kate's infrastructure

I certainly have a tendency to stick to software I know when it comes to the basics.  If I’m not right in amongst it every day, I tend to stick to what works.  This is how I’m still using FTP clients from earlier in the decade.  But sometimes you had the break the rut and look for something a little better.

This is how I happened upon uTorrent:

I was using Azureus Vuze for years and years prior to that – it worked.  But it also deviated from my core use which was simple one-off downloads now and then.  Where vuze finally failed for me was the combination of the inevitable patch and restart cycle coupled with the bloated home screen with content promotion. 

uTorrent by comparison is an absolute pleasure to use.  It’s visually simple, yet covers all functions I’d expect in a very straight-forward manner.  Basically, the notion of a single function tool providing a single function extremely well, and doing nothing else, is quite outstanding.

The final feature I really like about uTorrent is also one of the simplest – the system tray notifications of a completed download are a really nice, simple touch.  uTorrent seems to understand the users who see bittorrent as a background process, rather than a point of focus.

I’m going to choose to completely overlook why you might like a bittorrent client, and accept simply that you do.  You should probably check out the (very tiny!) and useful uTorrent.

If the Australian filter goes ahead, this isn’t a bad option:

http://www.kinfrastructure.com/doughboyisland/

Setup a proxy on a US server as described on lifehacker, also a useful workaround for unproductive corporate proxies.

My emerging obsession with Android powered phones, coupled with Kogan’s failure to deliver on their promised handset means I have to spend my days at the Optus site fawning over their slightly ugly and dated HTC dream (equiv. to the T-mobile G1 launched in the USA).  I hate the handset design, but I do want a physical keyboard and a dose of awesomeness, so this will be my phone.

Long story short, the Optus website experience seems surprisingly amateur.  I’m a loooong time Vodafone user, so maybe I’m just used to something a little more.  The Optus website just screams to me 1990s SME.  I find this a little astounding for what is basically a technology company.

The first thing is that the front page of the site adds nothing to either the existing or potentially future customer.  There’s very little visible content and yet it is noticeably slow to load.  This appears to be a fact known to the developers as they have a prompt which will sometimes appear explaining that the site is still loading and offering alternative shortcuts.  Maybe a site with a bit more content OR a bit less bloat would be more sensible (i.e. don’t make me wait for nothing).

The second (and more infuriating thing) is this:

Yes, I understand the role of maintaining the user session, and I can understand being a developer who relies on a session to maintain something meaningful about the user.  The thing here is, I’d done nothing aside from stare at the HTC dream pictures.  No login, no transaction.  Nothing.  Maybe the tab was open for a while when I was doing other stuff, but really, what kind of useful information did my session contain?  And is sessions, and making users abundantly aware of them really the right direction? 

Failsite aside, I should be an Optus customer later this week all going to plan.  I guess that doesn’t exactly give any incentive for update then does it?

I’m not much of a fan of the splash page as a general rule.  I understand that the location-specific content presented to me can be improved if the site knows where I’m from, but I’d prefer not to tell them before I’m shown any useful or meaningful content whatsoever.  The fact that this seemingly unessential splash page simply doesn’t function using Google Chrome suggests that some customers may be lost to competitors at this first hurdle.  I had to fall back to using Firefox to get through the initial puzzle.

A better design for me would be to:

• Provide an initial generic site, highlighting some features or specials;
• Don’t ask me to confirm language and then only offer me a single option;
• Guess my location based on my IP address, and;
• Give me the opportunity to correct my location if you’ve guessed wrong;

Regardless of how you actually achieve this, we must then consider what you can do with this new found location and language info.  Ignoring this info (which is initially presented as a mandatory step) is a little stupid.  Why ask me my country and language if you don’t intend to show me information actually tailored to that?  I understand the necessity of language but do not understand why you would ask my country and then not default to my local airports or currency.

Website gripes aside, it seems cheap.

[LINK]

I’m at the Sydney version of the google developer day thanks to the folks at SoulSolutions and GeekGirlBlogs.  It’s been years since I was really hands on developer, and its kind of reassuring to see how stuff has moved on.

Learn more, and see the presentations at code.google.com

Topics that have interested me most so far: Google Android and Google Apps / Scalable web apps

Stuff I need to read more about:

• ‘BigTable’ and gQL!
• Python & Perl (seriously, how did I miss thaat boat)
• Getting a developent environment up and running to properly use the tools discussed.

Now the question is whether I’ve managed to leap over the thick client and so called rich internet apps of the past couple of years and found myself back in a rapid development environment, now with a hint of AJAX.

I hope so.  More updates to come.

The above screen shows what I saw when I accessed the Windows Vista Support community site earlier today.  Noting that my screen is 1024×768, and I use Vista. Surely this site is meant for me.  Let’s look at how the screen real estate is used:

1. Enormous title bar with Microsoft branding;
2. The most useful part, the body of the post themselves.  Ridiculously difficult to use with constant scrolling;
3. Index of posts / forum topics;
4. General menu for support site;

I realise this isn’t much more that a pretty way to show me a newsgroup, but it’s also noticably slow.  Whatever you might think about Microsoft products, this support site is appalling.  I got nothing from it at all, and I’m unlikely to be back regardless of the value of the information it contains.  The final straw was when I tried to flag a post that was not contributing anything, it tried to make me signin to my Windows liveID.  I’ve got no issue with this if I was posting anything, but this really means that the casual browser is unlikely to assist.

 And now on to Apple.  I should preface this by saying that while I appreciate the apple design aesthetic, the resurgance of white electronics, and the I’m a Mac ads, the fanboys make me loathe it just a little.  Still, I was confident support was something they’d be good at, it’s user-centric after all.

Let’s look at how apple tackles the simplest of tasks:

1. Reasonably sized title bar with simple branding and site menu combined;
2. Context!  Something Microsoft overlooked;
3. Index of posts / forum topics;
4. Yes, it took me to a second page, but that’s cool.  Hey look, branding is maintained across the site;
5. Forum text is EASY to access

Yes, apple’s approach looks a little circa 1997 web forum, but it works.  Can’t argue with that.

NB: I should point out that I was searching for help with Vista’s tendancy to bluescreen when running iTunes.  Neither site actually helped.

I’ve rarely engaged in a microsoft vs the universe debate, nor am I (yet) particularly engaged on the whole ridiculous nature of many EULAs.  I should really do a bit more reading on that. 

Anyway, in downloading ActiveSync, I noticed the following line which verges on mockery:

LIMITATION ON AND EXCLUSION OF REMEDIES AND DAMAGES. You can recover from Microsoft and its suppliers only direct damages up to U.S. $5.00. You cannot recover any other damages, including consequential, lost profits, special, indirect or incidental damages.

I wonder what I need to do for $5?