ExpanDrive

There’s an amazing thread on Stack Overflow titled “What is your best programmer joke?” The whole first page is full of good ones that I hadn’t heard before, but the top post is really priceless:

A man flying in a hot air balloon suddenly realizes he’s lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts to get directions, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below says: “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.”

“You must work in Information Technology,” says the balloonist.

“I do” replies the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the balloonist, “everything you have told me is technically correct, but It’s of no use to anyone.”

The man below replies, “You must work in management.”

“I do” replies the balloonist, “But how’d you know?”

“Well”, says the man, “you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”

One of the most common questions we get at ExpanDrive headquarters is “How much space do I get when I buy ExpanDrive?” This is an awkward question for us for a couple reasons. First, it shows that we haven’t done a great job at getting people to understand what ExpanDrive actually does (take files from your own server and puts them on your desktop).

Second, that question told us that there were a lot of users out there that want something that ExpanDrive can almost give to them. They want to use ExpanDrive, and we want them to use it, but we didn’t have a server for them to us. We think that ExpanDrive is the best file transfer client in the world, but if you don’t have access to an SFTP server of your own then it doesn’t do you a whole lot of good.

That’s why I’m thrilled to announce today that ExpanDrive has acquired Strongspace and BingoDisk from Joyent. With this acquisition ExpanDrive will provide an online storage service with unsurpassed quality of service and user experience.

Strongspace was originally launched by Joyent in 2005 as an online storage service which allows users to securely store and access data using industry standard protocols such as SFTP and rsync. We are taking StrongSpace to the next level. While still built on the same Solaris and ZFS technology that Joyent pioneered, Strongspace has been completely re-written and re-architected to be faster, more reliable, and more powerful.

In addition, the Strongspace service has been designed from the ground up to be the perfect companion to the ExpanDrive client. We’ve been working hard to couple the two with great extensions built into both the client and the server.

Strongspace is currently invitation only while we transition existing customers and will be available to everyone shortly.

ExpanDrive 2.0.3 for Mac is now available for download and via the auto updater. It fixes a variety of issues such as PowerPC support on SFTP and a inconsistency that could crop up with our internal data cache. It also adds a few small features such as listing the drive type in the menu bar drop down.

ExpanDrive v2.0.3 also adds preliminary Snow Leopard support, which we’d love some feedback on.

Due to the nature of the fixes we highly recommend you upgrade.

For many people two numbers is a reality. And while some people might be okay with one number which serves both for work and personal – I am not. Up until Google Voice, this basically meant two handsets. Two handsets suck unless you’re one of those goofballs toating around a man-purse. Even then it sucks.

Google Voice on the iPhone, with an application that lets you dial – like GV Mobile by Sean Kovaks, lets you accomplish the impossible: you can stop carrying both a personal cell phone and a work cell phone. It’s now possible to have one GSM phone with two numbers, two voice mailboxes and the ability to dial out or text from either number.

About 8 months ago I transitioned my business number over to a Google Voice account. Google Voice includes an important feature which lets you choose if the caller id sent to your handset is your Google Voice number or that of the caller.

now all incoming calls on the Google Voice account ring as “ExpanDrive – mobile” on my iPhone.

This allows me to filter calls based on availability – but perhaps more importantly, answer with the appropriate greeting. It’s lame to always answer with a business greeting for any unknown number – and you can’t just answer a work number with “Hello?” Additionally, Google Voice gives you the luxury of two voice mailboxes. When you don’t pick up, calls that came in on your Google Voice number go to your Google Voice inbox – and your personal to your AT&T inbox.

What really makes this a feasible solution for fulltime use is a dialing application. Without this the ability to dial out on either number, you always dial from your personal number. You can receive calls on your business number, but you can’t make them. Customers or partners with whom you’re trying to develop a relationship will always have your personal number. That is a recipe for disaster.

GV Mobile lets you dial from Google Voice number directly from your handset. If you’re not familiar – it goes like this. You open GV Mobile and thumb through your contacts or enter a number – hit call. GV Mobile initiates a Google Voice call – which rings your handset – you pick up. As you pick up it dials the other party, showing them your Google Voice number on their caller ID. It is awesome.

As you might imagine, I’m fairly dismayed that Apple is pulling all Google Voice apps out of the app store. While I am sure that somebody, if not Google, will create a web-based dialer that serves the same purpose, it is quite unsettling that Apple is pulling all of these apps off the market – because they mean a lot to guys like me.

I got a new (June 2009) MacBook Pro recently. It performs reasonably well, but I ran into two beefs that a lot of people seem to be having:

• the built-in audio stopped working after I installed the EFI firmware update.
• there’s no friggin’ Enter key (instead, a second Option key has been added).

Because the MacBook Pro ships with an unconscionably small 160GB hard drive, I wanted to pull the replacement 500GB HD directly out of my old MacBook and use that. I figured this would surely result in some disastrous driver issue, but Jon Shea insisted that everything would be fine.

Yet, immediately after installing the Bluetooth and firmware updates, the only sound I could get out of my computer was the startup chime. Checking the Sound preference pane, I found:

Built-in sound in was similarly absent:

This isn’t the jammed optical connector that plagued the previous edition of MacBooks, and it seems to be happening to quite a few people. The standard solution is to archive and install from the restore disks, but that takes a long time, and restore disks aren’t something you’re likely to have access to on the road.

My short-term solution? Plug in a USB amp or microphone. Yes, it costs you a USB port, but if you’ve got one around, it works immediately. What’s really crazy is that the USB amp I used when this problem came up was from a PowerMac G4 Cube. Why the MBP recognizes a decade-old, one-off part with no hassle at all, but not the hardware architecture its software is custom-tailored to support, is beyond me.

Then there’s the second option key. Don’t ask me why on earth Apple thinks I need a second option key when I barely use the first—probably Steve Jobs loves keyboard symmetry as much as he hates buttons. Anyway, I think Enter is awesome because it doesn’t carry the burden of an old typewriter carriage return, and my 1st gen white MacBook had one—but now it’s been replaced.

So if you want to submit a form, send an IM, record a transaction in Quicken, or any number of things that you don’t want to muck up with accidental line breaks, you’ll need to do some key remapping. There a plenty of options out there, but I’ve had the best luck with KeyRemap4MacBook. While other options like Ukulele offer easier access to special characters and custom key layouts, KeyRemap is perfect for altering the various function keys—just a simple SystemPreferences pane, plus cool support for hackbooks and no-BS text editors like Emacs and Vi.

ExpanDrive v2.0.3 will add support for Snow Leopard, but until then we are offering a modified ExpanDrive v2.02 for those who have started to run Snow Leopard full time. Please consider this beta software and not that it has not yet been heavily tested. You can download here

I got to pull apart some bolts with an Instron strain tester in college, but this looks way more fun. Here’s video two and three.

Around this time last year, I wrote a post lampooning those who would compare Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And for the most part, I feel the same way. It’s nothing against Kobe, but Jordan is Jordan. Even if you can put up numbers like his in games like his with a style like his, you’ll still never be able to surpass his legend.

To emerge from a shadow like this, you’ve gotta make your own legend. Eddy Merckx is the Jordan of cycling. During a five year stretch at the peak of his career, Merckx won one out of every three races he started. He dominated opponents in the fastest sprints, the toughest cobblestones and the highest mountains. And you know why you never heard of Eddy Merckx? Because Lance Armstrong won 7 Tours de France in a row.

This year’s NBA Finals were significant for Kobe. No disrespect to his current supporting cast, but they don’t hold a candle to any of Jordan’s teams, or the 2000-2002 LA title squads. Kobe was in a position to be The Man for LA, and this time he came through. 30-plus points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in each of the games? Those are Jordan numbers—literally.

So how else to step out of MJ’s bald, large-eared shadow? I’ve got a few suggestions that I think will let Kobe create his own legacy in the annals of the NBA.

Make Your Own Records—Jordan is (at long last) done with the NBA record books. But rather than compete against history, Bryant might to better to take on a few challenges Jordan never thougth of. The press loved Kobe’s 61-point record-setter at MSG this February. Granted, Madison Square is the Mecca, but collecting the full-set of NBA arena records would be huge.

Focus on Spectacle—MJ was a rockstar spokesman, who handled fame with aplomb. Kobe, not so much. But I think Number 24 could actually use his aversion to the spotlight as an advantage. Rather than constant exposure, shoot for fewer, high profile appearances. Case in point: Bryant was awesome as the face of the Redeem Team at last summer’s Olympics. Focus on one-off events—maybe try and turn the 2012 All-Star game into a 50th Anniversary of Wilt’s 100 point performance at Hersheypark.

Beat the Legends Alone—Though he was always amazing, it wasn’t until the development of his supporting cast—especially Scottie Pippen—that the Bulls of the 1990s were able to overcome seriously good teams in playoff situations. Defeating a revived Boston Big Three—or better yet the newly-forged Shaq/LeBron partnership—with the current Lakers squad would make Kobe’s performances stand out separately from Jordan’s.

Love The Game—Kobe, I know you love basketball. But man, sometimes I feel like you’re just out there to make money. You always get so sour when the screws are on. If that’s your on-court demeanor, so be it—change your court. Get caught on cell phone cameras goofing around at a pick-up game somewhere. Take a basketball out on a jog every once in a while. You don’t even have to talk to anyone—just play and have a good time. Secretly, I know you want to.

Change The Game—When Jordan started losing a step in his 30s, he enlisted a variety of new maneuvers to create space in front of his jumper. It converted the turnaround from a low-percentage, desperation move into a must-have weapon in every player’s arsenal. His Airness’s second retirement began seconds after a beautiful (and some would say illegal) jumper—it would be nice to see Kobe put his signature on the game in a similar fashion (and maybe be a little more serious about retiring).

Do you even know what one is? If you’re reading this, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you do. But according to a highly-informal Google poll conducted this April, fewer than 8% of Times Square bystanders knew what a web browser was.

As painful as this is to watch, it goes quite a way toward explaining why each morning, I wake up to an inbox full of multi-millionaire Nigerians and pills offering an “xtra 2 !n¢hes of grith” [sic].

Don’t get me wrong, the answers in this video aren’t universally off—two guys interviewed pretty much nail it, and even the big dude who claims to be “not a computer guy” knew the “blue e explorer” was his browser. As a whole, I’d say they’re more tech savvy than Orin Hatch, but somewhere behind Ted Stevens.

If this poll is reflective of the general population, it brings up all sorts of interesting points. Number one is that the internet must be pretty freakin’ safe—either that, or not enough skilled individuals have been shunted into the identity theft industry. I’d also say the fact that people like this use the Internet and still have assets is a pretty big win for public-key cryptography.

Another point this brings up licensing. Would someone so ignorant of the rules of the road work be allowed to drive? Or so ignorant of firearm safety be allowed to own a gun? Granted, the immediate consequences of poor driving/gun use are more dire, but the economic impact of botnets, spam, phishing schemes and other fraud largely dependent on ignorant users shouldn’t be underestimated.

Finally, this video levels a pretty serious indictment against Americans—or at least Americans who wonder aimlessly around Times Square on a weekday. We’re too used to looking at things as if they were magic boxes. If the box breaks, take it to a magician, give him some money, he does some magic, and it works again. Certainly, ads with identity thieves climbing around inside your computer do nothing to dispel that myth.

I say the problem is cultural because this is long how Americans have dealt with that other indispensible possession, the automobile. Sure, most people know how to drive a car, but if I asked 50 people on the street what a catalytic converter was, I’m not sure I’d have a much higher success rate than Google did.

But considering the growing impact general computer awareness (note that I did not say “computer skills”) has on universally important things like getting a job—as a story from today’s Morning Edition higlights—I just don’t think this level of ignorance is sustainable. The inability to change an oil filter will have no impact at most offices, but the inability to recognize a virus-laced email almost invariably will.

General skills like the difference between a browser and a search engine, or between a file attachment and a virus, are the sort of basic knowledge that people should be taught early on in schools. If this video survey is any indication, treating the PC like a glorified typewriter for the past 20 years hasn’t done a whole lot in the way of education.

Mozilla Labs is hosting another Extend Firefox competition aimed at creating awesome extensions for Firefox 3.5. I’ve been using Firefox 3.5 for a couple months now and it’s a huge improvement. Given how many browser choices are out there, what really separates Firefox from the pack for me is extensions like Firebug.

We’re super excited to sponsor this competition alongside all-stars like MacroMates, Sofa, Manning Publications and InformIT. 14 licenses of ExpanDrive are up for grabs along with a handful of MacBook Pro’s as well as some great books and software. If you have any ideas for a Firefox extension brewing, now is the time. Last year brought about some pretty awesome entries.