Ramblings

Mashup: SDBP Boston, Caching and iRules - oh my!

Colin Walker — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:28:20 GMT

Whew! It's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks. Between the annual F5 sales conference, where Joe and I presented to a bunch of awesome F5 techies, followed immediately by a very cool trip to present with the famed Lori at the SD Best Practices event in Boston, I've barely had time to do laundry, sleep in my own bed and feed my puppy. It's good to be back, but what cool stuff I got to see/hear/talk about!

The Software Development Best Practices (SDBP) conference was hawesome. It's great to be around so many people that get "it" and share the same geeked out passion for development, computing and cool technology that I do. While there I not only got to have several awesome conversations while hanging out in the F5 booth on site, but also got to give a fun Technical Session with Lori (which she mentioned before we left) which I think went over pretty well. It was F5's first time at this conference but hopefully not our last, as I think the audience is a great one to get in front of when talking about the amazing things that our gear can do to help extend the application. Whether it's via standard LTM features, iControl or iRules, it's almost always a killer story.

One of the many stories we told when talking about things we can do for the application was the Joyent / Bumpersticker application story. For those of you that haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. We've got some pretty detailed info in the interview that Joe and I did with Jason, their CTO, which you can check out here. The short version is that Joyent scaled Bumpersticker app from Linkedin to over a billion pageviews a month, running on Ruby on Rails, and they couldn't have done it without F5 and iRules. How cool is that?!?

They did this via a combination of intelligent caching and a smattering of iRules that garnered an 80% reduction in application load (80%!!11), allowing them to get way more bang for their processing buck. This, along with some other cool conversations I had regarding caching and some of the things we can do with it, led me to put together a tech tip that begins to delve into the world of caching and iRules on the LTM. More detail will follow I'm sure, but this starts the journey at least.

That's all for now, more later as always.

Technorati Tags: SDBP,Caching,iRules,Joyent,LinkedIn,Facebook,Ruby on Rails,Colin Walker

Listening to: Alter Bridge - One Day Remains - One Day Remains

#Colin

Google, Twitter and Other Web Giants Change Political Debate Forever

Colin Walker — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:43:17 GMT

Google, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, iTunes - They've all been changing the way that the average person goes about their day for a long time now. The thing that sets these monolithic figures in technological history apart from others is that they are not only changing the game for those of us that have long been denizens of the web. Indeed they are making the web and the delicious, bountiful fruits therein accessible to the masses. This is what is allowing them to change the face of the world as we know it.

A prime and quite pointed example of exactly how these giants of the technological industry are helping to shape the course of history is the data that Google released yesterday. In their blog Google gives us information the likes of which wouldn't have been more than a plot point in some science fiction novel not 15 years ago. Google showed us by the minute stats of the most popular search terms that people were using during the VP debates. Being able to present this kind of information in such a granular format over such a broad spectrum of the populous is absolutely astounding.

This shows not only the immense power of Google searches, and their obviously immense ability to track inconceivable amounts of statistical information, but something most assuredly more surprising and impressive. This is an amazing display of just how prevalent and mainstream Google searches have become. The fact that the average American viewing the debates knows how to use Google to search for things is fantastic. What's shocking is that an apparently large portion of that group knows how to use the protocol appropriately, performing what could be characterized as more skilled searches, such as "define:maverick".

Think about how this has changed things. 15 years ago, if you weren't informed by the time of the debates, it was too late. If you hadn't done your duty as a citizen and read, listened and researched to get aware of what was going on and the issues at hand, there was no way to catch up this late in the game, and certainly not real-time while watching the debates occur.

If that's not enough for you, there's another really cool example of technology, in this case Twitter and Current.tv, giving us yet another way to watch the debates while sharing information and opinions. RWW has a great article about the video streaming collaboration that includes a twitter overlay of comments happening real-time during the debate. The example video on the above linked page is pretty cool, and worth a quick view.

What does all of this mean? It means that advanced technology and the world wide web isn't just for us geeks anymore. It means that there are some pretty major forces at play here and that technology is very mainstream, very powerful, and is definitely having an affect on the way people go about their business, especially when it comes to finding/using/gathering/distributing information. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise. It sounds awfully "Yeah, duh!" when I say it like that, but these examples seemed awfully compelling to me, and I thought I'd share.

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome,Twitter,Facebook,Myspace,iTunes,Current.tv Presidential Election,RWW,Colin Walker

#Colin

Listening to: Apocalyptica - Apocalyptica - Betrayal/Forgiveness

Motorola builds an army of Android devs with plans to take over the mobile world

Colin Walker — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:10:34 GMT

Android, Google's hot new mobile device platform, is the buzz around the mobile world, especially amongst the giants like Motorola and Nokia. They've been looking for a way to crack the iPhone market for a while now, and Android seems to be the pony they're betting on.

TechCrunch has the whole article detailing how Motorola is expanding their current, 50 person Android development team up to a whopping 350 members. This makes sense given the reception that Android as a whole and the new G1 phone as an example of its use have gotten. There may be some things lacking and a little polish to be added, but there's no debating that it's got some serious potential to compete against the current 800-lb gorilla of the mobile PC market - the iPhone.

As much exuberance as I've emitted regarding the G1, I have to say this is even more exciting for me. I've been a long-time Motorola fan. They just seem to "get it" when it comes to mobile phones. They work well, they have the features I want, implemented well, they're reliable, and even good looking most times. The G1 was exciting to me from a raw technologic standpoint. This is that AND a "day-to-day use" excitement. Woohoo!

I guess this means I'll have to look out for info on the new Motorola offerings and see if they are coming out with anything sometime in the near future. If so, I might just have to put off my G1 plans on wait for that. That all depends on ship-dates though, I suppose. Regardless of my personal situation, it sure is cool to see the Android platform taking off so quickly and catching so much well deserved interest from the major players in the market.

A flexible, powerful, well-built mobile platform that's also open and offers a cool, powerful new platform for development can only be a good thing, if you ask me.

Technorati Tags: Android,Motorolla,Nokia,iPhone,Mobile Devices,Colin Walker

#Colin

Jack Thompson finally disbarred for failing at gaming the gamers

Colin Walker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:24:56 GMT

Game over man, game over. Jack Thompson has been a pox upon the gaming community for far too long. From ridiculous allegations to even more absurd trials and suits, he's done nothing but lie and cheat his way into the news with his mindless lashing out towards video games. Finally disbarred, this pup is now officially all bark with no bite, thank goodness.

Some days you just start your day off right. Double latte, tasty breakfast sandwich, and the felling of one of the greatest representations of evil and injustice that has ever reared its vile head towards the gaming community. It's going to be a good Friday, methinks. When things start out with this kind of good news, I have hope that they'll just keep getting better and better.

Being an avid WWdN reader, I had to laugh when I saw this wildly appropriate pic. Jack Thompson, for those of you that don't know, has been going around for years now lashing out against video games, gamers, and the gaming community at large. He's been saying that we're anti-social, that we're outcasts and misfits, that we're violent and spreading violence and dishonesty and lawlessness via violent video games that teach us to be immoral. He's gotten into tousles with the good folks over at Penny Arcade, tried to decry great events such as their yearly gaming-fest - PAX, and basically been a thorn in the side of the gaming community under the pretense that we're somehow "bad" or "hurtful". He is, of course, wrong.

What's worse than him being wrong is that he's full of nothing but lies. Anyone that's followed him long enough to get any kind of reading on him knows that he's either completely insane, or lying through his teeth to try and make a fanatical point that will

get him some publicity and more money. Either way, disbarring him is the best thing that could have been done, and I applaud those in charge.

Thank you, America. Thank you for allowing justice to be served, for once. It's good to know that not everyone is out to get us.

What's that noise, you ask? That's 30 million gamers cheering in unison. It's our world, just not everyone realizes it, yet. ;)

Technorati Tags: Gaming,Jack Thompson,Jack Thompson Disbarred,Penny Arcade,PAX,Wil Wheaton,WWdN,Colin Walker

#Colin

What did the Google phone say to the iPhone?

Colin Walker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:59:35 GMT

With all of the buzz about the G1 from Google / T-Mobile in the past 24 hours there have been some great comments and reviews. There have been insightful discussions and interesting banter weighing the pros and cons, the reasoning for the way they've done certain things, features it may lack or contain, etc. Those are all interesting and useful commentary. This is none of those things.

I promise to do more of that in the future, as I did yesterday, but this was too good to pass up. So, this one's from pretty far in left field, in a sense. I guess in another sense it's exactly germane. After all, you have to admit that a huge amount of network traffic is..well..here, just check out the image. It's almost like a Mac vs. PC add, but oh so much funnier.

Yeah, pretty silly, and perhaps a bit childish, but damn if I didn't laugh out loud when I saw it. This is courtesy of digg, of course. Porn does seem to be one of the major driving forces behind the Internet, though not necessarily of cool new technologies, just making sure that things are always bigger, better and faster. Sure, we don't talk about it all the time, but it's there and we all know it.

Do I really believe the iPhone is toast? No, of course not. Do I believe that the most interesting thing about the G1 is the possibility for mobile porn? Lawl, no, not at all. But c'mon, that's funny. I just couldn't resist sharing this one. I do think, however, the open marketplace that Android is going to offer will be pretty darn interesting. Apple had a great idea with their marketplace, but keeping it under wraps and not allowing it to be truly open is going to stifle creativity in the long run. That's definitely something we've learned here on DC. Open and honest wins in the end. ;)

So there you go, a silly little funny for your Wednesday.

Technorati Tags: Google,iPhone,G1,T-Mobile,Colin Walker

#Colin

Syndication: Does the New York Times syndicating newsblog sites make blogging mainstream?

Colin Walker — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:49:33 GMT

One of the many feeds pouring into my trusty reader is Read Write Web. They're a trusty source of geek and "norm" information alike, floating out on the web and, more importantly, right here on my Ubuntu machine (I know you can't see it, but I'm pointing) where I can read it at my leisure. This kind of news blog isn't new. I read several of them on a daily basis just to try and keep up with what's going on in the world of the web. RWW just happens to be one of my current favorites.

What is new, however, is that RWW has recently announced that the New York times (yes, THAT New York Times) is going to start syndicating some RWW content on the NYT site as part of a big redesign of the tech section.

Wowawoowie! How cool is that, huh? It almost feels like local boys made it big, even though I realize they're not local nor small, but still. It definitely feels like some recognition from the "real" world and a bit of a "Hat Tip", as Joe would put it, to the Tech Community and the geeks out there.

Gotta love that! Extra Extra, read all about it!

Technorati Tags: ReadWriteWeb,New York Times,Syndication,HatTip,Colin Walker

#Colin

Google's new media-equipped phone doesn't support headphones. Wait...what?

Colin Walker — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:47:22 GMT

Well I knew it couldn't be all sunshine and roses. I started poking around looking at more info on the new phone from T-Mobile and Google, the G1, that I was just talking excitedly about an hour or so ago. So far first impressions have been resoundingly positive which is awesome, to say the least. There's always a catch though, isn't there?

Cynical geeks across the globe were heard howling in distaste the second they discovered that the new G1 has opted to not include a standard headphone jack in favor of the proprietary connector they favor. What's that? A media phone with MP3 storage/downloading that you have to buy new headphones or at least an adapter for? Ick.

Check it out over on engadget.

Honestly that's not a showstopper for me, but seems kind of silly. Maybe there's a good reason. You know, aside from increasing profit.

Technorati Tags: Google,T-Mobile,G1,Colin Walker

#Colin

Look out iPhone, Google and T-Mobile are the new kids on the block

Colin Walker — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:14:55 GMT

Google and T-Mobile have announced the release of the G1, the new smart phone that looks to be a serious competitor for the iPhone. RWW has a great article that lists some features and links to videos/images of the phone.

This touch screen, full QWERTY phone comes with Gmail, Google's Android OS, a lightweight browser, a full application market available, downloadable songs from Amazon with a single touch, and more. It's a pretty impressive offering, if you ask me, and just what I've been waiting for.

I've been looking to replace my Razr for a while now, but the iPhone never really caught my eye. This was largely due to the fact that it is 100% touchscreen, and it only runs on a network I'm not part of. The G1, however, solves both of those problems.

I'll see if I can get on the pre-order list and give you a full review as soon as I get my grubby little paws on it. It looks pretty impressive with fully functional browsing, smooth application flows from one to the next, and an actual keyboard that works for me. Pretty exciting stuff, if you're into the mobile computing thing.

Anywho, thought I'd share so you could take a look for yourself. Look. Discuss. And watch for updates as I'll track this thing to release and beyond. ;)

Technorati Tags: Google,T-Mobile,G1,iPhone,Colin Walker

#Colin

A Groundswell of support...

Colin Walker — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:47:37 GMT

If you've listened to the podcast this week, or seen the blogs, or haven't been hiding under a rock, then you've heard that we here at DevCentral have entered our community into Forrester's Groundswell awards. We're very excited to be able to add our hat to the ring, as it were, and it's really thanks to all of you out there in DCLand.

We've entered in the "Supporting" category, and that's really all about how much the awesome community we get to be a part of is out there helping each other every day. The direct quote is "SUPPORTING. Help customers support each other to solve each other's problems." If that isn't DC to a T, then I don't know what is.

I'm blown away every single day as we get more and more new users, more posts to the forums, more wiki updates, and more questions being asked just about everywhere...and yet the community keeps stepping up to the plate, and helping out where needed. There's no way we could do what we do without as much involvement, commitment and as many contributions as you all provide, and that's just hawesome. So from me, and all of us, a great big "Thanks, Dudes!".

To submit for the contest we had to come up with a submission page that showed a lot of what's going on in the community. I have to say I was honestly shocked when we got most of it on one page. Holy cow is there a bunch of stuff happening, all the time! You can check it out here. As you'll see on that page, we could really use your votes to make sure everyone knows what's going on here with DC, and how amazing it is. So...vote now! We really appreciate it.

I don't really know what else to say, to be honest. You guys rock. You let us do what we're doing, and you're excited about it the entire time. Thank you for being such rockstars and making DC what it is. It's pretty amazing when I stop and think about the last few years, and what's happened. Let's keep the train rolling, and turn the people that never thought this "community" thing made sense, especially for F5, on their ears.

Technorati Tags: DevCentral,Forrester,Groundswell,Colin Walker

#Colin

Google Chrome reports first major security flaw

Colin Walker — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:55:52 GMT

It's Beta software, it was inevitably going to have some bugs. This bug, however, is a little bit embarrassing for the good folks over at Google. RWW has an article that describes a potentially nasty security hole made possible by Chrome, a known Java bug, and an un-patched WebKit.

You can read the whole article here, but the gist of it is that users can be duped with relative ease into executing just about any Java program that an attacker wants. That's bad. Very, very bad, in case you weren't already sure.

"It's Beta software!" you say, "There's no embarrassment there!". I'd generally agree, but RWW goes on to mention the part where this is a known bug with an old version of Apple's WebKit, and could have been avoided had Google used a more recent version as a basis for Chrome.

Yes, it's Beta software, yes, it requires user interaction to execute, but this is still a pretty nasty bug, stemming from an easily avoided, well-known issue. That's bad, last I checked.

This isn't a horrendous issue as I'm sure Google will just update the version they're using before general release, but for the thousands (millions?) of people that are already using Chrome, you might want to be careful what you click on.

Technorati Tags: Google,Google Chrome,Java,WebKit,Colin Walker

#Colin