Posts by Eric Sorenson
The next time you take a minute to update your Facebook page, be careful! Most users know the difference between public and private information in their profiles, but making sensitive information private is not as safe as some users may think. Canada’s privacy commissioner has been the latest to put a spotlight on the numerous gaping holes in the security surrounding the most popular social-networking websites.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that almost a million Facebook developers around the globe have unrestricted access to all of the information in your profile. Regardless of the safeguards you think you’ve placed on your personal information, it is all visible and accessible to these users. Further, Facebook never deletes any of this information, even if you cancel your account. Thus, there is currently no way to eliminate the chance that someone could later dig up a potentially sensitive piece of information deleted by a user. Several other privacy risks are outlined in the article linked-to below.
This situation is a great example of how important and difficult it is to keep personal information personal. I had thought that I was being paranoid for not getting a Facebook account, but it turns out I was more right than I’d ever thought I would be. As a general rule, I recommend refraining from posting anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your mother — or your boss — to read.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/17/facebook-privacy-settlement.html
Filed in: Team Member Blog
Each year, as the so-called ‘digital revolution’ picks up speed, greater numbers of markets have been transitioning to Internet based distribution. Music, film, journalism and telecommunications are just a few of the industries that have been strongly influenced by this trend. There have been some consumer complaints, but by far the loudest objections have come from the beneficiaries of aging business models.
While I’m an advocate of using the Internet as a distribution system, I’m not keen on the new standard for buying digital music that iTunes has established. I love having a high quality, tangible copy of the album I just bought, complete with cover art and liner notes. Sure, album artwork can be packaged with a purely digital copy in the form of a PDF or JPEG file, but in my opinion there’s still a certain sense of satisfaction missing from it. Additionally, the audio resolution of iTunes downloads is far lower than that of a CD, not to mention that of vinyl records.
That being said, I’ll admit that the digital distribution music model is remarkably efficient. For one thing, it simply has no packaging materials, construction, storage or shipping costs. Furthermore, there is never any waste to throw into a landfill, and very little energy is required to send a song through a computer network, making digital music a much greener alternative.
A hot topic of late has been whether digital distribution is sustainable in the long term. While it has been becoming an increasingly viable goal, it can only remain so if access to the Internet is extremely reliable. So especially since most consumers have come to expect immediate gratification and portability in media purchases, one thing to keep in mind is that it’s very important that we fortify our existing infrastructure if we continue to increase our reliance on computer networks for the consumption of day to day commodities.
Most large media firms have not adapted to these kinds of expectations, and their revenue has dropped as a result. A quick glance at the news shows that consumers will find ways to meet their own expectations, regardless of what the traditional corporate players have planned. Their market will definitely continue to evolve, but it’s becoming apparent that the power will likely change hands in the process, perhaps more than once.
Filed in: Team Member Blog
For quite a while now, Linux enthusiasts have been predicting the arrival of the “Year of Linux,” at which time they anticipate that the operating system will come to enjoy widespread use among the desktops of both consumers and the corporate world. In their view, this will finally put an end to the aging Wintel Duopoly. Recently, Windows has actually recovered some of its lost ground over Linux, as netbook buyers have tended to return a purchased machine with a highly-tuned Linux distribution in favor of one with the outdated, slower, but more familiar, Windows XP. 
The time for Linux is coming, but it’s not going to arrive via the standard Gnome or KDE desktop environments. The big threat to the seemingly invincible Microsoft stronghold will accompany the current rise in popularity of the smartphone. The Linux kernel has already made progress in the smartphone world, with both Google’s Android and Palm’s WebOS on board. The biggest hurdle for any OS trying to gain market share is user interface familiarity. When a smartphone OS becomes familiar and comfortable to millions of people, based on their mobile phone usage, it will be much easier to chip away at Windows’ lead for their desktops. After using an Android phone for a some time to manage emails while on the go, it will make sense to manage emails with the Android OS while in the office. At some point, we’ll be connecting a larger screen, keyboard and mouse to our smartphones, and thus eliminate the need for a separate desktop machine or laptop altogether.
Attempts at merging the gap between the smartphone and the desktop are already being attempted. While they’re not likely to be wildly successful yet, they do illustrate a possible future for the world of personal computing, in which Linux is a popular choice.
For more information, check out:
http://moblin.org/
http://www.tecspeak.com/gadgets/pcs/acer-aspire-one-android-netbook
Filed in: Team Member Blog
For the past three years, my mother and I have created a memories video for the second grade class that she teaches at Arboretum Elementary School in Waunakee. Over the course of the school year she takes pictures and videos of field trips, plays, holidays and other events. Then we compile them with music and effects into a half-hour presentation for the students and their parents. This year, Tammy was able to join us for the screening of the class movie. 
Each student gets his or her own copy of the DVD to take home at the end of the year. We even found DVDs with a picture of a movie reel on the top, and the kids really got a kick out of it!
While I’m usually spending my time at the computer programming, my roots are in multimedia, so it’s always fun to use the iLife software that comes with the Mac. Additionally, it’s fun to work on a project with a member of my family for a change. However, for me, the best part of the project is seeing the reactions of the students in the class as they watch the video – and sing and dance along with the music!
Filed in: Team Member Blog
This image popped into my Google Reader page a while ago and really struck a chord with me (if you haven’t tried Google Reader you should check it out!)
While I doubt this list was written by a software developer, all four points are relevant to software developers. These four points have helped me keep a clear perspective when dealing with changing requirements in a fast paced, dynamic development environment.
While it sometimes seems like it would be wonderful to have a static set of expectations, this simply isn’t realistic. We can’t — and shouldn’t — expect users to know what they want right out of the gate. Everything is always changing, and this is a good thing! Even my own expectations as a developer have been steadily evolving over the years. If you are a developer yourself, how often have you changed your development workstation? Did you know exactly what you needed in an IDE the moment you sat down to write your first application? Probably not. We’re really not any different from anyone else when it comes to knowing what we want in advance.
If the users of an application are not regularly changing their minds and/or coming up with new ideas, they either have paranormal abilities, or your application isn’t going to be a good fit for their needs. It’s in everyone’s best interest to use tools, languages, frameworks and methodologies that encourage the team to continually refocus priorities and requirements.
Filed in: Team Member Blog
Last Sunday I saw a segment on 60 Minutes about computer security, labeled “The Internet is Infected,” (available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4901282n). The spotlight was on Conficker, the bug of the week, but Lesley Stahl proceeded to give a pretty misguided overview of the subject of computer security in general. She left a gaping hole in her report by leaving out the fact that only Microsoft Windows operating systems can be infected by Conficker, and, of course, the same goes for nearly all other viruses, worms and malware. 
Instead of informing viewers of operating system options other than Windows, Lesley reports that the only way to protect yourself against digital theft is to buy expensive security software for Windows, while feigning skepticism of Symantec’s potential capitalist motivations by questioning their representative’s sincerity in touting the benefits of buying their products. It is patently untrue that purchasing anti-virus software is the only available option for protecting consumers’ computers, and she does her viewers a major disservice by insisting so; Mac OS X, BSD, and the multitude of Linux flavors do not need additional security software. Many major manufacturers preinstall these operating systems, making them readily available without any additional required action on the part of the consumer.
While Linux and BSD may be geared more towards the “geek” community, (with the possible exception of Ubuntu) Mac OS X is an excellent choice for the average consumer who is tired of dealing with a barrage of viruses and who doesn’t want to pay for expensive anti-virus software. The next time a major story is aired targeting computer security, and I’m sure it won’t be long until we see another one, I hope it will inform viewers about the full gamut of choices available to them, rather than airing what effectively amounts to an info-mercial for anti-virus software companies.
Filed in: Team Member Blog
After spending so much time working with software, I’ve recently had the opportunity to test my skills on building hardware. One of my birthday gifts this year was a build-it-yourself analog synthesizer kit. Analog synthesizers were very popular before digital synths took over in the 1980s. The Moog was one of the most popular analog synths. If you’ve heard any pop music from the 1970s you’ve probably listened to one.
Before this project, my experience with a soldering iron only involved desperate attempts at salvaging out of production headphones. I’d never worked with a PCB (printed circuit board) before. As usual, Google was a great help in finding basic tutorials. After orienting the dozens of resistors, chips and switches on the board, I had to solder about 100 connections that were only about a millimeter away from one other. This process gave me a much greater sense of just how sensitive the guts of my laptop are; almost any mistake will short a circuit and make the entire device unusable.
Working with hardware definitely requires much more planning than software. There were several times I wanted to punch an Apple-z to undo what I’d just done. As a software guy, I’m used to trying to create something useful in several different ways, then integrating the best ideas from each into a final design. Once wires are cut, that’s not always an option.
Next, I’ll need to mount my components in an enclosure. I hope I’m as good with a drill as I am with a soldering iron…
Filed in: Team Member Blog
While making music with circuit boards has been a part of pop culture for over thirty years, music is going through a new digital revolution right now. The iPhone, and inexpensive devices similar to it, combine touch screens, large amounts of data storage, fast processors and powerful software development kits that allow programmers to bring musical concepts to the public in a way that was not previously possible.
Brian Eno’s & Peter Chilvers’s Bloom application for the iPhone is one of the best examples I’ve found yet. The best way I can describe it is as a sort of dynamic, interactive album. The application will randomly generate a continuous mix of ambient loops and chords, but the user can also participate by touching the screen. With each touch, a specific tone is played depending on its location on the screen and the mood selected. A ‘ripple’ expands and fades as a visual cue. Mood settings in the options vary the chords and scales. Everyone I’ve shown this to, especially small children, are mesmerized by it. It’s very relaxing to listen to, and it’s never the same twice.
RJDJ takes a completely different approach by sampling sounds from the listener’s environment, and sequencing them together to create a song. The results can be very entertaining, especially when there’s a conversation going on near the microphone.
Most musicians will agree that some of the best ideas are stumbled upon by accident, but they catch the ear of someone who knows what to look for. Applications that are driven by random features of the environment, steered by musical axioms and guided by the listener’s active participation have loads of creative potential. I’m looking forward to participating in the further development of these types of programs by writing a music generator of my own in the near future. The iPhone SDK is a great way to get started with this new trend.
Filed in: Team Member Blog
