Earlier this year my music collection started to seem a little stale, and I started to wish for more variety, more music I have not listened to. This lead me to consider a VPN, which would essentially tunnel my Internet connection to a server in the US, allowing me to access Pandora and other sites such as Hulu ⁴. I considered paying for a subscription to a VPN, but was having difficulty finding one that was reasonably priced and would tunnel my connection properly (all my data needs to flow through the US IP, not just a HTTP proxy). The other requirement was that the VPN be accessible via my iPad and iPhone as well as my desktop computers (Windows and Mac), and the only type of VPN connection that seemed to adequately satisfy my needs was an L2TP/IPSec VPN.

Since I couldn’t find a VPN service that seemed to satisfy my needs, I decided to create my own, which means I need root access to a server. I also plan to tunnel a lot of data, considering I will primarily be using it for media streaming. I also didn’t want to pay Windows Server licensing fees, so decided to take the route of Ubuntu Server. OpenVPN does not do native L2TP/IPSec, so was out of the question considering my iPad/iPhone requirement. This left StrongSwan and FreeSwan as the potential VPN platforms.

I started looking at LowEndBox ⁵ for cheap Virtual Private Servers (VPS) that came with copious amounts of data. I don’t need much processing power… just a lot of bandwidth. Initially I thought I found a great service for $5/mo… an OpenVZ based VPS with unlimited data. I purchased a couple months worth, and began setting up an Ubuntu 10.10 server, using the guide at ByBacon.com ⁶.

It was then that I hit a major stumbling block. Every time that I attempted to initiate a connection with the VPS from any one of my clients, the server would fail to respond. Checking the server logs, I didn’t see any record of either PPP connections or IPSec initiations. Obviously there was an issue with the NIC interface.

On investigation, I found that OpenVZ creates virtual, emulated ethernet devices, using the name VENET, with no MAC address. IPSec VPN service I was attempting to use requires root-level access to the device itself, as well as an accessible MAC address. Now, this can be accomplished using a TUN/TAP device… but requires some not-so-simple changes by the OpenVZ administrator. I put in a ticket to have one created, but unfortunately the service I’d paid for happens to not support creating these devices for clients.

So… I needed to find a different service… either Xen-based or VMware-based. Eventually I found a service from ENScloud ⁷ that seems to work well, and provide me with copious amounts of bandwidth. It took about a week for them to provision my server and IP, but after the initial hiccup everything seems to function well (their support guy Brandon was more than helpful after I put in a ticket requesting update). I’ve been listening to Pandora a lot since the VPN was created.

I eventually plan to rent out access to my VPN to family and friends, as I want to recoup my costs, so I figure that if I can rent out access for $5/yr if I get 12-15 people interested. I’ve managed to get it working easily under Windows (certificate-based), Mac, iPad, and iPhone, so no matter what platform family and friends are using, it will be accessible to them. I would eventually like to get a WebDAV service running as part of the service, so those with iWork for iOS can use it for cloud document storage.

Regarding Foxconn Suicides:
Steve: It’s a factory — but my gosh, they have restaurants and movie theaters… but it’s a factory. But they’ve had some suicides and attempted suicides — and they have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is, but it’s still troubling.
Steve: We had this in my hometown of Palo Alto, copy cat suicides.

Regarding Search:
Walt: So last year we had a company called Siri, a search company…
Steve: They’re not a search company. They’re an AI company. We have no plans to go into the search business. We don’t care about it — other people do it well.

Regarding Press:
Steve: Well I think the foundation of a free society is a free press. And we’ve seen what’s happening to papers in the US right now. I think they’re really important. I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers. I think we need editors now more than ever.
Steve: I can tell you as one of the largest sellers of content on the internet to date — price it aggressively and go for volume. That has worked for us. I’m trying to get the press to do the same thing. They need to do it differently than they do it for print.
Steve: I think people are willing to pay for content. I believe it for music and video, and I believe it for the media.

Regarding Interaction with Computing Devices:
Steve: People laugh at me when I say it’s magical… but something has been stripped away and removed between you and the computer…

Regarding Pulitzer-winning Cartoon Censorship:
Steve: Yes… and political cartoons got caught in that. We didn’t think of that. So this guy submits his app and he gets rejected. We didn’t see that coming. So we changed the rule, but this guy never resubmitted… then he wins a Pulitzer Prize, and he says we rejected him. So, we are guilty of making mistakes. We’re doing the best we can, we’re learning as fast as we can — but we thought this rule made sense.
Steve: We’re doing the best we can, we’re fixing mistakes. But what happens is — people lie. And then they run to the press and tell people about this oppression, and they get their 15 minutes of fame. We don’t run to the press and say “this guy is a son of a bitch liar!” — we don’t do that.
Steve: 95% (of app submissions) are approved within 7 days…

Regarding Gizmodo:
Steve: Well a guy… who can say if he’s a journalist.
Steve: The person who took the phone plugged it into his roommates computer. And this guy was trying to destroy evidence… and his roommate called the police. So this is a story that’s amazing — it’s got theft, it’s got buying stolen property, it’s got extortion, I’m sure there’s some sex in there (huge laughs)… the whole thing is very colorful. The DA is looking into it, and to my knowledge they have someone making sure they only see stuff that relates to this case. I don’t know how it will end up.
Steve: You know, when this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got advice from people who said ‘you gotta just let it slide, you shouldn’t go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you.’ And I thought deeply about this, and I concluded the worst thing that could happen is if we change our core values and let it slide. I can’t do that. I’d rather quit.

Regarding TOS Change for Analytics:
Q: You changed your TOS on analytics — do you want to own that for developer’s data?
A: Well we learned this really interesting thing. Some company called Flurry had data on devices that we were using on our campus — new devices. They were getting this info by getting developers to put software in their apps that sent info back to this company! So we went through the roof. It’s violating our privacy policies, and it’s pissing us off! So we said we’re only going to allow analytics that don’t give our device info — only for the purpose of advertising. But you can’t get info off of our devices and turn around and sell it. That you can’t do… is that clear?
Q: It is, but there is vital info there that could make apps better…
A: That’s true… but there’s no excuse for them not asking customers if it’s okay to send that data. We’re willing to talk to some of these people when we calm down… but it’s not today.

Regarding DRM-ed Content:
Q: I bought the movie Up on DVD, it had a digital download. I put it on my iPad. I hooked up my VGA adapter and tried to play it… but I couldn’t because of HDCP. Can you tell me how you’re helping with this?
A: We didn’t invent this stuff…
Q: But you did deploy it…
A: Well the content creators are trying to protect this stuff, and they’re grabbing at straws. Sometimes they grab the right ones, and sometimes they don’t. If we want access to this stuff, we have to play by some of their rules. I feel your pain.

Regarding TV:
Q: Hi, I’m from Hillcrest Labs… do you think it’s time to throw out the interface for TV? When will Apple do something there?
A: The problem with innovation in the TV industry is the go to market strategy. The TV industry has a subsidized model that gives everyone a set top box for free. So no one wants to buy a box. Ask TiVo, ask Roku, ask us… ask Google in a few months. So all you can do is ADD a box to the TV. You just end up with a table full of remotes, a cluster of boxes… and that’s what we have today. The only way that’s going to change is if you tear up the set top box, give it a new UI, and get it in front of consumers in a way they’re going to want it. The TV is going to lose in our eyes until there is a better go to market strategy… otherwise you’re just making another TiVo.
Q: In the phone area you were able to partner with a carrier… would you do that with TV?
A: Well then there’s a problem, providers are local… it’s a Tower of Babel problem…

The reason I suggest that IT pros study design principles is so that they learn to appreciate the ‘user-level’ features for what they are, not dismissing them as merely useless pieces of eye-candy. When a tech can look at an object or interface, and not allow their ‘function over form’ mentality to get the better of them, they can better relate to how the user will experience the interface. When the tech appreciates on some level what the user appreciates, understanding between the two parties can grow.

Hand-in-hand with the previous point, IT pros should also study user interface experience. By beginning to understand how to implement or at least structure a good user experience, the eyes are opened to a new perspective on how the world functions. Studying and ingraining good UX principles in the core of the tech’s mentality will drastically shift how they approach their users, and how they approach the potential technologies to be implemented.

Now, you may ask why I’m suggesting the actual techs learn these things instead of just ensuring that the head folks know and understand these things. I’m a firm believer in the ancient Greek holistic approach to education. However, beyond that, I think that while the head of the body is responsible for the rest of a person’s functionality, when the whole body is trained and tuned to the same level, the performance level of the particular body jumps exponentially. Consequently, new and previously unattainable heights can be reached.

If you’re interested in some design oriented websites, check out these for examples (mostly centered around web design):

Smashing Magazine: http://www.smashingmagazine.com
Noupe: http://www.noupe.com
Net-Tuts: http://net.tutsplus.com

I refused to write a review on the iPad in the first week. In my mind, the iPad is a paradigm shifting technology. Until I’d used the iPad for a few weeks, I did not feel I could provide the perspective I feel is important to my readers. Reviewing a new device is like a relationship. All fuzzy feelings for the first little while, then reality hits. I wanted to write a review that was not affected by initial emotions or excitement.

So, without further ado, let me tell you my experience with the iPad.

Battery life. This thing is phenomenal. I have never had another electronic device that did not make me nervous toward the end of a day of use. Even my iPhone 3GS does not provide me with the same sense of security that the device will not die by the end of a day of use. I can even charge the iPad Friday morning, take it up north (always careful with how I use it when away from a charger), and still have 40% battery left. I completely trust the iPad to be charged when I need it.

Convenience. Portability. The iPad has changed the frequency with which I take my computer with me. I rarely take my MacBook Pro from home anymore. I take the iPad everywhere. It’s like carrying a notebook with me, weight-wise. I pick it up off the desk and carry it in my hand. I don’t need a backpack to take my computer with me. This has changed my perspective on using my personal commuting device. It has become a permanent companion, rather than a tool to be utilized when needed. Similar to my iPhone.

I have begun to reevaluate my need for the MacBook Pro. All my data is stored on my Ubuntu mediaserver (hosted on VMware ESXi along with my Windows VM’s). I now utilize the iMac for managing my virtual servers and ESXi. I have Air Video Server installed for streaming movies from the media server to the iPad, and FileBrowser installed for browsing the network files from the iPad. The only real need that I have for the laptop is for import of my photos from my Nikon D40. I’ve begun to question whether I really need the laptop solely for immediate import of my photos. My Aperture 3 library is synced across my backup server, iMac, and laptop. I’ve begun to think that as long as I can wait to import my photos from a weekend out of the city till I get back home, I have no justifiable need for my laptop. I will be continuing to evaluate this over the next month or so, but I’m afraid that the laptop will be going. Never thought I’d say this.

I can extoll the various features of the iPad. However, I feel enough other reviews have done that. This piece is about how the iPad has changed the way I’m using technology. The next posts that I write will likely be shaped from an iPad user’s experience.

Realizing this, one needs to shift their perception of how to view client platform security. Theoretical analysis is good. However, practical application is what should define security evaluation. Which platform is more secure in practice? Anyone can justify any OS’s security. However, the proof is in the pudding. For example, Unix has been used for government/financial servers for a long time. Windows Server has been used, and I would argue that the Windows servers have proved themselves much more vulnerable over an extended period. Just ask any system administrator.

Take a look at Linux. If there is any platform with serious potential vulnerability, it would be Linux. Since the code is so open, and written by so many uncoordinated, imperfect people, there is vast potential for holes. However, in practical usage, it is one of the most secure platforms available. When holes are found, they are quickly patched by the open source community. Most Linux users are reasonably tech-savvy, and don’t fall for many of the same social engineering tricks that Windows users do. It is arguably a secure platform.

This also leads to another point. The bigger the target, the more attackers will aim at it. Just because you are a smaller target does not mean you are less secure. Even if you are more vulnerable, the fact that you are being attacked less provides security. I for one do not want to be the tank shot at on the battlefield. I’d prefer to be the sniper, vulnerable, but inconspicuous and hardly fired upon.

Articles such as the recent PCWorld piece¹ hyping how the iPhone was first to fall in the PWN2OWN contest, and how the Macs and iPhones are no less vulnerable than Windows, are worthless drivel. One needs to accept that everything can be broken. Even RSA1024 was recently broken². However, the fact that a platform was broken/hacked (by methods devised in the months prior) does not mean it is less secure in practical usage. I have yet to have one of my Mac installations infected or broken, while the Windows 7 install (which I only use to manage home servers or test a site in IE) has been attacked twice, and infected once.

Let’s stop defending our idealistic points and accept reality shall we? Mac, Linux, and Unix are all platforms that can be violated. However, in practical usage, they are more secure than the Microsoft Windows platform.

The article makes a number of interesting observations, particularly about hardware manufacturers and suppliers. It also makes mention of a number of upcoming hardware designs and the features they will bring. I’d recommend reading the piece, even if just for the factual knowledge it contains.

I’m afraid however, that I have to disagree with the author. In my opinion, I don’t believe that 2010 is the year of the Linux tablet. As a matter of fact, I don’t think that any Linux device will ever out-iPad the iPad. Linux aficionados have been proclaiming the ‘year of Linux’ on desktops for as far back as I can remember. Every year, every distribution, Linux fans rejoice and proclaim that the end is nigh for Microsoft and Apple domination, and that Linux is going to take over the world. Why? Because they believe that ‘free’ will triumph over commercial.

The author summarizes my perspective exactly (though completely unintended) in a later paragraph, where he says ‘In my opinion, Linux won’t offer this kind of magic. To bring magic like Apple does, Linux and the companies bringing Linux have to act like Apple. That means secrecy, a closed development model, a one-size-fits-all solution and one and only one manufacturer / organization which oversees hardware, software, marketing and the developer community. Not going to happen for free software and Linux!’ If we break down this statement meaningfully, we see that that in order to bring an almost perfect user experience, one needs to have a closed development model, and a single manufacturer designing both the hardware AND software. He continually pushes Android, an flavor of Linux being driven by a company (Google) with a lot of money behind it, and a development structure (management) that is not available in a community driven environment.

The author highlights another perspective I share (again, unintentionally I’m sure), when he states that ‘Android is much more popular, and the magic comes from Google, Google marketing Android at big device manufacturers and the platform being ‘pretty open’. Also, in contrary to my limited view, Google understood the issue about marketing and education. That’s why, in advent of the ballot screen, they ran huge adds outside on busstops, along highways and buildings at least in NL and UK and they even bought their own front page add on free newspapers read by millions of Dutch readers.’ It’s funny how advertising is so important even for something free. He realizes that the idealistic nature of Linux (free) is not merely enough to make people want it. Money (and lots of it) must be spent in order for something to be adopted. Nothing in life is free, and unfortunately, the majority of the Linux community seem to miss that fact.

The author concludes with a short(sighted) paragraph, stating that ‘Android on the tablet will be what Windows was on the desktop. But it will be easier for other Linux to co-exist with Android than with Windows, so for those who like to tinker the feature is pretty bright.’ But I thought that Linux by its very nature was supposed to be open, so that it can coexist easily with everything? Therefore, it shouldn’t be easier to code for Linux rather than Windows. Unfortunately, developers tend to code more for the platforms that make them money (but hey, everything in life should be free right? ), and the majority of developers will tend to code for the Windows desktop OS. Also, I think it is very short-sighted to conclude that Microsoft will not be targeting the tablet market as well.

This post may come across a little bit harsh toward Linux. However, the fact remains that without proper guidance/direction in the development of a Linux tablet OS, and proper marketing, Linux will never succeed. For this ‘free’ operating system to succeed, money, and lots of it, must be spent. The only problem is that it is not the general Linux community who will pay for it. Rather, it will be (is) big corporations (see Google) who fork out tons of money. It just seems that the Linux community does not get this fact, or, if they do, do not care about freeloading the money to support their dream of a ‘free’ OS.

A feature that very few people seem to have noticed/commented on is the E-mail notification feature. When someone makes a ‘comment’ on an item in your ‘news feed’, you are sent an email notification. What’s particularly interesting is that after you read the E-mail notification, and something else occurs on the same Buzz item, the original email appears to have the time-stamp changed, status set to unread, and the contents of the E-mail itself update dynamically to reflect the latest occurrences on that Buzz item. I have not yet tested whether the time-stamp changes only on IMAP accounts, or whether a similar ‘dynamic’ occurrence happens with POP accounts as well.

This aspect of Buzz intrigues me. I’d venture that this is Google’s first attempt at blurring the lines between Google Wave communication and E-mail. I suspect that once they perfect this technique of seemingly dynamic E-mail reception, the next logical step will be two-way communication from a single E-mail/Wave item.

One other thing intrigues me about Google Buzz. How will it affect Google’s news algorithms?

I think Google Buzz really is an algorithmically beautiful piece of work. The blurring and meshing of website content, Twitter feeds, RSS feeds, all with the ability to custom permission the ability for others to comment on your items. In a world where Facebook’s young leadership are attempting to strong-arm open all communication to public eye, Google seems to realize (after their first few days of dealing with Buzz backlash) that people aren’t ready or willing to open up two-way communication with the entire world.

First, in response to John Nack, who makes the point that Flash has brought standardization to the web. Yes, while it did bring a standard to the web for a while, once Adobe purchased Macromedia, Flash itself started fragmenting into many different versions which supported different levels of features. This resulted in many users having to upgrade their Flash plugins depending on the site visited. How is this any better a ‘standard’ than HTML5? Might as well force the user to upgrade their browser to a standards-compliant version.
So, Flash provides ubiquitous browser video playback? Who cares? YouTube and Vimeo are switching to HTML5, Hulu is committed to providing iPad compliant service, and everyone else doesn’t care what they use to play video in their browser. As Internet Explorer 8 begins mass penetration (via Windows 7) and Internet Explorer 6 support is dropped (as Google announced yesterday), Flash will become less & less important. Lets be honest here. The only reason Flash is really needed is IE6′s existence. Everything else can and should be implemented via HTML5 and standards-compliant services such as OpenType.
John Nack concludes with a point that the Flash team will likely be using the GPU to bring fast performance to the desktop plugin. Who cares? The iPad and iPhone are mobile devices. Utilizing a separate GPU to do the processing is irrelevant on a mobile device that uses System-on-a-Chip design.
He also makes the point that the download size for QuickTime is twice that of Flash. Irrelevant. Most of the Flash-haters he is targeting with this post (and most Adobe CS users) are running a Mac, with native support. And most people with iTunes installed (read: everyone with an iPod/iPhone) have QuickTime installed as part of Apple Software Update. So no, ubiquity is not dependent on the download size of your plugin.

Second, in response to The Flash Blog. Have of the sites you illustrated have an iPhone compliant version (as pointed out by Mark Hughes here), and likely more will by the time iPad launches. Other sites have worthwhile iPhone app alternatives. Why should I use your plugin if the iPad supports native HTML5, and the majority of video media is capable of being delivered to me that way (YouTube, Vimeo, and Hulu?) I don’t want to play Flash web games, and with the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, most games that people will be playing will be native iPhone apps anyway. So there is no use for Flash for media playback or gaming on iPhone OS. What does Flash offer me then?
Your Flash plugin performance sucks. Small wonder Apple didn’t want didn’t want a battery pig like that on the iPhone and iPad.

Flash is dead. I hate the platform with a passion, and while I’d love to watch it die a long and slow death, the faster it goes the better. With Google’s latest announcement that they will stop supporting IE6, HTML5 ubiquity will hopefully begin. Flash is useless if my content is delivered to me through other streams, whether the iTunes store, HTML5, or a dedicated app. If I want an ‘interactive’ game, I’ll stick with a native iPhone or iPad application. There is nothing that Flash offers me, and no real way for it to ‘innovate’ against the march of technological progress. Welcome to the New World folks.

While some may view the lack of multi-tasking on the iPad to be a drawback, I for one view it as a plus. Since I will be using it primarily as a means of reading content (whether web, eBook, or eMagazine), I do not want distractions from other apps. Everytime I get a Growl notification on my MacBook Pro, I switch focus. No multi-tasking = less distraction.

I am disappointed by the lack of security measures on the iPad. I tend to lean toward paranoia when it comes to electronic security (one of the pluses of working in the government/health/financial sector), and do not want my data being accessible to someone else at the mere swipe of a finger. I will not be using this for any work purposes until there is a better authentication mechanism.

I’m also disappointed with the lack of a webcam. A webcam would truly complete the home user experience of this device. However, Apple has seen fit to save that for another revision, so we must suffer sans video for the time being.

Overall I’m very pleased with the device. I love the way Steve Jobs positioned it as a market all to itself. It’s not intended to replace the PCs/Macs, and it’s not designed to replace the iPhone/iPod Touch. It is truly an intermediate device, one which may become the primary computing mechanism for neophytes. As someone else pointed out, non-technical people will pick this device up and not even realize that what they are doing is considered computing.

I don’t suspect we’ll see any remotely capable competition for quite sometime, at which point Apple will have improved the device again. As John Gruber pointed out, the custom designed chip has enabled Apple to put the performance of the device far ahead of any competing silicon. And since the chip is Apple’s, competitors will have to wait for Intel or another manufacturer to produce a truly competitive CPU. I’d guess Intel is none too happy with Apple at this point.

Air Contacts is a great app. It essentially sets up a localized webserver, and presents all your contact information (no matter the source) in a simple, MobileMe-esque interface. You can browse individual contacts, with an option at the bottom of each contact item to export a vCard. At the top of the web interface there is an option to export all contacts. This page in turn has options to export a zip file with the information, a Windows formatted vCard, a Mac vCard, or an iPhone contact backup vCard. It is a very well thought out design.

I initially ran into a bug with contact export crashing the app. After contacting the developer and submitting the crash logs, it was determined that some malformed contact image data wasn’t being handled properly. A few hours later the developer sent me an updated test application to see if he’d fixed the issue. After running the test app, I can safely say that the problem is fixed. Once the updated version hits the App Store (v1.7), I highly recommend this app to anyone looking for an easy way to extract their old Exchange contact information from their iPhone.

Overall, I give this app a 4/5. This app serves its purpose very well. Had it not been for the bug I ran into, this would have been 5/5.

You can view the developer’s website at http://www.apptism.com/apps/air-contacts and purchase it on the iPhone App Store for $1.99.