Packet and Denby

This is Packet.

This is Denby.

I mention in the video that it’ll end up being “like TweetDeck”. I breezed past that a tad too quickly — it’s definitely not going to be an HTML5 clone of TweetDeck! (Turns out they’re working on one of those already.)

Instead, it will take inspiration from the multi-column approach, but hopefully improve the user experience on a number of levels:

  • It’ll be 100% Free Software / Open Source… and one hopes, peer produced.
  • JavaScript on the server, JavaScript on the client, with liberal doses of “HTML5″ (the platform your platform could be), whatever that means to you.
  • No Adobe AIR, and thus, no vicious memory and CPU abuse! Seriously: Firefox TweetDeck is wasting more CPU time sitting “idle” than Chromium and node.js are using to run Denby. Oh, and node.js is 12MB resident.
  • It can work a bit like a desktop app… use the “web page as application” tool your browser provides. Firefox has Prism, Chromium has… a menu item. ;-) Denby will support things like desktop notifications, audio bleeps, drag-n-drop (for media uploads), inline display of media, etc.
  • Run local or hosted. Once I’m happy with the user experience, I’ll start thinking about cool things the server could do while you’re not connected to it! For now, it only maintains the connection to Twitter while a client is connected.
  • I want to build delicious multiple account support, without complicating the single account experience. It’ll merge streams, detect the context you’re acting upon (click reply and you’ll be replying from the appropriate account), etc.

Please comment if you have any thoughts or suggestions… crimes committed by other Twitter clients, ideas for lovely web/desktop integration, and so on. Thanks! :-)

HELLO DENBY.

* * *

Note that I’ve already had questions about StatusNet and identi.ca support. Thus far, they don’t have user streams, which was one of the main reasons behind building Denby. That said, it is entirely possible for the Denby server to poll the REST API (given that it already talks to Twitter’s) and send the results down the WebSockets tube… so, we’ll see.

Hmm. Perhaps this is the best way to build a user streams API for StatusNet anyway? The web app could send JSON messages to node.js, which could relay them to the intended users… via multiple protocols! Long-running HTTP, WebSockets, whatever. If anyone is inspired to do this, StatusNet could have a bi-directional WebSockets API before Twitter does!

* * *

Update: I made another quick video, showing a few improvements (including update bleeps — no chicken noises as yet), Denby in Firefox’s Prism environment, and sharing some thoughts about the web as a development platform. Enjoy!

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Posted in General | Tagged denby, html5, javascript, nodejs, packet, scooter, socket.io, Twitter, web development, websockets | 14 Comments

QotD: Rusty Russell

Side note: when a respected information source covers something where you have on-the-ground experience, the result is often to make you wonder how much fecal matter you’ve swallowed in areas outside your own expertise.

– Rusty Russell in Superfreakonomics; Superplug for Intellectual Ventures

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Posted in Quote of the Day | Tagged Intellectual Ventures, journalism, rusty russell | 4 Comments

Happy 7th birthday, Linode!

Perhaps this is a familiar refrain for some readers… but I’ll say it again: Linode rock! On their 7th birthday, they are giving current and new users a huuuge RAM upgrade —  around 42% on average. From humble beginnings as a Linode 64 five years ago, my Linode 512 is now a Linode 768. Yikes!

“Good news. Linode’s getting older.”
“… and Leon is getting laaaaarger!”

Already blessed with plenty of memory available for cache (which is very handy on a VM with relatively slow I/O), I now have even more headroom:

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Posted in General | Tagged linode | Leave a comment

Why I’m excited about Palm’s webOS

I have been a Palm fan for a very long time. My first PDA was a PalmPilot Professional, which eventually led to the m100 (AA batteries!), my first Palm OS phone, Pia’s hand-me-down Tungsten W, the Treo 650 and finally, my last (real) phone: the Treo 680. I’m even vaguely sad that I missed the final outing of Palm OS on the Centro.

I was disappointed when Palm split into two companies, but perhaps it was ultimately a good thing… PalmSource became victim to an almighty corporate Sarlacc, to be digested slowly over a thousand years, while Palm became nimble and determined to win out of necessity.

The ill-fated Foleo was a public relations disaster, but in retrospect, a concept way ahead of its time — consider the explosion of the netbook market soon after, and where the iPad is today (albeit generations of mobile technology beyond the capabilities of the Foleo).

Which brings us to webOS, released a year ago today on the Palm Pre. Having waited impatiently all that time (often running to the emulator to get my fix), I finally acquired one last week.

It is a truly delicious user experience. I won’t go into too much detail on this front — as with most things, you must use it — suffice to say that it carries the soul of Palm OS in a 21st century vessel.

(Okay, one thing on this: When it comes to the basic functions of a smart phone — calls, and contacts — I’m convinced this thing has both the iPhone and HTC’s Sense UI for the Desire beat. Synergy is seamless and awesome.)

Despite it’s youth, webOS is an incredibly promising and fast-moving platform… and in stark contrast to other “mobile Linux” competitors, it’s not just a bunch of goofy shit piled on top of a heavily molested Linux kernel: What runs on your phone is an utterly recognisable Open Source stack and an utterly recognisable web stack. Sure, there’s a layer of proprietary Java gumpf shoved between the good bits, but even that is getting thinner.

To some extent, webOS is the GNOME Mobile platform with a user interface and services layer built for the web generation. It’s D-Bus, GStreamer and PulseAudio under WebKit. Mojo applications, written in JavaScript, talk to services via JSON APIs, and native apps integrate into the web-based user interface via — get this! — NPAPI plugins.

Crucially, webOS will grow and improve along with the web. Everything you’re seeing in the web world — faster JavaScript, hardware accelerated CSS animation, massive growth of the JavaScript ecosystem (consider all the frameworks, CommonJS modules, nodejs event-based server, etc.) and all the incredible new APIs popping up — will find a place in webOS. Check out the Palm Developer Day keynote and podcast from Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith for more on the near future of webOS.

On the awesomeness of Dion and Ben at Palm? I’ll just quote James Governor:

Palm tried to use Apple’s trick of secrecy first rather than investing heavily in developer good will and playing the open card. It didn’t work. Palm realised its error last year and did something incredibly smart – it hired Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith to develop a new, web-savvy, strategy around its platform.

Using open technology as the bricks and mortar of a platform is not particularly amazing of course. Everyone’s doing it. But Palm are making friends and influencing developers by having an impressively open attitude to devices, too. Your store-bought phone — with a bit of Konami code action and the freely downloadable webOS SDK — is already “rooted” for you. Just log in. ps afx? cat /proc/cpuinfo? top? Your “first command” habit is most likely catered for. :-)

That openness has encouraged an incredible amount of community activity. The most Open Source savvy group dedicated to the platform is WebOS Internals. Initially, they published all sorts of juicy information about the innards of webOS and the Pre… but have now rallied around distribution of “home brew” Open Source patches and apps, using their own package management interface, Preware. They’ve even published an updated kernel which supports overclocking, temperature sensors and more advanced power management than the original! It’s wonderful stuff.

Then HP bought Palm.

Despite some messaging hiccoughs (now resolved), this is an incredibly exciting move for Palm and webOS fans. I’m hoping it gives Palm the reach, resources and relationships to go global, accelerate improvement of the platform, and ship some terrific new hardware to make their software shine… that said, it better not be an almighty corporate Sarlacc!

Damn it feels good to be a Palmster.

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Posted in General | Tagged Ben Galbraith, Dion Almaer, mobile, Open Source, palm, webOS | 29 Comments

Ubuntu’s Bleeding Edge, an act of niche journalism

I’ve been struggling to write anything of consequence at all recently… but apparently the best way to get back on the horse is to write what you know, so I have embarked on what might be described as an act of niche journalism.

Ubuntu’s Bleeding Edge is a new blog about the action, intrigue and occasional romance of the Ubuntu development branch, for everyone who thinks Release Day parties are only meant to celebrate the start of a new release cycle. It’s an easy way to keep up-to-date about the goings-on of Maverick Meerkat… particularly if the idea of running an ever-changing, alpha-quality operating system scares the bejesus out of you.

The story so far…

It’s a nice way to tackle a problem in bite-sized chunks, have a ready excuse to write regularly, and recall how much I used to enjoy those six month roller-coaster release cycles. It sure helps to have an enjoyable subject that I know pretty well, too!

Check it out, and subscribe to the feed if you’re keen to keep up with the ups and downs of Maverick.

Update: My latest devel branch update covers the removal of aptitude from the default desktop install and the switch to building for i686, both of which have become minor controversies.

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Posted in General | Tagged blogging, journalism, maverick, release, Ubuntu, writing | 2 Comments

Facebook Zucks

Facebook Sucks (Blue)

Facebook sucks? Nah, man: Facebook Zucks!

Download the whole CC-BY collection — includes SVGs! (ZIP, 89KB)

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Posted in General | Tagged facebook, mark zuckerberg, zucks | 6 Comments

Clarke and Dawe on the world’s lending merry-go-round

Clarke and Dawe on the 7:30 Report last night, for my international readers:

“How can broke economies lend money to other broke economies who haven’t got any money, because they can’t pay back the money the broke economy lent to the other broke economy and shouldn’t have lent it to them in the first place cause the broke economy can’t pay it back?”

“You’re wasting very valuable time, Roger.”

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Posted in General | Tagged bailouts, britain, china, clarke and dawe, debt, economy, europe, france, germany, global financial crisis, greece, ireland, italy, portugal, spain, USA | 1 Comment

QotD: Stephen Fry

One melancholy thought occurs as my fingers glide and flow over the surface of this astonishing object: Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest thing to his Hitchhiker’s Guide that humankind has yet devised.

– Stephen Fry in The iPad Launch: Can Steve Jobs Do It Again?

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Posted in Quote of the Day | Tagged Douglas Adams, iPad, Stephen Fry, Steve Jobs | 6 Comments

Lay your bets on the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (lucid lynx) trend spike

The Ubuntu world is gearing up for the release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (lucid lynx) next month, and I suspect (or at least dearly hope) Canonical is lining up the ducks for something of a marketing blitz once it lands. As always, I’ve been hugging the bleeding edge during the development period, and am enjoying most* of the changes. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic release, for both desktop and server.

A simple — and importantly, public — interest metric that I’ve enjoyed in the past is Google Trends, and in particular, building a comparison between the major distros. It gives you a nice feel for the history of Ubuntu releases, press coverage and growing interest in the platform.

In terms of past performance, 7.10 and 9.10 have enjoyed the biggest spikes (against background noise of the time), while 8.04 LTS and 9.10 look pretty even as the highest peaks. It’s encouraging to see that 9.10 did so well.

But I wonder… how “big” will the 10.04 LTS release be? How much interest will it generate? How will the search and news spikes compare to previous releases?

Canonical has every reason to roll out the red carpet for this release, making a big deal of the release itself (Long Term Support, headline features, new theme and branding), launching new services (such as Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud support and the Ubuntu One music store), complementary announcements from partners, etc.

So… How big do you think the 10.04 LTS spike will be? Lay your bets in the comments. Just name a multiplier against the 7.04 spike — sitting at an even 2.0 on the search volume chart above — and by July we’ll see who nailed it! :-)

Update: Fixed the Red Hat chart, thanks to David in the comments.

* They’re doing stupid shit with GNOME again, but they’ll grow out of the “differentiation means dicking with everything”, “design by finger-painting fiat” and “working with upstream is hard, let’s go shopping” stuff eventually. If Red Hat can see the light, surely Canonical can.

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Posted in General | Tagged Debian, fedora, google trends, Linux, lts, lucid, lucid lynx, opensuse, Red Hat, suse, Ubuntu | 25 Comments

A rocking present from Pia

Right on the heels* of St Patrick’s Day — and you know how I love my green; shoes in particular — Pia found me a rocking present…

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Posted in General | Tagged green, Pia Waugh, puma, shoes, st patrick's day | 1 Comment