Back in 2003, I wrote a lengthy post about Illuminator, my first home-built computer. I analyzed every tech spec and was so proud of what a great experience it would allow me to have.
I’ve had an iPad since Saturday. I absolutely love it.
Look at how far we’ve come.
As spring creeps in once again, I decided it was time to do a home page refresh. JustinRussell.com has a brand new look for April, and it’s my favorite version of my home page to date.
It’s tough to believe, but this is the tenth version of my home page. The first public version came online in July 1999, a small site mostly focused around calculator programs for the TI-83. The web was different then, and for the past few years I’ve struggled to create a place online that ties together who I am and what I do.
My relatively short-lived latest version of justinrussell.com did a great job at listing the stuff I wrote around the web. It had its drawbacks, though; this blog and my photography sites were sort of disjointed from my home page. With the new version, I’ve set out to create a home page that I can show to someone as a representation of who I am.
Fair warning: I hope to post more on this blog from now on, and I’m guessing the posts will be on the long side. If you prefer something a little shorter, head on over to twitter.com/justinrussell. (I’ve found that writing makes me happy. I think I should do whatever I can to be happy this year, don’t you?)
Following the IE9 preview at MIX10 (the good stuff starts around 47:30), all the major browsers assembled for a rare meeting to discuss the state of CSS3. This is what they said.
IE9: Hey, guys! I’m IE9.
Other browsers: Oh, hey! We’ve been hearing a lot about you.
IE9: Yeah! And I’m really excited, because now I have CSS3!
Other browsers: Oooh, neat! So you have text-shadow, gradients, font-face, box-shadow, all that stuff we have? This is great!
IE9: Let’s look at border-radius. People love border-radius.
Other browsers: Um, ok.
IE9: Lemme give you a little demo. See, if you have a huge dotted border, you guys all suck. But look at me! There are actual dots!
Other browsers: Hm, yeah, looks like it. But how often do people use huge dotted–
IE9: How the heck can you call yourselves good CSS3 browsers when a huge dotted border is so frickin’ ugly? So what I’m going to do is publish some test suites so that you can fix the CSS3 stuff that you guys don’t do well.
Other browsers: Test suites? Oh, ok. Like Acid3?
IE9: Acid3 is “interesting” and we’ll work on it raising our score. But check out that border-radius thing! That’s just messed up.
Other browsers: I guess we’ll stick with the IE CSS hacks for now then.
IE9: So these test suites will help you guys can fix all this stuff you’re doing wrong with CSS3. Because we don’t want to reach a point where people have to massage code to work across different browsers.
Other browsers: Yeah, that would completely suck. By the way, how’re IE6 and IE7 doing anyway?
I’ve never cared for holidays that divide people. Let’s face it: every year, a lot of people feel sad, lonely, or uncomfortable when February 14th rolls around.
Let’s agree to tweak the aim of Valentine’s Day a bit. Take a few minutes today and remind at least two friends, family members, or associates how much you love or appreciate that they are a part of your life.
Let’s make today a holiday about love that’s accessible to everyone.
It’s been a week since Apple announced the iPad, the product that will either be biggest flop in Apple’s history or the next wave of computing and the solution to all the world’s problems, depending on what you read. For a short time after the keynote I debated whether I’d buy one when they emerge in March… but that quickly changed to the question of which model I’d end up purchasing.
Over on Another New World, I wrote about why user interface will probably be the revolution in iPad development. I truly believe that we’ll see some amazing new concepts from developers. But why wait until the device comes out? Here are five apps I’d love to see available for the iPad.
1. A photo editor
In his keynote, Steve Jobs emphasized that this is a great device for viewing and sharing photos. But what about editing? I would love to be able to sit down on my bed or futon, control iPhoto-like sliders with my fingers, and go through a day’s photos without having to bother with a mouse. If the app seamlessly integrated with my iPhoto library, well, that’d be even better.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Apple launches a $10 iPad-based iPhoto with the next version of iLife. But it doesn’t need to be an Apple app – there’s a great niche for a company to become the Picnik of iPad.
2. An in-field photo viewer
Imagine you’re taking photos along the Maine coast. You take a great shot of Bass Harbor Head Light, but sadly the small LCD on the back of your camera doesn’t really allow you to check the quality of the shot. If only you had a larger screen…
But wait! You have your iPad with you. You plug in the Camera Connection Kit with your SD card (or maybe have a 30-pin to USB conversion cable) and browse the photos you’ve just taken.
Related: I’d actually buy Eye-Fi SD cards if there was an app to browse the photos on my camera without having to mess with cards and converters. That would be an awesome app.
3. Twitter and Google Reader
I’m grouping these two apps into one because honestly, it’s a given. I really can’t wait to see how app developers use the large touchscreen interface to navigate Twitter and Google Reader. Twitter on iPad, of course, leads to thoughts of TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop; apps like NetNewsWire and Byline could similarly create new interfaces for Google Reader. I really hope developers are creative with this one.
4. Hulu
No description needed here. I can haz iPad Hulu?
5. Media streaming
The iPad will undoubtedly be a great media viewing experience. Unfortunately, a lot of people have more than 16, 32, or 64 gigs of media in their libraries. Could Apple take the concepts of the Remote app and use them to browse and consume media over Wi-Fi? Imagine having access to your entire desktop media library from anywhere in your home. Maybe Apple could even borrow the Apple TV interface and browse for media on network-connected hard drives.
Of course, there’s always the cloud, too. Maybe the iPad will be Lala‘s time to shine. (Conveniently, they’re an Apple company now.)
Apple’s launching a tablet. No big surprise there.
To be honest I’m more excited about this launch than anything in the past from Apple. They’ve been working on this one for so long, and Steve’s been really picky about it. I just want to see it.
Here are a few of my thoughts about what we might see tomorrow.
The name of the product is one of its most widely debated aspects. Its name depends on how they are going to market the device; if it’s dubbed a new kind of notebook, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it called “Mac touch.” If it’s branded as more of a personal device, it’s a bit trickier. “iSlate” doesn’t sound like an Apple product name, but knowing Apple, there’s a good chance they’ll keep the i- prefix. I really don’t want it to be called “iPad;” in some accents, “iPad” and “iPod” sound almost exactly the same. Given that the iPhone started out as “Safari Pad” internally and that Apple has been courting an iPad trademark, though, I think “pad” might end up in the final name somehow. (I don’t think the trademark shuffle necessarily means the device will be called “iPad.” They might just be covering the fact that nobody seems to say product names correctly.)
If I were in charge of Apple, I’d call it Canvas. It’s such a perfect name.
Apple historically has opted for simple designs that are consistent across product lines. I think it’ll look like a 10″ iPod touch. (The aspect ratio is the only real question.)
Up until a couple of weeks ago, my gut feeling about the tablet’s price was $999. It seems like a very Apple-like price. I’m going to stick with that (if only so that I might be pleasantly surprised tomorrow). If the tablet is below $799, we’re looking at a new Apple. Keep in mind that the iPhone itself without AT&T subsidies goes for $499/$599/$699.
I’m guessing that the tablet will have a camera, WiFi, optional 3G (please, please optional), e-reader support, and a whole bunch of sensors, just like the iPhone.
I’ll be honest, though: if I can edit my photos on this thing in iPhoto, I’ll be a very happy Apple user. I bet there will be a ton of killer apps with the device, but that’s my top wish for the moment.
Over time, it’ll be all about the apps. I’ll say it right here: if there’s app support on this device, I’ll be making some of my own.
Of course, every Apple product lately has had a dealbreaker for me. With the iPhone, it was the enormously expensive cell contract. With the new iPod touch, it was the lack of a camera. I’m still holding out hope that the tablet will be dealbreaker-free.
I guess we’ll see tomorrow!
As some of you know, I’ve used Delicious as a way to catalog my favorite links for (wow) almost 5 years now. Over that period of time, I’ve saved almost 2,200 bookmarks to the site. I’ve been torn about what to do when it comes to links and my @justinrussell Twitter account; should I post them to both accounts? Should I just leave it to Delicious?
Starting today, I’m trying something new. I registered @justlinked tonight, and it will quite simply be a (somewhat filtered) stream of links from my Delicious account. If you’re interested in what I’m saving but don’t want to check Delicious or subscribe to the RSS feed, it’s an easy way to see what I find. And of course, if you have a link you think I’d like, send me a message or mention either @justlinked or @justinrussell in a tweet.
Oh, and I’ll still be putting the very best links on @justinrussell. Some things I just have to share everywhere I can.
Let me know what you think!
I originally had planned to write a pair of long blog posts about my personal views about last week’s veto to overturn Maine’s gay marriage law and the effects its results had on me personally, but quite frankly, I’ve just been in a volatile and emotional state over the last couple of weeks and couldn’t bring myself to write the post. The combination of the election results with the passing of my grandfather has left me in a state in which I have trouble arguing a point rationally, so I’m going to put my analysis off for a bit.
My hesitance doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my passion for the issue. Have I lost respect for some of my friends’ views over the issue? Yes. Was I disappointed by the lack of real discussion about the issue? Quite a bit. Was I ashamed to see the intolerance and ignorance voiced by so many about the issue of marriage and homosexuality in general? Definitely. Was I saddened to see the Bible used as a justification for a lot of those feelings? Absolutely. And did it infuriate me to see political literature on the pews at my grandfather’s funeral? You better believe it.
There’s no doubt that Question 1 led me to be more emotional than I’d ever been before about a political topic. I find that strange, considering that I wouldn’t personally be (directly) affected by the law in any way. Fortunately, that passion was put to good use; it inspired me to start a new project that I’m currently working to establish. I hope to share with you shortly. I also hope that we can find other ways to put our passion about this topic and others to good and productive use.
Lately you may have noticed that I’ve been somewhat vocal over on my Twitterstream regarding question #1 on next month’s Maine ballot. I understand that many people are turned off when people express their political views online, and frankly, I feel it often hurts more than it helps. On certain issues, though, I feel that it is important to speak about my beliefs in an effort to educate others why I believe in a particular cause.
I’ve found that I fall into one of four categories for almost every political topic.
The first two positions are pretty self-explanatory. The healthcare debate is a great example of the first: the issues just seem to complex for me, and I feel it’s better left to those who know more about the topic. The second actually covers most legislation and, unfortunately, most local elections. (I’ve always wanted to do something about that.)
The last two options are a bit more complicated. Personally I like to think that I’m more politically tolerant of differing viewpoints than most people; sure, I have my own opinions about how things should be done, but I understand that not everyone will agree. Questions 3, 4, and 5 on this year’s ballot fit nicely into this category.
Question 1 falls into the final category. In short I haven’t heard a logical justification to support those who believe this law should not be in place. I’m still looking for someone to explain the other side to me in rational terms. (To his credit, gubernatorial candidate Matt Jacobson came close in an interview with Pine Tree Politics but ended up falling flat.)
I guess I’m vocal about political issues when I have trouble understanding why anyone could oppose the views I hold on an issue. If politics isn’t your cup of tea (or can of Moxie, in this case), sit tight. We’ll be back to regular programming soon.
I received an email from city council candidate Cary Weston today regarding the recent proposal to begin a per-bag solid waste fee for Bangor residents. While this proposal is undoubtedly unpopular by itself, the justification provided in the message seemed downright wrong to me. The email said that many Bangor residents asked the following question:
Why should the majority of tax payers in Bangor subsidize a [curbside recycling] program being used by only a small percentage?
I’ve always been passionate about recycling and reducing waste, but in the interests of keeping this entry relatively short, I’ll focus on a couple of points.
In any society – especially one in which mass consumption tends to be the norm – waste is an unfortunate yet extremely visible consequence. New landfills are passionately debated among nearby residents, and those that already exist are fought by those who see and smell their contents every day.
Recycling, on the other hand, is a clean alternative. Recycling reduces waste by allowing materials to live a second, third, or tenth life, and it delays the growth of landfills by keeping materials in the consumer stream longer. Recycling is becoming easier to do with the adoption of single-stream recycling, in which materials do not need to be sorted before entering the recycling process.
And there’s also a financial incentive: recycling generates revenue and municipalities are compensated for the materials, as opposed to the costly process of traditional solid waste disposal.
Solid waste disposal is costly. Trash must be collected, ideally transported to an incinerator to reduce its volume, and then shipped to the landfill. The landfill must be monitored and supervised over its extensive lifetime, and the area feels its effects long after its closure.
Municipalities take on this cost and pass it onto residents through taxes. The per-bag fee system is a much more reasonable way to distribute costs; those who generate more trash in turn pay a larger portion of the collection and disposal fees for the municipality. Those that only generate a small amount of waste are charged less. The municipality, in turn, covers a larger portion of its disposal fees while encouraging its residents to find alternate means of disposal.
Charging a disposal fee may also lead consumers to make more environmentally responsible choices when they buy, including everything from buying in bulk to using reusable bags when they shop.
What would be a better question instead of the one proposed at the top of this post? The answer is pretty simple: why aren’t more people recycling? In many cases, people don’t recycle due to the relative ease of throwing something away versus sorting it in some sort of receptacle. Most people don’t understand the complete environmental and financial benefits of recycling, and as a result they choose the easiest path for disposal (the trash bin) over the more sensible one.
In addition to being a fairer option for residents, a per-bag waste fee offers an incentive to consider recycling as a way to save money, and the “program being used by only a small percentage” will be used by a larger portion of residents over time. As they do, the municipality not only slows the growth of local landfills but also saves money by shifting a larger portion of its waste from a costly disposal option to one that costs much less money (and may even generate revenue).
I know which option I’d choose.
Update: In my original post it was not entirely clear who had asked the question at the top of this post. I went back and changed the first paragraph to clarify that the question at the top was an opinion voiced by some Bangor residents.