Hi, I'm Ryan Boswell.
This is my home on the internet, welcome.
The New Google Docs
The latest version of Google Docs released about a month ago is causing me a lot of headaches today. I’ve been using Google Docs to convert word documents to HTML quickly and easily for the past year or so for a client of mine. This used to be a pretty simple and painless job, I’d forward the email my client sent with the documents to the old upload email address I had from back when the service was Writely (the email address worked fine up until today, but I haven’t tried to use it since late June). Then I’d receive a reply with links to my uploaded documents. I’d go into each one, double check that formatting was roughly right and everything converted alright and then I’d download the document as HTML.
The next step was editing the HTML documents and stripping everything out except the code for the content of the original document, and occasionally some redundant inline styling code. I’d then paste the header and footer template code for the page, save it and move on to the next document. With four documents a month, the whole process took about an hour or so.
But when I tried the process this morning, my email was rejected, meaning the upload email address was no longer working. It’s not the biggest problem in the world, but it definitely makes things less convenient for me. So I manually uploaded the documents.
The next snag I ran into involved fixing the positioning of the images in the document. I’m used to having to do this since Google Docs automatically set images to align to the left side of the page with no text-wrap, and all the images had text-wrap and roughly half of them were right-aligned. But in the new version, the old image editor is gone and now you can only choose between inline and fixed position. Using fixed positioning is supposed to make the text wrap around it, but between four documents, it didn’t work at all for me, for both images that were included in the uploaded document as well as pictures I inserted later to test it.
Another annoyance, but I can deal with that in code after I downloaded it, after all it’s a matter of adding a few words of code into the image tag, and there are about 7 images between all the documents.
I downloaded the first document to start the code work and upon opening it up I noticed that all the usual formatting code was gone. Previously the documents had a stylesheet inserted into them to make it look like a page of a document, just like the page-view in Google Docs. This time it was just the bare-bones code, a few basic lines of the header and then the code for the document content. This part is progression from before because I stripped everything else out anyway.
However, there was a major annoyance in the way that the new code generator output the code. Every paragraph now began with something like this:
<p style=”margin:0pt”><span style=”color:#000000; font-family:’Times New Roman’; font-size:10pt; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:none”>
Probably the most pointless bit of code ever. Another oddity is that every so often (I couldn’t quite figure out the reason it was in the spots it was), there was a line of this:
<p style=”font-size:10pt; line-height:115%; margin:0pt 0pt 10pt”><span style=”font-family:’Times New Roman’; font-size:10pt”> </span></p>
All it does is make a huge gap in between whatever comes before and after it, which wasn’t in the original document, so I really don’t know why they were there.
The last annoyance is that all the images in the documents are converted to PNGs instead of JPGs now. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but just one more thing to add to the list.
Also, all links in the document now has “http://www.google.com/url?q=” pre-pended to the href attribute and a few other URL parameters were added as well. This is a major problem. Inserting code that tracks information in someone’s document can be considered a privacy breach. In this situation, there isn’t a big problem with that, but the idea of it still makes me uncomfortable.
All of the problems I ran into with the new version are all fixable, but it just adds a handful of annoyances to my work and adds time onto my work (which I might be a little more ok with if I was paid hourly, but I’m not for this job, and even still, I would hate to tell my client that it’s going to cost them more because Google made a few changes to their product). At this point, I’m almost wondering if it would be easier just to convert the documents to HTML manually.
The Magic Trackpad
Apple’s latest gadget is the Magic Trackpad. I have to say, I’ve only known about it for less than an hour and I want it. I don’t need it by any stretch of the imagination, especially since my only computer at the moment is a MacBook Pro. But that’s not stopping me from wanting to buy it.
With this new peripheral, Apple is showing that they intend to continue moving all of their products towards having touch-based inputs. I love that idea, and it’s one step closer to gesture-based and the fabled Minority Report interface. But even if I did get one, I don’t know how much I would use it. I already have a trackpad and I don’t use it that often, I prefer using my Magic Mouse. I like having the ability to “touch” my data, but old habits die hard and I’m a little too used to using a mouse to give it up easily.
I don’t doubt that 3 years from now I’ll hardly ever use a mouse in favor of a touchpad, but I don’t see that shift happening immediately. And neither does Apple, hence why it’s a standalone peripheral and not built into their keyboards, at least just yet. Then again, in another 3 years, Apple will probably begin to do away with keyboards as we know them in favor of a dynamic touch-based input device like on the iPhone. It’ll be a tad more complicated, especially in getting the form factor right. But we’ve already seen patents covering this technology from Apple, so they’ve probably already come close to perfecting it, especially given how long they claim to test products before production.
The future of computing is coming, and I can’t wait.
Apple’s Testing Facilities
Wow. Just wow. Yesterday Apple held a Press Conference explaining much of the story behind the problems with the iPhone 4, namely the antenna bug. And they didn’t just refute the claims that they just threw the device out there with little testing, for anyone who looked at the pictures they provided, they flat out destroyed the opposing argument. Then to top it all off, they gave a select group of journalists a tour of their testing facilities. I can’t impart how much I wish I was in that group that got to go where few people have ever gone, most Apple employees have never, and probably will never, see the testing rooms either.
If there is one thing that this whole thing confirms, is that Apple is drop-dead serious about R&D, and they likely have already developed and are currently testing every product they will release for the next two years. Talk about staying ahead of the competition.
By the way, the picture to the right is my favorite of all the ones Apple released, probably one of the most awe-inspiring rooms I’ve ever seen.
Apple’s Mobile Strategy Weakness
Everyone knows that Apple wants to position itself at the leader in the mobile device area, with mobile devices not just being handsets, but any mobile device from tablets (aka iPad) to laptops. But there’s one glaring weakness in this strategy. And that is mobile access.
Many of us have ever-growing iTunes libraries, full of music, movies, and tv shows that we’ve collected over the years. If you have a laptop with a large-enough internal HD, you can take your collection with you wherever you go without worry. But if you’re primary computer is a desktop machine, or you’ve had to resort to moving much of your collection to an external HD, it may not be so easy. There aren’t many ways to access your files remotely, especially if you’re trying to use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to do it.
This week, I tried to get a wireless streaming setup going to watch my movies on my roommate’s 42″ tv. Not having ever tried this before, but knowing that it’s a popular idea, I thought that someone would have created an iPhone app that streams your iTunes library. Unfortunately it wasn’t nearly that simple. As far as I could find, there isn’t really a way to do this simply. The best method I could find is using Remote Buddy‘s AJAX Remote to stream movies. In the end, it works alright, although I had some problems with playing a movie in a playlist with lots of other movies, where it kept playing the wrong movie. I fixed the problem by creating a playlist with only the movie I wanted to watch in it.
But what I thought about while searching for a way to stream my media to my iPhone is that there is also no way (without jailbreaking) to access my files on my computer, unless I use an application like DropBox or iDisk, but those can only access what is specifically put within their reach.
One of the biggest losses to me is that I can’t use Back to my Mac on my iPhone. This seems like a no-brainer thing for Apple to do, they’ve already got the system setup to allow for remote access to a computer, now they only need to add in the ability to access those same computers from your iPhone or iPad. It seems like a relatively simple process to create an application that does this, heck, it’s be a great addition to the iDisk service. Just merge the two, and your current iDisk becomes part of your network of available disks.
Apple is known for having the ability to tie everything together, since they control everything about their products from the hardware all the way through to the software. But this is one area where they have failed to “just make things work”, at least thus far. There is so much potential in finishing tying together all the loose ends. Imagine having access to your entire digital life anywhere you go, as long as you have at least one of your devices with you. In fact, scratch that. As long as you have internet access, you should be able to access your data anywhere in the world. Apple’s done a pretty good job with the iDisk section of me.com, so they certainly have the system in place to do it.
Coding Frameworks
Up until now, I’ve never liked the idea of using a framework to code websites and web applications. I know that it would be much easier in a lot of cases to use one, rather than re-inventing the wheel all by myself. But I could never quite get into using them. I tried several times, I really did. I just couldn’t adapt my workflow and personal style to them.
But in the past month or so that has changed, a lot. I’ve started using frameworks on several new of my work projects (all of which are still in development). I guess you could say that my experience diving into WordPress a few months back really changed my perspective on things. If you think about it, WordPress itself is just one big PHP/MySQL framework, with a lot of extra, and very useful, add-ons.
jQuery is one such framework for Javascript. I haven’t really coded with this myself, but every Javascript add-on I’ve used in recent months utilizes jQuery. There are lots of others, but this is definitely the most widely-used at the moment. So once I actually get into writing more Javascript, I’ll probably favor this one.
Blueprint is a beautiful CSS framework that I’ve actually had a copy of for a long time. A while back when I was trying out a few CSS frameworks, I downloaded a copy and then just left it in my library. Then I was browsing for a particular code snippet two weeks ago when I stumbled across it, and decided that it would be perfect for a design I was about to start. It worked amazingly, and now I’ve started two other designs using it, with several more coming.
I guess frameworks aren’t all bad, in fact, I’ll probably be using one or more of the above (likely all three) on many of my upcoming projects. It saves so much time and I’m kinda over re-inventing the wheel every time I sit down to code.
The Mobile Freelancer
Over the past week, I’ve been more mobile than I ever have before. I moved to San Luis Obispo more permanently last weekend and we don’t have internet at the house until Tuesday the 13th, Charter didn’t have any available appointments until then. So I’ve spent most of the past week between local coffee shops with free WiFi (for the record I’m not cheap, I buy at least one drink for every two hours I’m there) and the Cal Poly library.
I’ve found that I rather enjoy being a mobile freelancer. I never really took stock in the idea before, figuring that it would be too distracting and I wouldn’t get much work done. But I’ve found that with my pair of Skullcandy headphones, and a good playlist, I’m just fine. In fact, I feel as if I get even more done than I normally would sitting at my desk at home (which I also don’t have yet, new home = new furniture, which has yet to arrive). Part of this is likely the different setting, many freelancing websites recommend having a separate room in your house to use as an office, or doing what I have, going somewhere else and working.
With my desk arriving sometime this weekend and an internet connection a few days later, I’ll have a chance to really see which environment I am more productive in, although I have a feeling I’m going to be spending a lot more money on Iced Caramellos in the coming months.
Three Design Approaches
One of my favorite web design and development blogs, Smashing Magazine, published a piece today describing the three most common approaches to web design and development, Web Designer as The Artist, Scientist And Philosopher.
I have to say that their write up is very accurate (as it should be, given who the authors are), and it is so very true that while most of us come primarily from one of the three, we have adapted to fill the other roles as needed.
For me, I’m more of the Scientist. I love coding, it’s my passion and hobby. Ever since I started designing and developing websites, I have loved coding. I’ve never really liked using desktop-based WYSIWYG editors for websites like Frontpage and Dreamweaver, and I even switch to the HTML mode in WordPress‘ post editor more often than not (I happen to be using the Visual editor this time, but stil …).
The Artist is the second most-developed side of my talents, at least at this point. I’ll admit, I’m not the most skilled web designer. I don’t have as much experience and skill with Photoshop and many of my peers, and flashy, cool graphics just aren’t something I can do for the most part. But then again, my personal design taste has always been a more modern, clean-line, and simple one. I prefer to do all of my design elements using almost pure HTML/CSS rather than images (and this is becoming easier and easier with HTML 5 and CSS 3). I am working to fix this with more and more experimentation in using and creating images more effectively in my work.
The Philosopher is the least developed approach, but I’m working hard on improving my skills here. Lately I’ve been spending more and more time thinking about the best way to design an interface to something. One of my favorite examples, even if by no means a unique idea, is the contact form on this website. Rather than just have a typical, character-less form, I decided to take an idea I’ve seen in my places, make it a little more fun and interesting for the person that’s sending me a note, as you can see in the image to the left. I’ve also extended this approach to posting a comment on my blog, as you can see below.
Mastery of all three approaches is key to creating unique and relevant websites and web applications in today’s world, where tools such as WordPress, MoveableType, among dozens of others, make it relatively easy for almost anyone to slap up a website. It’s up to the web designers and developers of the internet to strive to continue to raise the bar on what is expected of the websites and web applications we use.
Blog Bugs
The other day I got a tip from a reader that my blog was a little messed up. Namely that clicking ‘older entries’ on my blog home page didn’t do anything, and the lifestream page was showing a monthly archives list and a search box. Turns out I forgot to set a few options properly when I launched my new design a few weeks ago that caused some mixups. It’s all fixed now, so sorry if that bugged you, everything can resume as normal.
One thing that I did think about is that I don’t have any easy way for people to find old content on my blog, I didn’t setup an archive page when I launched the new design. So expect that sometime in the next day or so as well (I’ve got a few other projects that I need to finish first).
Google’s Account Switcher
One of the best features that Google has added to many of it’s services that cross between it’s consumer and Apps-branded offerings is the ability to easily select which account you actually mean to use for that service. This is especially useful if you’re like me and you use several Google Apps accounts, as you can see to the right (parts of the addresses are blanked out for privacy reasons of course).
I’ve seen this for a few of their services, not just Docs as shown to the right. They’ve had this for a while, I just never got around to posting how much I appreciated it until now.
Custom iTunes Genres
One of the features that iTunes has had for a while now is the genre view. I haven’t used it a whole lot since I get to most of my media directly by searching for it, not by browsing. But in the last week I’ve taken it upon myself to clean up my movie and tv show collection (largely ripped from DVDs, hence why some meta data is missing in the first place), and I’ve found that my genres are a mess. I’ve got about 300 genres of music, no genres for my movies (ouch, that’s going to take some time to fill out), and most of my TV shows were uncategorized as well.
Since my TV show collection was the smallest, I started with that today. It took me about three hours to label everything correctly (mainly because it took forever for iTunes to finish processing each batch of seasons once I applied the changes). I then noticed that some of my genres didn’t have custom artwork provided by iTunes (for those that don’t know, iTunes comes with a few artwork clippings for major genres like Comedy, Drama, and Sci-Fi). It also didn’t help that a lot of my genres are sub-genres of larger ones (ie. Crime Drama, Medical Drama, and Political Drama), and so it wasn’t quite enough to just lump them all together, but it annoyed me that the appearance wasn’t uniform. Also, because of the way iTunes matches genres, some sub-genres were given the same artwork as its’ parent (see the screenshot to the right).
But I remembered a few years ago when iTunes first started using these genre artwork clippings that there was a way to customize the existing ones and add new ones. A quick Google search brought me to an article on just how to do this from candescence.org. I won’t duplicate the instructions here, just pop on over there and take a look for yourself.
The next part would be choosing the artwork to add or replace. The first comment on that article solved this problem, there is a Flickr group just for iTunes Genres. As of right now there are almost 1000 of them, mostly music genres (this trick works for all genres of media, whether it’s music, movies, tv shows, etc…), but if you look there are plenty for movies and TV shows. I pulled out a few of my favorites, which I’ll be using myself, and here they are below (click through for the full sizes):
Oh, and something worth noting, for Books and Podcasts, instead of genres they’re called categories, not really sure why, but it’s the same thing.