links for 2008-04-22
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The infochimps.org community is assembling and interconnecting the world’s best repository for raw data — a sort of giant free allmanac, with tables on everything you can put in a table. Built by data nerds, used by data nerds, it’s a central source for
links for 2008-04-21
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A list of the “top 12″ RoR tutorials. From 2005, so getting somewhat outdated, but useful nonetheless.
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Another list of RoR tutorials, complete with annoying framed links. 62 tutorials lists, so fairly comprehensive/esoteric.
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A list of 30 RoR tutorials. No context here, but a long list.
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“Photo galleries can be developed easily with Rails using the attachment_fu plugin. In this blog entry i will give an example of how you could get started with this plugin, based on my own experience with it.”
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A text version of the original DHH “create a blog in 30 mins” Rails demo.
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An online copy of the first edition of the Pickaxe.
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The main Ruby and Rails forums, all bazillion of them.
Etymotics ER6i earphones
I was born with the wrong-shaped ears for most earbud-style earphones - they just fall out. So earbuds that are designed to sit in the ear canal work far better for me, with the added bonus of getting better sound quality by blocking ambient noise, and sparing my neighbours the leakage.
I’ve used various pairs of Sennheisers and Sonys for a fair while - but while they’re reasonably in-ear, the design of their rubber seals still allows a fair amount of ambient noise in. That’s not too much of a problem in a relatively quiet environment, but not so good in places like the Tube - it’s tempting to crank up the volume to drown out the surroundings, and that way lies tinnitus and hearing loss.
Having used various types of earplugs for noisy DIY jobs, I was quite intrigued by the type of earbuds that use soft rubber flanges - and when the plug on my previous pair of Sennheisers meeting with an unfortunate accident coincided with a eBuyer voucher, I figured it was time to give something else a try.
Etymotics specialist in high-end earphones, and have a range of models that use both foam and rubber-flanged sleeves. The ER6 and ER6i are their mid-tier models, physically identical apart from the ER6is having a boosted frequency response, supposedly to work better with iPods and the like. Frankly, my hearing is shot to bits so these sorts of claims don’t make a lot of difference - but I do like more bass than a flat response can provide, so the 6is looked like a better option.
Physically, they’re about 1cm long by 0.5 wide in a slightly-hexagonal shape, and are clear so that you can see the innards. The cable emerges from the unit at a right-angle, so they hang down when you’ve got them in your ears - and because they sit so deep in the ear canal, they’re practically invisible. The rubber flanges are food-grade Band Aid blue and have a Towers-of-Hanoi shape to them. The cables are symmetrical, about 1m long and terminate in a right-angled 3.5mm stereo jack plug.
Inserting them for the first time is somewhat strange. They claim to manage around 36bB of sound isolation, which seems credible - the rubber flanges make a more-or-less completely airtight seal in your ear canal. That makes them quite tricky to insert - I’ve found the best way is to moisten the tips, pull my ear up with my opposite hand and insert them pointing upwards. That way they slide in and sit properly, although it is a bit of a public performance.
Once they’re in, you realise just how much sound reaches you through bone conduction. You’re very aware of breathing and swallowing - you wouldn’t want to chew gum while listening to music, for example. This is something that you get used to, along with the somewhat strange “plugged” sensation - for the first week, I was a bit worried about sneezing in case my eyeballs popped out of their sockets. Taking them out is just a case of pulling gently - too hard a tag and they come out with a “pop” that makes your ears ring. Personally I think the isolation works far better than “active” headphones, without needing gigantic ear cups and batteries.
The good
- The sound isolation is superb - they’re ideal for use in noisy situations such as the Tube when the temptation with leakier models would be to crank the volume up.
- The sound quality is good - although they’re not overly bass-heavy, there’s a decent “thump factor”. The midrange doesn’t overwhelm, and the high-end response is more than equal to my hearing capabilities. While audiophiles might find something to mutter about, I’ve been more than satisfied with their performance for a range of music genres and speech
- Because they fit so deeply inside the ear canal, these are ideal for use when you’re moving around - they’re not going to fall out if you’re running etc.
- The build quality (aside from a slight reservation about the cable below) is good - they feel solid and robust enough to stand up to repeated use.
- The complete package includes a zip-up storage pouch, foam eartips for if the rubber ones don’t suit, some replacement wax filters and a filter tool
The bad
- The sound isolation is so good that this could be a hazard in some situations - and it’s difficult to hear PA announcements. This is trade-off to one of the benefits, so it comes down to what sort of situations you’re going to be using them in.
- The cable doesn’t look overly robust - although there is strain relief at the earphone end, I’d be careful about yanking them out by the cables
- The cable is a bit too long for use with iPods - I personally prefer the Sony approach of a shorter cable from the earphones and an extension cable. But YMMV.
- The rubber eartips are something of an earwax squeegie - as you haul them one, the flanges do have a tendency to collect gunk. But you could see that as a benefit - not only will other people think twice before pinching them if they’re encrusted with your earwax, they’ll also keep your ear canals nice and clean if you use them on a regular basis…
The ugly
- There aren’t really any show-stopping problems, unless you’re not keen on the idea of in-ear models. Something to be aware of is that these do sit right in your ears, so if you’re not comfortable with that, these aren’t for you.
Overall, I’d say these were a good replacement for my previous Sennheisers, if slightly on the pricey side for what they are. Having said that, I noticed a huge variation in actual street prices, so it’s worth shopping around.
Filed under General | Comment (1)links for 2008-04-20
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“Thirty years ago Peter Schwartz created at Shell Oil the first future scenario planning exercises… When Peter left Shell, they continued his discipline of scenario planning and now have released two scenarios for Energy in 2050.”
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A tutorial aimed at writers managing their drafts, but actually a very clear and readable for Subversion full stop.
links for 2008-04-14
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The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others. The good news, however, is that practice increases willpower capacity, so that in the long run, buying less now may improve our a
links for 2008-04-13
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This site is designed to be a resource for re-purposing on our own terms the BBC content that we, the licence payers have paid for.
Social contracts
Spotted on Hugh McLeods’s blog - “how does a software company make money, if all software is free?” - an observation about the difference between closed-source aka Microsoft and open-source:
It took me a while to figure this out, but what applies to Open Source, also applies to Microsoft.
When you buy a Microsoft product, you’re not just getting ones and zeros. There’s also a form of “social contract” implicit in the commercial transaction. You gave them money, this entitles you to certain expectations.
A few weeks ago, I met a young developer who worked in an IT department of a large insurance company. I asked him what kind of software did he use. Answer: About 75% Microsoft, 25% Open Source. I asked him why did he not use more Open Source? I thought IT people loved Open Source?
“If something goes wrong with Microsoft, I can phone Microsoft up and have it fixed. With Open Source, I have to rely on the community.”
And the community, as much as we may love it, is unpredictable. It might care about your problem and want to fix it, then again, it may not. Anyone who has ever witnessed something online go “viral”, good or bad, will know what I’m talking about.
Which is only true for a given subsection of the Microsoft user base. If you don’t have access to that level of support - and most organisations below a certain size don’t - then you’re thrown back on the exactly same type of community resources regardless of whether you’re using open or closed source. The difference being that the open-source model provides the visibility of the source code, and the potential for fixed that this presents.
Filed under Geek, Technical stuff, Them, Working smarter | Comment (0)links for 2008-04-09
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RAD is a framework for programming the Arduino physcial computing platform using Ruby. RAD converts Ruby scripts written using a set of Rails-like conventions and helpers into C source code which can be compiled and run on the Arduino microcontroller.
links for 2008-04-08
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“Twitter exposes some of its functionality via an Application Programming Interface (API). This document is a reference for that functionality, and aims to serve as a reference for developers building tools that talk to Twitter.”