Evilsoft.org

Last month a bunch of us were sent by Vonage to RailsConf 2007. I did a talk (with my co-worker Stephen Becker) on working with legacy systems, and the approach we have been talking to using rails (and other technologies) to eat away at the problem (I’ve since nick named this approach the “Evaporative Model of Legacy System Maintenance”). I’ve had a couple people ask me for the presentation or a transcript, so I’m posting those here now.

Mapping Rails to Legacy Systems presentation PDF
Mapping Rails to Legacy Systems transcription TXT

At some point I’ll transform this into a proper paper if people are interested.

Some time ago a co-worker passed me an article about “Extreme Feedback” devices that could be attached to your autobuild system with the express intent of making it very visible that the build is broken, and potentially being irritating enough to help motivate people towards fixing the broken build. Since reading this article I have been somewhat consumed with the concept of creating one of these devices for my team. Keeping builds clean is hard, and without a constant reminder, it can be very easy for people to let the build stay broken for long periods of time. This essentially defeats the purpose of doing autobuilds, and potentially even unit testing.

I Looked into the Ambient Orb, but I have to admit, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the fact that it has a monthly subscription, and you can’t talk directly to it with your computer. So I started to teach myself electronics in the hope that I would be able to build one of these devices on my own. After a month or so, I ran into the Arduino platform, which struck me as the perfect platform for building an orb from scratch. This is the end result of my project is this, The Arduino Orb Build Warden:

This Device has the following features:

• USB
• Simplistic API for scripts that monitor a build system
• 3 modes
• Single color mode: You can send colors in web format (e.g. #RRGGBB)
• Alert mode: The orb will flash a color passed in from full intensity to %20 intensity (Format is similar to web format: %RRGGBB)
• Roam mode: The orb will morph from one random color to another for as long as you leave it. (Format is the string ‘roam’)

Here is the device in action:

The design of the Build Warden was heavily influenced by Tod E. Kurt’s Arduino Ambient Orb from his Spooky Arduino class. I started with that as a base, and went from there.

Parts List
Software
More Photos, circuit diagram, wiring diagrams

If you are interested in building one, I have made an instructable for building the Build Warden.

Getting a little breather, so I’m sending out a ctf update. Hopefully I’ll get another one out before more then a month.

Biotech

1. Your Brain Boots Up Like a Computer

Culture

1. We Can Detect Liquid Explosives
2. Did Humans Evolve? No, Say Americans
3. New Cell Can Tell If You’re Drunk

Robotics

1. No sex please, robot, just clean the floor

Science

1. Satellite Data Reveals Gravity Change From Sumatran Earthquake
2. Has string theory tied up better ideas in physics?

Space

1. Earth’s Moon Could Become a Planet
2. Nine Planets Become 12 with Controversial New Definition
3. Pluto: Is It a Planet?
4. Universe Might be Bigger and Older than Expected
5. Moon`s Strange Bulge Finally Explained
6. Crack found in Discovery external tank insulation
7. NASA revives main Hubble telescope camera
8. Enigmatic object baffles supernova team
9. Earth Surrounded by Giant Fizzy Bubbles

Tech

1. Speedy silicon sets world record
2. Man on a Mission – The Skin Sensing Saw
3. Tracking Your Cell Phone for Traffic Reports
4. Giant Robot Imprisons Parked Cars
5. Pigment formulated 225 years ago could be key in emerging technologies
6. Talking Mirror Not Just for Fairy Tales Anymore
7. Plasma needle could replace the dentist’s drill
8. New System Blocks Unwanted Video & Still Photography

Whoops, forgot to release it on friday.
Biotech

1. A Dose Of Genius
2. Researchers grow human heart tissue from stem cells

Culture

1. Proposal to Implant RFID Chips in Immigrants
2. When Escape Seems Just a Mouse-Click Away: Online gaming addiction in Korea
3. Simon Caulkin: Pull the other one … how iPods took over the world

Energy

1. Scientists Resolve 60-Year-Old Plutonium Questions
2. Laser enrichment could cut cost of nuclear power

Environment

1. Good News and a Puzzle

Military

1. Special forces to use strap-on Batwings
2. Numbers Stations Move From Shortwave To VoIP

Robotics

1. Beer pouring robot

Space

1. Jupiter’s Huge Storms Converge
2. Orbiting gas stations key to interplanetary exploration
3. One small breath for man

Tech

1. A Cleaner, Cheaper Route to Titanium
2. Super Battery
3. Ultrawideband Signal Passes Data Through Walls
4. Fuel cells in laptops edge closer
5. Top 10 Strangest Gadgets of the Future(Watch the videos, it’s well worth it)

Now safely nestled in the wilds of New Jersey, the time has come to restart Cool Tech Friday. Enjoy!
Biology

1. Dolphins, like humans, recognize names
2. New animal resembles furry lobster

Biotech

1. A hangover cure that works
2. Pill reverses vegetative state
3. Drug Discovery Team To Explore Newly Discovered Deep-sea Reefs
4. This robot keeps the doctor away
5. Immune System Gone Bad
6. Cure for cancers ‘in five years’

Culture

1. Chicken and egg debate unscrambled
2. The Rise of Crowdsourcing!Dad, read this one!
3. Wired Releases Full Text of AT&T NSA Document
4. Gonzales Says Prosecutions of Journalists For Publishing Leaks Are Possible

Energy

1. Fusion reactor work gets go-ahead
2. Better Fuel Cells Using Bacteria
3. Nuclear fusion plasma problem tackled
4. Hydrogen Fuel Balls
5. Microbes Convert Wastewater into Useable Electricity
6. Algae to rescue on warming, fuel source?

Robotics

1. Honda says brain waves control robot
2. Soldiers bond with battlefield robots
3. Robotic tentacles get to grips with tricky objects

Science

1. Is evolution predictable?

Space

1. Planet shine to aid life search
2. Voyager II detects solar system’s edge
3. Astronomers Use Innovative Technique to Find Extrasolar Planett
4. Unique wide-field telescope will make ‘sky movies’
5. NASA hopes shuttle’s next move won’t be its last
6. Smokeless rockets launching soon?
7. Distant ‘Earths’ will only be seen from space
8. Back to the Moon: Uniting Science and Exploration
9. Big Meteorite Creates Big Mysteries
10. Three new planets found around sun-like star
11. Planets Found in Potentially Habitable Setup

Tech

1. The Digital Ink billboard
2. Interactive display system knows users by touch
3. Plan for cloaking device unveiled
4. NASA Wants Your Innovative Ideas
5. The M1 Battery
6. Charge!

Telephony

1. MIT Plans to Convert Cell Phone Users into Podcasters
2. Linksys Launches Wireless-G Phones

Biotech

1. Mind Control by Parasites
2. Stanford neuroscientist wants to implant an electrode in his brain
3. NIH-Created Ebola Vaccine Passes 1st Test
4. Sleeping on it best for complex decisions
5. Alzheimer’s Progresses Faster in Educated People

Culture

1. Egypt offers first look at newly discovered tomb, first saince the tomb of Tutankhamun
2. Love is the drug
3. The Future of Science: A Conversation with Alan Lightman
4. The Politically Incorrect Science Fair

Environment

1. Underwater Ocean Currents Used to Power Bermuda
2. Mazda Plans Dual-Fuel Car in Japan
3. Has World Oil Production Passed Its Peak?
4. Segway Inventor Turns To Environment
5. Greenland’s glaciers losing ice at faster rate
6. The World Oceans Now 70% Shark Free

Physics

1. NY team confirms UCLA tabletop fusion
2. Physicist to Present New Exact Solution of Einstein’s Gravitational Field Equation
3. Quantum computer works best switched off

Space

1. Continued Success for Space Elevator Tests
2. Human spaceflight must come first, argues NASA
3. New group to develop passenger spaceship
4. Astronomers get shortlist of possible ET addresses
5. Solar Sail News and Upcoming JPL Missions
6. NASA plans to park space shuttle Atlantis in 2008
7. Draft Rules for X Prize Lunar Lander Challenge
8. Spaceport Singapore
9. NASA Detects Totally New Mystery Explosion Nearby

Tech

1. New High-Speed Nano Imaging Device
2. US and Canadian skiers get smart armour
3. Moore’s Law Staying Strong Through 30nm
4. Stronger Future for Nuclear Power

Biotech

1. Innovative Hand-Held Insulin Device Effectively Controls Diabetes and Provides Reliable and Easy to Use Insulin Dosing
2. Babies` Cells Linger, May Protect Mothers
3. Skin Stem Cells Made into Bone and Muscle
4. Printable Skin: `Inkjet` Breakthrough Makes Human Tissue
5. Cow-free Beef Proposed
6. Sperm Cells Turned into Eggs
7. Has BYU prof found AIDS cure?
8. New pill increases dreaming sleep

Culture

1. 3 billion people seek basic financial services is Microfinance the answer?
2. NASA Chief Backs Agency Openness
3. NASA Public-Affairs Appointee Resigns in Disgrace
4. A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA

Entertainment

1. Physics students, duct tape extend faded couch’s mileage

Environment

1. Flying Electric Generator (FEG) technology
2. World at its warmest of past 1,200 years, researchers show

Military

1. C-130H Laser Gunship Program begins

Physics

1. Dark matter comes out of the cold
2. SLAC Physicists Develop Test For String Theory
3. No Time Travel, Sorry

Space

1. The solar system no longer has nine planets
2. NASA to divert cash from science into shuttle
3. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: Searching For A ‘New Moon’
4. Experts poles apart over Moon landing sites
5. Seeing `Strange` Stars
6. Should We Land on the Moon’s Poles or Equator?

Tech

1. Power Plastics to provide electrical power to packaging and intelligent clothing
2. Reclaiming all that space in the attic – EZ Attic
3. Web 2.0 new tools, amazing functionality, vast opportunities
4. VW and Google team to explore future vehicle navigation systems
5. Stiletto Experimental ship with carbon fiber M-hull design tops 50 knots (60mph)
6. The three-key mini-keyboard with OLED screen on each key
7. Buying, paying bills and transfering money with your mobile phone
8. Nano Technology may make cleaning Toilets a thing of the Past
9. Chip prototype gets under the skin
10. Don’t Bring Home the Bacon, Print It

As was reported here and here back in December, Google searches now provide a lot of nice information for a band. I was checking to see if ColdPlay had a new album in the pipeline, I searched for ColdPlay and got a really nice set of results listing their albums and links for purchase, lyrics, album art, etc. Wow – I love finding new features in Google like that.

Check it out.

I just was reading the recent issue of the trendwatching newsletter. I find tracking new trends to provide very useful insights into the markets, new businesses and emerging geopolitical and economic forces.

Some of the more relevant trends as listed by TrendWatching include:
Minipreneurs – this is the trend of consumers becoming entrepreneurs, this is heavily aided by online services like eBay and Paypal.

Hygienia – this is the trend of the mature global consumer being able to instantly and expertly rate the various factors for each and every good, service and experience on offer in the marketplace. These hyper consumers trained by years of consumerism and access to up to the minute detailed information for all the products and services are the future consumer.

No-Frills-Chic – exemplified by products from Muji or Ikea, these are low cost products that have a high degree of design and quality yet are still low in price. Often coupling superior customer service to deliver an overall positive customer experience, examples of this include Jet Blue or Song.

The recent firefox 1.5.0.1 release has caused a number of problems for various parties, including extension authors and users. Sadly, many extension authors did not set up their extensions to be able to deal with firefox security updates gracefully. There have been no changes to the extension api, but a surprisingly large number of extensions report that they are Disabled – not compatible with Firefox 1.5.0.1. Well, if the extension is compatible with 1.5, you are in luck, there is a way to fix this that is not too difficult that doesn’t involve the extension author having to release a new version.

(in firefox, go to Tools->Extensions)

First thing you need to do is shut down firefox. Next, open the file “extensions.rdf” from your profile directory (something similar to C:\Documents and Settings\your username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.ugt in windows, ~/.mozilla/firefox/eucals91.default in linux) in a text editor. (it would be a good idea to save off a backup of this file, just in case). Search for every instance of 1.5 in the file. Those cases where the line says NS1:maxVersion=”1.5″ need to be changed:

Editor’s Note: This needs to be a text editor like notepad or textpad or ultraedit. If you use word or wordpad, you will break your extensions.rdf. At least two people have done this, so please, *be careful*. Also, some text editors will append .txt to the rdf file name. ensure that when it’s done, you have the right windows file extension.

  <RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$0Q1PK2"
                   NS1:id="{3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6}"
                   NS1:minVersion="1.5"
                   NS1:maxVersion="1.5" />

You will want to alter them so that they say NS1:maxVersion=”1.5.0.*” as below:

  <RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$0Q1PK2"
                   NS1:id="{3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6}"
                   NS1:minVersion="1.5"
                   NS1:maxVersion="1.5.0.*" />

Now, restart firefox, and go to Tools->Extensions:

Right click on the disabled exension, and select Enable from the dropdown. Finally restart firefox. If everything went well, your extensions should be happy again.

Ed: A second solution has come to my attention in the form of the Nightly Tester Tools extension which will allow you to install incompatible extensions via it’s interface. With this installed, in the extensions panel, you can right click on an extension, and select “Make Compatible”. This method may be somewhat riskier, as it makes an extension potentially compatible across larger updates that may have API changes. The original method carries no risk of this, as it only covers security updates to firefox 1.5