About every 5 years or so I get an itch to build a computer. Well, with great after holiday flat screen sales, I decided to get a TV for the bedroom and to build a custom home theater pc (HTPC). Building computers has always been fun, even if it can get a little stressful.

In my opinion, building computers is the best way to learn about computers. As a web developer, I don’t have to worry about the hardware that goes into a computer. However, I have a  better idea of how servers work and how certain things can go wrong or cause problems.

This time around I went with the Antec NSK2480 case. It’s a little bigger than the average micro ATX case, but it was made to run cool and quite. A lot of detail and thought went into wire organization (great for my OCD tendancies) as well as padding between hard drives and the top panel to minimize any vibrations.

The rest of the hardware:

• Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 HDMI
• Intel Celeron E3200 Wolfdale
• Crucial RAM
• Scythe Mini Ninja

I also purchased a wireless logitech joystick and a Cideko Air Keyboard. So the only wires are to the tv and to the power.

Today, Steve Jobs published his thoughts on flash. You can view it on the Apple site here:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Two paragraphs in particular caught my eye:

“Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

“Apple has many proprietary products too. Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open. Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.”

Steve’s got a great point with this. It’s very similar to my thoughts on iPhone and iPad apps:

The iPhone and iPad are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Apple, and Apple has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Apple’s products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Apple and available only from Apple. By almost any definition, the iPad and iPhone are closed systems.

Rather than develop iPad/iPhone apps, I choose to use HTML5, CSS and javaScript – all open standards.

A couple months ago, with all the press focusing on Apple’s announcement of the iPad, Steve Jobs made a comment that Flash is dying and that people need to push HTML5. Since this comment, I’ve heard from many clients who want new sites and want to avoid Flash because it’s a dead technology and has no future.

I never thought I’d do this, but I think I’m going to come to the defense of flash. I don’t like programming in flash all that much and I find it quite frustrating and annoying (I had hopes that when Adobe purchased Macromedia it’s type support would get better… not worse).

Don’t get me wrong, in 15 years I don’t see a huge place for Flash. But in the now, and in the next 5 years, it’s still going to have a very strong presence. I believe this for a couple reasons:

1. Upgradeability (Spell check is getting mad at me for that word, but it’s the best word for this reason): If you want to upgrade flash, you can now do it without having to restart your browser. In fact, it often takes less than 5 seconds (really!). It is such an easy process that almost everyone upgrades without even realizing what they are doing (I won’t get into if this is a good thing). Therefore, within 6 months of a new flash version over 96% of web users have it. That’s some amazing penetration. Web browsers on the other hand (Internet Explorer in particular) is on the complete other end of the spectrum. People still use IE6. Yes, it is in decline, but a lot of people (and more importantly, businesses) still use it. There is no easy way to upgrade. A user has to go through Windows Upgrades application (which studies have shown that most people do not use). Microsoft seems to have finally gotten back into the browser game and has released IE7, IE8 and is even working quickly on IE9, so perhaps this will get better. But the bottom line is that right now (and for the next couple years at least), most people do not upgrade their browsers.

2. Video. There is a lot of hype around the HTML 5 video tag. Sure, it makes it really easy to embed video. It’s just one tag. Sounds great right? I think it is, but the markup isn’t the problem here. The browsers are. Just like in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we had to have a Netscape version of a site and an IE version of a site. Now, we’ll have to have video in one format for some browsers and in another format for other browsers.  In my opinion, video is the one thing that flash does well. Why? Because of my reason number one above. Flash gets upgraded often, and can support better and better video codecs/formats as they come out. Browser manufacturers can’t agree on formats. And as time goes by and new formats come out, it will become even more of a mess.

In a perfect world, the browser manufactures would agree on standards. And as new versions came out, people would make sure the upgraded. These two things don’t happen. Therefore, flash isn’t going anywhere.

The claim that flash is dying reminds me of the late 90’s and all the claims that XML was going to revolutionize the world and every new site and application should make use of it. Sure, XML is a solid tool, but 90% of the hype wasn’t necessary. Flash will go away at some point. But not nearly at the speed that people claim.

Over the past year I’ve looked a bit into iPhone App Development. I have an iMac at home, I use a powerbook at work, and I talk on an iPhone. I love to work on mac’s. But I must admit that I have absolutely no desire to start developing iPhone apps.

It has nothing to do with the programming language, the IDE or anything regarding development.

It really comes down to two reasons.

One main reason is that I despise building something for one platform. I don’t want to build an iPhone app, rebuild the same project as an Android App, and then again as a Blackberry app…etc.

It’s the browser wars all over again where we had to build a Netscape version, an AOL version and an IE6 version…etc.

The other big reason has to do with Apple’s policy. It can take weeks for an app to get approved. And there is no gaurentee your app will even BE approved. I know one company that built an app for a client, submitted and had the app rejected because Apple didn’t think it would have a large audience. Really? So do we need to submit a business plan with our app that projects what Apple’s return will be?

Of late Apple has been critical of Adobe Flash and has been trying to promote the open standards of HTML5 (while I like Flash, I applaud a company the size of Apple trying to push HTML standards forward).

Last month, Apple removed over 5,000 apps that it deemed ‘inappropriate’. Really? So on one hand it promotes open standards, but on the other hand they want to create their own standards and change them after the fact. These apps were already in the store – meaning they had been approved. And many of them have been purchased many many times.

I hope they don’t pull an Amazon and go into the phone to remove the app.

Over the past couple months I actually wrote a couple blog posts! I really did! And Wordpress did something with them that I’ve never experienced. They missed their schedule. I’m not sure how this is possible. I just logged in and looked at my posts and three posts were highlighted as ‘Missed Schedule’.

Guess I’ll have to keep a closer eye on this….

I am no financial expert. So I will refrain from giving up too much advice. However, there was one item I should of included in my best of 2009 list. And that was paying off my car. And not just paying it off, but paying it off 2 years early.

It started about a year into my loan. I started putting 50 bucks extra with each payment. I’d start realizing that the 50 extra each month didn’t hurt too much. So before I knew it I was paying off two or three payments at once. Now, I know that two or three extra payments at once isn’t possible for everyone. But even just mailing in 20 or 30 bucks extra with each payment can help.

Paying it off, and paying it off early is a very, very good feeling.

It’s the first day of 2010! What a better time than now to make a post about my favorite music of 2009? Just a quick note, I am not making a claim that this is the ‘best’ of 2009. Just my personal favorites.

Top 15 Albums:

1. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle. Bill Callahan (aka Smog) has been around for a while. I’ve always enjoyed his music. However, this one just put me in a trance. I found myself listening to it more than any other album that came out in 2009. It’s relaxing with a good hint of darkness to keep it interesting. Sadly he doesn’t have a video out, but you can listen to some tracks on the Drag City link above.

2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion / Fall Be Kind EP. This was going to be number 3 on the list until Fall Be Kind came out. While technically it’s another album, I see it as a companion piece. Both the album and the EP are amazing and should be checked out.

3. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orcca. Another Domino release! I’m a programmer, not a writer. So, I’m going to end my descriptions here and just post the video :-)

4. Cass McCombs – Catacombs. Domino Again!

5. The XX – XX

6. Micachu – Jewellry

7. The Monks – Black Monk Time. Yes, this is a re-release.. but it needs to be appreciated. The founders of punk.

8. The Mantles – The Mantles. Sadly no video for these guys. But you can download their single off of their site here.

9. The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa. No clue if this is an ‘official’ video.

10. The Sandwitches – How to Make Ambient Sad Cake. No video for these gals either. But you can listen to the track ‘Back to the Sea’ here.

11. Girls – Album.

12. White Denim – Fits

13. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

14. NODZZZ – NODZZZ

15. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon

Apologies for going MIA. I had a bout of the swine flu and then came Thanksgiving, getting slammed at work and then Christmas. So least to say, it’s been quite busy.

And now, we are at that time of the year. The ‘year in review’ post. I’m a music junkie and I am an internet geek. That means I love making lists, and especially love making year end lists.

However, I don’t necessarily love writing a blog, so I’ll keep this short and quick. 3 lists. That’s all.

Top 6 things of the year:

1. Getting married. Yes, as cheesy as that sounds, it’s number one. It was a great time, and I couldn’t be happier.

2. I finally made it to Europe! For the honeymoon we went to Italy. We hit Venice, Rome and Cinque Terre. I can’t recommend Cinque Terre enough. If you want to go somewhere amazing, that isn’t packed with tourists, and isn’t outreagously expensive, I recommend Cinque Terre. You can read more of my thoughts on it on a past blog post.

3. I’m not going to put anything here. The first two deserve some separation from the rest of the pack.

4. Seattle. I have wanted to go to Seattle for more than 10 years. The climate always appealed to me (I have trouble breathing in humid/warm air, so cool climate gives me more energy). The beautiful scenery and all the national parks in close proximity sure doesn’t hurt either. It was all that I hoped it would be.

5. Pentax 6×7. While I’m a tech geek, I like to dabble with the old as well. I like collecting old photos, and I like taking photos with old cameras. For christmas my wife bought me a Pentax 6×7. I was borrowing one from a friend, Mark Katzman, and to my surprise, it is the one she bought me. So I was lucky enough to try the camera out before deciding that it was what I wanted. I have been looking for a medium format camera with a built in light meter for a while. And this one is perfect. The quality of the photos it takes are amazing. Now I have no excuses when I take bad photos! Also, the shutter sounds like a pump action shotgun, which makes me feel pretty bad ass.

6. Dropbox. Dropbox is by far one of the best tech finds of the year. It makes backing up files, quickly sharing photos, or moving files between home and work easy as can be.

Top 3 things I’m looking forward to next year:

1. MYOS. It’s a CMS I built at my work. It is still pretty young and immature. But it’s coming together better than I hoped. So far, it is making building CMS based sites infinitely easier, quicker and more solid.

2. Boxee. My wife and I just bought a tv for the bedroom. I had an old micro form computer sitting at my parents. I built it a couple years ago. It’s all passive heating and is super quiet. I plan on dusting it off and putting Boxee on it!

3. iMac. I think this may be the year I upgrade my iMac. The 27″ iMac’s look stunning. Hear’s to hoping the solve the flickering and the shipping problems that end up with a busted corner.

The final list, my favorite albums of the year will be coming shortly (i mean it).

I have no idea if the economy is really improving or not. But I can say that work has picked up drastically this quarter. It seems like everyone was waiting till now to spend. Hopefully it keeps going into 2010…

Anyhow, just a short update. I’m working on the new kiosk for The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. It is flash based and will have a little bit of 3D. I noticed while working on it that all the dynamic fonts got really fuzzy once rotationY had been tweened. Even if I reset it to 0 there wasn’t anything that would remove the fuzziness.

Much thanks to Edzis for his post called “Blur on rotationY = 0 Use transform.matrix“. In order to set the font back to normal you will need to manually update the rotated objects transform.matrix.

Hopefully Adobe will fix this in the future.

In December of last year I left MediaTemple for WebFaction. And in less than a year I am back at MediaTemple. This is now my third time with MT. What is with this love that I have for them?

Well, this time I’m on their Dedicated Virtual (DV) plan. Their grid server plans may be great for some, but I will no longer use them or recommend them. MediaTemple has always had great support. I love their panel, and they have a great knowledge base and are very pro active in the community. Their Grid Server, however, can just be downright slow at times.

However, I’ve come around to finally realizing and admitting that that is just what you get when you are paying under 20$/month for hosting. I can’t afford dedicated hosting. So Dedicated Virtual is the next best thing. And in my opinion, MT offers a great package. And since I now host my email with Gmail, I don’t even need but half of the space on the plan.

So I made a pact. A friend of mine, Nate Sprehe of the newly founded Almanac went in with me to split a DV account. We each only get 10gig and 15 domains. However, it’s plenty for me. I’m paying $20/month and getting dedicated service.

Don’t get me wrong, WebFaction was better than most shared hosting providers, despite their unique way of managing sites and domains. Towards the end they did have some email problems which prompted me to move all my email to Gmail – a move which I highly recommend. SpamAssasin can not compete with Gmail. In addition to email, I had some issues with a couple aspects of the WebFaction setup:

• Email user names. You can have name@domain.com as your email. However, that isn’t what you log in as. You log in as a user name created in the panel. This name could be anything. It doesn’t have to be related at all to your email. This can be nice when you have a number of emails coming into one inbox. However, for some reason this user name doesn’t just have to be unique to your account, but to the server you are on! So if there is another ‘tyler’ on the server, well, that can’t be my email user name.
• When you FTP into the server, you can navigate up one level and see every users folder on the server. While I do not have permission to enter these folders… it just bothered me that I could even see them. I am no security expert, so I can’t say if that is a security issue or not. My gut just felt uncomfortable by it.

So.. good bye WebFaction. It was a fun 10 months.

Hello MediaTemple.. I guess you knew i’d be back right? Third time’s the charm? I hope so.