Cristiano on Tech/Life

There is clearly some demand for a password repository site done right. I myself would like a simple system that automatically saves/restores my information using a bookmarklet and allows me to login to the service with my OpenID. One fairly bad example is Clipperz which I was referred to by the creator (Marco Barulli) who I actually didn’t meet but did photograph at OpenCoffee.

The problem of Clipperz is probably not the technique, but definitely the way it was presented (although I do wonder if saving all the secure information in your browser is that save). The Clipperz site gives me a very big *nix feel as it keeps stating what kind of crypto technology is behind it, uses concepts like cards to save scripts, and requires users to “review their code”.

From a user perspective the whole work flow is very tedious, amazingly complex, and really doesn’t provide a single-click sign-on. I think the concept is very good and probably more secure than my idea, but I think they really need a designer and usability expert to help them enable simple users to use this. I did get some nice information about how a system like this works so if will ever implement my own system than I will use some of these basic concepts.

Before there was the internet, there was a different service that provided On Demand news and information called Teletekst (in the UK called Ceefax). Many people from before our generation (read our parents) grew up with this system and have created a so called lock in. I know for example that my mother often still uses Ceefax to check the news sometimes, and for the now “interneting” part of her generation many Ceefax providers have created an online version.

My mother also checks this online version because she knows how to use it and she probably likes the ugly high contrast (you need to become old to like that). Until recently I didn’t really mind that she used this system but now she started sending me some interesting stories, and I noticed that Ceefax has one big flaw: it doesn’t support links. And as it doesn’t support links, there is no reference to a story, no “reading on”, no more learning than there just is on that screen.

In school I learned that you always have to check your facts, and that a story doesn’t really have a value without its references. It is amazing in this sense that the past generation blames the internet for providing less value while I think most articles on the internet DO have references. Making a hyperlink is quite easy on the internet, but in a newspaper or Ceefax article this is simply impossible. I therefore would like to denounce my appreciation for old media like newspapers and Ceefax, and I would wish that people would stop making stupid ports like this Ceefax readers because they forget to force people to move to a system that is inherently better.

I won the Nokia N95 in the Jaiku Survey 3000. Jaiku held a survey with which you could win a Nokia N95, and they kept their lottery publicly in their support channel (#jaiku). Funny enough they let any Jaiku member present pick a number between 1 and 555, after which they revealed the corresponding email address. I was the first one to respond with the number 29. Obviously the number was not attached to my email, but the second Nokia N95 was awarded to me for being the first one to call out a number.

Together with my free FON router it really feels like it’s Christmas. Everyone around me (especially Alper) has been talking about the N95 for weeks and now I am the one to have one. So soon you can expect video blogging, photo blogging and a full N95 review on this site. I don’t even know what to expect but GPS and WIFI sound really cool. Does anyone know if this phone can solve my Flickr GPS issue?

Thank you very much Jaiku!

I really enjoy my new Nikon D40 and as some of you might know I even like to provide all my photos on Flickr with tags, names, sometimes descriptions, and most of the time Geo Tags. But as I keep shooting more photos, keeping track of where I shot them is beginning to become difficult.

So I know that there are small bluetooth GPS devices that can keep track of your location and then later on match the photos with the proper GeoTags. There are many examples online about how to use these GPS devices and most of them are very broad, for me too broad.

Basically all I need is a GPS unit that keeps track of my location throughout a day. It needs to work with a Mac, and if possible the software better have some nice integration with Flickr. Anyone have any experience with this that could help me?

My favourite OpenID provider MyOpenID.com has recently launced a new look. I noticed it when I wanted to use my OpenID while I was not loged in yet to the server. There used to be a very ugly, grey, screen that would tell you to log in and I remember thinking that most people wouldn’t understand the page or trust it. The new page is very nice and has recognizable colours and branding.

Now, I won’t be the first one to promote this program, but Audio Hijack Pro is a really powerful tool. I use it to boost the sound of my not so powerful MacBook. The program can take the sound of any program, boost it, apply a whole bunch of filters, mix it, and even record it. I am using it mainly for boosting audio and recording podcasts. Unfortunately not free but at a price of $32 very reasonably for people that like to listen to audio.

I got a nice email today from Fon, giving me the option to order their La Fonera router for free. About a year ago I ordered their original Linksys router for about 10 euro, but I kind of broke it directly. As a thank you for being one of their first clients I now get a free new La Fonera router (worth about 45 euro/dollar).

I still think Fon is not very viable concept because of the simple fact that most people with a Fon router do not live in interesting places, but at least I can now use my Fon account again if necessary.

I was wondering if it isn´t possible to combine techniques like OpenID and GenPass to create a sort of OpenID login for sites that don´t actually have an OpenID login.

The idea of a proxy server like this would be to automatically create an account for you on a site that it recognizes and so allowing you to login transparently using your OpenID provider. This idea could be implemented by sites like ClaimID who already provide more than just OpenID. I think it would actually be pretty easy and I might give it a try when I get my MacBook back from Apple. On the other hand maybe Simon Willison should give this a try with his OpenID provider idproxy.net.

Obviously this technique would only be a hack as I believe that any small site should provide an OpenID login. On the other hand, as many sites run the same software (Wordpress, Drupal, etc) it would not be diffucult to create a proxy server that can automatically generate accounts the most common systems on the web if necessary.