Jared’s Blog

One side effect of having many technology-related sources in my RSS reader is I sometimes notice certain things gaining traction. That was just the case with Heroku. First there was some rumbling on the MN Ruby mailing list, then a TechCrunch article, then I brought it up on the Pragmatic Studio Alumni list, and finally the official Ruby on Rails podcast did an episode on it.

What is it? I would call it an online RoR IDE with a hosting component. Once you sign up for an account, you are given the option to create a new project. As far as I can tell, there is no limit to the number of projects currently. From there, you can import an existing RoR project or start building one from scratch in Heroku’s IDE. Things like console access, testing, database migrations, logs, etc. are all there too. Logs are available via a tab in the IDE and you can always pull up the files in the IDE too. You are also given access to run any rake tasks and to open a Rails console to test your apps out in.The hosting component is automatically available to every project. A quick click from the IDE screen will take you to your hosted project which is stored at subdomain you select (project_name.heroku.com for example). It is hosted on Mongrel running in development mode which means any changes to the project are automatically reloaded.I admit, an online IDE sounds like a bad idea. We have much better tools on our own machines.

After using it, I would still say the same, however that doesn’t diminish the coolness of Heroku. The real value of Heroku is the hosting. With a couple of clicks your Rails app is hosted and publicly available. It is perfect for those little personal projects, one-off apps that will only exist for a short time, and quick demo sites.It also appears that Heroku is in beta and I can only expect they will be charging for this stuff eventually. My hope is I get grandfathered in for free as a beta tester.

While trying to buy some gas today on my way home from work, I ran into a problem. It seems SuperAmerica is piloting a new security measure at their pumps. After swiping your credit card, you are required to enter the zip code associated with the card in order to continue with the transaction. Below is the complaint I have sent to the company which explains why prompting for a zip code at the pump provides no additional security.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I strongly urge SuperAmerica to reconsider the decision to prompt for zip codes during credit card transactions at the pump as it does not provide SuperAmerica’s customers any additional security. Furthermore, customers who naively and falsely believe this policy provides additional security are being deceived by SuperAmerica. If SuperAmerica does not consider my concerns, I will be forced to refrain from making any future transactions with SuperAmerica.

A discussion I was having with my boss prompted me to write this and I thought that it was too good not to share with the world.

My problem is with the Internet community as a whole placing so much importance on SEO and Google SEO in particular. I believe it’s possible to rank highly on search engines without SEO. I believe it’s futile to optimize for an algorithm that 1) you can’t and won’t ever see and 2) is ever changing. Human powered search is starting to gain ground (like Wikia and Mahalo, or even Digg and Delicious). And as technology progresses, the algorithms are going to get better at separating useful content from spam. I believe that Google (and others) could do a much better job of giving results if no one did any SEO at all. If people took the time they spend on SEO and instead spent that time on improving their site, coming up with new features, thinking about accessibility, etc., they (and the Internet as a whole) would be much better off.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs’ made his biannual descent from Cupertino to enlighten the masses with what Apple has been up to for the last six months. The verdict? Largely disappointing. At the start of the keynote, Steve said he had four things for the crowd which turned out to be Time Capsule, the iPhone SDK and software updates, iTunes movie rentals, and the Macbook Air.

The Time Capsule, though obviously a major bullet point in Steve’s presentation, wasn’t given much time on stage. However, that was probably due to the nature of the product. It’s a wireless router with a network hard drive in it. Not all that exciting to demo. Out of all the things announced yesterday, Time Capsule was the one thing I actually would consider buying in the next year. Though, $499 for a 1TB drive and a router seems a little spendy. A similar setup using a router with a USB port and an external hard drive would cost me at least $100 less. I guess that’s why it’s called the Apple tax.

The iPhone/iPod Touch SDK was item number two, but was also glossed over rather quickly. Instead, much of item two consisted of updates to the iPhone and iPod Touch software. Multi-person SMS, triangulation of your location on Google Maps, some new apps, and a customizable home screen were among the features added. These are all things people have been screaming for from the beginning. It’s becoming more clear that despite it’s widespread success, the iPhone v1 that came out last summer is incomplete. Even with all the additions, you still can’t copy/paste, you still can’t get one with more than 8GB of storage, and still no 3G.

Something that really bothered me was they announced 5 new applications for the iPod Touch that cost $20 for anyone who already has a Touch. Anyone who goes and buys one today (or any other time in the future) gets these apps for free. Everyone else who already has one has to pay $20 for them. Why? Did these apps really cost that much to develop? That clearly isn’t the case as the apps are already on the iPhone and they’re being included on new models. Obviously the only people who are going to buy this little software package are current Touch owners. Was the $300 or $400 you already got off these people not enough Apple? What’s $20 when you’ve already spent $300+. Bad Apple, bad.

The third item of the day was has been expected for some time now: iTunes movie rentals. The big surprise was they managed to get all the major studios on board and they completely redesigned the Apple TV interface so rentals without a computer are possible. The fact that you can rent movies isn’t such a big deal. Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon, and others all have made this available for awhile. The killer feature is that you can do it right on your TV and without any computer. It’s now a stand alone box, not an accessory. To top it off, new Apple TV’s are $70 cheaper than before and existing owners get a free upgrade.

The price $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for other titles is spot on. However, the fact that you have to watch it within 24 hours is not. Make it 72 hours. Give me a weekend. I buy something on Friday night, but end up going out instead. I should be able to watch it on Sunday when I have the time. And the HD versions (sold at a $1 premium over their standard def counterparts) can only be rented on the Apple TV, not through your computer. I suspect that restriction came from the movie studios paranoia about piracy, not from Apple itself. Good Apple, (mostly) good!

The final line item was the Macbook Air; a $1800 ultra-portable laptop. Just as with the movie rentals, ultra-portable laptops are nothing new. However, no one is quite able to do things like Apple does. The Air is super thin; Apple claims the world’s thinnest. I’m still not sure if that means it’s more sexy or more flimsy. The other notable thing about the Air is it is virtually devoid of ports. It’s got 1 USB port, 1 Mini DVI port, and a MagSafe connector for power. There is no optical drive and there is no ethernet port. I guess thinness comes at a price.

After sitting on it for a day and reading all the fallout online, I’m still trying to figure out where the Air fits into Apple’s lineup. The two sweet spots they don’t cover is enterprise workstations and the mid-range desktop and these are two areas of the market Apple has said they don’t want to go after. Back to the question at hand. Who is this machine targeted at? The type of person who is going to buy this (besides the type who just want you to gawk at their expensive toys) is someone who doesn’t need to do a lot of heavy work and someone who doesn’t have much of a budget. The only group of people I can see fitting that profile is writers. What kind? Columnists, novelists, freelancers, and the like. They are probably traveling quite a bit. Their primary needs are word processing, email, and internet connectivity. However, it doesn’t make sense that Apple would release a computer for such a small niche of consumers. They clearly have something else in mind and I can’t quite put my finger (or mouse pointer) on it.

After hearing about all of the announcements, my overall feeling was one of disappointment. There was nothing in this keynote for me. None of it made me want to run out and buy it right away. None of it had me checking my bank account and making exceptions in my budget. Is that selfish? Sure, but Apple has conditioned me. The thing I was hoping for most, a 32GB + iPhone with 3G, wasn’t even hinted at. Not even a 16GB version like the iPod Touch. There was indeed something in the air yesterday at Moscone Center and it smelled slightly foul.

It was inevitable. That lovely little friend known as my iPod kicked the bucket last week. I was trying to sync it up so I could listen to some recent podcasts on the road and it was fighting me the whole way.

First it synced about 4 of the dozen or so that I wanted. After a few more attempts at getting it to sync the rest, I got fed up and decided do a full reset. It meant having to re-sync every song in my library (6500 songs takes about 3 - 4 hours), but in the past, it’s fixed my issues.

Well, I think the reset was about as much as it could take. Shortly after plugging it into AC power, it stopped responding entirely to button pushes. I plugged it into my PC, it recognized it, but still wouldn’t transfer. I’ve had drive problems since a few months after I got it. It would randomly freeze and the only fix was a hard smack against the palm of my hand. I’d also done a self-install of a new battery after the original stopped holding a charge and the warranty was up.

Yesterday, I stopped by the Apple store and picked up a 160GB Classic. I’d been planning on only getting an 80GB, but I remembered Apple’s recycling program. Bring in any iPod, working or not, and they’ll give you 10% off any iPod purchase the same day. Not only did I get rid of the old brick, but I got a nice little discount. When it was all said and done, I got double the space for only $40.

My biggest complaint is that they no longer include an AC adapter in the box. Something that’s not a problem for me because I still have my old one. The other minor annoyance is that the backlight now stays on the entire time the iPod is connected to a PC or in my car whereas the previous version turned off after a few seconds.

Update: Yesterday, I got a Griffin Reflect case for my iPod too. It’s shiny!

You may have noticed a lack of posting in the last several weeks from yours truely. I have been putting in extreme hours at work. The good news is we finally launched our Ruby on Rails based site on Monday. For a team of 3 guys, 2 of whom started the project without knowing a lick of Ruby, we managed to crank out a solid app in 9 months.

This launch is especially exciting for me as I did pretty much all of the visual design. There’s a ton of work to be done and I best be getting back to it.

TheHoneymoon.com Check it out!