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BlackBerry/RIM. Going, going, gone?

Oct 13th, 2011
by Craig.
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A couple of years ago my company had a major server outage on a primary server that brought down websites and email for almost two and a half hours. Such outages are rare, but they happen, and they happen to small hosting companies like NinerNet as well as the giants. After that outage I wrote about the lessons learnt and, without trying to deflect attention or criticism away from us, I pointed out an extensive list of major service outages experienced by the likes of Google, Amazon, YouTube, Barclays Bank, MySpace, Facebook, PayPal, Microsoft, eBay, and so on.

Also in that list was BlackBerry/RIM, and this is what I wrote at the time on them in particular:

Have a Blackberry? Do you realise that all Blackberry emails in the whole world go through one data centre in central Canada, and if that data centre has a problem, you can still use your Blackberry for a paperweight? Nobody is immune; nobody gets away unscathed.

I’m under the impression that, since then, RIM expanded that single point of failure to create multiple points of failure (often under threat of sanctions by governments who want access to their citizens’ communications), and fail they have — worldwide — in the last few days. And for several days, not just a couple of hours.

Without wanting to gloat over a mortally-wounded about-to-be corpse, RIM’s problems weren’t that difficult to predict. Unfortunately for them they are, at this time, the victim of a perfect storm that includes (among other things) poor sales and share performance, product failures, the almost simultaneous (to their technical troubles) launch of a new messaging system on the iPhone to rival BlackBerry Messenger, and these latest technical troubles. But this perfect storm is of RIM’s own making, and their problems go deeper than that anyway; they go to the heart of their core philosophies.

Now, I’m no Apple fanboi (and in the wake of the death of Steve Jobs I commend to you What Everyone Is Too Polite to Say About Steve Jobs [archived]), but at least an iPhone more resembles a “proper” computer like the one you have on your desk than the toaster in your kitchen that can only do the one or two things its manufacturer decided in its infinite wisdom it needs to do. Mobile computers (aka “smartphones”) like the iPhone and those running on the Android operating system rely on open standards when it comes to things like email. In short, open standards and systems win. (That said, Apple is not the poster child for open standards and systems, and needs to change that.) There is no central super-server somewhere handling all email for all iPhone or Android users worldwide, just waiting to fail. With BlackBerry there is … or was. End of story.

If you swallowed RIM’s mantra about their system being de rigueur for business and the iPhone being “not for business”, you’re paying for that today.

Sorry for that.

Update, 30 May 2012: Seven months later and Roger Cheng at CNET finally comes to much the same conclusion (archived).

Posted in: IT, Opinion, Updated posts.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Google search going downhill?

Oct 13th, 2011
by Craig.
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After being frustrated by the results in a Google search yet again, I submitted the following feedback to Google under the category “Google’s search results weren’t helpful” and the sub-category “The results included a page that was irrelevant”:

You searched for shaw vod 33319.

Please list which site or sites were irrelevant.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=55214
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=127023
https://secure.shaw.ca/apps/digital_services/GuideErrors.asp

… and probably the rest of the results, but I didn’t go past the top three.

Why were they irrelevant?

I’m finding more and more that Google ignores one or more of my search terms, trying to be too clever for its own good. For example, while the third result on the secure.shaw.ca domain would be relevant if I was looking for a way to contact my cable company (Shaw) about the VOD (video on demand) error (33319) I am receiving, it’s absolutely useless as a result that tells me immediately what error 33319 is.

In this case “33319” does not even appear anywhere in the page at any of the top three search results. Why then are these pages included in the results if I’m searching for “all of the words” (Google’s wording) I have entered, and not “one or more of these words”? And this happens even when all of my search terms are actually words, unlike this case where one of the search terms is a string of numbers.

Please don’t make me use a Microsoft product for my searches. The last time I switched search engines was from AltaVista to Google.

For those of you with short memories or who weren’t around “BG” (before Google), AltaVista was the search engine back in the day. They even provided search results for Yahoo, before going into decline and eventually becoming a part of Yahoo. Now it’s just a point of entry into the Yahoo search system. I don’t even remember exactly when I switched, but it was probably in the early 2000’s.

Posted in: IT, Opinion.
Tagged: · · · ·

Do they owe it to the fans?

Oct 5th, 2011
by Craig.
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On a local radio station today, the DJ made reference to the station’s blog (“Do they owe it to the fans?“), but on air seemed to be asking a slightly different question to that posed on the blog. To the straight-up question, my answer is no, bands don’t owe it to their fans to tour.

However, the DJ (or someone who called in) introduced the issue of bands who rest on their laurels and issue remastered version after remixed version of their music, and live off of the income from that. To that I say, “Hey, if you (gentle reader or listener) want to pay for yet another remix of the same old song, go right ahead. But I won’t.” I’m all for residual income, but unless you actually get off your arse and do something new occasionally (and that includes touring, even if you sing your old stuff), why should I buy your old stuff, over and over again?

Which actually leads to the age-old question of old music coming out in new formats to keep up with technology. (For the sake of simplicity I’ll stick to referring to music from here on, but the same principles apply to films and any other recorded entertainment.) These days the big entertainment companies like to tell you that you have “licensed” the music that you have bought. (I don’t think you’ll find a “licence” printed on any of your old vinyl LPs!) This allows them to attach all sorts of conditions to your licence, not the least of which prevents you from making copies of said licensed material.

To that I respond that if I have bought a licence that entitles me to listen to a particular song, then I am allowed to listen to that song for the rest of my life in whatever formats exist between the time I licence it and the time I die. The licence should only apply to the song I originally bought, or any substantially similar version of the song. Therefore, if another band performs the song, or the same band records it at a concert, or the original lead vocalist records a duet with someone not a member of the band (just to give a few examples), those would be considered substantially different, and I would not be entitled to those versions of the song until I paid for a copy.

Therefore, if I bought Penny Lane in 1967, as far as I’m concerned I’m entitled to listen to the same version of Penny Lane in the comfort of my home at any time I choose by playing it on my record player, on my CD player, or on my computer (which includes whatever portable device you carry around in your pocket) from a digital file (e.g., MP3). So if I bought the right to listen to Penny Lane in 1967, then I am entitled to obtain, for free (or perhaps for a modest fee to cover materials, shipping and handling), a copy of Penny Lane on CD and MP3 and in any future recording formats. (The same applies if I lose my original copy.) If the same song is re-issued by the band twenty years later, even if the latest version is somehow technically superior, it’s substantially the same song and I’m entitled to a copy of the “new” version for free. If the company I paid in 1967 is unable or unwilling to send me a copy of Penny Lane on/in the latest format at my request, then I am entitled to obtain a copy by whatever means I deem necessary. Enter (in this day and age) file sharing.

Of course, coming up with a 44-year-old receipt to prove you’ve already paid might be a challenge!

Posted in: Opinion.
Tagged: · · · · · · ·

RIP Jack Layton

Aug 22nd, 2011
by Craig.
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Today Canada lost its only political leader. Whether or not you agree with his politics and the politics of his party, Jack Layton was the only leader of a major federal party that actually met the definition of the word “leader”. Others, including the current prime minister, are certainly the figureheads of their respective parties, but they are not leaders. There’s a huge difference. It was not just Layton’s success in the most recent election that made him a leader; it was the fact that he actually had a vision for Canada.

Rest in peace, Jack. We lost more than just another citizen today. You are not irreplaceable — none of us are in the grand scheme of things — but the question is whether or not someone of your calibre can be found in time to avoid Canada becoming a de facto one-party state.

Posted in: Opinion.
Tagged: · ·

Happy birthday Elizabeth!

Feb 18th, 2011
by Craig.
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Dear Elizabeth,

Happy birthday.

Love, Uncle Craig

Posted in: Family.
Tagged: ·

Happy birthday Melissa!

Feb 4th, 2011
by Craig.
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Dear Melissa,

Happy birthday.

Love, Uncle Craig

Posted in: Family.
Tagged: ·

Only in Vancouver …

Feb 3rd, 2011
by Craig.
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… will you be approached outside a Starbucks by a guy plugged into an iPod begging — “pretty please” — for a dollar to buy a coffee.

Posted in: Opinion.
Tagged: ·

Invincible and invisible cyclists

Dec 1st, 2010
by Craig.
1 comment
Cyclist dressed in black. Photograph by Mark van Manen, PNG.

Cyclist dressed in black. (Mark van Manen, PNG.)

The front page story in The Vancouver Sun on 29 November was Cycling’s most dangerous intersections: 10 places cars are most likely to hit bicycles in Vancouver. Illustrating that story was one of the pictures you see here. (For some strange reason, the Sun has two identical versions of the story [here and here] on its website, but with different pictures.)

Now, I realise that the photographs were no doubt posed, but they beautifully — and ironically — illustrate exactly why so many cyclists (and pedestrians) are getting mowed down on Vancouver streets. Note the following:

  • The cyclist is dressed entirely in black, and
  • The picture is taken at night.
Cyclist dressed in black. Photograph by Mark van Manen, PNG.

Cyclist dressed in black. (Mark van Manen, PNG.)

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been driving in Vancouver on a rainy night — which, as you will know if you live in this part of the world, account for about 300 of 365 nights — and a cyclist or pedestrian has almost literally appeared “out of nowhere” and narrowly avoided becoming one with my car. You can point the finger of blame at me if you want, accusing me of not paying attention. But really, even if there was no car traffic on the roads (besides me) and so I didn’t have to be swivelling my head this way and that to look out for them (especially at intersections, which is what the Sun story is about), I’d be hard-pressed to see a damn nearly invisible person (and bike) until my headlights are reflected in the whites of his or her widening eyes. Besides, if I’m doing such a poor job of paying attention, how come I don’t have these close calls during the day in good weather?

Add to that cyclists and pedestrians who think they are somehow exempt from both the laws of the road and of physics — or have a death wish — and you have a recipe for disaster. The onus is on everyone on the roads to do their part to keep them safe, but jeez, if you’re the one likely to be on the losing end of a collision, don’t you think you should invest a little more effort and thought in keeping yourself alive before you even walk out the door?

(Copyright note: These photographs are the copyright of, presumably, Mark van Manen of the Pacific News Group [PNG]. They are used here without permission, but I assert that their use here is in line with the concept of “fair dealing” under Canadian copyright law, in that this article is a criticism of the content of the works themselves and the news story to which they are attached rather than simply being a reposting of a news article. To the best of my knowledge, non-copyrighted versions of these photographs are not available. In any case, these are the pictures the public has seen, so my creating my own similar pictures would negate the nexus of this article.)

Posted in: Opinion.
Tagged: · · · · · ·

Installing Zend Optimiser

Nov 28th, 2010
by Craig.
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I had a bit of an education on the confusing array of Zend products recently. A client needed Zend Optimizer (which, of course, Zend spells with a “z” to cater to the all-powerful American market) installed on their virtual private server (running Linux, of course), as the installation routine for a web application wouldn’t proceed without it. Fair enough. Some web applications are encoded so that they can’t be hacked (as opposed to cracked; see the difference), reverse engineered, modified, etc., and Zend Optimiser interprets the encoded PHP files so that they can run.

But I was confused. I thought Zend was installed with PHP by default. Turns out it’s Zend Engine that’s installed with PHP. So off I go to the interwebs to do some research. Take a look at these pages:

  • Zend Products: Here are listed Zend Server, Zend Server Cluster Manager, Zend Studio and Zend Guard — four products.
  • Zend Downloads: Here are listed Zend Server, Zend Server Cluster Manager, Zend Server Community Edition, Zend Studio, Zend Guard, Zend Optimizer, Zend Framework, Zend Core and Zend Platform. Phew! Nine products!

You don’t even see Zend Engine listed on either of the above pages, presumably because it’s installed with PHP by default.

So you click on Zend Optimiser and you’re presented with downloads for Zend Guard, Zend Optimiser and Zend Guard Loader. Huh? What’s what, where did Zend Guard Loader come from, and what is it?

Add to that that, in the back of my mind, I thought I had been down this road before on a different server that I’m sure already had a decoder installed. However, I figured out that I was probably thinking of Ioncube, and it had likely been installed with a control panel on that server.

Add further to that confusion the plethora of different instructions you find in a web search, some of which (including the “user guide” that is linked to right next to the Zend Optimizer download link) refer to an installation script which doesn’t exist in the download, and you can see why I was left scratching my head. At one point I even started following the RPM installation instructions on the Zend website, until I said to myself, “Wait a minute. This isn’t right.” Sure enough, those instructions were for a different Zend product.

The download does include what are referred to on some websites as “manual” installation instructions. They’re straightforward, but the confusing array of different options out there threw me off. In the end, the “manual” instructions did indeed work — and given the choice I’d prefer them anyway — and took all of about three minutes, far less time than I had already wasted.

Posted in: IT.
Tagged: · · · · · · ·

… like they do on the Discovery Channel

Nov 27th, 2010
by Craig.
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An elderly spinster who was a dog lover agreed to look after and house her neighbours’ dog whilst the neighbours went on their holidays. The only problem was that the spinster’s own dog was a bitch that was in heat, and the neighbour’s dog was a male. Nevertheless she had a large house and she was able to keep the two dogs apart.

As she lay in her bed drifting off to sleep one night, the spinster was suddenly woken by awful howling and moaning sounds from downstairs. She rushed down to find the dogs locked together, as dogs do when mating. The dogs appeared to be in pain, howling but unable to disengage. Try as she might she could not part them and she was perplexed as what to do next. Though it was late she reluctantly phoned the vet, and after a few rings the rather grumpy voice of the vet answered the phone. The spinster explained the problem.

The vet said, “I want you to take the phone to the dogs and place it down alongside them. I will then phone your number back and the noise of the telephone ringing should make the male dog lose his erection and able to withdraw from the bitch.”

“Oh. Do you think that will work?”

“Well, it just worked fine for me.”

Posted in: Humour.
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