daverea.com

Ten years ago, I sat in a conference room with a group of ambulance officers and paramedics. My clearance papers were on the table – a collection of training data that, taken together, was the basis for my being allowed to run the show in the back of an ambulance, alone. After I received my clearance that day, the brass left me with a parting thought: Remember: You’re never alone out there. A paramedic unit is just a radio call away. Medical control is on the other end of the phone. Your driver can help you. Ask the dispatcher, and you can even have a helicopter in fifteen minutes. But you’re never alone.

A year ago, I started a new chapter in life – pursuing a master’s degree in software engineering. My reason for returning to school: I could do a clean-sheet design for a piece of electronic hardware, but the same wasn’t so for software – and there was software in nearly everything I was creating. So, I left my cooshy job, turned in my comfy car and spent the year that followed studying my ass off.

As of yesterday, that chapter is over. My degree is finished, 64 credits and 12 months later. And I realize, in much the same way as I was never alone in my decade as a medic, that you never really start from nothing. In the software world – as in the engineering world in general – you build on the shoulders of the great people who came before you. Gauss, Tesla, Maxwell, Ohm and Shockley were all with me as I designed circuits, just as Gamma, Bass, Booch, Pressman and their cohorts have my back when it comes to creating software. Among other realizations, this past year has brought me the understanding that there’s no such thing as a clean-sheet design in the first place.

Next week, I’ll start a new job, working on new projects in the company of new friends and partners in innovation. It’s an exciting time, built not just on the foundation of intellect and creativity, but also on love and support: so my family and friends, and especially my Dad and Kelly, deserve the most thanks of all.

Rarely, in the gargantuan literary spittoon of the Internet and the “blogosphere”, I find someone who has said something that I really wanted to say, except in far greater form and with a better vocabulary. When it comes to expressing my frustration in web-culture’s obsession with oversharing, Mark Dery might as well have taken a transcript of my occasional, staccato, minimally-informed and poorly-constructed thoughts on the matter, reduced them to assembly-language and reverse-engineered them into a gorgeous, scathing prosaic treasure.

You can read it here: Have We No Sense of Decency, Sir, at Long Last?: On Adult Diapers, Erectile Dysfunction, and Other Joys of Oversharing

Of course, the fact that Dery’s indictment of oversharing is itself shared by way of weblog, as is my breathless endorsement thereof, isn’t without a passing wisp of irony – but I think we need to focus on the separation of The Web as a medium for the conveyance of the meaningful, from the web as a patient, reliable, pathologically-willing stand-in for actual social interaction, tangible human connection, and genuine real-life experiences.

"Dad, Cool it with the twitter updates."

(Hat tip: Susannah Breslin)
(Image: @Task Blog)

Well, comrades, it’s almost here. Seems like it wasn’t that long ago I was getting excited about the arrival of Ubuntu 9.10, and here we are at Ubuntu’s next big milestone. Despite the fact that few, if any, of those I know or who read this blog will make the switch, but I’ll tell you why I’m excited anyway…

Sadly, Ubuntu 9.10 wasn’t exactly a beauty queen, a speed demon or a pillar of strength. I found it to be the buggiest Linux I’ve used in a long time, but we got along in hopes that 10.04 – being a LTS or “long-term support” release – would right the wrongs. Having tested the 10.04 beta and release candidate builds, I’m feeling confident that will happen. Gone is the flaky external monitor switching. Gone is the crumby printing stability. Gone is the annoying notification scheme and impossible instant messenger.

Oh, and here to stay is a new Corsair Reactor R60 solid state disk. When I slid this little monster into my HP and loaded up Lucid’s release candidate, the machine zoomed from BIOS to rock-and-roll in 8 seconds. Before I’ve even used it a day, I’m confident that anyone looking for a serious performance boost from their laptop should seriously consider switching to an SSD.

So tomorrow, you can count me among those who’ll be downloading the Ubuntu 10.04 ISO and loading it up. For some, it’ll be a new and perhaps scary experience. For others, it’ll be life-changing. And for me, it’ll just be a welcome relief.

File under “Just wanted to mention…”

Chances are most people have never noticed – and likely don’t care – that the Android mobile phone platform doesn’t have a native way to do Push Notifications. You know, something happens somewhere, and your phone buzzes and lets you know about it. You’d be surprised how much goes into making that happen – it’s a little more complicated than just shooting off a text message.

The folks over at Xtify have created a nice Push framework for Android, but (as a developer) you have to use their servers to push out your messages. I can just hear you asking now: Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way for Android developers to push-enable their apps without depending on an outside server? You weren’t asking that? Well, just stick with me here.

Never mind. Long story short? I decided to plug this gap by creating a new open-source project aimed at bringing push notifications to Android developers. It uses the Meteor web server as a back-end – effectively, it’ll just be a pure-Java implementation of a Meteor client. Maybe it’ll take off, maybe it wont – but I hope it can benefit someone at some point! You can read more about it at The Deacon Project.

This morning, the fine folks at Verizon and Skype unleashed their first attempt at an “official” joint-venture application for Skype on smartphones – including Verizon’s Android-powered offerings. Given the anticipation that’s been brewing, installing the newly-released app was the first thing I did after pulling my Droid from its cradle today.

Unfortunately, seeing the official Skype Mobile application waiting for me in the Android Market was where the positive experience ended. After installing, the app informed me that it wouldn’t work with the phone’s Wi-Fi connection enabled. Odd, I thought, considering that it’s already been well-publicized that Skype-on-Verizon will use the Verizon voice network to deliver calls, but without deducting any minutes from the user’s plan.

As it turns out, this new Skype app will only sign in if Wi-Fi is disabled on the handset – meaning that no other apps can use that Wi-Fi connection, either. Re-activating Wi-Fi causes an automatic log-out from Skype – so much for that “always on” connection that’s advertised in the app’s description!

Fortunately, there are a few ways to enjoy Skype connectivity on your Android-powered device. Rather than installing the Verizon Skype app, check out these alternatives:

Sipdroid

A decently well-integrated SIP client (that is, a soft-phone that can make and receive VoIP calls using the SIP protocol) that doubles as a Skype client.

Fring

A nice multi-protocol chat and VoIP client with a slick user interface; it’s gone through some revision lately, but gets better and better as its user base grows.

Truphone

While this one isn’t Droid-compatible, I tried out an early beta version and found it to be fairly workable. If you have an Eris or are saving your pennies for a Nexus One, HTC Incredible or Devour, this one might be worth a test-drive…

Sometime in 2006, some co-workers and I tried our hands at running. We’re not all that fast, and our endurance isn’t all that great, but we enjoy hitting the pavement together, and we’ve all reaped some big-time fitness benefits from the hundreds of miles of ground we’ve covered in our four years of ground-pounding. What we lack in performance, we make up for in dedication – we run right through the bitter Upstate-NY winters – but none of us has ever felt dedicated enough to drop several hundred clams on a dedicated GPS training device.

But then, at long last, the Droid came to Verizon, and I finally entered the world of Android users. Not long after me, one of my running buddies traded in his Blackberry Storm for a Droid as well. Since then, I’ve tried out a couple of apps for runners, and thought I’d share a few observations here…

CardioTrainer

The first app to join me on my runs was CardioTrainer, from Android app house Work Smart Labs. I tried the free app on a couple of trail runs during a visit to California, and it did a great job. Given the unfamiliar surroundings, it was nice to have a little insight into how far I’d gone. CardioTrainer measures distance, time, pace and calories burned in real time using your handset’s GPS receiver, and automatically – and anonymously – uploads completed workouts to the Work Smart servers. There, you can view additional details about your performance, as well as check out your route on a larger map.

After returning home, I tried CardioTrainer on several routes that I had previously mapped using online tools such as MapMyRun or the GMap Pedometer. The app’s distance measurement is very accurate, and receiving spoken pace and time information proved helpful in regulating my speed and achieving a more balanced effort. Still, it’s is not without its annoyances – despite the formidable processing power of the Droid, CardioTrainer takes noticeably longer to register screen taps than other apps, especially when it’s using the GPS. During some runs, while the overall distance and time numbers are correct, large portions of the track are mysteriously missing from the track display. I suspect this has something to do with the autopause feature.

Checking in on the CardioTrainer web site, users can view their training history and data logged for each workout. Oddly, each workout’s elevation graph is accessible on the web site but not via the handset interface, while a pace graph is available on the handset but not on the web site.

Pros

• Many configuration options
• Live map display – very helpful to check for dead-end roads when running in an unfamiliar place!
• Automatic track upload to CardioTrainer web site
• Can track several different activities – running, walking, biking, etc.
• Ability to manually add workouts (such as for indoor activities, swimming, etc.)
• Configurable auto-pause stops timer and pace calculations if you stop moving

Cons

• Pace graphs only show miles/hour, not minutes/mile (which would be preferable)
• Voice guidance configuration could be improved
• Autopause can disrupt track logging
• Can export KML and GPX files, but not import

Buddy Runner

After experiencing a few quirks with CardioTrainer, I took a look in the Android Market for other options. Buddy Runner seemed to have a strong rating and a friendly pricetag (it’s also free), so I gave it a shot during today’s run. While the interface is far more sparse than that of CardioTrainer, BuddyRunner does allow customization in one area that its competition does not: specifically what data is read aloud to you during voice guidance. Rather than CardioTrainer’s pre-defined content – which alternates depending on whether you’re at a milepost or mid-mile interval – users can choose exactly which data points they want to hear.

In use, Buddy Runner is simple – the main screen provides “Start / Pause” and “End” buttons, as well as tickers displaying time, distance and pace. A map view is also provided, though I’ve never looked to see if it’s updated in real-time. I particularly like the fact that Buddy Runner gives you an option to select how your voice-output pace is calculated – it will read out either the “live” pace from your last few seconds of running, the average pace for your last mile, or your overall average pace for the entire run. Based on my usage of CardioTrainer, I’ve surmised that the only pace it reads to you is the “live” pace, which is what I prefer to hear anyway.

Pros

• Better voice guidance configuration
• Simple interface, easy to use while running
• So far, no corrupted tracks
• Configurable pace calculation (last few seconds, last interval, entire run average)

Cons

• Only tracks running – no other activities
• Autopause is either “on” or “off” – the stop interval isn’t configurable
• Requires e-mail address to enable uploading of tracks to the web, but does upload automatically
• No visible feedback on button-presses, such as highlighting – a complaint common to many Android apps

Conclusion

With both CardioTrainer and Buddy Runner on my phone, I’m hard pressed to choose a winner – neither is head-and-shoulders above the other, at least when it comes to running. I’m inclined to look past CardioTrainer’s occasional quirks, given that it has the capacity to track other forms of exercise, as well as input indoor workouts manually – we all know I enjoy my time on two wheels. Which will I use going forward? For day-to-day runs, Buddy Runner wins, since I can choose what I want read aloud to me while running. If both apps were to slap on a $5 price tag tomorrow, however, my money would go to CardioTrainer – it simply delivers more functionality and a smoother user interface. They’re both great apps – and I would encourage any Android-toting runner to give each a try.

In 1947, the Heathkit company – a formerly-bankrupt aircraft manufacturer – introduced its first electronic kit. The $39.50 oscilloscope became a best seller, a dozen years after the company’s new owners bought Heath for a whopping $300. Back then, hobbyists built ham radios, black-and-white TVs and hi-fi sets from vacuum tubes, soldering fiberglass circuit boards together with glowing guns from Radio Shack, hunched over basement workbenches, surrounded by a haze of blue-gray flux smoke. It was long before the days of microscopic surface-mount components, squirted from machines at tens of thousands of parts per hour.

Not long ago, I wrote here about the atrophy of amateur radio, and inquired (unsurprisingly, unsuccessfully) if there was any hope for that pastime. Most things ham trigger a lot of nostalgia in me – recollections of dad-chauffeured car trips to the city for radio classes with Jason; of my “Elmer”, Ed, N2EH (now a silent key); of good times spent with the other hams at the RIT Radio Club, who were among the best of my college friends; and of countless growing-up hours spent tinkering, building things, and un-building things. For a long time, I thought this spirit of geek tinkering was similarly waning, but recently I’ve had a few reasons to change my tune…

First off, the pieces and parts. In the golden age, resistors, capacitors, coils, tubes and transistors were the parts du jour – and you could do some pretty cool things with them. The 70s and 80s brought integrated circuits – and my generation of tinkerers dove head-first into logic gates, op-amps, newly-commodified microprocessors and LED displays. But as the demands of the tech-buying public called for more miniaturization and richer feature sets, things got more difficult. Ball grid array packages – unsolderable by all but the most-dedicated and well-funded (or craziest?) hobbyists – ushered in an age of inaccessible parts. But now, thanks to projects like Arduino, and companies like Bug Labs and Gumstix, pluggable modules and microcontrollers are becoming basic building blocks in themselves.

But more than just the evolution of what’s available to build with, there has been a renaissance in the builders, too. People like Diana Eng and Jeri Ellsworth, and groups like the recently-formed Interlok Rochester – or, hell, the entire readership of Make Magazine – remind me that the spirit of tinkering is alive and well. Maybe hobbyists aren’t exactly making the next iPhone – though they’re certainly trying and in some cases, succeeding! When you’re faced with the immense complexity that’s possible via today’s gadgets, it’s easy to get discouraged about the potential for electronics as a hobby. But it’s also easy to be hopeful and inspired when you look at what these folks are doing. To the tinkerers: keep up the good work! And to those who’ll bring us the next generation of electronic building blocks, I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store…

Laundry time! (image source: sxc.hu)

Not too long ago, I saw a television commercial that touted the energy (and, hence, money) saving abilities of some-brand-or-another’s high efficiency washers and dryers. I wondered… Could dropping upwards of a grand and a half on high-efficiency washers and dryers really save enough coin to make up for the cost?

I toyed with the idea of calculating the cost of running a load through our good ‘ol Kenmore washer and dryer, but never really ran with the idea until this week, when my shiny new Kill-a-Watt energy meter arrived. With Kelly at work for the day, I shut off the furnace, emptied my bladder and set up my newly-unboxed gizmo to measure how much electricity the washer was pulling out of the wall. I figured I’d run a worst-case test – a bleach load, warm wash, with towels, and a double rinse. The results?

• Electricity – Washer: 0.32KWh ($0.018)
• Electricity – Dryer: 0.49KWh ($0.056)
• Gas – Total: About 0.3ccf, or 0.30555 Therms ($0.30)
• Water – Total: 60.3 gallons ($0.15)
• Detergent – 3.2 ounces ($0.32)
• Bleach – 4.2 ounces ($0.115)
• 1 Dryer Sheet ($0.05)

The grand total? 73.94¢. Worst case. A smaller load, with colored clothes (hence no bleach), and no towels? I’m guessing less.

So even if that magical high-efficiency washer and dryer could clean our clothes with no energy or water at all, it would still take almost 1,900 loads of laundry to pay for them. If we assume that they cut our usage in half (still, a pretty tall order) then doing about 4 loads of laundry a week (which we do), it would still take over 18 years for them to pay for themselves.

Those old ceramic-white Kenmores are looking better and better…