Adventures of a "Click Here" button

Most people in the advertising world would know what feedback does to an ad. It makes the ad more innovative and intuitive (to be read as "horrible"). We interviewed a "Click Here" button on a 300x250 pixel banner ad recently and the it had lot to tell. The interview had just one question (since it was a loooooooong answer, we had to cut it short). We asked the button:

Q: Hey "Click here"! How's life?
Ans: Sucks big time, man! I don't know what it is to be ME anymore. My life started out quite well in the hands of a pretty good artist. He gave me great shades, a splendid build, bold colours and my name - "Click Here" (in sentence case).Things looked good when I went into my first day on a grey-ish banner. We blended well in greyness and everything seemed... cool! I was basking in my aura, when I was picked up in the banner and whizzed off through the information superhighway to several mailboxes across the world. I saw light as my parent was woken up and played to the final frame, where "yours truly" sat looking handsome! The human (who looked blurry eyed and drunk, by the way) looked at me and growled. He uttered something like - "This button looks tacky..and..umm.. out-of-place. It must be changed." My rectangles and gradients grew heavy as I was shut off. I didn't know what happened till...this other guy saw me- A very elderly British man, I guess. He commented - "The banner is ok.The button is ok too, but, it needs some improvement..." He went on for an hour almost and kept replaying my dad a hundred times, till, my colours spun and I felt ooozie!

In a nutshell, out of the 20-30 people who saw me, there was just a single lady who kinda liked me. The rest had the same comment - "tacky, needs brighter colours, needs improvement...blah blah blah.." After about 3 days of circling around, I was taken back to the good artist who created me. Once again, my life was opened, ready to be changed...and.. PhotoShop is a lovely tool!

The good artist was kinda angry at all the feedback he got..or.. he had a tough life. He choked me with lots of colours and roughened me up with some really surreal texture. My new "look" had to be looked at again..more seriously. He poked at me with those brushes and pens and pencils..you name it! Cut a bit off me and added new bits. I became shiny for a minute and for the next minute I was all messed up. After about an hour of "button-handling", he called another person to stare at me and do more violent things. For about 2 minutes everything was almost transparent about me. The two people quenched their artistic thirst and took me places showing me off. Well, the new look (I am not even going to start on it!) was accepted by the "internals" they said. Personally, I think the "new look" was awful, terrible, not even close to being a real button! My body had lost its colour and my name was displayed boldly - "CLICK HERE" (this time it was all in uppercase) Once more I made my way through the information super highway and found the same kind of snarls and grunts and a hoard of complaints. Aren't people ever satisfied? But, this time it was a new ball game. This time it was all about rearrangement. They thought things didn't "fit in" or was "not in place". DUHHH!

Here we go again! this time, I wasn't going to get the Photoshop treatment. It was going to be the whole thing. Dad was changing colours, the textmates were moved and I was being hassled. In 5 minutes, my location was changed between frames 1 and 250!!! 15 seconds of relocation! Finally, I was released..or..atleast I thought. A copywiter came up with "new copy". He wanted to fit in some 5 new lines in the frame that I lived. Between my X and Ys, I couldn't calculate how it could happen! I was also renamed from simple old "Click Here" to "More details", "Find out how", "Go", "Learn more"...the circus started again...

NOTE: Sorry, but this interview had to stop coz someone just deleted the button!

Going forward with Backward compatibility

As programmers we've all had days when we get caught out by the "compatibility factor". The client's requirements state that the product needs to support every single version of the target OS created so far and shouldn't misbehave when the next version releases. So, we add in that little statement that go with each release note that says – "Product Testing on Microsoft Windows 3.x, 9.x, NT, 200x etc." When a bug is reported in a particular OS, and your Project manager questions your very existence, you can't help it but say - "I wasn't born when Windows 3.x existed and don't know what the next version will be like". At the end of the day, when you sit around with your team thinking on the "Howtos", its sometimes becomes a conclusion that the language/script in which coding has been done refuses to be backward compatible.

Recently, I got caught out using the simple "getURL" in Flash. After AS 3.0, I haven't really done much with the real basics. I had to use it since the functionality targeted Flash version was 7.0. Now, I couldn't be doing something wrong with getURL.. it flows with my blood! So, I ventured out into the net and found:

Adobe Technote: http://www.adobe.com/go/50c1cf38

The solution didn't work either. I didn't have enough time to work on it and things came to the crunch. There were only two ways to solve the problem for local testing:

1. Change the "local playback security" setting to "Access network only".
   
2. Add the domain path to my Flash player's security settings panel.
   

I opted for the first method. Anyway there weren't any external files that I was loading. So, it was mission: accomplished. But, there have been times when it took more time to solve a single backward compatibility/forward compatibility issue than code a whole module in. Like, for example, there was this product that we were working on which used a particular font. Please note that the product itself was made during the era of Chengiz Khan, and, we were just creating a minor version upgrade for some of the functionality, we didn't really have the time to work on porting the entire code to a new generation platform. Hence, we suffered quite a bit. The problem was simple – Windows Vista refused to accept installation of an older version of the font that we needed to use. Yep, it was a default OS packaged font. The impact would be mis-alignment of text almost everywhere in the product. It is something we never though would happen. It did! Murphy was right!

The gurus of the business say that it would be better to use the new and throw the old out of the window. The reality is.. we still need 'em old clothes and it needs to fit us perfectly!

“Astro” is here!

"Astro" aka Flash Player 10 is here! I downloaded it off Labs (http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html) yesterday night. I was excited to see the Demos posted on: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/demos/ in new light! What excited me a lot was the new text rendering engine. A couple of things that I liked and saw a lot of possibilities were - the 3D engine, new streaming abilities for video and audio that adjusts video quality according to bandwidth available, improved hardware acceleration (haven't experimented with this feature..still!). Yeah, you will find the feature list on almost all the sites that talk about "Astro".

It was during the heydays of Flash 4.0, I was talking to a friend (another one in the computer-man's chest!) and the whole concept of having interactive stuff on your site was beyond imagination. Those were the days of the dial-up, when download speeds were in the "." (Decimals). I was talking to the same friend yesterday. He still hasn't picked up Flash as a development tool (more of a .NET guy!), but, he knew what I was talking about. I was actually surprised to see that his laptop already had "Astro" on it! Talk about fame and penetration rates. On the other hand, a lot of people I interact with on a more daily basis don't know what the technology is all about and how it works. They are still getting used to the transformation and spew slang when they see the infamous "loading…" screen. Of course, you don't need to expect them to know about the technology if they aren't related to it in anyway.

Now, in my field – Advertising, we have come to Flash Player 7 as the max requirement. So, when "Astro" releases, I am hoping that it reaches Flash 8 at least. I am sure "Astro" will be handier to us in promoting products and giving the user more by telling him and by being able to show him more of products. That's where the 3D engine becomes exciting. Creatives can be more dynamic and that calls for a whole new level of user experience – engrossing! The streaming capabilities of the new player also reduce a lot of burden when it comes to production of video –based promotion material. The way Flash player has been handling text has always been a concern. This has improved and been added on in "Astro".

My most wanted feature is the File API. This allows you to popup a file dialog and load the selected file at runtime. Does this mean that you can save file to disk? Well..

Welcome to your digital life!

Adobe announced the "Open Screen Project" a few days ago and Microsoft had earlier announced the "Live Mesh". I've come across posts that compare the two..uhh.. three (Don't forget Google Gears!). But, I guess the three of them are different types of platforms. I haven't used the three of them. Still in the waiting list for the Tech Preview of "Live Mesh".

As I understand it, Adobe's Open Screen project creates a common Flash/AIR platform to deliver rich experiences over a variety of devices - PCs, Television, Mobile devices etc. For the developer, it makes it a whole lot easier to build and deploy applications over a wide variety of devices. Hopefully, it should be "Build once and deploy on all" (remember iPhone! - http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/05/adobes-flash-not-good-enough-for-steve-jobs/). For the user, he gets a rich experience with the added benefits of portability. Which is really kewl!

The Live Mesh is a synchroization platform, wherein, users get to synchronize data across usually disconnected devices. So, now you can synchronize between your personal laptop, your home PC, work PC, Mobile devices and the Mac that sits in your room. Oh! ok, doesnt that sound like the "now in beta" Windows Live FolderShare? Naaah! what sets the two apart is the word "platform". Mesh combines several web services that sync data over a "Cloud". So, you need to install some sort of a client software that enables the synch. Ok, so we have been talking "users" till now. For the developer, we get to build applications that synch data over a wide variety of devices using the web services

Its "Synch" Vs "delivery" here. It will be interesting to see what happens next. Being a developer, I would certainly love to play with both platforms (APIs..slurppp!), but, I guess its early days to really build an opinion on things. Do I smell a Flash VS Silverlight thing here..somewhere?

Happy coding!

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout did not take the garbage out!

Deadlines are becoming outrageously tight and developers are left as last men standing. Products run through numerous loops of testing just to crash at architecture levels. Time crunch has become a major issue that most of us face and find hard to handle. But, this isn't an excuse for poor coding and improper usages. We can't call ourselves as "Programmers", if we don't know to code clean and clean after coding.

In the Flash World, a lot of programmers blame the Player for not doing its work when needed, but, if you take a look at the code, you will find a lot of misses – onEnterFrame not being deleted after use, Intervals not being clears, typing not done for variables, having insanely numerous variables – a lot of which don't get used..and the list goes on.

The Flash Player has evolved with time and become a lot better when it comes to memory management and garbage disposal. The built-in garbage collector removes unused objects from the memory, enabling objects-in-use to use the memory. The Flash Player 9 adopts the strategy of marking objects having active references. Objects that aren't marked are automatically considered inactive and removed from memory when the cleaning cycle runs. Yeah, it's a "cleaning cycle", which means that inactive objects are not removed from the memory immediately, but, they are removed when the next cycle runs. There seems to be no way of knowing when this cycle runs. Hence, code needs to be written in a way that makes sure that memory is managed efficiently by-

• Removing objects and references to objects that are not in use.
  
• Using memory monitoring code. We have the handy System.totalMemory to its advantages. When I suggested using this to a friend, I found every function in a class having an IF statement checking memory usages. Man!
  
• Only program for what is needed. I've seen programmers implement what they call "Flexibility" to their architectures. This "flexibility" is just code that lies waiting till the real feature is brought in after 20 years and 20 versions, whichever comes first!
  
• Run a code clean up cycle after getting in all the functionality. It helps you relook at the code and make improvements. There would have been things that could be done in a different way.
  
• Resource hungry code needs to have clean ups like – onEnterFrames need to be deleted, objects should be nulled after use.
  

UPDATE: I found this article on Devnet - http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/garbage_collection.html. This explains things in a better way!

Happy Coding!

 

A day with the big daddy!

The long wait was over! The Adobe AS3 Tour finally got here. A whole day of "code talk"...that was exciting!

Any newbie venturing into the world of ActionScript would surely know a few people out there and consider them demi-gods/gurus/mentors. Colin Moock has always been up there for me. His books are great, simple and easy to understand. You don't need to keep a "Jargon for Dummies" book handy while reading 'em. I follow his ways when I take seminars and sessions – keep it simple, but detailed. I have been in the field for more than 5-6 yrs now and I've come a long way from being a person who just tried things out coz it was the need-of-the-hour to a person who can really code and be technical about things. I owe a great chunk of what I know and do to this man! So, getting at what I am trying to get at – to see the person you admire...made my day.

The session targeted people who were just starting out (know a bit of programming basics), intermediates and advanced users…well…that's what "ground up" means, so it was something I expected. Being a "ground up" thing didn't sound boring to me, since, I haven't studied programming formally and it tightened the screws a lot more and took away a lot of inhibitions I had about things.

Thanks Colin, for the great session! Do get well and come back soon J

This side of things

I have been offline (from home) for sometime now and the whole experience with the Reliance WiMax connection has been terrible. I have had this connection for about 15 days now and have been able to use it for only about 3 days. This really sucks, especially, if you have big plans like me – the "after I get broadband at home" list.

Till about last week, I was able to get an IP, if I waited for around for about 3 hrs. Now, its more like NEVER! Tech support sucks too. They take you through the usual routine – Start > Run > type "Cmd" > ipconfig /all, ipconfig /release (some people add this..dunno for what effect!), ipconfig /renew. Oh yeah! there is also the power off the PPOE device and the restart the machine thing! Another common term I used to hear – "teething problems". If you did have teething problems, you would give out so many connections. Surely, the public will most certainly jump into the whole thing when they hear about it.

I should have got the usual broadband connected with wires, but, I had heard good reviews about the WiMax connection and decided to jump into the bandwagon. The connection is really good..if.. you get the IP address...that is! Mine is a 300KBPS Unlimited option and I get about 50KBPS download rate on an average. Somehow, all that seems like a dream now. I am having to fallback on my Mobile GPRS connection to check my emails and browse a bit. I will wait till the weekend. If(status=="problem not solved){ actionUnsubscribe=true}

 

Evolv

The development continues. It has been slow and I hit upon some new stuff to include. This was something I was working on a long time ago. A utility called IAD (Interactive Advertisement). That has now become obsolete, considering the amount of change the media has been through. But, along the same lines, I am building an add-on, which would enable users to control template based ads on their sites. These adverts will be configurable to an extent and make life a lot easier for people who have signed up as affiliates or anything of that sort. Yeah, advertising seems to have become a fad with me. I work in a advert company... DUHHH!

Also, I am considering changing the engine of my content management console a bit. I kinda hit a road block with it. I guess it has more to do with reusing bits of code from the old Spark versions. So, the old AS2 migrated code needs to be redone from scratch using AS 3.0. L

I will have a complete list of features up soon. I still have to complete the calculations J

 

Ciao!

Deconstructing “Spark”

First up – Thank you, Heidi (Adobe) for the envelope of stickers! :)

With about 20% development of "Evolv" complete, I thought I'd build the "Application Family Tree" for "Spark" (or "Evolv" as it is now called!). It isn't a very big tree – just 3 major and one minor version. The whole idea of Deconstruction was fun!

What started off with a simple utility of type out my Blog entry for a really old version of my site, evolved to become a full-fledged application. Man! It is mind-blowing!

Spark V1.0 was built with very simple logic and just had a single function. Originally developed using Flash MX (ver 6.0) and good ol' VB 6.0, the code was pretty basic. It was the day of the Dial-up and being on the internet was expensive. So I needed something that could get my journal up and about. The answer was to have an offline application that could help me save my files with the necessities of the time. It was also the era where we needed that "&myVar=" in the text file to make it load into Flash. I developed a cheeky trick, wherein, VB would step in and make sure that it adds the variable at the beginning of the blabber and save the file. Simple thing worked out to be handy. Inspired by the success of the trick, I decided to make the rest of the site a bit more dynamic and applied the trick to all pages. So, depending on the section you are updating, you need to select the variable that needs to be added. Funny!

When MX 2004 was released, I took that leap. I decided to port existing functionality into MX 2004. Even though, initially, I wasn't too happy about using the V2 components, I decided to use them. But, things didn't end there. The major step was to make it an online application. We finally had cable internet at home and that changed everything! It was also a big jump, since, I had to upgrade almost everything – VB 6.0 to ASP.NET.. yeah! That was a leap! The whole technology upgrade made me add more things too. The original Journal Editor could now use Style Sheets and send out emailers. This has to be Version 2.0!

Spark V3.0 was a big step forward, once again. More features were added. Spark was rebuilt using AS 2.0 – Classes, objects et all. One of my clients asked me to add in some way to view Query results from his MS Access database. That became a good feature to have. I extended the feature to query SQL Server and MySQL databases also.

Spark 3.01 stuck to the same lines as 3.0. I make a few tweaks, did a lot of code cleanups and added one feature – File Upload. I broke my head literally at this feature and got a work around, since, Flash MX 2004 didn't have the feature. JavaScript came in handy here. The feature was buggy, but did its thing! As long as people who used it were happy having it, it didn't matter. Even though it was a minor version, it was the most memorable!

Spark didn't get to see Flash 8.0. I was kinda busy and didn't have the time to put in for an upgrade. I just spruced up the File Upload and used the FileReference class and functionality. No version change.. just a small tweak!

Now, almost 6 months later, the new version is under development. The change of product name was necessary – to something that truly reflects what the product does. "Evolv" (yeah no "e" at the end) is packed with features. It is being programmed as a whole plug n'play engine. You could just plugin the features you need and leave out the rest. The AS 3.0 and ASP.NET combination works really well and gives it the power and flexibility.

The whole deconstruction episode was really interesting and reflective. There are a couple of things I wouldn't have done and some I would. More on Evolv..soon!

LOST, LOCKED and two smoking barrels!

There are two spells in the IT guy's magic book – "Online this! Online that and online everything" and "Typeo everythingo, don't writo".

For someone like me, who has been doing more of "typing" than "writing" for about 2-3 years now, the pen in the hand feels odd. My handwriting has changed so much, that, I don't recognize the letters so much either. I know this is hard to believe, but, it is a fact!

Things didn't matter so much to me. The only time I use a pen is in the morning when I enter the office. It is mandatory to sign in the register. It doesn't matter what the sign looks like or whether it is the same as your "actual" signature. I just lay in an "AVS" there. So, that is all covered. But, when it comes to banking, signatures are treated very differently. Now, let me tell you a sad story of a man who has got locked out of his account in a funny way!

I bank with a very famous international bank. My ATM card expired or all the ATM machines around this place are conspiring against me from withdrawing money. Anyhow, it says on the card that it expires on 30 Sept 2007. Yeah, 1 month ago! Now, banks are supposed to send you the new card before the old one expired.. and.. they did! They sent it to my old address. Are you fingers pointing at me to say –"you should have told them that you have relocated". Well, I had notified the bank and the address has been changed.. I believed! The reason I believed in it - well, the same bank has sent me my renewed Credit card to the address I had mentioned I would be in, without any problems, and, this happened about 2 months ago. So, you would naturally expect them to have their records updated..right? ..WRONG! They hadn't updated the records as I discovered. It has been a month of calls and emails to their customer center . It is almost salary time and a month. Yesterday, I received a message saying that my records have been updated! Ok, now that took so long for a bank that has automated its processes!!?!!?!! Ok, so how did I live? Well, I had withdrawn a good enough amount at the beginning of the month using a cheque (they didn't bother about my signature now!). Now, that I have almost run out of money, I needed to make a withdrawal again, so, I headed to the bank, which is far away, and presented the cheque, smiled and waited for the money. It didn't come! The teller gave me a look and said – "Your signature doesn't match. Can you sign here once more". PFFT! I did and Voila! I had a new signature once more! I carefully explained the reason of my signature being different (yeah! The I have not written in 2 years thing!). She smiled and asked – "Do you have any govt. Issued ID on you, sir? If you do, please meet one of our Customer service executives". A ray of hope? Well.. I showed my PAN ID card and then, I was shown my old signature. I was given a piece of paper to practice on. But, the differences still showed up! It would..DUHH!! The whole thing was unsuccessful and my morning was destroyed!

I don't blame the bank for being so particular about the signature. But, there must be some leave-way, shouldn't there? I have produced an ID and can easily verify ME. Passport, Voters' ID, PAN card, Company letter and ID.. you name the ID, I have it! They could even ask me questions that only I would know about me and my transactions. Well.. I wouldn't have been in such a situation if processes weren't so full of gaps. A lot of companies I have been with or am associated with have these "gaps" in their processes, that, it doesn't seem to help making things easier. The biggest gap became visible when I had sent a message saying – "Please send my ATM card as soon as possible. Do le me know when the card gets dispatched". I get a message saying-"Our records have been updated, all the future correspondences will be sent to the following address (thankfully my latest address!) in future". If you don't call that a GAP, what do you call it?

A well defined process needs to cover all aspects – from initial insertion points to modifications to final closure. There should also be a well-defined Plan B!

I hope I receive my card soon!

"SPARK" is now "EVOLV" (without the "E")

It has been a longtime since I planned a refresh of "Spark". The files sat there in one of my old backup DVDs till they saw the hard disk laser lights last Friday. Besides adding new capabilities and making it all OOP all the way, I was seriously considering making it an offline version. These thoughts were encouraged when Adobe launched the CS3 AIR extension recently. The success of my experiments with AIR kind of got me excited when I saw the extension available for download from Adobe Labs. Then, I thought like a gardner who wanted to replant the whole garden - the whole process would be starting from scratch and would take a longer time than what I had planned for the refresh.

Cutting the chase, one thing led to another and I settled with not having it Offline for now. However, I haven't totally ruled out an offline version in the near future. Back to the table, I fired up Flash CS3 and started with the whole design of the plug n' play modules and associating them with classes, which provided them with the functionality and power (basically, woke up the dead beans..getting them to jump!). I have completed two simple modules - the Editor and the Uploader (without complete file management). The File Management console is the next and it needs to perfectly wind into the Uploader and Page Editor when done, so, this is taking me some figuring out. I have put off doing the Database module till I start on the Analysis module.

Looking at the whole episode, at this point, it looks and feels like a whole new product, hence, my decision was to retire the old one back to the old DVD and give it a whole new wardrobe..and.. a name. So, what would have been "Spark v4.0" is now "Evolv" (Evolve without the "E" and a version number!)

Still wondering what "Spark" is? In a nutshell, it is a Website Management Application. The application is tied to a Website and allows users to manage files, edit content etc. Originally, I had built the whole thing using Flash MX and ASP.NET and then upgraded a few sections to MX 2004. And then, it lay there with the others waiting to hear the sound of the cylinders spinning.
Evolv shares its logic/sense between Flash and ASP.NET too, but, unlike its fore-father, Evolv is a lot cleaner and better organized in every sense. At times, I've had my battles with AS3, especially with case-sensitivity and stuff, and, I am learning it a lot better this way. Long ago, I had sworn not to use AS3 and switch to .NET completely. Thanks to my curiousity I gave into temptation and fell into the well (smiles..the tongue thing!).

May the force be with you!

Is Ferrari losing it?

I didn't want to be the one typing up this post, but, I guess it is time I did. I've always been a strong Ferrari supporter and will still be for the time to come. There have been times I had been put into a tough spot by my other F1 fanatic friends while talking F1 – the Rubens/Michael "let him pass" incident, a whole season of problems in the past couple of years etc. The team has always been passionate about racing through its history and I am sure they still are.

The Monza 2007 Grand Prix just finished with the McLarens on top and just Kimi's Ferrari finishing in 3^rd. Ferrari had always been strong in Monza, but, I've noticed that they have been on a steady decline in performance on their home circuit! Which is kinda sad!

Does the Scuderia Ferrari team miss Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn and N. Stephney? They still have a strong set of people in Jean Todt, Kimi Raikonnen, Felipe Massa and the rest of the gang! The car seems to be strong on some circuits and absolutely terribly horribly weak on many others standing no match to the McLarens. The tyres, well, they are common to all teams, so that doesn't matter really. The mechanical package is unreliable. You somehow feel the unstability when one of the cars is slowing down. The two drivers are very good. You can't really get a better set of drivers than Kimi and Massa. Jean Todt and the rest of the crew have looked sharp as usual, except for the Massa "Oops! Forgot the fuel" incident. So what is really going wrong? The energy looks to be missing and that passionate team of 2003-2005 looks to be missing.

Have they been really bothered by the whole Stephney Gate thingy that they are saying to themselves – "Ok, spy satellites have seen us, now, there is no use of strengthening our defences" or aren't they really not as strong as we expect them to be at the end of the season when we need strong fighting performances? Ok, they look stronger than they did in 2005 and 2006, but, it isn't enough. Every team loses it at some point of time and rebuilds the glory. McLaren is doing it most certainly! The grit and determination seems to be lost in the abyss of unreliability. When you know your car is going to break, you really are scared to race with it. I would and I am sure somewhere deep inside the drivers feel it too somewhere deep within. As someone mentioned, all this could be a result of management and team shakeup that happened at the beginning of the season. They could be right.

Next week, it is the Spa Francochamps or the Belgian Grand Prix. Ferrari has always been good there and I hope it'll be a Ferrari 1-2. If the team needs to get back into the championship game, they need to do something about the reliability of the car, which is a major concern. They need to bother more about performing in the race than off the circuit, the car needs to work in all parts of the circuit, especially it needs to be quick over the kerbs and ride them with more speed and stability and the grit and determination to win whatever comes should be in there in true Ferrari passion and style!

All this said, Kimi did well to get to 3^rd. He crashed during the free practice and did well to comeback in the race. He rocks! J Massa would have been in the fight too if he hadn't retired due to the car failing on him again. Well, they have a big shot at Spa and I am sure Ferrari will be fighting!

The Sony NW-A1000 Review

Ok, I am probably the last one on the planet to write a review on the player. Anyways, here goes..

The Story so far: In my quest to find the perfect sound, I embarked on the journey to find the best my pocket could afford. First, my quest took me through 3 different earphones – all Sony. I settled on one of them – the Sony MDR-J10. It looks sporty and had the type of sound I was looking for. My thirst was partly quenched, but, I still had to keep walking and find a good enough player that gave me the punch I was seeking. Lightning struck when Sony launched the Walkman range of phones. The idea of having a phone that rocked my heart out was something kewl and suited me in every sense. The SE W300i was something I really liked. Then, as if out of nowhere came another yearning. I gave into that too – I got me an iMate. OS on a phone is good, but, I didn't get the punch I wanted with the iMate. So, once again, I walked the long mile. Went to the mall, walked into the Apple store and...umm..well..naaaaaaah! not the iPod. My heart wasn't in it. I've always not really liked the bass of the iPod. So, I walked into E-Zone and straight to the Sony section. I felt like Jerry being flown to the pie.

So, I was here and looking at something that could store quite a lot of songs. GBs worth, but, I didn't want to store them all. Re-cycling is something that cuts out the boredom. My eyes fell on the latest line-up of portable mp3 players and then stopped on a purple Sony NW-A1000. 6GB sounded god enough. The sales chap put let me test it with the earplugs he had and it was..ok. I put in my J10 and WHOA! My next few steps were towards the cash counter and then back home.

Now, the story starts. The player is quite kewl and all that, but, there are hurdles to overcome. First, the player is a player..not mp3 player..OUCH! Then, you needed the SonicStage software to convert your mp3s into ATRAC and then dump them into your player. Copyrights, DRM..well. you name it! The software is really (it hurts when I say bad things about Sony..but..) awful. I couldn't get it to work on my Vista OSed laptop more than just once. The local support asked me to upgrade my firmware and SonicStage from a URL. The firmware upgrade was useful. The player response improved. But.. I haven't been able to download the new version of SonicStage. Its a nightmare considering the bandwidth I have and the fact that you needed an installer intermediary to actually download the software that you will be finally using. The whole philosophy of having such an intermediary sucks. Anyhow, I looked up at some forums and found some alternatives. Thanks to the folks at ATRACLIFE! You folks are awesome. The Winamp plugin allowed me to transfer my songs as ATRAC to the player. The transfer rate between the player and the PC is very good!

The next bit was to do with the volume. Some kind of Volume restriction is laid in. The max volume is like 30 and it ain't loud enough. It sounded good enough at the shop with doors closed and sound proofed, add some traffic and you go – "James, more head banging volume, man!" The folks at ATRACLife had a way here too. A combination of button presses and stuff and your volume is much louder! Kudos amigos!

Now, it was time to look at my face and the expressions on it - "Dude, iPod was better". NAAAAAH! I am going to stick to my guns.

The player is quite sexy. Mine's blue (couldn't get RED!). It has a liquid display and the buttons neatly arranged and user-friendly. The artist/song/album search features, the equalizer, Favorites list, Smart shuffle - the feature list was impressive. I didn't want a huge list of features – half of them I wouldn't use. More than all that - I love the sound. Keeping to the Sony tradition, the player has a good quality output. Add my J10 to it and its awesome.

I wouldn't say you must buy the player. You get better ones in the market. For me, this is good enough. J My software woes and volume issues are over with and now its good music to sooth the nerves. "Keep it comin', James.. YEAHHHH!"

Lets Play - "Follow the Leader"

A few days ago, I was reading this forwarded email. I generally don't open emails marked with FWD immediately. It gets piled up till I go through them during the weekend maybe. This email, though, caught my attention when it arrived. The Subject read - "Team Science". Many of you out there must've read it too.

The article that the email carried was written in a very nice way. In about 20 sentences, it talked about being a team player and what goes into creating a successful team. I identified with every line of it.

Once you are in line for a Lead position, we hear the sentence - "You are as good as your team is..". To me, that sounds kinda silly! The Lead certainly needs to set an example to the team and all that, but, he needs to be an innovative person and a person who should be atleast 2 steps ahead of the team - LEAD FROM THE FRONT. To be able to do that in today's world is something quite challenging. Technology-wise, he needs to keep abreast of what is going on and know beyond just plain common stuff. Management-wise, the team should think what he is thinking. Only when there is an identity of minds, there will be a better understanding of things. The article actually reframed it as - "The team is as good as you are".

In today's world, we are crushed for time. Most leads are trying to find that 25th hour in a day to complete work, however organized and capable they are. Well, its not just about organization and ability, it has more to do with SUPPORT and UNDERSTANDING. Support from team mates, peers, people you report to and sometimes even people from other teams. Help is always needed somewhere or the other. Let us say that I am leading a team reporting to a Dept. Head, who, does not consider or even listen to what I have to say and just keeps asserting his/her own point of view everywhere, even if, it sometimes makes no sense, it does a lot of damage in the relationship and the chain of displeasure, frustration, irritation, loss of interest is built. That is when attrition levels boom. It is a "pass on" culture, your frustration is passed on to the next one and the next one and so on.

Being proactive is something everyone appreciates and it is a quality everyone needs to imbibe. As human beings, we are not always proactive about everything. We are reactive about some and proactive about some others. Its not a good leadership trait to preach pro-activeness, when, actually, you arent pro-active yourself, but, your management book says so. Such expectation will make your workmates uneasy around you, leading to a lot of unpleasantness and irritation. If you have a team that is, well, a big mix of character, its always good not to expect change in the root.. meaning to say.. you play around with the surface.. unless.. if the person is willing to change the way you want him to.

Another thing I've noticed quite a lot and sometimes do myself - playing the advisor. If you form the middle layer between a team and a head, well, you get it both ways and have to give it both ways. But, things are not so easy always. About 60% of the time, you are playing the dead poodle. 20% of the time, you hear it from upstairs and aren't really able to say much to your team.. just keep 'em yourself. The rest 20% is split into two 10 percents where you play the monkey. Keep running to both ends till you finally catch the ball and take it home. The "dead poodle" act is something that is really what is bothering. This is where you really need to work things out silently and play it out. Everything thinks you are dead, but, you are actually silently strategizing your next move. Playing the Advisor comes in all these percentages, you gotta talk to the people around you and make sure your point gets through. The minute your bullets hit the walls, JUST STOP! or mom will shoot!

These are just a few points that I've learnt the hard way.

It is all about T-I-M-E.. TICK! TOCK! TICK! TOCK!

100 things to do in your 8hr working day? Yuhh! While you are squeezing and shoving the 100 things you have to do into the duffel bag..call "My Day", your Lead comes up to you and says - "Dude, I have sent you an email with 3 crucial issues". Your mind quickly calculates them as 103 things now and then you get angry, workedup and all frustrated and just want to quit the job and move to a deserted island in the middle of nowehere. Well, this is a typical scene in most offices of today. People often blame their superiors for poor planning..so on..and.. so forth. The crankiness and cribbing just makes work a chore.

Well, poor planning is one thing. But, there are also other things to consider. The need of the hour keeps changing and we need to be "Smart workers" to be able to fit things into our schedule appropriately. And then.. there is another thing where you need to open up that mouth and tell the Lead what the problem is and your estimate of the whole thing. Clear understanding and communication brings down a lot of barriers. This is missing with most of us. Most of us still dont do "Smart Work". I would say that "Smart Work" doesnot just involve planning an time management, it involves a whole lot more - Communication, proper estimation and analysis, Keeping to short-term goals, being more responsible and committed..and a whole lot more.
It is easy to complain and fall into that hole of self-pity and "Everybody hates me" grumpy attitude. Running away from things wont solves anything either. It follows you whereever you go, unless you are prepared to change and make the whole situation easier on you.

Usually, I am good at assessing situations and getting hold of things. About 5 months ago, when I joined my current workplace, I totally lost my mind. The whole balance between Official and personal life was lost - not that I have much of a personal life per se, still, I just couldnt manage things the way I wanted to. But, on that journey back from home, I made up my mind, assessed things and worked them out. I had to change my perspective a lot more than I thought. But, it helped me and still helps. Now, I am working more at my Management skills. For those who know me - Lets just say we all need to sometimes let go :)

Space woes

It is that time of the year again - time to re-partition my hard disk! I've been trying to postphone the exercise for sometime now, but, lack of living space has kinda forced me into the big decision! To imagine that when we bought our first PC, 1 gig HDD was Huuuuge. Now, 80gigs is too small and my 40gig HDD is like damn tiny...and I thought things were getting smaller in size!!!

I have been pondering and pondering and still have time to ponder over the OS - good ol' XP or Vista? The XP CD that I have has my display driver missing. So, after the first reboot, I dont get display. I need to connect the laptop to an external display and force feed the driver. Vista, on the other hand, has the driver and it installs quite nicely taking about 90mins.

30gigs should be enough space for the OS and the rest of the gang - Flash, Flex, VS.NET 2K5 etc. I am also thinking of a upgrade of my HDD and RAM. The whole deal is rather funny. On the one hand, we are trying to make software more "portable" for all these devices we carry and on the other, for the PC, the applications are becoming bulkier in all its sense.

Anyhow, see you folks after the format!

I am Baccccckkkk!

So.. I am baacccck from my Blogging Sabatical. Almost everything was down - my site, my net connection..well..now that I have it all back, its time to roll in the mud once again. I really missed being here and doing this!

There's just so much to catch up with. News of Flex 3 floating around already and all that talk of it and the next few versions also supporting Flash Player 9. It sounds great and I'll certainly wait for the actual full set of features of the Player. I have been trying my hand at WPF these days and I believe it is a serious competitor. Ofcourse, I somehow prefer using Blend than type out each line of code. It is so much easier. So far, I have done my "Hello World", "Hello " and jumped to XML connections and parsing. I will write my experience as time goes on. For now, I'll just sit here and be confused on the technology to adopt for my new site. A part of me says "Go MS!" and the rest of me sez "Adobe, dude". AS 3.0 Flash 9, Flex app style site, WPF/E..well.. I guess its gonna me a big mix!

Another big news was the release of the Linux Flash 9 Player. I am not a big fan of the OS, but, it does mean a lot to me as a Flash Developer and enthusiast. So much more reach, which is, really exciting.

Then, there is the biggie - MS finally released Vista yesterday. I kinda got a few glimpses of the video here and there. But, hey, I dont really need to see, I already use it..hehehheh! I must say here that I find it so stable compared to the early versions of XP that I have used at about the same time. No bluescreens so far and I am really happy for that!

Whoa! just saw the email that my Blog is getting aggregated by MXNA. Its so *SNIFF* *SNIFF* Kewwwwlllll. Thank you Christian and Mike :)

Adobe SoundBooth - BETA it sezzz!

Downloaded Adobe SoundBooth from Adobe Labs yesterday. I was eager to install and start using it, but, sleep had caught hold of me and shaken me to..umm..sleep! Even the eagerness couldnt shake it off..anways..lets talk about sleep another time. Its all about SoundBooth

First up - The installer is kinda rough. Its all still getting cooked, so you will see a lot of "Blah X is going to come here". I didnt really mind what the installer did, coz, I wanted to get on with using the application. One thing though - unlike other Adobe installers, this one is actually a Zip file that you download from the Labs site and then extract to install. 58MB download (approx) and 138MB on HDD (approx).

Having used Adobe Audition and Sound Forge, you are used to what to expect of editing apps. So, I was right away looking for Markers, noise reduction, normalization, fade in/out...and..I found them all in the proper places and didnt have to go hunting around - User Friendly!!!

[Update : You cant compare SoundBooth to SoundForge or Audition. They are really professional editing tools. SB is more like a normal guy's tool to do the small things easily!]

The grey interface resembles Audition a lot, which makes it quite easy for audition users who want to..ahem.."feel at home". You can brighten up the interface from the Preferences and customize the look and feel to an extent :)

You dont have too much to play with. About 4 effects, the faders, markers and a lot of recording. Ok, I spoke too soon.. there is a whole Task Panel that I am discovering. The Task Panel contains options that allow you to Clean up Audio, Create Music and Remove a Sound.

Clean up Audio - You can remove noise (similar to Noise Gate in Sound Forge 8) and similarly remove Clicks & Pops and Rumble sounds. All Fantastic and very useful in my day to day Audio processing life!

Create Music - You can browse and select SoundBooth Score templates, set it to time and modify a lot of properties that helps you fit the score into whatever you have recorded. I wish this would also allow us to import other sound filetypes. I could be singing with Bon Jovi :D. More experimenting to be done with this.

Remove a Sound - I havent tried it yet. Will update this later!

So I took a test drive and played around with..ahem..the voice of the nightingale..ahem..moi. Recoreded some Whistling, about 2 lines of "Lips like Morphine" (sung by me!) and all the natural sounds around me - of the fan spinning etc.. I first tried the Normalize and it was quick. I also used the Voice Enhancer. The "I want a girl with.." line was very clear..certainly could notice the difference in the enhancement. Every effect you apply, the change is noticable. I know I wont be using the Chorous effect or the Compression for my production anytime soon, but I think it would be worth a more detailed try as time goes on.

One feature I liked and didnt like - If you are playing a sound and when you change to another app (tabbing away from SoundBooth), the Sound pauses. You will need to Play the sound again when you tab back. Its good and bad :) :(

My Wishlist:

1. Settings for Normalization allowing users to set the dB rates they want.

2. Support for other filetypes in the Create Music panel :)

3. Well..the MP3 and FLV support which they are planning to add into the future versions :)

More experiments tomorrow :)

I should say that it fits into what I do so perfectly! I am not an audio processing expert, but, need to do it as my work demands it. I dont deal with MP3s and FLVs, so I dont really mind them not being supported. Its just for the "non work playtime" that I want them added to the Export filetype list.

Some Screenshots:
GUI - (not default layout)
http://www.flashofscarlet.com/downloads/SB/UI.jpg

GUI - Cleanup Audio
http://www.flashofscarlet.com/downloads/SB/UI3.jpg

GUI - Create Music
http://www.flashofscarlet.com/downloads/SB/UI2.jpg

[Update : These are just my initial reactions. I still need to do a really thorough experiment/test with it and see how it goes. I plan to do this over the weekend. So expect a big test result in my next post. Also, I'm trying out Audacity : http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/ . I've read great reviews about it and plan to use it instead of getting a copy of Plus! Analog Recorder for my upcoming Audio cassette to Digital Format conversion home project. Expect a this vs that too]

More info on SoundBooth and other product sneak peeks that were presented at MAX:
http://weblogs.macromedia.com/dehaan/archives/2006/10/day_3_sneak_pee.cfm

Awesome Web puzzles!

I've never really had much patience to do puzzled..and that..that puzzled a lot of people. However, I seem to have gotten addicted to these new fangled web puzzles.

One of my friends sent me a link the other day - http://www.freestuffhotdeals.com/hacker/1.html

It took me a lot of "patience gathering" to crack the puzzle. I did manage to crack it..in a fits n' starts way! I couldnt sit in front of my PC and totally solve it at a stretch. I ended up helping/trying to help others with some pages and finally managed to complete the whole thing.

Once I got used to it, it was time for one of my other friends to send me another URL to a similar type of puzzle. Only, this time it turned out to be a bit more difficult and it was created by some IIM folks. URL - http://www.iimi-iris.com/iris/irising/klueLESS/

I havent completed it..just reached no : 20. Maybe I'll complete it during the weekend. Its getting tougher as the page numbers increment. Its worth the challenge. The best page was :http://www.iimi-iris.com/iris/irising/klueLESS/singalong.asp I got totall misled and got back after about 2 hrs on it. I was thinking "Sound of.." (music..silence..!)..that's the Page Title! A few clues got those mighty wheels spinning again. I almost hit my head on the desk when I found what it was. Rock lives on!

I've already got another URL : http://deathball.net/notpron/
Did the first couple of pages and its already getting really tough.

I guess I am into some puzzle solving groove, nevertheless, it really helps me develop my analytical skills - its really dusty in there! You need to think on your feet and think way out of the box, if you want to really get through the many pages. And when you cross the finish line..its like "Yo! really awesome duude!"

Well..so I am going to make one too. :) Its going to be a bit different - with new challenges and wierd concepts. The whole idea is growing and adding into its complexity. SNARLLL! It should take me about a week to complete it and have it up and running. :)

Application Management Framework : Part One

This has been a longtime "in the works", coz, I wasn't been able to consolidate ideas into one big-bang theory. I am delighted that its finally taking shape - slowly, but, steadily and almost into the first phase of development.

Basically, the Framework will allow users to consolidate, customize, manage and execute files on the web. The type of content can be websites or learning material. It includes user authentication and content management consoles to make sure that the user gets what he sees!

Ok, I know all this sounds too extensive and vast. So, I am restricting it to Flash-based content. So, whatever Flash supports, the Framework supports too :) Whatever it is..one thing is for sure, its going to be Flash and .NET all the way!

I am unable to let out more information right now. So, expect the PART TWO of this entry to carry more news and technical stuff.

My Vista RC1 Outing [updated]

BUILD : Windows Vista RC1 (checked Build) 5600
EDITION : Windows Vista Ultimate
TARGET MACHINE : Acer Aspire 3002NLC with AMD Sempron 2800+, 512MB RAM, 15GB HDD (for the Vista partition)

It took me almost a week to download the Vista RC1. You could blame it a bit on my bandwidth and a lot more on my laziness to resume the download each time. The last few MBs almost got me crying like a child. The reviews I had read on the RC1 had kinda made me plan into making it my primary OS instead of XP temprorily, so that I could truly experience the whole thing.

The installation took about 90mins. Almost everything was plug n'play, including my laptop's XGA monitor (which wasnt a plug n'play for Beta 2). Now, that was a nice start! Yeah, I did say "almost everything" a sentence ago! It didnt take my Realtek soundcard as plug n' play..so I had to force it in. Then came the long list of devices, which I literally force fed into accepting.

1. Huawei datacard - for internet : tried compatibility mode etc. It gave me lots of trouble and didnt install it. Then, I found a cheeky trick. I went to DEVICE MANAGER > Selected the Datacard > Properties > Driver tab > Update Driver and pointed it to the exact location of the driver. It was my last shot and it worked! I then had to quickly activate Windows Vista. I just had 3 days to activate. Now, we'll talk about this bug a little later.

2. USB TV Box - for..umm..TV : Once again, not plug and play..so I shovelled the driver in just like before and I have gotten really used to it! It took my USB box, but, not the TV Player software. It said it had to reboot coz there was a DCOM failure.

3. SE W300i - Phone software - I was able to install it in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode..and it did work sweetly after that.

Now, for the Activation Bug I spoke in point "1".. During the numerous restarts I had to do trying to get the devices to work, the 14 days decreased to 3 days! Now..thats ODD!

I had enough with Hardware and drivers, so I decided to do some software installation:

Windows Live Messenger 8 - Installed normally and functional

Yahoo Messenger 8 - Got till the download screen and then it reported that it wasnt able to access a particular tmp file from the temp folder, so it exited and I wasnt able to install it after that!

IIS 7 and Web stuff - Present under "Turn on additional components" (or something similar to that!) in the Add/Remove programs, you have a whole range of new things you would come across. I only picked up IIS and all that goes with it. Installation took about 10mins and then it worked well enough. I didnt try to make anything, just did a http localhost to check if it had installed correctly. I just had a glance at the IIS Manager and it felt damn powerful. I dont know much about it, so, I preferred not to play around till I've read the following article and understood what I will be dealing with :

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/09/07/IIS-7.0-RC1.aspx

NOTE: I guess I was kinda done with the experimenting. Mind you, I turned off UAC till I completed installation, so that, I had no trouble along the way.

Other software problems :

IE 7 : Keep crashing each time I shift between tabs really quickly. It automatically restarted. You do get a "..encountered a problem.." box and then a "..restarting.." box.

If you try to work as fast as you do in XP, you would get some of the screen to "Not Responding". They do respond well in about 5 secs time. So you dont have to End Task.

What I liked:

There have been big improvements in performance. It worked much faster than the previous builds. I was even able to feel the transitions and fades much better. Also, lucky they did away with those pesky message boxes from the pre-RC1 days. Plug N'play is also getting there, I must say! Overall it is a big step forward - it is much much more stable, lesser apps crashed, performance is much better.

Footnote:

Eventhough Vista RC1 seemed a lot more powerful and true to some of the good reviews, I felt a bit let down by all that I have mentioned above. I still have it on Dual boot and my idea of making it my primary OS will need to wait a till the weekend..or..even till later today! I plan to do a much cleaner install giving it another 2 GB of HDD space. We'll see.

My whole experience with RC1, also had a "punch line" to it - "Upgrade your Laptop". I have been thinking about it, but, not for Vista's sake. I am guessing that normal users, who cant really afford to upgrade with technology are going to stick to XP, than, moving to Vista when it is finally released.

Ok, after reading all this, you must think I am a open source junkie..well..I am certainly not. I love MS and I dont wink while saying it. :)

I will do a complete review of RC1 once I am done with teh re-install.