Chris Tyler's Blog - E-COMmon Sense

Let's see some Leadership on Broadband Access

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 19:14:29 -0400

The inclusion of broadband-for-all-Canadians in the Liberal platform is an important step in the right direction. And while reliable rural broadband access is an obvious priority (as David Humphrey notes), the Liberal strategy does not go far enough: even current broadband access in our cities falls well short of what is needed to be globally competitive.

Canada's low average population density makes any broadband rollout a challenge. But there is an opportunity here: it's time for a leader to step up and set a realistic and challenging next-generation broadband goal, in the style of Kennedy's "We choose to go to the moon" speech. Setting a goal of 1 Gbps to every household in the country within three years would show real leadership. It would be a huge challenge, but we have the technology (wired and wireless), and it's where we need to go to stay in the game.

Clarity in Error Dialogs

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:37:34 -0500

I've met my share of error dialogs through the years. Ones that say "Something bad has happened. Ok?" are annoying but understandable.

However, one in gpk-update-viewer, which I encountered yesterday, is a real head-scratcher:

This dialog sometimes appears when you try to close the gpk-update-viewer window while updating and it reads:

Cannot cancel running task
There are tasks that cannot be cancelled.
[Cancel] [Quit]

Quite apart from the fact that this dialog shouldn't appear at all -- packagekit will continue the update in the background -- the two buttons appear to mean the same thing, both of which are (according to the dialog) impossible.

(bug 567135)

Update: Richard Hughes noted in the comments that this is fixed upstream

The Best Open Source License...

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:29:13 -0400

I have had the honour of informally judging a debate entitled "Which Open Source License is Best?", held this past Monday by the FOSS Learning Center. Unfortunately I could not watch the debate live, so I've had to wait for the videos to be processed and posted - my apologies for the delay.

Each debater made an excellent case for the license they represented:

Michael Milinkovich, Executive Director, Eclipse Foundation - Eclipse Public License (EPL)

Matt Asay, VP Business Development, Alfresco - GNU General Public License (GPL)

David Maxwell, Open Source Strategist, Coverity - Berkeley Software Distibution License (BSD)

I come to this debate not only as an professor, but as a software developer, a consultant to the SME sector, and as a participant in the Fedora project. There was at least one point made in favor of each license that I found notable: that the EPL guarantees perpetual freedom of code, but enables proprietary products to be constructed on top; that the GPL fundamentally creates an atmosphere of trust; and that the BSD license's brevity and simplicity provides reassuring clarity and confidence.

Of the three cases presented, I found the case for the GPL to be the most compelling. I hadn't previously considered that the GPL creates an environment of trust, but that resonated deeply with my experience and particularly with my observations within the Fedora project and as a consultant.

But more importantly, as the debaters concluded: each of these licenses has a place in the Open Source ecosystem, and the users of each license generally agree about much more than they disagree. Long live Open Source!

---

Debate video and the conclusions of the other judges.

Adobe, You're Killing Me

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:24:11 -0400

Adobe, your Flash Player and Acrobat Reader products are complete and utter crap. I don't use other platforms enough to know or care, but the Linux versions are utterly, terrifyingly awful.

Adobe [Acrobat] Reader

Available in several package formats. Not available from a repository, from which updates could easily be pushed to your customers; instead, we're invited to "Receive up-to-date information about new releases and security updates by registering your copy of Adobe Reader". How? "Please contact me via the following methods: (please check one or more): Mail / E-mail / Telephone". I'd much rather receive the security update and a phone call about the security update, thanks. Update: Gideon Mayhak noted in comments that AdobeReader is available in the same repository as the Flash Player. Somehow I missed that, Adobe -- probably because you make no mention of it on your website.
The print dialog, which is fairly significant in a document reader, doesn't look like any other print dialog I've seen in a long, long time. Actually, a lot of the Reader user interface is non-standard (or perhaps just ancient?), but the print dialog takes the cake. Adobe, you made it up; it certainly isn't close to the standard Gnome or KDE print dialogs. It's a hideous monstrosity reminiscent of Motif dialogs from 20 years ago. But you do let people fiddle with the printer command line -- excellent for kiosk applications!
When used as a plugin, Reader will consume 100% of CPU and ever-increasing amounts of memory when I close a browser tab containing the plugin. That's right: when there is no visible sign that the software is running, it's bringing the system to its knees.
Reader does not uninstall cleanly. When AdbeRdr is removed from a system, the default handler for PDF files should revert to the pre-Adobe-Reader value, but it does not -- the system will forever look for the non-existant 'acroread' binary. I haven't yet figured out where the ghost lives.

Adobe Flash Player

Available from a repository. Nice touch! But 64-bits, anyone?
Consumes massive amounts of CPU time when apparently doing nothing. By massive, I mean that it pushes the CPU temperature up until the fans switch into the turbo near-ultrasonic range. I mean that it brings normally-responsive multi-user systems to their knees. I mean it uses so much electricity that environmentalists weep publicly and small furry creatures pack their bags and move to other continents, if they haven't lost their sanity because of the ultrasonic whine.
32- vs. 64-bit issues: don't get me started.

Please, Adobe, fix your stuff.

E-mail in Scroll Mode

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:49:55 -0400

When your spam filters are working really well, and yet your inbox summary scrolls by a full screen or more whenever your mailbox is polled, and your mailbox is being polled every 1-2 minutes, you're in e-mail scroll mode.

I've been in that mode several times lately. My apologies for any delays in replying, it is (as the local traffic announcers say) "just congestion due to volume".

The Naming of Software

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:07:15 -0400

There are many different factors to be taken into account when naming an open source project: trademark conflicts, meaning in multiple languages, memorability, thought association, similarity to existing names, family naming schemes (heaven forbid that a KDE app not have a k shoehorned into the name somewhere!), and more. But let me add one more to the list: searchability.

Two examples of projects that failed to take searchability into account spring to mind (and there are many others): C# and KVM -- C# because it contained a character that many search engines of the day couldn't search on, and KVM because there were millions of web pages in existence discussing keyboard/video/mouse switches that cause search collisions (and many of those pages also contained "virtual" or "machine", while many kernel virtual machine pages didn't contain the word "kernel", "virtual", or "machine").

So please: when picking a name for a project, have Google and its colleagues look over your shortlist!

The Service Industry

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:25:25 -0500

Andrew, my (ticked-off) friend, don't cloud the issue between pirating and releasing open source.

As an author, I've sold legally-protected "intellectual property" (two book manuscripts) for income, and it has ticked me off that my work has been pirated and made available on the web (though I'm not sure it's had a negative effect on sales). I respect other's right to determine how their creations are used, and I don't pirate software or movies (though I have taken advantage of the Canadian private copying regime for music). That said, I do believe that open source is an incredibly powerful concept, and that (almost) all software should be distributed that way.

It's widely held that "security by obscurity" is not security at all, and that real security comes through good design, precise customization, diligent implementation, and ongoing maintenance (services).

I'd argue the same with software: "income by obscurity" -- selling code -- is absurd, especially when bits can be copied for $almostNothing. The real value in this industry comes from good design, precise customization, diligent implementation, and ongoing maintenance (services).

Ours is a service industry, and we need to stop pretending that it's a product industry.

Atomic Time in Your Pocket

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:20:55 -0400

Well, it's time for the semi-annual daylight savings time change. One thing that has annoyed me in recent years is the fact that, for a few weeks after the time change, it seems that many clocks are out of sync -- some a few minutes fast, others a few minutes slow.

For networked computers, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) can be used to synchronize the system clock with time standards available on the Internet, which are in turn tied to atomic clocks operated by the National Research Council in Canada, the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US, and other organizations. NTP used to be a chore to set up, but now it's pretty trivial -- in Fedora, for example, you just have to check the NTP option during installation (or select System>Administration>Date & Time, click on the Network Time Protocol tab, and then checkmark the field labeled "Enable Network Time Protocol").

What many people don't realize is that cell phone networks also use NTP (or a similar protocol, I'm not sure about the inner workings of the cell networks). This means that most cellphones display the time to within a second of the official standard -- it's like having an atomic time reference in your pocket.

So, if you're adjusting your clocks tonight, consider setting them according to your cellphone.

The Return of the Bidirectional Internet

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:05:40 -0400

One of the exciting things about the early web was that it was fully bidirectional. Since almost all of the early Internet connections were symmetrical, anyone who could read the web could publish on the web. Web server software was lightweight, and installing it was the only barrier to publishing a site. Every Internet-connected computer was a "host", not a "client" or a "server".

This changed with the introduction of asymmetrical broadband connections and client-oriented systems (read: Windows 95 and successors). Vendors made the assumption that we wanted to consume content, not create and manage it.

Now, finally, the tide is turning. Although most residential and small-business broadband connections are still asymmetrical, the upstream bandwidth is sufficient for medium-duty serving. Here in Toronto, a 3-8 Mbps download/800 kbps upload speed is very common and priced between $40-60. The 800 kbps upstream speed is half of a T1, which used to be the standard business-class data connection, and is sufficient for serving a low- to medium-volume web site. Although some ISPs such as Rogers and Bell still haven't grasped the concept (and may never), other ISPs such as TekSavvy are run and staffed by smart people that understand the demand for unencumbered, fast pipes. Most non-Windows operating systems do not distinguish between client and server roles and are happy to be both.

We're seeing the bidirectionial internet appear in other places too: browser extensions that provide services traditionally supplied by "servers", personal domain names, and SMTP and DNS servers running in homes.

The return of the bidirectional internet: is an exciting and empowering change that's well overdue.

Test Ads?

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:46:53 -0400

Never seen Google 'test ads' before -- but they're popping up all over the place today (including here on my blog). Somebody's gonna be in hot water...

Sign the Neutrality.CA Petition

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:19:13 -0400

If you're Canadian and support net neutrality, consider digitally 'signing' the petition at neutrality.ca

Please Don't Mandate Compact Flourescent Lamps!

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sun, 06 May 2007 01:30:09 -0400

Several governments, including the Government of Canada, are talking about mandating the use of high-efficiency lighting. This is being reported by news outlets as mandating compact flourescent lights (CFLs) over incandescent lights.

I haven't read any of the proposed legislation, but I trust that the new laws mandate a certain level of efficiency instead of a particular technology, because it would be a mistake to mandate the use of compact flourescent bulbs. There are many unresolved issues surrounding these lamps:

- CFLs contain mercury. While it is true that they potentially reduce mercury emissions by reducing the demand for electricity from coal-fired generators, not all electricity is generated from coal, and coal-fired plants are reducing their mercury emissions. Because CFLs contain mercury, they must not be placed in ordinary household garbage, and precautions must be taken if a bulb breaks. Many consumers do not know how to handle disposal or breakage safely.

- There are a number of reports of fires caused by CFLs near the end of their life. Consumers have been advised to discard CFLs if they notice browning at the base of the bulb. However, this reduced the useful life of the bulb (therefore increasing the cost) and most consumers will not inspect bulbs that are operating normally.

- CFLs produce ultraviolet light, which is converted to visible light by a phosphor coating. Some ultraviolet light is released from the bulb, but little information is being made available about the amount of UV light released by a CFL.

- CFLs produce less light as they age.

- CFLs are not well-suited for use in areas where they are turned on and off frequently.

I'm not saying that we should avoid compact flourescent lamps and stick soley to incandescent lighting, but there are some questions and concerns being raised about CFLs. We must continue to research alternative light designs, including high-efficiency incandescents (which are expected to reach CFL efficiency levels in the next few years using nanotech fabrication techniques) and light emitting diodes (which are very efficient but not yet competitively priced), and most importantly, any new legislation must not require the use of CFLs but leave the door open for all high-efficiency lighting technologies.

Install Money Saving Technology, then Charge Your Customers More

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Wed, 24 May 2006 15:50:29 -0400

Canadian banks are rapidly moving towards image-based cheque clearing. That means that cheques will no longer be physically shipped around the country during the clearing process; instead, a digital image of the front and back of the cheque will be sent instead. This has many advantages, as the Canadian Payments Association points out in their report Cheque Imaging in Canada: An Idea Whose Time has Come. What they are careful not to say is that most of those advantages translate into reduced costs.

RBC Royal Bank is Canada's largest bank, and has been agressively moving toward cheque imaging. This saves them money. But they're making their customers pay to save them that money!

Continue reading "Install Money Saving Technology, then Charge Your Customers More"

What's with narrow web layouts?

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 11:46:11 -0500

Gotta rant for a moment: Why are we seeing a resurgence in the use of fixed-width webpages?! I've been using a 1280x1024 screen since 1993 and thought the days of a big margin down both sides -- or, worse yet, a big margin down the right side -- were long gone. Yet ctv.ca, redhat.com, cibc.com, and way too many blog sites are using only one-third to one-half of the screen. And when my eyes are tired and I zoom the font size (Ctrl+Mouse Wheel), I end up with two or three words per line!

I agree that whitespace can be an effective design tool, but there's a limit. If you're going to design a page with generous margins down both sides, at least size the middle portion in em units so that when I zoom the text size the line length increases too. Tip of the day: you can size your images in ems as well, so that zoming the text zooms the graphics

Of course, sometime after I wrote this, I switched to the "Kubrick" theme for the blog -- and ended up with a narrow web layout. D'oh!

Rogers Just Doesn't Get It

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:10:39 -0400

I use Voice-Over-IP for my phone service. That means that my residential phone calls travel over the Internet. My Internet provider is Rogers Cable; my VOIP provider is Vonage.

Rogers has just started to offer residential phone service using VOIP over their private network -- but they just don't get it. The whole point of VOIP is cost reduction; by [a] taking advantage of the economies of scale provided by the Internet and [b] offloading some of the service details to the consumer, the cost of phone service is dramatically reduced.
Continue reading "Rogers Just Doesn't Get It"