A PHP Developer's Blog - Joakim Nygård

URL Design

4th January, 2011

Great advice from Kyle Neath on designing the structure of URLs

URLs are universal. They work in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, cURL, wget, your iPhone, Android and even written down on sticky notes. They are the one universal syntax of the web. Don’t take that for granted.

The Joy of Stats

28th December, 2010

Hans Rosling is featured by BBC in a one hour long documentary. His approach to statistics is nothing short of mind blowing.

Only with statistics can we make sense of the world and harness the data deluge to serve us rather than drown in its confusion.

The FCC Clarifies

23rd December, 2010

The FCC has released the details (Word file) of the new net neutrality order and it would seem they are aware of the dangers:

A commercial arrangement between a broadband provider and a third party to directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic in the connection to a subscriber of the broadband provider (i.e., “pay for priority”) would raise significant cause for concern. First, pay for priority would represent a significant departure from historical and current practice. Since the beginning of the Internet, Internet access providers have typically not charged particular content or application providers fees to reach the providers’ consumer retail service subscribers or struck pay-for-priority deals, and the record does not contain evidence that U.S. broadband providers currently engage in such arrangements. Second this departure from longstanding norms could cause great harm to innovation and investment in and on the Internet.

It remains to be seen how well it holds up in court. Ars Technica has more on the details.

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4 Books on Net Neutrality

22nd December, 2010

Ars Technica reviews 4 books on net neutrality:

In the current net neutrality debate, for example, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other network operators have claimed they have a First Amendment right to control communications on “their” networks. It takes a moment for the stunning breadth of this assertion to sink in: if the network owners succeed in this claim, there will be only handful of fully vested First Amendment speakers in the country, and the rest of us will speak and receive information only to the extent that the network owners allow.

Net Neutrality

22nd December, 2010

Net neutrality is the proposition that internet service providers should provide equal access to all information from any source. Among the big questions has been whether wireless internet access should be treated differently than wired.

Critics say net neutrality will make it difficult to ensure quality of service for VoIP (voice data transmitted over the internet) and that heavy bandwidth sites, like Youtube or Netflix, should pay for using the infrastructure.

Supporters argue that it is precisely the unrestricted access to any online service that has made the internet what it is. Anyone is free to create a new service and users can choose to use it based only on the quality, not the price or speed.

Wired got hold of a plan outlining how, without net neutrality, wireless providers could charge extra for using Facebook, Skype or Youtube:

In this case, a customer can watch a 15-minute preview of a movie for free. If she doesn’t order the film, the company that served up the film would pay the carrier for the bandwidth used. But if the customer pays to watch the movie, then the ISP gets a cut of the money paid to the online movie service.

Compare that to the current de facto state of affairs for broadband connections, where a customer pays the cable company or wireless provider to connect them to the internet, the online movie service pays to connect to the internet, and the network’s only role is to connect the two.

Yesterday the FCC voted on the net neutrality issue, adopting a very vague version. Particularly troubling, however, is that they exempt wireless access from most of the rules. Politico reports:

Under the order, broadband providers will be required to disclose their network management activities to consumers. Traditional wired broadband providers may not unreasonably discriminate against any lawful traffic, though no such rule will be put in place for wireless providers, which public interest groups and some Internet companies like Skype and eBay say will not do enough to protect wireless customers.

The issue is important to Europe as well. Not only will the US policy effect European access to US sites and vice versa but the decision will likely have an impact on politicians in Europe. British communications minister Ed Valzey recently sparked debate in the UK, saying ISPs should be allowed to differentiate content. The Guardian comments:

For those not paying close attention, the basic theory of the internet was that all packets, all data was created equal, which means that a pirated copy of Hey Jude can fly around the network with the same speed as a page of your favorite digital newspaper. All of which is fine in an era of bandwidth plenty, but as the BBC iPlayer and YouTube hog traffic, they start to cause problems. [...]

The fear, of course, is that this leads to a world where – say – the Daily Mail's web pages arrive more quickly than the Mirror's because one publisher is willing to pay BT more for a better deal. Or where the BBC's online video crawls and becomes no fun to use, while Sky speeds along.

Even if the issue quickly becomes technical and complex, it is something everyone should take a stance on or the internet may change forever. I'll let Steve Wozniak have the last word:

The early Internet was so accidental, it also was free and open in this sense. The Internet has become as important as anything man has ever created. But those freedoms are being chipped away. Please, I beg you, open your senses to the will of the people to keep the Internet as free as possible.

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Ricky Gervais on Atheism

20th December, 2010

Ricky Gervais:

My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.

Wishes for iPhone - Wish lists to go

15th December, 2010

Wishes is the latest iPhone app from Scienta, allowing you to create wish lists wherever you are. With a simple interface, it is easy to keep track of multiple lists for yourself, your family and friends.

With a single click, lists can be emailed to other people and if they have Wishes too, the list can be imported back into their app.

Unlike many other similar apps, Wishes focuses on the wish rather than the gift, making it extremely easy to add items without complicated settings or being too specific.

Wishes is $0.99 and is available on the App Store now.

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Software Patents in Europe

13th December, 2010

Back in 2007, Jeff Atwood wrote a post on the dangers of software patents, sadly more relevant than ever:

Think about that for a minute. Seriously think about it. Every time you write code -- even a brand new algorithm in a clean room environment-- you could be infringing a patent, somehow, somewhere.

I strongly believe that the potential harm to society from software patents is far greater than the limited benefit to single entities like individuals or companies. Algorithms – and that is what computer programs are, applied mathematics if you will – should not, in my opinion, be patentable.

I agree that inventors should receive protection for a limited time and to a limited extent to reap the benefits of their hard work, but copyright handles this fine (althought I think copyright legislation, in some cases, has been taken too far in that direction).

Earlier this year the German high court ruled all software potentially patentable, an enormous blow to the fight against software patents in Europe. With Germany being the largest economy of the EU, it is likely that this will spread to other countries and eventually be incorporated into EU law.

There are several initiatives to stop software patents and they are fighting an important battle to keep us from the lawsuit mess that is so common in America.

As many large corporations become increasingly worried about the current US patent system, groups in Europe seems eager to follow in the wrong direction. What is needed is a more balanced set of regulations between the interests of corporations and society and software patents is not in society's interest.

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The Future of Mac OS

12th December, 2010

John Siracusa explains where Apple is going with Mac OS X, inspired by the development and limitations of iOS:

Just as the Mac was originally a friendlier alternative to command-line operating systems, iOS today stands in stark contrast to Mac OS X and other powerful, but still relatively complex, desktop operating systems

Pakistan Flooding Four Months Later

12th December, 2010

With the year coming to an end and the winter setting in, I thought of the estimated 20 million Pakistanis, whose lives were destroyed by the disastrous flooding.

(Photograph by Caroline Gluck/Oxfam)

The media interest has been waning and I wondered how the situation is by now. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the scale, there is still enormous problems to be solved.

The Telegraph reports

The shocking fact about events in Pakistan is that even now, almost two months after this journey in late October, so little has improved. Large areas of Sindh remain under water. Tents, long lines of white canvas along the embankments, have been erected for the many families made homeless as an estimated 1.6 million houses countrywide were damaged or destroyed by the flood waters.

But, as the chill of winter sets in, there are still an estimated 600,000 families without even emergency shelter.

Most of the people affected were living in poverty before the floods, but they made a living. Today they have no home, no income, nothing. Yet, as The Guardian writes, the needs are simple:

The list of what flood victims need to rebuild their lives is astonishingly short and inexpensive: seed for the next crop, fertilisers, some form of subsidy on electricity and irrigation water, and, if you want to be really generous, some financial help to rebuild their homes.

It may not be "news" anymore but we need to remember these people, help them get back on their feet. Several newspapers, including BBC, New York Times and The Guardian, have special sections covering the Pakistan Floods, but it is aid that is truly needed.

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Sulfur Mining

10th December, 2010

The Big Picture once again has put together a remarkable photo series: Sulfur mining in the crater of the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia. Looks like photographs from another planet.

Here's the same mine in daylight

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WikiLeaks Coverage by The Guardian

9th December, 2010

Including an interactive mirror of the already released cables

TED Talks - Symmetry

9th December, 2010

Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explains symmetry

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WikiLeaks vs The World

8th December, 2010

Tim Bray has written an excellent post on the whole WikiLeaks affair:

Here’s a sound bite I can sign up for, from Simon Phipps: “Wikileaks is like Pirate Bay; something that I don't like but have to defend because of the collateral damage caused by attacking it.”

Unlike Simon, there are quite a few things I like about WikiLeaks; but even where it’s open to criticism, its sins pale beside those of the rabble of wastrels, guttersnipes, nincompoops, and cowards lined up against it.

Exactly!

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Taking Over The World

7th December, 2010

Financial Times has an interesting article about Facebook and it looks like they are working on becoming an integral part of what we consider the web to be:

Facebook is no longer merely a social network, where users check out updates from friends, glance at photos and play some games. Rather, it is making moves to be an essential part of the entire online experience. The company is becoming people’s homepage, e-mail system and more. Much in the way Google extended its capabilities from search to include e-mail, maps and books, Facebook is becoming a part of ever more daily services on the web. The company is also making strides to achieve one thing Google has not: it is well on its way to becoming the de facto identity platform for the internet.

It used to be IBM that was the giant, then Microsoft. Today, Apple, Google and Facebook are a huge part of our lives in ways previously unknown. Unlike the open, cooperative and, partly, government funded computer and internet revolution that enabled these to grow, the future is increasingly being built and controlled by corporations. I am not sure that is a good thing.

Fortunately, brilliant things and being built and thought every day as the TED videos demonstrate. I hope there is room for them.

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