Let me explain.

Google’s recommended IMAP client settings tell Apple Mail users to leave unchecked the “Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox” option (in Preferences > Accounts > Mailbox Behaviors). Why? Gmail users expect “deleted” messages to be archived, not deleted. Emails marked as Trash, however, are deleted by Gmail after 30 days.

Prior to Apple Mail 7—the one that comes with Mavericks—it was possible to follow Google’s recommend client settings to make everything work as a Gmail user would expect.

The problem is, with Apple Mail 7, it seems to be impossible to uncheck to the “Move deleted messages to the Trash folder” option in Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Mailbox Behaviors.

As a result, when you delete a message, Apple Mail gives it the Trash label and Gmail deletes it 30 days later. Note that the “Permanently erase deleted messages when” option applies to Apple Mail’s behavior, not Gmail’s behavior.

What’s alarming is this: I had my IMAP settings correctly configured according to Google’s recommendations with the previous version of Apple Mail and upgrading to Mavericks silently changed the settings.

Without warning, Apple Mail started marking my deleted messages as Trash, setting them up to be reaped by Gmail after 30 days!

Fortunately for me, an entirely unrelated and repeatable data-loss bug in Apple Mail 7 forced me to go digging into my Gmail account via the Gmail web interface this evening. That’s when I discovered things in the trash that I didn’t expect to be there. Since I’ve been less than 30 days on Mavericks, I didn’t lose any email and was able to remove the Trash label. I got lucky. (The unrelated data-loss bug, while horrendous, is something that most people are unlikely to stumble upon so I’m not raising the alarm on it. I have reported it to Apple.)

Long story short, if you use the new Apple Mail + Gmail then the clock is ticking on emails that you’d never expect to be permanently deleted.

In human affairs of danger and delicacy successful completion is sharply limited by hurry. So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this.

– John Steinbeck (East of Eden. ch. 21, para. 1)

Your job is to be your customer’s tour guide through the unforgiving terrain of the information technology world. You will make your customers comfortable while guiding them through an unfamiliar place. You will show them the sights and take them where they want to go while avoiding the seedy parts of town that you’ve encountered in the past.

– Chad Fowler, The Passionate Programmer, 2nd Edition, pp. 136-137.

Over the past year I’ve been collecting a pile of things I’d like to blog about. More soon.

Right now I’m going to do some coding at The Cup before this morning’s meditation at Dojo4. Yes, we sometimes meditate before work here in Boulder. We also sometimes work our assess off doing things like TechStars.  And it snowing something beautiful right now.

Rock on.

The Cup. Boulder, CO.

It sounds like an idea worth exploring.  I’m not so wild about some of the language though.

For example, section 2 defines what “defensive” uses of the patent are.  Section 2(b) considers enforcing a patent “defensive” if it is asserted against anyone who has “filed, maintained, or voluntarily participated in lawsuit against another in the past ten years,” unless that lawsuit itself was defensive.  There’s a leak there:  it lets in any defendant in a patent litigation.

In other words, suppose Twitter is sued by a patent troll, defends itself, and wins.  It arguably “voluntarily participated in a lawsuit against another,” albeit as a defendant.  So under the agreement, Twitter is a fair target for any patent under this license.

Also, the “in the past ten years” language of section 2(b) isn’t clear whether “past” is measured as of the execution of the agreement, or as of the time of filing the lawsuit.

There’s at least arguably another technical problem with the clause: “If Assignee needs to assert any of the Patent claims against any entity for other than a Defensive Purpose, Assignees must obtain prior written permission from all of the Inventors without additional consideration or threat.” 

Continuing on, section 2(c) allows an assignee to use a patent to:

“(c) otherwise to deter a patent litigation threat against Assignee or Assignee’s users, affiliates, customers, suppliers, or distributors.”

That can potentially be pretty broad.  For example, I’m a mid-sized Twitter licensee.  I’m approached by a small company, and they show me their awesome new patent that I might infringe… or at least one day I might infringe it, as soon as I launch my in-the-works product that the small company doesn’t know about.  The small company wants to partner up with me and develop a product a lot like our in-the-works product.  I offer to buy their patent, which they reject.  Lo and behold, the small company also arguably (!) infringes one of my Twitter-licensed patents, so I decide to apply some pressure in the negotiations by starting a lawsuit under that patent.

The idea behind that lawsuit is to “deter a patent litigation”:  if I launch my product, they might come after me with their patent.  But I can’t afford their patent as it is, so I need to acquire it.  A great way to do that is to crush them in litigation.

Of course, I get the idea that they’re trying to go after in paragraph (c) there.  But their words are a little too permissive, I think.

Here are the common themes that she found across many of those companies:

• No additional infrastructure or IT platforms needed (e.g., paying retail with smart phone, consolidating rewards programs, invoicing early at deeply discounted rates, etc.)
• Phones becoming something else (e.g., microscope; a cyclist’s tool (map, odometer, etc.))
• Companies describing themselves in relation to other companies (e.g., it’s like Etsy or Uber but for food, or Netflix for underwear) 
• Making things sound exclusive
• Companies offering ways to better understand & harness social media
• Photo sharing apps and websites abound
• Many point of sale innovations, making purchasing easier/quicker
• LOTS of companies harnessing social media to drive sales
• Many companies focused on location based deals and social networking 
• Many e-commerce sites (for fashion primarily) 

My two cents: While those all may be fine things, the only one of those things that sounds interesting to me is “phones becoming something else.” 

Highlights from our recent visit:

• Attended both nights of NewTech (Boulder Denver) TechStars presentations. Thanks to everyone who presented — you rock!
• Attended a Boulder Open Coffee Club meetup — un-f’ing-believably great energy in that room. Seriously, if you ever get a chance, drop in and feel the power.
• Co-worked at Trada CodeSpace for a few hours (thanks to @angilly whom I met at the BOCC and who pointed me to CodeSpace).
• Visited every startup-friendly coffee house mentioned on Quora — worked in the ones where we could get a seat.
• Met new friends. Had dinner with new friends. Reconnected with old friends. Enjoyed some fantastic beer.

Also took drives West into the mountains / wilderness / national parks. Also took a drive south through the mountains to Evergreen.

I don’t have the words to describe how beautiful some of the mountain areas in Colorado are. But here’s a photo — and keep in mind, the only thing I know about photos is point-my-iPhone-and-shoot.

Stay tuned! Have fun!

Last year, I’d finally had enough of Cambridge’s dreary, overcast winter days that seem to string together for weeks on end. So my fiancée Jen and I moved to Phoenix, AZ.

Phoenix is a great place for sun. And when it comes to startups Gangplank is a shining beacon. If you’re in the area be sure to drop in there! But the startup / tech scene around here, such as it is, feels too diffuse for me. For me it’s not just about building the business, it’s about being able to hang out with people like me who are also building their businesses.

Jen and I had always figured that California would be our next stop. Makes sense. Silicon Valley & San Francisco for startups. Great big trees. Beautiful coastline. You know the story.

The trouble is, every time we walked through the cost of living in California, we couldn’t wrap our heads around it. Real estate / rental prices (at least in the areas that we felt were interesting from a startup perspective) are through the f-ing roof. Taxes are way high. From a cost-of-living perspective, the whole thing just looks scary.

So we kept looking. And what we come across is either the biggest reality distortion field I’ve ever seen (Presidential elections aside) or it’s god’s gift to the weary startup traveller (or maybe both).

I’m talking about Boulder, CO and what people are saying about it.

Fifteen years ago, Boulder was considered a sleepy college town known mostly for its great rock-climbing. Today, Boulder is home to one of the strongest entrepreneurial communities in the country, with close to 200 fledgling tech companies and a city campaign that proclaims “Boulder is for startups.” In fact, last year BusinessWeek named Boulder America’s best town for startups, and it was featured in The New York Times for its entrepreneurial scene.  Part of its success rests on the fact that Boulder has the highest U.S. concentration of software engineers and PhDs per capita.  It is second only to Silicon Valley in percentage of workers employed in the technology sector. (Source: whitehouse.gov)

Why Boulder Is America’s Best Town for Startups (Bloomberg’s Businessweek)

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2010/sb20100421_531161.htm

Vast collection of coffee shops for startups (Quora)

http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-startup-hangout-coffeeshop-in-Boulder-CO

Boulder company’s showcase a love affair with the town (Tendril)

http://www.tendrilinc.com/about/living-in-boulder/

Why you should start a company in Boulder (Fast Company)

http://www.fastcompany.com/article/why-you-should-start-company-boulder

TechStars Get Some Love on CNBC (CNBC video)

http://www.coloradodaily.com/business/ci_17256101#axzz1TLgwzsiU

So, is it truth or fiction? We’ll find out next week when we drive to Boulder for a look-see.

Happy hunting, everyone!

Recently I was out speaking with partners at patent law firms. One of the things I wanted to learn about was the compensation structures of the firms.

Organizationally, patent law firms tend toward pyramids with lowly associates cranking away (at least in part) to enrich the partners. Shocking, I know.

What surprised me is that I found no agreement at all on who should get paid what portion of the billings. Literally everyone I spoke with had a different answer. Weird.

Here’s another morsel on the topic:

In reality, we often base our opinions on our beliefs, which can have an uneasy relationship with facts. And rather than facts driving beliefs, our beliefs can dictate the facts we chose to accept. They can cause us to twist facts so they fit better with our preconceived notions. Worst of all, they can lead us to uncritically accept bad information just because it reinforces our beliefs. This reinforcement makes us more confident we’re right, and even less likely to listen to any new information. 

(Source: How Facts Backfire, Boston Globe, July 11, 2010)