Random Thoughts

Today was pretty productive. I’ve been toying with a new app, and today I got an early alpha of it done, and posted on TestFlight for a few friends to test. It is no where near done, but learned how to submit to TestFlight for testing. Very productive.

Apple turned around my update quickly. At 5pm yesterday the updated version of the app is now live on the App Store. Let me know what you think!

I started writing this app years ago, and I try to put out a new version each year, just to keep up with Apple’s API changes. The last two versions are the biggest changes I’ve had to make in a while.

First, Apple has removed their social sharing capabilities, requiring me to re-write the app to use both Twitter and Facebook’s own APIs. Both of these have ballooned the size of my app from only about 8MB to over 100MB! Crazy. {Well after I posted it, I see it is only 15MB, so I guess that is not too bad)

I also added a feature I am looking forward to, and that is tracking the total number of people in meetings over time. The app captures the # of people only twice, each run. Once when you press “Quorum”, meaning that we know how many people had to wait before the meeting started, and once when the meeting ends. While this will undercount the number if people leave early, it will give you a cool metric of how many people you meet with.

One key thing to know is that I don’t ever have access to this information. All data is stored on the persons own iPhone, so the only time any information is shared, is if you setup twitter to say how much time was wasted. And even this is based on time, number of people and the rate you provide. As such, it is pretty hard for anyone to back out any real data. So what do you think? I’d love to hear from you!

Hope to get the Domain name moved over as soon as I can, but for now you can find my posts at http://rowewp.mydrobo.com – Hope to be posting more soon.

Btw, I did just submit an updated to my app -WastedTime to the Apple App Store. Nice to be able to program a bit.

after checking the price increase of my hosting provider, I will be either shutting down or moving this site next month. In the end, for a hobby site, it is not worth the hosting fees to keep it running on this provider. It’s not that they are too expensive, but that the return is not worth it. I will also be looking at if I can truly self host, we shall see.

I had originally thought about writing a post for Thanksgiving, about all the things that I am thankful for, but realized I just didn’t have the time. I have decided to write a bit later and think thru the last year and all the things I am thankful for, and all the things I am looking forward to, in the world of tech.

1) The many waves of technological advancement. I’ve been a big fan of tech since I was able to take a computer class when I was in the fifth grade. I was lucky enough to be part of a small group of students that got to take college classes in fifth grade. I still remember all three classes I took, one was Egyptian history, one was aeronautics (and flight) and the last was computers. Now this was in the mid-1970s and a computers class meant cards, green screens and green bar paper. Seeing the various transitions in computing over the years has been fantastic. Transitioning from mainframes to PCs, from PCs to the Web, from Web to Mobile, and now to wearables and sensors. Each of these waves have been made possible by distruptive innovation. And we are living thru one right now. The rate and pace of computing power increase, the ubiquity of communication/connectivity, and the enablement of voice and AR as means of interacting with computing devices, is bringing many new challenges to policy, privacy and profitability. Companies are having to think about new business models, governments are having to work thru security and privacy policy, and individuals need to re-assert the rights to their own data (think of all the issues uncovered by Equifax’s news this year).

2) Backlash driving political engagement. I have long considered myself a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. Right now there’s not a single political party that matches that world view. We have the right that claims fiscal conservatism but their policies drive high deficiets and do not address the basic requirements of governing, i.e. providing an environment that promotes all of the citizens of the country. On the left they claim progressive, but they have alienated a large swath of the population, which is actually driving much more backsliding of many of the social policies that have been fought for over the years. An educated and informed citizen is a bedrock of our country and both parties have actively driven wedge issues as a means of playing to their base. If we are to continue for another 250 years, heck another 50 years, we need to get back to a much more centrist set of policies. Seeing a resurgence of political engagement on both sides of all issues, will hopeful drive us to compromise and compassion, instead of the current policy of “my way or the highway”!

3) Music. I love music, and this year I had the opportunity to perform in a world premier opera, participate in a long weekend of incredible music and hear new music on an almost daily basis through online technology. I have been signing since I was a small child and the opportunity to continue to sing as an adult has been a highlight for me. Singing brings me joy, relaxation, excitement and positive feedback when I get to do it in front of an audience of strangers.

I hope that next year, will see more cool and exciting technology, an increase of political engagement that drives us towards compassion and compromise, and many more songs.