PSTAM.com Bits - Tangentially-related short-form content

iPhone Picture Stats

2012-01-15T20:27:14-08:00

I recently ran out of space on my iPhone 4S and did my yearly ritual of moving last year's photos off of my phone. Here's what my iPhone-taken photo and video stats look like:

2007 - 431 photos - 160MB
2008 - 1,764 photos - 650MB
2009 - 1,470 photos - 1.27GB
2010 - 3,270 photos - 7.11GB
2011 - 3,185 photos - 6.14GB

What does your iPhone camera usage look like?

R.I.P. 1920x1200

2011-12-29T23:05:30-08:00

I'm at home in Houston for the holidays and of course working on Picplum stuff when I'm not chasing my 18-month old nephew around. I'm used to working on my 27-inch Apple display so hacking away on the Air's native resolution took was not quite for me. Most importantly after a few days of working my back started hurting from hunching over the laptop screen. Purchasing a 20-something-inch display to keep at home would be a worthy sub-$200 investment.

Off to Best Buy I went. Nope, no monitors with 1920x1200 resolution. Only widescreen 1080 vertical res ones. No biggie I thought, Best Buy only caters to people chasing buzzwords like widescreen. I headed off to nerd mecca: MicroCenter (okay, not quite Fry's but it was closer).

I went racing up and down their aisles of monitors. Argh, the same thing; they only had 1920x1080 resolution monitors. The salesman asked why I would ever need 1200 vertical res when 1080 was the "widescreen standard." I must have been the only person to ever walk in there with the intention of programming and not gaming or watching movies. He asked why I don't just use the monitor vertically. I asked him to show me the monitors they had that swiveled. They didn't carry any.

I came home with a $150 23-inch, 1920x1080 Samsung SyncMaster SA300 LED-backlit display (aside: damn these things are cheap nowadays!).

Why don't they make 1920x1200 monitors anymore?

CoffeeScript

2011-12-27T14:35:47-08:00

After months of hearing about CoffeeScript and having it on my to-do list week after week, I finally got around to really reading up on it during my flight from SFO to IAH. I tweeted that I was in the middle of moving Picplum over to CoffeeScript and got no less than 10 people asking me why.

CoffeeScript is much like Sass and Haml. It compiles into JavaScript, much like Sass becomes CSS and Haml becomes HTML. It's now included in Rails 3.1 if you're using the asset pipeline (we are), so there was nothing for me to setup. I just created a few .coffee files and it Rails generated them automatically when I was developing locally. When I go to deploy, that'll be done with asset precompilation.

CoffeeScript syntax is a joy to work with. It takes up less space, is easier to see what is going on in the code at a glance and helps you write better code by using good JavaScript structure behind the scenes. The CoffeeScript compiles wraps each file in an anonymous function so you don't automatically pollute the global namespace. That new scoping was the first thing I ran into when moving Picplum over. I had to prepend this to our global "namespace" object (the way we internally designed Picplum's Backbone app — mentioned in Ch 3.2.1 in the book Recipes with Backbone).

A lot of the CoffeeScript syntax just feels right. No parens, no semicolons. Working with object literals is a breeze, just make sure your indentation is all good to go (Show Invisibles in TextMate is now my best friend). No more having to keep up with curly braces for every anonymous function you write (oh so many with a JS-heavy app); just this thin rocket ->.

In a nutshell, CoffeeScript helps you write better code. Need I point you to the JavaScript Garden to remind you of how broken JavaScript really is? Probably the first real thing I learned about JavaScript way back when was how messed up typing can be to a newcomer. In short, read The Good Parts and only ever use the strict equality operator. CoffeeScript builds upons this with some smart aliases.

Because the == operator frequently causes undesirable coercion, is intransitive, and has a different meaning than in other languages, CoffeeScript compiles == into ===, and != into !==. In addition, is compiles into ===, and isnt into !==.

But I digress. I'm not trying to write a guide here, there are tons out there already. I'll just point you to them below.

As for my general workflow to migrating a large JavaScript app over to CoffeeScript? Begin by running each file through js2coffee. Manually comb through the new code and keep an eye out for any odd issues. The converter isn't perfect yet. I ran into an issue where it broke on a block with a return and completely ignored one half of the conditional, which had me debugging why our templating wasn't working for a bit. All the while I was testing everything locally and finding the inevitable indentation errors that sprang up.

The next thing I did was further optimize. For example, there were a few places where js2coffee didn't swap out this for @, or didn't do the new string interpolation (ruby-style #{} inside double quotes). I also made sure to have Chrome dev tools open and peak at the generated JS in the resources tab from time to time to see what was actually loading.

Then I started skimming through the CoffeeScript to find sections that were hard to read at first glance. The biggest offender was jQuery code with lots of chaining (backbone not so much as it has callbacks in its options hash); chaining that had inline callbacks. For example:

$.post('/some_url/'+self.with_string_concat+'/inside').success(function(){...}).error(function(){...});

And imagine what it would look like if each callback was multiple lines long and the entire code block was just part of another conditional. I ended up changing it to use an "outline" style for inline functions wherein you just breakout the callbacks into locally-scoped functions. Though this is now more of a JS-design tip than a CoffeeScript one.

The next step for me will be to get a bit more comfortable with how CoffeeScript does class. There are many places in backbone where this is immediately applicable. For example, something like this:

YourNameSpace.Views.YourView = Backbone.View.extend

Can now morth into this much sexier version:

class YourNameSpace.Views.YourView extends Backbone.View

Yup, just pinched myself. This is not a dream. That is real CoffeeScript magic action right there! Though if you are just starting out you may want to avoid this. It makes use of much native prototypal stuff so the generated JavaScript may not be as readable to you.

Resources

As you can tell this was a bit of a mindless ramble that I just typed up in the last 15 minutes. More and more hiring startups are looking for CoffeeScript experience (Picplum included) so if you are looking for a job, it might be a good idea to skim through these links in addition to the main CoffeeScript site:

But most importantly, just start writing CoffeeScript, experience some issues, fix them and you'll quickly learn how it all comes together.

DNSCrypt

2011-12-07T12:28:36-08:00

Head over to OpenDNS and install DNSCrypt for Mac. DNSCrypt, in a nutshell, encrypts all DNS traffic between you and OpenDNS. If you've been reading my blog since the early days, you've already been up to date on what their primary product does (kickass faster and smarter DNS). DNSCrypt is the next logical progression for DNS infrastructure.

More details on the above linked page. And if you're technical, I'm sure they would love a few extra coders forking their DNSCrypt repos. I made a quick pull request from my fork to change the menu bar icon a bit.

Give the gift of Picplum

2011-11-11T16:32:22-08:00

Akshay and I just rolled out our Picplum gift page after receiving countless emails from people asking how they could buy gift Picplum to friends and family. Powered by Stripe, of course.

For more on what Picplum is all about be sure to checkout our revamped Tour page. Also, take a look at our blog where we talk about Picplum's new photo uploader and UI tweaks. There's definitely more where that came from. Stay tuned.

/shameless startup plug

Sennheiser HD 650... Wow

2011-10-28T16:14:44-07:00

After I mentioned that I was no longer happy with my Dr Dre Beats Studio headphones in a recent blog post, The Coding Zone, a mysterious package arrived from Amazon. It was a pair of pristine Sennheiser HD 650 headphones; a kickass gift from my friend Noah Kagan of AppSumo. Thanks Noah!

I'll expand on this later but I think it's not that the Beats are horrible headphones -- I once reviewed and loved them -- but that my taste in music has changed in the last 2 years and I now prefer a flat sound rather than overly emphasized bass. In other words, I like listening to my music now, not only feeling it, which is the bread and butter of those battery-powered bass monsters.

I have only had the Sennheisers for a few days, and it supposedly takes anywhere from 40 to 200 hours to properly break them in (high-end headphones require some time for the cones to loosen up. A properly broken-in pair of headphones is described as having 'warm' and 'clean' sound), but I am pretty close to being blown away. It's my first pair of open air, reference headphones so I have a lot to learn. I just ordered a USB DAC/headphone amp and these are 300 ohm headphones that require a bit more power than my MacBook Air wants to pump out. They work just fine with the Air, of course, but max volume definitely lacks a punch. After a bit of searching I ordered the ~$70 Fiio E10. The E10 also has a better DAC than my laptop so that should help clean up the sound.

More on what these headphones are capable of after I break them in and the Fiio arrives!

Thoughts? What's your headphone situation like?

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T17:06:19-07:00

Canon EOS 7D

2011-09-17T08:39:56-07:00

Well that didn't take long. About a year after I wrote about how much I liked my Sony Alpha NEX-5 camera, I have gone back to big DSLR land. I purchased a Canon EOS 7D last week with quite a few accessories including Canon 24-105mm L, Canon 50mm f/1.4, 580EX II flash, and Rode Videomic.

I was hooked ever since Brendan let me use his 5D Mk II at Y Combinator.

I think the thing that did it for me was the lack of solid accessories for the NEX-5. It doesn't have a hotshoe so you can't use your typical large external flash or plug in your own mic. But most importantly, if you want a good lens you'll have to play with a bunch of adapters to get the kind you want.

I was originally waiting for the 5D Mark III to come out next year but I'm flying home next week to visit my nephew. It's the perfect opportunity to take some quality photos of my baby nephew and print them out for the family with Picplum. I'm only buying full-frame lenses so I can sell the 7D when the 5D Mk III comes out (or the rumored full-frame 7D Mk II). Well, who knows. I'm pretty happy with the 7D and I'm not sure how much full-frame would help me aside from the crop issue on these lenses. Better AF is always appreciated though.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to experimenting with DSLR video as well. My old Nikon D90 did video but the quality was sub-par with lots of 'jelly' motion. I got a rolling dolly and want to experiment with some interesting shots but I'm quickly learning how hard it is to focus while trying to look at the little 3-inch screen. That must explain all the people that tack on 7-inch LCD screens via HDMI and get a Redrock Micro HDSLR rig to make things easier to focus precisely. I first got wind of Redrock Micro rigs when a fellow Ford Fiesta Movement Agent, Beto Lopez, had one for his 7D.

This is the first time I have invested in a quality external flash. It makes a massive difference! I'm very happy with it so far. I'm sure I'll be talking more about my setup and how I'm adjusting to the 7D soon. I'm hoping to build up a small collection of lenses that will last me at least a decade.

Would never have been able to take a night shot like this without the 580EX II. This bar was super dark.

Thoughts?

Picplum

2011-08-18T18:30:00-07:00

Just a heads up that I launched my Y Combinator startup, Picplum, last week! That's why I have been heads-down for the last few months.

Read the press! The Next Web, Launch, TechCrunch. Later this week I'll be working on an in-depth Picplum review of sorts. In the meantime if you have any things in particular you want to know about Picplum — either the technical side of things or just about the product or even the Y Combinator experience — let me know here and I'll try to include it in the post.

Cheers,
Stammy

Upgrading to OS X Lion

2011-07-09T12:56:40-07:00

After seeing a fellow founder at a Y Combinator dinner this week running the GM seed of Mac OS X Lion without any issues I ended up installing it on my MacBook Pro.

I only ran into a few issues with my development environment. I had to install XCode 4.1, update rvm and ruby 1.9.2, uninstall imagemagick and the rmagick gem, then reinstall imagemagick and run bundle update for my app. It's working great now. That being said, I'm a tad disappointed with Lion. There was so much hype around it and the only real discernible changes are: a sleeker Mail.app, Mission Control (Launchpad.. meh) and an improved Spotlight (cursor down files and a preview pops up).

Then again I've only been using it for 8 hours. I'll provide an update when I have more time to blog and when I've spent more time with Lion.

What do you think of Lion so far if you've installed it?

In the Y Combinator Startup Grind

2011-06-19T14:55:18-07:00

As you have no doubt noticed my posting has slowed down a bunch recently. The reason? I am now working on my third startup and going through Y Combinator's Summer 2011 batch. It started earlier this month and wraps up in late August.

Akshay Dodeja and I are cofounders working on something interesting. Rails 3.1 and Backbone.js is the current stack. Using Heroku, Mailgun, Stripe and some other cool services. Currently working out of my tiny studio apartment in San Francisco but we're passively looking for a 2 bedroom loft in the city.

More on what we're building when we actually launch! Until then 10am to 2am working.. feels great to be back in the startup grind.

Thinking about Hackintosh

2011-05-29T23:16:56-07:00

I have been thinking about building a hackintosh lately. If you have experience with this, I would love a few pointers in the comments.

I have been told that InsanelyMac is the place to start looking at other setups to find compatible hardware. Ideally I would like a Shuttle SFF hackintosh — love the form factor — but their motherboards do not seem to be hackintosh friendly yet. I am thinking about something like a six core 3.2GHz Gulftown Intel Core i7 processor, SSD RAID 0 with Vertex 3 Pros, 8 or 12GB of RAM and a decent video card.

My Macbook Pro is showing its age and while I'm interested in the upcoming MacBook Airs with LV Core i5 processors (rumor), I'd want a beefier GPU too.

Have you ever run a hackintosh PC?

VorePad, The Convore iPad App

2011-04-22T03:35:51-07:00

My co-founder, Jazzychad, is rolling out his latest iPad app today. It's called VorePad and it's the best (and first) iPad client for Convore. Convore of course is the latest online forum and chat site craze to hit the internet, created by friends from a fellow Y Combinator company.

Chad explains his impetus for writing the app and talks about VorePad features on this blog.

The app is currently on sale in the App Store for $3.99. Get it and head to Convore with your other VorePad-using friends to test out my favorite feature, sounds!

Skribit Shutting Down

2011-04-18T21:08:22-07:00

I just emailed all the users of my first startup, Skribit, saying that we will be pulling the plug. For those interested, here is the notice I sent:

[Notice: This is the last email you'll ever receive regarding Skribit. I will personally nuke the 20,621 user email list. - @Stammy]

On July 31st, 2011, Skribit will be closing its doors. Skribit started several years ago at Atlanta Startup Weekend in November 2007 and has had a good run. As a refresher, Skribit aimed to aid writer's block by allowing bloggers to receive post suggestions from their readers, while helping readers keep track of what their favorite blogger's were working on.

Unfortunately, Skribit traction was not as impressive as we had hoped and Skribit had become more of a niche solution for a small percentage of bloggers. Over the past few years, 45,162 blog post suggestions have been completed through Skribit, 2,346 of which were completed/blogged. The vast majority of Skribit users did not receive suggestions from their readers for various reasons. Only 1,214 blogs had more than 3 active suggestions.

We stopped actively developing Skribit last Spring and decided to pursue other opportunities. Thanks for being part of Skribit! We are in the process of refunding current PRO users. We wouldn't have been able to keep Skribit running for so long if it wasn't for a seed investment from Georgia Tech's Edison Fund and lots of advising from Lance Weatherby of the Georgia Tech ATDC.

Follow us on Twitter to see what we're working on now!

Best,
Calvin, Paul & Lance

@cyu
@Stammy
@lance

You can read all about my work with Skribit in these blog posts.

Ultimate SEO Guide to Duplicate Content

2011-04-06T17:24:58-07:00

David Whitehouse has a great SEO guide talking about how to deal with duplicate content on your site. I consider this a must read for anyone that deals with websites and online publishing. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm anal about duplicate content and will preach about 301s and canonical URLs until the end of time.

In a nutshell: no particular public resource, article or page on your website should be accessible via more than one unique URL. Make sure your site 301's to either www or no-www, pick one and stick with it. I love no-www. Unless you have to use an Amazon load balancer that requires www, then no-www should also be your pick.

David's post goes into more detail so there's no point for me to rehash it here. Do yourself a huge favor and make sure you abide by these best practices.

And while I'm on the subject of SEO, I thought I should mention that my friend Evan Bailyn just published a book: Outsmarting Google: SEO Secrets to Winning New Business. I received my copy today but have yet to read through it. Between that, Gary Vaynerchuk's The Thank You Economy, Bargaining for Advantage and some design books, I have lots of reading (and not enough time) cut out for me.

Design Then Code: Excellent iOS tutorials

2011-04-05T17:48:53-07:00

Design then Code — excellent iPhone and iPad interface design and development tutorials. Great work by Mike Rundle of Flyosity fame.

Unboxed: Samsung Focus (WP7)

2011-04-01T18:14:58-07:00

Microsoft sent us a Windows Phone 7 device for development purposes. Chad opted for the Samsung Focus phone. We have not tinkered with it too much so here are just some unboxing pictures and preliminary thoughts.

Not the best picture but the Super AMOLED display is very crisp and vivid in real life.

First Impressions

While I have only tinkered with the Focus for a few moments, I must say that it is unbelievable light for a phone of its size. Second, the display is amazingly crisp. It's a large 4-inch AMOLED variant, similar to the Nexus One. Unfortunately the Nexus One display did not fare well in sunlight so I'm curious to see how the Focus screen performs outdoors. Best part of the screen is the amazing contrast. It reminds me of my sold-long-ago Samsung plasma HDTV — the blacks were very black, making it ideal for movies. Similarly, the screen on the Focus is such that you can't even tell where the screen ends and the black bezel begins. It's brilliant. Battery life seems impressive so far, at least compared to my iPhone 4.

So far the hardware is not too shabby. Unfortunately in the past few months I have read countless articles talking about issues with WP7 in terms of both consumer-facing and developer-facing snafus. I haven't personally experience any real issues yet but I'll hold my thoughts until later. I actually think the tile-based home screen and general interface is pretty slick. Though I would like the ability to make certain tiles double-wide, like email.

Further reading:

Details straight from the box

Device Specifications

Quad-Band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz);Tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz)
Display: 4 inches WVGA 480x800 Super AMOLED
4.91L x 2.53W x 0.39D inches
Weighs approximately 4.2 ounces
8GB internal storage memory
External microSD Memory Card slot
Talk Time: Up to 6.5 hours
Standby Time: Up to 300 hours

Device Features

Windows Phone 7
Super AMOLED display
1GHz processor
Wi-Fi with AT&T Hot Spots
aGPS with AT&T Navigator
5MP camera with LED Flash
Windows Phone Marketplace
Xbox LIVE
Microsoft Office Mobile
AT&T U-verse Mobile
Samsung Now Hub
720p video record/playback
Integrated social networking services
Stereo Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity
3.5mm headset jack
Accelerometer for landscape application viewing
Full browser with pinch and zoom

Thoughts on WP7 or the Samsung Focus? I'm pretty happy with my iPhone 4 for the time being.

Amazon Cloud Player

2011-03-29T13:07:30-07:00

In case you didn't see the news yesterday, Amazon launched a music in the cloud service called Cloud Player. Upload your music to Amazon Cloud Drive (also just announced) via their Adobe AIR uploader tool and play your music from anywhere with their Cloud Player or Android app. 5GB of storage free, 20GB for $20 per year, 50GB for $50 per year... all the way up to 1TB for $1,000 per year.

Uploading music to Cloud Drive for Cloud Player

First thoughts? Reminds me of Anywhere.FM, of which I was a big user before imeem acquired them. But in the last 2-3 years I have noticed something about my music consumption. I don't actively manage my iTunes library or acquire new music anymore. I rarely even fire up iTunes these days. I get my music fix from sites and services like Spotify, Rdio, Hype Machine and Pandora One. Managing music is too much of a hassle. I would much rather browse for new music on a curated site/service, click to favorite an album or song and add it to a playlist that is accessible from anywhere or any device.

Cloud Player for Web

Amazon is simply providing that functionality to those that already have a massive music archive they wish to keep around. Is the trend going in their favor though?

Arguably, the bigger news here is the release of the underlying consumer-friendly Cloud Drive service. I've been raving about Amazon S3 for years. It seems like Cloud Drive is S3 for the masses. Cloud Player is of course the first of many Cloud Drive-backed products to come.

Thoughts?

Giganews to hit 1,000 Day Retention

2011-03-23T15:14:32-07:00

My preferred usenet host for the last 3 years, Giganews, is on their way to hitting a massive milestone: 1,000 day binary retention. Want a refresher on what usenet/newsgroups are all about and why you need a a usenet host to get started? Check out my popular article How To: Download with Newsgroups then come back here.

Okay cool, so you're all set with usenet now? Now you know why binary retention is a big deal. The longer the retention, the more data the usenet host can store for longer so it doesn't get purged immediately. You are more likely to find what you are looking for compared to other usenet hosts that may only have something like 100 day binary retention. When I say binary retention I'm simply referring to data and downloads rather than plain forum-like newsgroup content.

On May 2nd, we will become the first Usenet provider to store 1000 days of Usenet retention. To celebrate this milestone, we are pleased to announce the Giganews 1000 Days Prize Giveaway. Enter the Prize Giveaway to be eligible to win. When we hit 1000 days retention we will draw names for the prizes.

As mentioned, Giganews is holding a prize giveaway in honor of the milestone. Check out the details to see the prizes (5TB Drobo!) and how to enter.

Update: The winners have been selected.

Disclosure: I am a Giganews affiliate program member.

First Impressions: 500GB Seagate Momentus XT

2011-03-13T16:52:09-07:00

If you're looking for the best bang for your buck when it comes to laptop hard drives, look no further than the 500GB Seagate Momentus XT. I picked one up as my internal media and backup drive to complement to my aging 80GB SSD. I have actually been rather impressed. Great performance (for an HD) and only $99. Let's explore.

Installed in a 17-inch MacBook Pro

As I mentioned briefly at the end of this OS X Lion SSD TRIM post, the Momentus XT is not your ordinary laptop hard drive.

I'm not one to like spinning disks but the Momentus XT is actually pretty slick: 32MB cache, 4GB SLC NAND memory, 7200RPM disk. It's a solid-state hybrid.

The result of this combination of platters and NAND? Average sequential reads exceeding 100MB/sec and average sequential writes near 100MB/sec. I had QuickBench run a few benchmarks across various transfer sizes. Results below.

For comparison, current generation SSDs (broad generalization ahead) have sequential write and read speeds in the 200-300MB/sec range, with next generation SSDs closer to 500MB/sec. My first Intel X25-M SSD in late 2008 had speeds of 250MB/s read and only 70MB/s write. Of course, SSDs are best known for their random read/write performance.

A comparable modern 2.5-inch 7200RPM 500GB laptop hard drive (not a hybrid) — take the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 for example — has average read speeds of 86.7 MB/s and average writes speeds of 76.5 MB/s. The Momentus XT's $40 price increase is definitely worth it for the performance.

It should be noted that there is a recent firmware update (SD24) available for the Momentus XT that helps with certain issues. My drive shipped with this update but you should double-check when you get your drive. If using Mac OS X, click the Apple icon in the menubar » About this Mac » More info » Serial-ATA » then select the drive (might be listed as ST95005620AS) and look for the Revision field.

Verdict: The 500GB Seagate Momentus XT is a no-brainer buy at $99. 10 out of 10 Stammys.¹

¹ I should clarify, this rating based more on value than anything. If I had to use this drive as my main OS drive I would go crazy. I'm far too used to full-blown SSD speed. It's a great storage drive and that's how I use it. Great drive for an internal Time Machine backup.