My Platform of Choice

Hardware and Disk

I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a DVD player. These days, it’s an incidental purchase coupled with a gaming platform. I own a PS3 and a Wii. The Wii cannot play DVDs, so the PS3 is my player. Hell, it even plays Blu-Ray! Rock on.

I’d already tried the version for the X-Box 360, but my access to that was drying up. I hated the fact that a Gold Membership was required to access your Netflix account. Felt like a fee on a fee on a fee. Nothing quite like requiring your hardware, the service, another service, and your ISP just to get what you’ve paid for.

When Netflix for the PS3 was announced, I was excited. The day it was released, I fired up my PS3 and went to download the application. Wait… you require a disk? Why, pray tell, do you require a disk? Perhaps there’s a legitimate reason! Regardless, I’m not going to get it to work until I get my disk. So, I wait.

Problems Already?

The Main Interface

When it does arrive, I realize that the interface makes me motion sick. There’s something about the way that the images change focus that makes me sick to my stomach. Getting past that and browsing around, I notice a few other stickler points.

The controls are not as intuitive as I would have hoped. For example, holding down the left analog stick provides no additional scrolling. After the initial tick sideways in the direction you pushed, nothing happens. You must flick your stick for every movement you’d like to make. The triggers can be used to accelerate the scrolling, but this only jumps you a set number of titles, rather than scrolling faster.

Another little oddity popped up as I was attempting to select the next episode in a series. When you complete an episode, the interface automatically updates to the next episode. Just click play.

If you exit the episode before the credits have finished, you’re at less than 100% completion. That means you have to select the option to select another episode, select your episode, and then hit play. This seems a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

The Need for Communication

If there’s a single thing in the world I think is necessary, it’s communication. Without the desire for communication, your house would not look like your house does now. Your car would be different. Books, movies, and telephones would not exist (not to mention a whole host of other things). So, when a program forgoes communication, it perplexes me. You should tell your users every bit of useful information you can.

Now, this leads me to my biggest problem with the PS3…

How Netflix.com Deals with the Issue

I have gone along happily watching the first few episodes in a series when you discover something terrible. A single episode requires a disk. Naturally, this is the second or fourth episode. You get absorbed in a series and then the ability to watch it is whisked away.

While I don’t have a problem with ordering disks, I do dislike seeing a requirement I wasn’t informed of. Netflix may not have the power to put the films up for viewing, but they do have the ability to communicate.

On the web, if you look at the film’s details, you’ll see a list of episodes that tell you which are available and which you require the disk for. The PS3’s interface is not so forgiving. You have to delve down into the choosing of the episodes. There, you will find the culprit. It’s there, when I’m switching episodes, that I discover I require a disk. Blah. Just tell me before hand.

What could be a beautiful is a warning. I’m not worried about getting the disk. Just warn me.

What It Is

One Of My Favorites!

Furikake is essentially little bits of dry goodness meant to be sprinkled atop white rice. This sounds much less tasty than it actually is, I assure you. If you spend a lot of time eating rice, this may be just the condiment for you.

It frequently contains seaweed, bits of fish, sesame seeds, and other delicious bits. The downside is that it frequently contains both a massive amount of sugar and salt. With the proper amount of restraint, it adds some wonderful flavor to the rice.

The Varieties

I cannot even explain the amount of varieties this tasty topping comes in. Some of these varieties are as simple as sugar and sesame seeds. Others are extremely complicated including bits of more than one variety of fish. For the super adventurous, there are even varieties that contain wasabi. Have I mentioned how awesome wasabi is?

What You Can Do At Home

An Example of Deliciousness

If you’re really adventurous, you can always make your own at home.  One of the blogs I follow regularly, known as Just Hungry, has an entire host of easy-to-complete recipes for furikake. One day, I may even be adventurous enough to try to make one of them.

Until then, I’ve got delicious photos, tasty rice, and a spot of tea.

Do you lot have a favorite condiment?

Safari

As the native browser on the Mac, this was the first browser I decided to try.

The initial thing I noticed was the Top Sites. I think this is one of my favorite features of Safari. All of my frequently visited sites sit at the edge of my fingertips ready to click on. No more typing in a url or going back to the bookmarks for a frequently viewed page.

The developer tools, which required a Terminal command to activate, were comparable to Firebug, which was a huge benefit when I discovered it for Firefox.

The favicons are next to invisible in Safari. Alt text doesn’t seem to appear when you hover over images.

The strangest thing to me, however, was the difference in the way plugins are treated between Safari and Firefox. Most of the worthwhile plugins for Safari seem to be monetized. While there’s nothing wrong with this per say, it’s a large divergence from the Firefox community.

The nail in the coffin for Safari, was the lack of preferences. An alarming amount of links open up in a new window rather than in a new tab. I couldn’t find the way to change this (if there is a way).  My options were to deal with the new window nonsense or to click on every link holding down the command key. Lovely… Next!

Opera

Opera, sadly, didn’t even rank. It seems to render closer to IE than any other browser. The support for it isn’t great, the community is okay but a little understated, and it doesn’t have much of a market to speak of.

I do enjoy another option out on the market, but I don’t believe that Opera is for me. It offers speed, but the only browser it outperforms hands-down is Internet Explorer, which hasn’t been in the running for a long time.

The accessibility features Opera offers is also impressive, but that’s also not something I require.

Chrome

Chrome had some serious promise. When I started using this application, it lacked support for extensions (Chrome’s plugins), which kept it a lot leaner than every other browser I used.

The feel of Chrome is similar to the name. It’s sleek, well finished, and streamlined.

There were still a few problems, despite the awesome feel of the whole application. For one, in the version I had there was no easy way to manage your bookmarks. The entire interface for that was lacking and empty. Also, the developer tools are a bit strange. For some reason, they feel a little slow and unresponsive.

Between a Top Sites section and the preferences for opening new tabs, this was a beautiful choice. I’d all settled down to use Chrome as my primary browser, when the unthinkable happened: it broke. Whenever an Ajax call was made, the JavaScript on the website would bug out and I’d get to see the lovely “Aww, snap!” error message.

Fine… back to square one.

The Result

Fast Dial, The Solution!

Oddly enough, I’m back where I started.

Firefox is still my weapon of choice when it comes to the web. What I came away with was a new-found love for the stability that Firefox has usually offered me. There was only one feature that kept worming its way into my wish-list. FF already had the dev tools and all of the plugins required, but it does not have the Top Sites.

The final solution was a plugin called Fast Dial. It allows me to have the Top Sites on Firefox for the new tab page. All that research for a plugin.

Long, Strange Trip

Not my couch, but the damage is similar.

I want her to stop clawing, but declawing is simply not an option. The only thing good about the procedure is that your cat will never claw anything again. The bad part is that it is equivalent to cutting of the first digit of your finger. They don’t simply remove the nail. The vet clips off that entire section of the toe. That alone makes it inhumane if there are other alternatives. But, what if your cat escapes and can’t defend itself? Would you de-tooth your dog because it chewed on the furniture?

With that out of the running, I’ve tried several other things trying to get Spaz to stop this natural but destructive behavior.

First, I attempted the give-her-something-better-to-claw method. I bought a little corrugated cardboard scratching post that hung on the door. She was extremely interested in licking and rolling over the post while it was covered in cat nip. Once the catnip was gone, Spaz could care less about it. She went right back to the couch.

Second, I tried the spray-her-when-you-notice method. Naturally, I forgot to keep the spray bottle in hand every moment of the day. Even when I did, she started running the second she heard us move. Still clawed… just paid more attention to where we were.

As a last ditch effort, I opted to get her a special cat playground. It’s a tiered, carpeted little bit with a hidey-hole and another sisal claw post. She loves the tiers, sitting up on the top basket and peering at the world through half-closed lids with her condescending expression. The scratching post she ignores, even when covered in cat nip.

They Are What, Now?

Kind of an ingenious design, eh?

I ran across Soft Paws in an advertisement in the Humane Society Shelter. I thought the idea was cute, but wouldn’t work. Cats do not like things on their paws. They’re not even fond of getting their paws sticky, wet, or otherwise compromised. Why would they allow you to put colorful vinyl caps on their claws?

On the other hand, they were a cheap investment. And, $25 is a lot less than the other methods that I’d already tried and failed at.

Each Soft Paws kit contains 40 nail caps, 2 tubes of adhesive, applicator tips and easy to follow instructions. One kit contains enough for 4 front paw applications. Each application lasts approximately 4-6 weeks therefore each kit lasts approximately 4-6 months.

Hmm…. 4 to 6 months? That’s a pretty big promise. Ultimately, I decided to give them a try. Between wanting a new couch sometime in the future and getting a puppy whose eyes are so prominent a blade of grass can cause damage, what can I lose by trying them? The worse case scenario is that I’m out $25 and I have to think of something new.

And The Verdict Is?

Not Spaz... But you get the idea.

Putting the little, blue claw-caps on Spaz was uneventful. For all the hassle I thought it would be, it was easy. I clipped her nails without fuss, learned how the glue went in the caps, and put them on her claws without incident. She got a little grumpy by the last paw, but all she did was pull away a little.

It’s been about two weeks since I first applied the caps. As the warning says, she’ll lose more in her first application than she will at any other time. Her nails aren’t used to it, you’re not sure when she’s shedding them, and she’ll clean them obsessively. In total, she’s lost five of them. Five of them in two weeks and I haven’t had a single scratch on the furniture since.

I think I can start picking out a new couch, unless Puck shows me the error of my ways by chewing the old one up.

That’s not exactly a phrase a woman would take well. If she’s irritated with you for telling her she can’t have what she wants, that’s doubly so. She definitely won’t think that you’re talking about a real book written by 37Signals.

When Jared gave me that exact phrase, I had to remove myself from the situation we were in, calm down, and deal with it later. I laughed when he brought me a book with the actual title of Getting Real. And here I thought he was just giving me shit.

First Impressions

Getting Real

The wisdom dispensed therein is simple. The presentation of their book fits nicely with the message that they’re trying to convey. No individual section is larger than three or four pages. The chunks are well spaced and each individual chunk has a clearly defined lesson to impart.

A Deeper Look

The one bad thing I have to say about the book is that the sections are too short. I’m the sort of individual who adores exhaustive detail. I want to not only know the how, but the why in as many ways as possible. There’s something reassuring about having all of the facts and descriptions metered out like a roadmap to the best software plan. If you’re looking for a roadmap, this is not the book for you.

If what you are seeking is a peak into 37Signal’s rabbit hole, you have your wish. This book, if lacking the detail I normally prefer, contains a host of valuable information. Keep it clean. Keep it simple. Keep it iterative. Figure out what you need to accomplish and get it done quickly. A great software no one can use because it’s still in the sketch process does no one any good. Your great idea, if left unfulfilled, is just that… an idea.

But Will I Buy It?

I may buy my own copy of this book, just to keep myself on course when the time comes for real programming. It’s important to keep your enthusiasm and drive. Thankfully, Getting Real provides not only the information, but the inspiration. Many of the concepts are ones I’ve had and have had to fight for.

It’s always good to hear someone (a largely successful someone) thinks the way that you do. Surrounded as I am with competent, intelligent people, this book may rest on the shelf for long years before I pick it up again. If you’re living it, you often don’t need reminding.

Ultimately, they wrote their book like they write their software. You’ll not only get the information in the book, but you’ll see it in play by the text on the page. These are the gents who brought us Ruby on Rails.

Should we expect anything else?

Terms and Conditions

Wall-eyed adorableness.

After calling several breeders within Arizona, I slowly discovered that I was going to have to drive to Vegas or LA to get a puppy. All of the breeders in Arizona (even in Phoenix) had gotten out of the gig.

I was walking past another pet store and they happened to have a little boy pup.

When meeting this little bugger, he was the epitome of happiness and playfulness. He played fetch with me for a good twenty minutes, desired nothing but my attention, and was interested in cuddling up with me when he decided to calm down for a total of two seconds. This was a completely different experience from the last puppy I visited, who just chewed on the friend who had come with me.

Already chewing on things.

In fact, the entire store seemed different. The puppies were interested in the people who were coming into the store. They seemed happy, playful, and in general more puppy-like than the other bedraggled creatures we had seen.

The paperwork was not very much different than the paperwork at the other store. However, they were very upfront about the issues they knew he had. For example, one of his knees is a little wonky. The vet says that it’s not bad and should improve with age, but it is something to note.

The Pet Store Puppy Problem

I'm Cute, Right?

Puck came with two free vet visits at a local clinic, which I’ve been to before and appreciate. He also came with a warranty for some common puppy problems and hereditary defects.

Laziest Tug of War, Ever.

Now, the bad part is that he needs this. He had a cold when I brought him home, which was disclosed by the store and by the vet that same day. I started him on his medicate and brought the vet a stool sample, as that’s a pretty standard procedure. Guess what? He’s got two fairly bad parasite infections in his intestines. Awesome. More medication for the poor pup, and likely a case of diarrhea from it.

The vet also suggested that I have two other operations performed at the same time as his neutering. His soft palette should be clipped back, and his thin nostrils should be widened. The warranty may even cover these procedures because they’re hereditary defects. These two operations, the vet assures me, would make him less susceptible to heat stroke, over exhaustion, and other air-flow based issues.

Training

Spaz, however, is very displeased.

Now, I haven’t trained a dog in forever. I taught Kyle (the family Scottish Terrier when I was a child) a few tricks here and there. Tricks, however, are a very different bag from basic behavior and manners.

I’m working on training him to use a special dog litter box. If I continue to live in apartments or small spaces without dog-doors or with lots of stairs, it’ll provide him a place to not have to hold it until I get home.

Then, we have the basic sit, come, and lay down commands. Beyond that, I’m not entirely sure what little oddities I’d like to teach him. I’ve seen some adorable little parlor entertainments performed by dogs like this. I figure, I’ll start with the important basics, and then mix it up with some fun things that’ll get laughs from people.

The game is pretty simple… You start off by controlling what appears to be a gust of wind.

This gust of wind is far from ordinary, however. Your main objective is to brush various flowers that litter the scenic landscape. When you touch a flower, you receive a petal from it and get to watch it burst into full bloom. The more flowers you come into contact with, the longer your petal train becomes.

Pastoral Beauty

Simple, no?

Despite the lack of dialogue, it’s not difficult to figure out what is happening in the storyline. For one, you’re no mere gust of wind. Touching the blooms coaxes spring itself to enter the little valleys you call your stomping grounds. What was once brown is now green with life… and tinkle noises. Did I mention that every flower you bloom makes a noise?

They even give you an antagonist halfway through the game. Evil electricity monster…

Each level has three secrets that you reveal by exploring the level, touching certain flowers, or playing with your environment. The flowers in the pots in the level selection area get healthier as you collect these secrets. Apparently they’re like fertilizer for your levels.

I’d seriously suggest getting this game for those of you who are thinking about it. It’s a wonderful little adventure that offers more replay time than I would have originally thought.

What Type of Dog?

A dog is a very different type of companion. Toy dogs are bred for just the sort of companionship I desire. They follow you around from room to room, they love to snuggle and be held, and generally they live to please you.

What’s best is that I have the time to commit to having a dog of that type. I have the room for a small dog, and would love the extra exercise that comes with an animal.

Could you say 'no' to that face?

My criteria were simple:

• Under 25 pounds.
• Not a Chihuahua.
• No excessive daily grooming.
• Won’t eat my cat.
• Won’t have the cat eat it.
• Must love people.
• Enjoys being carted around.
• Not a Chihuahua. I hate Chihuahuas.

Squished Face It Is!

Pugs are a natural, wonderful choice. They’re like having a little rancor on a leash. They love people, they love other animals, and they are inclined to be doted on.

What are you looking at?

Like any animal, they have their downsides. Their eyes, while expressive and adorable, are prone to damage. Choke collars that are too tight and sudden smacks on the back of the head can bug out the poor animals eyes. Their face requires special attention as the wrinkles can get infected easily without the proper care. They snore, gads, do they snore…

Despite all this, I think that a pug would be a wonderful addition to my family. Thankfully, Spaz is not prone to clawing people or animals deliberately, and I’ve recently purchased awesome little cat claw caps for her.

How could you say no to a face like that?

The First Attempt

Against my better judgement, I popped into a pet store. This little trip confirmed everything that I feared about pet stores.

There was something wrong with the pug’s tail. That should have been my first cue to walk out of the pet store then and there. Unlike the characteristic tail, she carried hers low. It should have been held up tight against her hindquarters.

Rescue dogs need love, too.

The individual in charge of overseeing me with the pug seemed more interested in leaving me alone with her than a supervised visit. It was their policy that really nailed the “no” for me.

You spend $1400. They don’t care what your home is like… They don’t ask you if you have other pets, if you have children, if you have other pets, or if you will be moving soon. They aren’t even particularly worried if you will keep the animal forever. They give you 24 hours to know whether the animal will be right for you and your home… and keep half of the money if you want to return it.

Is this any way to find a pet?

Off to find a real breeder or to go rescue one from a shelter. Bastards. Now, it’s too bad that I’m torn between finding a pug who has been abandoned or a new puppy.

It’s a Great Idea

Sales Amount!

Now, I see the ability of the language. It works on all platforms, compiles and packages well, and can be served off the web. These are great things in it’s favor.

It provides the ability to build computer games and mobile information. It has a huge API and you can access numerous types of databases with it. It touts that you have to write less code than with C++.

This is a great start…

But, Something is Missing

Cloogy error messages!

My main problem with Java, as we’re learning it, is that there seems to be a better and easier way to do everything we’re doing in class, particularly if it’s meant to be accessed via the web.

We created a small program to calculate the commission on a sales amount. First, the user was prompted for the sales amount. Then, they were asked to enter the identification number of their role from a list given. This dictated what percent commission they received. Finally, it outputted a final number.

Go go gadget data errors!

I’m completely overwhelmed by questions…

Why is this not just on the web? Why are we not using lighter-weight technologies to accomplish this same thing? We could even throw in a little JavaScript to pull some real interactivity.

Why are we making them input the number on their own rather than selecting it from a drop down or radio button? Why are we not giving the information in the same window? Why are we making them bounce from window to window? This doesn’t even cover the errors that a person can enter.

The Learning Curve

Oh look, data errors.

The problem I’m having here is a problem I have frequently. When I think that I know a simpler, easier way to accomplish the same objective, I want to use that instead. I always want to use the best tool for the job, if I can.

I always want to run before I can walk. Learning to crawl is beyond painful for me.

At least in the next class, we’ll be making a game.

Gowalla's Mascot

The Skinny

When you sign up for the service, you receive a passport. As you go about town and check in at various user-created locations, you gain stamps in your passport.

Every stamp is a theme centric icon of the category of place you’re at. At a theater? Well, you’ll get a set of curtains. Coffee shop? You get not one cup but two! The icons seem to be where the root of my love for this app is.

Trips seem to be an integral part of the app. They’re essentially a list of locations put together to form an interesting little walk-about in your area. Currently, these include campus tours, pub and club crawls, and guided tours (or scavenger hunts) of places like zoos and parks.

It even integrates with Facebook and Twitter, which ensures my mom feels included. She gets to think she knows what I’m doing and where I’m going.

Opinions and Such

Look! We're on Gowalla!

The app seems neither competitive nor cooperative. The ideas they present are enjoyable and fun, but a lot of the features could be expanded to give the game more of a draw. Neither items nor trips pull in the users to participate in any particular way.

Trips could be expanded to include not just the largest of the US cities, but all US cities. These, just like spots, could be user-generated. Perhaps they would only show up online after a certain amount of people voted for the trip or checked into the locations on the trip.

Appropriate finds ftw.

The items are a wonderful idea and have great implications. When you look at an item, the item detail shows you the number of unique owners and where they picked the item up. Users should be encouraged to drop an item everywhere they go, trading items out for others. Having an item where the first user was halfway across the United States (or better yet from another country entirely) just seems like an awesome idea to me. It would help illustrate how the ease of travel and connections in the internet age have changed the way we do things.

Where to Give Feedback?

What they need is a FAQ for the intended use of the different aspects of the game. Thankfully, their support via Get Satisfaction is monitored. It can be difficult to find their account from their main Gowalla site. They’ve neglected to put a proper link there, and instead have opted to put one on the main marketing site for the development company. I don’t think their intention was to hide it, but they could have been a bit better about the linkage.

I’m looking forward to when users will be able to easily find one another based on where they frequently go. All in all, this is a beautiful and greatly interactive program. It’s based on a growing community of users that input their own data. We just need a way to truly customize our cities.