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Showing posts from December, 2008

Is Blue-Ray too expensive ? Answer: Maybe

A recent article at the Content Agenda Site makes the case that Blue-Ray optical storage technology is far too expensive given the market dynamics of an existing strong base of DVD based devices and media and the incrimental nature of the multimedia and quality capabilities provided by the new format. There is some merit to the arguments of the article but it also misses some key points that require an understanding of how the semiconductor and electronics industries operate internally before any assessment of the pricing of Blue-Ray technology can be made. First is the fact that unlike 1998 when DVD made its big debut and supplanted the old magnetic technology in VHS with the optical DVD (which is per unit cheaper to produce than VHS offering a compelling impetus to switching over) today, Blue-Ray has to be built on production lines that are already doling out the more profitable (per unit of production, since authorized supply is lower) DVD players and discs. In the two years or so

GoDaddy ... not exactly convenient service options...

So a few days ago I decided to do a little research and purchase an ssl certificate for use on my production servers. This certificate will allow those servers to encrypt data back and forth between clients ensuring that Users have secure channels of communication while using the sites services. GoDaddy has three options prominently displayed on their website. The first option provides a simple certificate for a single domain name. Like yoursite.com, another option allows you to buy a single certificate for a multiple set of domain names, for example "yoursite.com,yourbiz.com,yourhome.com" and another options allows you to buy certificates for a wildcard of subdomains under a desired domain. For example, "*.yoursite.com" where the "*" can be any subsite. The problem is they don't provide a combined option for multi domain and wild card, forcing you to purchase a separate certificate for each, even if you can easily use a single certificate on all of yo

the blog about nothing to blog about

I had nothing to blog about , so decided to blog about nothing. It is quite annoying wanting to blog about a topic that I find interesting but having nothing unique in my cadre of interests that I have anything insightful to offer today. Christmas day was great, I had more than my fair share of food and slept like a baby as a result. I am looking forward to getting back to work and have been focused on getting some much needed java script optimization done on some pages before the year ends but the post Christmas doldrums seem to have me in a grip, despite the fact that it is early in the day. Maybe after I've had my morning coffee I'll feel more enthusiastic about attacking those optimizations. As for now I have nothing left to say, so this blog post about nothing comes to an end. ;)

the illusion of a grand audience

Facebook has been rising in the ranks as one of the best known and used social networks in the world. One of the reasons that facebook is so successful has to do with how it allows you to think that you are broadcasting your life to the world. It enables you to add contacts to your list and broadcast your ideas, actions and events to them usign the various feeds of content and status that are available but this provides an illusion, namely the feeling that a larger audience is "listening" to your productions than just those people on your contact list. You may not think this at the moment that you are updating your profile with your latest status event but the fact that Facebook allows you to do this to your list, gives the illusion that you are broadcasting to the world...even if "world" is only a subset of those people on the Facebook site that can receive your feeds. I think this is a powerful enticement for existing users to continue to post items to their profi

Apple's long term memory loss...

In the last few months I've been testing the accessibility of my web site to wireless handheld devices. The latest crop of smart phones include countless useful functions, one phone that stands out is the IPhone which has been intelligently designed to allow third party applications to be easily purchased, downloaded and installed wirelessly. This software purchasing paradigm gives the IPhone a unique ability to satisfy the application needs of user that previous generations of wireless phones didn't have. The main reasons for the lack of this software variety had to do with the desire of the wireless providers to keep their customers locked into their own provided wireless device operating systems and applications. This "lock in" syndrome that many corporations love to place on their customers invariably is broken by a manufacturer who realizes there is profit in allowing the customer freedom to select the software they wish to run on their device. This harkens back

why you see what I see...for the most part....

I find that running is an excellent activity to be engaged in when I need my mind to wander, the mind walks I've taken while so engaged have revealed the solution to many difficult problems in my code and design of a distributed web application framework. The freedom of thought inspired by this part of my day often inspires entirely unrelated ideas to my current line of work. Case in point was an idea that I explored while running several months ago. As I concentrated on breathing and keeping my form optimal for my pace, I took a moment to fully experience the vivid colors of the city and of nature that passed me as I ran. I thought to myself of an idea that I'd come across much earlier in my life as a high school student but then had not the knowledge to answer the question. The question is thus: Why do you and I experience color the same way? Having gained knowledge on how the human visual system works, as well as how the brain-eye system processes visual stimulation the answ