I live in a historic neighborhood in Dallas.  The area has a certain charm and character to it quite different that what you find in new housing developments.  Most of the houses were built in the 1920s.  They have large front porches; many of them have swings.

A few miles away is another neighborhood, almost as old as this one.  There are a few houses from the same time period here, but most houses are new construction.  The older, smaller homes were torn down for newer, larger ones.  It is a nice neighborhood, but it doesn’t have the same character as my neighborhood.

The difference is that I live in a registered historic area.  Here, the homes cannot be torn down to be replaced by new construction.  All new construction must match the existing style.  In other words, significant effort has been put into preserving this part of our history.

The Web is like the other, non-protected neighborhood.  Many sites were built in the late 90s and early 2000s, but most of them have been torn down in favor of new construction.  In some ways this is a good thing.  Most of those early sites were ugly.  Bright backgrounds, blinking text, Comic-Sans font, and background music.  These are all things I do not miss.  But I fear that the character of the Web has been lost to the mass production of cookie cutter websites.

The sameness in design doesn’t bother me as much as the consolidation of the content.  When was the last time that you actually “surfed” the web?  I used to “sign-on” and then begin a journey of following links deeper and deeper down the rabbit’s hole.  The Web was a place where any crackpot with a computer could and would post their thoughts and ideas.  You could discover a topic and hit every site in that ‘web-ring.’  Today, one Google/Wikipedia search, and I’m done.

Today, we’ve traded out “Under Construction” icons for “Beta” tags.  Our web-rings have been replaced with “social bookmarks”.  Our home pages with guestbooks are now blogs with comments.  And although it may just seem that we’ve just swapped terminology, I think the Web has lost it’s charm and character.

I think we need a historic district for the Web.  A place to encourage new content, but it must match the style of a certain time period.  We should also find the old ‘classic’ web sites and relocate them to this district.  I also think there’s a place that’s perfect for this: GeoCities.  I’ll bet you didn’t know they were still around.  This could breathe new old life right back into the Web.  What do you think?

I’ve been putting this off long enough.

I should start blogging again, but:

• I need to move my blog back to my own domain
• I need a better style for the blog
• I need a better defined purpose for the blog
• I need something to talk about

As for the rest of my reasons, I haven’t made any headway there, but I shouldn’t let that stop me. In theory, the content is the reason to visit the site, not the appearance. I can tweak and refine the style of the blog over time, as I continue to blog. I guess that means I’m under construction.

In any case, I’m going to try to post here on a more frequent basis. Some posts will be quick thoughts. Things that catch my eye. Others may be longer, more thought out. (I wouldn’t expect too many of those.) Some may be blatantly promotional for TileStack.com. (You should sign up for TileStack.com)

I can’t stay up too late tonight, I need to wake up by 7:00, so I can be at work by 8:00.  That probably doesn’t seem like a very significant statement.  Most of the world will have to be at work by 8:00, but starting a year and a few weeks ago I transitioned to the startup life.

For me this meant a workday that started around 10 and usually went until 11 or so at night.  Of course a lot has changed in a year.  Where there were originally two, there are now four.  More people requires better organization and a little process.  Without it, coordination becomes difficult.  Where previously working odd hours around the clock was good for productivity, it is now a hindrance to the team building.  Especially when all the members are either married or seriously involved.

Megan has of course been on board with me on this venture from the very beginning.  I would could not have done this without her support.  It isn’t fair to her for me to sleep when she is at work, and then for me to work when she is at home.  While that sort of schedule can work for the short term, it increasingly becomes a problem as time passes.

Tomorrow begins a new era for our company.  It is day one of having standard office hours.  They are longer hours than most companies; but hey, we are a four person internet startup company.  It is a shame in some respects.  Sleeping in was one of the greatest perks of being self employed, but if this company is going to grow up into something great, then I will have to grow up as well.

Well, that’s all I have time for now.  I’m off to bed.  I have to get up early tomorrow.

This is for everyone who has asked me what I do for a living, and politely nodded while I failed to adequately explain.

[blip.tv ?posts_id=1131781&dest=-1]

Yesterday on Slashdot, someone posted an InfoWorld interview of Brendan Eich (the creator of JavaScript).  In the interview he lays out his plans of the evolution of JavaScript into what he calls JS2.  The discussion on Slashdot was over the details of whether the language changes made things better or worse.  The thing about programmers is that they won’t all agree on anything.  Everyone has their own understanding of how software should be written.  My critique isn’t on any of the details of the language changes, its the premise itself.

First of all, let me say that I don’t believe JavaScript to be the Holy Grail of languages.  It’s not perfect, there are things about it that I find irritating.  There are also things about it that I like.  This is true of any language with any competent hacker.

Why JavaScript Matters:

More and more software is being designed to run “in the cloud”.  The benefits are obvious.  Deployment is trivial, as are upgrades.  Developing for the web means not having to care about the users' platforms.  Connectivity is becoming faster and more ubiquitous every day.  JavaScript matters because it is the language of the web.  It excels not on technical merit, but out of necessity.

In the 1990s, Netscape was in a unique position.  It essentially owned the web platform.  Whatever they decided became standard.  When Microsoft built IE, they had to include JavaScript support so their browser could compete.  Every new browser since then had to include a JavaScript engine.

In todays market, every computer has a web browser and therefore has a JavaScript engine.  JavaScript matters for one reason, and only one reason: it is ubiquitous.

Why JS2 Does Not Matter:

Although Mozilla acts as if they inherited Netscape’s mid 90s status as keeper of the web platform, this is not the case.  They say that it doesn’t matter is Microsoft adopts JS2 or not, they’ll just write an IE plugin.  This may work to increase JS2 adoption, but it doesn’t actually solve any real problems.  JS2 is a solution looking for a problem.

When building TileStack, my main problem with JS isn’t some language feature (native classes, typed variables, etc.) it’s the lack of consistency between browsers.  Granted this isn’t something the Mozilla Foundation can fix, but a new version of the JS language does more harm than good in this context. 

Why JS2 is Harmful to Mozilla:

While Mozilla has the best of their JavaScript team busy writing new language features, the competition is getting tough.  Apple continues to push the limits of WebKit.  The next version of Safari will smoke the competition when it comes to JS performance.  They are packing so much stuff into the browser, that web developers will start to question the need for Flash.  Meanwhile, Mozilla is working on the syntax for the “let” keyword.  Hey Mozilla, where’s mobile FireFox?  How come the poster boy for open source isn’t part of the first open source mobile phone platform (Android)?  Congratulations on all the downloads of FireFox 3.  Too bad it’s killer feature is that it doesn’t suck down resources like FireFox 2.  Wake up guys, you’re starting to lose!

I guess the point is that language syntax is one of the least important features of a platform.  Do developers use .Net for C#’s syntax?  Is Objective-C’s syntax the reason for Apple’s recent successes?  Will the declarative structure of JavaFX Script save the Java platform?  I could go on with more examples, but I wont.  The answer is a resounding NO!  There are much more important things to ensuring the success of a platform than language syntax.

I suppose this doesn’t really need to concern me.  The web as a platform will continue to exist and grow and mature.  It’s just frustrating to observe this waste of time and energy.

UPDATE: I want to give credit where credit is due.  My colleague Josh Gertzen was quoted in AjaxWorld magazine on the irrelevancy of JS2 in an article that ran on Slashdot for a while.

This is for all those people who are trying to run a web business that need to send bulk email messages and don’t want them to go directly into their recipients' spam folders.

Yesterday, I (and several others) dedicated several hours to the task of determining why every email we sent went directly into the spam folders of those we were trying to reach. When you search Google for information about spam filters, you find plenty of information about blocking unwanted email, but hardly anything about making sure your legitimate bulk email is not discarded with the trash. We were able to solve our issues, and so I thought I’d share our findings with the community.

• Send only plain text. Attachments and HTML content raise flags with content filters.
• Set the message header: "Precedence: bulk"
• You must set a subject, body, from address, and reply-to address (not having reply-to was my problem

• Publish an SPF record in your DNS configuration
• Configure your MTA to and DNS to use DKIM. (Acronyms FTW!)

Sources:

• http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81126
• http://domainkeys.sourceforge.net/
• http://www.skylist.net/resources/authentication.php

I’ve been a subscriber of Blockbuster Online for over two years now. At the start of this year, they raised their rate by $2 a month and limited the number of in store exchanges to 2 per month. What pushed me over the edge was the fact that they automatically published the movies I requested to my Facebook feed. I never authorized this, I never linked the accounts. In fact, I use different email addresses for those services, so they had to do some browser magic or something to accomplish this. To me, this is a violation.

So, the question is, do I switch to Netflix. Their plan for one at a time is $8.99, but there is obviously no in store rental. Instead they offer a selection of films that I can watch online. The problem is, that service is Windows only, and I’m on a Mac. (I’ve heard it does work in Parallels). Blockbuser offers a no store exchange plan at $8.99 as well.

Any thoughts? Any positive/negative experiences with either service?

• Airlink+ 802.11b Wireless Router
• Cable Modem
• Small box labeled "Everything Mac"
• Smaller envelope labeled "Everything Else"
• 1 empty Diet Pepsi can
• Clipboard with notebook paper and a legal pad attached
• Dillard's Gift card envelope
• Open CD Jewel Case
• 17" Macbook Pro
• Kingston 1GB USB Memory Stick
• Paperback TNIV translation of the Bible
• Commentary on Romans
• Digital Camera
• Three cork coasters
• One cup of cold coffee, 1/4 full
• 15" Compaq LCD monitor
• Kengington Bluetooth mouse
• Apple Power Supply
• Multi-colored index cards
• Chip-clip
• Empty Package of peanuts
• Black dry-erase marker
• Extra battery
• Deck of playing cards with pictures of my friends plotting my demise
• Bridal portrait of Megan
• Broken pair of sunglasses
• Stack of receipts
• World clock paperweight (not weighing down any paper)
• Analog clock with my initials engraved
• Letter opener
• Class of 2000 cup full of pens and pencils
• Stereo speakers
• DVI to VGA monitor adapter
• KVM cables

ThinWire, the framework that provided my acclaim in the technology space, has just announced Release Candidate 2 of version 1.2 with promises of a final release within the week. This is very exciting news for anyone that uses the framework. It continues to get better and better over time. Congratulations Josh!

Download Link

Yesterday at OSCon, Prentice Hall announced the launch of the Sourceforge Community Press.  It is a special line of eBooks (called Shortcuts) that feature open source projects and are written by the developers themselves.

It is my pleasure to announce that one of the four titles available at launch is the ThinWire Handbook: A Guide to Creating Effective Ajax Applications, co-authored by yours truly.  It is available now for the price of $12.99 as a downloadable PDF, and it is also available through the Safari Bookshelf.

In the book, Josh Gertzen and I provide an overview of the entire framework.  Our goal is to describe the essence of each piece that makes up the complete framework, as well as to document features that may not be obvious to most developers.  So, if you’re into that sort of thing, go pick up download a copy, and start learning the awesomeness that is ThinWire.

Are you afraid?  You should be.  There’s plenty to fear in this world, take your pick:

• Global Warming
• Terrorism
• Unstable Economy
• Job security
• Expiring natural resources
• Bad Credit

We lock our houses at night because we fear.  We avoid people out of fear.  We give up freedoms because we fear.  We go to war because we fear.  We buy insurance because we fear.  Insurance, that’s an entire industry built on fear.  “You need it because something bad could happen to you.”

So what is the anti-fear?  Some would argue that it is knowledge.  People fear what they don’t know.  That’s why some people micro-manage.  A micro-manager has to know every detail about every thing because they are afraid their project will fail otherwise.  But more knowledge isn’t always a viable answer.  No one can be an expert on everything.  People must learn to trust each other.

Ah, so trust must be the anti-fear.  But where does trust come from.  Any person will tell you that trust has to be earned.  Why must trust be earned?  Because people are afraid to trust.  A person must first prove that they are trustworthy, and then once they make a mistake, the status of trustworthy is revoked.  So again, fear can kill trust, but trust alone isn’t powerful enough to fight fear.

So what is the anti-fear?  I would suggest that it is love.  Now, I’m not talking about the emotion of infatuation.  I’m not talking about anything touchy-feely.  The Greeks have several words that are translated as love in English.  In Greek, I’m talking about Agape.  Why is Agape the anti-fear?

I said earlier that fear is irrational, so is Agape.  Agape is putting others before you no matter what.  Unconditionally.

Agape is patient, agape is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Agape does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It is completely senseless and irrational, but think about it.  If you choose to agape, if you choose to love everyone, what happens to fear?  You see, love is an action, it is a choice.  It is a choice to not fear, but to trust.  A choice not to fear, but to rejoice in truth.  Reality has an amazing ability to fight fear.  When the truth is known, what is there to fear?  But because of love, you can trust and not fear, as the truth takes it’s time being revealed.

Now, when you walk around loving everyone and fearing no one, you open yourself up to being taken advantage of.  It’s a big risk.  In fact, it’s almost certain that you will be hurt in one way or another.  There are real dangers in this world, things that could kill us.  I would actually go so far as to say that a complete abandonment of fear would be stupid, because without fear, we’d all be killed by our own stupidity.  If only there were a piece to this equation, someone or something that could be completely relied upon to give stability to everything.

This is where my faith in God comes into play.  It is the Lord that provides this for me.  I can trust in Him that, no matter what is going on in this life, I’m going to be ok.  You may think that’s crazy, but I have no fear, and therefore no one on this earth has power over me.

As soon as I heard the announcement, I downloaded the public beta of Safari 3 for Windows.  So far I'm pretty impressed.  The memory usage seems to come in between Firefox (the worst) and Opera (the best).  ThinWire, my web application framework, works beautifully.  Gmail works fine, but Yahoo Mail has some issues (I get lots of JS errors).

I did a quick performance benchmark.  ThinWire has a Grid component that can display lots of data.  I fired up my benchmark app for the Grid, and added 10,000 rows.  Here's the performance results:

• Internet Explorer 7: 1 minute 33.66 seconds
• Opera 9: 27.93 seconds
• Firefox 2: 23.24 seconds
• Safari 3 Beta: 18.91 seconds

Also, while the Grid was loading, the rest of the app was still responsive; I could even start browsing and scrolling the Grid.Also, a quick look in the install directory reveals some interesting libraries.  WebKit was there as expected, but also CoreFoundation (Apple's base C library) and CoreGraphics (the main OS X graphics library).  Very interesting.

Every morning I come into work, plug my laptop in, and turn it on.  It quickly resumes from hibernation, and then forces me to wait for about three minutes while svchost.exe dominates the CPU.  This morning, however, the process never finished.

Several hours and searches later, I had my computer back as well as a new disdain for Microsoft Update.  Windows Update is a standard feature of every version of Windows since 98 (I think).  Starting with XP service pack 2, we gained the “option” to have the updates auto-downloaded.  This works fairly well.  The problem occurs when you opt to “enhance” your Windows Update and turn it into Microsoft Update.  It sounds like a good idea.  You get the Office updates and any other MS product updates.  Unfortunately the update process isn’t the most efficient.

As a software developer myself, I have learned restraint in criticizing others' design.  I will, however, let the community speak out on this: [link]

Basically, whenever you start your machine, MS Update (via svchost.exe) checks every app that was installed with Windows Installer 3 to see if there are any updates available.  This takes forever.  I did, however find a fix, courtesy of the MS community forums [link].

Here’s what you do:

• Download and install this HotFix: KB927891 (Restart required)
• Download and install Windows Update Agent 3.0

Effective AJAX for Everyone ‘Including the Enterprise’

Like the rest of us developers out there, you've probably been captivated by the promises that AJAX and Web 2.0 make. Sure, there's a great deal of hype surrounding any new technology wave, but somehow this feels different. For the first time since the Web application made its debut, there's a real sense that a new paradigm shift is upon us.

Ok, so the guy that created the Hillary Clinton 1984 video that’s on YouTube revealed himeself.  Since he works for a consulting service that the Obama campaign uses, he was promptly fired.  What bothers me most about this is the fact that people are acting like this was the correct thing to do.  The article even speculates whether the Obama campaign did enough to distance itself from this video.

We are a country that’s proud of our freedom of speech.  YouTube is probably one of the best examples of this expression. Anyone with a video camera and an internet connection can send a message to the world.  You can say anything you like, and if everything lines up just right, your video could be seen by millions of people.  That’s power in the hands of individuals. This is what America is supposed to be all about.

But if you post something about a political candidate, people start questioning.

• Who made this?
• Who paid for it?
• How much did it cost?
• Can they say that?
• Is this fair?

What’s Tumblr?  It’s basically a blog for someone who has such a severe case of ADD that they can’t concentrate long enough to read these short posts.

tedchoward.tumblr.com

ThinWire Framework Architect Gives Grand Ballroom Session at AJAXWorld

The primary architect behind the open source ThinWire AJAX Framework, Joshua Gertzen, spoke about 'Effective AJAX for Everyone Including the Enterprise' today at AJAXWorld Conferece & Expo 2007 East, in the Grand Ballroom of the historic Roosevelt Hotel.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2015512141

From AjaxWorld:

Helmi Open Source RIA Platform and the CCS ThinWire Solution To Be Integrated

'Working with CCS enables both companies to go to market with a robust AJAX solution for our customers,' said Juho Risku, CTO and founder of Helmi Technologies, as Helmi announced this morning at AJAXWorld Conference & Expo 2007 East in New York that they have joined forces with Custom Credit Systems (CCS), developer of the ThinWire RIA Platform, to deliver an integrated client-server AJAX solution.

http://www.nbc5i.com/sports/11297937/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=news

drudgereport.com/flash2.ht…

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20070319.DCM015&show_article=1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=443043&in_page_id=1965

I’m not an Obama fan, but this is clever.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch

www.dallascowboys.com/news.cfm