That path was not to be, though. Things happened. Bad things …

Yet despite the past, I have always wanted to meet some of the past figures that shaped western religions and ask them some questions. Very loud-mouthed preachers who where so obviously hypocritical often reported they had "spoken with Jesus" or "had communion with St. Peter" … which struck me as odd. How could people who, in my mind, did not deserve to lead several hundred people in their spiritual guidance get a few minutes of time with prophets and saints we humans deified and beatified on our own without any guidance from an all-knowing, all-powerful being? It just didn't make sense. I wanted answers.

The problem one encounters when becoming a spiritual leader, though, is that you can't seek answers. You are expected to have them. All of them. Being completely honest and saying "I don't know" or "That's a good question. Can I get back to you?" is frowned upon to such an extent that you're explicitly told to never say these things to anyone who is not the same rank or higher within the church. At the young age of 18 I was engaging with people who were in their late 60s struggling with their own mortality or suffering with some sort of age-related disease that I, a teenager in perfect health with zero real life experience, would never understand.

I remember one conversation quite well, as it was on the day of my first sermon. I had prepared for the day for weeks and delivered, what many said, was an exhilarating lesson on the benefits of giving other people the benefit of the doubt. Afterwards a woman in her 70s asked to speak with me and went on to explain, in excruciating detail, some of the medical problems she had faced since her husband passed away the summer before. After the 15 minute summary, she asked me why God was punishing her so brutally after first taking her husband of 50 years.

I wanted to say "I don't know" … but use of these three words in this order is strictly forbidden. Something else had to be said, and quick. This woman looked to be on the verge of tears. So, taking all the training that had been handed down and years of practical experience listening to people answering impossible questions like this I talked about the struggles of Job, eventually culminating with something along the lines of "no matter how difficult life may seem today, there is always something better for those who are patient and never lose sight of the Lord".

It was, to this day, the greatest¹ non-answer I've ever delivered. This non-answer also showed me very clearly that the well-worn Spiderman adage was incredibly accurate; with great power comes great responsibility.

How can a person as young as 18 give guidance to someone more than three times their age? How can anyone claim to be holier than another person just because they have read and memorised a number of ancient texts? More importantly, though, how can a person entrusted with this sort of power not take advantage of it over time?

There are a number of really good religious leaders all over the world. Typically we never find out about these people because they're very good at keeping a low profile. They don't want to be popular. They want to help others. It's these people who truly need to be leading people's spiritual guidance rather than the loud, boastful people who shout into microphones and declare their beliefs with such staged conviction that anyone who is not a regular member of their congregation will stare in disbelief at the spectacle before them. The quiet leaders never talk about having met Jesus, Moses, or any of the Saints … because they're not interested in lying for the sake of popularity.

I was not being taught to lie while studying religion in my youth, but instead taught how to use existing knowledge and the ability to craft connections between the stories in the various texts with the lives of the people I spoke with … which isn't very different from fabricating answers to someone looking in from the outside.

To this day I would still love to have a few minutes to speak with some of the key players in religion who have long since left this world. I would ask Abraham about animal sacrifice. I would ask Moses about his time on the mountain. I would ask Job about the second half of his life. I would ask Cain about the cities and nations that he came across². But the person I would most want to have a few moments with would be Jesus. I would ask him not about the world as he saw it, but the people he interacted with. I want to know just how different he was to what we find in the texts. This is what I really want to know.

As a civilisation we know what everybody needs. We know it's important to respect everyone and treat others as we wish to be treated. We know that greed is generally bad, and that forcing our will onto others is never a good idea. These faults that we have today have been with us for millennia and will continue to be with us so long as we continue to blind ourselves to the world around us. So what were these people really like? What did they see? Who did they interact with? How do they understand the world?

This is what I really want to know. I may no longer be a religious person, but this shouldn't preclude me from having a conversation with some of the most historically important people³ in western civilisation. Crazy TV evangelists can do it, so why can't the rest of us?

1. by 'greatest' I do not mean 'best'
2. as technically there shouldn't have been any people alive outside of his parents at the time, and neither a nation nor a city can exist without people to build and sustain it
3. or characters

In the last two weeks I have accomplished almost nothing with 10Centuries. I sit down to get some work done and, within five minutes, the distractions begin. People will walk up to me at a café to chat¹, or my wife will get upset because I'm looking at a computer, or the day job will come up despite the fact that I am on a painfully short break. Regardless of where I am or what I try to do, other people get in the way. I enjoy talking with people as much as anyone else, yet it seems that all I do is talk. I don't want to talk. I don't want to speak. All I want to do is complete a project and see people use it ... which is another problem.

Anyone who has followed me on Twitter recently will likely know that the wife and I have been going through a number of issues involving careers, language skills, and other day-to-day items that married people will tend to argue about. The issue surrounding my Japanese abilities, or inabilities depending on perspective, is a regular topic of debate. A person cannot expect to have a fulfilling career if they cannot effectively communicate in the local language. Since leaving Tokyo two years ago, my Japanese has deteriorated. I don't use it at the office, and putting the time into studying a language I'm not able to fully utilise seriously cuts into the time required for other goals which may prove to be more beneficial in the long run ... yet language skills are absolutely necessary if I plan on staying in this country for any amount of time.

While growing up people would often comment on the various projects I would embark on. In elementary school I would design sprawling buildings in excruciating detail and write stories that have the object purpose. In middle school I'd draw space-faring vehicles that would cruise to places never before visited and describe these places with words rather than pictures. In high school I would draw people I knew and characters from dreams and record various interaction before changing my attention to technology and computer studies. With every endeavour people would tell me the same thing: You're going to make it big when you grow up. Don't forget us.

In college, while the instructors were often busy explaining something I presumed I ready knew to classmates, I would work on my own little project ... something I saw a lot of need for; a light-weight operating system. I the age of 166MHz computing, 64KB/sec Internet speeds, and token ring networks, I had the audacity to declare the operating systems of the day "resource heavy and not at all designed to make proper use of the hardware". My operating system was written completely in C, had a GUI, could run on a 33MHz 486, and fit on a 720KB floppy disk². My teachers were impressed. My classmates rolled their eyes. Everyone said the same thing, though: you're going to be the next Bill Gates. Please hire me.

At every job I've worked at I would examine the processes people had for doing their jobs and recommend ways to get the most out of their technology. More often than not the solutions that I suggested or provided were simply way too complicated for the average person to grasp. I loved to push technology as far as it could go. Looking back now I can see where I went wrong with my approach to people and technology yet, despite this disconnect, people would often say the same thing to me: What the hell are you doing here? You should be at Microsoft.

Shortly after moving to Japan and being employed I started to examine the various processes that were in use at the company³. There were loads of inefficiencies, areas where tiny mistakes could result in huge consequences, and lots of peoe who were simply unhappy with the way technology was being misused in the organisation. Not one to miss out on an opportunity to show off, I started writing tools to help people with their jobs. Not a month went by where someone didn't look at the solutions I coded and said: what the hell are you doing here? You should be at {whatever big company they thought was awesome}.

A Lifetime of Disappointment

Regardless of what I do, I try to be the very best. This sort of attitude puts a lot of people on edge, but it doesn't matter. In the words of Lady Gaga, I was born this way. Being good enough is no better than doing nothing at all. Because of this I put a lot of care, focus, and attention into what I do. I also build unrealistic expectations in my mind.

Many years ago I wrote a lot of software for Windows Mobile and tried to sell the creations to get something back for the thousands of hours that went into the project's creation and maintenance. Six programs were released which were all very quickly posted to Torrent sites which eliminated 99.99999% of any revenues I had hoped to earn. Five years of Windows Mobile projects earned less than $100 despite the thousands of people who were actively using⁴ the software.

Multiple attempts to contribute to WordPress development ended in a similar fashion. Despite submitting lots of bug fixes, database optimisations, and internal caching solutions, the updates were rejected for any number of reasons ... none of which had anything to do with the quality of the code, but more on the livelihood of the core WordPress developers. I eventually scrubbed any hopes of working with these people and struck out on my own to create Noteworthy.

Noteworthy was the first project I released for free, and it received a bit of positive buzz at first. Over the last year, though, interest in the project has waned. There are fewer and fewer people asking about it, and it seems that most people are perfectly content using existing blogging platforms like WordPress, Tumblr, and the myriad of other solutions out there⁵. This, and the fact that some people using shared hosting packages couldn't get the code to work properly, led me to start down the road of forking Noteworthy and building 10Centuries; a project I have wanted to do for well over seven years.

A website spanning a thousand years! A crazy idea for sure. Humans don't live this long, and I'm already in my 30s. Even if I work on this project the rest of my life and it's successful, I will only live to see about 7% of its mission⁶. How could I possibly promise to keep somebody's website alive for so long? It's just not realistic.

This is what I'm being told time and again. By potential investors. By potential clients. By friends. By family. Very few people seem to grasp what it is I seek, and what I am trying to offer. Support for the project has dwindled, too. Despite appearances, 10Centuries is not just another blogging platform, though. Like App.Net, people aren't seeing it for what it epitomises, only for what it is understood to be at a glance.

The Three Specialists

In Kurt Vonnegut's Bluebeard we are introduced to the idea that there are three types of specialist required for success⁷. The autobiography uses these three types to bring about a revolution, but just about any sort of success can follow the same principle. These three people are the following; a genuine genius, a highly intelligent citizen in good standing, and a person who can explain everything.

The rarest of the three specialties is the true genius. Genius in this case is not necessarily someone like Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking, but a person capable of having seeming god ideas not in general circulation. "A genius working alone is invariably ignored as a lunatic", according to Slazinger.

The second specialist, the intelligent citizen, is easier to find than the genius. This sort of person understands and admires the fresh ideas of the genius and can defend that person from being accused of lunacy. "An intelligent person working alone", Slazinger says, "can only yearn loud for changes, but fail to say what their shapes should be".

The third specialist is a person who can explain everything, regardless of complexity, to the satisfaction of most people. This is a salesperson who excels at communication and leaves the details for others to solve. Slazinger has this to say about this person; "He will say almost anything in order to be interesting and exciting. Working alone, depending solely on his own shallow iras, he would be regarded as being as full of shit as a Christmas turkey."

I believe … or, more accurately, I want to believe that I am one of these three types of people. I have been told my whole life that I will be part of something big, something very exciting. It hasn't happened yet, and I'm still trying to find that pie in the sky. I've tried to find it by promoting the work of other people. I've tried to find it by joining other people. I've tried to find it by making something for people. Not once. Not twice. But countless times over two decades.

Was everybody wrong when I was growing up? Were they just being nice, trying to encourage me to continue with something that I was clearly passionate about for a time? Looking back at the people that I've met throughout life, I can see pieces of these three specialists in everyone. We're all capable of so much, but rarely have the opportunity or inclination to reach that potential.

Expectations

At the moment my time is split in many different ways, few of which are compatible with each other. I make time for the full-time job, as I need to pay bills. I make time for studying Japanese, as I need this to be a productive member of the community. I make time for family, as I want to have a family. I make time for reading, as this is how I learn new things across a myriad of subjects. I make time for 10Centuries, as this is what I want to do for the world and myself. Just like every other person on this planet, I make time to fulfil both expectations and desires. And just like every other person on this planet, the expectations take up far too much of the day to leave much for desires.

This seems to be the way the world works, which is why so many of the tech startups are done by kids who have not yet entered the workforce. They have time. Loads of it.

When something is important enough, we should ignore convention and make the time for it. The question I am struggling with at the moment is whether all of the things that I split my time across are actually important or not. The day job is important not because of what I do, but because of what I receive. Japanese is important, but not at the day job where I spend the majority of my waking hours each week. Family is important, which is why I dedicate a great deal of time to it every single day, regardless of other priorities. Reading is important, as I typically slide into a very destructive mental state without it. 10Centuries, however …

Nobody is using it. Of the 25 testers currently signed up, the only person using it is me. This is despite the fact that many of the people who wanted to use the service seemed interested in the idea. Clearly the product is not yet up to par. I know it isn't. Yet if the people who wanted to use it have lost interest, what does this say about the general population? Why would anyone pay me to keep their site online forever if they stop using it after a few weeks?

Even my wife, the person who is (ideally) most supportive of my ideas, doesn't see the value in the project.

I still think there is a market for a website that stores our information for generations and makes it easily searchable for everybody … but I don't think it will be created by me. If I ever do become renowned for something, it won't be from 10Centuries. I am neither a genius, intelligent person, nor excellent communicator. The sooner I learn to accept this, the sooner I can find some sort of happiness in my life.

1. in English, no less, because every foreign person in Japan must speak English
2. just barely
3. yes, the same company I work for today
4. and endlessly bitching about on the support forums
5. which is fine, really. People should choose the best tool for the job. My way is not the only way.
6. I plan to live a long, long time
7. and I was introduced to this from Jason Kottke's recent post, which triggered me to buy and read the book

J.J. Abrams' version of Star Trek is not Star Trek. It doesn't even deserve to have the name. It's not Star Trek. It's more like Star Wreck.

Star Trek, as I enjoyed it, is over. Alas, this was one of the last things I could say that I had mostly enjoyed from my childhood and into adulthood. Sure, I may take this one series just a little too seriously. This is for me to decide, though. If people do enjoy seeing asinine stories with barely believable characters jumping all over the screen with explosions and WMDs flying all over the place, that's fine; they can watch this tripe. I, however, will not.

1. which I still think was the best movie of 2009

After a great deal of guess and test, the wife's problem with her new Android phone turned out to be caused by an application that completely took over her SMS and email applications. She could send and receive short messages but, upon doing so, her SoftBank email stopped working and she'd get a bunch of errors along the lines of "Please configure the settings of the connection for your network server"¹ … which made absolutely zero sense to me. The wife's phone doesn't have access to the network server, nor should it need it in order to send a freaking email. That said, with her problem solved at home and without any help from the staff at SoftBank, she is now able to properly send SMS and S!Mail² messages from her phone without seeing annoying errors.

My WiFi problem, however, continues to persist.

The issue shouldn't be difficult to resolve. My iPhone 5 was able to connect to SoftBank's 0001softbank WiFi access points without a problem the day I brought it home. After configuring iCloud and installing my software on the device, though, it became impossible to connect to the public access points³. Whenever I try to log in to the appropriate routers, I see the login screen suggesting I'm missing some authentication tokens. But I have these tokens.

I've configured the profile at least 8 times in the last week. I've asked SoftBank people to do this for me. I've tried it myself. I've, very foolishly, wasted a morning completely scrubbing the iPhone of all data, doing a factory restore and reconfiguring everything … but the result is exactly the same. I have to download and install the appropriate profile tokens using 3G or LTE data⁴, and I am never able to connect afterwards.

Not being too proud to admit that I'm doing something wrong, I brought this in to the store where I got the device. They configured it the first time, and it worked when I walked out the door with it at 2:00 PM. They should be able to get it working again … right?

They couldn't. They went through the process three times, using 280KB of data each time⁵, and at the end went into a group huddle with four colleagues. The sales person eventually came back and asked if I had updated the OS software, to which I replied in the affirmative.

"That's the problem, then. You updated your software, and that has caused problems. There's nothing we can do."

My wife replied with, "That's what you get for updating your software, but it was your decision to do so."

I was about ready to launch the iPhone up someone's nasal orifice, but didn't want to cause a scene in front of the smaller children that were waiting while their parents dealt with the same great level of service. If we can't update software, then how the heck is anyone supposed to keep their phones protected from malware? If we can't update the software, then how the heck is anyone supposed to enjoy the full benefits of having a smart phone? If updating software is so dangerous to the fundamental operation of the phone, then why isn't there a great big warning on the contract sheets we're required to sign before taking the expensive little devices out the door?

But wait … I remember reading somewhere that we were responsible for software updates …

Right the fuck in their contract packages. Contract packages where we are required to sign four separate documents per device. We, the holder of the phone, are responsible for updating the operating system and installed applications as the software is released, not SoftBank. And, according to the contact, we will never hold SoftBank responsible if our phone is fucked up because we didn't update the damned thing.

My Japanese may not be awesome, but I can at least freaking read enough to put two and two together. I showed this to my wife, and she responded with, "Well, the people at the store probably work there part time. You can't expect them to know everything. They're not you."

No shit, they're not me. It would be nice if the people working at SoftBank actually knew what was written in their contracts or where we could get satisfactory service if they can't solve a problem, though.

1. this is the best way I can translate it from the original Japanese, which was as obscure and indecipherable as any Japanese error message I've ever read
2. known as MMS in most other civilised nations
3. it is still possible to connect to 0002softbank access points, but most of these are located at SoftBank stores, not at train stations or throughout the city
4. which costs me money every time I enable mobile data
5. yes, I know this is such a tiny amount, but the whole thing cost me about 400円

At every stop they can be seen performing the same action. Their eyes open a little wider. They turn to stare at the seated passengers. Their unblinking facial expression tells the whole world the same message regardless of language: I will take the next empty seat, and somebody better damn well move. I detest people like this, and yet they're all around us. They cluck their tongues when they're angry and wear a constant scowl. The world owes them everything, and none of us are cooperating.

We are all important in our own little way, but nobody is more important than anybody else. Standing for a little while never killed anyone and, if a seat is necessary due to physical limitations, there's nothing stopping anyone from asking politely to sit down. Alas …

That said, whenever I find myself killing time in a smoking room with people who enjoy it, I'm reminded of Ontario; the whole province stinks of spent leaves and discarded paper cups.

1. the brand of cigarettes my friends would consume, which was also the same shade of red as my preferred political party at the time

To say that witnessing a key sense disappear in the blink of an eye is scary would be a gross understatement. In an instant I thought about how being able to use only one ear, or none at all, would affect my ability to earn a living for my family. Japan is not very kind to people who do not have all of their fingers and toes in the right place, and it's even less kind to people who are missing a sense.

I'll be seeing a doctor about this tomorrow, and I look forward to hearing the diagnosis. I've joked that I'd need to be deaf in order to enjoy Japanese TV, but it's not something I want to experience quite yet. That said, a quick scan of my archives shows I've been battling this since 2009 at the very least …

Before using an iPod Touch, I was a (mostly) happy user of an HP iPaq 210 PDA. This device had a WiFi radio that could connect to a network over 300 meters away if there was no interference to get in the way. The iPod Touch, however, needed to be within 100 meters of the same unit before it would show the access point in its list of available network connections, and 75 meters in order to successfully connect. This was one of the biggest complaints I had of the 3rd Generation iPod Touch. Later, when I upgraded to a 4th Generation device, I could connect from slightly farther out, but it was still a little too close for comfort. How is a person supposed to surreptitiously connection to an unprotected access point to check their mail, after all?

The 5th Generation iPod Touch, while an incredible device, was noticeably less sensitive to wireless signals than its ancestor. I'm not sure if this is due to the metal casing on the back of the iPod, or because Apple geared down the amount of power the radio could consume in the same of battery conservation. Either way, it cut into my ability to check in at various points while on the way to client offices. Not a major catastrophe, but not a win.

How about the MacBook Air? Well, to be completely honest, it's also quite weak when compared to many of the non-Apple devices I've used in the last decade. My 5 year old Acer AspireOne netbook had just a simple Atheros 802.11g radio, but that little machine could connect to networks through the walls, across the road, and in another building. It was a magical little device in that sense … when it wasn't overheating. The MacBook Air, however, seems to have trouble accessing networks more than 25 meters away. It will see a network at 100 meters, but connecting or using the network is darn near impossible unless you can practically see the router without the aid of glasses.

I understand that both iOS and OS X will do some fancy finagling to extend the life of the battery, even if that means reducing the amount of power the wireless radios receive, but I question whether these guys are going too far at times. I know it's unlikely, but I'd really like to see an option for a person to override the amount of energy the radios can use. Battery recharging stations are plentiful enough in most cases that we can recharge partway through the day should we be stuck in a castle or some other area with reduced WiFi performance. Heck, if Toshiba can do this and still get 6+ hours out of their notebooks, why can't Apple do it with the Mac?

Day after day we go to an office to earn the money we need to live a life that is advertised as comfortable. From the soulless expressions we see all around us, can we really pretend that our lives are comfortable? I don't think so. We're lied to our whole lives. We're made to believe that this is the good life and we're more fortunate than people living in the ageing, rural communities on the outskirts of most cities. We're told that we have a richer, more purposeful life than our distant cousins in developing nations who struggle every day to put food on the table. Is this true? Who knows. Neither you or I care right now. We just want to go home and collapse on our beds ... energy drained. I understand.

Look at us. Look at what we are made to do. And for what? So some man we really couldn't care less about can boast with his golfing buddies how much money he has in the bank? So some investors we've never met nor heard about can receive a slightly higher dividend? Nobody will remember our labours today. Nobody will truly appreciate what we sacrificed this day for the sake of an organisation that would operate just fine tomorrow if we were to drop dead this very instant. Believe me ... I understand.

The meaning of life is not to contribute to the bottom line. The meaning of life is not to give up living for the sake of make-believe priorities that are ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things. You and I … we are not curing cancer. We are not helping the poor or homeless. We are pushing paper ... schmoozing clients ... and giving up the bulk of our personal time for something that will not matter at all in a hundred years. Or fifty. Or ten. Or five.

Or tomorrow.

Believe me when I say I understand.

1. "thank you for the hard work" would be an approximate translation, but it means a bit more in Japanese than English.

The World Is Flat

One of the most interesting decisions the organisation decided to go with was the idea that data tables are ultimately flat and there are no hard relations between them. This is being done for a number of reasons, the primary one being the need for a higher degree of flexibility when inputting data¹. So now when a record is written to the single global database², instead of writing in category numbers and other table keys to reference already-existing data to the database, they'll write everything out … again and again. Instead of writing the number 500 to mean "XYZ Gas Company Co. Ltd.", they'll write XYZ Gas Company Co. Ltd. to the database … a million times if necessary.

But why? I asked, and this is the response I got:

"Far too often we see people saving data to the database with numbers referencing other tables. Over time, records in those other tables are updated and deleted. When data is changed, it can result in some odd reports. But when data is deleted, records can be completely missed when doing queries or reports might include empty key values. If we write the full key value instead of the reference number, we reduce the chances of missing or incomplete data."

Very interesting idea. I guess he's never heard of the CONSTRAINT command in most SQL databases. There are certainly a number of advantages to not referencing other tables, but there are a number of tricky questions that need to be handled, too. Being the stick in the mud I am, I decided to ask.

What happens if a supplier or client changes their name? Every record in the database gets updated.

What if you have "XYZ Company Co." and "XYZ Company Co. Ltd." and "XYZ Company Ltd." in the database? There will be people checking the transactions every month to make sure that all of the data entered into the system is complete.

Your database will have millions of updates per month if you're sharing the same system across four continents. Yes, but that's okay. We can hire more people to validate the data.

Every transaction will be manually checked by a human? Yes. It's the best way to make sure we don't have bad data. Garbage-In, Garbage-Out.

Interesting. What will you do if a person changes their name? The same? When would a person change their name?

When a woman gets married, she will often take her husband's family name. In that case, we'll update all of the records in the system for the new name. But this shouldn't happen very often.

Does this mean that you will no longer be using employee numbers? We will still use employee numbers.

Why not just use the employee number in the field rather than a name, then? Because we want complete information.

What if you have two or more people with the same name at the company? That will never happen.

Really? Yes. Really.

So if I worked for your company and another person with my name applied for a job in Poland, they would be rejected just because you already have a Jason Irwin? Well …

What will you do if a person leaves the company? Will that name become available again, or will nobody with the same name be allowed to join? I don't think that will happen very often. There are many Kanji in Japanese names.

But in Poland … okay, I'll leave that question aside. Can I ask about accounting consistency? What do you mean?

Let's say in March an accountant with the name of 佐藤智子³ closed the year-end accounting books and signed her name. You then submit those documents to the government and archive them as "The Books". Then later Ms. Sato gets married and takes the name of her husband. Ms. Sato is now 山下智子⁴. You can't go back in time and update those closed accounting records. They must stay the same. Usually a woman will quit when she gets married.

Why would they do that? What if they don't quit? Will you fire her and rehire her under the new name? Will you just create a new record and employee number in the database? Why wouldn't a woman quit after marriage? They'll become a house wife?

You're kidding … right?

This is a project that's been ongoing for the better part of three years and it gets rolled out across the planet later this summer, but it seems like there will be a number of fundamental problems with the system right from the start. There's also the problem of importing all of the old data. What if there were two people with the same name in the past? What if a woman working at the company changed her name without quitting? What if? What if? What if? The questions kept popping up, though I decided it was probably better to stop asking before losing a client. What surprised me the most wasn't so much the fact that the "R" in RDBMS was being ignored⁵, but instead the nonchalant way the IT project manager shrugged off the issues they may face when a woman does something very simple like get married.

The subject was dropped soon after, as I didn't want him to think that I was intentionally pissing all over his long-running project, but I couldn't shake the feeling that these guys were going to run into some little glitch early in the roll-out phase and be required to hack together some hastily-crafted solution to get around this obvious problem. On a good day software is only half-as-smart as the developers who make it …

Alas, I don't work at this place. After listening to the IT manager talk, I don't want to work at the place, either. The men clearly don't think much of the women they interact with, and it shows in the software they create. I'd be embarrassed to include my name in anything that didn't respect a person's right to have a life.

1. one of the biggest problems the organisation faces at the moment (apparently) is that people need to first create the parent records before they can enter new data into the system. I guess the idea of JIT-generated parents doesn't exist at the company.
2. which is not replicated and exists on every continent, but instead only exists in the Tokai area in Japan … Lord help them if the data centre is swept away in a tsunami or destroyed by fire
3. Tomoko Sato
4. Tomoko Yamashita
5. everything was being written in Microsoft SQL Server 2010, one of the best database platforms I've ever used

I do have one concern with this little machine, though: the battery seems to drain very quickly. Over the last few days I've found that I'll hit the 20% warning around 8:00 in the evening. The device can continue to chug along until I go to bed around midnight, but it's interesting that this phone, with it's nice-sized battery and disabled mobile data settings, gets less life out of a full charge than an iPod Touch of the same generation¹. I'm wondering if this might have something to do with the fact that I performed a "Restore from Backup" on this machine rather than configure it as a new iPhone out of the box. A lot of people say this is a no-no …

All this said, the iDevice reports that I can get about 13 hours of usage out of it² and I do travel to a number of locations where cellular signal may not be the strongest. I shouldn't write it off quite yet.

1. Yes, I understand that there are more radios, a faster processor, and more RAM in the iPhone, but that's beside the point when it comes to a flagship mobile device
2. the screen is not on when I listen to music or podcasts

They're Not Just "Things"

Like many children growing up in Canada, I had a lot of toys. Stuffed animals were in the majority until I was in high school, when action figures and models finally won out. Every character had its own personality, though. Each would help me rationalise things whenever I was upset or just needed to thing things through. The toys were, for lack of a better analogy, an extension of a juvenile psyche that would come into play whenever required; much like a very young child might employ an imaginary friend¹. What many people find odd, including myself, is the fact that this sort of behaviour persists despite my age.

In this house there are six full-time stuffed animals and two dozen others that see far less daylight. MukMuk, a "sidekick" for the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, plays the main role. This little guy is an over-achiever with zero confidence, a bundle of secrets, and a desperate need for validation from others. Whether this is the intended attitude for the little Vancouver Island marmot or not, I can't say. What I can attest, however, is the fact that playing with him has helped relax the wife and played a role in keeping us focused after the Tohoku Quake in 2011. Believe it or not, he openly mocks TV commercials and changes the words for added effect.

People play with toys all the time, sure … but there are no children in this house; just two adults in their mid-30s, and a three year old puppy.

After MukMuk there are five other support characters that are called upon from time to time. A sea eel from Sasebo aptly named サセボちゃん², a yellow giraffe named キーちゃん³, two of MukMuk's friends, and a moose in an RCMP uniform. Each have their own personality. Is this normal for two childless adults who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to start a family? Is this a sign of slight insanity or an inability to handle life as it is without drifting off into some semi-lucid daydream?

Maybe it's completely normal. I have no idea.

This same sort of projection is done on other items too. Of course Nozomi plays a big role in the fun and games around the house. She's alive, though, so this wouldn't seem too out of line for most people, I think. But how about machines and computers? I can't stomach the thought of not using a computer in my possession. Not because I want to do X or Y geeky thing with them, but because I feel a neglected computer is a depressed computer. I ask a lot from my machines for a very long time. Then, usually when they are no longer able to keep up or are in need of repairs far too expensive or difficult to carry out, they're replaced. Yet, if I can find a new home for these devices, I will.

My first two iPods were in perfect working condition when I found a new home for them, and they're still being used to this day. I'm also looking for a new home for the current iPod Touch as it would be an incredible waste to not let someone enjoy using that amazing little tool. The MacBook Air I'm writing this on isn't just a computer, but it's a window into my software and online world. I can feel when the system is "happy" and when it's ambivalent to the task at hand. I know this is just in my mind … but does anybody else think this way?

I don't abuse my technology because of these perceived emotions. Yes, the computers and stuffed animals are no more alive than the rocks on Mars, but it doesn't matter. These objects are in my possession and will be afforded the respect they deserve, if not more. Even when angry I can't throw a stuffed animal off the sofa so I might sit. I'll gently pick it up, move it aside, and then sit.

Odd behaviour indeed.

I often joke with people about "the voices in my head", but it's really not a joke. The machines I use may not have tangible or describable emotional states or personalities, but the stuffed animals do. These figments of the imagination don't speak to me, as I am the puppet master, but I have to wonder whether this is "normal" … if there is such a state for a human mind.

1. I had three up until the age of 9, when it just naturally reduced to one
2. Sasebo-chan
3. Ki-chan

Semi-Connected & The Ability To Focus

One very common truth that a lot of people seem to share is that when we are working at our computers and the whole Internet is available at our fingertips, we are not always as productive as we might want to be. This isn't always the case, but it's a story that we hear time and again. I, too, share this condition where I will write a few lines of code, then see a notification telling me that someone is trying to interact in some way. I will then either pause what I'm working on, be it coding, writing a blog post, or even doing office work at the day job² in order to see what's going on. These little pauses don't seem like a lot, but they add up very quickly. That's why, when I notice there is just a bit too much going on, I take a step back and disconnect from the social networks, put the iDevice away, and focus on the task at hand.

Focus is an interesting thing, and something I've written about in the past. With it we can accomplish many amazing things. Without it we seem to drift from place to place without purpose. What I enjoy most about focus is that, when done right, it can be a very rewarding experience. Putting our entire self into a task and not coming up for air until it's done is something many of us strive to do time and again with mixed results … but it's not impossible.

What I tend to do to get myself in "the zone" and focused on the task at hand is start with some music and shut down the social tools. If I don't absolutely need the web, then I'll go somewhere that doesn't have an Internet connection. This allows for a complete separation of ideas. The computer goes from being a multi-purpose device to a single-purpose device … full screen applications not required. It's because of this that I'm on a first-name basis with many of the people working at coffee shops near the day job. Why stay in the office when it's not at all necessary?

Sure, some people need to be always connected, but this may not be true for everyone. Perhaps if we were to disconnect every once in a while we'd once again learn how to stop and smell the roses rather than post a picture of them for our followers to see.

1. This also chops the phone bill in half, it seems. Mobile WiFi is not ubiquitous, but it's certainly available often enough to make a semi-connected lifestyle possible
2. This is when I am least productive, to be completely honest

Reiko and I went to the local mall to have lunch and, on the way out, we decided to stop by the SoftBank store. To say that it's been a struggle for her to decide on which device to get would be an understatement. After playing around with many of the devices today she made a decision, though; a Sharp Pantone 200SH Android 4.0-powered phone. For me the choice boiled down to a black or white device. After a bit of deliberation, I chose a white 32GB model.

In Stock? Really?

Many of my friends and colleagues have had the same story to tell when getting an iPhone; they walk into a store, place their order, and receive a ticket to return in 7~14 days to pick up their new device. When I saw the sales representative return from the back with both of the phones that my wife and I wanted, I was absolutely shocked. We'd be able to walk out of the store with the expensive little communications devices!

Clearly it pays to wait until the end of the update cycle. Either that, or the tech blogs are right that Apple's in a lot of trouble and has a surplus of devices. Heck, in the hour that Reiko and I were in the SoftBank store, they managed to sell 8 iPhones and 5 Android devices … none of which were Samsung¹.

The 3,280円 Monthly Plan

Despite having a new device, the monthly price is actually pretty low. After the plans, discounts, and campaign offers, it'll come out to under 3,300円 a month for the first nine months. Most of this discount is thanks to having so many SoftBank points², and the fact that neither the wife or I have a full data plan³. Instead we have a bare minimum data plan which can be used in times of emergencies, and we'll use the extensive network of wireless access points that dot the landscape. Between all the SoftBank and 7Spot hotspots, there should be enough coverage for this to be a non-issue most of the time … I hope.

Carrying Forward 3 Years of iData

When I picked up the iPod Touch, I was very happy with how easy it was to migrate data from the previous device to the new one. iCloud took care of the heavy lifting and, while I was sitting in a classroom at work, the new device configured itself and installed all of the software. The only thing missing at the end of the process was my music, which was restored on the first sync with iTunes. As the iPod Touch is not an iPhone, I was a little worried that I wouldn't have this ability. Luckily, I was wrong.

The first time I plugged the iPhone into iTunes I was presented with this screen:

A happy little screen if I ever saw one. To make it a little better, I was even given the option to restore from my iPod's last backup … something I decided to make locally before plugging the new phone in. This allowed me to carry forward 200+ days of Sleep Cycle and over two years of Calcbot without losing any of the information⁴. 30 minutes after plugging the phone into the computer, all of the software was re-installed and configured, and the music was ready to be listened to.

Far less painful than anything I had ever experienced with any Microsoft or Palm device.

After just a few hours of using this machine, I can already see that it'll be a nice little addition to the digital arsenal. The camera and processor are a big step up from the iPod Touch … which now needs a new home. Hopefully I can find someone who can put the iPod to good use from here on out. I'd hate to see it sit around and collect dust when it's really one of the most capable little devices I've ever owned.

1. I know this isn't representative of anything, but the tech blogs constant alarmist screeching is really, really annoying
2. these things are practically useless unless you save them for 5+ years
3. I won't get into the argument this caused
4. I really wish these apps not only had the ability to export, but to import as well. Heck, I'd be happy with iCloud support, too!

Thanks very much to Patrick Rhone for sharing this.

The thing I hope you can take away from this, listeners, is that if you haven't gotten to the point where your art is as good as your poop, then it could be that you haven't found a structure that let's you forgive yourself for the sucky-ness. Or that let's you forgive yourself for doing incredibly embarrassing things you would never show to anybody. But, like, if you don't let yourself move through that explorer and that artist phase in that order before the judge ever gets a crack at it, it's not going to be interesting.

He goes on to say:

Another thing that I picked up, I think I got this from Twyla Tharp, but a lot of other people have talked about this … Stephen King has talked about this, I'm really interested in, at each one of these stages, when it's appropriate to zoom way in … or pull way out. And, at the risk of showing how little I know about photography, again to me it's like the difference between a fish-eye lens and a macro lens. Right? We could look mostly through a 50-ish lens and see what the human eye sees, but there's sometimes when we want to see an extraordinary amount of detail understanding that what we're giving away is not seeing everything else in context. And at the same time, you want to sometimes be able to pull way back to where you're willing to accept a certain amount of distortion in the image to be able to see it all. And what are examples of that?

If you're in the Explorer Mode, you need to sometimes start by pulling way, way, way back. And I think this differs from Judging, but if you start out and say "I'm just going to go out and collect stuff" and pull way, way back. Well, you know what? Collection becomes a way of life. I mean, you don't want to turn into a hoarder, but if you keep finding stuff that's interesting and you put that into an Evernote, you put that into a text file, you put that into your whatever … to your notes on your phone; you're gonna, first of all, become a different person. Because you're not just a frustrated artist. You're somebody that's out there collecting stuff that interests you.

I think that's a great habit to start. But then sometimes you then also need to zoom in a little bit.

Say you're researching. Say you're Googling. Well if you just Google all day long, meh, you know at some point you do need to move into the Artist Phase or you do need to move into an organising phase. Let's say you start out really broad and you say "I want to write a science fiction story about a dystopian future". And so you may go to Wikipedia and look up every dystopian -- the best dystopian of the last 200 years or whatever. And then at a certain point you may go "Hmm … You know, I'm really interested in a dystopia based on a version of discrimination". How do you get to something like "House of Them". Or how do you get to something like "Days of Future Past". Well, you get there by inverting ideas and playing with them. So you may want to zoom way in and, when you get close to understanding the general genre you want and what's been done, you might jump in to a little bit of quick drafting or outlining. Outlining again, outlining to me is a "pulling waaaaay back" kind of thing. It's looking at general structure. But sometimes you need to zoom way in and just make one paragraph.

This is great. Really. Merlin Mann has got to be one of my favourite podcasters because when he goes off on a tangent the things that come out of his mouth so often remind me of the words that fly through my head. A lot of what he said here and earlier in the podcast really resonates with what I posted yesterday about taking my previous failures as a chance to hone my craft and build something much better as time goes on.

As a tribute to all the little bits of wisdom Mr. Mann has shared with the world over time I'll make a Random Message From Merlin function for people using 10Centuries. This will probably be unused most of the time, much like the Hello Dolly plugin that ships with WordPress, but it will be my homage to some of the greatest snippets of the man's incredible talent to say really deep things while using colourful words like "poop", "bathtub", "rubber ducky" and "stickers".

1. Back to Work Episode 118: One-Step Corn Kerneler

There was a time, many years ago, when I loved having my computers as complicated as heck for the sake of obscurity and personality. I had Windows 98 running with Litestep, an application that would let you completely customise the user interface that people would see when looking at your screen, and I went to town with that thing. My Start Menu was gone, replaced with a text box that would never appear unless you hit a certain key combination. From there you would type in some of the keywords relating to the application that you wanted and, much like we see with many search fields today, a list would appear allowing me to key through the applications. The colour scheme was black, crimson, and ultramarine. The background was a rather large animated gif of Japanese characters scrolling down a-la Matrix. Oh, and perhaps best of all, when I was not at the machine, SETI@Home would be running in full screen mode, treating the viewer to a screensaver consisting of complex graphs and numbers as the computer consumed 100% of the CPU to analyse a segment of radio information from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in search of coherence.

The only person who could use my computer was me, and that's the way I liked it. People would watch me fly through the various screens faster than the machine could keep up and wonder if they could ever use such a device.

This was in 1999. Luckily, times have changed.

In Mid-2003 I stopped customising Windows because I would often need to wipe my computer clean of data every four to six months to keep it relatively quick and responsive. Restoring the Litestep configuration, no matter how cool, was just not worth the time and effort. Since then, I've mainly stuck with the default configurations that come with operating systems. The only item that I change is the default size of the icons. In Windows it meant using the small icons and auto-hiding the start menu. In OS X it means having a small dock containing only the currently-running applications with zero magnification. Less is better than more.

This move to simplicity brought a number of improvements to my overall computing experience, and it offered a number of additional benefits that were impossible with a customised interface. One of the most tangible changes was the ability to show people how to do something while sitting at my computer. Anyone with a little bit of experience with Windows would instantly recognise everything and, after realising that I hide my task bar, they could sit down and "drive" while I guide them through the process of doing something. From there they could take that newfound skill or knowledge to their own computer and do it again, but with confidence. This alone made me go from "impossible-to-understand computer guy" to "almost-impossible-to-understand computer guy" … a huge difference for many people. Doing this also made me much more approachable … something I would need in the future as I moved away from being computer-focused to people-focused.

2010: A Computer Odyssey

By the spring of 2010 I had a problem with computers. I was always struggling with ways to make software written on Windows simple and easy to use. I was trying with all my might to build interfaces that people could instantly understand and use when working with customer data. The goal was to create a reporting system that would give my employer the ability to, at a moment's notice, create study plans for students that were having difficulties or wanted a greater challenge. I had built a similar tool using Microsoft Excel and a series of complicated mathematical equations … but it was far too complicated for the average person to use. It needed to be simpler, and Excel was not the place for a huge database of customer lesson plans to reside. I needed to code something fresh.

Software creation is nothing new for me. I've been doing this since the mid-90s and have coded everything from my own website² to my own operating system³. Writing a simple customer database with a simple-to-use interface shouldn't be too difficult … right?

Well … it was.

I went through revision after revision of the interface, asking people their opinions along the way and getting feedback all the way. My colleagues are very good at their jobs, but not particularly interested in spending a lot of time working with computers. Considering the age of our computers and the quality of the corporate software we're subjected to, I can't say I blame them. I tried again and again to make something that was painfully easy to use, looked good, and was efficient. Unfortunately I could only ever deliver on two of these three items over the months of development.

In the end I failed to make a system that could deliver on the promises. What I didn't fail on was the opportunity to learn how people use computers and approach new systems.

Over the next three years I would study people very closely to see how they used their technology. What worked? What didn't? When would people get frustrated? When would people seamlessly interact with the software in such a way that the actions involved seemed completely natural and intuitive? I wanted to know all of these things. While building software in Canada I never really cared about what an application would look like. I'd make sure it wasn't ugly and followed all of the standard Microsoft conventions⁴, but I would never go out of my way to hide things when people didn't need to see them. Never would I put in the effort to truly understand what it was that a person was trying to accomplish with my software.

This was a terrible mistake, and one that I hope to never make again.

What Would You Like To Do?

One of the first things I ask people when they log in to 10Centuries is what they would like to do. The administration screens for 10Centuries have received about five months of development time not because the functions are incredibly complex⁵, but because nobody should ever have to look for a help button.

Not only should people not have to look for a help button, but people should only visit this website, ideally, once a year to renew their OAuth credentials. After it's set up, there's no real reason to return to the administration panels. Blog posts are written in Evernote, not in the browser. Tweets are written wherever the heck we want to write our Tweets, not on the website. App.Net posts are the same way. In the future there will be a number of different data types that can be thrown into a 10Centuries account and in no case will it be necessary to do a particular task through the administration screens⁶. We're supposed to use the tools that we're already familiar with.

Most of my time has not been spent adding things to the web interface, but instead taking them away. Do we need to have an internal commenting system that will keep all of our comments on our site? No. Disqus is much better suited for this task. Do we need the ability to send Tweets through the 10Centuries interface, promoting the service or something else like that? No. I will not ask people to promote my product. If they choose to, then I will be eternally grateful. If people don't, then I won't complain. Do we need to have image galleries, audio file hosting, short video hosting, and custom CSS editing capabilities on the very first day of launch? No, I don't think so. All of these things are coming, but there's no reason to load the administration screens with a plethora of options that will terrify new or existing members when they log in.

As I mentioned above, the administration screens have been under construction for the better part of five months, and there is another month to go before they're going to be truly ready for someone who doesn't really "get" tech to walk in and start using it without asking a number of questions. Going forward there will certainly be new features added, but they will be inconspicuous⁷. People should not be greeted to a new administration screen each and every time they log in to make some changes to their site or account.

Coming Back to Middleman ...

Software shouldn't get in the way of people performing a task. Tools should not be complicated for the sake of being complicated. We have the ability to closely examine how people are using computers and put that information to use. It's a shame so many developers squander the opportunity by enclosing themselves in a self-contained wall, believing that the tech-illiterate are not worthy or some other such idea. I don't feel that the developers who build Middleman look down on the average person with a sneer, but there are many programmers who seem to forget that, at the end of the day, it's normal people who use our software. As a software engineer it's our role in life to make the digital tools so many have become dependent on smarter and easier to use⁸.

1. in the event that the website has an incredible amount of traffic
2. this website was completely written by me! Well … maybe 99% of it was. I do have 2 external libraries that were brought in from GitHub for expediency's sake
3. this is something I put together in the summer of 1996 "for fun"
4. sometimes a little too closely, if you ask me
5. they're not … for the most part
6. though it will certainly be possible at some point
7. by "inconspicuous" I do not mean "hidden and a pain in the ass to find"
8. whether we want to do this or not

As I type this I am looking at the clock. I see that I have less than 7 minutes before I am to be in the classroom, ready with a completely planned lesson that will be recorded for some person I've never met in the Tokyo office to judge my performance. He doesn't know me. He doesn't know the student. Heck, I don't even know it's a "he". What I do know, however, is that any chance of future employment or a pay raise with this company requires that I please the nameless, faceless entities in Tokyo 214.77km away². It's no secret that I have no love for this job but, despite the angst, I cannot bring myself to not care … try as I might.

The 5 minute bell has just rung. My chest has become tight with anxiety as I think about all the things that I need to do in the 5 minutes I'll have between the next set of classes. I'll be going in to 4 lessons straight, which equates to 15 minutes of "break" between each in total, which equates to about 3 minutes all told after dealing with the unpaid work that I am expected to perform. Reports, reports, reports, and more paperwork.

Something's got to give.

A number of my colleagues are able to perform this job willy-nilly without the slightest inclination of job satisfaction and score high marks with the powers that be. I bust my ass doing a job that I hate and get reprimands and "needs improvement" remarks on feedback forms … yet students love my lessons.

Something's got to give. I can't keep pushing the clock. I now have less than 30 seconds before the lesson starts, and I am still typing away at this blog post …

1. I rarely work on more than one at a time
2. according to Google Maps

To help her enjoy her favourite pastime, Reiko and I thought it would be a nice idea to get her a new bed. The one she has been using for the last year has certainly seen better days. This one here matches Nozomi's favourite colour² and has a bunch of white hearts to add distinction. On top of this, she also has a bunny-shaped pillow to rest with.

Hopefully she'll come out an play every once in a while …

1. Nagareyama Ootakanomori
2. I think it's her favourite colour, anyway

Tomoko's Tale

Some time ago I met a woman who was required to learn English for her job. She didn't want to learn English, and she didn't even have the opportunity to use it outside of the classroom. That said, someone in HR had picked her name from a hat to receive some very expensive English lessons that she had zero interest in. Noting that she was clearly not happy about learning English, I decided to take another track. I started asking her about her job. According to the client file, Tomoko was a computer programmer for a rather large manufacturing company. This common interest should make for a lively English lesson with some useful grammar and vocabulary study … or so I thought.

I asked her what language she programs in. She didn't know. I started listing some of the more common ones, like .NET, C++, and Java. She looked at me like I had grown a third arm while speaking. I knew she wrote software for car navigation systems, so there weren't that many languages that would be optimal for such a task. After listing ten possible languages she just shook her head.

Alright … next question

Me: What kind of computer do you use?

Her: Windows.

Me: I mean, what brand of computer do you use? Lenovo? Toshiba? Fujitsu?

Her: Not sure. Black.

Me: Ah … is it a notebook or a desktop machine?

Her: わからない〜

Me: Is it a notebook …

Her: Yes. But always on desk. Locked.

Me: How long have you been programming?

Her: 5年ぐらい…

Me: Five years? Do you enjoy your job?

Her: …

It felt like I was talking to the wall. I understand that she was not interested in studying English or speaking with me, but still … there must be some ability to answer the questions.

But this wasn't the only example. Some time later I met another person from the same company who worked as a software developer in the car navigation space. I asked him many of the same questions. His answers were along the lines of: "Lenovo, I think. Or Fujitsu. I'm not sure.", "It's an older notebook. It asks me to update to service pack three all the time", and "Eight years, but it's tough.".

There are 48 people in this person's department. 48 programmers. All working on a single software package that gets installed in car dashboards across the country and around the world … and I met two who couldn't tell me the specifications of the tools they use to do their job. I have never met a computer programmer outside of Japan that does not know, in excruciating detail, what their work computers are capable or incapable of.

The situation is not unique to this one company, though. I have seen this at a number of larger organisations that have product sales all over the world. There are people who have no desire to be computer programmers writing software that normal people will use, and sometimes for very important tasks.

Why?

Asking HR The Method Behind Their Madness

I mentioned this little anecdote to the HR person, telling him point blank that these two people were from his company. He was a smart individual with a solid grasp of English who could see through thinly veiled statements, and he gave me a very interesting answer:

"Anybody can do anything. If I see somebody wants to work for us and they have a degree in science but we need people in sales, then they work in sales. Our comprehensive training packages ensure employees have the tools they need to accomplish a job."

What if they don't want to do that job, though? I asked. What if these people join a company with the hopes of getting something more inline with their interests?

"Work is not about having fun. Work is about doing what we need to do for the company. If someone is not happy in a role, they typically have the option to ask for a transfer to another department after five years."

Five years? I would walk in front of a bus before doing a job that I have absolutely zero interest in for five years¹. I know this is not the case at every company, but it's a common scenario at many places around this part of Japan. People are hired to do the task they are told to do, and nothing more. This is a very different way of thinking to what I grew up around where people were asked point blank "Why do you want to work here?" during the interview process.

I understand that Japan is most certainly not Canada, but I do wish companies would change the way they use people. Maybe if we could all have the option of getting the jobs we wanted there would be less work-related stress and a higher amount of productivity overall.

1. I've been very close to doing this regarding my current state of employment

The leaves are a little fuzzy on the left because I've taken to using Cortex Cam lately. The camera application is typically used for low-light conditions, but I really like the sharpness of the image when taking snapshots in all sorts of situations. The only problem I run into is keeping the iDevice perfectly steady while the camera shutter is open. This picture here was taken with the help of a stick that happened to be nearby. The blur is the result of a gentle breeze blowing through the trees at the time of the photo.

Day One has both an iOS and Mac desktop application that can synchronise data via iCloud or Dropbox¹. Like Evernote, people are able to quickly write their thoughts, attach images, GPS coordinates, and include links to outside sources. Where Day One goes beyond it's green-coloured competitor is the addition of extra metadata such as the current weather and the ability to easily format our content using a number of built-in buttons or with Markdown code. This is something I've considered building into a custom Evernote application but, if Day One can do it already, perhaps I don't need to put the energy into creating custom applications for Apple's mobile and desktop platforms.

One of the added bonuses of using this application is that it's clearly designed for the task of journaling. Our entries are laid out in easy-to-scan formats. Images are attached to the top without the need for extra work. Titles are intelligently assumed. When I think about all of the things I've done in Evernote just to make a post look a certain way, I wonder whether I've been chasing the wrong problems. Rather than build a blogging tool that pulls things from Evernote, it would have been far simpler² to build something that reads from a Day One package and builds our site!

This doesn't mean that I'll be dropping Evernote support in 10centuries, though. That would be stupid. Instead I plan on building Day One support into the system so that people can pull from their Dropbox-connected accounts if they so choose. I have no idea how to explain this in simple terms to people who have been using iCloud to synchronise their data, though.

Day One support in 10centuries will likely become available in early summer alongside a theme or two that resembles how the application displays our content. Depending on what sorts of updates Evernote builds into their tools over the next few months, I might even start writing more entries in the Day One application.

Are there any other tools out there that would make sense for 10centuries to support?

1. but not both, it seems
2. and probably much faster