padawan.info

Photos from New Caledonia (or an excuse for playing with Flickr)

2008-07-24T18:16:20Z

I'm playing with iPhoto and Flickr (which I've been avoiding for months, cause I'm a content-centralizing-control-freak). I must admit it's an impressive web application. I'm less satisfied with the couple iPhoto/MobileMe despite a much better integration (the lack of any compelling feature, comments, social network doesn't make MobileMe an interesting choice vs. keeping everything under control on my own web server).

Anyway, here's my first photoset from New Caledonia, where I just spent three months, and where I'm going to settle anytime soon because life's too short not to live where your heart is.

Flying gadgets

2008-07-24T12:21:51Z

The new ~~flying whale~~ Airbus A380 seems an airborne treat for gadget fans.

Methinks airlines should consider actually reducing the electronics on some seats. I'd be more than happy to get only power and internet connectivity to hook my own laptop or smartphone, plus a couple of widgets for displaying movies, the flight map and information in my web browser. I wonder how much that would decrease the production and maintenance cost of a seat. I know there are some security issues (you wouldn't be able to use your portable during landing and takeoff) but providing a computer and a screen on each seat seems a bit overkill to me.

Push Table

2008-07-18T10:36:45Z

The Push Table is exactly what I need for my desk, I love the concept!

Velib feminine and charming?

2008-07-15T09:17:39Z

It's not obvious why the attachment of baskets to bicycles should be gender-related, but in fact one observes that 100% of the bicycles with baskets on the front handlebars are ridden by women. In fact I find the effect feminine and charming, but I suspect that's because of the riders.

Oh Tim, obviously you're never seen a Velib', or a Vélo'v.

How to force the update from .Mac to MobileMe

2008-07-14T10:53:20Z

If you're a .Mac subscriber and want to migrate to MobileMe but Apple Softare Update is not giving you any joy with the required update, follow these steps:

Launch the System Preferences.
Select .Mac and click on Sign Out...
After a while (it's been instantly on my Macbook Pro, it took 15 sec on my old G4), a prompt should appear telling you there is an update to MobileMe (if not, launch Software Update manually). Confirm the update. Quit Mail if it is running (it will tell you to quit otherwise).
Once the update is applied, go back to System Preferences, select MobileMe (or .Mac, if you didn't quit the panel the name and icon wont be updated) and sign-in again with the same login and password as for .Mac.
On the Sync tab, select "Synchronize with MobileMe", the frequency and what elements you want to keep in sync. Your computer will register with MobileMe (which may or may not prompt a duplication warning, here the process did go differently for my Macbook Pro than for the G4).

Rince, repeat on other Macs you may own, and be prepared to have to manually resolve conflicts on certain syncs after the upgrade (I had to repeatedly unlock syncs for various things on both my macs, which is a bit annoying).

No obligation to do so though, your .Mac account should be automatically upgraded at some point in time (I read it's been already for happy owners of iPhones, which I'm not, yet :p). But I find the MobileMe site way better and faster than the, now old, .Mac.

Post scriptum et caveat emptor: don't do this if you don't need it, MobileMe isn't fully baked yet. It's been rushed out in sync with the iPhone 3G launch and I can understand why Apple isn't updating the existing .Mac accounts during the storm.

Monoculture lameness

2008-07-11T13:41:38Z

Software compatibility problems marred the launch of the iPhone 3G at Apple's flagship store in London, where customers had difficulty activating their new phones.
Apple has an exclusive deal with network operator O2 in the UK - but O2's web-based activation system requires the use of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser to register a new phone: It won't work with the Safari browser bundled in Apple's Mac OS X.

In its Regent Street store, Apple had installed VMware Fusion desktop virtualisation software on some of its Macintosh computers, allowing them to run Internet Explorer on Windows, but the activation process was still not working.

Behind the iPhone 3G launch day fiasco, O2's software doesn't work with Apple Safari.

I just don't understand why on earth, today, companies continue to waste money on incompetent web developers who know nothing better than IE on Windows. In this particular case of O2 launching the Apple iPhone it's not just lame, it's utterly ridiculous.

Wikis the milky way

2008-07-09T14:27:12Z

Milk can help you learn things about wikis. But wikis can teach you things about milk too ;-).

[Thanks to Martin for the link.]

The Website Is Down: Sales Guy vs. Web Dude

2008-07-09T13:18:18Z

[For Eve la Fée, Olivier Meunier, Michelv, and everyone who loves their IT staff (and all IT staffers who love their lusers) ;-)]

Apple faulty on .Mac social engineering attack

2008-07-08T18:29:03Z

Marko Karppinen: Apple just gave out my Apple ID password because someone asked.

I tried to log in to Apple Developer Connection this morning to find out that my password had been changed and the email associated with my account was now a yahoo.com address that wasn't mine. Luckily, my "security question" was still the same, so I was able to reset the password and email address back.
Based on the emails that have appeared in my .Mac mailbox, this was accomplished by sending this classy one-liner to Apple:

am forget my password of mac,did you give me password on new email marko.[redacted]@yahoo.com

To which Apple reacted by doing the only reasonable thing - saying Sir, Yes Sir! and handing my account over.

Crazy and outrageous story.

Atlassian User Group Paris 2008 Wrap-up

2008-06-20T10:37:37Z

Nice chat with Jeffrey Walker about Paris, the Universe and Everything ;-), originally uploaded by Martin.Menu.

We've had lots of interesting conversations yesterday at the first Atlassian User Group in Paris. Thanks to all the folks who attended, spoke, interacted and made it lively and rich. And double thanks to the great people at Publicis Consultants and Atlassian who made this happen: Martin Menu, Laura Khalil, Josh Wold and Jeffrey Walker (who are busy setting up their European headquarters in Amsterdam) in particular, as well as Mohamed Benyahia and Alexei Barantsev who presented for Ingenico.

There were a majority of Confluence and Jira users. And although we mainly spoke about wikis and Confluence (that was a choice to keep the content and audience consistent), the Jira folks didn't seem too upset about it. May be that's because no one's got issues with Jira after all ;-).

It was a good event IMHO, I hope you enjoyed it too.

Here is the presentation of the SFR Service Client wiki (relooked from the one made and presented by Cédric Blum at the Enterprise 2.0 Sumit @ CeBIT).

Starbucks WiFi musical chairs

2008-06-12T04:31:17Z

Starbucks is apparently getting rid of T-Mobile in favor of AT&T, and can't get T-Mobile packing fast enough. Considering how terrible T-Mobile's WiFi service is -- the last time I checked was in Sydney two months ago, and a nice Starbucks employee pointed us immediately to a better and much cheaper hotspot nearby! -- I guess Starbucks punters can only expect better service.

I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Multiple Custom Fields with WYSIWYG edition in Movable Type ?

2008-06-11T00:20:57Z

I've been wasting a day trying to find an answer to the following need: being able to add multiple custom fields of text editable with a WYSIWYG editor in a Movable Type installation.

Actually, I have yet to see multiple WYSIWYG editors on an edit screen in MT. There are only two fields which can be edited that way: the body and the extended entry fields, and there wrapped together in the same editor. I wish the Custom Fields plugin would have a "Rich Text" field type that would trigger the WYSIWYG editor. That would really allow MT to be used as a versatile Content Management System.

Oh Lazy Web, is my quest a fool one?

Skipping Photoshop for web design?

2008-06-03T23:13:57Z

37Signals has an interesting post on why they skip Photoshop for web design. However there's an important caveat in their reasoning around point 5:

Photoshop is repeating yourself. Ok, so you've spent 3 days on a mockup in Photoshop. Now what? Now I have to make it all over again in HTML/CSS. Wasted time. Just build it in HTML/CSS and spend that extra time iterating, not rebuilding. If you're not fast enough in HTML/CSS, then spend the time learning how to create in HTML/CSS faster. It's time well spent.

The reality is that those folks who are able to go from a quick paper sketch to HTML/CSS are still a rare breed, they certainly don't come a dime a dozen even today. In the vast majority of cases, you'll have the creative design phase handled by people who master Photoshop way better than HTML/CSS (when they have a clue at web standards).

Sure, when you get the chance to work with people who are able to master both web design and web development, it's simply wonderful. I've tasted that and cannot agree more. But, hey, just take a look at 37Signals' own jobs board and tell me if you don't clearly see that dichotomy in professional competencies all over the place!

Update:

I'm not going to feel bad if I start with a tool that feels more comfortable to me during the creative process. Nor will I shame any other designer I work with for the same. Especially if other tools limit creativity. In any design medium (print, web, interior, industrial, fashion, even architectural design...), I would not be a true craftsman until I intimately understand how my design gets produced and the materials needed to do so. This most importantly includes the innovations and compromises that need to happen along the way because current production techniques can't recreate my design.
When starting any design, choose the tool (or set of tools) that's not only right for the job, but also right for you.

Douglas Bowman in Choosing the right tool, with a few other responses:

Jeff Croft: Why we don't skip Photoshop
Jon Hicks: Graphics Editor or Text Editor
Nicholas Rougeux: Why I use a print program for web design

Scaring people with Flash

2008-06-03T07:01:50Z

Interesting, and scary, example of using the full screen capability of Flash 9 to scare people.

Via Daring Fireball and Simon Willison who points out that this "opens up opportunities for cunning phishing attacks that simulate the chrome of the entire operating system."

Most risible web patent

2008-05-27T22:34:14Z

Most risible web patent (well, until the next one of course).

P.S. Ars Technica: Patent troll sending out invoices for image hyperlinks.

[Via Daniel.]