Why the file system will never die

Today, traveling in the bus, I had some time to think and my mind wandered towards a discussion on twitter about the impending demise of the file system in the operating systems of tomorrow. This is, of course, fueled by the mobile operating systems like iOS, Android and Symbian where apps have all the access to different files within themselves but the use does not have direct access to them. One of the biggest issues with this is that if the functionality is not there, these files are not available to other softwares that the user installs and that which perform similar tasks to the default app. Continue reading

Why not this Life?

I was thinking today about how some people spend their entire lives exploring the wild or climbing mountains, not caring about money or taxes on different things, products, or even the energy they consume. This, as opposed to people like us who spend their days in offices and nights dreaming of being our own boss. Every life has its own hardships. Then I thought of those who paint or sing, spending their life in worship of their arts. They often live in poverty, not knowing fame or fortune, but knowing that they are doing what they love.

Why can’t the ordinary person be like that? Why can’t we just break free of death and taxes?

Maybe we can. We have just this one life. We need to use it to do everything we ever thought of doing, otherwise it’s a life well wasted. No point in that.

So, don’t do that job that pays better instead of that which you love. Don’t be stuck in the traffic when you really want to be climbing rocks. Don’t sit writing financial statements when you really want to be writing poetry!

Or maybe I am thinking these thoughts because I have a job and know it pays off the debt.

AT&T 4G Issues

I faced a strange problem today. I have an iPhone 4s with iOS 5.1.1 on AT&T’s 4G network in Boulder, Colorado.

I tried opening this blog of mine on my phone today. I tried multiple times when the bus was moving over many miles and also when I had stopped at a particular location. No show. I asked a friend to open it on his Samsung Galaxy Note (which is also on AT&T’s 4G network) but again, no show.

The blog was constantly giving us a 502 Bad Gateway error, meaning that either AT&T’s or my hosting provider’s servers are configured badly. When I reached my office, I opened the blog on my computer. It worked like a charm. At the same time, it did not load on my phone right there and then.

Upon digging a bit, I found that this is a problem for a lot of people all over the country, specifically on AT&T’s amazing 4G data network. Wonder what else doesn’t work!

Google Chrome for iOS – A great big benefit

Google launched their Chrome browser for iOS (iPhone and iPad) yesterday. Within minutes of the launch, the Internet was full of news of how laggy and useless the browser was because of the many restrictions on third party browsers by Apple. One blogger even went on to show with HTML5 rendering tests that Chrome was twice as slow as mobile Safari.

Great, so you found bugs in an app that’s just been released. I found a feature. I was doing some research last night about WordPress. I left the tabs open in my laptop’s Chrome browser and slept off. Today, while standing at the bus stop waiting for transportation, I whipped out my iPhone and opened Chrome. Under the “Other devices” section, I quickly found the tab that is open on my computer and continued my research. Simple as that.

I know that the browser has its faults but not because of something Google did. In fact, Google fulfilled a long running request – to bring the Chrome browser to iOS. It is Apple’s heavy restrictions that do not allow Chrome to function so well.

After Apple’s shifting away from Google Maps in iOS 6, there’s not much goodwill left in the companies *in my opinion* (in case you’re about to refute, I know Google pays millions to Apple to be the default search in Safari). I say Google et al should sue Apple for monopoly over the iOS browser as Netscape vs Microsoft was.

WordPresser: An HTML5 iOS blogger tool

WordPress is a great blogging tool. It has a lot of potential and in it’s more recent updates, it has grown from simply a blogging tool to a content management solution. I use wordpress on this blog for two purposes – blogging and tweeting. You see, twitter is a great service but the 140 character limit is a pain. There are thus a lot of services that allow for longer tweets. But I prefer using my blog for long tweets using the hash tag #LongTweet.

To tweet quickly from my iPhone, I want to use the WordPress app for iOS but it’s not adequate. So, I’ve built WordPresser. It’s a web app that uses HTML5 and XML-RPC to post to your wordpress.org blog. The link you need is – WordPresser. Open this in your iPhone or iPod’s Safari (opening it in any other browser doesn’t do much). Once you’ve opened it, save it to your Homescreen, it’ll save as a web app with the name “WordPresser”.

Before you go further, there are two things you need to do with your blog. One is conventional, the other, not so much. Continue reading