Drag Reduction

So about that move to Movable Type…

2008-04-30T12:32:00.016-04:00

What feels like a very long time ago, I had a plan. The plan was to migrate to Movable Type, a content-management system about which I had read many good things.

So last August, I downloaded Movable Type; I installed Movable Type; I bought a domain name; I configured Apache; I spent many hours messing with blueprint; and then, around mid-September, I stopped doing all of that. Why? Because time is a limited resource, and I decided to spend mine elsewhere. I decided that I enjoyed blogging a lot more than I enjoyed screwing around with HTML and CSS. And I decided that I wanted to spend as little of my life as possible interacting with (shudder) Apache.

Metaphorically stranded halfway between Blogger and Movable Type at that point, I abandoned the whole thing for a little while (as you may have noticed). And then this morning, spurred by who-knows-what, I made a bold leap: Tumblr. (“Bold” inasmuch as I'm not the last person to discover it.) Tumblr seems to offer about the right level of flexibility, and it lets me use my own domain name without having to run my own server. Setup took 15 minutes, and that was that. Oh, and it's pretty.

So there it is, folks — a fresh start.

Don’t tell Blogger, but…

2007-08-08T10:10:00.000-04:00

I’m now up-and-running with Movable Type. You won’t be seeing any of that here, obviously, which is why I am happy to announce that DR will be moving to a new home in the not-too-distant future. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to port all of the existing content over to the new site, but either way: I hate broken links as much as the next guy, so everything that is currently here on Blogspot will stay here indefinitely. With regard to the new URL and whatnot, stay tuned.

With regard to the installation of Movable Type, on the other hand, I have this to say: UGHH. I have installed it on two systems at this point: the first install took probably two days of fiddling, cursing, and hair-tearing; the second took literally 10 minutes. The take-home point is that while Movable Type is actually wicked easy to install if you know what you’re doing, the available install documentation is nearly useless if you don’t. It’s mostly readable to me now that I have a clue, but that didn’t do a me a whole lot of frickin’ good last week, did it?

So yeah, you should expect that my first post to the new DR will be a Movable Type install tutorial of some sort, because it sure as hell would have made my life a lot easier.

Music is meant to be heard… except when it’s not

2007-08-03T09:35:00.000-04:00

Macworld's editors have been posting their iPhone “wish lists” over at iPhone Central this week. They’ve had some good points and some bad ones, but it makes for interesting reading. This morning's list was with regard iPhone's iPod features, and one of their qualms struck a chord with me:

Silent mode should mute speaker output (3): If you flip the iPhone's Ring/Silent switch to Silent, you would expect the phone to be, well, silent. Yet if you play media (purposely or accidentally) without any headphones connected, the audio still plays back through the iPhone's speaker. A friend of mine discovered this the hard way when she let her nephew play with her new iPhone--in Silent mode--during a church service. "SexyBack" wasn't on the program that day, but it was heard.

Cute story, huh? Actually though, I too have been bitten by this particular issue. I was working at my desk while listening to music via the headphones, and a call came in. iPhone automatically faded then paused the music, and I unplugged the headphones to take the call (I know that this is not necessary, but I feel weird talking into my headphones). When finished, I ended the call and set iPhone aside for a moment. Much to my dismay, my music then faded back in and played out loud via the external speakers. Oops. I scrambled to make iPhone be quiet, while looking around sheepishly at my office-mates. Thanks, Apple.

Update: a full list of the wish lists is now available.

What's up with those ugly footnotes?

2007-07-29T21:28:00.001-04:00

I apologize that things around here look a bit sloppy (especially the more recent posts). I'm posting in HTML that is aimed at a stylesheet I haven't written yet. I hope to remedy that one of these days.

Update: the footnotes have been spiffed-up and linked properly. To the list of things I do not understand, add the following: formatting for superscript and subscript is HTML-based. CSS, anyone?

Creating new “Smart” thingies

2007-07-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

As you may have noticed, Mac OS 10.4, “Tiger”, introduced the ability to create search-based data structures in various applications. The names of such structures are prepended with the word “Smart”, apparently to indicate their intellectual superiority. The contents¹ of said Smart structure are, variously, files, songs, photos, etc., as appropriate to the application in which they exist—see, e.g., Smart Playlists in iTunes, Smart Albums in iPhoto, and Smart Groups in Address Book.

Smart structures are nice in concept, and work fairly well in practice—but what I don't understand is why the UI for creating a new Smart whatever differs from application to application. Consider first: iTunes. The command for creating a new Smart Playlist is File → New Smart Playlist. The keyboard shortcut for creating a new Playlist is ⌘N, and that for creating a new Smart Playlist is then, appropriately, ⌥⌘N. The “New Smart Playlist” dialogue in iTunes is a window² that pops up when the command is called.

New Smart Playlist dialogue in iTunes 7.3.1

Note that there is no field for the name—a prompt to name your new Smart Playlist appears upon clicking OK.

The New Smart Album dialogue in iPhoto looks similar.

The New Smart Album dialogue in iPhoto 6.0.6

…but wait, where did all of my checkboxes go? Those options would be useful here. And there's a Smart Album name field right at the top. And this is a sheet, not a window. wtf? At least the menu command and keyboard shortcut are the same—thank goodness for that.³

Another? The New Smart Group dialogue in Address Book looks more like the dialogue in iPhoto than the one in iTunes: checkboxes MIA, name field at the top, sheet.

The New Smart Group dialogue in Address Book 4.0.5

But wait, there is actually one checkbox—a new one. I guess Apple thought this option would be useful here, but not in the other two? Dunno.

I took a screenshot of the New Smart Folder window in Finder, but I'm not even going to show it here—it's frighteningly different from all of the above, which is perhaps somewhat justified… Apple wanted it to feel like a folder. But then again, the New Folder, New Playlist, New Album, and New Group processes are all pretty similar, so why not the Smart ones? Sigh.

You don't need me to tell you that UI consistency is important, especially when the visual metaphor is, as in these cases (again, with the possible exception of folders in Finder… but I think they could have tried a little harder with that one), essentially identical.

1: Smart thingies don't actually have contents, per say. Each is just a list of search results that pretends to be a playlist/album/group/folder. Whatever. ^
2: The New Smart Playlist dialogue in iTunes may be a window, but it acts like a sheet: you can't do anything else in iTunes until it is dismissed. Oh, but you can move it around if you want. Yay. ^
3: I do not mean to belittle this fact. There might have actually been some bad words in this post if the menu commands and keyboard shortcuts were different. ^

Duke's iPhone Scandal

2007-07-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

An amusing story, in three parts:

Part the First — Afternoon of July 17: iPhones flooding wireless LAN at Duke University
Part the Second — Afternoon of July 20: iPhone may not be cause of Duke wireless woes
Part the Third — Evening of July 20: Cisco access point at fault for Duke's wireless issues

Yeah.

Oh, right...

2007-07-13T12:41:00.000-04:00

As you may have gathered from my recent post about scrolling, I'm attempting to get back into the blogging thing. I know it's been a while… ahem, a long while… so my apologies for that.

The devout readers among you may have noticed that DR has reverted to the (entirely capable) “Minima” template, thanks to the Blogger upgrade that Google launched last December, which kindly steamrolled my old custom template. Never fear, I'll revamp it sooner or later.

Hmmm… further updates: I think the content around here will be changing a bit, as reflected in the updated sidebar. Whereas before I posted about language and also lots of other… random stuff…, I'm now going to focus on user-interface design, technology stuff, Mac stuff, and certainly still the odd language point-of-interest.

Lastly, for your stalking pleasure: you can now follow my goings-on via Twitter. If you want to.

Two-finger scrolling vs. multi-touch

2007-07-01T01:04:00.000-04:00

OK, here's a thought for those of you who have recently acquired a new toy: after about 24 hours of using my iPhone a lot and my MacBook a little, I sat down to browse the web on the laptop and found myself suddenly disorient(at)ed by the directionality of two-finger scrolling.

Fellow iPhone-ers can perhaps relate? On the MacBook, pulling two-fingers "down" the trackpad scrolls a window down, basically dragging the scroll bar down the page (with up obviously working the same way) — on the iPhone, in contrast, you actually drag the window itself, meaning that moving your finger up effectively scrolls down (and vice-versa).

I am now wishing for a way to invert the directionality of two-finger scrolling. Help?

Apple vs. Origami

2006-03-09T17:38:00.000-05:00

If you've been following the technology news, then you know that Microsoft has lately been hyping something called "Origami", which, as was widely believed, is an "ultra-mobile PC" — basically, a laptop-handheld hybrid. The only big question about Origami before today's official announcement from Microsoft was whether it would be Microsoft-branded hardware running a Microsoft OS or third-party-branded hardware running a Microsoft OS. Turns out it's the latter. I honestly don't know why there was ever a question, though, because that's the way Microsoft does things — desktops, laptops, tablets, handhelds, and now ultra-mobile PCs.

Anyway, so that's Origami. What you should be thinking now is, what about Apple? Apple usually likes to be one step ahead of the competition, and this Origami business certainly gives the impression of poor Steve Jobs eating Bill Gates' dust — especially after Apple's underwhelming February 28 media event.

Well, let me tell you — Steve Jobs does not eat Bill Gates' dust. Ever. The reason Apple might look like it's behind Microsoft right now is that Apple is in the process of running circles around Microsoft.

DISCLAIMER: I like Apple. I think their design-style is sleek, minimalist, functional, and, in general, exceptionally well-thought-out. Label me a "Mac Cultist" if you will, but that's my story. What follows is the part that we Apple groupies live for — wild predictions about Apple's Secret Plans.

Apple is up to something. First, the facts:

Exhibit A

Steve Jobs' Keynote presentation at January's Macworld 2006 was 'a bit off'. It is widely believed by, um, Leander Kahney and me, anyway, that something exciting got pulled from the Keynote at the last minute. An 'inside source' apparently spilled some beans to Leander afterwards, advising him not to buy a MacBook Pro just yet because Apple has something "much cooler" in the works.

Exhibit B

Apple recently dropped big bucks on flash memory. A lot of flash memory. Said Steve Jobs, "we want to be able to produce as many of our wildly popular iPods as the market demands." Right.

Exhibit C

Apple has recently filed for a patent relating to a touch-screen interface.

Exhibit D

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Apple had a product called the Newton, a precursor to the Palm Pilot, the first big PDA. The Newton was much loved by many, and, despite having been discontinued in 1998, still has a loyal fan base.

Exhibit E

In a nice bit of circularity, back to Steve's Macworld 2006 Keynote. Upon wrapping up his talk, Steve made a point of mentioning that April 1, 2006 will be Apple's 30-year anniversary. I don't recall his exact words, but, translated from plain English into Mac-fan-speak, it went something like, "it may be three months away, but you'd best start getting excited now."

So. All of that was relatively factual, but now I will transition to castles in the sky. Based on the above facts, I conjecture:

Apple is going to announce an exciting new product, and it will be targeted at the same audience as the MacBook Pro. The new product will be flash-memory based. Dreaming aside, flash is still too expensive for laptops; the new product will thus be sub-laptop-sized. The new product will have a touch screen, implying that it will be tablet- or handheld-esque.

Exiting. Small. Flash-based. Touch-screen. "Professional" audience. Put it all together, and what have you got? On April 1, Apple's 30th Anniversary, Apple will reincarnate the Newton as a flash-based, ultra-mobile PC with a touch-screen (multi-point? that'd be fun).

Well, it made sense to me, anyway. Whatever happens, just remember: you read it here first.

109 Songs from iTunes

2006-02-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

Alucky individual has officially purchased and downloaded the 1,000,000,000th song from the iTunes Music Store. For his troubles, Apple has awarded this fortunate fellow with an iMac, 10 iPods, and a $10,000 iTMS gift-card.

While I did purchase one song* from the iTMS during their promotional countdown (or count-up, as it were) to the Big Billion, I'm sorry to report that it wasn't me. No, this guy apparently goes by the name "Alex Ostrovsky" (of West Bloomfield, Michigan), and I wish him well. Also, I wonder if he might not have an iPod to spare?

Congratulations, Alex.

* It was 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie, if you must know.

Muhammad Cartoons

2006-02-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, the irony. As you've probably heard, Muslim groups throughout the Middle East (and elsewhere) are causing a ruckus in response to some satirical caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad published first in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and subsequently in several other European papers.

To quote from an article from the Canadian Press:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of angry Muslims marched through Palestinian cities, burned the Danish flag and called for vengeance Friday against European countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published.

The demonstrations were the latest sign of growing anger against the cartoons that has spread across the Muslim world.

Early Friday, Palestinian militants threw a bomb at a French cultural centre in Gaza City and many Palestinians began boycotting European goods, especially those from Denmark, where the cartoons where first printed.
"Whoever defames our Prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of other angry Muslims in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.
Fundamentalist Muslims protested outside the Danish Embassy in Malaysia, chanting "Long live Islam. Destroy our enemies" and accusing Denmark's Jyllands Posten newspaper, which first published the cartoons, of seeking to incite hatred.
"It's an uncivilized act. It's heinous," said Hanifah Maidin, youth wing spokesman of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party. "We want the Denmark government to tender an apology to the Muslim world."

[...]

It's shockingly hypocritical (and yes, ironic) that they can denounce cartoons as uncivilized and, in the same breath, call for death and destruction in response, and it's worrisome that governments are probably going to try to appease them rather than chastise them for it.

Six More Weeks of Winter

2006-02-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

"Well, it's Groundhog Day... again..." and Punxsutawney Phil, that "Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary" (no joke), has seen his shadow.

Rats.

The Serial Comma, Part 2

2006-01-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

An astute reader has pointed out that my blanket demand... er... recommendation that you use the serial comma at all times can sometimes lead to trouble. An example —

Bob, an ogre, and Tony went out to lunch yesterday.

The problem here is that the first (Bob) and second (an ogre) items in the list can also — grammatically correctly — be read as an apposition, wherein 'an ogre' is presenting additional information about Bob rather than being a list item in its own right.

So... setting aside the fact that what was actually meant should be fairly clear from the context, what the reader gets out of that sentence is going to depend greatly on whether he or she knows Bob.

Now, one could argue that the confusion is easily dismissed (provided, that is, that Bob and the ogre are distinct items) by simply removing the serial comma —

Bob, an ogre and Tony went out to lunch yesterday.

But don't you dare! Far better to rephrase as either

Bob, Tony, and an ogre went out to lunch yesterday.

or, alternatively, as

Tony and Bob, an ogre, went out to lunch yesterday.

depending on what, exactly, you're trying to say.

Don't let this occasional hiccup sour you on the serial comma; it's a relatively-rare and easily-correctable situation. And let's keep in mind that no matter what punctuation rules you choose to follow, the responsibility for your writing saying what you had intended lies with you. Don't blame the comma.

SO — use the serial comma at every chance you get, but use it wisely. No one appreciates being called an ogre, after all. Even accidentally.

Momentarily Confused

2006-01-09T11:45:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting one —

Both Dictionary.com and the Wiktionary offer two primary defintions for "momentarily". To quote from Dictionary.com:

mo‧men‧tar‧i‧ly

1. For a moment or an instant.

2. In a moment; very soon.

To illustrate —

Example 1:

Person A: Blah blah blah...
Person B: I'm sorry, I was momentarily distracted by something completely unrelated; could you repeat that?

Example 2:

Impatient Customer: I've been waiting in this line for over 20 minutes!
Customer Service Representative: I apologize for the inconvenience; I'll be with you momentarily.

The interesting part? Both sources cite the second usage above, 'in a moment', as being controversial. The Wiktionary adds that anyone caught using momentarily in the second sense "may be subjected to correction in a formal or academic setting."

What's the big deal, you ask?

Well, there's nothing confusing or ambiguous about either of those examples — it's very clear from the context which definition was meant. Unfortunately, it's not always so simple.

The first usage is generally used to indicated that something happened 'for a moment' — past tense — whereas the second is generally used to indicated that something will happen 'in a moment' — future tense. But what happens when you want to say that something WILL happen FOR a moment? Complications arise:

Example 3:

Optometrist: I'm going to squirt some of this gunk into your eye momentarily; it will hurt.

Example 4:

Optometrist: I'm going to squirt some of this gunk into your eye; it will hurt momentarily.

So that's a little less clear. Is the squirting happening in a moment, or for a moment? Is it going to hurt for a moment, or in a moment? All of the above, perhaps?

Regardless of whether you or I think this is a big deal, though, the Authorities (Dictionary.com and the Wiktionary) are Not Happy.

Dictionary.com calls the second usage of 'momentarily' a "Usage Problem", and a Usage Note goes on to explain that 59% of the illustrious Usage Panel finds the second usage "unacceptable".

Honestly, unacceptable? That's strong language for something that, in their own words, "rarely leads to ambiguity". And this, coming from the same group that has turned a blind eye to the often-used-out-of-context, disaster-in-the-making that is bimonthly.

I do appreciate the mission and efforts of the Usage Panel, it's just that their priorities seem a bit out-of-wack. Let's quit wasting our time with formal votes on tid-bits like "momentarily" and do something meaningful, shall we? I'm pulling for an extensive advertising campaign — info-mercials, Super Bowl ads, and all the rest — promoting proper application of irony.

Pardon the Mess, Part 2

2006-01-05T16:45:00.000-05:00

In response to my exciting news, I have been told that the new site design "doesn't look much different". Needless to say, I strenuously object — the layout is similar, but there are a substantial number of subtle and not-so-subtle changes.

So. For funzies, I've added an exciting new feature — by clicking on the links below, you can switch back and forth between the "old" and "new" site designs courtesy of an elegant little javascript written by Paul Sowden at A List Apart. Go clicky-click back and forth a few times, and note the differences!

Old | New

PS
What I've actually done is written my own blogger template and stylesheets from scratch, which, considering that I had no idea what I was doing at the outset, was quite a bit of work. The fact that the layout hasn't changed too much is far more indicative of the fact that I liked the old layout than that I was lazy or something.

Pardon the Mess

2006-01-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

Well. The much anticipated blog makeover has finally happened, and just look at the mess! I will hopefully have everything squeaky clean and in working order again by tomorrow evening.

I'd love to hear your thoughts — as I am now in full control of the appearance of this page, I can adapt very easily to insightful comments and requests. Talk to me!

Bimonthly or Semimonthly?

2006-01-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

The most recent issue of MIT's Technology Review arrived on my proverbial doorstep the other day. This issue happened to include a notice to subscribers kindly explaining that Technology Review is moving to a more web-focused publication regimen, and will therefore be reducing its hard-copy publication frequency to "bimonthly".

My first thought upon reading this, "Oh — how often did it come before?", was followed promptly by a second, "Er — how often is bimonthly?" Please, if you will, suspend your smug re-assessment of my intelligence and bear with me.

The prefix "bi-", from the Latin, means "two" — simple as that. Bimonthly, then, is either 'two-monthly', as in 'every two months', or 'two, monthly', as in 'twice each month'. But which?

This, friends, is one of the many instances where the English language, by flaunting logic and regularity with head held high, reminds one not to get too comfortable. And I quote:

bi‧month‧ly

1. Happening every two months.

2. Happening twice a month; semimonthly.

Whose brilliant idea was that? It's one thing for a word to be confusing because of widespread incorrect use (e.g. irony), but quite another for a word to be defined in a confusing manner.

Furthermore, you'll notice that the definition above cites the second meaning of bimonthly as being synonymous with "semimonthly".

The prefix "semi-" is, like "bi-", derived from the Latin, and means "one-half". If there were any fairness in the world, "semimonthly" would be defined in as confusing a manner as "bimonthly", but, alas, English once again gives us the finger:

sem‧i‧month‧ly

Occurring or issued twice a month.

And the only thing worse than the ridiculousness of 'two-monthly' being synonymous with 'half-monthly' is, of course, that they only sometimes mean the same thing — it's not even consistent! Help!!

The Wiktionary entry on "bimonthly" features a similar definition, and also a usage note stating, in all seriousness, that:

"Because of the ambiguity of this word, it is best to avoid it."

This is clearly madness, and so, dear Reader, it's time for us to Fix It — ambiguity is just one more form of Drag, and you know how we feel about that around here. From now on, we are going to use "bimonthly" to mean exclusively "occurring every two months" (definition 1, above) and "semimonthly", well, we'll just use that correctly. If and when you come across either of these terms being used incorrectly in the wild, please go out of your way, if possible, to (gently!) correct the offending individual or publication.

The Serial Comma

2005-12-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned, misapplication of the concept of irony is a pet-peeve of mine. What can I say, I have a thing about correct word use. Not that I'm necessarily above making such mistakes myself, mind, but I try.

As it turns out, I'm also a bit of a stickler for grammar. I prefer to punctuate liberally, as you may have noticed, and I make every effort to do so correctly. I also don't like the word "stickler," but I went ahead and used it anyway, just for you.

And with that introduction out of the way, I will move on to the subject of this post: the serial comma. That's the comma that falls between the penultimate (second-to-last) item and the conjunction in a comma-separated series, according to the Wikipedia entry. For example, between "Kermit" and "and":

Miss Piggy, Kermit, and Gonzo are muppets.

Also commonly referred to as the Oxford comma or the Harvard comma, as per the house styles of the Oxford and Harvard University Presses, respectively, the serial comma is the subject of some debate among grammarians, and it seems that opinions vary widely on the propriety of its use.

In fact, legal and technical style guides advocate for the serial comma, whereas newspaper style guides such as those of the Associated Press and the New York Times advocate against it.

In legal and technical writing, clarity is of utmost importance, and the serial comma is encouraged for exactly that reason. It is particularly important in cases where one or more items in the series is more than one word in length, for example:

I think turkey, ham and cheese and roast-beef sandwiches are yummy.

As you can see, the above is questionable without the serial comma. Was that (1) turkey sandwiches, (2) ham and cheese sandwiches, and (3) roast-beef sandwiches, or was it, perhaps, (1) turkey sandwiches, (2) ham sandwiches, and (3) cheese and roast-beef sandwiches? You'll never know, but hopefully you can see how a comma before one of those "and"s would have been very helpful.

Why, then, are newspapers opposed? The primary reason, or so I've read, is that it's a superfluous character, and ever pressed-for-space newspaper articles take their space where they can get it.

While it may sound like a bad idea to (potentially) sacrifice clarity for the sake of occasionally being able to cram an extra word into an article, it could certainly be argued, and rightly so, that clarity need not be sacrificed at all. When the serial comma is omitted, the responsibility falls to the writer to ensure that the meaning is clear — fuzzy meaning is then the fault of the writer, and cannot be blamed on a missing comma.

I'm always an advocate of personal responsibility, as I mentioned in a previous post. In this case, though, I'm going to have to take the side of clarity and consistency. The serial comma is not mandatory, and it's certainly not essential in all cases, but it never hurts. Use it.

Below is a selection of other places you can find discussions on this issue. I have read many more posts and articles than these in putting this post together; those linked to below are, in my opinion, the best of the bunch.

Get It Write
The Professional Training Company
World Wide Words
Random House

Also of note, the serial comma makes an appearance, although not by name, at Number 5 on the University of North Carolina Writing Center's list of "seven easy steps to becoming a comma super hero."

Blogger by Tag, Part 2

2005-12-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

Three things —

First, regular readers will have noticed that my grand tagging plan is coming along nicely. As nicely as was to be expected, that is.

Second, regular readers may also have noticed that although it was promised, there's been no sign of a blog re-design. Well, I'm working on it.

Third, in the interest of keeping you, ahem, interested, my next post will be about something completely different: punctuation. Stay tuned.

Skeletor!

2005-12-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

Ialmost forgot. The second Ars Technica article that I linked to in my last post had a link at the very end to a comic that I, personally, found extremely amusing.

I shared that comic with my girlfriend and with a friend of ours, and, based on their responses, I now realize that a certain amount of background knowledge is required in order to fully appreciate it.

If, having now brushed up on your Masters of the Universe, you feel ready, enjoy!

Viva Wikipedia, Part 3

2005-12-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

The Seigenthaler fallout continues... if that means nothing to you, go read my first two posts in this series here and here, respectively, and then come back.

Ars Technica — always a good read — has two new articles up pertaining Wikipedia's recent time in the spotlight.

In the first, Ken "Caesar" Fisher digs a little deeper into the Nature study (seriously — if you're lost, read this) and the broader Wikipedia-reliability issue.

The gist of it is that Wikipedia founder Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales has recently responded to the accusations of inaccuracy in Wikipedia by stating that (a) people really shouldn't be citing encyclopedias as authoritative sources in the first place, and that (b) Wikipedia may have its flaws, but it's worlds better than where people were probably going before... that is, than any ol' sketchy website.

As the Nature study demonstrated, Britannica isn't much better than Wikipedia as far as accuracy is concerned, and I think Wales' first point is a good one. His second is a bit more complex, as Seigenthaler would no doubt agree. The problem is that people expect sketchy websites to be sketchy, whereas people generally expect Wikipedia to be reliable. The question of accountability arises when, on occasion, Wikipedia turns out to be not-so-reliable. But does the fault lie with Wikipedia for not doing a better job of controlling their content, or with the user-base for having expectations that are out of wack with reality?

Personally, I think people spend too much time looking for someone to blame and not enough time taking responsibility for their own actions. Wikipedia never promised to be accurate... quite the opposite, in fact. I think people should spend a little more time appreciating the amazing resource that Wikipedia is, and a little less time nattering on about its shortcomings.

And what better way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, than to spend your daily Wikipedia-appreciation time making Wikipedia better.

Oh. Right. I promised two Ars articles. The other is about Wikipedia's recent addition of a few more anti-vandalism measures. It's a good idea, it's certainly relevant, and it's not overly exciting... read it here if you care.

Viva Wikipedia, Part 2

2005-12-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

In response to the recent Wikipedia trustworthiness controversy — see my first post on that here — the fine folks over at Nature have put Wikipedia to the test.

According to this well-written Business Week article, Nature found that, out of a random sample of 42 entries of a scientific bent, Wikipedia had, on average, just 1 more error per entry than the much-vaunted Encyclopædia Britannica.

What's more, they also polled more than 1,000 scientists who had contributed to Nature, and found that 17% consulted Wikipedia on a weekly basis. And we should all know, by now, that the more smart people that use Wikipedia, the better — because they can FIX MISTAKES that they find there.¹

By the way, you can check out Nature's own report of their findings here.

I'll repeat myself one more time, just for good measure: viva Wikipedia!

¹ Yes, in fact, I did read the Nature article, and I saw that part where they said that while 17% of those scientists use Wikipedia on a weekly basis, only 10% of them contribute to Wikipedia while they're there. What do I have to say about that? Two things. First, it's better than nothing. Second, shame on the rest of them.

Asserting My Web-Design Prowess

2005-12-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

OK, OK. I don't actually have much web-design prowess. But I'm working on it! This blogging thing has inspired me, and what that means for you, dear Reader, is that you should be expecting a blog re-design in the near future.

As I mentioned, I'm still in the "learning" stages of web design. I'm currently using my other web page as scrap paper, as it were, for my experimentation. Thus far, I've been doing all of my playing locally. From now on, though, I'll publish whatever I've got at the end of each day. For a preview of what's coming, or just for a chuckle, feel free to visit.

All that said, I should point out that this is more motivated by my desire to learn than because I feel a re-design is in order. As with my Tagging Initiative, the biggest changes will occur under the hood. I intend to keep the "look-and-feel" mostly the same, because, honestly, I quite like Blogger's templates. I just think it's time for me to take control.

Blogger by Tag

2005-12-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

Iam in the process of tagging my posts. "Tagging" is the hot internet term for assigning keywords, or "tags," to just about anything on the web for easy searching and on-the-go categorization — as always, see the Wikipedia entry. Tags are a form of metadata. That is as much information theory as you're going to get from me.

There is no native Blogger support for tags or categories, so things here could be a bit messy over the next few days as I screw around under the hood.

After a thorough Google search (because that's where information comes from), I feel in the Blogger-tagging know. Many creative individuals, of which I am not one, have though up clever ways by which to implement tags in Blogger. These "hacks" fall under three broad categories:

1. Leveraging the tagging power of del.icio.us.
2. Creating a new blog for each category and linking them together in a clever fashion (this is more category- than tag-oriented).
3. Linking to an intra-blog Google Blog Search for each tag.

Each of these hacks has its own advantages and disadvantages. I'm starting with 3, as it's the easiest to implement. Further down the road, I might move to a more powerful and elegant combination of 1 and 2. That is, of course, unless Blogger beats me to the punch, which, given the apparent popular demand, is likely.¹

I'll try to keep you, loyal reader, posted (har har! — blogging puns). Please do let me know via comment if you have any questions, complaints, suggestions, or, um, comments.

¹ Speaking of popular demand — if you, like me, want Blogger to add native tag support, make yourself heard! Blogger keeps a running user Wish List, so go vote vote vote for "I want a way to organize posts by topic or category."

Update: apparently our voices were heard, because tagging support was among the features Google chose to included in the new Blogger (they call them labels, c.f. Google Mail). DR has been updated appropriately and my hack-y system has been removed.

Seigenthaler v. Wikipedia? — Viva Wikipedia

2005-12-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

Tags: Wikipedia, News

One John Seigenthaler, Sr., has been making a big fuss over Wikipedia lately. You can get the whole story just about anywhere, such as from a New York Times article or, as should come as no surprise, a Wikipedia entry.

The meat of the situation is this — Seigenthaler happened to come across the Wikipedia entry about himself recently, and he didn't like what he read there. It implicated him in the RFK and JFK assassinations or something... but that's not important. What is important, is this: he has made and is continuing to make a huge stink over it.

I do feel bad for him, honestly. He seems like a nice fellow who was offended by what he read about himself, and, on top of that, he's concerned that anyone could write similar "slander" about anyone or anything else, and hapless readers might accept it as the truth.

But poor John, unfortunately, just doesn't understand Wikipedia. Wikipedia is founded on two basic ground rules:

1. If you know something and it's not in there, add it.
2. If you find something in there that is incorrect, fix it.

These are the rules from which Wikipedia was born, and the rules according to which it continues to grow. A true User of Wikipedia accepts them and abides by them. What Seigenthaler should have done when he came across his bio is fix it, and then post an explanatory note in the entry discussion. It would have been quiet, under the radar, and correct from then on.

Instead, he made a fuss. Who does this benefit, other than the news-media? No one that I can see. It has caused him an even greater headache, though, as his entry is now a juicy target for wikivandalism.

Wikivandals, by way, deserve to beaten over the head with all 32 volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

The Express

2005-12-07T11:25:00.001-05:00

I read the Express on my way into work most mornings. Or the first few pages of the Express, anyway... my commute is fairly quick.

A publication of the Washington Post, the Express is a free commuter newspaper distributed at Metro stations and most major bus stops throughout the District. For the most part, it's a great paper... and given that it's free, one can't complain overly much about its shortcomings.

The fine folks who publish the Express do their very best to include every tidbit of major news each day. Everything, though — headline stories included — is fairly brief. This is (a) because it's free, after all, and (b) because it's for commuters like myself, who don't have time to read an entire newspaper.

For the most part, this strategy works out wonderfully. Articles generally present enough information for the reader to have a clue about what's going on, but not enough for the reader to feel informed without doing further research. Think of it as the RSS version of a real newspaper, minus the links to more info.

Occasionally, though, I come across an article that deperately needs either more detail or less detail in order to make sense. One such appears in today's edition. I'll give you the first half... trust me that the second half doesn't supply any further relevant information.

KALEMIE, CONGO
Lake Searched for Survivors
After Quake Shakes Region
Rescuers in fishing boats searched for survivors Tuesday in a central African lake at the epicenter of a strong earthquake that killed at least four people. Monday's quake had a magnitude of 6.8, strong enough to cause widespread heavy damage. ...(AP)

What's going on here? There was an earthquake. Fine. A lakeside town was at the epicenter. OK. The lake is being search. Erm. For survivors. Huh?

Why are they searching the lake? Why are there earthquake victims in the lake? How did they get there? I have no idea.

Furthermore, the earthquake happened on Monday. They are searching the lake on Tuesday. In fishing boats. For survivors. Survivors, being people who have been inexplicably tossed -- by way of powerful earthquake -- out of their village and into the nearby lake, and have since been treading water for at least 12 hours. Right.

Express... a little help, here?

I don't mean to imply that they're making things up — I imagine that their facts are accurate.¹ This is simply a matter of presentation. Couldn't they at least try to write these snippets so that I am not left scratching my head? If I wanted to think first thing in the morning, I would do the crossword or something.

¹ Actually, the Express isn't responsible for the facts here. The little "(AP)" tag at the end of the story indicates that the information itself came from the Associated Press.

Driving Me Crazy, Part 2

2005-12-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

When I was learning how to drive, it was made very clear to me that when waiting in a line of cars, whether at a stop sign, a traffic light, or just in traffic, one needs to be careful not to obstruct intersections with cross-streets. The appropriate protocal is to stop before any such intersection, and move forward only when there is room for your car on the other side.

Walking through downtown DC, however, it is clear that I am one of the few who is aware of this practice. Hence, irritating offense number two.

Imagine this scenario:

1. A long line of cars is waiting at a red light.
2. The light turns green, and the cars begin driving through.
3. The cars on the far side of the light begin lining up at the next light, and the line backs up to the current light.
4. The cars on the near side continue crossing, and the line backs up through the current light, BLOCKING THE INTERSECTION.
5. The light changes.
6. Cars traveling along the cross-street cannot proceed, because the intersection is blocked.

I saw this happen at nearly every intersection I walked through on my way home last night. And it gets worse.

You would think that the drivers who are being obstructed would realize the problem, and make a mental note about how one should behave in such a situation so as not to perpetuate this bad behavior. But no. Eventually the intersection clears, and the line of cars on the cross-street begins passing through the intersection. You will recognize this as step 2, above. Now repeat 3 through 6. Over and over again.

The icing on the cake? What follows, invariably, after step 6:

7. Honking.

Driving Me Crazy, Part 1

2005-12-02T10:38:00.000-05:00

People in DC drive terribly. People in Boston drive terribly too. I imagine drivers in most major cities are terrible.

I think it's the congestion. Traffic moves slowly enough that drivers can get away with doing things that would be deadly at higher speeds, and streets are crowded enough that there is little chance of them being pulled over for it.

There are two offenses that particularly irritate me. Number one: honking.

City drivers honk persistently, and I do not understand it. Mostly, they honk when traffic is moving more slowly than they would like, which is often. Perhaps they are under the impression that they are contributing to improving traffic flow by leaning on the horn, but believe me when I say that they are wrong. Most likely, it is the only outlet for their frustration with the fact that it can take 20 minutes to travel 1 mile in city traffic.

For you, city driver, I have two words: public transportation. Sooner or later, increasing population density will make city driving prohibitively slow, and you will give it up. Until that time, please stop honking. You are giving me a headache.

Down with the Duke

2005-11-29T09:34:00.000-05:00

As you have no doubt heard, Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) has admitted to accepting bribes in excess of $2.4E6 in exchange for showing favoritism in the awarding of military contracts.

The whole debacle is summed-up nicely in this New York Times article.

In addition to losing his seat (actually, he stepped down, but what's the difference?), Cunningham will likely be subject to heavy fines and/or jail time. Not to mention the fact that no one will trust or respect him ever again.

Harsh? Yes. Deserved? Absolutely.

We give public servants the authority to make decisions on our behalf. This system is grounded in the fact that we trust public servants to use their power for the common good. Abuses of that trust undermine the system, are detrimental to the common good, and should not be tolerated.

PS
To make matters worse, Cunningham "forgot" to report all that bribe money as income on his tax forms, so you can add the IRS to the long list of people who are angry with him.

Thank you, Google.

2005-11-21T21:52:00.000-05:00

I'll second that.

That Starbucks Magic

2005-11-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

I picked up a cup of coffee from Starbucks on my way in to the office this morning.

My office has free coffee in the kitchen. Starbucks coffee, in fact. We have boxes and boxes of "Starbucks House Blend" grounds, and a big carafe-style drip brewer and pots.

I admit that it feels wasteful to spend the buck-and-change at Starbucks when I can nominally get the same thing gratis down the hall. Nominally.

After a few months of switching back and forth between what my colleagues like to refer to as "house" (brewed here) and "industrial" (brewed at Starbucks), I can say with authority that industrial is much better coffee.

I can see how this would be in Starbucks' best interest — they make more money on serving coffee than selling grounds or beans, I'm sure, so they want to keep you coming back — but how do they do it? A few possible explanations for this phenomenon come to mind. Clearly, the point at which my office's house coffee diverges from Starbucks' industrial coffee could occur at any stage in the coffee-making process, which goes, for the uninitiated, like this:

1. get some coffee beans;
2. grind the beans to get grounds;
3. brew the grounds in hot water to get coffee; and
4. serve the coffee.

A divergence at stage 1 would imply that the beans Starbucks uses when they make their coffee are not the same as the beans they sell for other people to use when making their coffee. This would be an unconscionable (read: evil, but clever) thing for Starbucks to do, but you never know. Unfortunately, it's also untestable — it's unlikely that I'll get my hands on any un-brewed Starbucks beans or grounds from behind the counter. For the sake of further speculation, we're going to have to assume that this is not the case.

The issue at stage 2 is not so much a matter of whether there is a divergence, but of the significance of the divergence. It is a fact that Starbucks grinds their beans immediately prior to brewing their coffee, whereas ours were ground and packaged an unknown amount of time prior to brewing, and it is a fact that fresh-ground beans make better coffee. The question is: can this account for the drastic taste differece? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt it.

There are two possible discrepancies at stage 3: the grounds-to-water ratio and the brewing method. Any sort of definitive analysis here is going to be tricky.

The grounds-to-water ratio is not known for either case, and while it could be directly measured in the house case, the industrial case is hopeless. Furthermore, experimentation is limited by the fact that the grounds-to-water ratio is not easily adjustable with large, automatic brewers. The method by which the brewer determines the rate at which it should add water to the grounds is unknown, and if the rate is fixed, as seems likely, then an increase in the amount of grounds in the filter could lead to an Overflow Issue. If there is an optical sensor or something, then it would probably work out fine... but what are the odds of that? I could use my personal Brewing Device (the small french press) and play with the grounds-to-water ratio, but french press coffee is sufficiently different from drip coffee that the results of such a test would be difficult to interpret.

Regarding the brewing method, the industrial situation is again unknown. Here, however, simple Covert Observations and/or Questioning of Barristas could prove fruitful. I will investigate this issue further, and report back.

And this brings us, at last, to stage 4. Perhaps it's all mental. Maybe it's more satisfying to trade hard cash for one of those classic Starbucks disposable hot-beverage cups filled with steaming coffee than to simply pump your mug full and walk back to your desk. Then again, maybe they're slipping a little something into the half-and-half.

I intend to continue my investigation, but in the end, I think, it is a moot point. Even if they did taste the same, sometimes you just need to go to Starbucks.

"Check it out" of the Week

2005-11-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

A Grand Don't Come for Free
The Streets.

I won't blame you if the Streets aren't your speed, but I think they're great. Catchy, smart, and a little bit wacky. What's not to like?

Album cover courtesy of Amazon

Today I have achieved absolutely naught.
By just being out of the house, I've lost out.
If I had wanted to end up with more now,
I should have just stayed in bed like I know how.
- "It Was Supposed To Be So Easy", The Streets

Irony vs. Coincidence

2005-11-14T13:58:00.002-05:00

The concept of irony is oft misused. Because this happens to be a pet-peeve of mine, I've been attempting to educate my friends on the subject. Thanks to my campaign, they now look over their shoulders to see if I'm around before calling anything ironic. Admittedly, this is not exactly the result I was going for... but it's a start.

A thorough entry here seems like a good way to reach a broader audience — and if even one of you thinks twice the next time the word "ironic" comes to mind, then the world will be a better place. So — let's set the record straight.

Several different concepts fall under the umbrella of irony, and this is, perhaps, one source of confusion. The concept I will focus on here is called situational irony¹. From now on, whenever I say "irony," I'm referring specifically to situational irony. When I say something is "NOT IRONIC," though, I'm probably talking about irony in general. OK... that said, here we go.

Situational irony is the type of irony you are most likely to come across — or use — in conversation. As used here, situational irony is defined as:

i‧ro‧ny

Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.

It sounds harmless, I know. The big issue, in my experience, is that the concept of situational irony is often confused with that of coincidence.² As used here, coincidence is defined as:

co‧in‧ci‧dence

A sequence of events that, although accidental, seems to have been planned or arranged.

Pay close attention now, because this is where it gets confusing. To call a fact or event ironic is to make a statement about the relationship between the actuality of a fact or event and one's expectations regarding that fact or event. To call a fact or event coincidental, on the other hand, is to make a statement about the relationship between that fact or event and another, independent fact or event.

I know it sounds confusing, but it really isn't. Consider the situation described below as an example of what I'm talking about.

Person A and Person B are driving; they approach an intersection at which there is a traffic light, and collide.

Bystander C reports the accident, and Police Offer D arrives at the scene shortly. D finds that while B is clear and coherent, A is fairly tipsy.

Based on this information, D makes the following statment to C: "Well, it's pretty clear what happened here. Drunk drivers... what a menace."

As it turns out, though, B is as much to blame as A. B was not paying attention, and ran the light when it was red; alcohol-impaired as he was, A could not stop in time to avoid the accident.

C, having witnessed the collision, responds thus to D's statement: "Ironically, officer, B is as much to blame as A. It's really an unfortunate coincidence that B ran the light right in front of a drunk driver."

So... raise your hand if you followed that. Ooooookay, I'll explain. C knows what he's talking about (har har har). Because A was drunk, one would expect the accident to have been entirely his fault. The actuality of the event — the fact that B is also to blame — is incongruous with the expectation, and is thus ironic. What one must keep in mind, however, is that B's crime (running the red light) and A's (driving drunk) were completely independent events that happened to interact in an unexpected way — quite a coincidence.

See? It's easy. For another simple example, check out this quote from the homepage of Purity Ice Cream:

Purity's home office is located in Ithaca NY, ironically the birthplace of the American ice cream sundae.

Purity is an ice cream company based in Ithaca, NY? Fact. Ithaca, NY is the birthplace of the American ice cream sundae? Fact. The relationship between the two? Coincidence. Coincidence. Coincidence.

And for some reason, people never call ironies coincidental. It is a one-way mistake. No, I don't get it either, but here's a little trick. Next time you are about to say "Gee, that's ironic.", do me a favor and think first. Ask yourself: "Gee, is that coincidental?" If the answer is "yes," then it is probably NOT IRONIC.

Now for a more advanced example (my personal favorite) — the song "Ironic," by Alanis Morissette. "Isn't it ironic?", asks Alanis. "No, it isn't.", answers Drag Reduction.

To fully appreciate this blasphemy, I recommend checking out the complete lyrics. There is a relatively good copy available here. Below are some choice examples of Alanis' little "ironies":

1. A death row pardon, two minutes too late;
2. Rain on your wedding day;
3. A free ride when you've already paid;
4. A traffic jam when you're already late; and
5. Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.

These are only five of the many events Ms. Morissette uses as examples of irony in her song, and with maybe one minor exception,³ they just aren't. They're not necessarily coincidental (although most are), but that doesn't mean they are ironic.

But here's a little meta-irony for you. In a song entitled "Ironic", Ms. Morissette gives numerous examples... none of which are ironic. Isn't that ironic? Yes. Yes it is.⁴

¹ The wonderful Wikipedia has an excellent entry on irony here.
² Dictionary.com has an interesting "usage note" on this issue here.
³ The plane crash might qualify as ironic, if properly interpreted. Maybe.
⁴ Apparently I'm not nearly the first person to point this out. Wikipedia has an entry on Alanis' "Ironic", describing the whole situation in great detail.

Riots in France

2005-11-10T09:05:00.000-05:00

Gated communities operate based on a small-scale social contract. As a resident, one implicitly agrees not to commit crimes against others within the community. The penalty for residents who violate this contract is simple -- above and beyond being subjected to traditional legal troubles, violators are expelled from the community.

Upon becoming a resident of a nation, a similar social contract applies. Similar but different. Commit a crime, and your nation will punish you to a greater or lesser extent. What your nation will NOT do, is deport you.

That is, most nations would not. According to this article in the New York Times, France is taking a somewhat different route. For those who aren't aware, "youths" in France, many of them foreigners, have been rioting for about two weeks now -- burning cars, smashing windows, and whatnot. The riots were supposedly spurred by the somewhat questionable deaths of two of young men who were electrocuted while fleeing police.¹

As of today, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- who has been widely criticized for labeling the rioters as "scum" -- has announced that foreigners caught rioting will be deported.

According to the article, humans rights groups are already calling for this order to be rescinded, saying that it is "illegal and needlessly provocative."

Illegal? Doubtful.
Provocative? Certainly.
Needlessly? I don't think so.

Riots are nothing but violence and destruction. They accomplish nothing, and there is no excuse. None. If you want to live in a civilized country, try acting like civilized human beings. I say throw them out, and good riddance.

¹ Details about this incident are decidedly lacking. My personal feeling is that anyone who chooses to "flee police" was probably causing trouble in the first place, and is asking for more by running. Unless there is more to it, I don't have much sympathy.

Pod Racket

2005-11-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

For those who weren't aware, it's somewhat difficult to find a reasonably-priced, single-serving coffee maker. As my girlfriend does not partake, I found this to be a bit of a problem when looking to brew my own coffee a few months ago.

There aren't many options on the market, and the majority require proprietary one-use coffee capsules. The names and geometries of these capsules vary by manufacturer -- Keurig has their K-Cups, Braun's Tassimo uses T-DISCS, and Phillips' Senseo takes Pods -- but the one thing they all have in common is that they cost substantially more per cup of coffee than buying grounds or beans.

It's the classic razor and blades business model. Buy one of those coffee makers, and you are locked in to that company's capsules... which is exactly what they want, because that's where they make their money. They will gladly give the coffee makers away if it gets you to start buying the capsules... and, in fact, they are. Flipping through the paper the other day, I came across an advertisement for the Senseo "Drop the Drip" campaign. The gist of it is that if you bring in your old drip-style coffee maker, they'll gladly take it off your hands and, in return, give you a brand new Senseo coffee maker... for free. It's marketing brilliance! Not only do they get you started on their product, but they take away your old one to leave you with no alternative.

No thank you, says Drag Reduction. What a racket.

PS
I ended up buying a small french press, in case you were interested. It is working out fairly well, though muddy coffee takes some getting used to. More on that later.

ab initio

2005-11-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

I've decided that it's time for me to share my opinions with the world.

I hope you're ready to listen.