LaTeX User Script Updates

I posted a minor update to the LaTeX for Blogger user script to fix it in Blogger's new editor.

Southwest In-flight Wifi

Posted from somewhere over the Midwest.

Google+ Tip: Hashtags

If you've ever used Twitter, then you'll be familiar with this relatively recent Google+ addition. Use a pound sign followed by a word to create a hashtag. Use it for common keywords or search terms. Google+ will turn it into a link which when clicked will search for all posts with the tag.

Initially, Google seemed reluctant to add hashtags, with some employees saying that they were unintuitive and a poor replacement for a good search. But people used hashtags on Google+ despite the lack of support and about two weeks ago, Google rolled out an update including improved search and hashtags.

Google+: Full Steam Ahead

Just two days after I posted I had been waiting for Google+ to leave its invite-only field test before I deleting my Facebook account... it happened. Google+ is no longer invite-only!

I assume the timing is just coincidence.

With the debut of Google+ to the public at large, they also released a host of new features which you should try out:

• The mobile applications for Android and iOS were improved.
• Hangouts (group video chats) are now supported on mobile devices. On Android, it requires Android 2.3. And on iOS, it requires a front-facing camera. So I haven't been able to use either, but I know a lot of people have devices that fit that bill.
• A preview version of Hangouts "with Extras" which include screensharing, a sketchpad, and document collaboration. They only feature of the original not supported by the "extras" version is synchronized YouTube video. Google is really building some tools here that could be useful for business.
• More APIs have been released. Start playing. Already there's a third-party whiteboard for Hangouts.
• Search! Ironically, Google did not launch Google+ with built-in search but now that's fixed.

Goodbye, Facebook!

I planned to wait until Google+ is officially open, but enough time has passed. I deleted my Facebook account!

You can find me on Google+.

Facebook intentionally hides away the option to delete your account, but if you'd like to do the same use this form.

Kindle on the Web

Amazon silently released their Cloud Reader web app, whereby you can read your Kindle books online. There's also a Chrome app for offline access. Cool!

Via: Engadget, VentureBeat, and Lifehacker.

Music Plus

For Chrome users on Google Music, try the Music Plus extension. Includes: lyrics, last.fm integration, and desktop notifications.

Google+ Tip: Bring +1 with You

Google's new +1 button is undoubtedly becoming familiar. It shows up next to search results, next to adds, and next to posts and comments in their new social network Google+. It means simply that you approve, like or recommend the site, article, post or comment in question. Google has a description of the +1 button on the web.

It is important to note that if you +1 a site or article on the web (but not for posts and comments in Google+), it may show on your profile. There is a tab devoted to +1's. You have control over whether this tab shows on your profile. Edit your Google profile, go to the +1 tab, and uncheck "Show this tab on your profile" if you want a little more privacy.

The real reason for this post however is that there are a few helpful extensions for +1. Not every news site or blog has the +1 button yet. The Plus One extension for Chrome gives you a +1 button for any website you visit. For those still actively using Facebook, the +OneFB extension for Chrome gives +1 buttons on Facebook. If someone shares a link on Facebook, you can Like it and +1 it. Finally, the 1-Up for Google+ extension for Chrome turns the +1 button on Google+ into a Mario Brothers style 1-up mushroom.

Google+ Tip: Use RSS for Twitter

My Twitter account languishes mostly unused. It's a funny story. I was stranded in Texas last Christmas trying to make it to the northeast. So I signed up for Twitter to follow the timely news from the airlines. That was immensely useful. Since then a few friends have joined Twitter, but they're mostly on Google+ now. So I asked myself what do I need twitter for?

In fact, there's only one stream of updates I would really miss: NY_NJairports, my favorite source of New York area airport information. I also occasionally find the AmtrakNEC stream useful, but I don't know that I'd miss it.

Here's the trick: you can follow Twitter feeds via RSS. I regularly check Google Reader, so that's perfect!

Google+ Tip: Bring Your Photos

Do you want to move to Google+ but have a lot of Facebook photos you don't want to lose?

Fear not. Download the Move Your Photos extension for the Google Chrome browser. It gives you the option to download all your Facebook photos to Picasa, from which you can share them on Google+. I have used it and it works well. The only downside is that the extension doesn't download others' photos in which you are tagged.

The other option is PhotoGrabber which has downloads for Windows and OS/X, but also works on Linux. I also tried this, and it does allow downloading all Facebook photos including other users' albums containing pictures of you. You then have the burden of re-uploading them to Picasa. However, there is one caveat: those other users must be friends. Facebook allows others to have you tagged even if you aren't friends, and will happily show you their photos even if you aren't friends. Those photos you can see but PhotoGrabber can't download. This is probably not a burden for most people, but caused me some problems.

If you use Firefox, you may also be interested to know there is this Firefox add-on. I haven't tried it, so I can't share any firsthand experience. However, rumor has it that this extension is slower than the above Chrome extension.

Facebook: A Retrospective

As we as a society slowly migrate away from Facebook, it is important to remember why we embark on such a large undertaking. If you ever find yourself in doubt, here are some compelling reads:

• 10 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account is a summary of the most important reasons why Facebook is not to be trusted.  The company and its executives are unethical and technologically incompetent.
• Facebook's Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline is a timeline of the intentional degeneration of privacy in a Facebook world.

And if you still don't believe it, here are some highlights from Facebook stories over the years:

• Facebook tried to start a whisper smear campaign against Google and when finally caught, they weren't sorry.
• Accepting unknown friend requests may give hackers access to your Facebook account.
• You can get notified when your crush becomes "single" again (not directly their fault, but creepy).
• Facebook users had access to other users' account information via Hulu.
• Facebook is one of the top 10 most hated companies in America.
• Although Facebook wants you to share everything, and is constantly pushing you to do so, they are gun shy when it comes to their own data, even slides from a public presentation.
• Facebook, unlike its competitors, is strongly against letting you download a list of your contacts (name and email), because you could then email or chat with them outside the Facebook ecosystem.  A developer created an extension for the Chrome browser which downloaded your contacts anyways, and now in the days of Google+, his extension became popular, and naturally Facebook shut it down.  Presumably, because Facebook is scared of Google+.
• Facebook's latest "awesome" announcement (a technologically inferior implementation of a feature that was in Gmail chat in 2008) was universally panned.  Here's a funny CNN video.

A Polynomial Odyssey

Classify all polynomials with real coefficients which map rational numbers to rational numbers and irrational numbers to irrational numbers.

Why Not Use Flash?

My last post was a bit whiny, but I'd like to expound on the usage of flash in Google Music, and why it gives choppy music on many of my machines.  This is something of a study in why you should avoid flash at all costs...

And really, an oft-quoted reason, the lack of flash support on iOS is not all that good a reason by itself unless the website is targeting mobile platforms.  iOS accounts for about two percent of web traffic, so it is entirely possible to ignore them.

I can give you a much better reason.  Just read this.  That's the reason flash is choppy on some of my machines (and there's a workaround I have been too lazy to use everywhere).  The gist is that there is a bug in the 64-bit flash plugin having to do with playing audio (uncovered because other things became less lenient), and resulting in choppy audio.  Even though this is a closed product, some very smart people figured out exactly what the problem was, created a workaround, and reported the problem to Adobe.  The true fix is literally is as simple as replacing one function call with another similar one.

That was in November 2010.  Adobe still has not fixed it.  What does that say to website developers?  Yes, you are presenting what is at best an irritating experience to people unfortunate enough to come to your site.  And yes, someone else already did the work to figure out why.  And yes, we can fix it easily.  But we won't.

On a more positive note, the workaround does fix it completely.  :)

Google Music, More Disappointment

Time for more bitching about Google Music.

The first and biggest complaint about Google Music Beta was obviously the crappy desktop app that doesn't support Linux, or for that matter Google's own ChromeOS. I guess users must not want to store music locally on a Chromebook.

The second complaint is that some enterprising person figured out how the uploading is done and fixed Google's own problem, only to have the underlying protocol changed out from under him breaking his extension.

But I soldiered on. The Google Music Manager runs under Wine. See this forum. Specifically, download the files, unzip the file, get a recent version of wine:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.3

and finally run from the unzipped directory:

wine1.3 MusicManager.exe

Now I can upload music. This gives me a whole host of new things to complain about, but let's call them feature requests:

Huge Oversight, Google

Yay, I just got an invitation to Music Beta.

However, they don't support Linux, so I can't use it.¹

I can see the logic behind not supporting Linux. It is only 1-5% of the desktop market. But it is announced at a developer conference, where I'm sure the Linux market share was a bit higher. And among new technology adopters, I'm sure Linux market share is a bit higher. New products need adoption, and you don't really want to prevent that because of what seems to be an oversight.

Google makes plenty of good web apps (and a handful of crappy desktop apps). They couldn't have done this in Chrome?

Their inability to come to an agreement with music labels and their poor choices in implementation do not bode all that well for the service. A lesson for us all.

¹Without fuss.