February 7, 2010

HTML5 is a Contradiction

I attended a presentation by Molly.com recently where she gave an overview of what HTML5 is trying to do and some of what it will bring to the "browser as a platform" over the next decade. A lot of what was presented is a welcome improvement over the current situation faced by web developers. But I did have two criticisms, which I voiced and which HTML5 does not currently address.

The decision to no longer version the state of the technology is a mistake. As I understood from the talk, one goal of HTML5 is to make it so it is backwards compatible with everything currently out there and to carry that backwards compatibility forward into future versions. The former is an admirable goal, but the latter is a misguided attempt at making HTML5 future compatible and technology doesn't work that way.

I brought up the example of the required attribute on form elements. If the required attribute was not part of HTML5 right now, and was later added, then making use of the tag in future web applications would mean your application is broken in older HTML5 implementations. Since there is no version, you cannot state that your application requires a browser to support a specific version and you are left with the sorry state of having to ask your runtime environment if a feature exists or coding for the least common denominator. I argue that the latter is going to maximize compatibility with minimal headache.

Can you imagine if Java or .NET did things this way? Your current Java 1.6 source code would be limited to API provided in Java 1.0 and everything else would be bundled libraries or your own code if you didn't want to maintain crazy special-case code for every new Java API that's come out in the past 10 years.

And this is exactly the problem Android is facing. iApp developers can write something once and know that it will run fine on all iPods, iPhones, and now iPads. This dramatically decreases code complexity and allows developers to focus on the application rather than the platform. Android developers are not able to simply require an OS version. Different phones support a different set of APIs and application developers have to insert special-case code for different hardware. It's a nightmare.

Of course this is the way things are in the world right now. Which web developers are used to and maybe don't think is a big deal. But if you're going to spend the time to change things for the better, you have to do it right.

This leads to my second criticism. Due to the annoying nature of web development right now, where a site like QuirksMode is necessary and you have to test every change in a dozen browser/platform combinations, HTML5 is admirably stepping up and requiring all browsers to implement features exactly the same. The specification is very detailed and the goal is not to leave anything up to chance. Cover all the cases.

But some of the features covered by HTML5 are currently, or may be in the future, features that are provided at a level lower than the application. Mac OS X's widget implementations is a great example of this. You no longer code your own text input widgets, or your own spell check. But HTML5 includes a spell check attribute which, if you want to avoid ambiguity, would require the same implementation in all browsers. As a result, my experience using a web browser on Mac OS X may be wrong. Wrong in the sense that it does not provide the same experience consistently provided by all other user interfaces on my platform.

So you see, HTML5 is a contradiction because it says everything must be strictly defined so all web applications look and behave the same in all browsers and on all platforms while at the same time saying the feature set is undefined. The former because the engineers are tired of the horrible state of web development which cannot scale and is a tremendous drain, and the later because the thinkers don't want to limit themselves or have to come back to the 10-year drawing board again in two years when a new feature is added to deal with advances in technology.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

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February 6, 2010

Patrick Stewart on Digital Culture

I got a real kick out of this short monologue by Patrick Stewart.

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January 27, 2010

Speaker Wire Haiku

This comes up every once in a while during conversation, so I thought I'd make sure not to forget it anymore. I wrote this haiku as part of a contest run by Audioholics and won a 1000' of 14/4 Class 2 in-wall speaker wire from Impact Acoustics.

Here's my winning Haiku:

Speaker wire roots
Blossom into gorgeous notes
Hear the sound of life

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January 26, 2010

Magnepan 1.6

While visiting various audio boutique shops a while back, originally to audition some amplifiers, I happened across a stellar setup at Audible Arts. A large room with decent acoustics was running a pair of Analysis Audio full range ribbons, driven by a VTL TL-7.5 and Spectron Musician III Mk2 amplifier. The Analysis Audio speakers need an amp like the Spectron because their impedance drops so incredibly low. I was using my Neko Audio D100 DAC for the source.

There was a very specific sweet spot, but it sounded amazing. Hearing this setup sold me on full-range planars without an enclosure (i.e. dipole). Not because I wanted the rear wave, but because they are just so quick and the smear goes away. Of course the electronics need to be free of smearing as well, but with planars the whole boxy sound goes away and everything is incredibly crisp and tight.

I have had some experience with ribbon and planar audio technology since I have Onix Reference 3 and Strata Mini speakers. But a real dipole planar was just so much more impressive. I'd originally picked the Reference 3 in part because I wanted a ribbon tweeter, and that was a nice improvement over other tweeters I had heard. But this was no comparison.

I started shopping around to see what sort of planars would work for me, given my budget. I listened to some Martin Logan speakers but was disappointed by the lack of bass control. Except for the CLX, the Martin Logan speakers incorporate a cone driver for the low frequencies. The integration at the crossover point didn't impress me, and I did not hear the tight control I had heard with the Analysis Audio speakers. They were being driven by Pioneer's flagship receiver, so that may have had something to do with it.

Then I stopped by The New Audible Difference to check out the Magnepan line. I listened to the 12, 1.6, and 3.6. This was a sound that I loved. I decided then and there that this is the speaker I wanted to get. The Magnepan sound quality was very close to the Analysis Audio ribbons, and much more affordable. :) I also felt the Magnepan off-axis behavior was slightly better than the Analysis Audio speakers, which would make things a bit more enjoyable.

There was a significant difference between the 12 and 1.6 in large part due to the different height. The 12's made everything sound like they were coming from some point near the floor, while the 1.6 and 3.6 presented a better height. I didn't feel there was much difference between the 1.6 and 3.6, and in truth after speaking to Magnepan I decided I could not run the 3.6 speakers because I would risk damage from my subwoofers.

After setting things up at home, I am extremely happy. As I mentioned earlier, I was not particularly interested in the rear wave acoustic signature, and I like the sound much more without it. So I've placed acoustic panels almost immediately behind them to absorb the rear wave.

I am using the Magnepans with my subwoofers and an 80Hz crossover. The Magnepan speakers won't play very loud due to their low sensitivity and physical limitations, and of course they do not extend as low as my subs. But the integration is extremely good. There's no way I could run Magnepan speakers for home theater, but for music they're absolutely wonderful.

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January 22, 2010

Pow Pow

Solar Gard gets some free publicity from this amazing Pow! Pow! booth babe.

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September 19, 2009

What's In The Box

It's been a very long time since I last blogged. But something popped up today that really caught my attention. What's In The Box. I'm not really sure what this is. Do your own exploring. Something is coming. (Half-Life 2?)

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October 5, 2008

Final Fantasy XII

I finally finished Final Fantasy XII. This is probably the first Final Fantasy where I ended up trying to do all sorts of unnecessary and somewhat hard to find side quests. I suspect mostly because of the new combat system, which is a lot like combat might be in a MMORPG and no doubt a lot of the engine came from the work put into Final Fantasy XI. Exploring and moving through the environments was more engaging and interesting, because combat just happens without you having to enter a special game mode. Which makes moving between places feel more natural.

In this new combat system, you control one of your three party characters and can switch back and forth at will. The other two characters are set to execute commands in a prioritized list, using what Square Enix calls gambits. So you might set Penelo to heal whenever someone gets low on HP, but otherwise cast haste and then finally attack if none of those spells are necessary. Because I ended up doing a lot of exploring and side quests, I did get all of my characters to level 99. That's the first time I've done that in a Final Fantasy. It did help that you can equip accessories that will increase your experience awarded.

The party I ended up using most was Ashe, Penelo, and Fran. That provided a pretty good mix of close-combat, healing, and ranged-attack. Bathier wasn't particularly interesting to use with his guns. Vaan is sort of a basic all-around character, and Basch was my pole-arms fighter. In Final Fantasy XII, you sort of have complete control over how your characters end up developing because you can purchase skills on the License Board. In the beginning it makes sense to focus characters on different skill sets so you have a good combination in your party. Later on, it is possible to purchase all the licenses and the characters are then differentiated by their natural talent (i.e. stats).

Final Fantasy XII is set in a world called Ivalice. It's a very rich world, with good back story and everything was made consistent. There are a number of different races, the most interesting being the Viera who are an apparently all-female race of rabbit-like humanoids that live in the woods, separate from the rest of civilization. Only a very few leave the wood to live among the other races. I'm not entirely sure how the Viera reproduce. This isn't made clear in the game, but there is one side quest where a Viera and Hume begin a relationship although it seems clear the two species cannot reproduce with each other.

The graphics of Final Fantasy XII aren't all that different than that found in Final Fantasy X. Perhaps a bit more polished, and the world environment is certainly different because it is fully 3-D and can be explored that way. I do feel like the music was bit less memorable and more background than thematic though. The environments were large, and you tended to spend quite a bit of time in them just since you have to travel by foot, and the music was composed to match.

The story was good, and typical of what you expect from the higher-numbered Final Fantasy games. Interesting, fully fleshed out, but also somewhat grounded and less fantastical than the ones put together for the earlier stories. For me, this is a bit unfortunate because it doesn't have the feel of a sweeping epic or provide me with an intense emotional connection.

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August 10, 2008

Wedding BBQ + Picnic

Luna and I had our official wedding celebration yesterday at Almaden Lake Park. It wasn't anything fancy, although we were both dressed up in suit and wedding dress. That was somewhat uncomfortable because I had to do a lot of heaving lifting and cooking and all of the setup. It was a barbeque with some Chinese food ordered from Mimi's Chinese Kitchen (a small family owned Chinese restaurant). The cake was from Flower Flour.

Of course my parents and brothers were here, along with both my brothers' girlfriends. Wendy and Brian were there. Mei-Ling and of course Shannon and Yvonne. Alla and her boyfriend Eric. Hsiuli and Spencer, plus I think an aunt or Hsiuli's aunt. Tintin made it. The BBQ and picnic lasted a few hours. Afterwards we went back home and some people came with us. Spencer really got into playing Settlers of Catan. Shannon and Yvonne liked to visit the kitties, of course.

At night I basically collapsed. I had been going on adrenaline the entire day in order to take care of everything. All the setup, cleaning, and hanging out with people. Once the adrenaline stopped I couldn't even really move.

On Sunday it was just Luna and me with Dennis and Iris, Calvin, and Spencer. We ate lunch at Round Table and then played a round of miniature golf at Golfland.

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June 30, 2008

LAFF 2008 + Electric Daisy

This year Netflix's film festival-related party was in Los Angeles as part of the LA Film Festival. Luna and I drove down and stayed in a hotel near the beach. We spent some time exploring there, and ate at a theme seafood restaurant (not super great). But probably the most memorable part of exploring was this pet store we found near the hotel that had some kittens and cats for adoption. Of course Luna wanted to bring them home, but we can't take care of any more cats than we already have.

Netflix's party was co-hosted by FOX again, in some expensive house up in the hills. I guess someone actually lives there, but it was available for rent. It has a really great view of Los Angeles, and there was a swimming pool and it was fairly large in comparison to the types of houses that you might find in the area. Luna mostly ate some food, and met Reed for the first time. I danced a little bit but not much. We didn't stay too late.

Since we had gone down to Los Angeles before, this time we went to Universal Studios instead of Disneyland. The park was much more movie-oriented of course, and more shows than rides. So I didn't find it as much fun but there were certainly a lot of interesting things to see. We did the ride that goes through the park and stage sets. There was a Mummy ride in promotion with the new Mummy movie. We had a good time for the most part.

At night I went with Greg Orzell to Electric Daisy. That was definitely the most exciting part of my trip. Luna isn't into that sort of music or dancing so she didn't go. It took us a long time to get inside, but it was really great. Tons of people, but not too many so you didn't have room to dance since it was outdoors at a stadium. Although it was too many if you wanted to try and get in and out of the stadium. I wasn't really dressed the part. I should have worn shorts and a T-shirt instead of slacks and a clubbing shirt. A lot of people were wearing a lot less clothing.

The best set was definitely by BT. His music is upbeat enough to keep the body moving, but intricate and beautiful at the same time instead of just being a bunch of drum 'n bass, jungle, or house. Paul Oakenfold was also there, but I thought his set was just okay. I also remember Paul Van Dyk's set, because he was last and probably the most heavily promoted of the artists. He included a strong laser light show, and it was probably good to place him last because his music is more trance and ambient so it slowed things down a bit. But that also meant it wasn't really the most exciting music to listen to in this party environment.

There was one scary incident during the carnival, when a girl collapsed. I ran to find the local paramedics, but by the time I actually found them someone had already called it in. I'm not sure what ended up happening to her, but I think she was okay when they found her.

Overall a really fun time. I danced pretty much non-stop for around four hours. Massive leg cramps but I danced through those too. :)

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June 18, 2008

Gunsmith Cats

Gunsmith Cats is a really fun read full of excitement and great characters. They're not really deep characters, but they've got a lot of personality and the interaction and relationships between them is excellent. This extends to the bad guys in the story as well.

I've blown through the original manga series, and started the sequel Gunsmith Cats Burst. Unfortunately the last volume of Burst isn't published in the U.S. yet, and so I'm left of a bit of a cliff-hanger. I'm really looking forward to the release of the last Burst volume.

I would guess the most distinctive feature of this manga is the attention to detail when it comes to firearms. Apparently Kenichi Sonada is a big gun fan, and so he does a lot of research into them and that carries over directly into the manga. Plus, he is very careful in his drawing and consistency, which I always appreciate since it gives a manga real polish. It's much more pleasant to read something that is fully consistent and view panels where you can see what is going on (even during heavy action) and flow together. A lot of mangaka fail at this, even the popular ones.

But what really keeps me going and not wanting to put down the book are the characters and plot. The story is long-running and fully fleshed out, and I can read these stories again and again and still enjoy them just as much as the first time. I'd have to say Gunsmith Cats is one of my favorite mangas.

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