing) series I wrote about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Start at part 1 first.

Defend your Livelihood

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:36:00 -0400

Adii Pienaar, of WooThemes, in Don’t Be Defensive, But Defend Your Livelihood on dealing with negative reviews:

1. Be Transparent. The honest truth about all companies (and businesses in general) is that it’s impossible to please every single customer. I could’ve been defensive, tried to respond to the specific critique, but that would not have served any purpose. I don’t try to be perfect as an individual and I don’t expect Woo to be either. Striving for excellence, doesn’t mean striving for perfection.

We unfortunately can’t pay you for it

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:27:00 -0400

Nate Thayer, in A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013 reports on an email conversation with The Atlantic, a news organization with 13 million subscribers, responding to their request for him to write something for them but “We unfortunately can’t pay you for it”:

I am a professional journalist who has made my living by writing for 25 years and am not in the habit of giving my services for free to for profit media outlets so they can make money by using my work and efforts by removing my ability to pay my bills and feed my children.

Fix Copy Address from Mail on OS X

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:03:00 -0400

In Apple’s Mail.app, when you right click on an email address and choose “Copy Address”, Apple decided that you would inexplicably also want the name part, so the string copied looks like this:

Hilton Lipschitz <me@hiltmon.com>

I have yet to find a single occasion when I wanted anything but the email address part.

To correct this issue, jump into a terminal session and use:

defaults write com.apple.mail AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -bool NO

Quit and restart Mail.app. Copy an email address and you get an email address:

On Ihnatko Switching to Android

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:12:00 -0400

Andy Ihnatko (@ihnatko) is writing one of his usual clear and cogent articles on his choice to switch from the iPhone to Android at TechHive, see Part One and Part Two.

Good for him.

But somehow the haters have come out in droves, even though Andy himself tried to head them off at the pass:

This isn’t the story about how Apple has lost its way and no longer innovates. It hasn’t and it still does. This is merely the story of one dude who got a new phone. Nonetheless, my tale presents a picture of the strengths of modern Android.

TimeToCall Demo Video

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:32:00 -0400

In preparation for the massive PR campaign that will never happen, I created a demo video of TimeToCall, showing off the new “drag down slider”, and added it to the product page. I am hoping v1.0.1 gets approved soon so you can all play with time.

Why make a Video?

There is no trial on the App Store, so the next best thing is a quick video to help people decide whether the App does what they want. A lot more purchase decisions are made if the potential customer can see a video before they buy. The purchase seems less risky to them and they know what they are getting in to.
The press gets so many emails that they too have no time to read all the text written about a product. But they do have a few minutes to watch a quick video, and that helps them decide whether to keep watching and write about the product.
Users, unsure on how to use the app, get a quick-reference on how best to use it from the demo.
Videos are cool.

To make this video, I ran TimeToCall in the iOS Simulator and used ScreenFlow 4 to record the screen, record my voice-over, present my finger as a white button, add the text annotations and edit the clips. This is an amazing product, so easy to use. I also used GarageBand to create the Jazz soundtrack, using the default Apple Loops because I am not a musician. ScreenFlow then handled the upload to YouTube.

Better?

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:27:00 -0400

We all seem to spend a lot of time looking for better things, writing about them and arguing that our choices are better than others’ choices of things. These jeans are better than those jeans, this laptop is better that that laptop, this app is better than that app, this coffee is better than that one.

We’re all wrong, what is better for one is not better for all, because we all have different utility functions. We do not need to stop looking and discussing better, the discussion often does help find it, but we need to understand that that what we think is better may not even be on the care-radar of others.

TimeToCall - First Updates Coming Soon

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:57:00 -0400

I’ve received some great feedback and a few bug reports on TimeToCall and spent some time trying to make it a better product. The next decision is when to pull the trigger and put the first update through the App Store review process.

Changes

The two big changes I have made so far are a more accurate slider and the time now toggle.

In the original release, I set the time slider to jump to 15 minute increments to make it easier to hit a ‘zero’ time. I did this because I could never get the tiny slider to hit the time I wanted with my own fat fingers. But people did not like it, they felt the slider did not behave very well.

Have a Better Agenda

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:46:00 -0400

Many, many years ago I went on one of those corporate week-long training courses to learn how to negotiate. Back then I was too young and too green to learn anything from it except I remember this mantra:

The only way to win against someone with an agenda is to have a better agenda.

At the time, I never quite understood what that meant. I think I have a better handle on it now.

BuyReply: Email, Text, Tweet, Click to Buy

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:48:00 -0400

Prior to online purchases, the only innovation in purchasing was credit cards. The move to online electronic purchasing has seen only one more real innovation, 1-click by Amazon. The current online purchasing experience really just replicates the same onerous manual purchasing process that’s been around since money was invented.

Until now.

With BuyReply, purchasing is as far away as an email, text or tweet. Completely frictionless. Completely effortless. Available everywhere.

Here’s how it works. A vendor pops an easy-to-remember email address, SMS number or Twitter handle and a short code, usually a simple word like “LASER” or “DONATE”. You email, text or tweet that code word to the given address and BuyReply sends you a link to register your payment info and shipping details. They then save this in your online wallet for future purchases. Purchase made. That’s it.

Code

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:10:50 -0400

This page contains a list of the free products, plugins, themes or source code that I have made available to fellow developers. For products and paid applications, see my products page.

Note that these are all quite old and are no longer under any development.

Go ahead and download, contribute to and use them. Please do me the courtesy of letting me know if you do. The source code assumes you are a developer and know how to use it, so I cannot provide support.

Using Twitter and #xpost (Archived)

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:47:00 -0400

I think I have finally figured out how I want to use Twitter (@hiltmon) . Given my low follower counts, this works for me.

Note: This post was originally published in 2013 when App.Net existed. App.Net shut down in 2016 and cross-posting is no longer possible.

TL;DR: Follow me on both, no more cross-posting anything except blog post announcements, mute #xpost on one service to prevent duplicates. (Really? A TL;DR here! For an article this short? Where the “Too Long; Don’t Read” is about the same length as the post. Yes Really!)

Gist TextMate Bundle and Command Line

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:44:00 -0400

I was having a conversation on Twitter with Shawn Hansen (@geekles) this weekend and he mentioned that Sublime Text 2 has a great plugin for Github Gists, and TextMate 2 was missing this awesomeness.

Not anymore (the Oscars were on).

Announcing the first release of my TextMate 2 bundle and a separate command line tool for retrieving, creating and updating GitHub Gists.

The main difference between this and other implementations is that this one caches gist mappings (gist id to file names in ~/.gists) so you don’t have to remember them (and because TextMate 2 has no way to save user attributes on opened files). This implementation also leaves the gist URL on the clipboard for OS X users (which makes it quicker to blog with gists).

Multiple Themes in TextMate 2

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:02:00 -0400

One thing I like to do is to have different themes for different file types in my text editor. That way, at a glance, I can guess what kind of file a text-filled window contains, especially when zoomed out using Mission Control. I’ve been using Custom Language Preferences in BBEdit preferences to set up the color scheme for each file type there, and I have set up Multiple Themes in Sublime Text 2 previously.

Glui - a better Skitch

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:09:00 -0400

Ever since Evernote purchased and then ruined Skitch (See my Bye bye Skitch, Hello LittleSnapper post), I’ve been looking for a replacement product. A lightweight snap, annotate and save to PNG or share the image app. And I think Glui may be it.

I just wanted an app that just does the following like the original Skitch betas:

Snap
Quick Annotate
Save as image, or
Share the image
Go away

Glui, by Sebastian Razola (@razola), does exactly that. It sits in the menu bar, offers keyboard shortcuts for crosshair, window or fullscreen snaps, offers an arrow, box and text annotation in one color (red), with drag to desktop or share on Dropbox. Lovely!

CriticMarkup Bundle for TextMate 2

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:38:00 -0400

Update: Christian Tietze (@DivineDominion) has created a bundle that’s included in the official toolkit, so I contributed my bundle’s commands to that, and will be using and contributing to that one from now on. Get the full toolkit at CriticMarkup-toolkit or just the TextMate bundle at criticmarkup.tmbundle. I’ve already taken my repo down to prevent confusion.

Recently, @macdrifter and @themindfulbit announced CriticMarkup, a way for authors and editors to track changes to documents in plain text. I created a TextMate 2 bundle to add this markup to my favorite text editor for Markdown files.

TimeToCall - After One Week

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:56:00 -0400

Make iTerm 2 more Mac-like

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:08:00 -0400

I just switched from using Apple’s built-in Terminal.app to the free iTerm 2 on a recommendation from Brett Terpstra. I’m already loving the hot-key profiles to launch uniquely colored remote sessions, the split panes, and the brilliant hotkey window (useful to run a single command and get rid of it).

But there are a few things that needed some work. Some of the usual Mac editing keys did not work, I got rid of a few annoyances and added a few lovely preferences, and I needed the ability to create a new terminal window on the current space as part of my being productive with virtual desktops flow (Just like Browser Windows on All Desktops).

Download Dreamhost Server Logs

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:38:00 -0400

This site is hosted on Dreamhost, and I could not be happier with them. But some time ago, the engineers there decided to disable FTP access to the server logs. No reason given.

If you have a Dreamhost shared account, try it. ftp into your server using your favorite FTP client, click the logs folder, then your site folder, then http and you’ll get an error. This is because the http folder is actually a symlink to a private, readonly folder on the server that is inaccessible to FTP. If you ssh in, you can cd to this folder and see the logs because the shell can traverse this symlink.

Add Web Clip Icons to Octopress

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:57:00 -0400

The default Octopress setup includes a favicon.png which enables you to place your own tiny icon to the left of the URL in most browsers. You should see a small blue cog there now.

Both Apple and Android phones also support saving a link to a site (called a web clip) on your phone as an icon. Over the past few days, it seems quite a few viewers of this site have added it as a web clip, but I had not provided good iconage.

TimeToCall - Shipping

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:18:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 10, the last part in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iOS app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 9 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - Dawdle to the Finish

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:28:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 9 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 8 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - The MacGuffin

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:15:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 8 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 7 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - Polishing the App

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:34:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 7 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 6 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - Sweating the Details

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:07:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 6 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 5 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - Good and Bad Times to Call

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:38:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 5 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 4 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - Presenting the Clock

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:22:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 4 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 3 or start at part 1 first.

TimeToCall - The Biggest Design Decision

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:42:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 3 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Back to part 2 or start at part 1 first.

Clothes make the Man

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:11:00 -0400

We all know the old English proverb, “Clothes don’t make the man", declaring that we should not judge a person by their appearance.

Yet we do continue to judge people, just these days it’s by their devices.

That person is a Apple fanboy with their walled garden white earbud iPhone and shiny MacBook Air. That person is an open-source neck-beard with their incomprehensible 1976 vintage text editor running on a cheap ChromeBook. That person is a fuddy-duddy corporate-drone Windows user dodging updates and viruses and popups while using PowerPoint for everything. And over there is the rare and exotic Blackberry holdout, spinning their nipple and clicking hopelessly on a thumb sized keyboard.

TimeToCall - Building the Core

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:29:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 2 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software. Read part 1 first.

TimeToCall - The Effort and the Return

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:33:00 -0400

TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 1 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software.

Time To Call - Coming Soon

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:19:00 -0400

“Ring Ring” … “Hmmmm Hello” … “Er Hi Mum” … “Mum” … “MUUUM” … “Do you know what the time is?” … “I know it’s after work in Sydney, but it’s 3AM here in New York” … “Yes I was sleeping” … “No, no, I’m awake now” … “Just please check the time before you call”

Never know when is the best time to call people overseas?

TimeToCall is coming soon for the iPhone and iPad.

Dog with a Bone

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:38:00 -0400

I think one thing that is unique about programmers is that we are tenacious about getting a problem solved. As tenacious as a dog with a bone to chew. It irks us when things are not perfect, but instead of ignoring it or putting up with it, we put in the time and effort to solve it. No matter how small the niggle.

Maybe it’s simply because we can. Or maybe we’re anal or crazy. Or maybe we have wolf genes.

Surface Pro Pricing Madness

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:52:00 -0400

I don’t get the pricing for Microsoft’s new Surface Pro.

The basic, bottom spec unit (with no keyboard, tablet form only) is $899.00. Why would you buy it when you can get full-size iPad at $499.00, or even the top-of-the line iPad at $829.00. Why would you buy it if you specifically want a Windows 8 tablet and a Samsung Activ goes for under $699.00 (and includes the keyboard).

And if you do add the keyboard for $120 (which pushes the price over $1,000) to use the Surface as a laptop, why not buy the best laptop ever made, the MacBook Air for $999.00. And if you just have to have Windows 8, Lenovo’s superb Yoga is also faster, better built, bigger and cheaper at $999.00 too (and it’s the most expensive of the bunch!).

Sanity Saver: NoMoreiTunes

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:54:00 -0400

Sanity Savers are quick tips that help you stay sane when using your computer.

I really don’t like it when you web browse to the App Store (iOS or Mac), it also launches iTunes or the App Store App on top. If I want to buy the app, I’ll click myself, I do not want my browsing flow to be interrupted by the launch of another application.

The NoMoreiTunes Safari Extension prevents this from happening. You can browse to and look at an app on the web and keep browsing without having new windows getting in the way. Just download and double-click the downloaded file to install it.

Browser Windows on all Desktops

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:57:00 -0400

In Being Productive With Virtual Desktops, I talked about how I pin certain applications to certain Mission Control virtual desktops to create context specific environments.

Reader “zharmany” asked what I did with the web browser, since it is needed on many of these desktops for different reasons.

My needs are to have separate browser windows on Desktop 1 / Work for previews, on Desktop 3 / Mail for mail links and on Desktop 4 / Social for looking at tweeted links, so I do not pin Safari. Instead, I open new, blank Safari windows on each of these desktops.

Being Productive with Virtual Desktops

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:16:00 -0400

There are a bunch of applications I always want running on my computer, such as Mail.app, OmniFocus, Billings Pro and Tweetbot, but I also do not want to be distracted by them. One option is to hide them using ⌘H on the Mac, the other way is to use virtual desktops.

My goal is to create context-aware desktops where I can stay focussed on the task at hand without distractions, and to be able to switch and restore contexts instantly and predictably, that is most productive.

RVM in TextMate 2

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:04:00 -0400

I use Ruby Version Manager (rvm) to manage the interpreters and gemsets for all of my projects. But the default install of TextMate 2 uses the system ruby interpreter for internal command execution as well as for external runs. Here is how to use your rvm environment for both.

tl;dr: Set the TM_RUBY variable in preferences or your ~/.tm_properties file to the path returned by which rvm-auto-ruby and restart. That will set the internal runner. For external runs from within TextMate 2, also comment out the shebang in the script before pressing ⌘R (or run from the terminal directly). Sublime Text 2 users, check the end of this post for ⌘B use.

Back to TextMate 2

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:01:00 -0400

I spent the latter half of 2012 trying out new programmer’s editors, getting them set up the way I like and getting productive in them. This was no fly-by-night few-hour test, it was full-monty Rails development work for months. Lots of shell scripts, file manipulations, formats, different programming languages, different platforms, all my programming activities.

I tried BBEdit for programming, and it is good. BBEdit remains my text editing and file manipulation tool of choice and I suspect it always will be. It’s running all the time for me to take notes, scratch around, manipulate data or experiment. But the language grammars, language-in-language syntax highlighting and snippets were not as good as TextMate 1’s for programming. I installed a bunch of tools, wrote a few of my own scripts, but gave up.

Hit by a Bus

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:48:00 -0400

What would happen to my clients and my products if I got hit by a bus?

I answer this question in my Noverse (my company) blog in Hit by a Bus.

Did I miss anything?

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter.

Priming the Pump

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:32:00 -0400

When it comes to stocks, priming the pump works like this:

Release a very negative article on a stock, citing rumors and anonymous sources (none of which is verifiable).
Wait for the stock price to drop because your readers trust your credibility.
Buy loads of the stock cheaply at the new lower price.
Wait for the next earnings report to prove you wrong (which you knew already).
Profit.

Despicable. Yet legal.

Workable Social Network Connection Heuristics

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 21:35:00 -0400

I’m not sure how other people decide these things, but I have created my own heuristics as to whom I connect with on different social networks. In case you wish to blame me for your decisions — you’re welcome — here they are:

Family and Friends: These are blood relatives, friends I see socially on a regular basis, and old friends from way back — basically the people who accept me for who I am and I can share my more embarrassing and private moments with. Since our relationship is personal, I use these social networks for personal interaction, for staying in touch with a global group and I maximize the privacy settings. For personal, find me on:
- Facebook
- Foursquare
Professional Relationships: If we have ever met face to face, or had a phone conversation related to work (or you are family or friend), then I am happy to interact with you on a more professional social network where I limit my personal exuberance, and just conduct some business. Lets connect on:
- LinkedIn
- Skype
- Instant Messaging
Internet Friends: If either of us follow each-other on a popular social network, or we connect via email, comments or this web site, I’d love to connect with you on public social networks. I maintain my public persona there (and leak some of my personal tastes and quirks), am not afraid to express myself, but try to remain polite, humorous, responsive and not too chatty. So lets connect on:
- Twitter: @hiltmon
- Instagram: hiltmon
- Flickr: hiltmon
- Github: hiltmon
- Quora: hiltmon
- Google+: hiltmon (although, seriously, who really uses it)

But, like all of us, there are some people I prefer not to connect with on any social network. For that, there is always email. I do not hide my email addresses (see the About page), and prefer work email to Noverse, personal emails at gmail and public emails at hiltmon.com (but not to all three, see Email Etiquette). I do enjoy receiving emails from anyone, even PR folks, recruiters I know and mailing lists I signed up for. I believe you cannot go wrong contacting me via email, it works great. And when it comes for me to reach out, I prefer to email or tweet first.

Ruby Tempfile Aggressive Unlink

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:49:00 -0400

I often use Ruby’s Tempfile class when generating files in Rails for download. But something went wrong in the Rails 3.2.11 update.

Here is the code I normally use (as per the Tempfile documentation):

...
begin
 temp = Tempfile.new(“temp-file-name.xlsx”)
 report = ReportClass.new(temp.path, params)
 report.generate
 send_file temp.path, :filename => “#{user_file_name}.xlsx", :type => "application/xlsx"
ensure
 temp.close
 temp.unlink
end
...

In short, create a temp file, stream the data to it in the report class, then send the file to the user. Ensure the file is closed and deleted after. Prior to Rails 3.2.11, this worked fine.

Reprogramming my Brace Style Mind

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:24:00 -0400

Each and every programmer has their own style of coding, their own preferences for how code should look, and are generally happy to argue the case for their preference. Somehow these discussions became heated, and the most fights happen over spaces vs tabs (See Tabs versus Spaces: An Eternal Holy War. and Death to the Space Infidels!), the 80 column rule (See In defense of the 80-column rule) and brace indent style.

Recently, I have had to change my choices, they were wrong. But a bit of history first.

The Entirety Of Information

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:26:00 -0400

I possess a device in my pocket that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.

I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers.

In answer to:

If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today?

Source: @Bill_Gross

Assembly Notes

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:27:00 -0400

Assembly Notes are documentation that a programmer creates to record all the steps they go through when crafting an application, setting up a new server or configuring a new device. The idea is to log all the things they do and all the commands they type in so that they can reproduce the process again later. Assembly Notes are personal or project internal, not shared.

I started writing these when I launched Noverse, and use them on all projects. I have notes for each step I performed when creating each application, more notes for how all servers are set up and configured and even notes on how the development environments are set up. In my case, I break these up into weekly files by project, store them in my standard project folder’s Notes folder and use these logs as the source when reporting progress to clients as well.

1GHz Titanium PowerBook

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:01:00 -0400

It was about this time 10 years ago that I purchased my precious, a 1GHz Titanium Powerbook from a back street store in Akihabara (Electric Town) in Tokyo, Japan. I bought it based on a single viewing of another PowerBook because it ran UNIX with a GUI. Oh and it was thin and fast and beautiful.

It surely is the best device I ever owned.

I had been a Mac user in the early 1990’s, but, like most, I moved over to Windows for work. The Mac hardware had been falling behind, the operating system was sluggish, and the Dell/Microsoft combination was cheap and cheerful and necessary.

Mind hacks

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:28:00 -0400

A lot of people, including myself, talk a lot about organization, productivity and life hacks that make things run better for us, and share it with others. But on a more personal note, some of us also need additional hacks just to function normally in normal situations.

I call these mind-hacks, tricks that enable people like me to function and get through the day. Without them, our minds just spin off in a hundred directions and we get nothing done.

Be Organized and Productive

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 16:59:00 -0400

The theme of 2012 was all about getting organized and productive using software. I may have spent 2012 developing Kifu and some internal applications for clients, but I spent a lot of time this year getting better organized and more productive on my Mac. It’s ridiculous how much this has paid off.

So, instead of a cool-products-of-2012-year-in-review post, here are many of the things I do and tools I use to be organized and productive, with thanks to those to shared the ideas with us. Maybe these ideas, tools and folks can help you too.

2012 Year End iPad Essentials

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 13:47:00 -0400

I posted my 2012 iPad Essentials (excluding games) in March this year when the iPad 3 came out. Since then, the iPad 4 and the iPad mini have launched. Surprisingly enough, the early 2012 essentials (excluding games) have changed very little:

New Additions

The Magazine - Technically not an app, The Magazine is a brilliant new take on how a magazine should work, with great writing on a wide variety of interesting topics.
NetBot - Joins TweetBot at the top of my most popular apps page. I trust you will all join App.Net and follow me there. I find the level and depth of conversation on App.Net so much better than Twitter.
500px - to show off my very best pictures. Better go out and take some more.
Paper by Fifty Three - has become my go-to drawing and scratchpad app, it’s unique take on pens and color is amazing. I find myself spending more time in design just because this app creates such good looking sketches.
Tweet Library - to save old tweets that did not make it into DayOne via Slogger.
Pinbook - to access my links saved on Pinboard.
Diet Coda - for writing code and fixing up static web sites, replacing Textastic.
Pythonista - to help me learn Python programming.
iStat 2 - To remotely view the performance of my servers.
Quotebook - For quickly saving great quotes I find while reading.

Updates

Day One - has become more important as I now use Slogger to record daily social network interactions, site stats (my own plugin) and stock prices.
1Password - great makeover of the best password manager in existence.

Old Favorites

OmniFocus - for all my to-do and project needs. One of my top-5 must have tools.
Reeder - For RSS.
Instapaper - for offline reading of saved articles.
Soulver - A better calculation tool, using it more and more for project estimation.
Elements - (back to it) to view and create notes, and write, replacing Byword.
TextExpander - I just wish more apps used its expansions.
iBooks - I still read almost everything in the iPad.

Still There

FlipBoard - for more news.
Zite - for even more news.
Facebook
Keynote, Numbers and Pages - Just in case.
xScope Mirror
Prompt - for SSH access to servers in emergencies.
Yojimbo

Removals

Penultimate - replaced by Paper by Fifty Three.
Skype - I use it on the Mac only these days.

Note: The links above to the App Store are affiliate links, so if you purchase any of these products, I get a few pennies.

CD to Current Finder Path

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:29:00 -0400

To open a new terminal in the current Finder path in OS X, you can use the built-in service (See below on how to enable). But if you are already in a Terminal session, you need to leave the keyboard, mouse to Finder and drag and drop the path back. Here’s a trick that gets you to the frontmost Finder path without leaving the Terminal or keyboard.

Add the following to your .bash_profile:

How to Flexify a Class

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:19:00 -0400

OK, so you managed months ago to stop yourself from Premature Flexification when creating a class (or someone else did), but now the time has come to add features or flexify the existing feature set of the class.

There are many wrong ways to do this, and I have seen all of them in practice:

Duplicate the existing class, rename it and add the flexibility to the new class. This sounds great as existing code remains unaffected, but sucks if a bug is found in the original and both need to be maintained.
Wrap the existing class in a new class (or sub-class it), passing through the original methods, and adding new methods for the flexible class. Replace all calls to the original with the new wrapper or sub- class (or not!). This time, it seems that the maintenance problem above is dealt with, but the code base becomes crufty, and the workarounds in the wrapper start to break.
Create a new class that has nothing to do with the original and write a new implementation. Great, now you have two problems.
Extract the class implementation code into a new implementation sub-class, and default the original to use the extracted implementation class. Then create a new implementation class for the new flexibility version and add a method to the original class to enable you to change the implementation. This is why the suicide rate for Java programmers is so high.

Why do people do this? For a lot of not very good reasons. Some do it because they do not own the code, as in they did not write it or do not have permission to modify it. Some do it because they have no idea where the code is being used and are afraid to break something else somewhere else. Some do it because they think they can write a better class. And some do it because it is easy to be lazy and copy and paste code. And some do it because they just don’t have the time to do it right. And some just don’t care.

Free Instagram Ad Image for Advertisers

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:09:00 -0400

Dear Instagram,

Feel free to use the below image to promote any product out there on my behalf. It’s available at http://instagram.com/p/TbW5CmjjYx/.

Ok, thanks, bye. ~Hilton

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter.

Premature Flexification

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:42:00 -0400

I was sitting down to design an iOS widget to display an analogue clock face for an upcoming app. I wanted to make sure, as we all do, that the widget will work for all scenarios needed by the app. The app needs to display the time in different time zones, given a reference time in a reference timezone.

✓ User defined background image and hand images

STOP! You Aren’t Gonna Need It. It’s my widget for my app, it’s OK to hardcode the image assets.

Depersonalize because you can’t quit

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:58:00 -0400

My Twitter stream today is full of people quitting Instagram because of the new Terms of Service, see You’re the Advertisement. Six months ago, it was Twitter, and six months before that it was Facebook. Quitting over privacy.

Except they didn’t quit. They are all still on Twitter and Facebook and will remain on Instagram, because we, their friends are still there and the service remains awesomely useful.

If you are worried about privacy, but wish to remain on these services, just depersonalize. Turn off locations, use a login and display name that is not yours (but your friends will recognize and accept), remove or fake the remainder of your data, and never post photos of yourself, friends and family. Let these services use your depersonalized data however they want, because it’s not you. A falsely advertised recommendation from “xyzzy68000” means nothing compared to a real recommendation from “hiltmon”.

You’re the Advertisement

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:03:00 -0400

It used to be said that:

If you pay for a product, you’re a customer. If you don’t, you’re the product.

Now its getting worse. The new Instagram Terms of Use make you the advertisement for any unknown third party product. Anyone can pay Instagram to use your user name, your image, and your photos to advertise their product to anyone else, without your knowledge or consent.

Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf. Instagram Terms of Use

It seems there is no way to prevent this.

Gun Control does Work

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 10:06:00 -0400

Personal note: I have lived in the USA for 9 years now, and think this place is magnificent. Two days ago, in Newtown CT, 20 children and 6 adults were massacred. The dark side of America that is in denial about gun violence, that refuses to even discuss gun control, that treats massacres as a normal and regular part of life, a country that gives up its civil rights over a single terrorist act, but takes no action on a score of massacres of its children, well, that just scares the shit out of me. Whether you are religious or not, parent or not, patriotic or not, surely we can all agree that we can and should do everything in our power to prevent this kind of horror. It can be done, it has been done elsewhere, lets make it happen here.

De Fault with Default

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:03:00 -0400

The word default has many meanings:

To a geek means the value set for a preference by the developer, as in “the default value for the web server port is 80”.
To a finance person means the failure to fulfill an obligation, like pay off a security, as in “the company’s corporate bond is in default”.
To a sports person means the failure of a team to arrive in time to participate in a sports match, thereby losing the match, as in “Qatar lose the soccer game by default to Uzbekistan”.
To a lawyer means the failure to appear in court, as in “an order for default as entered in case XYZZY”.
And to everyone else means “De Fault”, as in “the replacement ref’s incompetence is de fault of the league.”

Just a quick reminder to ensure you use the right terms in the right context for the right audience.

On Customer and Developer Entitlements

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:52:00 -0400

en·ti·tle·ment /enˈtītlmənt/ Noun The fact of having a right to something, or the amount to which a person has a right.

There has been a huge amount written this year about software pricing, availability and support, especially in light of the “race to the bottom” pricing and lack of trials and upgrade pricing in the Apple App Stores. Developers feel they are entitled to more money and respect for the effort they put in, customers feel entitled to free upgrades, multiple platforms and cheaper prices. Yet the discussion has quickly gotten off topic in the incessant white noise of name calling and the use of words like “greedy”, “double-dipping”, “unfair” and “angry”.

Forced Arbitration and the Right to Sue

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:36:00 -0400

One of the things that is bothering me these days is the number of vendors changing their contracts unilaterally to require us to use their own arbitration and giving up our right to sue. You can ‘opt out’ of this change, where ‘opt out’ means they will immediately terminate service. The mobile carriers in the USA have had these for a while, as have the credit card companies and many employers. Paypal is implementing it now.

Apple, Please make a Touchscreen Laptop

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:43:00 -0400

I think Sean Hollister gets it right in The Verge article Surprisingly, touchscreen laptops don’t suck. In short, Windows 8 challenges the idea that they do not work, and proves that they do.

The argument against touchscreen laptops and desktops has always been Gorilla Arm, the idea that users will get tired holding their arms up in the air for longer interactions, they will look and feel like Gorillas.

But the theory of Gorilla Arm only makes sense when you consider it for longer interactions (for example typing or drawing). Hollister, in his article, points out that Microsoft as proven that for shorter interactions (launching, navigating, selecting), touchscreens work great. And I agree.

Bills Doubled in 8 Years

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 11:21:00 -0400

While shredding old, unnecessary paperwork today, I noticed that the cost of our monthly utilities have more than doubled in 8 years, yet almost nothing in our way of life has changed.

We live in exactly the same apartment. We still have no kids. We still have only 1 TV, but the new one uses less juice. We both use modern laptops and iPads, which also use less juice, so our monthly kWh has not gone up, but our power bill has more than doubled.

Yahoo Finance Logger for Slogger

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:24:00 -0400

One thing I find myself doing every once in a while is trying to find out the $AAPL share price for a given date. This usually requires a trip to Google Finance or Yahoo Finance and a need to download a data table to find what I need.

Wouldn’t it be nice if this information was in my journal?

So I spun up a simple Slogger plugin to do it. This plugin:

Inbox Kinda Zero

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:02:00 -0400

The idea behind Inbox Zero is to manage email overload. Basically, you aggressively process your email inbox by

Deleting everything you don’t need, want, care about, don’t care about, couldn’t be bothered with or is too old to act on.
Respond and file what you can process quickly.
Queue, by filing, emails that you need to get back to.
Schedule tasks and time to process the queue folder.

With Inbox Zero, if there is an email in the inbox, it needs to be processed away. The intention is to help you minimize the amount of time spent in email.

Back to Byword from iA Writer

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:26:00 -0400

For as long as it has been available, I have been using Byword for writing in Markdown. All blog posts, all knowledge base notes, all written using Byword. But I really liked the look of iA Writer, so I made Byword’s font look more like iA Writer’s (see Text Editing Fonts and Colors). Perfect.

I even started a “why I prefer one over the other” post, but it only contained one item:

* Prefer the font size in Byword (too big in iA Writer)

At the beginning of November, iA Writer for Mac was updated with their new responsive design, which varies the font size based on the window width. Perfect, the font was no longer too big when the iA Writer window takes up the left half of my 15” display. So I switched the default Markdown editor over to iA Writer.

Workflow is Functionality

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:39:00 -0400

Functionality, the range of operations that can be run in a computer system, is the foundation upon which all software product collateral, designs, discussions and comparisons are based. Customers buy on functionality. Developers create functionality. Users question what the product can do.

That is fine, but it’s not the whole story.

The right question is not what operations exist (or should exist), it’s how these operations work together, how the functionality flows. How can you tell which operations have been performed, and what operations need to be performed next? That is workflow. The product’s collateral should tell the customer how the workflows in this software helps them run their business better. The workflows in a software plan should tell the developers what functions are needed and which can be ignored. The workflows in software help users learn and track what they are doing.

Multi-Platform Editing is Sublime

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:37:00 -0400

One of the best things about the Sublime Text 2 license is that it’s a per-user license. This allows you to run it on all computers where you are the primary user. And since Sublime Text 2 is multi-platform, that means on all the operating systems you use as well.

For example, in my case, I can and do run Sublime Text 2 on

My laptop Macintosh which is my regular workhorse.
My OS X Server for maintaining Slogger and other scheduled scripts.
My Windows 7 VM which is where I do all my Windows coding and testing.
And on all my GUI Linux VMs too.

No more jumping between TextMate, UltraEdit, and GEdit. Or worse, having to use Notepad because nothing else is installed.

Hiltmon.com - One Year Old

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 16:49:00 -0400

On Nov 22, 2012, the revamped hiltmon.com turned one year old. And I missed it as I was too busy guzzling turkey.

Thank you all for reading, sharing and responding to my writing.

Stats from the First Year

287 posts.
67,536 pageviews.
Taking the HN/Reddit outliers out, hiltmon.com is averaging 4,278 page views per month.
Over the year, 41.66% of visitors used Chrome, 20.82% used Firefox and 20.07% used Safari. But over the last 6 months, this has changed to 36.31% Chrome, 34.62% Safari and 13.97% Firefox, tracking the demise of Firefox.
Over the year, 36.66% of visitors were on Windows, 33.27% Macintosh and 11.55% on Linux. Over the past 6 months, this has changed to 44.94% Macintosh, 28.37% Windows, 16.15% iOS and 7.12% Linux tracking the tone and content of this site.
Only 18.17% of page views are from mobile devices and this rate is growing rapidly. 84.2% of mobile access is from iOS devices and the remainder seem to be Android variants.
57.1% of page views source from from Google searches, 21.9% direct and 5.2% from Twitter and Facebook.
$0 spent on advertising and marketing. My plan was to focus on writing only this year and see how it went.

The Top 10 most popular articles

Once again, thank you all for reading hiltmon.com and sharing this site with your friends. I intend to continue writing here on the topics that interest us all, especially software design, productivity ideas and about awesome tools that I love to use.

Vegemite Sandwich

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:04:00 -0400

It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA today and all us good Aussies are making our own comfort food, Vegemite Sandwiches. If you have listened to the Men at Work song Down Under, you’ve heard of this magical foodstuff.

Here’s how to do it right.

The Ingredients

2 x slices of bread (most prefer fluffy white, I prefer a wholegrain brown). One is never enough, and more than two is only allowed after a vigorous rugby game.
Butter or margarine to taste.
Vegemite
Cheddar cheese (actually New York cheddar is very good for this), sliced thinly using a cheese slicer.

Preparation

Very lightly heat up the bread, I run it in the toaster for 15 seconds. Do not let it dry out or get toasty. The idea is to warm up the bread so that the butter melts easily when spread. There are those who incorrectly believe in buttering cold bread, but forget that Australia is a warm country and this is Australian food.
Spread the butter on the bread. Do not overdo it. Ensure the the top of each slice is moist, but not soggy. If the butter dribbles through the bread and hits the plate, you’ve put too much on and should start again.

Spread the Vegemite on top of the butter. The Vegemite should be slathered thick, and be spread to all edges of the bread. Leaving un-Vegemited corners is sloppy and proves that you are a pommy bastard who is used to marmite sandwiches where only the very centre has a dab of flavor. And while we are on poms, what’s with the marmalade thing?

Place the cheese on top. Ensure proper coverage, but leave a few millimeters on each edge for cheese expansion. If you use imperial measures, leave a 1/18 span (1/8 finger or gnats-thorax length) between cheese edge and crust edge.

Day One iCloud Sync Fail

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:08:00 -0400

This post seems to have become popular. To clarify, the problem is with iCloud, Day One is just plain brilliant and you should all be using it.

I use the Day One journalling program a lot, especially to log commits and all social activity using Slogger. But today I noticed that the Journals on all my devices were out of sync, and new entries created were not passed on to other devices. Somehow, sync was jammed up.

No Sale: It does not have what we can and will not use

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:11:00 -0400

As a buyer of software, I always focus on what the software does do. If it does what I need to do well, and the price is right, I buy it, I use it and I gain the productivity benefits from it.

As a seller of software, I find potential customers focus on what the product does not do, and use this as a reason to avoid purchasing. That’s fine as long as the missing feature is something they can and do or will use. But it makes no sense to me when the missing feature is something that they already have and do not use, don’t know how to use or have no reason to use.

Python Zen

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:18:00 -0400

After reading Federico Viticci’s Automating iOS: How Pythonista Changed My Workflow, I think its time I added the Python Programming Language to my repertoire.

The first thing I learned about Python is the Zen of Python by Tim Peters:

Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren’t special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one – and preferably only one – obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you’re Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than right now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it’s a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea – let’s do more of those!

I think this really applies to all languages and programming in general.

Google Analytics Logger for Slogger

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:14:00 -0400

This article explains how to set up Brett Terpstra’s Slogger with a new plugin to journal your daily Google Analytics site stats. This plugin supports:

Multiple web properties as long as they are under the same Google login.
Multiple dates so you can skip a few Slogger run days and catch up (or back fill).
Only logs a full day’s worth of stats, so if it runs now, it logs up to yesterday’s stats.
Captures page views, visitors, top 5 sources and top 10 popular pages. If you want different stats, let me know in the comments or via Twitter @hiltmon.

Warning: This plugin is alpha code, so assume the usual no warranty legalize, basically proceed at your own peril.

Another Reason to love this Community

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:13:00 -0400

Friendly competition, another reason to love this community.

The gang at App.Net just released their new integrated stream marker feature.

The first response I see (at the top) is from Manton Reece (TW: @manton, ADN: @manton), the maker of Tweet Marker that competes with this feature, congratulating them on their implementation.

Screenshot off App.Net using Wedge.

Linking to Bullshit

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:11:00 -0400

While I was working on my Adverse Apple Articles post this morning, Marco Arment was writing this: Linking to bullshit:

If you truly dislike bullshit writing and don’t want to support it, hit the publishers where it hurts: don’t read it, and don’t link to it.

I only partially agree. If the site and the article is truly link bait, then sure, we should ignore it and not send others to it.

Adverse Apple Articles

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:30:00 -0400

As part of my research into AAPL vs AMZN Performance Madness, I noticed a lot of negative press on AAPL’s share price. So I decided to wait until after the election, then sample the press again to see whether it was a blip or a trend.

In short, the evidence points to a concerted effort to create a negative impression of Apple and push the stock price down. Lets take a look, shall we.

Multiple Themes in Sublime Text 2

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:09:00 -0400

One thing I like to do is to have different themes for different file types in my text editor. That way, at a glance, I can guess what kind of file a text-filled window contains, especially when zoomed out using Mission Control. I’ve been using Custom Language Preferences in BBEdit preferences to set up the color scheme for each file type there. TextMate 2 users, check out Multiple Themes in TextMate 2.

Rarely Microsoft Office

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:03:00 -0400

I rarely use Microsoft Office. There, I said it. And it’s true. There are electronic cobwebs on my copy. You may now run out of the room screaming.

For many, this is like saying I rarely bathe. I rarely use Microsoft Office because I have absolutely no reason to use it except for two specific cases.

Email, not Outlook

There are several reasons why I don’t use Outlook for email:

Managing the Productivity Context

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:32:00 -0400

Productivity is doing less stuff to get more stuff done. Managing its context is the key to becoming more productive. Here is a framework to establish and manage your productivity context to maximize your productivity when using your computer, based on what I have been doing to manage my own on my Mac. Hang in there, this is a long one.

Reducing Inboxes

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:54:00 -0400

We’ve all heard about Inbox Zero, where you try to reclaim your email, your attention and your life by clearing out your email inbox. I needed to reduce the number of inboxes first.

Those of us who have been on the Internet for decades have amassed a large number of email addresses on a variety of services. As time passed, and new services emerged, we added more. Most of us are loathe to close any of these addresses down just in case we get an email there. Which means setting them up every time we set up a new device, and checking them regularly. That is not productive!

Surface Disk Free Space

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:56:00 -0400

Yikes! A 32GB Microsoft Surface RT has only 16GB free according to the Microsoft Surface FAQ. Thats 16GB for the Operating System! 5GB of that is recovery tools which could be on the net, but instead chews up expensive internal flash memory! This bloat explains the pricing and performance issues with the device. Arguably, you can expand the Surface (and Android devices) with up to 64GB more disk space using a single SD card, but that I/O is pretty slow compared to the built-in flash memory.

AAPL vs AMZN Performance Madness

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:26:00 -0400

Philip Elmer-DeWitt noted something interesting on Saturday in Fortune magazine, Amazon’s price-to-earnings ratio is now 2,767. Apple’s is 13! In the last quarter, Apple’s earnings were up and the stock went down, whereas Amazon reported a loss and the stock went up.

When a company reports bumper earnings, I assume its stock price should rise, and when a company takes a loss, the stock price should fall. After all, the stock price is really the public valuation of the company. So this response to earnings makes no sense to me. I decided to investigate this madness to see if there are any other rational indicators that explain it. Instead, I found support for my thesis, and no answer to why this is happening.

Grand Central Today

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:37:00 -0400

Images courtesy MTAInfo.

Surface RT is not a Duck

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 16:45:00 -0400

What is a duck? Well, if it looks like a duck, floats like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. The just-released Microsoft Surface RT fails the duck test, it looks like a tablet, but it is not a tablet. Windows 8 RT also fails the duck test, it looks like Windows 8, but it is not Windows 8.

For the record, I have used the real proper Windows 8 on a Samsung tablet before, so my impressions of the Surface and Windows RT are based on that experience.

Marco and the Surface

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:39:00 -0400

Marco Arment, of Instapaper and The Magazine fame, went to a Microsoft Store yesterday to try out the new Surface and wrote about the experience in his blog in An alternate universe. Go read it. I’ll wait.

I’m sad to say but I think I may have to agree with his conclusion:

But it’s not for me at all. Not even for testing, experimenting, or curiosity. It feels too much like using a Windows PC, which was exactly Microsoft’s intention, and it will appeal to people who want that. But that’s a world I fled 8 years ago with no intention of returning.

Windows 8 Launch MIA

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:07:00 -0400

So I sat back today to watch the live stream of the Microsoft Windows 8 launch. I was excited, this is the first Windows launch that interested me since Windows 95. And I waited for them to show me the product, its features and its pricing. And I waited, and waited, and then the show ended. Information about Windows 8 was missing in action at the launch.

Now I know that the press has had it for ages. I know I have been running a Windows 8 preview in the VM for ages, and so have most developers and corporate IT departments. And I have also used it on a Samsung tablet. But most customers have not touched, seen or played with Windows 8. Maybe I assumed, incorrectly it seems, that the launch audience was potential Windows 8 customers, just like the audiences for Apple and Google’s launches are. Maybe I assumed incorrectly that the purpose of a launch is to talk about the product and then show it off, its features and pricing. I must be incorrect because the Windows 8 launch did none of that.

Apple vs Microsoft Launch Differences

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:41:00 -0400

I started a post on the Windows 8 Launch which I will get back to later, because there were some very key differences between the two presentations and they really resounded with me. Some of them stylistic, some fundamental, you choose which.

Microsoft: “will”, Apple: “is”. A lot of the Microsoft presentation was all about “will”, you will be more productive, you will have more device choices, you will enjoy, you will do X better. Apple’s presentation was all about what “is”. This is how you do X better, these are your choices, this is fun. To me, a product launch is about what the product is not what it will be.

Email Etiquette

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:38:00 -0400

I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of emails across a lot of accounts and the time and effort to process my inbox is growing exponentially. I just wish that senders and responders on email would follow some basic etiquette rules that will make our use of email both more pleasant and more productive.

Email is a form of communication which is a reflection of you. Bad email etiquette reflects badly on you, and a record of this is kept in mailboxes over which you have no control. Good email etiquette reflects well on you, improves your public perception and persona and increases the chance of a prompt and comprehensive response. It’s not hard to maintain good email etiquette once you know what it is.

One thing before we start, before creating or responding to an email, ask yourself this: is email the right medium for this communication? If you are not sure, pick up the phone or wander over to the person and have a conversation. Email only if it is the right medium.

And always follow good etiquette. This article contains a comprehensive list of rules and recommendations learned through experience and research.

The Big 5 Windows 8 Lineups

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:51:00 -0400

My thoughts on announced hardware for Windows 8 being released this week.

Asus

Asus will be launching their Zenbooks with touch screens for Windows 8 in November, or really replacing the screens on their old Zenbooks with touch screens and selling them as new models.

They are updating their modular tablet to run Windows RT and calling it the Vivo Tab RT. 10.1” with a dock for the low price of $599.00, but it’s just the old transformer with bad resolution, slow CPU’s and better-than-average speakers.

There’d be something called a mini

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:15:00 -0400

My thoughts on today’s announcements by Apple.

13” Retina Macbook Pro

The 13” Retina Macbook Pro looks good, is priced high as expected, and is probably going to sell very very well. But the 8GB RAM limit and the lack of an external graphics card to drive the Retina display is puzzling. The 15” has an external NVIDIA GT 650M and can go up to 16GB RAM, that makes it a pro machine. The old 13” Pro had the same limitations, odd.

The myth of the wireless spectrum crisis

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:23:00 -0400

Great article by Tim Farrar, a real pro on Gigaom entitled The myth of the wireless spectrum crisis, presents the fact that wireless data growth has stalled because of tiered pricing, low caps and market saturation instead of growing out of control:

However, underlying the statistics are numbers that tell a far different story: in fact, there was a dramatic slowdown in wireless traffic growth during the first half of 2012. Of course, CTIA doesn’t want anyone to realize that, because it is significantly at variance with CTIA’s narrative of an impending “spectrum crunch” into which so much lobbying effort has been invested.

Huge Last Week in October 2012 for Tech

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:05:00 -0400

It’s going to be a huge week in tech this week, with launches and events from the big three, Microsoft, Google and Apple. Here’s what happening and my take on each.

Microsoft Windows 8 and Surface

On October 25, 2012, Microsoft will hold an event to launch their new Windows 8 Operating System for release the next day. I expect to see more demos of the system itself, a lot more Metro, er Windows UI, style applications and some great hardware that is tuned for it, especially touchable wrap-around laptops from Lenovo and Acer. It will be a good show, unless Ballmer speaks, in which case all bets are off.

Solutions born from deep experience

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:36:00 -0400

Comment of the Day:

[Aaron Mahnke] (on App.Net)

In response to:

I love it when my clients casually ask, “Can you teach me how to [insert knowledge that comes from supporting Macs for 20+ years] so I don’t have to [call/pay/wait for] you?” Um, sure… Have twenty years or so? [Patrick Rhone] (on App.Net)

45 Revolutions

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 13:49:00 -0400

When the Earth was in the same relative position to the sun 45 revolutions ago, a baby boy was born at the southernmost point of a continent called Africa. The Earth did not stop, or even pause as it continued its solitary journey.

Yet the baby grew up and made his own journey. Cape Town to Sydney to Tokyo to New York. Via Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Nice, Geneva, Munich, Salzburg, Milan, Rome, Athens, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Singapore, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Hanoi, Vientiane, Sapporo, Kobe, Nagano, Kuala Lumpur, Borneo, Berlin, Barcelona, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Malta, Sicily and hundreds of places in between, all filled with wonder, sights, tastes, experiences and joys.

Say NO to Spec Work

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:55:00 -0400

TL;DR: Spec work is delivering creative work for free to prospective clients, encouraged by a bunch of work-listing or contest-hosting services. Say NO, even if that means you have quiet times, or you’ll never become a professional.

One of the negative things about being an indie is that the consulting and project work comes in fits and starts, and there are times, like now, when we have no client work to do at all (so contact me). On a positive note, it means we have time to spend on personal projects and building our own products. To use an American phrase, it’s a wash. Client work pays the bills while we develop our own products, too much client work and our products never get done, too little client work and we cannot fund our own products.

Why Windows Just Can’t Win

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:27:00 -0400

Mat Honan, writing in Wired in Why Windows Just Can’t Win, concludes:

It doesn’t matter if Microsoft creates the greatest operating system in the world if it then allows others to junk it up. And, ultimately, it means that Microsoft isn’t in control of its brand.

The Metro name, the crapware, and the horrible release dates all point to the same problem: Even when Microsoft has a great product on its hands, even when its product, engineering and design teams manage to hit one out of the park, it won’t matter once the business team comes in and ruins it for everyone. Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Windows Surface — these are all potentially great products. But if past is prologue, that may not matter.

Too Many Menu Bar Apps?

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:27:00 -0400

These days, in order to maximize my productivity, I seem to be running a lot of menu bar apps on my Macintosh OS X system. So many that I had to buy a menu bar manager, Bartender! Add what you use in the comments.

Here’s what each one is and why I use it (in no particular order):

1Password - One of my must have tools, enables me to reach and log into sites securely using strong site-specific passwords. Without it, I have no access to anything https://agilebits.com/onepassword

Walled Gardens are Permeable

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:36:00 -0400

There is an incredible amount of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) on the internet about walled gardens, or closed ecosystems, especially focussed on Apple and ignoring everyone else. The open versus closed ecosystem holy war is in full force, with a lot of words written in absolute and extreme terms. Yet the so-called walled garden systems appear to be most popular and most successful.

I believe that in reality these closed ecosystems actually have very permeable walls and that we’re really working in the middle ground between open and closed. They both have benefits and problems, but the balance is achievable and, in some cases, already working. We can end this war of words with knowledge, understanding and in making our own choices.

The Post-PC future, iCloud turns one

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:20:00 -0400

Apple’s iCloud service turned 1-year old on October 12, 2012. The day passed with a whimper in a tech press focussed on irrelevant issues such scratching, purple flares, maps and other Apple so-called “failures”.

I think it’s a big deal, because with iCloud, Apple may finally be getting internet services right and the post-PC era just got real for most people. And no-one seems to have noticed.

As an early adopter, though, post-PC started early for me. I had one of the early Motorola V710 phones, the ones Verizon got sued for and lost because they advertised sync on the phone, then blocked it on release. I managed to acquire the original Motorola version of the V710 operating system and installed that. Whenever the phone was within bluetooth range of my PC, I could manually sync contacts. How amazing was that, I did not need to maintain two separate address books. Surely that was the post-PC future.

Fixing Open With in OS X

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:11:00 -0400

If you use the Open With… contextual menu on OS X (right-click on a file in Finder), you may find a lot of applications get duplicated or are just plain wrong. This is how you reset this menu.

In my case I had this for Markdown files:

What a mess. Open a Terminal session from Applications/Utilities and type the following command:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Make sure the whole thing is on a single line and wait for it to finish.

Scratched iPhones

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:58:00 -0400

There’s a big brouhaha in the news these days that new iPhone 5’s come scratched out of the box, and that the new aluminium backs scratch too easily. So much noise that Apple is trying to “fix” the problem by not shipping pre-scratched ones, and by telling people that scratching is normal for aluminium products.

I prefer Remy Labesque’s take back in 2011 in Aged to Perfection, the back of scratched iPhones can and does look beautiful.

Spent more on Patents than R&D?

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:12:00 -0400

Ian Betteridge @ianbetteridge takes the New York Times down in Did Apple and Google really spend more on patents than R&D?, in response to the NYT article The iEconomy: Apple and Technology Manufacturing (Subscription required):

Read the NYT piece, and you would think that the technology market has shifted from being about research and development of new products to being about acquisition of patents. Given that this is based on a single year, when some very big patent portfolios came on the market in one-off deals that aren’t likely to be repeated in the future, that’s a long way from the truth.

Microsoft Lost its Mojo

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:56:00 -0400

Another well written article today in Vanity Faire, How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo: Steve Ballmer and Corporate America’s Most Spectacular Decline, which visits Microsoft’s lost decade and current structural problems. Well worth Instapering (Is that a word?).

Ballmer’s key business philosophy for Microsoft was so antiquated as to be irrelevant. The Microsoft C.E.O. used to proclaim that it would not be first to be cool, but would be first to profit—in other words, it would be the first to make money by selling its own version of new technologies. But that depended on one fact: Microsoft could buy its way into the lead, because it always had so much more cash on hand than any of its competitors.

BBEdit still Rules

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:48:00 -0400

Lovely article on how the stalwart classic BBEdit still rules by Andy Ihnatko (@ihnatko) on Macworld today, entitled Mac classics: Why BBEdit rules

“BBEdit’s still important because at its essential core, it’s a tool for working with text,” says Rich Siegel, Bare Bones Software’s founder and CEO. “Not text for presentation, as in a word processor or page-layout application, but rather text as data supplied to other software: code for compilers and interpreters, markup and Web applications for Web browsers, log files and data tables for analysis, and for any tool that inhales raw text and turns it into something else.”

Stop with the old Text Editors already

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:11:00 -0400

Over the past few years, it has become a thing to stop using IDE’s and modern text editors in favor of Vim. I understand older programmers using Vim out of habit, but the new generation of programmers? I don’t get it. Every-time I write about text editors, this growing group tweets to give modern GUI editors up and switch to old trusty rusty crusty terminal-based Vim.

Stop it! I’m not going to do that.

Minimize the Glue

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 15:19:00 -0400

Glue is bad. Too much glue and your systems and processes become rigid, inflexible and incomprehensible. In technology and in business, you need to minimize the glue.

Let’s start with a few definitions. Lets call a potential interconnection between two systems a path. An interface is code to import or export data from an application. Now we can define an integration as a process whereby data is pulled from one interface, travels down a path and is loaded into another interface. A reconciliation is the process of checking that the data that travels along paths matches in both systems. Glue are programs that implement integrations.

Export to Excel is a Red Flag

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:57:00 -0400

As a developer, I often get requests from clients asking me if I could deliver them a spreadsheet using their data from their systems that contains X and Y and Z. As a maker of software products, I often get asked whether my product supports ‘Export to Excel’.

Most developers say yes, here is your spreadsheet and yes, the product has ‘Export to Excel’. My answer is different, it’s sometimes and no, and this is why.

Entitlement

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:29:00 -0400

Excellent post by Aaron Mahnke called Entitlement about all those moaning about the new iPhone (although I think it applies to all new products), please read and share it:

Where is the sense of gratitude and wonder that we used to have? A tech company sells millions and millions of an amazing smart phone, but decided to create a new model by investing untold amounts of money and energy. And then they released it for the same price as the last model. They didn’t have to, but they did. To moan and complain about that smacks of entitlement and selfishness.

Windows 8 Preview on a Tablet

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:33:00 -0400

While on holiday, I got to play with the Windows 8 Preview on a Samsung tablet. It made some notes of the experience, then decided to wait until I returned home to see what I remembered about the experience.

The tablet itself was larger than the iPad, a lot thicker, a lot heavier and had a lot more ports. It also came with a stylus and a keyboard dock which was useful in turning it into a laptop when needed. The screen was a 16:9 widescreen, bright and colorful, which made it amazing for the kids to watch movies on. The sound was loud and clear. All in all, the feel was hefty, but quite comfortable. The tablet hardware seemed solidly built.

Bye bye Skitch, Hello LittleSnapper

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:29:00 -0400

Editor’s Note: Written six months ago, I’ve since moved on to using Glui - a better Skitch to replace Skitch.

Bye bye Skitch

I’ve been using Skitch to grab screenshots since the first beta was announced way back in June, 2007. I paid for Skitch Plus in February 2011 because I loved the product, and the work by Plasq, so much. Then Evernote purchased Skitch and I hoped that they would not mess it up.

New iOS6 Cached Maps

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:37:00 -0400

One feature I do like about the new Maps in iOS 6, the vectors and data are now cached. Seems the application caches the last viewed maps, so the GPS works rather well when offline.

Screenshot taken near Zushi station in Japan, with no WiFi or cellular data enabled.

Note also that the detail in semi-rural Japan seems pretty good.

The best Sushi

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:02:00 -0400

If you love traditional Japanese sushi, not the Western or Californian styles, then I have found the best sushi place in the world. But you had better hurry of you want a chance to eat there, the sushi chef is getting old.

Getting There

The restaurant is in Kanazawa city on the Japan Sea side of Japan, about 450 km north-west of Tokyo. Getting there is easy if you take a shinkansen (bullet train) about half the way and an express train the rest of the way, give yourself 5-6 hours of travel from Tokyo.

Buying a new Suitcase

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:18:00 -0400

My suitcase broke on the way back to Japan from Australia, so we decided it was time to buy a new one. As usual, the geek in me meant that we could not just run down to the local Yodobashi Camera and purchase the first one we found (although I did spend a lot of time prodding the ones there). I need facts and information to make the right decision. Here’s how I chose the one I purchased.

Text Editor Addict

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 13:10:00 -0400

Hi, my name is Hilton and maybe, just maybe, I am a text editor addict.

“Hello Hilton” you all say.

I seem to have a lot of text manipulation tools on my devices. Of course, I don’t think I have too many, but most people only seem to have one. You see, to me, each one has it’s own use, it’s the best tool for it’s job, that’s why I have and use it. Here is a list of all the text editors on my laptop that I use right now, and why:

Thwarted by Patents

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:33:00 -0400

As you all know, teleportation is easy. But one cannot make a teleporter due to the crazy US Patent system. And it’s frustrating me.

Like you all, I am pretty tired of traveling to airports via trains and monorails, waiting in check-in lines, fighting those darn kiosk things, standing in baggage lines, standing in TSA lines, removing shoes and belt, getting frisked, getting dressed then waiting in dingy boarding areas with horrid coffee and no useable wifi only to spend hours upon hours squished in small cramped seats with bland food and annoying strangers, just to get somewhere.

Care

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:58:00 -0400

As a species , we have proven that there is nothing we can’t do if we set out to do so. We have cured the incurable countless times before. I fervently believe that, if we can send robots to Mars and fix elections with money, we can cure cancer. All it takes is the same thing it always has for every one of those challenges…

Care. Patrick Rhone

I don’t know Patrick personally, we’ve never met and probably will never meet. He’s just a guy I follow on Twitter and App.net because his tweets and posts show that his interests and mine align.

Where is the International News

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:29:00 -0400

Claire Belinski explains in the badly titled How to Read Today’s Unbelievably Bad News :: Gatestone Institute where good international news coverage has gone.

Something has gone very wrong in American coverage of news from abroad. It is shoddy, lazy, riddled with mistakes, and excessively simplistic.

Above all, it is absent.

Mainly this is why:

In the event of a massive breaking story—such as the uprisings in Tahrir Square—the networks parachute their people in. They bone up on the story by reading the local English-language newspapers (and in any country where English isn’t widely spoken, it is important to ask: Why does it have an English-language newspaper? The answer, usually, is that the paper is trying to sell a particular version of local events to investors and to English-speakers—a version, needless to say, that is not necessarily the whole truth).

AT&T effs users again

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:41:00 -0400

The beard, Jim Dalrymple nails it in AT&T fucks users… again:

“Our network sucks balls. If we tried to let all of you rapid iPhone users have FaceTime, our network would take a firey crash into Hell. Many of the executives that have been too goddamn cheap to upgrade the network are now scared shitless that they will lose their cushy bonuses. So we decided to fuck our users.”

Why? AT&T is only allowing cellular FaceTime if you buy into their new overpriced and underserviced family share plans. I am on a grandfathered unlimited data plan, which is not really unlimited. The new share plan will cost me $40 a month more for significantly less data that we already use (and our usage is way less than the cap or throttle trigger on the unlimited plan).

Hipstamatic fires its devs

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:08:00 -0400

Of all the stupid things to do, Hipstamatic fired its 3 devs, 1 designer and writer yesterday. Here’s how it played out on Twitter.

So in case you didn’t get the memo. Entire team laid off. 3 devs, 1 designer, 1 writer. Some of THE best people I’ve ever worked with… Jonathan Wight

This is a company making 22 million dollars this year (according to The Verge here). And expects to continue without its creatives!

RIP Twitter

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:26:00 -0400

“I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.”

In March, Ryan Sarver, Platform Lead at Twitter speaking with MG Siegler on Techcrunch in Twitter Drops The Ecosystem Hammer: Don’t Try To Compete With Us On Clients, Focus On Data And Verticals:

We need to move to a less fragmented world, where every user can experience Twitter in a consistent way.

My Sublime Text 2 Setup

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 12:38:00 -0400

I have been using Sublime Text 2 for a month or so now, and I still do not love it. Here’s hoping TextMate 2 gets it’s game on. But at least I have it working closer to the way I want it to work and look now. Here are the minor changes I have made to make it work for me and how it compares to TextMate 2 (Updated: See My TextMate 2 Setup - The Hiltmon).

Choosing Sunglasses

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:33:00 -0400

Two weeks ago I went kayaking on Long Island sound, and lost my sunglasses. Once again, my friends, it was time to research the next pair.

My criteria for sunglasses may differ from yours, they are:

Good lenses: I program for a living, and need my eyes to remain in top condition for as long as possible. Cheap lenses increase eye strain for me, which is bad for my work and mood. UVA and UVB protection is obviously a must. So is having a light weight. Modern polycarbonate lenses achieve this goal.
Low Glare: The greatest damage to my eyes after UV comes from glare, so I need good anti-glare protection while maintaining excellent clarity. For this, an anti-reflective coating and well done polarization really helps.
Good Color: My hobby is photography, which means I also want to see a wide and true color range through my sunglass lenses. I seek a lens color that blocks a color gamut range I know about (and choose), and does not block other color gamut ranges. Cheap lenses shift colors which annoys me. Neutral lens colors such as gray or green have been my preferred choice (but I tried brown for the last pair).
Wrap Around: Good glasses must not only protect my eyes from frontal light but also side light and reflections. I’m not looking for a full cycling wrap-around set, or side shields, but I do expect my sunglasses to curve around towards my temples to catch stray light.
Comfortable fit: I pretty much wear sunglasses whenever I am outside, which means that the fit needs to be exceptional. No side or nose pinching allowed, and the glasses must stay on as I lead my active lifestyle. And perch comfortably on top of my head when indoors.
Scratch and Moisture Resistant: I’m also not the most careful person out there, so having a pair of sunglasses that shake off dust, water and scratches is very valuable to me.
Looks Good: Honestly, this is probably the most important criteria for most people, but being the geek I am, it’s the last thing I look at. I do, however, have some self-respect, and so this is also a requirement.

Previously, I had always gone towards the Ray Ban classic green lenses, the ones made famous in their Wayfarer and Aviator ranges. I have always liked the protection and neutrality these lenses provide. In fact, my wife just replaced her sunglasses with modern Wayfarers, and they are most excellent. But they look horrible on me.

App.Net Funded

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:56:00 -0400

Today, App.Net got funded. Not many of us expected that to happen, but it did, and we’re happy to pay our $50 or $100 to kick it off. Most reports are reporting this service as a paid Twitter clone, and yes, that’s part of it. But the goals are bigger:

You are not the product: The product in Twitter is you, because it’s free. On App.Net, you are paying for the ID and the service and the access. It’s yours. Your ID. Your Data.
Low or no Spam: Adding a spam account to Twitter is easy, bots can sign up. If a spammer wants to use App.Net’s platform, they have to pay $50 per account, not a viable business model for them.
It’s a platform: The real plan for App.Net is to provide a real-time platform for inter-process communications across the web, with tweets being the first cab off the rank. Twitter is all about mass and messages, not as a common carrier.

If you want to reserve your twitter handle, better back App.Net today before funding closes at join.app.net.

Textmate 2 is now Open Source

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:07:00 -0400

My favorite programmers editor of all time, TextMate, recently updated to TextMate 2 Alpha. I’ve been using the alpha for a while, still love it, but it’s an alpha release and therefore buggy and slow. So I’ve been trying out Sublime Text 2 as a replacement. So far, I switch between TextMate 2 Alpha and Sublime Text 2 daily, only because closing the last tab in TextMate 2 closes the darn project editor and that annoys me.

Expect the Unexpected

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:49:00 -0400

There was a panic at one of my client sites today when the reporting software I wrote for them stopped working. Instead of presenting reports as usual, the software threw an unknown error.

WTF, an unknown error!

I wrote the darn system, I know all the errors, because I coded all of them!

A quick glance at the logs indicated that indeed, Passenger was throwing an unknown error when accessing one Rails URL (and all others were working just fine). It’s as if that Rails path just disappeared.

Well Managed Scripts better than Platforms

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:03:00 -0400

One of the most misunderstood things in computing is the need and power of scripts. Most IT shops seek out platforms, tools and technologies to perform business functions, when a bunch of well architected and documented scripts is all that is really needed.

script /noun/

An automated series of instructions carried out in a specific order written in an interpreted computer language

Over the years, I have seen many organizations go out and buy very expensive platforms and hardware, and hire very expensive staff, without even once looking at the alternative, well managed scripts. As a result, they have had to deal with high costs and slow turnaround times when things change (as they inevitably do). In several of these cases, I would have recommended them to get a good scripting programmer, and let that programmer create a series of well managed scripts, leading to cheaper and quicker implementations and more responsiveness to business change.

No competition in Carrier space

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:16:00 -0400

If you are looking for more proof that there is no real competition in the US mobile carrier space, check out BGR’s iPhone: Data caps, upgrade fees blamed on iPhone by AT&T, Verizon by Brad Reed:

AT&T reported a 45% margin in Q2 2012 and Verizon reported a record-high 49% margin.

Challenge: Name one competitive industry with such high margins and such terrible service?

Mischief Managed: Update Tools, Learn New

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:38:00 -0400

Mischief Managed is a series of posts on tasks and technologies I use to maintain my computing environment. It’s part of what I do between projects. Try it out.

Most of us do not update our operating systems or toolkits while a project is ongoing. It increases the time to produce the product, adds risk that things will stop working, it’s just not worth doing. But once the project is over, it’s time to update the tools and study new ones.

Mischief Managed: Archiving

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:12:00 -0400

Mischief Managed is a series of posts on tasks and technologies I use to maintain my computing environment. It’s part of what I do between projects. Try it out.

When a project or engagement is completed, support is over, and you’re on to the next thing (or taking a break), it’s best to move these files and tasks out of your current folders and into archive folders.

Here are some of the things I do:

Mischief Managed: Google 2-Factor Authentication

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:45:00 -0400

Mischief Managed is a series of posts on tasks and technologies I use to maintain my computing environment. It’s part of what I do between projects. Try it out.

I’ve been planning on doing this for ages, but no excuses, you should too.

And then this happened. Last week, Mat Honan got hacked hard (see Yes, I was hacked. Hard.). Someone gained access to his Apple ID, reset his other accounts and nuked all his computers. You should read his experience, resecure your accounts and start backing up too. Aside: Ignore the comments, the haters simply embarrass themselves.

Mischief Managed: Clean Inbox

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:33:00 -0400

Mischief Managed is a series of posts on tasks and technologies I use to maintain my computing environment. It’s part of what I do between projects. Try it out.

My Inbox has gotten out of control, several thousand emails reside in the combined inbox in Mail.app and I have not filed or archived any for weeks.

The last time I cleaned it up, it took me hours because I had to drag and drop each email into the right folder, and half the time I had to scroll to find the right folder. There has to be a better way.

New Site Font

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 15:33:00 -0400

I love Octopress, but I have never been happy with the default fonts. The default PT Sans and PT Serif fonts are very, very nice, but not awesome. I did like the X and Y height, the clarity, the ease of reading, but the letterspacing on the serif font was too tight and it started to look jaggy.

This week, Adobe released Source Sans Pro, their first free and open font, and I think it’s great for a technical blog-style web site. The letterforms are large, well spaced, and just perfect for screen reading, as the font was designed for user interfaces.

Change is Good - New Applications replacing Old Ones

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:38:00 -0400

There is some amazing independent software out there for the Mac. And I use a lot of it. I realized today, while fixing a problem on my wife’s laptop, that I have pretty much replaced many older products with new ones on my computer over the last year or so, yet she still uses all the old stuff.

Change is good for me. I love using new products that improve my productivity, work better or look better. I love trying new products to see if they can replace the ones I am currently using.

Moom Corners

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:07:00 -0400

Another quick trick, this time for Moom. When doing Ruby on Rails programming, I like my terminal at the bottom-right of the screen, my text editor at the bottom-left, the browser top-right and BBEdit (for taking notes) at the top-left. When blogging, I like the terminal in the same place, but I want Byword at the top-left. I got tired of dragging windows everywhere, so I set up keyboard shortcuts usimg Moom to place windows in the corners.

Setting up BBEdit for Markdown

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:50:00 -0400

Two advanced settings are needed to make BBEdit treat all new documents as Markdown format, and to save with the correct file extension. They are:

defaults write com.barebones.bbedit PreferredFilenameExtension_Markdown -string "markdown"
defaults write com.barebones.bbedit DefaultLanguageNameForNewDocuments Markdown

If you use TextWrangler, replace the “bbedit” in the above with “textwrangler”. But I’d recommend purchasing BBEdit instead.

Day One updated to v1.7

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:30:00 -0400

My favorite journaling application Day One has been updated for both Mac and iOS. Amongst the best new features are photo’s, location checkins using Foursquare and weather. They have also updated the markdown engine. I use it all day to capture what I do as well as log all my activities (such as creating this post or committing code, see Bread crumbs in Day One - The Hiltmon).

Since this new version is sandboxed, the command line client has been moved. You now have to download and install it manually from here. After that, all scripts will work just fine again.

My first computer - Sinclair ZX81

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:24:00 -0400

With the Commodore 64 turning 30 today (See: BBC News - Commodore 64 turns 30: What do today’s kids make of it?), I started thinking about my first computer, the Sinclair ZX81 (see it on Wikipedia), also called the Timex Sinclair 1000 in the USA.

Photo of Sinclair ZX81, tv and tape (c) Mike Cattell on Flickr (because I have none).

The year would have been 1982, I was an awkward teenager, and this new device changed my world. It had a Zilog Z80 CPU running at 3.25MHz, 1KB RAM, 8KB ROM, was connected to a portable Black and White TV for display and used a battery powered manual cassette tape player for external storage. We got it a year before the Commodore 64 came out in our region.

Lead the Business

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:37:00 -0400

There exists a common situation in business where management wants to take the business in a certain direction, but the technical and operations staff declare that it cannot be done. They then bring out a litany of reasons which boil down to two: the current systems cannot do it and current processes cannot support it. Therefore, management cannot make the change. And if management cannot make the changes, may the business cannot compete, cannot be successful and cannot continue.

If the NBC Olympics team did the NFL

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:04:00 -0400

The current NBC Olympics coverage is the absolute worst thing to ever happen to TV, sports and the Olympics. Talk about #NBCFail, here’s it is in context if the NBC Olympics team were responsible for NFL broadcasts:

You would only see games played by one chosen team
Only people with cable subscriptions could watch the chosen game of the week
Only people with cable subscriptions could watch the selected game on the internet
Only people with cable subscriptions could read about the game in the newspaper
NBC will ensure other broadcasters do show any clips of any games on their channels or on the internet at any time
Expats outside the USA will be unable to watch any NFL, ever
They would only show the plays by this chosen team where they score points, to protect the audience from watching the boring bits of the game (like the actual game itself)
One exception to the scoring play rule: if another team does something completely stupid or embarrassing, they’ll show that too, but only a short clip, and repeat it many times
The one game shown would be tape delayed until Thursday night to prepare the audience for the upcoming weekend’s games (which they cannot watch)
While the other team has offense, or the chosen team is not scoring, they will show hours of sad, sobby backstories about chosen team’s players tough upbringings
They would never show any injuries to protect the feelings of the audience
They would never show any umpire decisions to protect the feelings of the audience
They would never show any cheerleaders to protect the feelings of the audience
They would never show any team changeovers to protect the feelings of the audience
When people complain on twitter, they will “embrace the feedback”, and ignore it (oh wait, this is the third olympics I’ve seen and they’re still ignoring the complaints)
They will interrupt the stream of advertising only for a few moments every hour to show the scoring play, backstory or softball interview with an old player from the chosen team
The commentators will, of course, have never watched an NFL game before, being chosen for the whiteness of their teeth or largeness of their, er, eyes.
If the chosen team loses, they will, instead, replay an ancient game when the chosen team won
NBC will claim a ratings win for NFL (because it’s the only way to even get a glimpse of a game, and the competition shows low rating reruns at the same time)
NBC News will, of course, announce all game results on the day of the game, thereby spoiling the actual Thursday night prime time show

The value of Apps

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:37:00 -0400

The online conversation on the Sparrow sale continues unabated. But in amongst all the vitriol, I found some amazing articles written long before the sale pretty much predicting how it is now. Here are some great quotes and links.

Guy English, in Software Sea Change:

An Application represents the developer’s best effort at creating software that applies the capabilities of the device to solving a specific problem. Making people laugh is not a problem an Application can solve; it’s not about the device it’s about the person using it.

Low app prices unsustainable

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:39:00 -0400

David Barnard, of AppCubby, writing in The Sparrow Problem, where he competently works out that the sales and income numbers for Sparrow were not enough to sustain the team, and therefore the business, concludes:

The age of selling software to users at a fixed, one-time price is coming to an end. It’s just not sustainable at the absurdly low prices users have come to expect. Sure, independent developers may scrap it out one app at a time, and some may even do quite well and be the exception to the rule, but I don’t think Sparrow would have sold-out if the team — and their investors — believed they could build a substantially profitable company on their own. The gold rush is well and truly over.

How many 99c apps it takes to afford that guy

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:04:00 -0400

Drew Crawford, jumping in on the Sparrow story in Let’s talk about Sparrow, actually covers another area I have been trying to find the words for, why good, experienced software developers, like myself, cost real money:

Let me tell you how it actually is, because I write iOS apps. A fully-dedicated senior iOS developer is way more expensive than you think. I’m not talking about “some guy whose LinkedIn profile says he is a senior iOS developer, let’s send his profile to HR.” I mean, a person who can read your ARM assembler, lecture on the finer points of Core Data, coordinate with graphic designers, draw mockups, tell you what is going to pass Apple review, solve customer problems, be a primary on the sales call with the client, negotiate the cost, write the proposal, know what’s in the HIG, come up with a class diagram that doesn’t suck, give presentations to management, train any developer in your organization, and actually get the coding done. Specifically, a guy who you can lock in a room with a Macbook for three months and he emerges without any oversight or management from anyone, with Sparrow.app. That guy can go from interview to interview and never even hear a starting offer under $125k, or $175k in the valley. Never even hear. That guy has Apple HR calling him saying “we know we can’t poach you, but maybe you can recommend someone?” Apple HR.

Talent Acquisitions and Product Casualties

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 10:20:00 -0400

This week, Google purchased Sparrow SAS, the company that made the very popular Sparrow mail application for Mac and iOS. But they did not buy the company for the product, the bought the company for its people - the talent. Sparrow, the product, is done for.

Facebook also executed a talent acquisition on Acrylic, makers of Pulp, an RSS reader, and Wallet, a secure store. Both these products are now dead.

This is not the first or last time this will happen. Larger firms need talent to push their own products, but this talent does not directly apply for jobs with them. So, they need to buy the indie companies this talent starts up to gain access to these resources.

Joining the SSD Club

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 09:32:00 -0400

On Friday, I joined the SSD club. That’s the Solid State Drive club, not the Special School District or the Social Security Disability clubs. I installed a OWC Mercury Electra 3G 240GB SSD in my Mid-2009 MacBook Pro to replace my never working DVD drive.

I purchased the kit that included the bracket (they call it a data doubler), the tools and the SSD:

Installation was easy, I used the video and the manual that came with it.

The 10-year rule

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:44:00 -0400

If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes. Warren Buffett

I was just messing around in Google Finance today after reading that Microsoft made its first quarterly loss since going public (see Washington Post), and decided to take a look at our favorite tech stocks and see how they would have fared under Buffet’s 10-year rule.

Company	10 Year Return
Apple	6,893%
Google ⁽¹⁾	434%
IBM	168%
Yahoo	145%
Intel	41%
Dow Jones	38%
Microsoft ⁽²⁾	14%

Source Data and Graph: Google Finance.

Two kinds of innovations in tech

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:07:00 -0400

Kevin Kelleher, writing for ReadWriteWeb in How AT&T & Verizon Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Data Hogs about AT&T’s new pricing model, nails the conclusion in regards to the carriers in the USA:

There are two kinds of innovations in tech. One that is often celebrated – the creation of great new things people will gladly pay for – and another that few companies will brag about – finding new ways to get people to pay for something they already have. The top two carriers are innovative in the second way.

7 Reasons Why I Can’t Do “Free”

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:03:00 -0400

Sharon Hayes clearly explains why she does not work for free in 7 Reasons Why I Can’t Do “Free”, check it out.

It Zaps My Creative Juice

Each of us has only so many truly productive hours in a day. In my own case, I can get in about 5 solid productive hours on a typical day. It’s like a bank for me. Each day, I start off with this reserve of 5 hours. As I do work through the day, the reserve gets depleted. But it gets depleted at a faster rate when I have to shift gears more frequently.

Software will always trump Hardware

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:59:00 -0400

Shawn Blanc reviews the Nexus 7 tablet in Thoughts and Impressions of the Nexus 7, and concludes with a great point:

For me, when it comes down to it, software will always trump hardware. When I’m using a device like the Nexus 7 I want to know where the details are. Where is the magic? The fun? The incredible 3rd-party apps? It is because of these elements that the iPad is more than the sum of its parts while its competition continues to remains less than.

International Terpstra Day

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:06:00 -0400

One of the nicest things I have ever seen for one of the nicest guys on our corner of the internet. It’s Brett Terpstra’s birthday today and all his friends have taken the time to celebrate him and his works, including:

David Sparks at MacSparky: International Terpstra Day
Gabe at Macdrifter: Terpstra Day
Frederico Viticci at Macstories: Terpstra Day
Dr Drang at LeanCrew: Brett Terpstra day
Michael Schechter at A Better Mess: Celebrate Terpstra Day
Eddie Smith at Practically Efficient: Terpstra Day

For the few of you who do not know of him, Brett is the developer of Marked.app that I use every day for preview and export of markdown files, he’s the developer of nvAlt which I recommend for all your notes, he writes as part of Read & Trust, has a new Podcast called Systematic, and he gives away huge numbers of free tools and scripts.

Octopress Post and Publish

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:01:00 -0400

Since this site is getting larger and it’s running on Octopress, the rake generate and rake preview processes are getting slower. Enter rake isolate["x"] to isolate the site down to the selected post. But isolating requires me to note the file name down, there is too much to remember and type and I am lazy.

So have created two macros and a script to speed this process up.

Note: You must run these commands in the root of the Octopress folder, else they will not work at all!

Estimating Software like it is

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:45:00 -0400

Software estimates are hard. Clients expect things to take little time (see It Should Only Take You a Few Hours…) and cost little money. But the reality is that software is hard, there is lots to do, lots of work over and above just programming and it takes a lot more time and money to make good product. Most people underestimate the work to be done, or try to make the estimates look good, so most projects run over time and over budget because of this.

Kinds of Files in a Project Folder

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:47:00 -0400

In preparation for a client call, I wrote a quick and dirty script to count the kinds of files in a project folder to show them what’s involved. I wanted a nice presentation, and the files grouped into categories. I also added parameters to exclude certain folder patterns from the counter.

The command is

$ ~/Scripts/cfile.rb ~/Projects/Kifu/code/kifu log tmp doc versions

The output is

Project File Counter v0.1 ©hiltmon.com 2012 https://hiltmon.com

Project: kifu
-------------------------------------------------------
Text Files:
 Markdown : 1
 Plain Text : 1
-------------------------------------------------------
Code Files:
 CoffeeScript : 7
 CSS : 10
 ERB : 251
 HTML : 3
 JavaScripts : 10
 Ruby : 265
 SCSS : 10
-------------------------------------------------------
Data Files:
 XML : 1
-------------------------------------------------------
Image Files:
 GIF Images : 2
 Icon Images : 1
 PNG Images : 168
-------------------------------------------------------
Configuration Files:
 Configuration : 3
 Rackup : 1
 YML : 4
-------------------------------------------------------
Other Files:
 Unknown Kind : 6
 .eot files : 2
 Locks : 1
 Rake : 8
 .rdb files : 1
 Fonts : 4
-------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL : 760 Files
-------------------------------------------------------

It aint pretty, as it was written very quickly. The script in a gist is:

TextExpander in Terminal

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:21:00 -0400

I spend a lot of time in Terminal.app mostly running Rails or Git commands. I am also lazy, so I like to use short macros instead of typing in the same thing over and over again. I used to use bash aliases or functions, but I mostly use TextExpander snippets now because I like to be sure they don’t conflict with internal UNIX commands.

In this post I will show you

Cheap programmers cost more and ship less

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:34:00 -0400

I’ve been programming for 22 years. When I started Noverse two years ago as a professional software design and development company, I knew I would be competing against younger, cheaper programmers and masses of very cheap outsourced programmers.

A lot has happened over the past two years, and this article is about my own observations regarding the nature of this competition and how things have worked out for a lot of people I have spoken with who have chosen cheap.

Kifu v1.0 Released

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:56:00 -0400

Note: The Kifu website (kifuapp.com) is no longer active. This post is preserved for historical reference.

Noverse LLC (my company) and the Shukai Company LLC, is very pleased to announce that Kifu v1.0.0 has shipped. And our first customers are already happily using Kifu in production. We want to thank all our beta testers and beta clients for testing Kifu and helping us make such a great product.

Kifu is an intuitive, easy-to-use software product for small non-profits and community organizations to easily manage their community and its events. Kifu has a comprehensive people database and implements membership, communications, billing, statements, payments, and donations, all in a single integrated environment available on the web. For more see the Kifu web site and play with the demo.

Building and dismantling the Windows advantage

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:16:00 -0400

Horace Dediu, of the excellent Asymco blog, presents some interesting Mac vs PC stats in Building and dismantling the Windows advantage.

Take a look, then come back, I’ll wait.

In 1984, Windows was outselling Mac at 6 to 1. In 2004, it was an incredible 56 to 1. Microsoft was killing it. Microsoft had won.

But then Apple turned around. By 2010, the number had dropped to 20 to 1, still strongly in Microsoft’s favor, unless you add iPhone and iPad into the mix. Then, it drops to below 2 to 1.

Great since day one

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:01:00 -0400

Marco Arment nails it in Great since day one:

I never make technology-buying decisions based on future promises, rumors, or potential.

and

I buy things that are great today. They’re usually things that have been great since day one. And, more often than not, they’re Apple products.

I agree with Marco, I buy what I need now, so I can be productive now.

I do not understand how folks can put up with the frustration with what they have, the inability to get things done or the doing without by waiting for something that may never happen. In my case, not waiting led to:

The unreasonable man

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:58:00 -0400

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists

Stay hungry, stay unreasonable.

Slicy Photoshop Artwork

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:50:00 -0400

I have been using the same process to export application artwork using Adobe Photoshop forever. Most Mac, iOS and Web applications have large numbers of small image files that are used everywhere. They need to be sliced up, scaled and exported into the files and formats needed by the application. Exporting multiple art items in multiple resolutions has been a tedious and time consuming task, a task that had to be repeated manually every time the artwork changed. Until now.

Target the Forward Fringe

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 11:51:00 -0400

Daniel Jalkut, writing on his Red-Sweater blog in Target The Forward Fringe nails who our target market truly is, in discussing whether to retina-ize (HiDPI) our websites and applications.

Because HiDPI customers may be a fringe group, but they are a forward-facing fringe. They represent the users of the future, and the more we cater to them now, the more deeply embedded our products and designs will be in their culture. The future culture.

Carriers are the biggest threat to innovation

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:11:00 -0400

Nilay Patel, writing for The Verge gets it in Five years after the iPhone, carriers are the biggest threat to innovation. Extremely clear and well written, too many awesome quotes.

Getting a device on a major carrier can take up to 15 months and cost millions of dollars; carriers are notorious for demanding custom devices in order to create customer lock-in. “Exclusivity is the bane of my existence,” says one source at a major phone manufacturer. “But it’s the only way business gets done.”

Project Folder Layout

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 12:32:00 -0400

We all work on multiple projects. And we’re creating new ones all the time, whether for new engagements, new personal projects or spikes. I personally like to have all my project files properly organized, every component of the project has its place, so I have been using my own standard project folder layout for years.

Until now. The old one was no longer working.

So I rearranged my standard project folder layout. This time I automated the creation of these folders. This time I made a single tree. This time I think I got it right.

iPhone is 5 today

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:18:00 -0400

Five years ago, the first iPhone went on sale. My, have mobile phones changed since then.

My Mobiles before the iPhone launch

When I first came to the USA, the only phones I could get were pay-as-you-go bricks. After some time, I finally became eligible for a contract phone.

My first was the Verizon V710 flip phone (first left). It was sold as the first phone to allow bluetooth sync between the phone and your computer, so I got that one. Then Verizon disabled the bluetooth, lost a class action lawsuit, settled and never fixed it.

Syncing the Desktop and the Laptop

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:05:00 -0400

For the past few years, I have been working about 5½ days a week on the desktop and 1½ days a week on the laptop. The desktop is a monster 8-core Mac Pro with loads of RAM and my good old 23" Cinema HD Display, which makes it perfect for compiling, graphics work and the usual day-to-day work stuff. The laptop is a mid-2009 MacBook Pro 15", perfect for on-site work and demos.

Data presentation at its best

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:47:00 -0400

One thing we all try to do is to simplify the presentation of data and tell a story. That’s why charts, graphs, infographics and dashboards are so popular these days.

At the UEFA site, they created a brilliant way to present the story of the tournament. Instead of the usual brackets with the final in the middle and the upper and lower quadrants blank wasted space, they created a railway network, wherein you can follow the story of each team as the tournament progressed (the lines highlight as you hover over them). See it live here.

On the Nexus 7

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:07:00 -0400

Yesterday, Google announced the Nexus 7, their first hardware and software combination tablet.

In short, and in my opinion, they have created the reference platform for Android tablet development. Pair that with the Galaxy Nexus phone and you have the best Android pair since the iPhone/iPad duo, for development.

But until I need to develop for Android, I’m not going to buy one. I already have an iPad and an iPhone.

Someone is coming to eat you

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 08:49:00 -0400

Michael Lopp, for Rands in Repose, wrote Someone is Coming to Eat You, a brilliant article on success and competition, well worth reading.

Apple’s current biggest competitor is itself, and I think Steve Jobs learned this the hard way - from the sidelines. When he returned, one of his first hires was a gentlemen named Tim Cook, and while Tim Cook holds a degree in industrial engineering, he is not an engineer, a designer, or a poet. Tim Cook is an execution machine and he exists at Apple to enable them to pull off one thing - the iPod Mini moment.

Compete to maintain, Disrupt to succeed

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:13:00 -0400

There is a huge difference between competing in a market and disrupting a market. When competing, a company tries to make a similar product in a given market segment, then competes against incumbent products on price or features to gain share and hopefully profits. When disrupting, a company produces a whole new product (or a viable derivative) that creates or changes a market, then dominates share and profits in that segment.

Non-upgradable Smartphones

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:07:00 -0400

Today, Microsoft announced it’s new Windows 8 smartphone platform, and it looks quite good. But they also announced that their recently released Windows 7.x phones cannot be upgraded to Windows 8. Which means all those early Metro interface adopters who purchased the brilliant Nokia Lumia smartphones are screwed until their lock-ins expire in two years time.

It’s the same in the Android space, whether caused by manufacturers or carriers, they both seem to spend too much time blaming each other so in my book, they’re both responsible. If you buy a brand new Android phone from Samsung or HTC or Motorola today, chances are it’s still running Android 2.1 and will never be upgraded to the latest version 4. Oh, promises have been made, none kept.

Single-pay, Ad-pay or Both-pay?

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:10:00 -0400

Author’s note: This article makes no point, takes no stand and argues no single position. I wrote it to see if I could come to come conclusion on which of ‘user-pay’ vs ‘ad-pay’ vs ‘both-pay’ makes sense, and failed. But published it anyway to see if it spurs others smarter than me to explain and solve this conundrum.

It used to be in the old days when news was delivered to your home in paper form that the only way to get coupons or know about a sale at Macy’s was from the advertising in this newspaper. If you wanted to save money, or learn the price of products or see what’s new in fashion, you bought the paper. The value proposition was that the only way to access this information was to pay, and the information itself had value. Both the ads and the news had value, so we happily paid, knowing that the advertisers paid too.

Learn to Automate

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:57:00 -0400

It’s been almost six months since the Codecademy launched learn to code in 2012, headlined by Mayor Bloomberg. Lots of people pledged, lots signed up.

And I’ll be flabbergasted if any of them are still doing it.

I’m not going to go into why having everybody learn to code is a bad thing in detail, Jeff Attwood nails that in Please Don’t Learn to Code. Short version, it puts the method before the problem, programmers like to solve problems and create solutions, and the tool they mostly use is code. We need problems solved and solutions, not more code.

Markdown Metadata

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:31:00 -0400

As you all know, I write everything in Markdown, see my The Markdown Mindset. It would be nice, though, to also save metadata - information about the document - in the document, to make it searchable, but not to have it appear in the final output.

Turns out, MultiMarkdown (and other new Markdown processors) do support this. It’s easy.

Simply add the metadata to the top of a markdown file as follows:

Title: |
Subtitle: |
Project: |
Author: Hilton Lipschitz
Affiliation: Noverse LLC
Web: https://noverse.com
Date: June 18, 2012

Your first paragraph starts here

The metadata is just a set of key-value pairs, where the key is before the : and the value after. The keys can be anything you want them to be, although Fletcher Penney, creator of MultiMarkdown, has recommended some standard ones here. From what I can tell, adding your own makes no difference. So I do.

Unrepairable

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:27:00 -0400

Last week, Apple launched the new retina Macbook Pro. Which, of course, was immediately followed by a brouhaha (Definition: A noisy and overexcited critical response, display of interest, or trail of publicity.)

Kyle Wiens, who runs a web site called iFixit which creates videos for people who want to fix things, posted an article in Wired entitled The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable claiming that the new laptop is unfixable by the general public, and that this is, of course, obviously “a very bad thing” and part of a trend that will destroy the tech industry as we know it.

The care and feeding of software engineers

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:21:00 -0400

Nicholas C. Zakas (@slicknet), writing in NCZOnline in The care and feeding of software engineers (or, why engineers are grumpy), writes:

And here’s the real crux of the problem: software engineers aren’t builders. Software engineers are creators. Building is what you do when you buy a piece of furniture from Ikea and get it home. The instructions are laid out and if you go step by step, you’ll get that comically small table you wanted. Creating is a different process, it’s birthing something without direction or instruction. It’s starting with a blank canvas and painting a masterpiece. Software engineers don’t get into coding because they want someone to tell them what to do, they get into it because they discovered they could create something useful. Every single software engineer fell in love with coding because she made a small, useful program early on and was hooked.

I love my lawyers

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:17:00 -0400

As an experienced indie running my own business, there are things I know I am good at, things I know I am passable at and things that I simply cannot do. And one thing I will not do is enter into an engagement without a good contract. And I cannot do contracts. So one of the first things I did when I set up Noverse was to find and engage the best lawyers I could find to take care of this for me.

My WWDC 2012 Scorecard

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:51:00 -0400

I published my WWDC 2012 Keynote Predictions a few days ago, lets see how well I did:

Sales: [0/1] Instead of the boring “we sold a lot”, they went emotional, “we helped a lot”. Nice, but not worth the 10 minutes as it made them hurry the laptop announcements.
Hardware updates [2/4]
- No Mac Pro updates (Correction, they did bump the Mac Pro, just silently, but not to the new E5 CPU’s)
- Lovely Macbook Pro updates
- Lovely Air updates
- And the new Retina Macbook Pro (I was so wrong there)
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: [3/3] As expected, we got a release date, no radical new features (except dictation and power nap), and we did get Facebook.
iOS 6: [3/4] Beta, check, new maps, check, updated Siri, check. Did not expect the nice updates to the phone app and the new passbook app, but these do seem incremental.
iCloud: [1/2] Expected more features and got them, shared photostream and cloud tabs stand out. But not all of MobileMe has been replaced.
Apple TV: [1/1] No mention, as expected
Apple applications: [2/3] Expected iCloud updates for iLife and iWork (actually was expecting new versions, but the updates are OK). Did not expect any Pro updates like Aperture.
Steve Jobs: [0/1] No mention
No “one more thing”: [1/1] Check

And on the meta:

Sandboxing and Productivity Utilities

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:02:00 -0400

Apple’s recent requirement for all App Store applications to be sandboxed has led to a problem for us pro users, many of our magical productivity utilities will no longer work. And if you think that’s a problem for us, imagine how the developers feel.

Er, Sandboxing?

Sandboxing is a computer security term for separating running programs so that they can only access a limited set of files and resources on your computer and not interfere with other programs and files. The idea is that each program requests access to only those things it needs to do, and the operating system ensures that the program cannot access anything else. So a sandboxed application may not have access to the network, or it can only access it’s own files.

My WWDC 2012 Predictions

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:36:00 -0400

After writing Annual Apple WWDC Disappointment, several people have asked me what I do expect at the WWDC 2012 keynote, ignoring the rumors. So here it is, my WWDC 2012 keynote predictions, what I think in my opinion, without rumor or factual basis, will be covered at the WWDC 2012 keynote on Monday:

Sales: Apple has had its best year ever, and Tim Cook will enjoy sharing the numbers. And he should!
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: We’ll get a clearer release date and a top 10 new feature demo. At least 8 will be features we already know, and one will be a lot more on the Messages app. Maybe a new developer beta, but it’s not ready yet.
iOS 6: The next iOS will be announced, without a release date (so that they can do it with the next iPhone), but us developers can get started developing for it. I do expect new maps, new background process options, and a new version of Siri. But after the US 4G marketing bungle, I expect the next iOS and iPhone to be a more world phone than a US one and so the next iOS update will be incremental software, not radically new.
iCloud: It was announced last year, it will get more features this year. Now that MobileMe is gone, I expect iCloud to take on some of its features, such as photo galleries and maybe personal web hosting. But more, I expect that iCloud synching will just work better.
Apple TV: Nothing new here, it was updated recently.
Apple applications: I expect new versions of the iLife and iWork suites. Neither has been updated in ages (iWork was in January ‘09), and all would work better with iCloud (Their iOS versions already do). I do not expect any of the Pro applications to be updated, they’ll save that for another event.
Hardware updates: I expect Mac Pro updates as we developers love our Mac Pro’s (see my The Last of the Workstations). And probably a 15" MacBook Pro update. But no laptop retina displays (or it’s going to cost me!).
Steve Jobs: It’s been 9 months, and I think Apple will spend a small amount of WWDC keynote time just remembering him. And this will be the last time they bring Steve Jobs up in public.
No “one more thing”: That’s it, no new product lines, no TV, just good old operating system and developer updates.

I also predict:

No more than Five

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:35:00 -0400

We’ve all seen those interfaces: Internet Explorer windows with racks upon racks of toolbars, forms with hundreds of fields to fill in or applications with menus that run off the bottom of the screen, or worse, have unending levels of sub-menus. They are confusing, messy, hard to use and even harder to navigate.

This Hiltmonism is simple. One, there shall be no more than five things on an interface element. Ever! No more than five fields in a form section, no more than 5 menu items in a menu section, no more than five things in a toolbar segment, no more than 5 tabs on screen.

Shuttle on the Hudson

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:04:00 -0400

So this happened when I looked out the window today.

How support via Twitter works

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:21:00 -0400

Daniel Jalkut asked a question on Twitter

There are over 2000 items in my Keychain. So if I want to dump/migrate to e.g. @1Password, do I really have to approve every single access? @danielpunkass

The gang at agilebits (makers of 1Password) respond with a set of scripts to completely solve his issue, no questions asked:

@danielpunkass https://gist.github.com/1583781 @1Password

That, friends, is how Twitter support should and does work.

The Demo Bag

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:31:00 -0400

I’m demonstrating software this afternoon, so out comes the demo bag. It’s a Cocoon 15" GRID-IT™ Case (not an affiliate link) that I picked up at the local Apple store.

The things that sold it to me are:

It’s black and conservative looking so no-one knows how cool it is
It’s a hard-ish case, so my goods are protected
It’s the right size for a 15" Macbook Pro, an iPad and related cables, and no bulkier
But the biggest selling point of all, it has the GRID-IT™ system, no more digging around a bag to find the cables and accessories needed in a demo. Just look at it:

The only negative is that the shoulder strap squeaks in the shoulder pad when I walk. But I can live with that.

Annual Apple WWDC Disappointment

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:30:00 -0400

It’s the annual “week before WWDC” and the rumor mill is going wild. Newspapers and blogs publish wild rumors, people read them as real insider knowledge predictions, and this sets high expectations. Then WWDC happens, Apple releases some amazing products, and these same people are disappointed because the releases don’t match their wild expectations. Apple shares fall. Lamentations are written.

Happens every year.

History repeats itself.

You’d think we’d learn.

Notice of Revocation of Independence

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:38:00 -0400

Since it’s Jubilee day in the UK, I’m taking this opportunity to reprint a fake “John Cleese Letter to America” from 2005, otherwise known as the “Notice of Revocation of Independence”. Note that John Cleese do not, in fact, write this. It’s just a really great internet joke, and appropriate for jubilee day.

Dear Citizens of America,

In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories > (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.

Screw the Power Users

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:11:00 -0400

Nick Bradbury in Screw the Power Users:

We’re the ones who made computers so hard to use. And we’ve done it by catering to power users - by building software for people like us instead of for people who don’t know and don’t care about all the geeky little details.

Couldn’t agree more.

Mac App Store vs Buying Direct

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:56:00 -0400

Jonathan ‘Wolf’ Rentzsch wrote a great article on Mac App Store vs Buying Direct, positing that application sandboxing tips the scale in buying direct.

I always prefer to buy direct because (using his words):

More Money Goes to the Developer: For a $10 application, only $7 goes to the developer when you buy it through the Mac App Store. For a direct purchase, it’s more on the order of $9.

The fact more developers weren’t encouraging customers to buy directly is a testament to how much Mac developers care about User Experience — they’re willing to forego the extra profit of selling direct to make things easier for their customers.

The Last of the Workstations

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:22:00 -0400

I started this post a few days ago, before WWDC 2012, before Jim Dalrymple’s famous ‘No’ to whether it will be discontinued (see Marco’s note), when I felt that Apple had finally given up on the Mac Pro. I’m posting it now because I really do love true workstation performance, and hope that the Mac Pro product line continues this tradition.

Is the current Mac Pro the last of the true workstations? I hope not. Apple has not updated this product line for years now, yet there is nothing else on the market today that provides the Mac Pro’s badass performance and expandability in the true workstation space.

Using Mission Control Desktops

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 10:01:00 -0400

In order to reduce distractions while I am working, yet still have the benefit of having these applications running, I use multiple Mission Control desktops on my Macintosh computers. In short, I work, with focus, on Desktop 1; respond to email on Desktop 2; IM and Tweet from Desktop 3; and manage my time and activity on Desktop 4.

Here’s why and how it works.

Each desktop has a purpose

Desktop 1 is my work desktop. I only want the applications I need to perform the current task running on this desktop. So I use my Application Context Pack macros to launch and terminate the application packs I need for the task that I am performing.

Project Specific Data

Sun, 27 May 2012 12:39:00 -0400

One of my personal workflow bugbears has always been managing project specific data. Data like project specific contacts (who to call for what for a given project); IP’s, logins and passwords (for servers, VPN’s, specific applications, client LAN’s); and account information (hosting, third party vendors and project specific subscriptions).

I have finally nailed a way to do this that works just great for me and my markdown flow (See The Markdown Mindset). I create project specific wikis using VoodooPad 5 from Flying Meat Inc written by the great Gus Mueller (Blog: The Shape of Everything, Twitter: @ccgus).

The Missing Feature Fallacy

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:56:00 -0400

If I had a dollar for every time a potential customer told me that they would buy my product if it just had this one missing feature, I’d have enough to pay rent, in a penthouse, in New York, with a view, for a year.

The assertion is that the customer would buy the product if I would implement the specified missing feature. The counterpoint assertion is that the customer perceives the product as useless without this missing feature, and the product becomes useful only because of the missing feature.

Old Farts Know How to Code

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:14:00 -0400

Nick Bradbury nails it in Old Farts Know How to Code:

“Old farts” are often excluded from that (Ed: startup) culture, not because we’re lousy coders but because we won’t put up with that shit. We have lives, we have families, we have other things that are important to us. We’re not about to sleep at our desks and trade watching our kids grow up for the promise of striking it rich. Especially when the people who really strike it rich aren’t the ones writing code.

Please Learn to Write

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:11:00 -0400

Michael Lopp, writing in Rands in Repose, counterpoints the current meme of “Learning to Code” in Please Learn to Write, great article. Love how he compares writing to programming:

Writing appears more forgiving because there is no compiler or interpreter catching your its/it’s issues or reminding you of the rules regarding that or which. Here’s the rub: there is a compiler and it’s fucking brutal. It’s your readers. Your readers are far more critical than the Python interpreter. Not only do they care about syntax, but they also want to learn something, and, perhaps, be entertained while all this learning is going down. Success means they keep coming back - failure is a lonely silence. Python is looking pretty sweet now, right?

Stylizing my Services Agreement

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:31:00 -0400

I believe that everything that a person or company delivers to another should reflect their image, style, nature, professionalism and character. Which is why the look of the Noverse Professional Services Agreement drove me mad.

Don’t get me wrong. My attorney and his team are absolutely brilliant. The contract content is the best, it’s well written, well balanced, contains all the right terms and conditions for both sides, and my clients are all very happy to sign it as is. Between the content of the agreement and the great advice, the legal side of my business is well taken care of.

Distributed Note Taking

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:39:00 -0400

I have switched over to and finally locked in on a new distributed note taking process, using Elements on the iPad, Dropbox synching, TextExpander file naming and nvAlt on the Mac. Here’s how I got to this point, and how it works.

Going electronic, the old way

Since I switched over to the iPad from a paper notepad about two years ago, I used Penultimate and a stylus to scribble notes. I thought this would be a great process. I can scribble quite quickly, I can draw pictures (I have a visual mind) and I can save the PDF’s of these notes and refer back to them. Something like this:

Zombie email

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:52:00 -0400

So, I decided today to archive my old emails, and that meant connecting to the Google Apps holding pen for my last hedge fund which closed in 2009. This is a zombie email account I have not looked at in more than two years.

There were a lot of emails in it.

None of which I wanted or needed.

Surely by now, everyone knows that the company is gone and the email address is defunct.

My own support call line

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:08:00 -0400

My ideal vendor support line is a direct number to call the exact person I need to speak to for support. Unfortunately, this is not economic for vendors, especially since I may never call this lucky, and quite bored, person for support.

My second worst vendor support line is the most common, a 1800 number that puts one in the queue, where you wait, listening to a robotic voice tell you how long you still need to wait, like a lump. And when they do pick up, the person on the other end is a professional phone answerer not a tech. So you have to go through the process of first identifying yourself, then identifying the product, then, before you explain the problem, having to go through the script that the professional phone answerer must follow. Is it plugged in? Did you reboot? Did you try this? Did you do that? And when you explain the problem, they create a ticket and let you go, with the issue unresolved. As a professional IT person, the only time I call support is when I have exhausted all possibilities, all of which I have to redo as the dumb and useless script progresses.

Apple Cinema HD Display circa 2003

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:26:00 -0400

That’s right kids, I am still using the old 23" Apple Cinema HD Display I purchased in 2003, 9 years ago, before Apple went all aluminium.

I use an ADB to DVI adapter to connect it to the Mac Pro. I love its matte screen, 1080p support and the fact that I have to prop it up using old Final Cut manuals. It still works great, though.

Automatically Managed Files

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:02:00 -0400

I’m moving back to the desktop for a while to do some iOS programming. Many of the files on my laptop are auto-managing, so as I am moving the process, I thought I’d share how they are automatically managed using Hazel from NoodleSoft.

Hazel is a background process that monitors folders and executes automated actions on matched files. Once a rule is created in Hazel, I can forget about what I have to do and Hazel takes care of things for me.

US Aircraft Embarkation Etiquette Failures

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:08:00 -0400

I just returned from a European vacation which involved flying in several aircraft from a wide variety of airports. Over the past few years, I have flown throughout the USA on local carriers and there are many things about the local embarcation experience that leaves a lot to be desired. Here are some of my annoyances, with proposed solutions as usual.

Recent Travels and Tech

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:46:00 -0400

My wife and I have been on vacation the past two weeks, the real vacation kind where you go to exotic places and are too busy seeing, trying, doing, eating and drinking things to keep up with email, tweets and blogging. We travelled to three European destinations with four iPhones, two iPads, a MacBook Pro and two plug adapter sets. Here’s how they performed.

The MacBook Pro

I brought the laptop along “just in case” I needed to jump in and fix any software issues while away. It was a stupid decision as I only turned it on once to backup my camera SD card (I have an iPad camera connection kit that could do it, but left that at home). The laptop was a bulky, heavy item that had to be removed and replaced at each border post and was never needed.

Application Context Packs

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:49:00 -0400

When developing in Rails, I use a certain pack of applications; when coding for iOS, I use a different pack of applications; and when in a blogging context, I use a third pack of applications. And then there is the regular set of applications that I usually leave running. Starting and switching between these contexts used to take time, until I found a better way.

The Old Way

After a clean reboot, I would then have to go through the same dance every time, launch the regular applications manually. Start Mail.app, OmniFocus, Billings, nvAlt, Twitterrific, Reeder, iChat and Skype, waiting for each to launch before clicking the next one.

My iPhone Home Screen

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:22:00 -0400

I have noticed of late a trend in people or sites showing off their iPhone home screens, the first page on your iPhone with the dock, and explaining why they rearranged the applications and icons. Some have even moved the Phone.app off their home screens.

They are all doing it, so it must be cool.

My home screen on the iPhone is factory original. All the applications are exactly in the same place that Apple put them when the iPhone was first set up. Much cooler. Why? Two reasons.

Why Scope Creep is your fault

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:00:00 -0400

Christopher Butler writes in Why Scope Creep Is Your Fault (And What You Can Do To Prevent It):

Scope creep is like slowly loading up your plate with little portions of everything on the buffet until you realize man, this plate is getting heavy and omigod I can’t eat all of this, what was I thinking!

In essence, it’s just as much how we manage our clients as how we manage our work. Great article.

This Industry Is Full Of Crap

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:56:00 -0400

Lovely rant by Amber Weinberg in This Industry Is Full of Crap:

We get to do something that regular people can’t understand so we’re think we’re cool. We’re not.

And I’m right with her on this too:

I love the fact that as a freelancer, I can choose who ever I want to work with – both in terms of clients and other freelancers.

Microsoft did not always suck

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:27:00 -0400

I was a Mac when Apple was beleaguered. Those were the days when Microsoft was in ascendancy, this new Blackberry thing was cool and Google was just a search engine. It’s traditional, and expected, for us Mac people to outright disparage Microsoft and all its products as things that suck. But the reality is that Microsoft has made some pretty amazing products in spite of its size, bureaucracy and inertia. These are some of the things I think they did just right.

US Dining Etiquette Failures

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:13:00 -0400

I’ve been living in New York for almost nine years, and I love to go out and eat at all the myriad of restaurants that pepper this town. The variety, quality and prices of food is amazing. But there are still things about the dining experience here that drive me insane. Here are some of my annoyances, with proposed solutions to each of them.

Spike UI Teaser

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:49:00 -0400

Following on to last week’s Spike Solutions piece, I did some work on the second spike, to see if I could use CoreGraphics to render some of the UI components I want for the new product. Wow, worked out great, one less known unknown to deal with. Turns out, CoreGraphics does a lot of what you can do in PhotoShop, just in real time and on the GPU.

The following snaps were generated on the fly, quickly, using code, no image or artwork required, and the values change and update dynamically. The best part, I can skin them later once I pick the theme and design for the product (or just use these as is).

The news routine

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:58:00 -0400

Twitter, Facebook, RSS, all wonderful services, all bombarding us with information, all taking time and attention away from things we should be doing. In order to remain productive, I have moved these services onto the iPad and created a reading routine to eliminate the temptation to waste hours on these services.

Two screens are now one

Previously, I did all my work on my Mac Pro with dual 24" Dell monitors. The main monitor had my work on it, and the secondary monitor had Mail, iChat, Skype, Twitterriffic and Reeder running all the time. Result: The secondary screen always had something happening on it and I constantly interrupted my work to glance over and pay attention to it. 88 new tweets. 34 unread RSS items. 5 unread emails. And my productivity suffered.

Augmented Paper

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:00:00 -0400

Matt Gemmell wrote yet another brilliant post on what makes a great application interface (with examples) in Augmented Paper:

For me, software experiences that feel like Augmented Paper are those that second-guess our (developers’) natural tendency to put functionality first, or to think of our apps as software. Apps are only incidentally software; software is an implementation detail. Instead, apps are experiences.

Honestly, if you are an app designer, this is a must-read.

Another view of the TSA problem

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:53:00 -0400

We all read TSA previous head Kip Hawley’s WSJ essay on the weekend entitled Why Airport Security Is Broken—And How To Fix It (you may hit the paywall, sorry). If not, read it now, then come back. We’ll wait.

Ben Brooks makes a great point in ‘Why Airport Security Is Broken—and How to Fix It’, that it’s the people too:

Because even if we succeed in getting rid of porno scanners and allowing liquid through, we still face the issue of TSA “officers” over stepping their bounds.

Text Notes - Going Electronic

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:45:00 -0400

One of the big changes I made in the last year is how I take and store text notes. By text notes, I mean meeting notes, book lists, blog ideas, thoughts, even project estimates. I’ve finally gone paperless.

tl;dr (too long; didn’t read): I write notes in Markdown, in files named using TextExpander macros, using nvALT with Dropbox sync on the Mac and Elements or Byword on iOS sharing the same Dropbox folder. I still keep project development logs in separate Markdown files within each product’s folder because I format and deliver them. I don’t use Evernote because I cannot stand it.

Don't Panic - Flashback Trojan

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:05:00 -0400

Please read the following list in its entirety before acting:

600,000+ OS X Computers have been infected by the Flashback Trojan
In percentage terms, that’s more than the largest virus infection on Windows ever
You should panic, the “running down a corridor screaming with your hair on fire” kind of panic
You should download, install and run all the Flashback removal tools (Links: here or here)
You should buy and install at least one anti-virus package immediately, maybe two.
You should ensure that the anti-virus package has the latest definitions, so run its updater over and over again
You should sit and wait while it scans all your drives, feel free to continue to hyperventilate
You must pay for the annual subscription to the AV vendor
You are safe, and may now stop panicking
Don’t do any of the above. There’s no point.

We investigated >300 breaches in 2011. 100% used malware. 0% detected by AV on targets. In lab 25 AV engines detected 12%. Nicholas J Percoco

Marked 1.4

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:13:00 -0400

If you are a fans of the The Markdown Mindset, then the must-have Markdown preview app Marked has just been updated to V1.4 by Brett Terpstra.

Marked has gone from a simple preview app that always sits to the right of my writing window to an integral part of my writing, checking, publishing and delivery process. As you know, I already do all my writing in Markdown. I use Marked to preview the results using the formatting I intend to deliver it (Kifu format, blog format, report format), and then use it’s great export features to generate the HTML or PDFs I send out.

The Candle Problem

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:53:00 -0400

Graham Morehead, writing in nature.com in CEOs and the Candle Problem starts:

In America we have a motivation problem : money. I’m not a communist. I love capitalism (I even love money), but here’s a simple fact we’ve known since 1962: using money as a motivator makes us less capable at problem-solving. It actually makes us dumber.

Then he goes on to talk about the Candle problem and Functional fixedness, using them to explain how some CEO’s who are improperly motivated by money drive their businesses into ruin, something we have all seen in action.

Explaining the Internet to Old Powerbrokers

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:39:00 -0400

Ben Hammersley gave a speech to the IAAC and reproduced it online at Check Against Delivery. My speech to the IAAC. Instapaper it and read the whole thing, it’s one of the best things I have read in a while.

In short, he explains the importance of the internet to a bunch of old, pre-internet security politicians. He points out how their ignorance is viewed by the rest of us, and how their decisions, while correct by their lights, are completely wrong and insipid.

Spike Solutions

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:12:00 -0400

I am a huge fan of throwing together a few spike solutions at the start of a project. I get the biggest technical problems solved early, I gain understanding of any pitfalls I may encounter and I can estimate the time and work better. I highly recommend the practice. A few days spent spiking solutions saves weeks and months later.

Get your geek on, were diving in.

A spike solution is a software project to figure out a tough technical or design problem (note: singular). Use it to explore potential solutions, ignoring all other requirements and standards. Expect to throw it away. The goal is to see if and how a specific problem can be dealt with.

Adjusting the Cap

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:39:00 -0400

Alex Knight, writing in his own blog Zero Distraction in The Disparity between Smartphones And Mobile Carriers sets the scene exactly as I see it:

There’s a massive disparity between data sucking smartphones and data plans offered by carriers. Customers know this, and the carriers are fully cognizant of it. The problem is they make a ton of money from you already, and since you probably don’t have a lot of choice as far as competition is concerned, they can charge whatever they see fit.

And this is why

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:35:00 -0400

Life, communication, programming, it’s all about structuring a rational argument. But too many people are either unable to, or are unwilling to, rationalize.

“I hold this opinion because I’ve read the facts and thought it through” matters. “I hold this opinion, and that’s it” doesn’t. Ian Betteridge

Whether the argument is about creative design, system architecture, which restaurant to eat at or politics and religion, it’s critically important to express, clarify and declare the rationalization behind it. Failure to do so, or the inability to do so, changes the argument from a rational, reasonable one, to a waste of time, words, and emotions. Unfortunately, rational discourse has given way to spin, faith, linguistic traps, talking points, lies and misrepresentations that are treated with the respect they do not deserve.

I love debugging

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:17:00 -0400

Rob Galankis tongue-in-cheek writing in Why I hate Test Driven Development:

… So why do I hate TDD?

Because debugging is fun. There, I said it. I love debugging. I think lots of clever people like debugging. I love someone having a problem, coming to me, looking at it together, getting up to walk around, look at the ceiling, talk to myself, stand in front of a whiteboard, draw some lines that spark some idea, try it, manually test a fix out, slouch down in my chair staring at my computer lost in thought, and repeating this until I actually find and fix the problem.

Photoshop Etiquette for Web Designers

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:13:00 -0400

There is a brilliant list of things web designers should be doing when designing web apps in PhotoShop at the photoshop etiquette manifesto for web designers. Do these and we developers will have a much easier time implementing your designs.

Applies to iOS app designers, Mac App designers, in fact any app designers too.

From now on, all my designers will be asked to follow these rules.

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:06:00 -0400

Classic article by Paul Graham in 2009 called Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule.

One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they’re on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more.

There are two types of schedule, which I’ll call the manager’s schedule and the maker’s schedule. The manager’s schedule is for bosses. It’s embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals.

The Mac App Store Needs Paid Upgrades

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:16:00 -0400

Brilliant post by Wil Shipley on his blog called The Mac App Store Needs Paid Upgrades, well worth a read:

Right now developers selling through the Mac App Store face a lose/lose choice: either provide all major upgrades to existing customers for free (thus losing a quarter of our revenue), or create a “new” product for each major version (creating customer confusion) and charge existing customers full price again (creating customer anger).

On Digital Hoarding

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:47:00 -0400

Melinda Beck writing in the WSJ in Drowning in Email, Photos, Files? Hoarding Goes Digital presents a fact-less and ridiculous claim that we are doing something wrong by storing all the emails and files that we do. In the article, she equates the rest of us, people and companies alike, with those crazy nutters who fill their houses with junk.

My take: We, especially businesses, need to keep all old emails under law in case of subpoena, just like individuals need to store tax records. We need all our old work files as they are referenced in later works. We need our music and photo files because we no longer have their physical equivalents (or have to buy them again and again in case of media). In short, we’re not hoarding, we’re filing, scrapbooking and holding on to our possessions that are no longer physical.

But let me respond to the article.

You're being stalked

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:20:00 -0400

In the same vein as an earlier article on my blog, Giving Yourself Away With a Facebook Login, Alexis Madrigal writing in the atlantic in I’m Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web quotes Joe Turow saying:

If a company can follow your behavior in the digital environment – an environment that potentially includes your mobile phone and television set – its claim that you are “anonymous” is meaningless. That is particularly true when firms intermittently add off-line information such as shopping patterns and the value of your house to their online data and then simply strip the name and address to make it “anonymous.” It matters little if your name is John Smith, Yesh Mispar, or 3211466. The persistence of information about you will lead firms to act based on what they know, share, and care about you, whether you know it is happening or not.

iPad 4G Misleading

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:08:00 -0400

As reported in the Verge, Apple’s iPad ‘4G’ advertising labeled misleading by Australian watchdog, may be banned. The same can be said for the fictitious 4G on my iPhone 4S.

As a proud Aussie, I am a fan of the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) and Australia’s Trade Practices Act that supports them. In short, companies cannot lie or mislead customers in any way, or the ACCC can nail them and force them to make things right.

Freemium Simulation Games prove Stupidity

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:26:00 -0400

I don’t get the allure and popularity of freemium time-based simulation games like Farmville, DragonVale, Tap Zoo, and Smurfs Village. Yet these games are the top grossing games on the App Store. So I decided to take one on to see if I can find the ‘it’ factor that makes these games so enjoyable, popular and profitable, without paying real money to short-circuit the game.

tl;dr (Too Long; Didn’t Read): You have got to be out of your mind to find these ‘games’ enjoyable or worth spending money on. They are slow, skill and challenge lacking, chore-based, time-draining, naggy, annoying proofs of stupidity. The only conclusion I can draw from this experience is that people don’t value their time, have no self-respect and are just plain stupid to be playing and spending money on these products. “Men in Black” got it right: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it”.

Giving yourself away with a Facebook Login

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:11:00 -0400

Applications that require a Facebook login are doing so to gain access to you, your name, your friends, your location, your personal details. They are not using the login because they are too lazy to create their own. Hilton Lipschitz, right here right now

My wife asked me why I deleted Draw Something this week, as we were both enjoying drawing pictures with each other. I told her that Zynga purchased them, who Zynga were and why I did not want them to have access to my information. See Facebook and Zynga Face Lawsuits over Privacy Breach and Facebook in Privacy Breach from the WSJ alone.

Clarity

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:37:00 -0400

Jason Fried, on the 37 Signals blog, sums it up in What clarity is all about:

Lots of people think simplicity is the opposite of confusion (“It’s confusing, let’s make this simpler”). It’s not. The opposite of confusion is clarity.

Markdown Quick Look

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:24:00 -0400

If you use markdown like I do on a Mac, you may notice that Quick Look does not render .markdown files as documents, instead providing an icon only. If you have tools like iAWriter installed (I used to), they install a Quick Look plugin, and the markdown is rendered readable.

For the rest of us, Brett Terpstra of Marked and nvAlt fame has released an update to Fletcher Penney’s Quick Look generator.

Check it out at Multimarkdown Quick Look With Style. I’m using it.

2012 iPad Essentials

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 13:30:00 -0400

Editor’s Note: This was written way back in March 2012 with the launch of the iPad 3. For updates see 2012 Year End iPad Essentials.

The new iPad arrived yesterday. Instead of restoring from a backup, I decided to build it clean and install only essential apps. Here are the ones (excluding games) that made it in the first 24 hours, pretty much in order of addition:

iBooks - I read a lot of ePub books on the iPad, and the new retina text rendering is so great.
Instapaper - Essential tool to save, search and read long form writing found on the net. Use it to archive all the cool articles I find.
TweetBot - The best twitter client out there, even better than my old favorite Twitterrific. Love the UI and the gap detection.
Reeder - Lovely RSS reader, for all my news and technology feeds.
FlipBoard - More news, from sources not followed in RSS.
Zite - Even more reading material, should I run out of the above.
Skype - For those who do not use Facetime.
Facebook - Cause I gotta share.
Keynote, Numbers and Pages - I have to iWork too. Most of my demos these days are on the iPad, and Keynote rocks.
iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband - So I can create, or play, or annoy.
OmniFocus - to keep me on track and remind me what I need to get done, synched across all my iDevices.
DayOne - to remember what I did.
Byword - to view and create notes, and write, replacing Elements for notes.
Penultimate - scribble notes, or draw diagrams to support my points, it’s my scratchpad.
xScope Mirror - to see how things look from the Mac.
TextExpander - to share my expansions, especially for notes.
Prompt - to get to servers when I need to, when Murphy’s Law strikes.
Textastic - so I can edit code anywhere, this is my “Emergency: Break Glass” app after Prompt.
Yojimbo - Key document and information backup.
1Password - Of course
Soulver - A better calculation tool.

Of course, Mail, FaceTime, iMessage and iTunes Match were set up first.

With In-App Coins, We're all Losers

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:06:00 -0400

There are a lot of games on the iPhone App Store that offer in-app purchases of game currency in order to enable players to either speed up the game, or to buy their way to higher levels, without adding additional content. Many of these games are offered free (the freemium model), but make it difficult to play unless you buy these in-app coins.

If you do this, you are a loser.

If you do this, I too become a loser.

And I don’t like being a loser!

First impressions of the new iPad

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:19:00 -0400

In short, between the iPad 2 and the new iPad (retina):

Weight: Same
Thickness: Same
Screen: Yowser! The old screen looks pixellated and blurry, the new screen is brilliant. Also a lot warmer.
Performance: Same

Between the original and the new iPad (retina):

Weight: Oh, so much lighter
Thickness: Oh, so much thinner
Screen: As above, but the original was warmer than the iPad 2.
Performance: Blazingly faster, yet the original is still no slouch.

Comparing the Screens

Comparing the Thickness

My Blog Writing Workflow

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:52:00 -0400

With the release of Byword for iOS (iTunes app store link), my blog writing workflow has come full circle.

All posts start as ideas and notes jotted down in nvAlt, Brett Terpstra’s fork of Notational Velocity. I like this product because the search and use of notes is fully integrated, and it supports markdown. I have set it up so that all notes are stored as markdown files in a Dropbox folder and Byword has been set up as the external editor.

Get to read quicker

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:43:00 -0400

People come to hiltmon.com to read, and occasionally to comment on the writing found here. Statistics show that no-one uses the social icons to tweet, Facebook or Google+ the articles.

The average page loads in 2.53 seconds and makes 84 requests. Thats a long time for readers to wait, and a lot of requests. So I decided to check out what is going on.

The basic page requires 29 requests and takes ~800ms to load (when the cache is clear). That’s pretty good when you consider Google Analytics and recent tweets come in. So where is the rest of the time going?

Not Your Free Tech Support

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:56:00 -0400

Friends, family, colleagues, I love you all, but I am not your free tech support guy. Computer programmers do not exist to fix your computer, printer or network problems, we don’t even fix our own. Do us all a favor, and stop asking us to fix your things, or worse, just expecting us to do so. We’re not interested. It’s not what we do. Move along.

In the last week, I received the following requests (reminding you I work from home, alone):

Top of the Line

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:12:00 -0400

I’m not rich, but when I buy technology, I always get the top-of-the-line model within my product range. Why? Longevity and Productivity. I choose the range to suit my needs and skill levels. And the long-term benefits of productivity and time savings way exceed the short-term incremental cost.

All my devices last forever because I purchased the top-of-the-line within the range I needed. In 1998, I purchased the best Dell Inspiron laptop, it lasted until 2003 when I moved to the best Titanium PowerBook, which lasted until 2009 when I acquired my current MacBook Pro. In each case, I maxed the CPU, RAM and Disk size, allowing me to operate them without suffering any performance penalties. And these devices each handled several generations of operating system upgrades without changes or noticeable loss of performance.

Writing on the iPad

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:12:00 -0400

This comment by JohnDoey (reproduced in full without permission) on the Asymco article The new feeds and speeds: iPad vs. MacBook Air and iMac sums up the iPad writing experience beautifully (although I think the iPad is a good production system too):

I’m a writer also. You missed a key point about writing on iPad.

Writers who are using iPads are not using them like Macs (or Mac clones,) they are using them like typewriters. A writer with an iPad is exactly the same as a writer with a typewriter or a filmmaker with a movie camera or a singer with a microphone. Those are capture devices, not editing devices. You just write, shoot, or sing with as few interruptions and as little technical overhead as possible.

iPad - On Two Years of Use

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:44:00 -0400

Can you believe it, the iPad has been around only two years, two! Yet it feels like there was never a time before we had them.

I was one of those who pre-ordered the original iPad on launch (and the iPad 2 on its launch). I also wrote three blog posts back then, and it seems my usage patterns have not changed that much:

Apr 4, 2010 iPad First Impressions - written after 24 hours of use
Apr 12,2010 It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me - after 1 week of use
May 15, 2010 iPad Update - After Almost a Month Traveling With It - in Eastern Europe as my only computing device.

Back then, email, news, and twitter were primarily consumed on the iPad using the built-in mail app, using NetNewsWire and Twitterrific. Today, still the same, just using Reeder and the amazing Tweetbot instead.

The Markdown File Extension

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:39:00 -0400

The correct file extension for markdown files is:

.markdown

That is all. No others.

Make it so!

Update: It seems the GitHub .md extension is becoming canonical for those who prefer shorter file names. And Dr Drang @drdrang uses it. Who am I to argue. But I’ll be sticking with .markdown.

I suppose I’d better say why:

We no longer live in a 8.3 world, so we should be using the most descriptive file extensions. It’s sad that all our operating systems rely on this stupid convention instead of the better creator code or a metadata model, but great that they now support longer file extensions.
Markdown is text but text is not markdown. It’s a few seconds work to associate an application to edit text and another to edit markdown files, so use that. I use different editors for them, so its best to help the operating system here.
(No longer applicable) ~~.md (a.k.a the GitHub extension) could be mistaken for GCC Machine Description files, confusion is bad, don’t do it.~~
All the others are just shortened forms on the canonical .markdown, so use the canon. Avoid .mdown, .mkdn, .mdn or even the horrible .mdtext.
If you have made the mistake in the past of using the wrong file extension, write a script to rename the old files now. Ok, now run it. Good. Problem solved.

You Are Not Ruthless Enough

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:57:00 -0400

Chris Parker writing in You Are Not Ruthless Enough on being ruthless instead of lax when crafting software:

Being ruthless to yourself is having the discipline to become a better developer - not letting yourself get away with the easy or convenient. Being ruthless to your objects is having the discipline to write the API which separates their responsibilities effectively. The combination is what enables you to produce consistent results - to keep shipping, to keep creating great software, and to keep improving.

The 10 commandments of good source control management

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:36:00 -0400

Troy Hunt lists the The 10 commandments of good source control management in his blog. I use git and github for eveything, including this web site and blog.

Stop right now if you’re using VSS – just stop it!
If it’s not in source control, it doesn’t exist
Commit early, commit often and don’t spare the horses
Always inspect your changes before committing
Remember the axe-murderer when writing commit messages
You must commit your own changes – you can’t delegate it
Versioning your database isn’t optional
Compilation output does not belong in source control
Nobody else cares about your personal user settings
Dependencies need a home too

None of these things are hard. Honestly, they’re really very basic: commit early and often, know what you’re committing and that it should actually be in VCS, explain your commits and make sure you do it yourself, don’t forget the databases and don’t forget the dependencies.

Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:25:00 -0400

Not astonishing at all in Wired’s Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money? by Robert McMillan:

He doesn’t use antivirus software. As it turns out, many of his security-minded peers don’t use it either. The reason: If someone is going to try and attack them, they’re likely to use a new technique, one that most antivirus products will miss. “If you asked the average security expert whether they use antivirus or not,” Grossman says “a significant proportion of them do not.”

Presenting a Professional Indie Image

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:48:00 -0400

In Presenting a Professional Indie Image on the Noverse Blog, I present a checklist of all the things you need as an indie to present yourself to strangers via email with some credibility:

You are what you do, not what you say. – C.G. Jung

As my Hiltmon.com blog takes off, I am starting to get emails from indie developers promoting their wares. This is great, I love getting them, looking at new products and helping out where I can. But many of them fail on the basics of presenting themselves as the professionals they are.

Serious and Snark

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:18:00 -0400

One of the key reasons I separated hiltmon.com and noverse.com at the start of this year was to separate my serious business voice from my larrakin personal voice.

Last evening, on twitter, it seems some of the indie celebs are doing the same:

@marcoarment @gte @gruber My only handicap is I am afraid to tarnish red-sweater with too many crazy posts, so I’m building a new blog… @danielpunkass, Twitter

David Barnard points out that your business should have a voice:

Thank you for a great February

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:13:00 -0400

It’s been two months since I consolidated all my sites into this blog and started writing more. This blog just has a great February and I thought I’d share some stats.

The End of Advertising

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:03:00 -0400

Daniel Jalkut, writing in his Red Sweater blog in The End Of Advertising:

If I want to know what a lawnmower is, Google. If I want to know which lawnmower to buy? Amazon, or another site that strives to empower customers, not advertisers.

I think we all do this without knowing it.

TSA:Fail

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:53:00 -0400

Steve Moore, an experienced ex-FBI Counterterrorist Agent writing in TSA: Fail:

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was formed to ensure America’s freedom to travel. Instead, they have made air travel the most difficult means of mass transit in the United States, at the same time failing to make air travel any more secure.

TSA has never, (and I invite them to prove me wrong), foiled a terrorist plot or stopped an attack on an airliner. Ever.

Quick and Dirty Rails Performance Profiling

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:46:00 -0400

When I find some Ruby on Rails or Rake tasks running slowly, I throw a quick and dirty profiler around the suspect code to find the bottlenecks with ease. Here’s how I do it, maybe this approach can help you too.

iPhone Data Plan Follies

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:25:00 -0400

This week, three stories came to my attention regarding iPhone data plans and usage: man wins $850 from AT&T for data throttling, Siri is ruining your cellphone service, and its all about the camera.

iPhone user wins $850 in throttling case

Source: Judge awards iPhone user $850 in throttling case

In short, so a guy who was sold the unlimited AT&T data plan gets throttled, sues AT&T in small claims court and wins some money. That’s the story presented.

Text Editing Fonts and Colors

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:33:00 -0400

In The Markdown Mindset I described how I use a variety of different editors to write Markdown in different contexts. I also use different fonts and color schemes to help me differentiate as I go along.

For the record, everything was done in Monaco a few years ago.

Cousine

Blogging is done in Byword using Cousine 15pt and the light theme. It’s pretty close to Nitti Light as used in iAWriter, but has variable sizing and is free from Google. I really like it in Byword because they render the font a tad large and it matches their cool anti-aliasing scheme.

Apple and Facebook

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:05:00 -0400

Ben Parr in Cnet’s Apple vs. Facebook: Why users are the losers gets it wrong!

In the article, he postulates that Apple’s favorite social media service is Twitter and that Apple just hates Facebook (really?). He then explains there is no integration between Apple and Facebook because of some old Ping issues and some HP rubbish and some unsubstantiated hatred. Then he mentions that there actually is some Facebook integration, but its sandboxed in iPhoto.

The Markdown Mindset

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:07:00 -0400

Over the last year, I have moved all my non-code writing to Markdown format. I don’t even have Microsoft Word installed on my laptop anymore. Here’s why:

The 4G deception

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:45:00 -0400

These days, all the US mobile carriers are touting their allegedly hot new 4G networks, pushing people to upgrade their phones and get up to 10x faster mobile data speeds.

Note the only single consumer benefit touted is a possibly faster download time, it is not guaranteed.

This whole thing is a deception. Here’s why.

All to Octopress

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:51:00 -0400

I have moved all of my sites over to Octopress by Brandin Mathis. This means hiltmon.com, noverse.com and shukaico.com are all on the same platform.

Why?

The App Store playing field

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:52:00 -0400

Excellent article by Emeric Thoa in The Game Bakers called Money And The App Store: A Few Figures That Might Help An Indie Developer where he covers some myths about the app store and provides advice to indies trying to make it there.

I’m going to borrow his myths and reference my own experiences with my own apps.

Taking down my old iPhone Apps

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:16:00 -0400

Its time.

As of right now, my first two iPhone App Store apps, Emergency List and Sights to See are no longer available for sale, anywhere. I have taken them down.

These apps were developed two years ago, for old versions of the iPhone, and no longer represent the best we can do. We were learning iOS at the time, did not have access to the right designers and did the best we could back then. It got us the business we did the last 2 years. But they are not good enough to keep alive.

Fix instead of Blame

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:49:00 -0400

I was saving this one up for later, but events of this week prompted me to write it now.

Whenever something goes wrong, the first reaction of many people is to find someone else to blame. Arguments and vitriol erupt, things are said or smashed, as each team member tries to protect themselves from being blamed.

I, for one, do not ever again want to be on a team that does this. Nor should you.

Speculative Developers

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:19:00 -0400

I totally agree with the sentiment in David Sparks’s note Speculative Developers where he compares developers who ‘barf’ out volumes of bad apps versus developers who lovingly craft a single great app.

They are, however, completely wrong. Their chance of hitting it big with two (or twenty) crappy apps instead of one good one is about the same as their chance of retiring with their lotto winnings. Infinitesimally small.

If you want to develop apps, take your time and make something awesome. Make it fast. Make it beautiful. Make something you’re proud of. Don’t make 60 crappy apps: Make one really good one.

Design needs an Advocate

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:58:00 -0400

Felicity Evans, writing in the Smashing Magazine article When A Thousand Words Is Worth A Picture writes:

Design is itself a process of deduction. It involves a number of decisions, both conscious and unconscious. During this process, the designer dismisses some ideas as unworkable and pursues others in order to arrive at a solution.

But this process is completely opaque to the client. The client likely views the design not as the outcome of an in-depth process, but as a response to the brief, merely a visual representation of the constraints and considerations set before the designer. As the designer, part of your job is to educate the client and reveal the design process to them.

Structure First. Content Always.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:54:00 -0400

Mark Boulton makes good points in Structure First. Content Always.

Let’s stop siloing content, shall we? We did it for a while when we were designing a largely brochureware, templated web. Now, we’re trying to move that silo from one end of the process to the other. Let’s focus on structure to begin with, and think about content all the time. There is a symbiotic relationship between content and design. One cannot thrive without the other.

Your idea sucks, now go do it anyway

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:26:00 -0400

Lovely article by Jason Cohen, worth a read, called Your idea sucks, now go do it anyway makes a great point on how the original idea for something usually evolves into something completely different, and success comes from embracing that evolution.

“My idea isn’t good enough yet” explained a friend who is thinking of starting his own company. He’s waiting for the idea to be completely fleshed out before taking the leap.

Cheap iPhones, Wealthy Workers, Pick One?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:19:00 -0400

Randy Murray presents a different view in An Observer From Shenzhen—Thoughts on Apple’s Recent Bad Press.

Do workers in Foxconn factories who build products for Apple, Dell, HP, and others, work long hours at tedious tasks? Yes they do. Do they work for a fraction of what a worker in the US, Japan, or even Korea would? Yes they do.

Are they being enslaved? Clearly, they are not.

I suspect that a lot of the heat from the recent press comes from a lack of understanding about Chinese culture, their rapid change from manual agrarian life to high-tech manufacturing, and the significant differences and scales of our economies.

News Logic

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:12:00 -0400

Paddy Harrington, writing in Wanna Figure Out If Your Product Is Any Good? Think Like A News Editor

At its heart, news logic is about value creation and the primacy of the design output instead of a story that traditionally gets applied after the fact. Where in the old days (i.e., five years ago), you designed something and then told a story about it in the hopes that it was a story worth telling, more and more of tomorrow’s design projects will have a story worth telling built into their hearts right from the get-go.

The paradox of choice

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:41:00 -0400

People desire more choices, yet are unable to choose when the selection is greater, that is the paradox of choice.

Sheena Iyengar, a professor of business at Columbia University, conducted an interesting study in 1995. She set up a display of 24 samples of jam for customers to taste, and every few hours, she switched to a 6 sample set. The results were astonishing: 60% of customers stopped to try the jams when the selection was large versus 40% when small; and 30% of those that stopped when the selection was small purchased a jam, versus 3% when the selection was large.

Childlike Wonder

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:31:00 -0400

Ever watch a child with an iPad? They seem to get it immediately, they prod and tap and swipe and rotate and in no time at all seem comfortable with it.

Ever watch an adult with an iPad? They hold it, and stare at it, and, well, stare some more, and maybe wave a finger near it, but hesitate to touch. And after all that staring and hesitating, they remain uncomfortable with it.

Fragility of Free

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:49:00 -0400

A great article by Ben Brooks called Fragility of Free, well worth a read:

The fragility of free is a catchy term that describes what happens when the free money runs out. Or — perhaps more accurately — when the investors/founders/venture capitalists run out of cash, or patience, or both. Because at some point Twitter and all other companies have to make the move from ‘charity’ to ‘business’ — or, put another way, they have to make the move from spending tons of money to making slightly more money than they spend.

Test Driven Development Really Works

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:09:00 -0400

In 2008, Nachiappan Nagappan, E. Michael Maximilien, Thirumalesh Bhat, and Laurie Williams wrote a paper called “Realizing quality improvement through test driven development: results and experiences of four industrial teams“ (PDF link). The abstract:

Test-driven development (TDD) is a software development practice that has been used sporadically for decades. With this practice, a software engineer cycles minute-by-minute between writing failing unit tests and writing implementation code to pass those tests. Test-driven development has recently re-emerged as a critical enabling practice of agile software development methodologies. However, little empirical evidence supports or refutes the utility of this practice in an industrial context. Case studies were conducted with three development teams at Microsoft and one at IBM that have adopted TDD. The results of the case studies indicate that the pre-release defect density of the four products decreased between 40% and 90% relative to similar projects that did not use the TDD practice. Subjectively, the teams experienced a 15–35% increase in initial development time after adopting TDD.

Where the light is better

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:30:00 -0400

A woman comes across a man crawling under a street lamp. “I’ve lost my car keys,” he explains.

The woman tries to help the man find his keys. After a few minutes of searching, she asks “Where exactly did you drop them?”

“Down the street, next to my car.”

Puzzled, she asks “Then why aren’t you looking over there?”

“The light is better here.”

People often look where it seems easiest or most convenient to look, rather than in a more difficult, but more correct place. Opinions regarding where the best place to look often comes down to “Where The Light Is Better”.

Less Wasting Time

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:18:00 -0400

The sub-theme this week is on trying to find ways to improve developer happiness and to reduce unpleasant time wasters.

Rafe Colburn in Don’t order your team to work more hours talks about bosses who ask staff to work more hours:

Every time you’re tempted to do so, sit down with members of the team and ask them how many hours a week they spend dealing with stuff not related to shipping and work to make those things go away instead.

Trade Trade Secrets

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:38:00 -0400

A brilliant essay by Danielle Fong called Trade Trade Secrets, very worth a read, covers everything from Intellectual Property, to explaining the differences between theft, transcription, transformation and inspiration, to how the law stifles all four of them.

The great danger of laws that ignore these is not that they will prevent theft, but that they will so heavyhandedly prevent transformation and inspiration: the engines of our entire civilization.

Just read it.

Understanding ACTA

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:20:00 -0400

Lets see if I understand ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement:

THEM: It’s purpose is to create a legal standard for global intellectual property rights enforcement.
US: Sounds good, it’s all so confusing, consistency may be nice.

THEM: The WTO already has 153 countries signed up to TRIPS which is a legal standard for global intellectual property rights enforcement, ACTA overrides it.
US: Mmmbokaaay, do we need a new deal then?

THEM: It was negotiated by a small group of countries, excluding most countries, governments, trade organizations and any public forums.
US: Negotiated? Excluding most players? Not good.

Operations by Exception

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:14:00 -0400

If we define operations as “a piece of organized and concerted activity involving a number of people”, then all businesses consist of a lot of operations. Back offices, accounting groups, processing units, operations departments, call them what you may, there are departments and departments of operations.

In the Automate or Die Hiltmonism, I pointed out the need to automate as much of your process flow as you can. This means tackling operations, its hordes of people, its arcane processes, its political hierarchy and its bureaucratic inertia.

Bread crumbs in Day One

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:09:00 -0400

I switched over to Day One for journaling at the start of the year on a lark, and its become a core part of my process.

Here are three things I do with it:

1. Bread crumb blog posts

I have updated the Octopress rake file for new_post to also bread crumb the new post in Day One (and launch Byword for editing).

Place this at the end of the :new_post task (see below for details on the LogToDayOne.rb script)

Developers, A Love Story

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:58:00 -0400

By @macdrifter, Developers, A Love Story.

While browsing my Application folder on my Mac, I noticed something. I have a fondness for some apps that I rarely use. I’m just glad that I own them. I may not use them all but I feel good about the money I’ve spent.

I second the motion.

A Spellchecker Used to Be a Major Feat of Software Engineering

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:52:00 -0400

A classic by James Hague entitled A Spellchecker Used to Be a Major Feat of Software Engineering.

Writing a spellchecker in the mid-1980s was a hard problem. Programmers came up with some impressive data compression methods in response to the spellchecker challenge. Likewise there were some very clever data structures for quickly finding words in a compressed dictionary. This was a problem that could take months of focused effort to work out a solution to.

Make a better product

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:12:00 -0400

Rich Siegel, of BBEdit fame, in his blog article Bar Sopa, makes the right point on piracy:

A good way to do this is to make a product for which more people want to pay a fair price than who are willing to steal it.

and

Take the money you would have spent on fighting piracy and use it to make a better product and/or service. Making more laws is not the answer.

Software is Eating the World

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:33:00 -0400

Marc Andreessen, writing in the WSJ Why Software Is Eating The World, writes:

More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense. Many of the winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial technology companies that are invading and overturning established industry structures.

The best evidence of Software eating the world, one that I think he missed, is that the Phone component on an iPhone or Android device is an app, just another piece of software!

Stop SOPA and PIPA, a personal request

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:27:00 -0400

This blog exists due to the confluence of a few cool things

Freedom of Speech
The Internet being a free and open platform that interconnects us all
Me, having something to say and share
You, having the option and the ability to read my writing

In this blog I can express my opinions, emotions, teach, joke, and write about anything. You can find me in your browser or search engine. Confluence.

Hollywood Accounting and SOPA

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:32:00 -0400

Hollywood Accounting refers to the opaque accounting practices used by the film, video and music industry to hyper-inflate expenditures such that their products never make any profits so they can then screw artists out of fees and royalties due to them. See a friendlier definition in wikipedia.

Basically by the terms of my contract, if a set on a WB movie burns down in Botswana, they can charge it against B5’s profits. Michael Strazynski, Writer & Producer of Babylon 5

Google's Schmidt Solution to Android

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:37:00 -0400

Following on to my earlier post on How Google Failed to Fix the Mobile Market, Jamie Lendino writes in Hey, Google: Here’s What Fragmentation Means in PCMag:

Schmidt’s solution—that “if you don’t like it, you can buy the phone from someone else”—doesn’t work when you’re locked in a two-year contract, when there are over 300,000 apps in Android Market to test, and when a phone vendor goes back on its promise to provide an OS upgrade. How could you possibly know beforehand what’s going to happen?

Products define you

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:03:00 -0400

Dustin Curtis makes an excellent point in his article skewering Visio entitled The soul of a “consumer electronics entertainment connected scenario”:

People stopped buying computers based on specifications and features years ago. All computers sold now are practically identical in functionality. Today, people are increasingly buying computers the same way they buy cars: to define themselves.

I own Apple products because I love fine software, I drink 12 year old scotch because I like fine drinks, I use a Nikon camera because I adore fine photography equipment and I celebrate at fancy restaurants because I really enjoy fine foods.

Newspapers, Paywalls, and Core Users

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:44:00 -0400

Clay Shirky exposes the story behind Newspapers, Paywalls, and Core Users.

As a heavy consumer of news, my biggest problem is finding good old-fashioned journalism in a world of spin, hype, agendas, placements and sponsored content. I worry that we’re entering a world where the truth becomes what other people have paid for me to read because journalists have no other way to finance an honest service.

This isn’t a problem with general-interest paywalls — it is the problem, widely understood before the turn of the century, and one to which there has never been a convincing answer. The easy part of treating digital news as a product is getting money from 2% of your audience. The hard part is losing 98% of your advertising base.

How Google failed to fix the mobile market

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:21:00 -0400

MG Siegler, in his blog parislemon, wrote an excellent but badly titled article called Why I Hate Android on how Google blew its, and therefore our, chances at an equitable mobile phone market in the USA.

Google wanted to give-away or sell Android phones unlocked in stores and allow consumers to then choose their carrier. Consumers could then get the best phones, a great operating system, all updates and choice in carriers, something the iPhone only gets us half way to.

It should only take you a few hours...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:55:00 -0400

It sure seems easy to make a table. Anyone can do it, right? Get 1 large flat rectangular piece of wood, 4 equally tall wooden poles, 4 nails and a hammer. Nail the 4 poles to each corner of the flat rectangular bit, and you have a table. Ta daaa!

Now ask a carpenter to craft you a table. First they will spend time discussing the purpose and function of the table - indoor or outdoor, kitchen or dining room, for show or heavy use, what load does it need to bear. Then they will determine the materials to use - hard vs soft woods, laminate, plywood or railway sleepers. Then they will look at the aesthetics of the table - beveled edges, foot design, center or corner mounted legs. And when they finally get down to crafting the table, they spend a lot of time to mitre, mortise and dovetail all joints, install bracing points, use quality glues, dowels and screws, test its levelness, sand it flat, stain it, seal it, polish it and produce a table they are proud of. Seems a whole bunch more work, doesn’t it? It just a table, no?

Why patents are a big problem

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:39:00 -0400

Brad Lindenberg nails it in Why patents are a big f******* problem

There has to be a correlation between ideas and execution otherwise those who can execute get shafted by those who cannot.

I don’t have a problem with patenting a physical thing that you make, I do have a problem patenting an idea, concept or discovery.

Always Be Selling

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:43:00 -0400

There is no right time to start selling.

If you have a great idea, you should be talking about it, you should be selling it.
If you have an alpha level product, you should be finding beta testers, you should be selling it.
If you have a beta level product, you should know what the final product will look like, you should be selling it.
If the product is done, you should be selling it.
If you meet someone, you should tell them what you are doing, you should be selling it.
If you are in a bar, and are trying to meet girls, you should be selling it (in this case, yourself).
When you run down the street for some milk, dress nice, you never know if you will bump into someone, you should be selling.

The most successful CEO’s are the one who are always selling their ideas and their companies. The most successful sports stars are always selling their sport, their team and their sponsor’s products. The most successful sales people are always selling their products. The most successful people picking up in bars are always selling. Those vacuous celebrities in the papers and on TV are always selling something.

Does money even exist anymore?

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:45:00 -0400

Dave Caolo, writing in Does money even exist anymore?:

More and more it seems like money is a myth.

I assume he does not live in the USA or Japan. Back in Australia in the 1990’s I certainly would have answered no, everything was BPay and a card swipe. In Japan in the early naughts, the answer was yes, they still hold on to cash as a primary form of exchange because its polite, but now do most smaller transactions via SUICA.

Bandwidth caps never necessary

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:03:00 -0400

The carriers blame a small proportion of their users with hogging all the available bandwidth on their networks and thus explain why their networks are so slow. They then use this excuse to cap and throttle their users, us, and to charge us more per month.

I call bullshit.

There is plenty of backbone bandwidth available, its cheap and its getting cheaper, and carriers buy it in bulk. There is just no rational profit in it.

My Favorite Mac Apps of 2011

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:48:00 -0400

I’ve compiled a list of my favorite Mac apps for 2011. Just wanted to mention the ones that make my life that much easier. I am intentionlly excluding all built-in applications or anything from Apple, such as iWork, iLife and Aperture which are mainstays.

Some you may know, some you may not.

Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:02:00 -0400

There is a meme going aroung that you need to terminate applications on your iOS device to prevent the device from slowing down, running out of memory or chewing up battery.

Rubbish.

In iOS, if it aint on the screen or playing music, it aint running and it aint using memory or battery.

Fraser Spiers has the technical details if you want them here.

The coming war on general computation

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:43:00 -0400

Excellent talk by Cory Doctorow on The coming war on general computation, transcript here, talking about the war between copyright holders and reality, and why it needs to be fought:

So when I get into a car – a computer I put my body into – with my hearing aid – a computer I put inside my body – I want to know that these technologies are not designed to keep secrets from me, and to prevent me from terminating processes on them that work against my interests.

The definition of open

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:33:00 -0400

The tweet that was, then was not, then was again, saved for claim chowder:

For most of 2011, while this tweet was not, the git repo of Android was 2 versions behind.

Get it brilliant

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:20:00 -0400

I wrote a post in September 2011 in the Noverse Blog called Get It Brilliant on the what you really need to achieve to create amazing software products. They are:

Get it Designed
Get it Architected
Get it Working
Get it Right
Get it Fast
Get it Intuitive
Get it Out

Looking back, it sure was not one of my finest writing efforts, but the concepts are important.

Since that article was written, I have worked on two products that you will see early next year. Both are properly designed and architected. Both are working, right, fast and intuitive. All that’s left is to do is ship.

The difference between drivers and passengers

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:12:00 -0400

Douglas Rushkoff, Author of Program or Be Programmed, in an interview on ReadWriteWeb

A lot of us our too willing to accept roles as consumers in society. I understand the economic reasons for that, but I don’t think it leads to a fulfilling life or a sustainable community. The best way out of this is to deconstruct what you’re consuming, or better yet to become a creator yourself.

I create software. I write a blog. I’m good at one of these things. And I am always the driver.

Creating games in genres you hate

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:05:00 -0400

Ben Kuchera, writing in Ars Technical in SpellTower on iOS shows power of creating games in genres you hate resonates with me because I do dislike word games, yet I really enjoy SpellTower.

“It’s not just about knowing words, it’s about knowing when and where to use words,” Gage explained. “The difficulty also gives the game a weight that I don’t think games like Bookworm have. Because it has constant micro goals—such as don’t let this column touch the top, bring down this column so I can make words later, or clear out some blank tile—players’ moves always have importance to them.”

Lodsys still trolling

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:40:00 -0400

Jacqui Cheng over at Ars Technica reminds us that iOS developers go into 2012 still battling patent troll Lodsys. Of course she interviewed Mike Lee:

“We analyzed the ubiquitous criminal nature of these companies,” Lee told Ars. “There is nothing you can do to prevent yourself from being targeted, regardless of platform, and regardless of how careful you are, because this is not patent infringement, it is simple extortion, and it is worldwide.”

Bogus copyright claims under SOPA

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:32:00 -0400

Mike Masnyck, writing in Techdirt asks a valid question: Shouldn’t There Be Significant Punishment For Bogus Copyright Claims That Kill Companies?

If enforcing their rights involves completely destroying someone else’s company, then, as Goldman notes, shouldn’t it be difficult?

Fighting a copyright claim costs at least 1 million dollars in legal fees, whether or not the claim is valid. Companies with deep pockets can and do use bogus claims to road-kill new competitors. For example, Luma Labs and their amazing camera straps. How can we stop this?

Not secret subpoena

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:23:00 -0400

Kudos to Twitter this week for not giving in and and responding to a Subpoena for user records without notifying the users in question. Twitter, according to their privacy policy, always notifies users when they can:

“However, to help users protect their rights, it is our policy to notify our users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so.” Matt Graves, Twitter

Ridiculous Gizmodo

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:42:00 -0400

Following on to an earlier post called The Readable Future, here is Gizmodo’s insanity:

Less than 10% of the page contains the article!

Reviews should advise

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:37:00 -0400

Matt “Legend” Gemmell, writing in Opinions in Journalism summarizes and continues recent internet discussions on how Tech Journalism has become too bland, impartial and hedged:

…as readers, we’re often looking for insight to help with a buying decision, rather than raw information.

As Ben Brooks sees it in Family Apple (via Hugh Sissling):

More surprising is that no one asked me which phone or computer to get — they just wanted to know which iPad to get and if they should wait for the next iPad.

Textmate 2 Tips

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:31:00 -0400

For those of you who, like me, have already switched to Textmate 2 alpha as a daily programmer’s editor, check out Textmate 2 Tips on tumblr. Lots of useful tips there.

Its just so nice to have Textmate being updated again. Already added the RailsCasts theme, SCSS and Marked bundles manually, and still getting used to the new File Browser.

Is America Giving Up on the Future?

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:23:00 -0400

Umair Haque, writing in the Harvard Business Review in Is America Giving Up on the Future? writes:

That the wealth of a nation isn’t merely the sum of its tradable riches; that a thriving marketplace isn’t a big box store; that industrial output matters less than human outcomes; that work that matters yields accomplishments that endure; that Goldman Sachs probably shouldn’t be as profitable as Apple, because builders should earn more than shufflers; that the worth of an enduring achievement is denominated in more than mere profit; that how we feel about our lives is worth more than how enviably glamorous they look; that tomorrow matters more — not less — than today.

Programming polytheism

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:51:00 -0400

One of the worst things a programmer can be is a monotheist, a single language and platform developer. Whether you are a corporate programming drone, or a hot-shot indie, you should be a software polytheist.

It all starts with recruiters and job ads. “Looking for a C# programmer with 5 years experience”, “Looking for a Java back-end developer who understands spring and hibernate”, “Looking for a COBOL programmer to keep our ancient accounting system running”. These are jobs requiring a single skill, for a single project for a single line of business. Don’t take them. The employer will lock you in to that skill and project, you’ll start by having fun in development and end up spending a career bored and unappreciated in maintenance. And when the product dies, so does your career.

2011 Platforms - Ruby on Rails

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:55:00 -0400

Part 2 of the platforms I used in 2011 to make products. See Part 1 - Objective-C and iOS.

The second half of 2011 was spent developing two web app products using Ruby on Rails. And what a joy this platform is to use.

2011 Platforms - Objective-C and iOS

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:54:00 -0400

Part 1 of the platforms I used in 2011 to make products. See Part 2 - Ruby on Rails.

I spent the first half of 2011 writing iOS applications in Objective-C. It’s not my first experience with Objective-C, I wrote a Mac app in 2008, and two iOS apps in 2010, so these notes are really about my entire experience with the technology.

The whole world is watching while the USA collapses

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:14:00 -0400

On Reddit a few days ago, spiderfarmer put up a post entitled The whole world is watching while the USA collapses. I have reproduced it here in case it gets lost, but I thoroughly recommend you look through the comments thread. In short, based on the comments alone, he ain’t wrong.

You're the product

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:04:00 -0400

Alicia Eler in Facebook Wants You To Know All About Its Ads, via Read Write Web, writes:

If you pay for a product, you’re a customer. If you don’t, you’re the product.

Priceless.

The cartoon villain behind SOPA

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:59:00 -0400

Kevin Fogarty, writing in Best idea of 2011: Give control of Internet content to group that sued a dead grandmother via IT World, goes after the backers of SOPA, especially the RIAA.

The anti-piracy enforcement arm of the RIAA has, for almost a decade, been so aggressive about investigating, suing and attempting to prosecute those it accused of illegally downloading movies or music that it was sued by illegal investigatory practices and invasion of privacy, for fraud, conspiracy and extortion, deceptive business practices and violation of the RICO statutes normally used to prosecute bosses of organized crime families.

One version of the truth

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:52:00 -0400

Its not uncommon for different software systems in a company to contain the same kinds information as others. However, it is very uncommon for this information to be the same across all systems. Often the accounting system has different information than the trading system, for example. Inventory systems often have different stock levels than sales systems.

The impact of this is that traders trade on what they know, accountants report profit on what they know, and sales happens on what they know. Since all have different information, none of them has the correct information.

Smoke Screening

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:54:00 -0400

Charles C Mann writing on Smoke Screening in Vanity Fair, spends an afternoon at the airport with Bruce Schneier looking at the TSA in action and asks whether any of it actually makes is safer? His conclusion is obviously no, locked cockpit doors and aware passengers are the only things that work. Even the $1.2b worth of scanners and another $1.2b in air marshals are totally useless.

We’re spending billions upon billions of dollars doing this—and it is almost entirely pointless. Not only is it not done right, but even if it was done right it would be the wrong thing to do. Bruce Schneier

Adam Savage on SOPA

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:29:00 -0400

Adam Savage from Mythbusters writing in SOPA Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It at Popular Mechanics (sorry about their ads folks).

The Internet is probably the most important technological advancement of my lifetime. Its strength lies in its open architecture and its ability to allow a framework where all voices can be heard. Like the printing press before it (which states also tried to regulate, for centuries), it democratizes information, and thus it democratizes power. If we allow Congress to pass these draconian laws, we’ll be joining nations like China and Iran in filtering what we allow people to see, do, and say on the Web.

The missing feature

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:07:00 -0400

My new product seems to be missing a key feature. One that every client so far has asked about. They are almost incredulous that I do not provide it. Come to think of it, none of the software created in my career, that’s 21 years folks, has ever had this feature. The feature I am talking about is export to Excel for users*.

No export to Excel? Am I nuts. What kind of software does not have an export to Excel function? You need export to Excel, don’t you?

No you do not, you don’t even want it.

Developer and Power Tools

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:21:00 -0400

Justin Williams has a pretty good list of tools he uses both for daily use and for development in My Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Mac OS X (2011 Edition).

I have quite a few of the same, but several key differences:

Acorn I have, but use Photoshop, Illustrator and Pixelmator a lot more
BBedit is open all the time, but I use TextMate for programming (already switched to TextMate 2 Alpha)
Appviz instead of Appfigures
The great Kaleidoscope for file compares instead of Changes
Tossing up between Coda (my old favorite) and Espresso 2 (because I think the old CSSEdit was the best)
Skitch for snapping instead of LittleSnapper (use only for storing well designed web pages, though thinking of going back now that Evernote owns Skitch)
Fantastical instead of Today

New to me:

If it ain't broke, break it

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:22:00 -0400

You have all heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”. The implication being that if something is working adequately well, leave it alone.

Unacceptable!

If this were the case, we’d still be using stone axes and living in caves, as we did for 98% of the past 100,000 years. The reason we have metal axes and houses, electricity and cars and computers and internet is because there were people out there who felt it was broke, and they found new and interesting ways to fix it.

Bring in the nerds

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:06:00 -0400

Joshua Kopstein, writing in Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works, getting angry with Congress on the SOPA hearings:

It’d be one thing if legitimate technical questions directed at the bill’s supporters weren’t met with either silence or veiled accusations that the other side was sympathetic to piracy. Yet here we are with a group of elected officials openly supporting a bill they can’t explain, and having the temerity to suggest there’s no need to “bring in the nerds” to suss out what’s actually on it.

On the topic of talent

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:43:00 -0400

Jorge Quinteros, writing on the Topic of Talent.

Talent is the natural ability to do something for which people may think there’s not much effort put into accomplishing something and that’s simply a result of people not always being previewed to what you go through to do what you do.

I’m a very good software designer. Proof? I have a long track record of excellent software. Those who know me and my work invariably describe me as talented. Therefore, ipso facto, I must be a good software designer because I am talented. Rubbish! Bunkum and tummyrot!

Speculative work hurts

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:36:00 -0400

Sebastiaan de With, a really great designer, posts on Facebook of all places on how speculative work hurts the design industry at large.

Happens in software too, where clients expect you to plan, document and design the software before entering into a contract.

Machine-driven

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:32:00 -0400

Via Buzz Andersen,

Google products are machine-driven. They’re created by machines. And that is what makes us powerful. That’s what makes our products great. Marissa Mayer, In the Plex

Explains why their design comes up short.

Design is Horseshit

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:25:00 -0400

@yongfook, writing in Design is Horseshit!, makes a good point:

Focus on value creation. Design enhances value, it does not create it. Stop creating shitty startups that look amazing.

He’s not saying that you should dump design and designers (phew!), just that he is sick of over-designed new startups that provide no real value.

Money quote:

Think hard about what problem you can solve that a customer will give you $10 for and work your ass off at delivering that $10 of value as fast and as cheaply as possible.

Seek the Criticism

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:42:00 -0400

Brendan Baker nails it in Fuck the Accolades. Seek the Criticism on Quora. Just read it. It’s short.

Two productive things can come out of a meeting with a VC:

They help you directly. Money or connections.

They make you better. They criticize you where it counts. They poke holes. They make you defend. They make you justify. They make you question.

Seek the criticism, because accolades don’t help you.

Don't give up on your techs

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:48:00 -0400

My good friend, Brad Lindenberg, writing in The diminishing value of technical founders in startups talks about the value of the super technical people needed to perform the heavy lifting at the beginning of a startup.

This value of technical people in startups diminishes quicker than you think and entrepreneurs need to be careful not to give away equity to developers who are super valuable in the short term, but end up twiddling their thumbs in the long term.

The usage lifecycle

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:10:00 -0400

Joshua Porter writes about the Usage Lifecycle in Designing for the Social Web: The Usage Lifecycle, well worth reading.

The stages in the Usage Lifecycle of a product are:

• Unaware This isn’t so much a stage as it is a starting point. Most people are in this stage: completely unaware of your product.

• Interested These people are interested in your product, but are not yet users. They have lots of questions about how it works and what value it provides.

The lost art of the print statement

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:28:00 -0400

Debugging software is hard, especially if you were not the original author. All programming languages come with debugging tools, from the arcane GDB to the dead sexy step-through debuggers in Xcode and Visual Studio. But, having watched some newbies recently attempt to debug some code using these tools, I noticed something. With all the data in the world on their screens, breakpoints, stacks, watches and code hovers, the information they needed to solve the bug was being lost is the mix.

Write code for someone else

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:25:00 -0400

Whether you are just hacking up a script, writing the next must-have app, or working for the man, always be writing code as if someone else has to read it and understand it. Usually, that someone else is you, six months into the future, older, wiser, with a different mindset. And you’d hate to piss yourself off then, right?

This hiltmonism is a big one. Its easy to think you can fix something later, even though you know this mysterious later never comes. Its easy to think that you can just get this code out because once its done, its done, even though you know its never done. Its easy to hack to a deadline, and hope you are not the bunny who has to fix it when it fails, even though you are stroking your bunny ears at the time.

Kindle Fire lets kids charge up a storm

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:44:00 -0400

Reuters, today, in Amazon’s Kindle Fire lets kids charge up a storm writes:

…it comes with your Amazon account information preloaded, along with “1-Click” ordering. That means anyone who is holding that device can place an order, whether it’s their account or not.

My question is whether this behavior is by design or by accident. In Almost No-one Changes Their Settings I referred an example from Microsoft where the settings were the result of what the developer left them as, not what was best for the user.

Information, not Data

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:22:00 -0400

How many times have you opened a spreadsheet or a system, and seen pages and pages of numbers and gone ‘Ugh, its too hard to find what I want!’.

Most systems and spreadsheets try to present everything to their users, reams and reams of raw unfettered data. And most users, if you ask them, both want the data and hate the data volume that they have to deal with. Looking closer at the situation, the reason they want the raw data is because they believe they can use the data to get answers to their questions, or use the data to do their jobs. Lets call these answers that they really need ‘information’. Wouldn’t it be better if the software simply showed the user the information as and when they needed it, instead of making them work and strain to extract it?

Don't be a free user

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:49:00 -0400

Maciej Ceglowski, writing on the Pinboard blog in Don’t Be A Free User calling it as it is.

Someone builds a cool, free product, it gets popular, and that popularity attracts a buyer. The new owner shuts the product down and the founders issue a glowing press release about how excited they are about synergies going forward. They are never heard from again.

His point is valid. All the businesses he refers to started as a free service, had no business model, got sold and died. And their user base, thats us folks, lost out on a great product or service and lost our data.

Good news - online retailers do not hate their customers

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:42:00 -0400

Sarah Perez gets it completely wrong writing in a Techcrunch article entitled Retailers Aren’t Ready For iPad Shopping Trend

Now for the bad news. Despite the increases in tablet traffic, many retailers are not prepared to accommodate these new mobile shoppers. Compuware also prepared a chart showing the top retailers’ sites, and whether or not they offered an iPad-optimized website. Surprisingly, none of them do, not even Apple.com. What’s worse, Apple is also among the retailers who don’t offer a native iPad application.

Zittrain misses the point

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:43:00 -0400

Via slashdot, directly quoted:

Harvard Law School Prof Jonathan Zittrain explains in The Personal Computer is Dead why you should be afraid — very afraid — of the snowballing replicability of the App Store Model. ‘If we allow ourselves to be lulled into satisfaction with walled gardens,’ warns Zittrain, ‘we’ll miss out on innovations to which the gardeners object, and we’ll set ourselves up for censorship of code and content that was previously impossible. We need some angry nerds.’ Slashdot

The argument for coding standards

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:33:00 -0400

cbloom rants in The Mature Programmer on the value of coding standards:

Strict coding standards are actually an intellectual relief because they remove all those decisions and give you a specific way to do the syntax. (The same of course goes for reading other people’s code - your eyes can immediately start looking at the functionality, not try to figure out the current syntax)

Don’t forget that using a great architecture, having great conventions and a strict coding standard takes this up to the next level.

Automate or Die

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:59:00 -0400

Computers are excellent at performing dull repetitive structured tasks, yet many organizations use armies of people to perform these tasks. Computers are also great at following along the same mind numbing process over and over again (we call this programming), yet we tend as users of computers, to perform these tasks manually on our computers.

Today’s Hiltmonism is very simple. Automate or die. Make the computer do the work so you can have a life.

The best Steve Jobs quote

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:55:00 -0400

This may be it.

“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” Steve Jobs Youtube

The four hour rule

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:52:00 -0400

Programming is a craft of the mind. Programmers need to think through the feature they are writing, build up the code and a solution in their heads, maintain the product architecture, structure and conventions in the background and plan and design the next part of the code they are assembling. And then they need the time to execute all that. Once in The Zone™, programmers are exceptionally productive. But The Zone™ has limits. A four hour limit.

e-reader roundup

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:23:00 -0400

Marco Arment, developer of Instapaper, writing in an amazingly comprehensive review of current e-readers (including e-ink devices and new low-end tablets), writes

If you’re primarily in the market for an e-reader, get an e-ink device. And if you’re looking for a tablet for apps, games, and videos in addition to reading, unless the iPad’s price is absolutely out of the question forever, I suggest getting the iPad.

And the e-ink winner unsurprisingly is the current Kindle (called the Kindle 4 in the review).

No Service Competition in New York

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:47:00 -0400

Just a quick check on my choices for 21st century data services available at my apartment in New York city:

Internet, Landline, Television

Time Warner Cable
~~Verizon FIOS~~

Oops, only TWC from today based on the agreement reached where Verizon quit the land-based business (See Susan Crawford’s article: Smug and chagrined). So no choice.

Mobile Phone

AT&T
Verizon
~~T-Mobile~~ (still a dead spot after 8 years)
~~Sprint~~ (same as T-Mobile)

Neither work well, so I have to stick with AT&T because at least they have a MicroCell. Until the iPhone 4S came out on Verizon, their phones were no good for overseas anyway. Average 1 not-dropped call a day.

Data caps don't work

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:41:00 -0400

Nate Anderson, writing for Ars Technica in Data caps a “crude and unfair tool” for easing online congestion

Internet providers argue that they need to impose monthly data caps on their users in order to slay the “bandwidth hogs” running wild and free through their networks, goring ordinary users with their tusks when all those users want to do is view some funny cat pictures online after a tough day at the office. The idea is that a monthly quota can reduce the amount of network congestion during peak hours throughout the month. Fact or fiction?

Explain the Problem - Not your Solution

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:48:00 -0400

Something that drives me quite batty is when people turn to me for help and request a solution without explaining the problem. In other words, they tell me their answer to a puzzle, without explaining what the puzzle is, and expect me to understand what to do. They want the answer to be 42, but what is the question being asked?

This happens a lot in software design. The client calls up and tells us they want something done a specific way. They are telling us how to implement a feature, without explaining what the feature is or why it needs to be done their way. Since they don’t understand the architecture of the product, they usually don’t understand the impact of the request. And since they are approaching the problem from a non-technical perspective, their proposed solution may not technically work.

Close to the Business

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:20:00 -0400

The best software designers and developers are the ones who completely understand the business and flows for which they are creating product. This understanding allows them to apply their technical skills to business problems and create great product. And the best way to understand is to be a part of the business, to be close to it.

Drawing on my career to date, the best products I have made have all come from me being right in the thick of things. I spent 8 years writing leading edge hedge fund management and financial software, while sitting in the middle of a trading floor, surrounded by traders and analysts and accountants. Before that I worked on financial systems deployments, surrounded by accountants and managers. And before that, right at the beginning, I wrote software to sell trees, surrounded by the people who grew and cut down those trees.

On Designing Web Applications balancing Identity, Usability and Familiarity

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:06:00 -0400

Graphic design without understanding the user, the flow and site interaction leads to pretty, uniquely identifiable web applications that are quite unusable and fail to connect with their users. Web applications that mimic the graphic design of others may seem to be more useable, because they are so familiar, but look like someone else’s product, have no identity, seem bland and boring, and also fail to connect with their users.

Somewhere there has to be a balance between familiarity, identity and usability, in a design that engages users. Here is how we found it.

VC tries to sell a con

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:26:00 -0400

In Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining, Michael Arrington uses the 1994 post by overworked engineer Jamie Zawinski to make his point that startups are hard, Silicon Valley is awesome, you must work long hours, and if you do, the rewards are worth it. He states

But you also know that there is nowhere on earth like Silicon Valley. Nowhere else that is structurally designed to help you make whatever you can imagine into reality. Nowhere else where there are so many like minded people who are willing to sacrifice and work hard to create something new.

Hundreds of sites ordered deindexed

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:53:00 -0400

A judge has ruled 700 domain names to be seized and removed from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Bing, Yahoo and Google searches, on suspicion, not proof, of selling counterfeit goods. Whether the domain names are local or foreign, infringing or not, or even valid but caught-in-the-net business sites is immaterial. They are ordered seized and taken down without notice or recourse.

Of course, there is no law to force a registry to change ownership, nor a law to require the search engines to delist in this way, but the judge ordered it anyway. Says Law Professor Venkat Balasubramani on this topic yesterday:

The readable future

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:10:00 -0400

Brent Simmons nails it again in The Readable Future, talking about the tools we all use to bypass all the ads and clutter of publisher’s sites.

The future is, one way or another, readable.

Because that’s what readers want, and because the technology is easier to find and use and learn than ever. That trend will continue because developers live to give people technologies that make life better.

Copycats

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:16:00 -0400

Matt Legend Gemmell writing on Copycats:

There’s an entire spectrum of terms available besides ‘copied’, ranging from “inspired by” to “plagiarised”, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be influenced by the work of others. The key is to ensure that you’re consciously agreeing with a design, rather than just aping (mimicking unthinkingly - a definition which no doubt does our hairy cousins a grave disservice). Sadly, much of the technology sector simply apes.

Almost no-one changes their settings

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:13:00 -0400

Following up on my recent I just want a Hamburger post, I came across a wonderful article by Jared Spool entitled Do users change their settings?.

In line with that I said about developers thoughtfully making decisions on options for their users, Jared makes some beautiful points

Less than 5% of the users we surveyed had changed any settings at all.

Why?

They assumed Microsoft had delivered it turned off for a reason, therefore who were they to set it otherwise. “Microsoft must know what they are doing,” several of the participants told us.

If your site does ..., you hate your Customers

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:01:00 -0400

There has been a lot of talk on the Internet lately on the inability for web site visitors to actually read the content on publisher’s pages because of all the annoyances and clutter on these pages. If you are one of these publishers, read on, this is to help you identify what frustrates your customers. If you are a reader like me, let me know of any major annoyances I may have missed out on.

If your site displays a full page ad for 15 seconds before an article can be read, you hate your customers.

If your site splits articles, even short ones, into multiple pages, you hate your customers.

Should I wait?

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:24:00 -0400

As a technologist, I am often asked by friends and family whether they should buy a new gizmo now or wait a while for the next release of said gizmo.

I always have the same answer:

If you need it, buy it now.

I just want a Hamburger

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:30:00 -0400

Or too many choices lead to the inability to choose.

In the USA, when one walks into a restaurant to eat a hamburger, one has to endure a full interrogation. How would you like the burger cooked? Would you like cheese on it? What kind of cheese would you like? Would you also like bacon on it? Lettuce and tomato? Onions? Raw or Fried? Mayonnaise, ketchup, relish or mustard? Which kind of mustard? Do you want fries on the side? A pickle too? Sesame on the bun? Raw or toasted?

Give us a break. We want a hamburger, make by a professional in the making of hamburgers, and presented to us as the best mix of ingredients prepared properly that they believe makes a great hamburger. We did not go in there to make choices, we went in to eat a delicious burger, pay and leave.

It turns out software users want the same thing. Product, made by us, that satisfies their needs, without the options and choices and interrogations that make using it difficult, confusing and dissatisfying.

You are not your Customer

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:41:00 -0400

One of the most common memes in software development is that great products come from a programmer scratching an itch. They needed software to do something, did not like what was out there, and created a great product. They were their own customer, they knew what they wanted and they made the software for themselves.

As with most meme’s, this one is only somewhat true. They did have an itch. They did create some software. And hundreds of programmers do this every day. But very few of them make great products with this software. Instead, they create something for themselves, to be used by themselves and never shared. And if they do share it, it’s usually a subset of a product that never grows, never sells and never becomes great.

F*ck You, Pay Me

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:11:00 -0400

For all you designers, programmers, indies and freelancers, I give you the best, most informative video, you will ever see. Mike Monteiro a.k.a. @mike_ftw, of Mule Design gave a talk on contracts and how to deal with money discussions.

Check it out: F*ck You, Pay Me.

Then follow his advice.

Signing up for Everything

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:45:00 -0400

I sign up for every new service that comes along. Every single one. Most of them I never log into again, except to unsubscribe from their mailing lists. Every single new social network, professional network, graphics sharing site, instant messenger, free email provider, free home page display, free blogging app, book reading site, iPhone community app and all the hundreds I am missing, all have one thing in common. A hiltmon login. My hiltmon login.

The Pummeling Pages

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:34:00 -0400

Brent Simmons, original author of NetNewsWire and MarsEdit, on visiting modern publication websites:

They’re filled with ads and social-media sharing buttons — and more ads. And Google plus-onesies and Facebook likeys. And also more ads. Plus tweet-this-es. Plus ads. (And, under-the-hood, a whole cruise-ship-full of analytics. The page required well-more than 100 http calls.)

No wonder we all like InstaPaper and Safari’s Reader mode.

Source: The Pummeling Pages

The Way of the Code Samurai

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:02:00 -0400

Wil Shipley has been programming for decades, like me. Recently, he reposted a link to an old post that I think all programmers should read. Go on, read it now. I’ll wait.

In it, he talks of the The Way of the Code Samurai, but really just points out the same topics I try to impress on all programmers I teach.

Think first
Write all your code “clean” the first time you write it
Less source code is better
Optimize only after you are done

The only thing missing from my top 5 is the temporal issue

Four Keys to Apple's Success

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:47:00 -0400

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPod, iPhone, and iOS product marketing, speaking at the “Silicon Valley Comes to Cambridge” event in the UK, shared what he believes to be the four keys to Apple’s success.

Focus

“It means saying no, not saying yes. We do very few things at Apple. We are $100bn in revenue with very few products. There are only so many grade A players. If you spread yourself out over too many things, none of them will be great.”

About the Hiltmon

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:15:00 -0400

My name is Hilton Lipschitz, but everybody calls me hiltmon.

Recently, I was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at my third awesome growing New York Financial Asset Manager, designing and building the most amazing trading technology ever. Before this, I was the designer, consultant, programmer, and owner of Noverse LLC, an independent iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch), Macintosh (OS X) and Web (Ruby on Rails) product development company, based in New York, USA.

Migrating to Octopress

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:10:00 -0400

Over the years I have created a series of blogs, but never found my voice. It’s time to do it better. So here it is, my voice, my errors, my opinions, my mistakes, my soapbox, and maybe, just maybe, someday I’ll write something interesting, in my voice.