Matthew Wronka http://bohmian.org/user/m http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_carrier_subsidized_phones http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_carrier_subsidized_phones 2010-08-19 08:55:16.912 The only reason to get a mobile phone subsidized by a mobile telecom is laziness. The prices are worse, the selection is worse, and you end-up paying more for it over the long-term.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_carrier_subsidized_phones http://bohmian.org/disc/Gecko_DOM_reference http://bohmian.org/disc/Gecko_DOM_reference 2010-08-19 08:53:10.152 The Mozilla project has an excellent document object model guide on their site. It's targetted at the gecko rendering engine but is useful for general development as well.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Gecko_DOM_reference http://bohmian.org/disc/Swoopo http://bohmian.org/disc/Swoopo 2010-08-16 12:54:01.961 One of the original, and a German based site, hosting all-pay auctions.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Swoopo http://bohmian.org/disc/SwipeBids.com http://bohmian.org/disc/SwipeBids.com 2010-08-16 12:52:35.652 A site providing all-pay auctions. ]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/SwipeBids.com http://bohmian.org/disc/Scams http://bohmian.org/disc/Scams 2010-08-16 12:50:14.438 A system designed to separate fools from money.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Scams http://bohmian.org/disc/All-pay_auctions http://bohmian.org/disc/All-pay_auctions 2010-08-16 12:48:59.821 scams]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/All-pay_auctions http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_SDK http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_SDK 2010-08-14 14:56:23.866 Nokia has released virtual disk images containing Ubuntu GNU Linux and the Maemo SDK. They have instructions for getting it to work with qemu but those failed for me on Mac OSX (even once I enabled PAE and NX support). Using VirtualBox seemed to work beautifully, despite now being labeled Oracle. They most annoying niggle were the name resolution problems in scratchbox I hadn't experienced before.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_SDK http://bohmian.org/disc/Name_resolution_problems_in_scratchbox http://bohmian.org/disc/Name_resolution_problems_in_scratchbox 2010-08-14 14:51:33.181 I couldn't get apt-get update to work in scratchbox on the Nokia Maemo SDK virtual disk images, despite the virtual image itself having no problems, and even links in the scratchbox being alright.

It turns out that--somehow--links was using the resolv.conf file in the target (/scratchbox/users//targets/) while apt-get was using the one in /scratchbox/etc/.

From the virtual image (outside of scratchbox), the ``ln -sf /etc/resolv.conf /scratchbox/etc/resolv.conf'' fixed the problem.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Name_resolution_problems_in_scratchbox http://bohmian.org/disc/Bash_Reference http://bohmian.org/disc/Bash_Reference 2010-07-12 15:53:18.157 The online reference manual for the Bash shell is extremely useful for referencing some of the more esoteric aspects of the incredibly complex shell without getting stuck in the GNU info viewer with all of it's icky emacsness.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Bash_Reference http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_apps___the_missing_links http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_apps___the_missing_links 2010-06-01 06:17:17.942 Bijan's article Mobile apps & the missing links was sent to me at work, since I work on mobile applications and mobile web. I like his point; I agree with his point. This is one of the reasons why moving to web applications from the desktop (a process that started in the Netscape 4 era and has only in recent years started to demonstrate its potential).

However, web applications haven't quite reached the point of maturity: there's still a lot of incompatibility, experimentation, and bad ideas. There are still many web applications where it's not practical if even possible to link to content as Bijan describes because developers have an application-centric focus rather than a web-centric focus.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_apps___the_missing_links http://bohmian.org/disc/Alewife_parkway_red-tailed_hawk http://bohmian.org/disc/Alewife_parkway_red-tailed_hawk 2010-06-01 05:58:36.205 A group of red-tailed hawklettes were born two weeks ago. They're still drawing crowds. Get off my lawn!]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Alewife_parkway_red-tailed_hawk http://bohmian.org/disc/Trying_to_update_any_application_using_the_Maemo_application_catalog_fails http://bohmian.org/disc/Trying_to_update_any_application_using_the_Maemo_application_catalog_fails 2010-05-27 10:55:48.753 The application catalog on the Nokia N900 mobile Internet device can sometimes have issues. More reliable in these situations is to launch a terminal (or remotely connect to the tablet, and manually run apt-get.

Specifically, you'll need to run ``apt-get update'' followed by ``apt-get dist-upgrade'' to update everything, including the system.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Trying_to_update_any_application_using_the_Maemo_application_catalog_fails http://bohmian.org/disc/The_availability_of_the_Maemo_5_PR1.2_isn%27t_visible_on_my_Nokia_N900_device http://bohmian.org/disc/The_availability_of_the_Maemo_5_PR1.2_isn%27t_visible_on_my_Nokia_N900_device 2010-05-27 10:53:55.456 For whatever reason, my Nokia N900 mobile Internet device doesn't know that Maemo 5 PR1.2 was released this week. The best indication I have is that trying to update any application using the Maemo application catalog fails.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/The_availability_of_the_Maemo_5_PR1.2_isn%27t_visible_on_my_Nokia_N900_device http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_5_PR1.2 http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_5_PR1.2 2010-05-27 10:52:08.423 The Maemo 5 PR1.2 release took a horrendously long three months from when it was first announced and pushed to developers until it was made available for end-user phones. Unfortunately, everyone had expected that it would be released within weeks of the SDK update, and as such, the developer and release platforms were retooled to support only the upcoming PR1.2 seriously hindering development and release schedules.

Even more awesome, I was completely taken aback when I saw the articles from earlier in the week that the update was available, as the availability of the Maemo 5 PR1.2 isn't visible on my Nokia N900 device.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_5_PR1.2 http://bohmian.org/disc/Apple_iPhone_controls_100__of_the_iPhone_market http://bohmian.org/disc/Apple_iPhone_controls_100__of_the_iPhone_market 2010-05-21 14:36:23.973 Starting new statistics show that approximately 100% of the Apple iPhone market is dominated by Apple Computers' line of mobile phones. The largest competitors remain Chinese counterfeit copies, but oddly, Apple reports that these do not make up a noticeable percentage of traffic on its app store.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Apple_iPhone_controls_100__of_the_iPhone_market http://bohmian.org/disc/Toshiba_SD4100_DVD_Player http://bohmian.org/disc/Toshiba_SD4100_DVD_Player 2010-05-10 23:59:38.116 The Toshiba SD4100 DVD player is easily made region-free by entering the numbers "9-8-7-9-0" on the remote while the player's disc tray is open.

I recently picked-up one of the SD4100s because of its low price and acceptable quality.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Toshiba_SD4100_DVD_Player http://bohmian.org/disc/Lord_of_Ultima http://bohmian.org/disc/Lord_of_Ultima 2010-04-24 13:38:56.029 I've been playing Lord of Ultima since ... well, since slashdot ran a piece about it. I have mixed feelings about it; Lord of Ultima is very not Ultima, but it's still fun. It's basically Warcraft with a handful of names from the Ultima series.

It's probably be more fun if anybody I knew were actually playing it. I'm excited that it's an entirely native browser-based game; which while not new in itself it feels unique coming from a big company that would generally prefer something flashy.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Lord_of_Ultima http://bohmian.org/disc/T-Mobile_vs_Comcast_Internet_Prices_in_2010 http://bohmian.org/disc/T-Mobile_vs_Comcast_Internet_Prices_in_2010 2010-04-14 09:16:45.759 Comcast owns the local cable monopoly, and is the only provider of terrestrial high-speed Internet in the area. Comcast is a monopoly, and they own a lot of the local infrastructure for transmitting bits over wire, which is generally recognized as one of the best ways of transporting electric binary numbers over moderately large distances fairly quickly and cheaply.

T-Mobile USA is a division of a German monopoly, Deutsche Telekom--but in the United States of America it's in a fierce competition with three other national mobile telecommunications carriers. T-Mobile leases the necessary last-hop infrastructure from the federal government, which while useful for connecting highly-mobile targets is often considered inefficient and limited in speed given contention and interference.

It seems almost brain-dead obvious that the wired carier--Comcast--should have the better Internet rates. At the moment, they're advertising to rates for my area: $24.95/month for 1Mbps down and 384kbps up; or $42.95/month 15Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

With an existing family plan for T-Mobile (voice), one can add a second line for $5/month, and get a flat-rate data tariff for $25/month on top of that. That means that the line would cost an even $30/month--just over the $24.95/month of Comcast's cheaper plan, and well below the $42.95/month of their premium plan (excluding taxes and other fees on each). The T-Mobile plan supports High Speed Packet Access usage at 14Mbps up and 5.8Mbps down--much closer to the higher Comcast tier.

Admittedly, this requires the purchase of a GSM to WiFi bridge, but a Comcast plan would also require the purchase of a cable modem, or a monthly lease, the final rate of which becomes about equivalent.

Additional qualifications:
a) Of course this only matters if you actually get a UMTS connection where you live, in-doors. A UMTS repeater might be an option, but isn't always.
b) Sending packets over the air will have higher latency in almost all cases than sending them over a wire. Comcast would have to really screw something up for this not to be the case.

My biggest argument against switching to a mobile connection primarily is that you would most likely lose a directly-addressable IPv4 address. IPv6 could of course render this moot, and the increased filtering and the failure of net-neutrality has already gone a long way of doing this anyway.
]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/T-Mobile_vs_Comcast_Internet_Prices_in_2010 http://bohmian.org/disc/Asterisk_PBX http://bohmian.org/disc/Asterisk_PBX 2010-04-07 09:19:44.023 Asterisk is an open-source PBX implemented in software providing individuals or companies with a flexible, inexpensive, platform for telephonic needs.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Asterisk_PBX http://bohmian.org/disc/The_United_States_according_to_Facebook_users http://bohmian.org/disc/The_United_States_according_to_Facebook_users 2010-04-06 10:20:54.745 Pete Warden crawled all of the public profiles on Facebook.com and did some clustering to find seven major social-networks inside the United States.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/The_United_States_according_to_Facebook_users http://bohmian.org/disc/Android_operating_system http://bohmian.org/disc/Android_operating_system 2010-04-05 15:31:37.261 A mostly open-source operating system created by Google.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Android_operating_system http://bohmian.org/disc/Nokia_S60_N97_mini_and_Maemo_N900_Review_from_an_iPhone_Perspective http://bohmian.org/disc/Nokia_S60_N97_mini_and_Maemo_N900_Review_from_an_iPhone_Perspective 2010-03-30 16:25:32.51 The article, Nokia S60 N97 mini and Maemo N900 Review from an iPhone Perspective — Smartphone Round Robin on tipb.com was one of the more level overviews I've read. Unlike many sites that are vehemently in one camp or another or simply plagued with myopia, this review gives a very high-level overview of the different products and the marketing points, and is very honest about its bias coming from an Apple iPhone background.

The preferences and observations mentioned in the article I find interesting because of this background; in a few cases I found myself commenting to myself on the strangeness of the preference since my own tastes were reversed. For instance, the comment on the resistive vs. capacitive touchscreen issue, the author indicates:

Having gotten used to glass, capacitive screens over the last couple years of iPhone use, however, I’ve come to regard using a resistive device as a chore. Instead of light flicks and swipes with the finger, Nokia devices require firm presses and drags with the finger nail. Sure, resistive screens are more pixel-precise, but they’re far less immediate than capacitive ones, and that lack of immediacy results — for me — in a lack of connection to my device. The iPhone’s screen feels like it knows what you want it to do and just does it. Nokia’s screens feel like they do what you force them to.

My own experience using the HTC Magic and Apple iPhone is that the screens are overly sensitive, often causing me to select something I hadn't intended to. I do not know for sure if my own preference comes from my general preference for a hardware keyboard so that a slightly slower response from the screen doesn't slow down my typing, or that the screen itself on modern Nokia phones are significantly more responsive than the last time I used a touchscreen on a Palm Tungsten T3.

There are a few parts of the article which I do feel are misleading or misinformed.

But with the ability to manage your device to that degree comes with it the equal and opposite reality of a device that needs to be managed to that degree.

There are plenty (probably the majority) of Nokia users that do very minimal if any customization of their phones. Which leads well into the next criticism:

These are the dichotomies that face Nokia and its platforms — globally popular yet locally unknown, past its prime yet not ready for primetime, targeted at emerging markets yet embraced by high-order geeks. And given the strength of other options, I’m not sure it’s one most consumers will be willing to investigate.

A few paragraphs of talking about the fact that Nokia has both Symbian and Maemo phones (not to mention the occasional Nokia S40) conclude with this awkward attempt at summing-up. Although I don't disagree that the two platforms introduces some additional pressures on a company; Nokia has reasonably stated that they're targeting each at different audiences, with Symbian targetted at mid-range smartphones and Maemo at the higher-end and more advanced mobile Internet devices.

The articles closing advice does seem sound, however. If you don't know which one you want--if you don't understand the differences--the Apple iPhone might be the best fit for you. You'll look cool, and people will like you. If you want a solid phone, the Nokia N97 is probably your best bet, and if you want unbridled mobile computing freedom, then the Nokia N900 is probably your best bet.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Nokia_S60_N97_mini_and_Maemo_N900_Review_from_an_iPhone_Perspective http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_Linux_distribution http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_Linux_distribution 2010-03-30 13:35:14.27 A Linux distribution targeted towards a mobile low-resource device such as a MID or phone, and possibly including netbooks.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Mobile_Linux_distribution http://bohmian.org/disc/Moblin http://bohmian.org/disc/Moblin 2010-03-30 13:33:40.32 Intel's mobile Linux distribution, now merged with Nokia's Maemo project.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Moblin http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_devices http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_devices 2010-03-30 13:32:14.834 Primarily Nokia mobile Internet devices, including the Nokia N900. Maemo has subsequently merged with Intel's Moblin to form MeeGo.]]> http://bohmian.org/disc/Maemo_devices