In Support of the Mobile SDK

There may be a few "iPhone Killers" coming out, but I believe that the only one with a shot at triggering the demise of Apple's cute little two-hundred-dollar-bill is the "Google Phone." I don't call it a Google Phone, but I'm trying to use it in a general sense. By "Google Phone" I mean any phone running the Android operating system. There are many touch-screen phones coming out, and they all look great, don't they? None will kill Apple's iPhone or the Android platform.

The Nokia 5800 is a fantastic device from what I have read. It has all the features the iPhone does, and Nokia is even launching an audio store. The Blackberry Storm is the world's first touchscreen from RIM, and it seems to be getting rave reviews for its functionality. You can watch videos, listen to music, check e-mail, update Facebook, and all those cool things you always wanted to do with what the mobile phone has become.

I have one reason that the iPhone and the Android platform will survive: the SDK. That Nokia 5800 is great, but what if there's just one more thing you want to do with it, and Nokia never provided that function? What if you decided your Blackberry Storm couldn't do enough?

As a (budding) developer, I feel that the openness of the platforms (the ability to create your own software for any purpose to make a device even more useful) is the driving force behind the iPhone, and what will eventually be Android's success (even moreso now that it's free to develop for Android and fantastically cheap to submit to the Android market).

Tell me: Could you do this with your 5800 or Storm? I didn't think so.

Coming Right Up...

They came around today. I had the same problem today as yesterday installing Java, and finally a message popped up with a solution.

I followed these instructions (please don't ask me to explain the registry key we deleted, because I can't), and Java installed perfectly. Office 2007 went smoothly just now as well. Enterprise Architect is on its way to my system, and I think I might have a fully-functional machine now. Isn't that weird? I wonder if Microsoft reads this blog (they don't) because it seems to be an eerie coincidence that I write about something and they fix it. Also, they don't allow me to write anything to go along with the crash reports like Apple does.

Let's try NetBeans now.

Uh-Oh. Installer Problems in Windows 7

I'm having problems installing software on Windows 7. I'm not going to freak out and blast Microsoft for this; it's a beta system, and the same error has occurred with two different software packages: Sun's JDK 6 and Microsoft Office 2007. I have found some search results that lead me to believe that someone has succeeded in installing Office '07 on Windows 7, but I can't find out a whole lot about it.

One thought is that this is the 64-bit edition of Windows, and not much has been tested on it. XP x64 brought some pain to the compatibility area, and I don't think I've ever installed Vista x64. So I can't say that I have a lot of experience, and I don't know what to do to find the culprit. I do know that I get the same two dialog boxes when installing either the JDK or Office 2007.

Another thought is that Microsoft might have changed something in their installer (or did they even have it before Win7?), or it's a combination of the two. Whatever the case, today the computer is simply a radio.
I guess I'll have to use my laptop for the rest of the day; I need to do a White Box Test Plan for my Software Testing class, and draw several UML diagrams for my capstone. I can't install NetBeans because I can't install the JDK, and I can't install Office 2007 to do the report. I'm not mad, but I really wanted the desktop to do all this design work instead of cramming it all on the laptop.

Gloomy Times

Just when I'm about to finish college again, the economy and all the job markets take a shit. It was the same way in 2004 (we were just coming out of the dot-com bust and Enron), and in 2009 I'll be stuck with an undergraduate degree without the new job that is supposed to come along with it.

And no one can escape this one, it seems. Not even Google.

On another note, I am still pursuing Army/Air Force Officer candidacy.

Video Driver Update Without Restart in Windows 7

Does anyone remember not having to restart after the simplest Windows Update? I think there was one last year...

Something happened today that blew my mind. I started Windows Update on my Vista laptop and saw there were 4 important updates. "What updates are necessary today for Windows 7?," I asked myself. I opened Windows Update (herein referred to as WU because I am tired of typing it) and there were no critical updates, but two optional ones.

One was for the monitor I'm using, an Acer V193W (who knows why?) and for my video card, a GeForce 6600. I told WU to go ahead with both updates and went about whatever it was I wanted to do. I was reading e-mail when it happened, and swore I'd experienced the first hiccup with the beta OS.

The screen went black and I saw a blinking cursor at top left, as if the machine had restarted as a result of a hard crash. "WTF just happened?," I said. Then the desktop came back and the browser window resituated itself in the maximized position where I had it previously. A little pop-up at bottom right told me that my video driver had been installed successfully.

This tells me something wonderful - that things in Windows 7 are so modular that restarting the GUI with a new graphics driver doesn't even bother any other part of the system. Isn't that great? Vista promised fewer restarts and I believed them. They lied. Windows 7 just surprised the crap out of me with the <blink> "Okay, done" -style of updating this morning.

Just for reference, I've been running Windows 7 since Friday, January 10, 2009 and I have not been forced to restart yet.

Windows 7 First Impression

I have been testing Windows 7 for two days now on the only computer I could spare. It's an aging AMD Athlon 64 3200+ running at 2.01GHz (that's a single-core CPU for the young folks here) with 2GB RAM. Internet Explorer 8 is all I've used, and things seem to be much better than Vista's first days. It hasn't broken yet, and I like some of the new visual features - one of which I've been waiting on since Windows 2000.

The system is not slow. At idle, it's only using about 43% of the RAM. Things really do work. I'm blogging this from the beta system now.

The biggest UI change that Windows 7 brings is the behavior of the taskbar. The quick launch is gone, folks. For the three people on Earth who have studied my desktop, the quick launch toolbar is a staple for me.

I think that's one reason I got to liking my MacBook so much - I put every program I use in the Dock.

So when I gained the experience of the Windows 7 taskbar, I couldn't help but feel that I was between the two.

By default, programs aren't there if they're not open, with the exception of the left three (IE8, Explorer, and Windows Media Player). One can, however, leave a program icon in the taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing "Pin this program to taskbar" from the context menu. This is not at all unlike the same dialog in OS X that says "Keep in Dock."

But that's not what I was waiting on. I knew they could fix my one pet peeve, and they finally did. I use a lot of USB-interface storage devices, and I tend to use them simultaneously. I also use good computing practices when I want to disconnect the drive. However, the only piece of information provided to me when I want to release a drive is the drive letter. To figure out which one it is, I have to go to Computer and look. Only then will I know for sure which drive to release. Windows 7 actually puts the drive label in the release menu, so I don't have to change my train of thought or spend two extra clicks. For that I am proud of Microsoft's development team for listening and making sense of something.

So far, I am pleased with Windows 7, but haven't had the opportunity to really put it to use. I have had Windows Media Player playing a solo piano channel from Lucky 7 Radio for nearly the entire uptime of the system and have crunched some movies, but I haven't done any programming, YouTube watching, schoolwork, or much else on it. I will try to use it as if it were my only computer for as long as I can and will tell you all about it if something goes wrong. If I don't write, just assume that everything is okay with Windows 7 and go ahead and dive in when they release it. The only thing that people won't like is the once-again drastic UX change. Maybe more on that later.

AC/DC

I went to the gym this morning - something I should do every morning but don't. Anyway, my gym has XM radio, and they change the channel every day to cycle through maybe five channels to break the monotony. Since I don't go every day, I must go every time they have the damn AC/DC channel on. Why is there an AC/DC channel anyway? It's 24 hours with the same damn nine songs, one of which always stays in my head the rest of the day.

I have vowed now to find the model of XM radio they have and get a remote from eBay for it. They can put it behind a glass door, but they can't keep me from having my way.

On Caller ID

I got a call today from a number in the 789 area code. I ignored it because unknown numbers are usually cold calls or recordings, and I wasn't interested in learning anything new. But I was curious.

So I looked up the 789 area code to see where the caller might be dialing from - that's usually interesting and I can sometimes guess what comany it might have been. Not this time. See - the 789 area code isn't used. Anyone with some skillz and access to a PRI can change what is shown on the caller ID display. My question now is why they were calling me and what the scam was. There is no way I can tell who it was or call them back. The only thing I'll do now is post the number:

789-999-6966

On Dedication

Some kid missed the bus, so he took his mom's car to school. It wouldn't be that bad if the kid wasn't six years old. He almost made it, then crashed about a quarter-mile from school. The cops checked him out, and then he started walking to campus. "Where are you going?," the cops asked. "To school. I'm late," he replied.

If only I was that dedicated in 1984.

On Bach

We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Saturday night, and there I saw a preview of The Soloist. It looks really good. The thing that got me was the music in the trailer, and I had to search a bit for it. Luckily, the IMDB site had an FAQ and the only question on it was "What's that music playing in the trailer?" Someone answered it to be J.S. Bach's Suite for Cello No. 1 in G Major. I have confirmed this by buying Yo-Yo Ma's Bach: The Cello Suites from iTunes.

I'm writing about it just in case someone else is wondering. Also because I can't quit listening to it.

On Happiness

Happiness is relative. Much in life is. My dad always said "You must choose to be happy." I never knew what he meant by that, or how that could happen. I know now - and it has a lot to do with optimism. I saw a nice quote this morning, which inspired me to write this morning:

Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
- Robertson Davies

The fact that I can't be happy more often I think stems from my overwhelming desire to do and learn everything under the sun while participating heavily in the family I've built with my wife and working a full-time job to pay for it all.

Besides being busy, I love everything. And I can't decide what it is I want to do. Lately I have streamlined a bit and have left myself with only a few hobbies, none of which have much priority in my every day. I have a family, a job, and school. Anything else is lower on my list.

Whatever my case, in May I will have a choice to make, and another one in December. I want to start pushing my company and get out of the consumer market. I need some solid goals to chase so I can quit changing my mind. Maybe finishing college will bring a calm to it all.