Let’s use the Interstates as an analogy. Those Interstates are the backbones of our country. Metropolitan areas (say Memphis, Dallas, Atlanta, Knoxville, DC) are datacenters. The states are the ISPs since they provide the connections (the on ramps) to the backbones (the Interstates). We’ve all had relatively free access to those roads. Yes, there are so toll roads but let’s talk about those later to help facilitate the analogy (because the toll road fits the current Internet analog…the tolls are NOT the Netflix deal). The vehicles on the road are packets of information.
So, monitoring traffic, we noticed that UPS has increased its traffic from Dallas routing along I-40 in Tennessee to make deliveries to Atlanta. Now, we know that UPS has other alternatives. There are highways and more minor roads through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that will lead to Atlanta but UPS likes the speed of using our larger Interstate. So, should Tennessee start charging UPS a surcharge to use our Interstate? If UPS pays enough, can they monopolize that Interstate with so many trucks that there is no room for my car? And if so, will the state tell me that I don’t have access to the Interstate anymore because I can use Hwy 70 and Hwy 11 unless I want to pay the same price that UPS is paying?
That’s the problem. The small guy, the innovator, is going to lose access to the Interstate.
Parenting – Old Math
Just taught roman numerals to my 8 year old. That was fun!
Confessions of a programmer
Sometimes I think, "adult diapers probably aren’t that bad." #coap
Confessions of a programmer
Coffee is my fuel. #coap
Confessions of a programmer
Sometimes we program; other times, we guess. #coaj
I live in a bubble
This is a good reminder that I live in a different world than most people.
Apple Becomes Patent Troll
This kickstarter, that I would have loved to back but cannot because of my self-imposed kickerstater timeout, has reached 770% of it’s goal. They wanted $260,000 and have received $2,003,170.
Aannnnd Apple patents the idea. http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/18/apple-patents-headphones-with-integrated-activity-health-and-fitness-tracking/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless-smart-in-ear-headphones
Programmers
Use the error message, Luke.
Programmers
Terrified of buses; fascinated with rabbit holes.
R.I.P. Qik
Qik is being shuttered on April 30, 2014. Qik was undoubtedly one of my favorite video sharing sites. None of its competitors made is as easy to take a video and upload it from your phone. Qik encouraged vidcasting. Bamuser and ustream have never had the same feel for me.
Crunchbase shows Qik’s competitors as Kyte, Flixwagon, Livecast, Next2Friends, Bambuser, Ustream, Justin.TV, and Streamup.
So, what happened to Qik? Skype bought them in 2011. We saw Qik Premium and Qik Desktop with great promise. There was growth. And then silence. The last Twitter post was January 2012. In May of 2011, Microsoft bought Skype. Qik had ben borg’d.
From the Qik service retiring FAQ:
Why are you retiring Qik?
We are retiring Qik as the Qik video messaging technology has now been incorporated into Skype. Users can now enjoy a great experience on Skype with features such as audio and video calling, instant messaging and video messaging with contacts in their Skype and Microsoft networks.[Source, Qik.com, Qik service retiring in April 2014 – IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ]
Parenting
Do we have to have tears every fucking morning?!
A programmer’s nemesis
Rabbit holes!
A rabbit hole is a reference to chasing a problem, rather the solution to a problem, or allowing a feature to creep, that simply consumes an enormous amount of time for either little or no gain. I’ve just spent an hour in a rabbit hole and am not backing out every change I made in that hour. I’d like a refund please.
What’s your verbal motivator?
Everyone has a verbal motivator. Some sort of spoken tick to get you to do something. For instance, I need to be programming but I’m hungry. Cereal has become disgusting to me but I can eat Frosted Flakes
So yes, increasingly, my verbal motivator to myself is "eeeh, fuck."
From the mouths of babes
Words I actually hear slip from my lips: "We should get together and flapjaw sometime."
Doug’s Mantras
These are things my children hear repeatedly:
Lazy creates more work. Always.
