Author: Lorin Olsen

What’s On Your Home Screen

Lorin Olsen

Now that I have a smartphone of my very own, it’s time to highlight what is on my home screen.  But before I do that, I need to note how I got the screen capture.

For those who have rooted their system, the process of a screen capture is quite simple.  But for those who are still clinging to a stock firmware build (like me), the process is slightly different. Nevertheless, the process is relatively straightforward.  You need to update your device driver on the computer system that will be connected to your phone.  Then you need to download and install the Android SDK.  Finally, you need to make sure you update your copy of the Java Development Kit.  [Note: The current Java build as I write this is JDK SE 1.6.21.]  The entire process is fully documented over at Simple Help.  And the results of my first screen capture are shown above.

So what do I have on my home screen?  Well the current favorite apps are as follows:

Location-based tools: Navigation (from Google), Places Directory (from Google), Yelp, and Foursquare.

  • With Navigation, my phone can literally answer the question of “Where Do I Want To Go Today?”  And it can tell me how to get there.
  • I use Places and Yelp to find cool places to visit and explore.  Places is very simplistic.  But its simple approach saves time when you’re in a hurry.  And for those times when you absolutely, positively need to know everything that is around you, Yelp is an astonishingly good tool to find all the hidden things that are close by.  Finally, I am like many techophiles.
  • I use Foursquare to tell folks where I am.  And I have fun trying to be the mayor of someplace other than my household.

Messaging Tools: Google Voice (from Google), GMail (from Google), Text Messaging (from Google), and Seesmic.

  • I use Google Voice for all my voice integration needs.  Indeed, it is my voicemail – even for the mobile phone itself.
  • As everyone know, GMail is my email client.  I love and use it for everything – including integrating other mailboxes across the net.
  • I used Text Messaging for just that: texting.  For the most part, SMS messaging is a dying art.  But my kids still use it a great deal.  I use Google Voice for most of my SMS needs.  But if someone does send an SMS message to my carrier, this app fills the bill.
  • Finally, I use Seesmic as my main tool for Twitter.  Have I used other tools?  Of course I have.  But Seesmic is always current.  It allows me to integrate multiple Twitter accounts.  And it look quite good.

Commerce-related Tools: Mobile Banking (from BoA, of course), Barcode Scanner (from Google), AppBrain, and Google Goggles (from Google).

  • I like having instant access to my bank statement.  So the banking app is self-explanatory.
  • The barcode scanner allows me to read UPC codes and determine the best prices in my local area.  It also reads QR codes.  So you can point your phone at a QR code and jump to the URL embedded within the code.
  • The AppBrain tool is an excellent market system for Android apps. It won’t replace the Android market. But AppBrain has a great review system to go along with the software inventory it houses.
  • Finally, I do use Google Googles to take pictures of things and see what the web has to say about the things that I snap pictures of.

Words and Thoughts: Dolphin Browser, Congress (from Sunlight Foundation), Kindle (from Amazon) and DailyBible (from Joansoft).

  • The Dolphin Browser runs circles around the basic Android browser.  When I needed to download an email attachment whose extension wasn’t registered, the basic browser failed while Dolphin succeeded.
  • Congress is an exceptional app that can tell you how your representatives are doing in Washington.  You can see pending and passed laws.  You can see what your Congressman or Senator has done.  And you can get their direct phone number – and call them directly.
  • The Kindle app is an excellent tool for e-reading.  For me, I have downloaded a few important books – but not my whole library.  For that, I still need my Kindle.
  • Finally, I use DailyBible to ensure that I geta great Bible verse to start each and every day.

There are a few other apps that I should note.  First, I use NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for my screen saver.  I use ConnectBot to securely log into my servers at home.  I use Astro to perform miscellaneous file management tasks.  I use the Astrid Task Manager for my day-to-day task entry. I use Google Sky Map for really cool nighttime star-gazing. I use Pandora for streaming music. Finally, I use Shazam for recognizing music and buying miscellaneous songs while I’m on the go.

All in all, my Droid 2 is getting a good workout.  I’ve even updated the SD card already.  This is so reminiscent of PC systems in the nineties.  It’s kind of like the wild west and Star Trek – all at the same time.  I guess that means that the first movie I must play on my phone will be Joss Whedon’s “Serenity.”

-Roo

What's On Your Home Screen

Lorin Olsen


Now that I have a smartphone of my very own, it’s time to highlight what is on my home screen.  But before I do that, I need to note how I got the screen capture.
For those who have rooted their system, the process of a screen capture is quite simple.  But for those who are still clinging to a stock firmware build (like me), the process is slightly different. Nevertheless, the process is relatively straightforward.  You need to update your device driver on the computer system that will be connected to your phone.  Then you need to download and install the Android SDK.  Finally, you need to make sure you update your copy of the Java Development Kit.  [Note: The current Java build as I write this is JDK SE 1.6.21.]  The entire process is fully documented over at Simple Help.  And the results of my first screen capture are shown above.
So what do I have on my home screen?  Well the current favorite apps are as follows:
Location-based tools: Navigation (from Google), Places Directory (from Google), Yelp, and Foursquare.

  • With Navigation, my phone can literally answer the question of “Where Do I Want To Go Today?”  And it can tell me how to get there.
  • I use Places and Yelp to find cool places to visit and explore.  Places is very simplistic.  But its simple approach saves time when you’re in a hurry.  And for those times when you absolutely, positively need to know everything that is around you, Yelp is an astonishingly good tool to find all the hidden things that are close by.  Finally, I am like many techophiles.
  • I use Foursquare to tell folks where I am.  And I have fun trying to be the mayor of someplace other than my household.

Messaging Tools: Google Voice (from Google), GMail (from Google), Text Messaging (from Google), and Seesmic.

  • I use Google Voice for all my voice integration needs.  Indeed, it is my voicemail – even for the mobile phone itself.
  • As everyone know, GMail is my email client.  I love and use it for everything – including integrating other mailboxes across the net.
  • I used Text Messaging for just that: texting.  For the most part, SMS messaging is a dying art.  But my kids still use it a great deal.  I use Google Voice for most of my SMS needs.  But if someone does send an SMS message to my carrier, this app fills the bill.
  • Finally, I use Seesmic as my main tool for Twitter.  Have I used other tools?  Of course I have.  But Seesmic is always current.  It allows me to integrate multiple Twitter accounts.  And it look quite good.

Commerce-related Tools: Mobile Banking (from BoA, of course), Barcode Scanner (from Google), AppBrain, and Google Goggles (from Google).

  • I like having instant access to my bank statement.  So the banking app is self-explanatory.
  • The barcode scanner allows me to read UPC codes and determine the best prices in my local area.  It also reads QR codes.  So you can point your phone at a QR code and jump to the URL embedded within the code.
  • The AppBrain tool is an excellent market system for Android apps. It won’t replace the Android market. But AppBrain has a great review system to go along with the software inventory it houses.
  • Finally, I do use Google Googles to take pictures of things and see what the web has to say about the things that I snap pictures of.

Words and Thoughts: Dolphin Browser, Congress (from Sunlight Foundation), Kindle (from Amazon) and DailyBible (from Joansoft).

  • The Dolphin Browser runs circles around the basic Android browser.  When I needed to download an email attachment whose extension wasn’t registered, the basic browser failed while Dolphin succeeded.
  • Congress is an exceptional app that can tell you how your representatives are doing in Washington.  You can see pending and passed laws.  You can see what your Congressman or Senator has done.  And you can get their direct phone number – and call them directly.
  • The Kindle app is an excellent tool for e-reading.  For me, I have downloaded a few important books – but not my whole library.  For that, I still need my Kindle.
  • Finally, I use DailyBible to ensure that I geta great Bible verse to start each and every day.

There are a few other apps that I should note.  First, I use NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for my screen saver.  I use ConnectBot to securely log into my servers at home.  I use Astro to perform miscellaneous file management tasks.  I use the Astrid Task Manager for my day-to-day task entry. I use Google Sky Map for really cool nighttime star-gazing. I use Pandora for streaming music. Finally, I use Shazam for recognizing music and buying miscellaneous songs while I’m on the go.
All in all, my Droid 2 is getting a good workout.  I’ve even updated the SD card already.  This is so reminiscent of PC systems in the nineties.  It’s kind of like the wild west and Star Trek – all at the same time.  I guess that means that the first movie I must play on my phone will be Joss Whedon’s “Serenity.”
-Roo

These May Be Your Droids

Lorin Olsen

With the new job came a need for a new phone.  The natural and obvious choice for me was the Verizon Droid 2.  Why was it obvious? That’s easy: we are now replaying the ascendancy of Microsoft over Apple that culminated in 1995.
This time, Google is playing the part of Microsoft.  Google has the more “open” platform.  No, I’m not talking about open source.  But I am talking about the fact that Android runs on far more platforms.  Because of this, it is open for others to use, customize and extend.  And this fact places Android in a position where it can claim both continuing market share growth as well as increasing developer loyalty.
Is Google still interested in a competitive advantage over Apple?  Of course it is.  And is Google gaining the attention of regulators as well as state and federal judiciaries?  It most certainly is.  If you’re not sure of this fact, just read the headlines.
But this is all political theater.  For me, I wanted the platform that would be the most “open” to new apps and new possibilities.  And I wanted a platform with more developers.  While Android isn’t there just yet, it will be there very shortly.  And for now, I can do everything I want with Android.
So here is my application manifest:

  • Advance Task Killer: A good utility to kill errant processes
  • Amazon Browser/Store: ‘Nuff said
  • Astrid Tasks: A great (and simple) task manager
  • Astro: A oool file manager for Android
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day: Great pics make great backgrounds for my smartphone’s desktop
  • Bookmarks to SD: Great bookmark manager for the Dolphin Browser
  • Chrome to Phone: Post links from my desktop instance of the Chrome browser
  • Congress: A phenomenal tool to know what your representatives are doing while in DC – and how to contact them (to provide praise or criticism)
  • DailyBible: A great little verse-of-the-day program
  • Dolphin Browser HD: A phenomenal browser
  • Google Goggles: This tool allows you to take pictures and have your phone scour the Net for info about the picture you take.
  • Google Voice: Great tool for consolidating your voice communications needs
  • Kindle for Android: I love my Kindle – and I’m glad to have some of my books on my phone (e.g., the NIV Bible).
  • Mobile Banking (for BoA): Great way to check your balances
  • Seesmic: A great cross-platform Twitter client
  • Shazam: An audio tool that can identify songs and even buy MP3 instances for your phone
  • WordPress for Android: Blogging just got a whole lot more mobile

And these apps are just the apps that I’ve added.  There are a plethora of apps that come on the Droid 2 itself.  Chief among them is the Barcode Scanner.  This app is fantastic.  You can use it to scan any UPC symbols and bring up a wealth of important data – including where it can be purchased and for what price.
I’ve also been impressed with the Navigation tool.  This tool allowed us to find a bike shop in Pittburg, Kansas.  And it also let us know that the store was closed Saturday because the store was sponsoring the Gorilla Century Ride.  Next year, I think I’ll have to do this ride with my son!
So am I psyched about my new phone? Absolutely, I am. Would I recommend it for other people? Well, I just bought another Droid 2 for my wife (who is replacing a BlackBerry Storm).  So we now have double the pleasure of Android at the Olsen residence.  So far, Cindy likes the phone almost as much as I do.
If you need a new phone, get an Android phone. If you need a phone with a real keyboard, consider the Droid 2.
-Roo

A Maze of Twisty Passages…

Lorin Olsen


I am definitely an old school gamer.  My son plays games like Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.  But I started when games required thought and not just lightning-fast reflexes.  And one of the very first computer games I remember was Colossal Cave.  I first played it on an IBM S/370 that ran MVS and TSO (i.e., Time Sharing Option).  But some of my most favorite memories of the game were when I played it on the Heathkit H89 PC that I soldered together with my own hands.
And there was one part of the game that always fascinated me: the maze of passages.  Actually, there were two such mazes: one had twisty passages that were all alike and the other had twisty passages that were all different.  And in these tunnels, you could either become lost forever or find the pirate’s treasure.
So what does this game have to do with anything?  It’s simple: the use of tunnels can lead to frustration or it can lead to treasure.  For today, I’m going to talk about tunnels that can be used for treasure.
Most of us know about one form of tunneling or another.  Many people use (or know about) SSL tunnels and/or IPSec tunnels.  These kinds of tunnels are commonly used by many folks who must use VPN technologies to access resources that are secured behind corporate firewalls.   Most people have no real idea of what is going on “behind the scenes” when they use their corporate VPN’s.  But the basic premise is simple: one kind of data that is commonly blocked can be “wrapped” within another kind of data that can be allowed to pass.  Think of this as the knife in the birthday cake.  The guards won’t allow the knife to be given to a prisoner.  But the guards can be fooled if the real payload is hidden from sight.
Of course, this analogy is simplistic – and somewhat deceptive.  Tunnels are not used just to hide nefarious objects from the prying eyes of the world.  They are more commonly used to control the kinds of data that passes the sentry points in a system.  Think of it this way: if the cargo hole in a ship is shaped like a square, then valid cargo must also be shaped to accommodate the size and shape of the square entryway.
For those who have a little more knowledge, there are other forms of tunnels that are commonplace.  For example, SSH tunnels are de rigeur for most system administrators.  SSH tunnels can be associated with commercial tools (like VanDyke’s Secure Shell or BitVise’s Tunnelier).  But they can also be used with open and freely available tools (like sshd and PuTTY).  I use SSH tunnels for so many things.  SSH is used to secure my router.  It is also used to securely access my home systems from any location on the Internet.
But amongst those who work with security for a living, there are many other forms of tunneling – some widespread, others obscure.  For years, TOR (The Onion Router) has been used as a means of anonymous (and encrypted) browsing.  And TOR has often been used with local proxies that ease the burden of tunnel configuration and workload separation.  But recently, the use of TOR and local proxies has gotten a whole lot simpler.  You can now downlod a single package that will install and configure a browser, a proxy and TOR onto a portable platform (i.e., a USB key).  In this kind of configuration, you can insert a USB device into almost any system connected to almost any public hotspot.  Once the browser is launched, you can commence anonymous and secure browsing of the Internet.
And these tools can now be combined with all sorts of other tunneling tools.  For example, you could tunnel TOR traffic within SSH and then forward it across a DNS tunnel.  This would allow you to bypass most content filters established on the networks to which you might be connected.
Is this cool technology?  Most definitely it is.  Can this technology be used for good things?  Of course it can.  Consider an evangelist within a repressive country.  Such a person can connect and communicate with others within his country or with those who are outside his country.
But can this technology also be used for nefarious purposes? In candor, it certainly could be used for illegitimate purposes.  But I think of these kinds of technologies in the same way that I think of freedom of speech.  We must allow gross and unseemly speech if we want to have any freedom of speech.  Otherwise, our speech (however comely and delightful it might be) could be considered objectionable – and hence, controllable.
So what should we do about the maze of twisty passages?  In my narrow view, I must come down on the side of allowing such technologies.  They can be used for good or “twisted” into unacceptable uses.  Of course, the same thing is true about guns.  They can similarly be used for unsavory purposes.  But the protection of our liberties will lie in our ability to use tools that allow us to secure and protect individual liberties – even when this means that the state will have a more difficult time dealing with the criminals.
-Roo

Calibre, With Coverflow?

Lorin Olsen

Over the past year, I have slowly (but inexorably) become more and more excited by e-books.  I think the real turning point came when my wife gave me a Kindle for Christmas (and my mother-in-law gave me a generous gift certificate at Amazon).  This post won’t be about e-books, e-book formats or even portable readers, per se.  Instead, I want to focus on a PC-based management tool: Calibre.
The Calibre team bill their product as a complete e-book manager.  But it is far more than that.  For me, it is the Swiss Army knife for digital books.  I started using this tool when I needed to convert some books from one format into another.  Specifically, I wanted to convert a bunch of Mobipocket books (obtained from the Internet) into EPUB format.  While I like Mobi, I am beginning to think that EPUB will drive the market a little faster (due to Apple’s adoption of EPUB).  [Note: For a complete comparison of digital book formats, take a look at the Wikipedia entry here.]  So I’ve used Calibre for certain specific needs.  But that may be about to change.
I discovered a curious new feature of Calibre when I loaded the latest version (v0.7.7).  Specifically, Calibre provides a visual browser experience that is decidedly familiar: it looks just like CoverFlow.  [Note: This feature actually appeared in Calibre with v0.5.1]  Of course, this kind of browsing paradigm is not just limited to iTunes.  It has shown up in other music products – most notably, it can be found in the Songbird player.
But is this a copyright or DMCA infringement?  I have no idea.  [Note: There is an excellent discussion on this subject here.]  But it is a welcome addition to my toolbox for digital books.  Does it provide a feature that I really need?  Not really.  But it is so cool to see it.  And it may very well herald an increasing need for metadata management tools.
I look forward to even more metadata editors for my e-book collection.  And I really welcome a universally adopted e-book stadard.  For music, the MP3 ID3 tag system was the least common denominator.  So who will step up and create the cool product that will necessitate the standardization of metadata for e-books?  Some people are betting that it will be Apple.  But I think that it just may be Kovid Goyal (the author of Calibre).
So here is my final question: which e-book vendors is Monsieur Goyal currently talking to?  For my money, I would love to see someone incorporate Monsieur Goyal’s designs into a more broadly accepted reader.  For me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Kindle for PC incorporates these kinds of features.
-Roo

Password Managers – Bleh or Yay?

Lorin Olsen

How many of you remember the scene from WarGames when Matthew Broderick slides the desk drawer open to reveal a list of passwords?  Yeah, that movie is twenty-seven years old now.  But the message is still apt: don’t store passwords where people can find them.
And after twenty-seven years of computer development, we have single signon systems, strong passwords, multi-factor tokens, and all sorts of cryptographic wizardry.  But despite all of this, we have competing rules for password strength, differing password expiration durations, and even more different types of accounts that demand different strengths of security.  For example, most people are very concerned about password strength for their financial transactions.  But these same people are probably less concerned about the password for their PetCo account.
The result of all these new rules and password differences is the same: people either store their passwords somewhere, or they use the same password root with variations in prefixes/suffixes, or they periodically must go through the password change/challenge dance.
Amidst this reality, there are a plethora of solutions.  But two such solutions have captured my attention: Roboform and LastPass.
Roboform is an excellent tool that will store passwords in an encrypted, local password store.  It seamlessly integrates with most browsers – especially Firefox.  It is actively developed.  And most importantly, it is secure by design.  Specifically, passwords are stored in a private place under YOUR control.  Of course, this means that if you access online accounts, you will need to have access to your password store.  This usually means storing passwords on a portable USB key.  For these and other reasons, Roboform has a large and devoted following.
But there is a new gunslinger in town.  Over the past few months, LastPass has garnered a large and growing user base.  It has a very attractive UI.  But more importantly, it is flexible and very powerful.  Like Roboform, it has the ability to store and exploit multiple identities.  And it is tightly integrated with every browser – including Chrome.  Indeed, the Chrome plugin is one of the best features of LastPass.
But unlike Roboform, the LastPass team has chosen a different path for its success.  LastPass exploits cloud-based technologies for customer password storage.  This is excellent if you will be mobile and you can’t carry your identity in a mobile fashion.  Of course, this means that your critical password store is publicly available.  So if you want to use LastPass, you need to understand how they store your passwords and how they control access to your passwords.
What is Roo’s recommendation: I have switched over to LastPass.  And I use a very complex and totally unique password for this store.  Do I trust the team at LastPass to protect my password store?  I must grudgingly say that I trust them – for now.  Do I know these people personally?  No, I do not.  But I do trust them enough by virtue of the people and organizations that have publicly endorsed their technology.
That said, I am reminded of something that President Ronald Reagan once said: trust – but verify.  So I am now keeping a mindfl eye on the continuing performance of the LastPass team (including its financial supporters).
-Roo

Google Voice…I Can Hear You Now!

Lorin Olsen

It’s been a few years since I wrote about Google Voice. For the uninitiated, Google Voice is the voice service previously known as Grand Central. It has been in beta (i.e., invitation only) status for almost three years. But as of yesterday, it has been opened up to any US resident. The announcement can be seen here.
What does this mean? It means that Google is finally playing for keeps.  They have not taken this step until now because they wanted to work with the various telco providers.  But Google’s success with Android has forced their hand.  Since every Android phone can benefit from the service, it was bundled with the phone itself.
But now it is unbundled.  But what is it?  Simply put, Google Voice is the one phone number that you will always have.  A Google Voice number can be associated with any number of additional phone numbers (e.g., home, office, mobile).  When someone calls this one number, the call can be forwarded to any (or all) of a list of pre-established phone numbers.  In short, it is a personal ACD/PBX.
OK, that sounds more dramatic than it actually is.  But this is the domain name for your phone.  For web services, you can have a domain name point to any specific IP address (or computer host) that you want.  So when people reference that name, it will go to the “right” physical IP address.   Basically, Google Voice can be the “DNS” for your voice call infrastructure.
And it does far more than routing.  It provides a comprehensive voice mail system.  You can store messages.  And you can hear the messages on your phones – or on your computer.  And you can forward these calls to contacts in your email and IM address book.
But wait!  There’s more.  Google Voice will also transcribe your calls into text.  For me, this is one of the most exciting things that is now available.  Speech-to-text is now mature enough that it can be used in routine communications.  This is a tremendous boon to the hearing-impaired.  And it is a boon to anyone that can skim written words faster than someone can speak them.   For example, if you get a call from me, you can see the words and skip to the end.  Yes, you’ll miss all the colorful illustrations and historical background for your simple request.  But you can get to the point faster.  I am sure that there are dozens of people (and examples) that come to your mind.  But the important point is that communications will become faster.  And it will become easier to separate the wheat from the chaff.
And as part of the roll-out, options for calling “off-network” phone numbers will emerge.  Like Skype, you can use this kind of technology to speak to your grandmother who only uses the public switched telephone network (PSTN).  So Google may even be able to turn a modest prophet for these kinds of calls.  [Note: Google has to be careful lest they be accused of trying to strangle competitors like Skype.]
So let’s try and summarize all of this.  Is Google Voice something that you want?  Absolutely.  Should you pay for it?  That would depend upon your needs.  I know that I already pay for a home phone that is now completely obsolete.  If Google supports local number portability, I will immediately abandon my local service and convert everything to Google Voice.  Indeed, the only reason I keep the old number is that some people only know that legacy number.  Once I can transport that number, I’ll cancel the local phone bundle I have with Time Warner Cable.
But would I pay for it now?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  I’ll have to live on the service for 30-60 days before I answer whether I would pay for it.  But right now, it is free of charge.  How can Google do this?  Because they plan to monetize advertising around the service.  And they may even charge if you want multiple or commercial-grade services.  But for now, it is free.  And it is worth every penny that someone else is paying.
-Roo

To Amazon: Sharing is Social

Lorin Olsen

I just finished reading Adrian Kingsley-Hughes’ recent post about the recent e-reader price wars.  His basic premise is that Amazon and B&N have already lost to the Apple juggernaut.  I really disagree with Adrian. While his logic is fine, I really think that his conclusion is erroneous – or at lest premature. The real question is not when will Amazon leave the device market but whether Amazon and B&N can position e-ink readers as something unique and different from the iPad.
I don’t know if price can be the only thing that creates a different product/market. I think that something else may be required.   Can software (e.g., the Kindle 2.5.2 firmware) be that extra something that is needed?  I’m not sure.  I love the new firmware.  But an honest review is that the current software alone cannot be the sole differentiator.  But Amazon is hitting the right notes.
In my world view, books are not a solitary experience. They are the lynchpins of a social phenomenon.  The book was the means by which medieval culture was transformed into the culture of the Renaissance – and the advances of the Enlightenment.  Wherever there is oppression, books have provided relief – and focus.  Indeed, books have been the means of unleashing the hidden potential within many people.
And the written word has always been  a pivotal part of the faith experience.  In Jewish and Christian Scriptures, God “spoke” the world into existence.  And in the Gospels, we are told that Jesus Christ is “the Word” of God.  Setting aside the mystical elements of this, it is clear that the spoken and written word are pivotal to the core experience of faith.  Indeed, words are the defining elements of modern man.
So there is more to e-readers than just the device.  There is a powerful and almost mystical connection to the words themselves.  Despite the thoughts of Mr. Kingsley-Hughes  to the contrary, it’s not just about the device.   There is a market for the social aspects of the written word.
But Amazon did not hit it out of the park with their most recent firmware offering.  The social experience does not just mean Twitter and Facebook posts about passagse found in books. It means sharing.  And Amazon has to step up and create a means of sharing a book with friends, family and community.  From my perspective, I want to be able to “give” a book to a friend.  And when they are done with that book, they can return it – or lend it to someone else.
And Amazon needs to extend its commenting/highlighting system.  I would really love to be able to attach audible annotations to a passage.  Scribbling in the margin is fine.  But I want to leave a note to myself and/or the next person that I share the book with.  So it would be great to see a small condenser mic included in the next Kindle revision.
And Amazon really needs to change its ads. The current crop is cute – but unnerving. And the ads do not make me want to buy more books.

The Amazon ads need to be a lot more focused. Tell me why I want your platform. And then show how people use it in new and innovative ways.  Show people using a Kindle for day-to-day tasks: Dad’s novel, Mom’s cookbook, the college kid’s Physics book, the newspaper on the bus, etc.
-Roo

Portable…and Secure

Lorin Olsen

A few weeks ago, I wrote about PortableApps and their application portability framework.  With a sufficiently large USB thumb drive, it is possible to store most (if not all) of your day-to-day applications.  And if those apps are “portable” (i.e., they do not store anything on the local machine), then you have the start of an even more secure system.  And as I’ve begun to use this portable device as the hub of my applications and my data, the need for strong security practices is also increasing.
So what have I done to make my portable environment more secure?

  1. I’ve implemented a “traveler configuration’ of Truecrypt on my primary USB device.  This allows me to store important and private files in a secure/encrypted container.  This container has a lot of important files – including a private key that I need for identifying myself when I use remote access services.
  2. I have installed Putty Portable so that I can access my main systems from any remote computer that I might access.  Note: In order to authenticate to my home systems, I must mount the Truecrypt container that holds the private key that is required to access those systems.
  3. I use a secure, VNC-based system that requires multi-factor authentication.
  4. I’ve deployed portable browsers onto my USB drive.  I use these portable instances to ensure that private browsing data is never available on the local systems that I visit.
  5. I use tools like Toucan to sync my portable device to my central system.  This ensures that I have a copy of key files (like certs and private keys) – just in case.

Are these steps wholly sufficient?  Hardly.  Do theses steps provide me a small measure of assurance when I go portable?  Maybe.  But I am glad that more and more tools are becoming available all the time.  I just can’t wait until I can implement self-destruct technologies to remotely disable a USB device.  That technology does exist for the most expensive USB drives.  But I can’t wait until it becomes available for the average user.
-Roo

I Am Because You Are I Am

Lorin Olsen

I Am – The Waiting
Walking out alone
The night fits like a stone inside a boot heel
Hot and cold winds blow
And no one’s here to know the way that I feel
The corner I once knew brings me in to view again
So I could stay out late, find new bones to break
But then I’d be dragging home admitting
I am because You are I am
I recognize clearly I see
I am because You are I am
I am in You and You are in me
Spent too many days
Devising many ways
Trying to escape you
Played too many roles
Dug too many holes
Just big enough to fall in to
And I could linger here,
Hoping to disappear in excuses
Come morning’s shining face
I’d be crawling to the place I call home
Where first you cut me loose and
I am because You are I am
I recognize clearly I see
I am because You are I am
I am in You and You are in me
I am because You are I am
I recognize clearly I see
I am because You are I am
I am in You and You are in me
The places that I’ve carried You,
I wouldn’t take a dog
Stop and calmly think of that
Tear this church down to it’s cornerstone
And build it up again, build me up again.
I am because You are I am
I recognize clearly I see
I am because You are I am
I am in You and You are in me
© 1999 Sparrow

Dear Lord,
Please allow these words to communicate just how inadequate I am and just how fully sufficient You are. May I be reminded of these simple facts as I go out into the world this week.  May my meager words and deeds give avenue for your Spirit to work in the hearts of everyone I meet this week.
-Lorin