Scott's Blog

So I got for Christmas the iRiver 340 music jukebox (40 gig version). I chose it over the iPod because: It's cheaper - US$386.00 instead of $500.00. I can make Podcasts on it (i.e. I can record things at high quality) The battery is better than the iPod. It supports Ogg Vorbis audio compression. Has a radio (but I don't see myself using it very much). You don't need to use iTunes to copy your files. It mounts as a drive on Windows, and thus you can copy pretty much anything to it. My guess is that the iPod has a nicer interface, but I wouldn't know, since I've never used one. I've been using my favorite synchronizing program, Unison , to update my iRiver. I'm using about 20 gig of disk space so far. What I didn't like is that the US version of the iRiver: doesn't come with a cradle (a $25.00 addon), the carrying case completely covers the buttons and the display (a proper carrying case is a $30.00 addon), so anyt...

These guys created a method of sending IM messages which provides a method of chatting in such a way that you know who you are talking to is who you think it is (authentication), but soon after the message has been sent it can't be read anymore - the key expires and isn't saved. An interesting point in the paper is that even when you use an cryptographic system, if the FBI takes you machine there's a good chance that they can get your messages and prove that you sent that message. If you did something incriminating this is the opposite of what you want. As far as I understand the system, the messages are ephemeral and are unreadable after a short time (even by you). Yet at the same time there are some guarantees that the person you are chatting with is who you think it is rather than an imposter trying to get information from you. I suppose the downside of the protocol is that you don't have a history of your messages which can be handy. via slashdot .

Ian Bickin's article discussed some other articles : [...] one way to decrease bugs is testing, but another way is to decrease the amount of code. Code deleted is code debugged. Static typing can decrease the number of bugs, but decreasing the amount of code is a much, much more effective way to decrease bugs. ... Static type defenders complain about the combinatorial type interactions in dynamically typed languages -- how can you test all the code paths, given all the possible types? But their languages lead to combinatorial code , which is far worse: for many classes of hard problems, they can't solve them once, they have to solve them everytime they are encountered. Ouch. Python is both dynamically typed (like VBasic and strongly typed (like Java) , the best of both worlds.

The science fiction writer Bruce Sterling gave a talk . He talked about RFID , GPS , Internet Search , 3D design , 3D printer , and " Spime ".

Joel Spolsky has a good article on setting a price a product, and whether you should set a price - or should you segment your market. The part I liked was: Effectively I am willing to accept a lower price now in exchange for creating grassroots support. I see the low price of FogBugz as being an investment in advertising that I expect will pay off many times over in the long run. via del.icio.us

The robots are coming, the robots are coming! If you haven't read it I highly recommend you read Marshall Brain's Robotic Nation , it's a dystopian look at our robotic future. Fortunately, he does offer a solution, but you'll have to read it for yourself. You may also want to read his Manna stories which is a little like a short science fiction story.

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