July 2008 – Page 4

Garden Leave

In the United Kingdom, Garden leave (or gardening leave) describes the practice of instructing an employee who is leaving an employer (following a resignation, or having been made redundant or otherwise terminated) to stay away from work during their notice period. The practice is often used to prevent employees from working for the employer’s competitors … Continue reading “Garden Leave”

In the United Kingdom, Garden leave (or gardening leave) describes the practice of instructing an employee who is leaving an employer (following a resignation, or having been made redundant or otherwise terminated) to stay away from work during their notice period. The practice is often used to prevent employees from working for the employer’s competitors for a period of time.

Today is the first day of my Garden Leave from $BIG_COMPANY and it started with a telephone call from the US-based 24/7 call centre wanting some help due to a failed overnight automatic job on one of the production systems. I had to tell him which team in New York to call because my pass, logins and remote access were all revoked Friday and there’s no-one left in Belfast since my leaving.

I’d only place an employee on Garden Leave if I thought there was a real danger of them getting pissed off during the notice period as anyone who has admin-level access and held a grudge would surely have placed all their time-bombs and stolen their secrets before handing in their notice. So, yeah, it’s kinda stupid. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth however and have settled nicely into not having to get up at 05:30 and there’s a Cocoa book sitting beside me that I should get some time to open.

Nice to see that communication had gone through and the contact wiki pages were all updated. As some of these agents keep their own little contact lists, I’m expecting some more calls over the next few weeks.

Reading Google Reader offline

It’s taken me an age but I finally caught up with my feeds in Google Reader. Being mobile and not always with my laptop meant that Google Reader became an essential tool for managing my blogs. It meant ditching Vienna (which was my feed reader du jour). Moving all of my feeds to the iPhone … Continue reading “Reading Google Reader offline”

It’s taken me an age but I finally caught up with my feeds in Google Reader.

Being mobile and not always with my laptop meant that Google Reader became an essential tool for managing my blogs. It meant ditching Vienna (which was my feed reader du jour). Moving all of my feeds to the iPhone would have been a real pain which is why I was incredibly excited to learn that there was an RSS reader for iPhone which read directly from Google Reader.

Byline, by Milo Bird from London, is a cheap download and shows some amazing polish for a single developer. If it could show/play embedded Youtube links the way Safari does in the OS2.0 version, then it would simply be perfect.

MOT lawsuit validates Apple’s iPhone

From the Chicago Tribune: “Schaumburg-based mobile phone-maker Motorola Inc. has sued a former executive, accusing him of disclosing trade secrets to aid current employer Apple Inc. Michael Fenger in March ended an almost six-year career at Motorola, where he was a vice president for its mobile-device business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He … Continue reading “MOT lawsuit validates Apple’s iPhone”

From the Chicago Tribune:

“Schaumburg-based mobile phone-maker Motorola Inc. has sued a former executive, accusing him of disclosing trade secrets to aid current employer Apple Inc.

Michael Fenger in March ended an almost six-year career at Motorola, where he was a vice president for its mobile-device business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is now Apple’s vice president for global iPhone sales, according to a complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

“He was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives, allocation of resources, product development, multiyear-product, business and talent planning, and strategies being used by Motorola,” according to the complaint filed late Thursday.”

Couple of comments.

Fenger’s current work with Apple can’t have started before March of this year so he’s currently brought nothing to the company. I understand he may have ht the ground running but really he’s probably just managed to get his business cards printed

Does this not validate Apple as a competitor in the mobile space, albeit to a company which has lost $1.5 billion in the last 18 months and shows little or no promise of making a compelling product since sitting on their laurels with the RAZR.

Why does MOT even care? Same month as Fenger left, MOT announced they planned to rid themselves of the mobile phone division. Hard to believe that one is not linked to the other. And if MOT is getting out of the mobile phone business, then Apple can hardly be a competitor.

There is, of course, debate on whether Motorola’s strategies, pricing, initiatives, product development and resource allocation is something that Apple would seek to emulate. Or whether Motorola is simply emulating Apple of the 1990s.

But, most relevantly, California’s Business & Professions Code Section 16600 is quite simple and means what it says: California law treats as “not worth the paper it is written on” any provision, contract term or purported “agreement” that prevents them from working for a competitor or to work for him or herself. Whether he actually ‘stole’ information or not, this is going to be something hard to prove for by MOT.

Galcon

“Galcon is an awesome high-paced multi-player galactic action-strategy game. You send swarms of ships from planet to planet to take over the galaxy.” I love this game. This is the iPhone version of the Shareware (Mac and Windows) version of GalCon. The Mac/PC version handles multiplayer games as well with up to 12 players. Look … Continue reading “Galcon”

“Galcon is an awesome high-paced multi-player galactic action-strategy game. You send swarms of ships from planet to planet to take over the galaxy.”

I love this game.

This is the iPhone version of the Shareware (Mac and Windows) version of GalCon. The Mac/PC version handles multiplayer games as well with up to 12 players. Look fabulous (and only $19.95).

There’s no “Try before you buy” with the App Store so you might want to download the Mac/PC version and have a play and think about what that game would be like on a multi-touch handheld (considering the iPhone version can take advantage of multi-touch right now!)

Here’s the App Store link.

OpenMoko FreeRunner: sigh

I must admit, the OpenMoko phone does intrigue me as I’m a closet gadget geek. I’m constantly put off by two things. The hardware is crap. The software is crap . Don’t believe me? OpenMoko Train Wreck from Dave Fayram on Vimeo. More OpenMoko Train Wrecking (Now with Qt!) from Dave Fayram on Vimeo. This … Continue reading “OpenMoko FreeRunner: *sigh*”

I must admit, the OpenMoko phone does intrigue me as I’m a closet gadget geek. I’m constantly put off by two things.

The hardware is crap.
The software is crap

Don’t believe me?

OpenMoko Train Wreck from Dave Fayram on Vimeo.

More OpenMoko Train Wrecking (Now with Qt!) from Dave Fayram on Vimeo.

This is the same FreeRunner which the FSF were claiming was a ‘better’ phone than the iPhone (refuted recently here).

It remains to be seen how this criticism will be taken. It really is constructive (after a fashion) as it highlights the areas that really need some focus. But imagine if the people behind this train-wreck decided to back Android instead?

[UPDATE: The Videos are gone now but Dave says he only put them up in response to the FSF’s opinion that people should hold off the iPhone and buy an OpenMoko. He adds they need probably 18 months of active development to make something consumer friendly]

Latte Heroes

Growing up in Northern Ireland was a poor lesson in Irish history. Even in my catholic maintained school we didn’t learn much about recent history but concentrated on the Norman Conquest and the Famine. As Liam Neeson says on the “Michael Collins” movie web site: “”I’m from the North of Ireland,” continues Neeson. “In my … Continue reading “Latte Heroes”

“”I’m from the North of Ireland,” continues Neeson. “In my history books at school, this period got about one sentence — the whole Irish independence movement got maybe one paragraph. These people were presented as rebels, to be put down. We learned about the Great Fire of London, but not about our own history.”

My own history teacher was definitely a Nationalist at heart and expanded upon the official curriculum as much as he could. I may not have liked History as a subject but in retrospect he was an excellent teacher. He introduced us to the concept of “Guinness Heroes”, men who would become brave through drinking a couple of pints but whose bravado was generally limited to strong talk and rebel songs.

This is kid of how I feel about some people on the Internet. It’s easy to be a pundit and shout and scream but much harder to get people to actually do things. And they might rant with closed comments about how the AppStore does this, or how Google does that or how we should boycott Microsoft all while gripping a CafÃ© Latte from their favourite multinational coffee chain.

What value do the blog pundits bring? I’ve been witness to some travesties of communication over the last week where the ‘online community’ is realising that their icons are dead. We don’t need to be following big name A-list bloggers to be part of the online world. And the response – the growth of home-grown Z-list bloggers – people you have to be following in order to hear the next big opinion. Sure – some of them express some outrage at the idea of bloggers being paid to write. Pat Phelan’s recent blog captures some of this succinctly. So there’s outrage….and….then next week we’ll all be waffling about something else.

Latte Heroes – venting outrage from the comfort of coffee house chairs. Not actually doing anything about these injustices because, in the grand scheme of things, there’s people starving in this world and these petty injustices really don’t matter. Outrage creates a blog post and then on to the next textbite.

I think I’d hate them more if, you know, I wasn’t one of them.

Get Smart

Rob Evans muses about how Buying an iPhone might actually be good for Nokia. Now thatâ€™s great for Nokia in the long run as Norm has taken his first steps into smartphone land with the iPhone, heâ€™s realized that he needs his phone to do a little more than just voice and text. Now what … Continue reading “Get Smart”

Rob Evans muses about how Buying an iPhone might actually be good for Nokia.

Now thatâ€™s great for Nokia in the long run as Norm has taken his first steps into smartphone land with the iPhone, heâ€™s realized that he needs his phone to do a little more than just voice and text. Now what Iâ€™m thinking here is what a lot of people will do is take those first steps into smart phone land and realize that they can do so much more with a smart phone than they imagined and that theyâ€™ll hit the limits of the Phone but not of their smartphone curiosity and step up (ahem) to a Nokia smartphone.

I agree with Rob in that the iPhone will be a gateway drug for users doing a bit more than just voice and text but I don’t think it follows that someone who buys an iPhone will consider something else later. My reasoning for this is simple.

My other half was offered an upgrade from a nasty basic Nokia flip phone to a tidy Nokia e65 slider. I helped her set up email and she was happy enough to work with it for nearly a year. Shortly after she upgraded to an iPhone and really enjoyed the integration with the internet. No problem. It proves that non-geek users really appreciate email and web at their fingertips.

What changes the game is that she tried to switch to a HTC Touch Diamond (as I documented before) and couldn’t. It’s not the fact that the Bluetooth is … broken. Or that it can’t do MMS. It’s that it’s fast, responsive and has a better UI experience than anything else out there.

Some people will realise they really want a smartphone when they see other people emailing, surfing and tweeting over the air. But it’s only good for Nokia or SonyEricsson if they don’t buy an iPhone first.

FSF on iPhone 3G: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.

The FSF blog has a scaremongering piece about the iPhone 3G giving 5 reasons why you should avoid the iPhone. Because it’s fun, let’s look at them and see why or not we agree. iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and … Continue reading “FSF on iPhone 3G: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.”

The FSF blog has a scaremongering piece about the iPhone 3G giving 5 reasons why you should avoid the iPhone. Because it’s fun, let’s look at them and see why or not we agree.

iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can’t be on everyone’s phones.
- Okay, developers must pay $99 for their certificate so that the automatic updates and other infrastructure can be built. After this there’s no charges. How much does a signed certificate cost these days? And the infrastructure for automatic updates? Free? Not really. Now, it’s true that Apple’s review process is arse-about-face in terms of allowing developers to put in updates (the review should cover the initial app not updates. The certificate is there for a reason, guys) but I guess this is to prevent developers from sneaking in features that Apple doesn’t like – like VoIP over EDGE or anything using private frameworks. So, yes, it sucks. But not for the reasons given. It sucks because it exposes Apple as a profit-making company – which we all knew anyway and isn’t fixable. It sucks because it exposes a problem in their application review process – which is a process issue and is therefore fixable.
iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.
- Let’s get this one out of the way. There’s nothing wrong with Digital Rights Management (DRM) any more than there’s anything wrong with software developers wanting to earn money. I don’t mind paying for quality software and if moving to completely Free software means I have to put up with the quality of software I’ve seen with most free projects, then I wholeheartedly support pay-for software. And calling it ‘Digital Restrictions Management’ is really kinda childish at this point.
iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.
- Actually it asks you every time you try to use Location Services and also has a button to turn it off. Did you know that ALL cellphones and ALL GPS devices can be tracked remotely without your knowledge? Did you know that your car, your computer and even your own body can be tracked remotely without your knowledge by people using their eyes, ears and nose? Some of us aren’t paranoid schizophrenics – we want to use location services to provide a better experience for ourselves and others. Location is part of the metadata of our identity – we should be using it more not worrying about whether or not our rights are being eroded.
iPhone won’t play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora.
- This is the price of convenience. I could spend a lot of time making this work on my Mac but, you know what, the gains simply are not worth the costs. I have DRM-free music and video on my Mac. I put this onto my iPhone. I’m not going to worry about whether it’s ‘Free’ or not as long as it suits my usage. Ogg is going nowhere. Find a fight you can win.
iPhone is not the only option. There are better alternatives on the horizon that respect your freedom, don’t spy on you, play free media formats, and let you use free software — like the FreeRunner.
- Woah, that’s a step far. The FreeRunner is ‘better’ only if you value the licensing terms of the software. It doesn’t help your freedom, it plays free media formats (but by extension will give you trouble with ‘standard’ music formats) and lets you use free software that was designed by an engineer with no respect for HCI conventions. Oh, and like the iPhone it will expose your location and allow others to track you because it’s a cellphone and all mobile phones do that.

In short, it’s another classic FUD piece from the FSF. Last time they were warning that the iPhone might be using free software, now they’re holding up a telephone that can just recently make calls and SMS messages and saying it’s better than the JesusPhone.

But of course, they’re not going to embrace Android as their saviour because it doesn’t use the GNU Public License even though it uses a free alternative. This is the problem with the FSF: they sound reasonable at first and then start to turn into crackpots before your very eyes. Remind you of a topical religion? Thetans? Sure. It’ll be midichlorians next.

ShinyShiny Ringtone research: lacking.

ShinyShiny writes: So, now you’ve got your new iPhone 3G, it looks rather pretty in your hand doesn’t it? Now all you need is a funky new ringtone and your new Jesus phone will sound as good as it looks. Paying for ringtones feels slightly inequitable, especially when you’re being asked to pay at least … Continue reading “ShinyShiny Ringtone research: lacking.”

ShinyShiny writes:

So, now you’ve got your new iPhone 3G, it looks rather pretty in your hand doesn’t it? Now all you need is a funky new ringtone and your new Jesus phone will sound as good as it looks. Paying for ringtones feels slightly inequitable, especially when you’re being asked to pay at least Â£4.00 a pop (or maybe I’m just cheap). The eager beavers have probably already tried the renaming a music file of the appropriate length to M4R method, but would have found out this technique no longer works.

It no longer works? Since when?

I’d better get rid of these ones that work fine then…

Last week I spent a few minutes using GarageBand to hack down some audio files which were sent by a friend so he could have ‘Close Encounters’, ‘Jaws’ and ‘Knight Rider’ as ringtones. Believe me it’s not hard to get new ringtones in.

Anyone know Mark Gillespie? Kinda Urgent!

I don’t blog much personal stuff up here but there are times and places for it. As I mentioned before, I’m getting married in August and we’ve booked a local videographer (Mark Gillespie) to produce some wedding video content (mostly so that my mate Stuart would then be able to just get sozzled rather than … Continue reading “Anyone know Mark Gillespie? Kinda Urgent!”

I don’t blog much personal stuff up here but there are times and places for it.

As I mentioned before, I’m getting married in August and we’ve booked a local videographer (Mark Gillespie) to produce some wedding video content (mostly so that my mate Stuart would then be able to just get sozzled rather than having to babysit a camera).

We’ve been trying to contact Mark Gillespie since May 2008 about the booking. We’re paid up in full but we’ve had no receipt, his web site is unchanged and he’s not answering his voicemails.

Contact Details:

Freephone: 0800 612 9126
Mobile:+447845828498 (goes to same voicemail box)
Email: mark_gillespie@hotmail.co.uk
Street Address:
3 Hazelwood Crescent,
Craigywarren,
Ballymena,
Co. Antrim
BT43 6TA

As you can imagine this is causing concern in the normally tranquil Johnston household especially with there being less than two weeks until August!

Anyone heard of this guy? Dealt with him? I’d understand if there was an issue but right now it looks like he’s taken the money and disappeared.

[ UPDATE: Mark emailed us to confirm the booking time this morning. 09:01, 18/07/08]

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