The Algorithm: Idiom of Modern Science, a longish paper on our thinking about discovering truths about algorithms, and the effect of growth Moore’s law on where we can take our ideas about them.

I’m a cheap bastard. I balked at Job’s announcement of the $20 iPod Touch upgrade pack. I already paid for the damned thing, why another $20 for applications that are free on the iPhone?¹ But guess what? The upgrade is worth it.

What you get:

• A capable mail application
• Google Maps
• A weather and stock applet
• Configurable desktop (including browser shortcuts on the desktop)

The mail application is brilliant. From the super-simple configuration, to its every-day use, it’s a robust workhorse. I had considered sticking with Google’s mobile Safari Mail, but it’s no comparison to Apple’s rich client. The only thing missing is client-side spam filtering (which isn’t surprising).

Google Maps is fun, but not a lot of use where I live (there are very few open wifi connections in the area). The weather and stock applets are cool, but are not something I’ll use that often. The new desktop features are a much-needed enhancement, but I don’t think they should have charged for them.²

And each of the new applications are fun to use. Apple has included the important features and enough flair that each bit makes you smile (at least for the first few days).

I’m happy to spend $20 on a great mail client, as it lets me detach from my computer and still stay connected. I wish that an iChat-like application would have been included, as it would make the Touch a full-blown PDA for my uses.

1. I know there’s some accounting mumbo jumbo reason for it, but I don’t care ↩
2. Features that make something usable don’t make for happy purchases ↩

It’s here. VOIP for the iPod touch. Sweet.

Oh, and there’s some news on the new iPhone 1.13 firmware.¹

1. Thanks John ↩

I used to have to boot to my Windows partition regularly to charge my iPod touch, a feature that’s been added to Ubuntu 7.10. Now I only need to reboot if I need to resync it, which I do far less regularly. Yes, I’ll be buying a Mac this year¹.

1. which fixes the problem ↩

I’ve added a new theme for those of you browsing the site with an iPhone or iPod Touch. It’s based on Joe Hewitt’s iUI library, with some WordPress plugin magic.

Script of the week: mp3rename. Especially handy if iTunes eats your MP3 repo in a fit of madness (and you have to restore your tunes from your iPod). Seems to work even.

For anyone who doesn’t like iTunes, YamiPod v1.0.2 beta 1 is available. YamiPod is available for Linux (Gtk), Windows, and Mac OSX.

I was talking about web appilcations with a friend tonight, about how certain sites hit that sweet spot. What is it that makes their stuff better? What is it that we see that defines the difference?

So what makes them special?

• Google: authoritative answers
• Flickr: inspiration in photography
• Wikipedia: knowledge out the wazoo

The smaller sites are similar too, though with a narrower focus:

• 37Signals: simple life hacks
• JoelOnSofware: interesting software rants
• BoingBoing: compelling wild and weird stuff

It’s interesting that most of these guys are third generation web, and they all eclipsed their competitors by being damned good at their shtick. Being best is far more important than being first, and picking something we all want or need is absolute.

In product-land, the iPod is another clear winner. It does tunes. It does them well, end-to-end. No fuss. Like Google or Flickr, the iPod is clearly the best, with a limited set of features.

You’ll also notice that big success lacks the sickly-sweet corporate fermentation process. You won’t find meaningless mission statements or shallow product vision papers. What you find is clear, pragmatic thinking. Make it simpler. Make it better. Do one thing well. Damn the competition, because we’ll kick their ass.

I haven’t seen and SDK yet for the iPod, but there are now games available on the platform. I also found a few notes that talk about how the game archives are put together. I am guessing that the SDK will be made available sometime this year.

Are your users stuck in “P” mode? This is an essay about how many users never escape the auto mode of their tools. The thing is that I don’t think auto is bad: using a tool is far less about the petty details than it is about just using it. A good “auto” mode beats a highly programmable device any day. Just look at the iPod, it’s all about the music, not the damned settings.