Free Software?

I can’t write code so I can’t contribute in that way so I really ought to pay something for it. I think it’s only right.

I am sat in Madrid thinking a little bit about my last post about Movable Type. Yes, I am on another business trip. This time the hotel is close to the airport and was a quick taxi ride away. I should be asleep in thirty minutes but I have been thinking about software that is, apparently, free.

As I noted earlier, I don’t have much problem with the concept of Movable Type morphing into a proper paid for, licensed, piece of software. They say it will not be crippleware and that trust will very much be part of it. Six Apart allow you to determine how many ‘blogs’ make your site (it’s not a hard-coded limit) and allows you to determine how many users really are active in using the software. There is a great deal of trust there which I am not sure is sustainable. Nonetheless, I think this is a good approach.

When I look around I look at what else I use regularly (and I will stick with personal software rather than work-based software). My version of Windows XP at home was pre-installed a properly licensed. I use HomeSite if I ever need an HTML editor. It’s a fully paid-for. Paint Shop Pro is my image editor. It was a full free version which they chose to give away on some magazine cover or other so it is, therefore, properly licensed despite being unpaid for. I tend to use Windows Media Player (which is free) but I have paid for Real Player Plus to get some of the additional features.

So far so good. I’ve noted before that I have licensed Opera as a browser even though I do not use it a great deal. But the most-used piece of Software on my machine is Mozilla. I use it for web-browsing and for mail. It handles all my mail accounts. I think it’s superb. I have never contributed to it since the very beginning when I acquired a licensed version of Netscape 0.9/1.0 (and even then the company I worked for bought it for me). I can’t write code so I can’t contribute in that way so I really ought to pay something for it. I think it’s only right. As with Movable Type there are people who work for the company that makes it. If I want them to be around I should support them.

And that’s why today I will make a donation to Mozilla.

Sticking With Movable Type

Movable Type must continue to lead and if it is to keep my trust. I will pay for this version and I hope my commitment to the product is rewarded.

So Six Apart have finally announced Movable Type 3. I have to confess that, from what I have read, I will be disappointed. It doesn’t appear to be loaded with a great deal of new features which is sad. I hope this is the foundation for some new development. To be honest, if there was some way of handling photo galleries from within the tool then I think I would be very happy. I will, however, not pass further judgment on it until I have installed it and I am going to wait until it is released properly (rather than the developer’s edition) before I install. In that way I hope some of the plug-ins that I would like to install will have been tested and then I can upgrade and add functionality all at once.

The views of other users also saddens me. There has been a long history of collaboration online. I remember when I first joined the connected world having some basic legal questions answered via Usenet. How great it seemed back then. In the end, of course, nobody was going to dish out free legal advice forever and proper paid-for advice will always have a place. In the end, good things will – in the main – be worth paying for.

I believe the good folks of Six Apart deserve some recognition for the work they have put into building a publishing tool that’s as easy to use as Movable Type. It was never Open Source software. It’s always been the work of Ben and Mena (and now Six Apart). I find it sad that the large number of negative comments does not reflect the fact that continued development of such a fantastic tool requires a full-time commitment from people and, somehow, these people have to be paid for. Even Mozilla has a staff!

I honestly believe that we can be sad at the lack of additional, out-of-the-box functionality but we should not be sad that Six Apart is turning into a business that needs finances to support it. Of course, our expectations as users will now change too. Six Apart are really going to have to show that this is a professional product backed up by proper support. Once, user’s would forgive the lack of customer service (we weren’t paying anything) but no longer. And in my experience it is the mishandling of customer service/support that always lets people down.

Movable Type must continue to lead and if it is to keep my trust. I will pay for this version and I hope my commitment to the product is rewarded. If, in the future, Movable Type does not live up to user’s expectations (brought on by the way it was streets ahead of other systems at first) then the company suffer. Yes, as Jason Kottke notes, the pricing structure is wrong at the moment – but that’s no reason to leave. Yes, there are alternatives which really are free (as Mark Pilgrim notes and goes on to prove by – apparently – switching seamlessly) but for now I am sticking with Movable Type because they haven’t let me down. They’ve shown that they have addressed the need to turn it into a product that needs people to develop and support.

But please, sort out the pricing structure.

Odd Thoughts

The oddest things come into your mind while traveling. While I was sat on the plane earlier in the week I started to think about humour.

The oddest things come into your mind while traveling. While I was sat on the plane earlier in the week I started to think about humour. I have no idea why. But I wondered what the reactions were like to the first joke? What was the first joke?

I can understand how language developed. As we evolved we need to find ways to communicate (where is the food or what dangers are there out there?) But how did the first joke happen (and by that I mean the first gag rather than the first thing somebody did that brought on laughter). How did those who heard that first joke know to laugh? What were the cues?

I’ve no idea why it came to me but now it’s fascinating me.

Euro Winners

A few more words on the Eurovision winners 2004.

So to update. Voting was very political (as always). Terry was funny and James Fox did not disgrace us – although it was not the best song. There was a disproportionate amount of male singers and some, like the French, resorted to gimmicks (stilt woman) to try and draw attention to the song. I like the fact that all countries can now vote (even if they did not make it to the final) despite the fact that the voting process takes longer.

the eurovision 2004 winnersThe apparent political dimension to the voting could pose interesting questions on the future for Europe but I think I just choose to find it amusing. Ukraine won (Ruslana was her name) which must have had something to do with the fact that it was visually stunning but I really do think that Sweden deserved to win.

This year we found a whole new dimension to the contest by watching the extra coverage on BBC Three although we did not get to watch the translated lyrics as subtitles – a feature I think just goes to prove that even the BBC don’t take it too seriously.

And what should I say to my Norwegian friends about another ‘nil points’?

Eurovision 2004

James Fox is Britain’s entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.

james fox was britains eurovision entryAnd so it comes to pass that another year has passed and tonight is the Eurovision Song Contest. James Fox is our entry but I don’t hold much hope based on the fact that voting is so political these days. As I wasn’t aware of him on the television show that brought him to light (I think it was the BBC’s Fame Academy) but I got to hear him last November when he supported Liberty X at a charity concert I went to. He mainly performed cover versions (with a couple of original songs thrown in) which were fine but not fantastic but he had charisma and a small but very vocal fan base (they probably sounded loud because I was stood right next to them).

I haven’t heard his song for this year’s contest so it will be a first for me. As always I look forward to the event for it’s more ridiculous elements. I’m sure Terry Wogan will have plenty to be sarcastic about. I do wonder if I will watch it (if anybody will watch it) when he stops commentating. PY and I are visiting friends to watch it. I think I will end up over-eating and undoing all benefits of the gym.

Office Alone

I’ve been in the office alone all day today – with Radio Four as my only company,

deskToday has been a very strange day. I have been alone in the office; all of my colleagues are on the road or on holiday. Despite previous thoughts of working alone and/or from home I can categorically say that I like the stimulation of the office environment and I am pretty certain that I won’t be looking for employment from home in the future. I currently work in a small four-person office space and even that gets very difficult at times. Since early 2002 I have worked with three other people in two different jobs. I think next time I will be looking for something larger. If you work alone or from home, how do you manage it?

While sat alone this afternoon I started listening to Radio Four for a little bit of company and was reminded how good PM was as a news show. I don’t be live there was anything that stood out today – part from the obvious talents of Eddie Mair – but I can recommend it if you’re in need of company! Also, while I was working through my tasks earlier I got a call which means I will be attending a hastily organised meeting in Rome on Friday morning so I will be spending this evening trying to get as many of my belongings into the smallest possible bag that I can. It is at times like this that I wish my employer has purchased a lighter laptop for me.

Celebrity Gardening

I visited the Urab Gardens show at Olympia this weekend.

Over the weekend I brought Man of the Moment into the new look. It was pretty easy so and, once again, I’m understanding the value of style sheets. I also changed the naming convention of the individual pages which was made very easy by Movable Type and a little harder when i decided to try lots of URL re-directing.

Reading through today’s web-reading I hear Blogger has also had a face-and-feature lift (here, here and here). It doesn’t interest me a great deal as I don’t use Blogger but then I went to the new site and found the my browser had a username already populated. Lo-and-behold I found an account I created in 2001. It does appear that the new blogger has some nice features but I’m going to sit and wait for Movable Type 3.

picture of matt james - the city gardener
Matt James – The City Gardener

The main event of this last weekend was a visit to Olympia to look at the Urban Gardens show. As we were there early we managed to catch the first ‘celebrity’ presentation. It was Matt James on things to look out for when planting an urban garden. As it turned out he’s a good speaker and I found it really interesting – which is a little more than can be said for a lot of the rest of the show. It was full of stands offering a lot of hard landscaping, garden ornaments and furniture and very little about plants – although there were some fantastic ferns and Canadian Maples on display. Matt himself is very good-looking in the flesh so I imagine he was a very big draw to the show. We didn’t get the chance to see Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan on the Sunday but I guess that might have been fun.

All of this home-style probably explains why I spend part of Saturday afternoon glued to UKTV Bright Ideas (or whatever it’s called now) watching lame home shows. Still, Wild & Fresh (which seems to be a Canadian/UK co-production) has one of the most amusing title sequences of any show I have seen for a long time and a would-be Jamie Oliver in the form of chef Danny Boome. It was kind of fun but, as the Why Don’t You? used to say, I should have got up and done something less boring instead. Sadly, I started to watch the Coronation Street omnibus to catch up on the latest Todd and Karl storyline. Wish I hadn’t.

PMOS Says Nothing At All

Reading what Downing Street says makes you wonder why they bother opening their mouths.

One of the sites I most visit is ‘Downing Street Says‘, an unofficial site recording the official opinions of Downing Street and, I assume, The Prime Minister. One of the real benefits of reading the transcripts of the briefings rather than a journalist’s interpretation is seeing how the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman tries not to express opinions. It’s no wonder people have a disregard for the political process in the country when you read,

Asked to explain why the Prime Minister was willing to express a view about the pictures relating to alleged US mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners when their investigations had not yet concluded either, the PMS pointed out that the Government’s view had been set out very clearly by General Sir Mike Jackson last Friday night when the pictures had first emerged. [source]

What I think most right-thinking people won’t understand (and I am sure the civil servants can explain it away very well) is why disgust can not be expressed every time the question is asked. If the British pictures are real then the such treatment should be strongly condemned. If the pictures are fake then the actions of those who made them should be discussed in the same terms. Why do they have to hide behind the diplomatic speak?

Really, there doesn’t seem to me much point in having a ‘Big Conversation‘ with the people if you don’t understand what one half of the room is saying.

It’s May

After a relaxing weekend for the bank holiday I was about to rant about parking fines.

I had a really relaxing holiday weekend. To the extent I don’t want to be back at work (but we all have to try to make a living and I didn’t want to be in front of a computer. So I haven’t written anything for a few days.

I had a nice email from somebody in Poland thanks to my entry welcoming the new countries to the ‘New Europe’ (can I trademark that?) which was welcoming and Marek, I will reply (reasons for not as above).

Just when I thought I had nothing to say but to moan about the rather strange weather we are having here in London I read ‘Booked in 60 seconds‘ from London’s Evening Standard newspaper (by way of thisislondon.co.uk) and became all irate with the AA staying that ‘There should be leeway’ when it comes to parking fines. It appears – and here’s where I go all Victor Meldrew – that I am the only soul in London who be lives that parking rules are here to serve us and should be enforced. If you’re time is up, it’s up. Give up the space you selfish moron. No leeway for parking. Rules are rules.

Anyway, I was going to compose a nice long rant about it but then I found Ab Mania and felt – instantly – better by laughing.

The moral of this tale is that laughing is good for you (and the weather is still very strange in London).

Web Mail

A quick scan of my webmail services surprised me.

I don’t use branded web mail systems a great deal. All my mail is handled by my hosting provider who does provide a thoroughly adequate web-based mail service for times when I am not using an email client. Still, with all the web ramblings about Google’s Gmail service I thought I would review some of my web-based mail services and see what was in them and realised that most of the accounts have long since been removed or disabled due to lack of use.

To my mind, the premier web-based service is Fastmail which is a very well thought out and usable mail service. If you’re looking for a new mail provider you should seriously consider them and there’s no advertising!

The only other service active is Yahoo Mail – simply because I have had that for ages and it used to be my way of reading normal mail accounts in a browser. Some of my mailing service lists still go here. Today I logged on and reviewed some of the settings and cleared out some of the junk and I realised it is an excellent mail service. I really like their new feature AddressGuard which allows for disposable email addresses that can be removed is they revived too much spam.

So, will I sign up for a Gmail account to compare it? You bet I will.

Please Don’t Shout On Late Trains

Jakob Nielsen reports that researchers from the University of York have performed a study to assess why it’s so annoying when other people have cellphone conversations in public.

Earlier in the week, my fifteen-minute train journey was delayed due to over-running engineering works. Any regular traveller on the South West Trains suburban lines into London Waterloo station will be used to these delays after weekends or bank holidays. I know it to be so likely that I even plan for it and force myself out of bed and to the station a little earlier if I know there have been engineering works nearby.

As always some people are caught off guard by this or, perhaps, they use it as a cover for the fact they are running late. It’s amazing how many mobile ‘phone conversations announce that the caller will be late for the office/appointment/meeting due to how late the trains are when, in fact, there is no more than a ten minute delay (which when using London’s transport infrastructure you should be accounting for anyway).

Earlier this week, however, there was a well-spoken gentleman in my carriage who insisted in calling – what appeared to be – most of his mobile ‘phone contact book to let them know just how late he was. He also said that Justin would have to take the meeting (if Justin ever reads this, the gentleman in question claimed to have confidence that you wouldn’t screw it up which I thought sounded good for you). All very well but I didn’t want to know it.

The conversation was irritaing and irritation is always enhanced when a train is later (even if you have planned for it because other’s have planned for it and civilised behaviour goes out the window). The conversation, however, was loud but each one was brief and to the point and without any pointless small-talk. The gentleman was efficient in his conversations and factual. He was, however, still irritaing.

So I started looking for items on irritation factors caused by mobile telephony only to find that Jakob Nielsen has a some research on ‘Why Mobile Phones are Annoying‘ which implies that, upon testing, conversations face-to-face at the same volume are less irritaing that the equivalent mobile conversation. The research suggests,

Designing phones that encourage users to speak softly will reduce their impact on other people. For example, more sensitive microphones and improved quality on incoming audio will make most users less inclined to shout. [source]

Let’s hope Nokia et al. are listening.

What Did I Miss?

Missing re-designs is one of the down sides of reading sites via Bloglines.

Bloglines makes reading other sites quick and easy – as long as those sites provide a full RSS feed. I use it daily. However, you do miss site redesigns. Jase has had a minor change which looks pretty good.

And just in case anybody is wondering about some of the design looking slightly strange here at Listen to Musak, well it’s because I am doing some re-design work and I’ve had to make some minor tweaks for the new design which has thrown some of this design. If I was better at CSS that that shouldn’t be a problem but I am not!

Of course I’ve also found a good number of problems as I have been going through the site which I am trying to fix as I go along so – hopefully – things will end up working better as well.

Guidance From Nannies

What’s wrong with a fat tax? A guding state or a nanny state?

Thanks to the joys of SkyPlus I caught up with a fascinating BBC programme that was originally aired a week or so ago. If … we don’t stop eating was part of a series that I wan’t following but, I have to admit, I was attracted to this show thanks to a very large billboard advertising it (but, like every one, advertising never works on me).

I hadn’t seen the others in the series so I wasn’t prepared for the mix of talking-head, documentary footage and fiction. If .. we don’t stop eating looked to 2020 in a Britain where obesity is the biggest killer in the country and is predicted to effect one in three people; there are no tested drug treatments and any help from an over-worked NHS relies on your co-operation (failure to co-operate means that treatment is revoked).

It was very, very well done, thought-provoking and, when it came to looking at what over-eating does for us, it was a little unpleasant. And very worthwhile. It discussed medical and political solutions to this growing threat to Britain’s health. I particularly liked the analysis of the fat tax:

NARRATION: By the end of 2020 the Government’s efforts are rapidly going off-course. Consumers won’t be bullied, and the food industry plays on fears of an
interfering nanny state. The idea of a fat tax is history.

And, helpfully, the BBC has a transcript online which allows me to tell you that it’s Tim Land, a Professor of Food Policy, who has one of the best lines in the programme, when in responses to the suggestion that any fax tax will be played up as being the nanny state interfering in people’s lives:

TIM LANG: PROFESSOR OF FOOD POLICY: I say what’s wrong with nannies! Most of the people who criticise the nanny state have actually got nannies! Have you ever noticed that? Anyway, delete the word `nanny’ and call it `parent’ and we’re all suddenly in favour of it! Actually, I like guidance – what’s wrong with guidance? Let’s hear it for nannies!

Are those McDonaald’s salads a sign of things to come?