TechnoCloud

Among the increasing number of ways to stream music legally (imeem, last.fm, youtube…), one service that has caught my eye is Spotify. At present a desktop application with ambitions to go multi-media, the service provides ad-supported (or ad-free for £9.99/month) European access to streamed versions from all the major music labels.

It’s iTunes-inspired interface is intuitive, with impressive artist profiles and even more impressive back catalogue. In fact it’s become something of a challenge to those I show the application to find an obscure band from their childhood not featured.

With physical music sales continuing to decline and digital sales not making up the shortfall, this service and others like it are going to accelerate that trend. Certainly, desktop-only and ad supported is not going to be for everyone, but it’s an acceptable trade-off for me, particularly if the service can go multi-media.

Interesting then to see a job posting on their site shows they are specifically looking for a Nokia S60 platform software engineer:

“We’re now looking for an outstanding software engineer who knows the ins and outs of C++ and the Nokia S60 platform like the back of his hand. You’ll help us make Spotify mobile and take part in changing the way people listen to music forever.”

Looks like Spotify mobile is coming soon.

As explained in the previous post, I was considering moving back from a hosted version of Wordpress to the free version. This blog is not-for-profit (ad trial is a technology test) and I’ve had more hassle resolving hosting issues, than benefits with the flexibility hosting your own blog brings.

There is surprisingly little information on how to move back from hosted to free Wordpress on Google, so hopefully this will provide some guidance for those of us who are less technical.

Having gone through the process, ads on Wordpress.com were just too obtrusive to continue, but hopefully the experience will serve others well considering the same path.

Pros summary

- It’s free
- Wordpress’ reliable hosting to manage traffic spikes (thorn in my side on a cheap hosting deal)
- Many of the more popular widgets are still available (many aren’t…)
- Widgets are easier to setup on certain themes. Just use the edit box and drag and drop.
- Less hassle, just focus on the content

Cons summary

- You can’t include advertising. In fact, Wordpress reserve the right to include ads on your own content. After switching back and then changing PCs and IP addresses I was able to see what the adds look like. Although Wordpress claim they are infrequent, they were horribly obtrusive Google Adwords both at the top and the bottom of the article. Given part of my reason for moving back was having no need for advertising apart from a nice-to-have ad trial, this was unacceptable.
- Reduced number of extensions for those of us who like to test. The default stats in particular are basic.
- Reduced number of themes
- Reduced control of code
- Wordpress have the final say over your blog

Moving back to Wordpress.com summary

- Register with Wordpress.com (if you didn’t originally)
- Check that you have a recent version of the Wordpress software. Older versions do not include an ‘export’ option under manage. Instructions on this are here. Make sure you backup properly!
- Follow the instructions at ‘Manage’; ‘Export’
- Log into Wordpress.com and follow instructions at ‘Manage’; ‘Import’.
- Go to ‘Upgrades’; ‘Domains’. Either purchase your domain or follow instructions to map it to Wordpress.
- One common problem is confusion over how you purchase credits for the domain mapping. That’s because you can’t purchase credits, UNTIL you’ve mapped your domain. You are then prompted to purchase the 10 credits. Could be explained much more clearly. I was presented with the option to purchase the credits almost immediately after mapping my domain.
- Wait for the domain to propagate.
- The only problem was that I had to re-upload images.

Summary

On balance, the Wordpress advertising was just not acceptable for me - for others the lack of hosting charge may outweight this. I would have considered paying a modest opt-out charge for avoiding ads on my blog, but Wordpress have yet to make this available. At least the whole experience has got me to upgrade to the latest and much improved version of Wordpress with working trackbacks and search…

Disclaimer: this is my personal experience and may not work for you. Do your research and always backup.

Over the last few months, there has been increasing levels of buzz around user interface. From Microsoft’s Surface to the wii and iPhone, the trend is clear - the humble mouse and keyboard/keypad’s dominance are likely to fade as more intuitive and ultimately ‘human’ forms of interaction emerge into the mainstream through touch, motion and voice.

Therefore, it was particularly interesting to get a sneak preview of the next version of Windows which included many of the user interface innovations shown in the Microsoft Surface. Indeed, given the success of the iPhone, how long until we see this functionality coming to Macs?

Below is an early demo of the new Windows 7 OS in action:

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

When I first heard we were having a talk from Martin Fowler, I assumed that the Eastenders crew were paying us a visit. In fact, we got the enterprise software design guru rather than James Alexandrou’s most famous creation.

In an impressively off-the-cuff talk, he gave his opinion on the history and direction of enterprise software design, which reaffirmed my belief that simple common sense is one of the most valuable qualities in business.

Among my takeaways as a non programmer:

- Make whatever you design reversible, e.g. Object Orientated Programming

- Design (software) and code at the same time

- Stay technology agnostic, keeping to general principles

- Look backwards, not forwards: The role of technology gurus is spreading awareness and take up of existing technologies rather than the dangerous game of trying to second guess where individual technologies will go

- Communication, communication, communication: Find a common language to communicate with your stakeholders and involve them often and early.

- Drink lots of water when you’re speaking…