Apple Disappointed Me
No new iPods.
No new iBooks.
No new software.
Even though I was really disappointed about the whole touchscreen iPod thing, this is actually pretty good. Mac Mini now with iLife, remote, at $599 ($100 more than G4). It sounds pretty damn good for a media center desktop.
How to Make a Web2.0 Application
This seems to be the apparent truth with many Web2.0 website.
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First come up with a retarded name.
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Before anything, make a splash page with a mailing list sign up form.
Example: Newsvine, Wordpress.com (technically wordpress isn’t really web2.0, but it’s cool enough to be).
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As soon as something is created, publish it and put “Beta” everywhere. Then submit it to all the news sites for publicity.
Example: Wufoo.
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Attribute a hype by inviting a few influential people (who are influential online anyway) and make them blog about it.
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If you have the time, make an invite system. Then slowly slip away several invites. Be careful though, don’t let it spread like a wildfire. But try to make the best out of your invites — e.g. selling some on Ebay just to make it seem like a big deal.
Example: Gmail, Wordpress.com, Yahoo 360°, Windows Live Messenger
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Do not ever turn the beta status to public. But do constantly add new features. Occasionally make a few bugs on purpose so some users can give “feedback” and they will care more.
Example: Gmail
If you ever decide to make something cool, follow these guidelines because for sure everybody else is doing it.
5 Reasons Why osCommerce Sucks
My recent experience with osCommerce was not pleasant. In my effort to modify a few details in the scripts/modules of an ecommerce site, I realized what a joke osCommerce is.
1. osCommerce lacks a client-side theme system
Unlike most other blogging, CMS, and ecommerce scripts, osCommerce has absolutely no involvement with theme integration. If a developer wants to customize the look of osCommerce, he would need to hack every piece of code in the files. This includes reading scripts and understanding exactly how the whole system works. All HTML tags are inserted right into classes and functions. Editting one piece of code means editting everything else.
2. osCommerce does not have a well implemented OOP structure
Since reading through every script is required to modify anything, having a clear OOP structure would help. Indeed osCommerce does use classes, but the benefits are completely retarded by the structure. Many classes are duplicates (but different) of each other, and different scripts use all these classes for the same purposes. Most products/category selections are done through handcoded SQL queries that use global SQL functions. The internal structure of osCommerce is an utter mess.
3. Installing modules means editting osCommerce files
Modules are good for extending its capabilities, but installing a module means opening up an osCommerce file, go to the n’th line, copy and paste from the downloaded script. Most of the times this won’t work because to have a customized site, the scripts are completely hacked up already — all the line numbers and used functions are mismatched. Then comes the process of using a file comparison tool. Isn’t that a fun way of installing modules.
5. osCommerce is very outdated
While I’m not criticizing osCommerce for its lack of frequent updates (by frequent, I mean at least one minor update per year) since it is dependent on contributors, it is definitely unsuitable for any active ecommerce site. The lack of updates means a very outdated system of everything, including inefficient coding and of course vulnerabilities.
Alternatives?
Zen Cart is exactly the opposite of everything listed above. I looked through some of the code in Zen Cart, and I just wished I had found out about it much earlier. So there you go, don’t every take osCommerce into consideration for an ecommerce site.
Happy Birthday
You Don’t Need a Live Messenger Invite
As soon as some thoughtless moron gets a Windows Live Mail invite from the official Microsoft Beta testing group, he decides to post it on his blog and every forum he visits, and spam messages everyone on his messenger list (which could total to 0 if he actually does this). Then the process of the gathering of other similar morons starts.
Blog post / forum post / spam message:
“You know someone is leet when he gets invited to use a leet program — Windows Live Messenger!
It is the most awesome program EVER! Like oh my god!”
As the other morons on the Internet have nothing better to do than to search “Live Messenger Invite” on every search engine that hasn’t banned their IP’s, they eventually come and see that message (although I doubt the search engines will ever crawl through a mindless moron’s blog anyway):
“You are the leet! Can I have an invite please? I really really need one.”
Why do you need one? So you can waste more resources on this earth for a messenger program? So you can save the cruelty used against the animals in the Microsoft Beta testing by using the program yourself? Or so you can post on your little blog (and forum and everyone on your messenger list) about how you got an invite for Live Messenger? That’s right.
It’s become more of a meme! Not that I don’t like memes, the whole invite thing has gotten out of hand. The Gmail started the whole invitation idea and everyone just copied until (almost) every blogger became a moron. I’m one of the few. :) As for the invites, now it’s just lame.
You can expect a review of Live Messenger soon, similar to the style of the MSN Messenger 7 review.
And yes I’ve got a couple of Live Messenger invites if anyone wants them. :)
Messenger Live Beta has been opened to public — you no longer need an invite to use it.
The Perfect Site Structure
As I recently redesigned and coded this site, I realized the importance of a site structure. It’s the very essence of accessibility. The need to generate a working site structure should occur as part of the planning of a site, but is made possible during the coding.
I will present some basics of the idea, then follow with a working example and explanation for each step.
Why bother with a clear site structure?
It helps two groups of people — you and your visitors.
Categorizing every piece of content will make the developer code as efficiently as possible. With a good site structure, you will be able to code more quickly and expand or change any code in a more organized fashion. (By code I mean the client-side as well as the server-side coding).
The visitors see the visual placements of links and images and determine where to click (or when to leave). Having a perfect site structure will help your visitors find the things they need fast, without becoming annoyed at the poor presentation of perhaps excellent content.
So what is there to be done about structure?
Sitemaps, permanent links, and server-side coding.
No More Wisdom Teeth
Starting from yesterday, I no longer have wisdom teeth.
I had two in total, one of which was removed in December and the other yesterday. I can’t begin to describe the pain. The first night after the surgery was just horrible. Sleep seemed impossible.
Here’s the proof that they drill through the teeth.
Volume is Exponential
Literally. I found out that the volume of sounds detected by the human ear is exponential. Not only this, the volume of the sound generated by electronics is exponential too.
On a computer, set your system master volume to a low level and have the application playing your music (e.g. iTunes, Winamp, etc) set to full blast. Play it and get used to the volume (of course don’t kill your ears). Then set your system master volume to double the original value, and the application to half way to full blast. Notice the difference? The sound is much quieter.
Why? I don’t want to get into the advanced physics of volume, but this fact is really interesting. Almost every natural thing in this world is additive. Light mixed with more light produced brighter light, but as a ratio, not as an exponent. Sound is naturally a wave, which is additive. But interpreted by humans, it becomes a whole different thing. We’ve taken the abstract values of sound and attached meaning. We can’t consciously detect sin or cos sound waves, but we know what metals hitting sounds like.
I’m really like physics.
I Am Sick (2006)
I am sick again. This year it came early. In fact I was sick two weeks ago. Now I’m all light-headed and nose-stuffed again. I hate spring.
How to Tell a Laptop Is Good
You have to use it.
My recent experience with a Celeron Toshiba laptop almost discouraged me from using any laptops in the future. To truely know a laptop sucks, you really have to use it for a week or so. If it does indeed suck, then return it.
On the contrary, my (dad’s) recent investment has really made my days. To truely know a laptop is stable, powerful, and comfortable to use, again, you really have to use it for a while.
Other than the pre-installed software that come bundled with the Dell Inspiron 630m, it is definitely the perfect laptop for me. The specs are pretty damn good, and it didn’t cost me an arm or leg. To all who want a laptop, I recommend it for all consumer purposes.