Hot Koehl

Reviews for Apple’s iPad are all over the place. Personally, I feel that tablets have tried and failed enough times in the general consumer market to call the concept dead. iPad will likely find adoption in the same niche’s as its predecessors: hospitals and other similar venues where it can effectively replace a manilla folder of documents.

Instead, I find the lack of Flash support more interesting to consider. This seems like a terrible omission for a device that Jobs touts as “the best browsing experience you’ve ever had” (around 3:10). I don’t know about you, but *my* browsing experience would be far less than perfect without access to the de facto standard video streaming technology.

The decision was apparently made due to compatibility problems…

Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.

That may be where the web world is headed, but the iPad is entering a market nowhere near that reality. This just screams classic Apple mindset. They may share the mantra “Everyone else’s stuff is crap” with Microsoft, but Apple tacks the phrase “and that’s why you can’t use it,” onto the end.

I thought that Apple had figured out the market, how to balance a closed platform in order to maintain stability and skyrocket profitability. The Flash decision definitely throws that balance off kilter, and now I’m curious to see if they’ll fall back into the decision-making style of the PC wars in the late 80′s and early 90′s (Note to the kiddies: Mac wasn’t always “cool.” They lost a lot of weight and their acne cleared up just as you entered buying age).

They can get away with dictatorial control over platforms like the iPod and iPhone because they are very focused devices. However iPad is a closer technical cousin to the laptop than the smartphone, and the last few years of App Store and iTunes revenue may be skewing their vision on this one.

My gut tells me they are using iPad to push public perception away from Flash and toward HTML5. There’s no way they’ll make such a play on the Mac platform, but the iPad offers very controlled environment to test the waters. If people (continue to) complain, they’ll publish the iPad Flash patch that they’ve already got sitting on the shelf. Trust me, it’s there.

Update: This image sums up the problem for me quite nicely.

…I suggest you do so immediately. We’ll have a major announcement by the end of the day, and the perks that come with signing up beforehand will go away at that time. Basically this is your last chance to get into the Fwd:Vault Beta, and enjoy the perks we have planned for our beloved early adopters.

Not-so-subtle hint: Beta users will have the chance to enjoy a serious lifetime discount.

I typically hate the random flash games that go around the web, but I stumbled on one today that’s actually pretty fun, if only because of the mechanic at work. It’s called Invisible Cursor.

The game randomly spawns targets for you to click, but you can’t see the mouse cursor, forcing you to “feel” your way to each target. You do get a quick highlight of the cursor location each time you click, but it’s really brief and is accompanied by a screen flash and the target shattering. Oh and you only have a few seconds to shoot your next target.

It’s got all the depth of most web games (i.e. none), but the effect of trying to hit targets without seeing your cursor is very similar to playing a first person shooter. Lots of motion on the screen and you need to be accurate, thus demanding fast response times and a lot of eye-hand coordination. If you suck a sniping, I suggest you play this for a while to improve your aiming skills.

My top score right now is 164 408. Feel free to brag in the comments if you beat me.

If you still don’t have any plans this evening and will be in the downtown Philadelphia area, you’re welcome to come out and meet me at the Philly Startup Leaders next Fishbowl event. We’ll be having a roundtable discussion of sales and marketing, with Fwd:Vault as the focus. Totally free to attend, light refreshments and snacks will be provided.

Registrations are still open, but you can make a last minute appearance if that’s what works for you.

PSL Fishbowl w/ Fwd:Vault
Wednesday, January 20th @ 7:00 pm
Terra Building, Room 1107
211 South Broad St., Philadelphia, PA

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The latest and greatest version of jQuery, version 1.4, was released on January 14, the birthday of jQuery’s original launch. Bugfixes and improvements abound!

The jQuery team has put together a site devoted to the new version, called the 14 days of jQuery, covering the major version changes as well as infrastructure updates coinciding with the new release. For example, the documentation site has been completely redesigned, and been moved to it’s own subdomain home, api.jquery.com. Links from the primary jquery.com site should be updated within the next week. With video demos of new features, Q&A’s with the core team (including founder John Resig), it’s well-worth checking out for every jQuery developer.

According to Search Engine Land, Google has been letting a “small number” of users try out a revamp to the search results page, and yours truly has been lucky enough to stumble onto it a few times. Unfortunately, the small number are only given a small chance of actually seeing the damn thing, and even a refresh will bump you out of the redesign.

Having seen it whoosh by me a few times, I was ready for it last week, and managed to poke around and snap a screenshot:

I don’t think it will do anything to stem the “spartan design” criticisms, but it definitely makes it easier to access the menagerie of advanced search functions (assuming the left nav menu becomes a permanent fixture). The chunky blocks for the “Everything” and “Search” buttons are surprisingly effective at framing the page, making the entire layout less nebulous and giving off less of that “just there” feeling. Aligning the search box with the results is another subtle touch with big impact.

The Search Engine Land article provides more screenshots and hands-on time; I’ll post more if Google decides to let everyone else look at more than 1 pageload at a time. In the meantime, compare the screenshot with the current advanced date search layout and see what you think.

I’m usually dreadfully behind on viral sensations, so this time I’m gonna stay ahead of the curve this time.

This aired on American Idol last night:

A “Pants on the Ground” Facebook fan page followed very shortly thereafter. My wife and I saw 40,000+ fans before midnight last night.

The morning after, “Pants on the ground” is a trending Twitter topic, and usage of #pantsontheground is spiking.

I think I know why this has been picked up en masse, and it’s not just because it’s a catchy tune. More analysis when I have time to lay it out.

I know it’s last minute, but I’ll be at the PSL Happy Hour event tonight, mostly to plug my Fishbowl event next week. I’d love for you to come on out, grab a beer, and shoot the breeze.

6:30 – 9:30 PM
MidAtlantic Restaurant and Bar
3711 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-386-3711
http://www.midatlanticrestaurant.com

Fwd:Vault is hosting Philly Startup Leader’s next Fishbowl event, and you’re invited to attend for free!

So what’s a Fishbowl? An event that lives up to its namesake, really. One business puts itself in the metaphorical fishbowl, presenting itself and a current situation they are facing, and solicit the community for feedback. It’s beneficial for all involved: the hosting company gets valuable insight from knowledgeable sources on a targeted topic, wiser heads pass on their hard-earned knowledge, and everyone has the opportunity to learn and network.

The focus of the event is based on the hosting company’s needs. In my case, Fwd:Vault is “this close” to a commercial launch, and I need to start shifting my focus from development to marketing and sales. Unfortunately, my direct experience in these areas is pretty weak, and I’m making guesses about where to begin. Enter the Fishbowl, and community of business owners who have been there before. Insight ensues.

PSL Fishbowl w/ Fwd:Vault
Wednesday, January 20th @ 7:00 pm
Location: Terra Building, Room 1107
Address: 211 South Broad St.

Come meet me and other stellar business owners, learn, network.

PSL is a community of entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia area, I’ve written about them before.

The term “CV” seems to be making the rounds in professional programming circles lately. If you had the same head-tilting “Huh?” reaction that I did, here’s the deal.

CV is short for Curriculum Vitae, and is commonly used in academic circles and abroad. It’s essentially a highly-detailed resume, covering all your skills, background, awards, etc. It’s also consequently longer than your average resume, 2 pages at a minimum. There’s a great writeup about CV’s on About.com.

So why the sudden pop in “CV” usage by programmers? As far as I can tell, it started over at Stack Overflow, specifically with their new Careers subsection. They’ve developed a system for posting all your developer creds, tied it into your existing Stack Overflow account, and labeled it a CV. The term works, given that the goal is to entice employers and employees to the site. What they serve up is obviously not a traditional CV, but rather an offshoot tailored for developers. Others have been jumping on the bandwagon ever since.

So there you go, the next time you see the term CV, and you’re not in academia or looking for a job abroad, chances are you’re dealing with a programmer.