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I’m in the midst of reading a rather lengthy article about computer file systems (fs) and their sometime sordid histories, here.

While reading it, it mentions a number of operating system (OS), and it evoked some nostalgic memories for me. So I got to thinking about them, and figured I’d blurb something up here. So here we go.

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Okay, so I’ve been on a new project, and I have to build a program to create pipeflow models, everything from common pipes, Elbow joints, T-joints to ports, discreet changes, etc. Fun stuff.

So mucking around with GMF for the past 10 months has proved annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I see a lot of pentential for it, but finding documentation or tutorials on how to pull the programming/API model together with the graphical end of things is hard as hell, and if you do find something, it’s sparse (and that’s generous).

I got a pretty damn good diagram editor up and running… of course the people (within the company) we’re developing it for are going to have a laundry list of stuff they want cuz they never gave us a design document. This was just supposed to be a project with a pot of money to see how far we could get with developing our own tool instead of paying $10k/month for some third party software.

Take a look:

Work has once again consumed my life.  Fuck.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=301

Interesting article, albeit he left out one factor in tallying up price over two years, cost of high-speed internet… figure $40/mo ($480/yr.), $50/mo. if you drop cable.  Most cable providers add $10 per/mo if you have only internet.

So if I dropped cable and went with AppleTV, internet access and a few choice shows:

• AppleTV: $299
• Internet ($50/mo): $600
• BattleStar Galactica: $35
• Grey’s Anatomy: $35
• The Unit: $35 (N/A on iTunes)
• Heroes: $43
• Crossing Jordan: $35 (N/A on iTunes)
• Lost: $35
• Daily Show: $40
• House: $35 (N/A on iTunes)
• Rescue Me: $35 (N/A on iTunes)
• Blade (the Series): $35 (N/A on iTunes)
• UFC / The Ultimate Fighter on Spike!: $45 (N/A on iTunes)
• Law & Order: $36
• Law & Order, SVU: $36

Well, iTunes doesn’t have everything on it yet, but maybe it will sometime soon, then I just may dump cable.  I most definitely will dump cable if I can get these in DVD quality (right now the recordings on iTunes are just below DVD quality).  I rarely watch live TV anyway…

Someday soon…

But there’s a few issues that need to be addressed:

• Re-downloading lost/corrupted videos
• How to get people hooked on new shows?:  Free pilot episodes.
• iTunes needs a free channel for show pilots, who says the idiots in Hollywood know what we like to watch?  E.g. Showtime dumping “Dead Like Me” (9.1/10 on imdb.com)

Pretty soon producers (the non-”for XXXXXX channel” people) will probably start going straight to Apple iTunes.

Apple claims to have patented the heck out of everything they’ve developed for the iPhone.

One interesting thing though, you know that “pinching” motion to zoom in/out on photos and maps?  I and many other people have seen it before.  A researcher at NYU, Jeff Y. Han presented work on multi-touch (fingers) enabled displays starting in 2005 at ACM UIST, and then take a look at his demo reel he prepared in January 2006…

• Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) demo, from Jeff’s website  (alt.)

Although the USPTO is not known for their brilliance (it is a gov’t agency…), they do have a few moments where they shine (like the fact that they thought that software shouldn’t receive patents, the Supreme Court forced them to).  Hopefully this will be a big shiney example of Prior Art.

Last night, I watched a recorded interview that Steve Jobs had with Nightline on Tuesday night (9th).

Pretty boring interview, what was really odd was seeing so much of the top of Steve’s head.  Half the interview he had his head down as if in serious thought… Public Speaking 101 refresher course?

Anyway, in the interview he spouted on about not allowing 3rd party apps for the Apple iPhone (or maybe the new name that is circulating on the rumor-mill sites, “iTouch Mobile”).  He went off on a FUD rant with this:  “You don’t want your phone to be an open platform,” meaning that anyone can write applications for it and potentially gum up the provider’s network, says Jobs. “You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn’t want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.”

What a load of shit.  Given that programmers have been writing apps for Palm/Symbian/WinPC for the past few years, and I have yet to have heard about a cell network going down due to said applications.  What a load of pure FUD.

I like Apple, I like my PowerBook, I like my iPod.  I like my Nokia phone that runs Symbian and the fact that I can write applications for it (go Java).  Apple keeps this crap up, I won’t upgrade.  Besides, until they correct what I’ve mentioned before, I probably wouldn’t have upgraded anyway.

Steve, leave the FUD to Bill Gates.

Steve Jobes knows Best (Ars Technica)