FastCompany interviewing Tony Fadell — the man widely considered as father of the iPod — about the quiet death of the device:

“I’ll miss the iPod. I loved it,” says Fadell. “But you know, that’s just how it is. I also loved my Apple II, and also saw it come and go. You can’t get too nostalgic. I mean, there are people out there who still want the Commodore 64 or the Amiga to come back. That’s cute, but time marches on. It’s better to be excited for the future.”

Fadell shares this attribute with Steve Jobs:

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”

Being involved with a successful product is rewarding. That’s never a reason to stop. You never, ever, stop when you’re winning.

 

Ars Technica caught this little tidbit from the iOS 8 release on Apple TV (emphasis mine):

And AirPlay now works with other iDevices, even if they’re not on the same Wi-Fi network—now, devices can form an ad-hoc wireless network and stream that way. We recommend using the Apple TV’s built-in security features to keep strange iPhones from finding and streaming to your Apple TV without your consent.

I think this is the most underrated feature that iOS 8 brings to the table. It brings AirPlay back  to its roots: a true screen projection technology. This enables content from mobile phones streamed over LTE or 3G to be projected directly to your television without requiring the device to have internet connection. This is huge considering that broadband can be problematic at times.

With the release of iPhone 6, an avalanche of troll-fodder articles flooded the internet. This one takes my top spot. The title alone is cringe-worthy. It says, “How Apple is undeniably becoming more like Android”. How Apple, a company, can become like Android, a mobile operating system? For the sake of argument, I’ll bite and pretend that the author probably meant “How Apple is undeniably ripping off Android features”:

• Scenario 1: When every other competitor almost gave up in competing with the 9.7-inch iPad, the industry started going for tablets near the size of 7-inches – and they were a hit. Apple, seeing this opportunity, enters the market with the iPad Mini.

Repeat after me and say, “Apple is never about being first in the market”. iPod was not the first MP3 player. iPhone was not the first smartphone. iPad was not the first tablet. They were hit because Apple took its time for the technology to mature and define the experience for these products right from the start. I would go further and say that I can’t think of an Apple product that became a hit because it’s the first one to hit the market.

• Scenario 2: Probably aiming to see the profitability of a plastic phone with colors ala Samsung & ala Nokia, Apple recreated the iPhone 5 in the form of the iPhone 5C.

The author alludes that Apple copied Samsung and Nokia’s strategy to build cheap, low-end phones. Apple never plays the low-quality-high-volume game. It’s always about building best quality product and getting high margin. The iPhone 5c’s build quality is superior than Samsung and Nokia’s low end phones. iPhone 5c’s specs was the same as iPhone 5.

• Scenario 3: iOS’ redesign on version 7 included a lot of elements from various operating systems. This video points it out.

I don’t get this. The author referenced a video discussing about how various OSs influenced iOS 7’s UI metaphor including Windows Vista, Windows Phone, and Android. This does not support the article’s main point that Apple is ripping off Android features. More importantly, iOS’ departure from skeumorphic design is a well-documented crusade. There was no shortage of criticism why Apple has stuck to its faux 3D UI for so long.

• Scenario 4: The latest version of iOS, iOS 8, becomes more open with better notifications, widgets and third-party keyboards.

Apple takes its time when implementing features. They make sure that they implement them correctly. Take third-party keyboards  for example. Most people do not realise how dangerous it is to use third-party keyboards. They can easily capture information and send it to a remote server. If you’re a developer, this is a good overview regarding how custom keyboards are implemented in iOS 8.

• Scenario 5: Following the trend of extremely large phones started by Samsung, Apple then decides to release two iPhone 6 devices – one having a 5.5-inch display, more software enhancements, OIS and a different screen resolution.

I will concede that Apple cave into this. Apple has repeatedly said that they found the right screen size from the start but eventually changed its mind. Thrice. However, this again falls to the category that Apple takes its time when adapting new technology.

Apple is not dense. There’s an obvious clamour for bigger phones so they went for it. However, they exercise restrain if it doesn’t make sense. Case in point: Netbooks.

• Scenario 6: Smartwatches have been gaining traction since last year, and once again it’s only now that Apple follows suit with the Apple Watch.

Refer to #1. Also, smartwatch is a not new technology.

Good software development team requires great issue tracking software.

When I started my team almost five years ago, I instantly felt the need of an issue tracking software. Having mostly worked in an enterprise environment prior, issue tracking was not a familiar ground. It was my first time to make such decision and I was not well-informed. In retrospect, cost and inexperience led me to pick Bugzilla. Bugzilla is a decent issue tracking software. It has out-of-the-box features most small, inexperience team would require: multi-role, customisable fields, email notifications, etc. With that, we built our entire development process around it and most of the time, it worked for us. If you have a young, aggressive team, you’re just excited to make anything work. So we pushed it really hard. We customised the heck out of it and do crazy things just to align it with our requirements. One thing I can’t stand is its web UI so we purchased the desktop client Deskzilla. For a few years, everything was okay.

Over the time, things became sophisticated. First, we moved to Bitbucket for our code repository. This adds extra layer to the team because we have to remember another set of credentials and use another tool. Secondly, as the team grows, we started to require project management and KPI tracking capability for our processes. These two areas are where Bugzilla do not excel well. Lastly, maintaining the software has gotten long in the tooth: server maintenance and daily backup became such burden. That was the last nail in the coffin. We had to move out.

Jira was a natural choice for us. It easily integrates with Bitbucket (from the same company, Atlassian) so remembering another credential will no longer be an issue. Its web UI is leaps and bounds better than Bugzilla. So much better that we no longer have to maintain a desktop client. The breadth and depth of built-in features are staggering, overwhelming at times: customisable workflows, built-in project management capabilities, rich charts and graphs for KPIs and much, much more. It even has its own market place!

It has been a busy month for us moving to the new platform. We have now migrated all of our projects and we are currently piloting few projects with the new system in parallel with the existing system (for all its bells and whistles, we still have to be careful). We are targeting first week of October to be fully migrated. I can’t wait to finally say ‘good riddance’ to our old process.

John Gruber regarding ABC’s unusual participation in tomorrow’s Apple event:

That sure as shit can’t be a reference to bigger iPhones, and it doesn’t sound like a watch that counts your steps and shows you notifications as they come in.

One of my regrets as a technical enthusiast is missing Steve Jobs present the iPhone live in 2007. Sure, I wasn’t living in Apple’s world back then but in retrospect, iPhone made such massive impact to the whole mobile computing landscape that I should’ve at least sensed it.

All signs are pointing to the same historic moment. I won’t miss it for the world.

Scott Hanselman on how to mute your microphone:

Here’s the thing, though. I have to go to meetings, and I spend 15 minutes of those meetings waiting for YOU (yes, you, there) to unmute your mic, setup your cam, mess around with your internet, and generally waste the remote worker’s (yes, me, here) time.
So, as a customer service to the internet, I present.

HTTP://HOWTOUNMUTE.COM

That domain points directly to this post. Please, tell your friends family and clients.

Why not include http://howtounmute.com as a link in your meetings?

Including this to a meeting invite is a polite and subtle way to communicate the message.

If date formatting sucks in JavaScript, number formatting is just as worst. Like moment.js, numeral.js is a library that fills this JavaScript gaping hole.

I was waiting that someone would come up and ask me why do I format in JavaScript (front end) instead in the backend. Well, my reason is threefold. First and foremost, dates and numbers are typically manipulated on the front end (sorting, arithmetic operation, etc.). Any formatting done in the backend will be lost once the data is updated on the front end.

Second, it offloads any trivial formatting to the client’s browser and save you precious server resources.

Lastly, it moves formatting to the view layer where it rightfully belongs.

 

Important, non-urgent tasks are the usual victim of my procrastination. For so long, there’s this one item that I’ve been dreading to do: updating our company profile. Every time I check my daily to-dos, it would sit right on top — highlighted in red — staring, begging at me to cross her off my list. I would coyly pretend that I don’t see it and skip right to the next item. On some days, I would stare at it, try to summon strength to actually do it then back down at the last minute.

This goes on for a while: 233 days to be exact. Then last week, a client asked for our portfolio. I pulled out our portfolio and prepare to send it. Then it hit me: all of the portfolios listed are dated and now irrelevant. I was trapped, it was the point of no return. I have to do it now.

Few hours and 3 cups of coffee later, I was happy to cross it off my list. Sometimes push is not enough. Sometimes you need to be trapped that the only way of getting out is to deal with it.

procrastinate

Good riddance.

MG Siegler agreeing with this New York Times article:

Just in time for the Labor Day holiday in the United States, Clive Thompson dives into the thing that will ruin the holiday for so many:

Why would less email mean better productivity? Because, as Ms. Deal found in her research, endless email is an enabler. It often masks terrible management practices.

When employees shoot out a fusillade of miniature questions via email, or “cc” every team member about each niggling little decision, it’s because they don’t feel confident to make a decision on their own. Often, Ms. Deal found, they’re worried about getting in trouble or downsized if they mess up.

This seems exactly right. I’d venture to guess that most email that is sent in the work environment doesn’t need to be sent. But it is as a way to cover one’s own ass.

In my experience, this goes beyond email. This happens on a daily basis and in all form of office communications (IMs, meetings, etc.). Some employees have a bad habit of including everyone or someone who has authority on the loop to sidestep blame or to at least “reduce” the blame on them. They think they are off the hook by asking someone’s approval before making the decision. By doing so, they can say, “hey, didn’t I asked you about this?”

OAuthException: The access token could not be decrypted

I just received our Fractures today. Fractures are photos beautifully printed directly on glass. I discovered it after listening to The Talk Show and ATP podcasts where Fracture is regular sponsor. The hosts are very generous when praising the product so I was intrigued. I checked them out but hesitated because it’s not cheap specially when shipping them internationally. However, if you’re a listener of the shows, they give a 20% discount code which is a pretty sweet deal.

Anyway, long story short, two weeks ago, I finally caved in and ordered two. I was really stoked when I got them. The frames are well-made and the pictures look vibrant. The borderless glass frame looks nice and elegant. It allows the pictures to easily blend in with our apartment. I did a semi-official unboxing (and hanging) of the frames:

If you want to know more about Fracture, here’s their promotional video: