Personal Blog - Latest Comments

Re: BlackBerry 10 – The Software that Saved RIM?

Jacob Bodnar — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:59:22 -0000

I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying. However, BlackBerry is hardly a new entrant into the mobile space. There's a big difference between a new entrant and a company attempting to get their standing back. A new company can come in, and has a clean slate in terms of public opinion. Meanwhile, BlackBerry has a bit of a tarnished image. My dad, who knows nothing about technology, had a BlackBerry, when it came time to upgrade his phone he choose an iPhone because "BlackBerry is dying." A non-technologist even knew that. It's incredibly hard to change that perception among people, even if that perception is not necessarily true.
I agree with you on Apple devices, that's why I've never spent a single penny of my money on an Apple device. I don't like the closed nature of it, and I don't like the way Apple treats developers and users (play by our rules or else).

I also kind of agree with what you're saying about Android, but I think it has more to do with the terrible software and skins handset makers put on top of vanilla Android. I've never had a stutter problem with stock Android 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 or 4.0. All have run smooth on several types of devices. However, MotoBlur on Motorola was sluggish, so I installed ADW Launcher EX which runs smooth as can be. I've even noticed responsiveness differences between Go Launcher and ADW (heck I've noticed responsiveness differences between ADW and ADW Ex). Android is so open that it really all depends on the launcher and software you're running on top of the vanilla install.

I'm glad you enjoy your PlayBook, and of course you are entitled to your opinion, that's why I asked for it in the post. I respectfully disagree with your prediction however. I think if Android was going to lose a large chunk of market share, it would have happened in the beginning of this year, or at least by mid-year. There are too many quality devices being released for the platform for users to leave en masse. And I think Android 4.0 is an incredible improvement over Gingerbread and previous versions, and once a majority of phones get that update or are running that version, those users will stick around because the experience has greatly been enhanced.

So RIM has a lot going against it. Good competition. Nothing intriguing on the market currently. And a bad reputation. They are really going to have to impress with BlackBerry 10 to turn it around.

Re: BlackBerry 10 – The Software that Saved RIM?

syddel — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:16:41 -0000

Opinions are like a-holes: everyone has one. I for one am sick and tired of all the "nay sayers" who throw all their praise and confidence into the iOS and Android platforms while totally dismissing new entrants because (according to the nay sayers) the mobile space has already been sewn up, the dust has settled, and the two main players will remain the two main players forever and beyond, and no-one else should even bother trying to enter the market.

I was a long time iDevice user. Great hardware, great software, but a very tightly controlled and closed system, and the small iPhone screen just didn't cut it for me, regardless of the retina display and magical PPI/DPI (or whatever it's called now). From a development point of view, Objective-C is pretty good, although not for everyone (myself included). There is a learning curve, and unless you "jail-break" your iDevice, you will have to pay Apple $100 per year just to be able to test the apps you write on the device(s) you have purchased. I got bored of the "trays of icons", so decided to dabble in the Android world for a while.

Android is... well... "Android". The first thing that struck me about Android after purchasing my first handset was how 'stuttery' (for want of a better word) the user interface is. I was confused, perplexed, and believed that the handset was faulty. Then I thought it was perhaps an oversight on Google's party (or the manufacturer's part) and that an update would soon be released that would resolve the issue. Then I came across Android Issue 6914 (http://code.google.com/p/andro.... You also just have to read the comments in posts like this one: https://plus.google.com/105051... . In short, Android has a serious problem with fluidity (or lack thereof) which completely destroys the end-user experience. It is awful! And I'm not even going to bother going into the atrocious Java (oops, sorry, 'Android') development tools. Java (and the required JVM or DVM) is an abomination, especially on mobile. Android is also plagued with IP (Intellectual Property) issues (http://www.theinquirer.net/inq....

I stumbled across a PlayBook by accident about a week ago. I was in Vegas, visited the Best Buy store, saw a PlayBook for $199, decided to buy it instead of an eBook reader (I just love the 7-inch form factor). Really glad I did! While the current QNX version 2.0 does have problems (largely due to the fact that RIM decided to use Adobe AIR without hardware acceleration for things like menus, browser histories and bookmarks etc etc etc), it's a pretty darn good effort, and RIM do realize the smoothness and responsiveness are important. This is apparent with the reports dripping in about BB10, and the new Cascades UI framework (built on top of Qt). This will give developers the tools to create truly wonderful and graphically rich native apps with a quarter of the effort required to do the same on iOS (Android isn't even fit to compete on this level). Some early examples of Cascades in action (keep in mind it's still an early beta at the moment):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Not only this, if money is your primary reason for application development, then you have a good chance of making a lot more within the Blackberry ecosystem:

http://www.berryreview.com/201...

And if that's not enough, RIM will actually guarantee you $10,000 in the first year for a quality app - if you don't make $10,000 after 12 months, RIM will write a cheque for the difference:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/tech...

Anyway, I ramble. In short, I'm a new Blackberry user who firmly believes that the direction RIM is taken will save the company. The development tools/environment are second to none. Very wise move sticking with C++ and adding the Cascades UI framework. I firmly believe that what RIM are offering developers will gain traction. Here's my (bold) prediction and opinion (I believe I too am entitled to an opinion): BB10 will surpass Android and will take second place towards the last quarter of 2013, and it will be due to great apps that are created using the Cascades UI framework.

That is all.

Re: Could Santorum Actually Win Michigan?

Theo — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:12:57 -0000

Rick Santorum certainly presents the sharpest contrast to Hussein Obama. More and more of the people that I know are starting to see Romney for what he is: Obama-lite. Will it be enough to give him Michigan, and ultimately the GOP nomination & the White House? I think so.

Re: Big Ten Championship Game Thoughts

Rachele Conley — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:13:39 -0000

Jacob, I always enjoy reading your writing because you always present the facts in a concise manner! Thanks for writing this.

Re: The CRA and the Credit Crisis

Eprincip — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:17:54 -0000

Well, It seems countrywide was a member of the FDIC. Here is a blurb from the bottom of a countrywide webpage :

Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. and Countrywide Bank, N.A. are Equal Housing Lenders. ©
2011

2005 Countrywide Financial Corporation. Trade/service marks are
the property of Countrywide Financial Corporation and/or its
subsidiaries. All rights reserved. If you use a pop-up blocker, you
should disable it while using our sites. * Countrywide Financial offers
these products through our family of companies. Home Loans provided by
Countrywide Home Loans; Banking services provided by Countrywide Bank,
N.A., member FDIC; Insurance services provided by Countrywide Insurance
Services, Investment Services provided by Countrywide Investment
Services.

So, how does this square against your statement? Does it mean their banking services were FDIC insured but their homes loans were not?

Re: iPhone 4S – Apple’s First Major Disappointment?

Con18 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:57:56 -0000

Will stick with my iphone 4, not buying the 4S. Apples just watching the parade go by.

Re: No Car for a Week

Alexander Thornade — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:31:07 -0000

Good point. It deserve a lot of thinking.

Re: Facebook Debate: Are the Rich Getting Richer?

JBodnar — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:08:23 -0000

For starters, there's no industry standard for sample size. It depends entirely on the project, the purpose, what's being studied, etc. For more information visit - http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/tech...

The Pew Mobility project has very good data, and it finds stuff like children born into the lowest quintile have an 82% chance of moving up to higher income than their parents, etc. The findings aren't exactly the same, but there is some overlap. However, from what I can tell the Pew stuff seems to be not a stand alone study, but an aggregation of many different studies and it presents facts and figures from multiple sources. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a different study.

However, because it gathers from multiple studies, it does need to be read with some caution, as different studies use different methods, etc.

The many faults with this study? Oh you mean the two you pointed out and the two that I debunked.

For some context here on the sample size, this comes from the article "Is Mobility in the United States still Alive? Tracking Career Opportunities and Income Growth" published in the International Review for Applied Economics, "Conducted by the University of Michigan, the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (PSID) has yearly data on a representative sample of 5000 families (and their children) since 1967."

Gee, so that study uses a sample of 5,000 to make assumptions about 117 million, and it's an academic study, was published, which means it was peer reviewed. Fact is, there's nothing wrong with the Treasury's sample size, countless income studies have cited it, if there were serious concerns with the methodology, they wouldn't have bothered citing it.

The readers of my blog are more than welcomed to look and find the counterpoint, I'm not a journalist, I'm not attempting to provide both sides here, however I've seen the counterpoint; it's weak. From the studies I've read, it seems split, and it's an extraordinarily difficult topic to study.

Re: Facebook Debate: Are the Rich Getting Richer?

Bykeracr — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:26:59 -0000

Pew mobility project. The 1992 data is now 20 years old. 97,000 is great for polling terrible for "scientific data" representing 117 million . A standard deviation for scientific data is plus / minus 1 percent which is greater than your sample size by 10. You will see what you want to see and if you can't see the many faults with this study I don't have the time to teach you how to get empirical data. The readers of your blog do need to see that there is a counterpoint.

Re: Facebook Debate: Are the Rich Getting Richer?

JBodnar — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:54:18 -0000

96,700 tax returns is actually an incredibly large sample. When we talk about public policy polling they usually include about 1,000 respondents and use that data to make conclusions about the beliefs of the entire country. 96,700 samples is extraordinarily large.

I assume you have some proof as to your claim that "almost all economists laugh" at this study? Some references would be nice.

You clearly didn't look into the technical appendix of the study, in which they go into great detail about their data collection methods and specifically site what each term means and how it relates to the study.

I don't think including persons just getting out of college is skewing it. For starters most of the study contains a bottom range age of 25, most people graduate college (at least for a bachelors) at 22, so that gives them three years right there to land in a particular bracket, your assumption is that the second they get out of college they're counted and thus whatever bracket they land in at their job, that's considered mobility from the lower to the higher. But that is not the case because the majority of the study uses 25 year olds, so the college graduates would have already found a job, and secured themselves in a bracket, and any mobility after that would be counted.

Do you have any references to studies that show the opposite? Again, the Treasury study is legit, and they even offer up several other studies that show similar results.

Re: Facebook Debate: Are the Rich Getting Richer?

Bykeracr — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:06:13 -0000

Almost all economists laugh at this treasury study. Using 1/10th of 1 percent as your study group and calling it a good study? As well as not using those that are not compelled to file tax return and use of the term "taxpayer" with no definition. Simply a study to keep the heat off it's own back . There are current studies by economists with no dog in the fight so to speak that are much more conclusive and point to the redistribution of wealth to the top and the nonchanging face of those at the top. This study is also skewed by inclusion of persons just getting out of college who obviously are going to go from a low tax bracket to a higher one .

Re: 4,000 Words, Not a Single Solution

Economic trend forecasters — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:46:14 -0000

Yes,

the statement is correct that We are still coming up from economic collapse

Re: Phoneless for a Week Day 2 – UPDATED

JBodnar — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:48:20 -0000

I actually just started using Google Voice as my voicemail system about two weeks ago. Verizon charges for visual voicemail, so I decided to switch to Google Voice. All I've done is voicemail with it, nothing else, but I should explore it's other features. So far I really like it.

Skype credit is amazing! I use it for my podcasts when we want to dial out to a phone number. The old option for hooking up a phone line to an audio setup like I have would be a phone hybrid system, which is expensive. Skype makes it so easy and cheap.

Thanks for reading! It's getting easier as the week progresses, we'll see what today brings!

--jacob

Re: Phoneless for a Week Day 2 – UPDATED

Scott Westerman — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:27:18 -0000

I'm really enjoying reading your phone-withdrawal diary. A bunch of great learnings for an addict like me.

Do you have a google voice number? That's become my primary SMS and voice mail system. Works great and is free.

I also bought a year of Skype out credit. It's not expensive and gives me another back-up when I'm in a hotel with lousy cell coverage.

Hang in there!

Scott Westerman
MSUAA

Re: Interrogation Memos: What the Media Omitted

parafish13 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:55:38 -0000

that's good analysis, and the media should retract that part of the fuss

I'm still against the torture we did do, and against the initial and current denial of it, and against the idea that it works and produces honest results, and against the idea that even now, we acted ethically, and especially against the idea that people who dare call themselves "doctors" participated in this, but I'm glad you wrote this analysis and I'll refer to it when I talk to others about this mess.

Re: Column: Let’s Applaud Miss California

parafish13 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:32:50 -0000

"I have no problem giving gay couples the same amount of government privileges that heterosexual couples receive, but I donâ€™t think itâ€™s the stateâ€™s job to define marriage. Hell, I donâ€™t even think the state should recognize â€œmarriage,â€ itâ€™d be easier if marriage was left as a religious sacrament and everything was provided under the heading of a â€œcivil union.â€"

Beautiful passage.

I watched parts of Miss USA. They're all dumb b****es and the bigger problem with our country is that we celebrate their beauty and "intelligence" at all over all of the real heroes we could focus on.

Re: When Politics Backfires UPDATE: Probe Possible?

Jacob — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:59:17 -0000

I read the first couple paragraphs of that article, but I would probably have to have several drinks in me to get myself to finish reading anything by Paul Krugman.

Anyway, the problem I have with the "moral compass" argument is that I think it's a wee bit of an overreaction. We waterboarded three people, that's out of thousands and of captured fighters.

How many did we technically torture? I guess it depends on what the definition of torture is, that really hasn't been nailed down. We also don't know for sure. The overwhelming fact is that the vast, vast majority of those that we captured, probably somewhere near 95%, were not tortured.

I don't think you completely lose your "moral compass" for torturing a couple people who did a lot worse to this country than we did to them. Especially considering the fact that it worked.

I mean think about it. You've got a terrorist in custody. You know he knows there's going to by another attack, he might even tell you he knows. You can't tell me that you wouldn't slap him around and pour some water up his nose to get that information out. And we know now that actually happened, that we got information from torture that stopped another attack. Not doing that would have been irresponsible. And to be honest I think Obama would have done the same thing.

Re: When Politics Backfires UPDATE: Probe Possible?

parafish13 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:40:48 -0000

That it "worked" isn't the point.

I hope you take the time to read http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04... and then tell me why things like laws are overrated.

Re: The Never-Ending Campaign

parafish13 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:14:17 -0000

"Regardless of if you liked his politics or not, George Bush didnâ€™t give a damn about the media."

What do you think of this?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/g...

What about that infamous "mission accomplished" photo?

Bush cared about the media a lot. He, and especially his people, had a constant stream of propaganda coming out and taught me that what I read and hear is usually totally false.

I don't want to say that Obama is any better in regards to the media, but I'm having trouble buying (or even finding) your argument that he's somehow worse than Bush was.

Re: Lansing Tea Party Protest UPDATE: Crowd Numbers

wayne — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:25:28 -0000

These numbers are quite impressive and they clearly show a strong anti-tax and anti-government sentiment running through the US population.

Jon Stewart even though he is politically liberal made a good point on his show. He said that these protests are no different than any of the hard left protesters that have popped up over the years on various issues. The numbers on the Iraq War protests were quite high also.

The main thing is, when it comes to electing representatives and other political leaders the centre always tends to decide the outcome. Nixon called it the silent majority.

This group is very large and supported Bush on his moderately conservative fiscal policies and aggressive response to the terrorism crisis. Although this group always had reservations about Iraq, offshore detention and other domestic issues.

This can likewise be applied to Obama and the Democratic Congress but with slightly different focuses.

Re: Breaking: Journalism now Illegal

parafish13 — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:44:30 -0000

After my three essays due this week are done, I'll check out those organizations. Thanks.

Re: Breaking: Journalism now Illegal

Jacob — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:24:47 -0000

I really wish it were an exception to the rule.

And I wouldn't characterize it as liberal universities, although I may have in this writing, I would consider it administrators who just get power hungry and believe they're above the constitution.

You can find cases like these at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. And the Alliance Defense Fund. They are the two big organizations that fight these kinds of cases.

Re: Breaking: Journalism now Illegal

parafish13 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:08:55 -0000

"Itâ€™s not illegal to offend people, itâ€™s our right to offend people if we want to"

I agree with you 100% there.

But wait...are you sure you want to end on the note that it's "free speech vs. evil (liberal) universities?"

Our own President just shot down the anti-Tutu request in the name of open communication and debate. This video is disappointing, but it's the exception to the rule.

Re: Who’s Reporting the News?

parafish13 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:35:06 -0000

Beautiful post, Jacob.

I go to news websites for fluff and funny crap.

I go to blogs like this one for my news.

This post gets an A+ from me, especially 'cause of the pretty pictures.

Re: Obama’s Nuclear Fantasies

parafish13 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:14:08 -0000

"Secondly, moral authority is generally worthless when youâ€™re dealing with people that have no morals."

I love you Jacob, I really do, and I believe you believe what you say, but this is what I refuse to accept, and I look forward to the day when quotes like this are dismissed with other inhumane ideas as part of the foolishness of the past.