Optimized…

Blogged on March 7, 2008 at 00:07

I spent the last few minutes optimizing my blog’s code! Should be a *lot* faster now! When I updated to WP 2.3.3 a few weeks ago, I took the chance to remove some plugins that weren’t relevant and optimize my code a little to integrate better with WP’s “new” code.

Yesterday I dumped Google Analytics, switching (at last) to Mint! I ran them both during the day today, finally removing GA tonight! I can already tell you that Mint is substantially faster, not to mention that it gives the ability to view my stats, LIVE, on my iPhone anytime! (major advantage point from Google’s solution which resorts to Flash a lot). Thanks Shaun!

On a side note, I’ve been working on a design update… But I think I’ll make the mockups I created into a WP theme and freely distribute it instead! I’ve struck by some awesome, clean designs lately and have been gathering some inspiration for my next design. On the other hand, the current design is growing on me… :/ lol

Anyway, thought I’d share so you can give some thoughts on your user experience on this blog! Thanks in advance.

Apple SDK rocked my day!

Blogged on March 6, 2008 at 20:07

Today has been pretty hectic… My back has been killing me all day and Apple released the iPhone SDK which caused a huge stir around the web!

As to my back, I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know I’ve a small cyst right next to my spine, mid-back, for a while. Never felt it… until the last few days! And I can’t even blame the pain on the AWESOME chair I have at work… I’ll probably go to the chiropractor soon, but I’ll need to see a doctor eventually.

On to the news of the day: Apple (finally) released the SDK for the iPhone! It was a very exciting keynote, with Steve Jobs only introducing other people and not taking much part on it until the press Q&A at the end (could this be the start of a slow “backing off” by Jobs preparing his succession?). Among the great news and technical details about the SDK and upcoming apps for the iPhone, we were introduced to Apple’s “AppStore“. Basically this is no more than a mix between the iTunes Store but for applications with the current Installer.app for jailbroken phones. One of the things that got me excited were the apparent 3D capabilities of the iPhone, showcased with a few games (including a demo of the upcoming Spore) and the information that EA is already working on developing games for the iPhone (FIFA 08 with multi-touch+accelerometer ?? wow). And no, no jailbreaking/unlocking apps… or porn!

Then came the part most techies & developers have been speculating lately: the distribution model and its price. I think Apple is keen on creating the best development platform in the world. OSX has been proven to be just that and a lot of developers have invested time and resources into developing excellent apps for that platform. Apple is trying to do the same with iPhone and the latest rumours before today already pointed towards that, which got confirmed today during the SDK presentation when Scott Forstall, Apple’s VP for iPhone Software talked about how “Apple is a platform company” (something some of us already thought of but was never mentioned this clearly).

Considering this, developers wanting to sell/distribute their apps through AppStore (the only possible way anyway) will have to enter the iPhone Developer Program and paying for that $99. This price covers everything. I think the price is appropriate considering Apple is not charging hosting, distribution, etc… They only charge 30% of whatever you charge your customers. If you choose to freely distribute your app, Apple gets… yes, $0! Considering this, I think $99 is a fair fee to have access to Apple and having them check your app, host it, publicize it, etc…

But now comes something I only discovered in the midst of a Twitter discussion with Luis Rei and David Rodrigues. While I don’t agree with calling the $99 an “Apple Tax” I agree with the fact that it’s pretty bad that Apple doesn’t allow you to install your own personal, experimental apps on your OWN iPhone! While I understand the reason to do it (as it would open the way to code being shared and compiled with the freely available SDK, which would bypass Apple’s check and system!), I don’t like it! I was getting really motivated to learn Cocoa and Objective-C and start messing around with small apps and utilities but not having a way to test them on my own phone is sad.

But all said and done, the customer won’t mind any of this! As (free) apps will be available even through wi-fi and even EDGE, as a customer, I couldn’t be more delighted… Well, maybe I could… June??? Can I haz it now??? =)

Music: Digital vs Physical (NIN - Ghosts I-IV)

Blogged on March 5, 2008 at 10:46

I was very curious about the last Nine Inch Nails (NIN) album! I was reading about all the hype on the way they used to distribute it. I was also aware of people having major problems getting to the download (just like it happened with Radiohead’s In Rainbows). And so I waited…

Yesterday, being tired of waiting I headed on to the official website. Surprisingly it opened on the first try and everything looked rather snappy and fast. I read about the download speed issues and realized we could download the 9 free tracks off of Bit-Torrent, tracked at The Pirate Bay, and uploaded by NIN themselves. I went on to get the free tracks over at TPB.

After listening to them 2 times I was already in love!!! I was even more in love knowing that they provided lossless download options, like FLAC and Apple Lossless. But I was even more impressed with the fact that they give you immediate access to those same downloads when you buy the physical version (that ships in April)!!! So I ordered the $10 (+ $6.99 shipping) physical edition of it!

Since September and my move to the US I haven’t bought a single physical CD. Prior to coming, and just during the first half of 2007, I bought around 40 physical CDs! With the move o the US I came to realize that those physical CDs can be a real logistical PITA: broken cases from the travelling, lots of extra weight that is expensive when flying, etc… Since I got here, I already bought over 20 CDs through the iTunes Store and boy, am I loving it! The fact that I can buy any album on my iPhone, through wireless and get Instant Satisfaction™ is delightful!! Don’t get me wrong, I still love owning the physical CDs and ripping them to MP3s (used to rip them to OGG, but my iPod/iPhone changed my mind) or even AAC+ (which I have been learning to like in terms of quality/size vs the MP3s). But even with all of this, I decided to order the physical edition. What “tipped me” over was the fact that I still had access to Instant Satisfaction™: they give you the same download options when you buy the physical edition.

From my experience with my other CDs, I don’t mess around them much after buying them! I get them, rip them, put them on my iTunes/iPod/iPhone and only resort to the physical discs if something goes wrong or I’m about to travel! I do like the feeling of owning the physical disc, but I’m quickly replacing that with the knowledge that from a mobility standpoint, digital has taken over. In terms of listening, it has taken over a long time ago… at least for me!

I’m also the kind of person who downloads music albums… a LOT! I’m glad I do, because on some cases it saved me money! And saving me money allowed me to buy albums that are REALLY worth it! As an example, I bought Coldplay’s “X&Y” shortly after it came out, but had already listened to it MANY times to the point that when I bought it I didn’t listen to it for a while! Why did I buy it then, you may ask… Because I *loved* (still do!) the album and think it was worth buying! Yes, that’s how I view music purchases: I pay when I feel it’s worth the price! If prices went down, I’d buy more, but I still buy quite a bit of music!!

Having said that, I encourage you to get this NIN album! If for nothing else, do it because they released it under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license, allowing you to do “whatever” you want with the music without having to pay royalties of any sort! That’s a MAJOR step forward and takes some gut feeling to do it! HUGE kudos to NIN for taking that step forward in music. I think this one is even more revolutionary than Radiohead’s album for many reasons like immediate download when you buy the physical discs, lossless formats, Creative Commons license, etc…

Bottom line: I’m *very happy* about this and can’t wait to see more artists doing the same! ^^,

My new computer is coming… :)

Blogged on March 4, 2008 at 09:34

So my Twitter friends followed the whole adventure pretty closely but I need to share it with all of you! I know I haven’t been updating my blog as frequently as I’d want to but the current stress/workload as kept me from sitting down to actually right something. But this is too good to not stop for a few minutes and share!

As you probably all know by now, Apple updated their laptop line(s): new Macbook and Macbook Pro. Many of you know that I have been waiting for this update since last November and had the needed funds ready since January (around the Macworld). I was getting really frustrated but finally, on February 26th (yes, the best month of the year - not because of Apple, don’t worry :p) I ordered my own Macbook Pro. I uploaded the order details to my Flickr but here it is:

(click for full size)

It’s coming!! =) Expected shipment is between the 6th and 11th of this month (March). It’ll arrive 4-5 days later!!!

In other news, my 2×2GB Kingston (from newegg.com) will arrive later today, and the rest of that order (VMware, the backpack and .Mac) have all arrived 2 days after the order (the backpack got here the next day actually).

I’m REALLY looking forward to it! I’m currently working on a PowerMac G4 867Mhz Dual with 1GB of RAM! No matter how good these machines perform considering they are 6-7 years old, they don’t have enough “juice” for all the work I need to get out of them! Adobe CS3 apps are heavy and I’m a “multitasker”, which requires me to have several apps open at the same time! Now if you consider web development only, I need Firefox+Safari and Textmate, CSSedit (at times), Transmit and Fireworks! Just the browsers take quite a bit, and if you add all the “normal” applications (Adium, iChat, Transmission, iCal, Mail, Things, iTunes, iPhoto, Linkinus, Twitterific, Pownce, Terminal, etc…) you understand why I’m *suffering* at this time and in desperate need of a new machine! And I’m not even going to mention not being able to run VMware/Parallels/Bootcamp with Win/Linux or playing games or… argh (mental note: “relax… it’s almost over!”)

It’s coming but… WHY IS IT NOT HERE YET???