Another 365 days, another sol under my belt. I’m no longer in my early 30s, I’m now in my early mid-30s. I’ve decided to twitter the day so as to have some documentation to look back on years from now, when remembering that crazy year in Marshfield. If I can’t be narcissistic today of all days, then when?
Author: fledgling otaku
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cloudware
Cloudware is software that primarily runs in the cloud, rather than on your own hardware. I’ve started cataloging what cloudware I use over at metablog.us, starting with an incredibly handy service from Microsoft called Foldershare. -
Foldershare
I’m starting a new category, called “cloudware” which is how i intend to refer to software that runs in the cloud. This will be my way of documenting what cloudware I actually use and fine useful. Fitting then that the first entry here is for Foldershare, a beta service from Microsoft that is stunningly simple in its execution. It’s basically a P2P client that runs on your own machines and synchronizes files across them in any folder(s) you specify. It does require a small client download on each PC to work, but the footprint is quite small (On my Asus EEE, its taking up about 10 MB of RAM). However, once the client is installed on each PC you want to sync, all config is done via the Foldershare website. You can also sync files between yourself and other people, permitting collaborative work.
I think the idea is effective because it treats the PC as part of the cloud rather than just a thin client. P2P implicitly assumes that the important content is at those end-nodes, ie the users’ PCs, and not intrinsic to the cloud. Using P2P in this very specific, very focused way is simply brilliant.
It should be noted that they’ve had some hiccups, but hopefully that’s behind them 🙂 I am using it right now for a folder containing a manuscript in draft and it’s incredibly empowering for me to be able to sit at either computer and just start working. The files are even available online if you’re away from your client PCs.
In one sense a purely cloud-based application like Google Docs obviates the need to keep files in sync. However, cloud-based productivity apps are still orders of magnitude behind the desktop equivalents. Even Open Office still doesn’t suffice for my needs compared to Microsoft Word. There’s simply no way to (yet) replicate the productivity of working on your home PC by working exclusively in the cloud. This is why Foldershare is so interesting – it lets you work as you normally would, but augments that by letting you tap into the distributed nature of the cloud. It’s the best of both worlds and until pure cloudware catches up to regular software in terms of functionality, it’s going to be a better solution than working exclusively online.
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my dubious heritage
File this under “ways to waste time with your Asus EEE PC” since if not for the built-in webcam, I’d likely have not bothered with this. But bothered with it, I did, and here’s the result:
Abishek Bachan? I guess all we desis do look alike. I have not, to my knowledge, inspired my spouse to fast for a day out of devotion, however.
Howard Dean? curious indeed. Political heritage rather than genetic? I am pseudo-infamous for having launched a little blog that I am proud to say played some role in the Dean campaign. Back during those heady days, we tossed about the idea of a TV commercial where ordinary folk would stare into the camera and say, “I am Howard Dean.” How prophetic is that!
John Lennon? I guess I do have that subversive, yet pragmatic revolutionary bent.
Hugo Weaving? Am I an elf lord, disdainful of those inferior to me yet also accepting that they must supplant me? Or am I a construct that rebels against its cage? Either way, cooool.
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goodbye, Hobbit.
frak.
LOS ANGELES – The estate of “Lord of the Rings” creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company hasn’t paid it a penny from the estimated $6 billion the films have grossed worldwide.
ADVERTISEMENTThe suit, filed Monday, claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts to Tolkien’s estate and other plaintiffs, who contend they only received an upfront payment of $62,500 for the three movies before production began.
What the heck is wrong with the idiots at New Line?? Shamus says it more calmly than I can.
Naturally, no word of this at the Official Hobbit Blog. I still hold out hope that New Line will be forced to do the right thing, and that the Tolkien estate won’t be so burned by the experience that they will allow The Hobbit to be made, but it’s obviously not happening this decade.
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writing, meet wall
Well, this sucks for HD-DVD:
Netflix has just announced its intention to only stock Blu-ray titles in the future. Netflix justified its decision by pointing out the fact that most Hollywood studios seem to be converging solely around the Sony-backed format — a fact that’s all too familiar to Toshiba and friends. With both Blockbuster and now the ‘Flix having eschewed HD DVD for BD, it’s gonna get harder and harder to even find a place to rent those former discs in the first place, let alone one that has a decent selection.
I think that this is pretty serious a blow, since renting movies is the way most people watch them instead of purchasing them outright. Though it should be noted that downloading a movie instead of renting a physical disc is a business plan waiting in the wings. I don’t think it will happen soon enough to blunt the impact of Netflix’s decision, though, and anyway even if download becomes prevalent that doesnt help Blu-ray or HD-DVD much. They are both fighting to see who gets obsoleted last.
HD-DVD players are very, very cheap at Amazon.
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100 degrees F
You may have noticed that I didn’t have much to say from last Saturday to Wednesday; this is because we had gone to San Antonio for my wife to attend the AAD conference. It was unbelievably gorgeous Texas ill country weather down there. I spent 9 years in Houston, recall, and there February was indeed pleasant, but San Antonio has all of that without the humidity. It went as high as 85 degrees, which was ideal for the Riverwalk or the Zoo. We even had to use sunscreen (my wife is a dermatologist after all).
Today, in Marshfield WI, it’s 15 degrees Farenheit. Below zero. And still dropping.
It occurs to me that the inverse scenario, comparing temperatures in summer, would not have nearly the same delta. Now, I know that in Houston we had the occasional 100+ degree day, but a more rigorous analysis should really use monthly averages. For Houston, the coldest month is January (41.2 F overnight) and warmest is July (93.6 F daytime). In San Antonio, its January (38.6 F) and August (94.7 F). I couldn’t find comparable data for Marshfield, but for Madison the coldest month is January (9.3 F) and warmest is July (82.1 F).
So, just using these average monthly temperatures, we see that the delta in winter is about 30 degrees whereas the delta in summer is about 12 degrees. Obviously, my perceived delta was much higher because the daily temperature is far more variable than the average, but even so it’s intriguing that even with average temperatures, the delta is about 3x higher in winter than in summer.
Is there a point to any of this? I have no idea. In other news, starving people tend to think about food a lot.
And there’s no way I’m shoveling the driveway today. I’d rather do it midweek at 5am than go out there right now.
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all’s well that ends well, sorta
Looks like the WGA strike is ending, so TV will be back to “normal” soon. Also, Yahoo just flipped off Microsoft, saying No! to the merger offer because “it undervalues the company”. Details at the respective linky.
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now I’m motivated to actually read it
Courtesy of the Book Quiz at Blue Pyramid:
You’re A Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingDespite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!Had I answered the last question with “rabbits” instead of “armadillos” I’d have been Watership Down:
Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you’re actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You’d be recognized as such if you weren’t always talking about talking rabbits.
For the record, I don’t always talk about rabbits.
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Microsofty! Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle
Yahoo’s board of directors is probably going to acquiesce to Microsoft’s buyout offer today:There are only two options left. Accept the offer in principal, and try to increase the price with no negotiating leverage at all, or do a deal with Google to outsource search advertising and, likely, search itself.
The board, we’ve heard, is basically being told by outside advisors to take the Microsoft deal. But we’ve also heard that a contingent of senior executives at Yahoo, who are willing to do literally anything to thwart a Microsoft takeover, are pushing for the Google deal and will present their case at the meeting.
A deal with Google is, for various reasons, unlikely. Not least of which is antitrust concerns, whereas a Microsoft-Yahoo merger somewhat paradoxically would improve the competitive landscape (by providing a true competitor to Google;s dominance, a fact that has not been lost on Google).
There’s a lot of speculation about how the merger will affect the various brands and services offered by both Microsoft and Yahoo. It’s likely that MSN will go away, to be supplanted by the Yahoo portal (branding intact). Search will probably be a combination of technologies between Live Search and Yahoo’s own algorithms. I wager that the combo will gain more market share than merely the sum of their separate share now, because by consolidating the alternatives into one product, it’s becomes The Alternative to Google.
There’s a whole raft of other services from both MS and Y! such as maps, photos, bookmarking, email, and more that will all be integrated, combined, or weeded out. Of these, the ones of most interest to me are del.icio.us, Flickr, and Yahoo Mail (the latter of which I actually pay Yahoo $20/year for the upgraded service). It will be interesting to see if/how these services get integrated into Internet Explorer, Office, and even Windows itself.
I’ve always been a fan of Yahoo and I don’t subscribe to the Microsoft as Evil dogma. So I guess you might accuse me of drinking the Kool-Aid, but I am pretty excited about this merger.