Idea: DropSteam

Valve Software has a distribution platform called Steam. It’s very simple, and very nice. You buy a game through Steam, and download and install it. When you get a new computer, you sign into steam, and re-install all your games. Don’t play a game much anymore? Delete it, you can always go back and get it. No CDs, no need to back stuff up, etc.

Dropbox is a relative new service that let’s me have a folder on my computer at work, and at home. I can put a PDF I want to read later in the folder from work, and it automatically uploads it, and my home computer automatically downloads it. Dropbox also lets me share folders and is starting to integrate with other services.

Both of these services have other features that are nice, but what I’d like to see is something that would basically let me buy a new computer (or reformat my current one in the wake of a virus or spyware or disk failure), and just go through and download the things I want on it. It would also keep things in sync, maintain checkpoints and versions. So my photos are in a folder, but they’re also on Flickr. Changing it in one place changes it in another. My music is there, and can be streamed when I’m at a friends house. The possibilities are pretty open.

It’s basically the benefits of an X-windows remote environment I guess, though that could even be integrated if it had a thin client into a virtualized box you paid by the hour for… I’ve seen lots of pieces of this out there, but nobody that’s really working on the basic central component.

Neil Poulton is a Jackass

I recently bought a 1TB Lacie Hard Drive that was “designed” by Neil Poulton. I imagine that the design session went something like this:

Lacie: “Neil, we need you to design a hard drive for us”
Neil: “Excellent! I’ve got a brilliant idea!”
Lacie: “Tell us!”
Neil: “Well, I will tell you but you have to put my name all over the box, and not put anyone else’s name on it. Especially the people that are actually going to work late nights and weekends to do the engineering required to make this piece of commodity hardware fit into my stunningly brilliant design”
Lacie: “Sold!”
Neil: “OK, here it is, picture in your mind a shiny black rectangle”
Lacie: “I love where this is going!”
Neil: “Now picture in your mind a blue light”
Lacie: “Ooooh, sexy”
Neil: “Excellent, I’ll send over the invoice”
Lacie: “…”

Vista: Day 600

So, I had meant to do this sooner, but here’s the follow-up to my 1-day update after 18 months of using Vista.

  • I haven’t downgraded to XP, nor felt any need to. On the flip side I’m still running XP at home, and haven’t felt the need to upgrade.
  • It hasn’t crashed. Nope, not once.
  • The one vista feature I’ve grown to use is the “Start Search” box, which is basically a slower/simpler version of Quicksilver, but provides most of the functionality you need (i.e. finding programs and files you don’t use all day).

Well, that’s about it.

Oh, the Macbook I gave to Phil when I got the PC? He used it for a while, but after too many problems with it, he eventually had to go and buy a replacement (his 4th Macbook in 2 years).

So THAT’s What a Debate Is

This is a politics-free blog, but this needs to be said. I’ve watched most of the debates since the laughable Clinton/Dole ones, through the confusing Bush/Gore ones, and through the pitiful Bush/Kerry ones, and that was the first real presidential debate I’ve ever seen. Two smart guys going at it (after a bit of prodding by Jim Awesomepants Lehrer), minimal bald-faced-lies, presenting real differences of beliefs and leadership. Maybe this whole democracy thing actually works…

Missing Java Annotations

@SelfExplanatory – I’d love to be able to turn on JavaDoc warnings in Eclipse, but I can’t. Why? Because 90% + of the code is self explanatory. Do I really need to see that getName() “Returns the name”, or that setName(String name) has the utter audacity to “Set the name”? No, I don’t. Put a @SelfExplanatory and JavaDoc can create these braindead comments without cluttering up my code, while Eclipse can reserve its warnings for the more interesting methods.

@NotNull – Other languages may have solved or avoided this problem, but I’d like to be able to dictate that a variable can be set to anything except null, and also that a method will never return null. It would just save so many headaches (of the onerous Runtime variety, no less), as well as lots of “if (foo == null)”…

The ulterior purpose of this post is to test the upgrade to WordPress 2.6.

Gordon Ramsay & The White Barn Inn

I’ve lately been fortunate enough to eat at two amazing restaurants. The first was Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York City, the second was The White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, ME.

Ramsay’s was quite simply the finest meal and dining experience I’ve ever had. Reeny is a big fan of his show, and I’ve watched it here and there, so I had some confidence he knew what he was talking about and that he had very high standards (important since he is not actually the chef there). The food was astonishingly good, from the artichoke soup to the Black Cod to the Kobe short rib, everything was A+. The highlight was either the soup or the scallop, both were so good it’s impossible to pick. The service was perfect too, we never felt like we were waiting nor did we feel rushed. If you’re even in NYC, make sure you visit this place, assuming you can make reservations two months ahead…

The White Barn Inn, a recommendation of Dina, was also memorable. While not quite as good as Ramsay, it’s easily the best place I’ve been to in New England. I opted for the lamb, Reeny for the beef, and both dishes were great as well as the other courses. The atmosphere is cozy, the service was very good, highly recommended when you’re down east.