Website Redesigns

Facebook and Google recently announced major overhauls of their interactive homepages, and Google's page comes out with the better result.

Facebook's new site is available to the general public at http://www.new.facebook.com/, and once you visit the link the entire site overhaul is available, along with a link to revert back to the previous version of the site. The redesign doesn't add much in terms of raw features, but I did notice a "Comment" link available for a status change. Facebook Chat is still integrated, and continues to maintain any current chats between tabs and while navigating around the site. Unfortunately, my sidebar Facebook Chat bookmark broke, and I haven't yet found a way to fix it.

While the reorganization is nice, and the AJAX-ification makes life easier for navigating the site. Applications, which quickly crowded profiles and made navigation messy, are now on their own "tab" of the profile page, and the rarely used "About Me" information also receives its own tab. While the re-organization is nice, I did have a few issues switching between tabs.

The worst, though, is that there is a large amount of wasted space on larger monitors. With the new wider layout, Facbeook is no longer limited to the center of the screen, but the wider layout doesn't contract as the window is narrowed. As a result, there's a gap in the middle that makes the site unweildy.

Google's interactive homepage, iGoogle, was also throughly redone, and now features a more intelligent integration of Google's technologies. Chat is available both in a tab and in a bar along the bottom, so quick conversations are always at hand. Also, GTalk is still accessible from Google's own desktop client and third party clients, so the chat interface is redundant if you choose to make it so. The tabs also now list all their content, and when the title is clicked on in the left navigation bar, it brings up the box with expanded information and filling the full screen. As an example, GMail lists only a few messages from the inbox while on the page view, but when in fullscreen view the standard GMail is available inside of iGoogle. RSS feeds come up in a view very similar to Google Reader, and the Weather view goes on steroids.

iGoogle is a great update, but its not fully available to the public, and still has a few issues. Some RSS feeds don't come up properly (missing some links, feed titles, etc.), and sometimes are handled by the box view instead of the Google Reader view when in full page view. Also, a few issues exist when moving boxes between columns.

The new Facebook and the new iGoogle are both welcome redesigns, but neither is quite ready for prime time. iGoogle has some bigger issues, but is still in a closed beta (a signup is required, and is really designed for developers). Also, its the better redesign. Facebook is in open beta, and only has a few niggling issues until everything is ready for public release.

My Home Workspace

After my last post (and the significant gap between it and now) on a home dorm room workspace, I thought a good start would be to evaulate my home workspace.



For starters, here's my (admittedly messy) desk at home. 

To be honest, it's not even a very good picture.  I have a nice, high-back desk chair, a widescreen LCD at hte center of my desk, a full keyboard, and my Mac to the right, on top of my unused printer.  Out of frame to the left is my tower desktop, for when I need Windows or blow off some steam (and take out some Team Fortress 2 punks).  The desk itself is rather small, and the room is in pretty good shape beyond the desk area.



I'm comfortable with this style and layout, although it is a little cramped, but it provides a good basis for a dorm room layout because it is compact and because I can't make any permanent changes without angering my parents during my summers at home.

•  Keeping the tower to the left of the desk keeps it both out of the way and easily accessible.  As a bonus, its flat top is a nice place to keep blank CDs, headphones, and the power adapter for the Mac.  Here's a photo:
  
  
  
  
  
  Tower, with some stuff on top of it.
  
  


• The laptop can't stay where it is.  I don't use the printer over the summer, but for school I'll be generating a decent amount of paper with all the fun papers and source code I'll be writing.


• The plastic drawer and cabinet come through once again.  I don't know where I'd be without those two bits of storage.  They're dirt cheap, reasonably durable, and easy to find.  Staples has a good collection of plastic storage boxes here, in their online store.  

So there's my starting point.  Next I'll start to finalize a plan, followed by a suggested parts list.

The Ideal Dorm Room Workspace

When it comes to getting organized and taking control of the myriad day-to-day tasks everyone has to deal with, Lifehacker is one of the best resources around.  Recently, this blog ran an article on completely revamping your workspace, starting with clearing everything out, building/repurposing furniture, getting everything organized, and finally installing the finishing touches. 

Reading over this article kicked my mind into gear.  As a student, I face a number of challenges that make setting up an ideal workspace even harder.

• No changes can be permanent.  Since it's just a dorm room, I'll need to clear out come the end of the year.
• I can't cause any damage.  Anything that involves an irreversible change is considered damage.  So bolting something to the side of my desk is out, because there's no way to repair the screw hole.
• Speaking of desk, I can't choose most of my own furniture.  My bed, desk, and dresser are all chosen for me by the school, and are the same as everyone else's.  I can, however, bring my own desk chair.

With these challenges in mind, I can start planning everything out and creating a good workspace.

Here's a few of my initial ideas:

• I have two computers, a desktop and a laptop.  The desktop requires an external keyboard & mouse, but something like a door-mounted letter tray attached with stick-on hooks would work as a place to keep them off my desk.
  
• Depending on the shelving that's put over my desk, and any rotation software on the laptop, I can velcro the laptop to the underside of the shelving and save desk space.

This is just an introduction.  I hope to add ideas, and maybe remix old ones, for the rest of the summer.

Dyson Vacuums vs. *NIX Operating Systems

After seeing a commercial for a Dyson-brand vacuum cleaner, my mind was kicked into gear as to why the uptake in *NIX operating systems on the desktop (specifically, all flavors of Linux and Apple's OS X) has been so slow when compared to Microsoft Windows.

In some ways, *NIX currently stands as the Dyson vacuums of the computer world.  Currently, the only mainstream desktop *NIX system is Mac OS X.  Apple only sells OS X bundled with a new PC, effectively making the hardware a giant dongle key for an otherwise awesome operating system.  Linux is another great *NIX system, but fails at the mainstream because it simply requires too much effort for the average computer user, and this failure is its higher cost.



I feel the need to pause and define what I mean as the average computer user.  This is the person who gets their technology news from mainstream media.  This is the person who doesn't realize that Internet Explorer is just a web browser, or even what a web browser is.  It's just “the Internet” to them.  This is the person who thinks that if they get a Mac, the computer will be near-worthless.  This is the person who, rather than upgrading hardware or software, just goes out and buys a whole new computer.



With the idea of the average computer user defined, I can continue.  Since Windows has a critical mass of both software and hardware support, it stands as a de facto standard, but not in the standards-compliant sense.  It is the most easily available thing, and therefore many will opt to purchase it, despite its flaws. *NIX systems fix these flaws, but do so in a way that leaves it incompatible with existing Windows software.  This ultimately means that the user must decide between a system with a higher cost and less compatibility and a system with high compatibility and low cost.



This is where the parallel to Dyson comes in.  Dyson, especially the new "Ball" model, fixes perceived design flaws in existing vacuum cleaners.  However, you're then stuck in a mess where the only manufacturer of equipment for the vacuum is Dyson, and the only way you can be serviced is via Dyson.  Additionally, the vacuum is more expensive than other manufacturers' models. 



Just like with computers, the design flaws get fixed, but only with a higher cost.  For *NIX to get greater traction on the desktop, the cost has to be alleviated.



One interesting aside I'd like to address in a future blog post is the challenges Microsoft faces in getting away from their previous errors.  Another is that I've written this blog post on a new MacBook system, and I'm impressed with the features found in the basic OS X text editor, which include fonts, decent page layout, spell checking, and even kerning.

Goodreads

I've been reading more frequently lately due to the 2 1/2 or so hours I have commuting, so I decided to check out Goodreads to get ideas for books to read. Seems like it's pretty good stuff so far. I've written one review, for A Scanner Darkly, the last book I finished. I'm currently at the beginning of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Here's my review: A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars "A Scanner Darkly" is a mind-bending alarmist tale about America in the 1960s. The story is vaguely auto-biographical, based loosely off Philip K. Dick's own experiences in the turbulent decade. The story documents the life of Bob Arctor, an undercover narcotics agent in the future-1990s. At work, Arctor responds to "Hank" as "Fred," an endlessly shifting coagulation of thousands of people. Through his drug use with housemates Jim Barris and Ernie Luckman, he rapidly devolves into just a borderline junkie. Fred, however, is tasked with monitoring the house, as the police believe that it is at the center of a drug-running operation. Specifically, Fred must focus on Arctor and his relationship with Donna Hawthorne, who is Arctor's main provider of Substance D, nicknamed "Substance Death" or "Slow Death." While in the course of monitoring Arctor, Fred becomes disjointed through heavy use of S.D., and is eventually removed from the case. Donna steps out of her role as "Hank" to bring Arctor/Fred to a New Path clinic, where he is to receive treatment for his fractured mind. At the very close of the book, however, Fred/Arctor discovers a series of small blue flowers, and his instincts kick in to deliver one of these flowers to Donna at the next yearly visit. The flowers are the source of Substance D, and New Path is the creator of the horrid drug they claim to rehabilitate from. The twists at the end create a unique literary view, especially as the "crosstalk" between Arctor/Fred takes stronger and stronger hold. In mid-sentence, German and Latin quotations will appear suddenly in the text, and the total confusion of character as Arctor/Fred rapidly degenerates, and finally is renamed "Bruce" by New Path, puts the reader in the position of having to struggle along with Arctor/Fred as to who he really is. As complex as the book is, it is not Dick's most complicated work. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a far more complex novel, and explores less the human psyche and more the very definition of humanity and empathy. View all my reviews.

The Fratellis in Concert

Ahh, another concert. First one I've been to since December, when I caught Cake at Terminal 5. As always, going to a show and seeing the band live on stage, with the energy of the crowd washing over you, is a completely different experience than simply listening to music on your own.

The opener, Airborne Toxic Event, were great too. Their sound wasn't too far-off from the typical trendy indie-rock group, but they just seemed on when they played.

Have some pictures up on PicasaWeb, but some interesting ones are below.

Classes are over

Classes are over, and finals have begun. No real free time to speak of. Went into NYC for some stuff yesterday morning, worked all afternoon, and went out for a bit at night, and came back and crashed at about 11pm. Early night, for a college student.

As far as the exams go, nothing really out of the ordinary. Two were in class, and I think I did well on both. My final Data Structures project, MrLiquor, was completed and submitted Thursday for a Friday noon deadline. Paper for Computers in Society (7pg) due Tuesday, 11:59p, and I'm working at a pace of 2-a-day. My last two finals are normal finals, Thursday and Friday, in the afternoon sessions. I have been and will be going at a decent page (1 chapter/day) to make sure I'm all prepped and happy by the time the finals start.

I've already decided I won't be going crazy tonight (thanks, pinkeye!), but I've gone beyond that and decided to sequester myself in either my room or the library until Friday night so I can prep like mad. I don't want any distractions, but I do want A's and B's (although at this point I'd take a C in Probability and Statistics, those tests are grueling). Plus, everyone will be free Friday, and that's always better for relaxing. Free from classes, that is ;)