A Sad Day July 21, 2011
Posted by jay in Life, Politics.add a comment
Today marks the end of the shuttle program and our manned space flight program. Despite what we might be hearing from NASA and the government, the current economy and budget situations will, in my opinion, signal an end to further manned missions for a very long time. And that’s very sad for many reasons which I’m sure a lot of people will go into.
In a country where political ideology seek to divide us, the economy depresses us, and we’re constantly over stimulated with “news” and other inputs, the space program has always had the ability to grab our attention, bring us together, and focus us. Even if only for a short moment, we are all one country, one family, with few thoughts of anything else. My life has been personally effected by NASA and the shuttle program, so I thought I’d relate my personal perspective on what this means.
Some of my clearest memories have been around the space program. I was too young to remember the Apollo landings, but I very clearly remember the first shuttle launch. I had just gone through some turmoil in my life (moving across country and into a rural community from a large city) and the launch of the shuttle Columbia (which in later years would come to have significant meaning in my life) seemed to make my dreams of a Star Trek-like future just a little closer. Hey, I was 15… 
On January 28, 1986, I sat mesmerized in front of a television on the campus of Huntingdon College, crying with the rest of my friends and the nation at the disaster that had just befallen Challenger. But, the ultimate result of this terrible disaster was to pull the nation together and give everyone a renewed sense of energy and determination to continue.
My attention in the following years would wax and wane but I always seemed to have one eye on what was going on with NASA, particularly as the internet grew and with it the ability to follow what was going on.
In 1996, after yet another round of big change in my life (moving to Colorado, coming out, meeting Shawn, the love of my life, getting laid off for the first time), again NASA added to it (and, saved me from some of it?). This time, an opportunity came to go to work for Sterling Software, who had a contract to do computer support for the NASA Ames Research Center. Wow. NASA. I was actually going to work at NASA! It was only managing a computer support group in the Life Sciences division, but hey, it was freaking NASA!! So Shawn and I packed up the cats and moved to San Francisco.
This opportunity turned out to be even more than I had dreamed of. I got to do a lot of good work in the division with the support side – including traveling by private jet down to Edwards AFB where we were escorted by some F-117 Nighthawk’s and, even more cool, we were able to climb up the latter and look into the cockpit of a SR-71 Blackbird. I was in heaven. Really smart people around me, cool NASA stuff – what else could a total geek like me want? I also traveled to Johnson Space Center for some meetings and got to tour that facility (including mission control). Sweet!
Then, sort of organically, I had an opportunity to create a new task (contract-ese for a specific contract job) to manage – a software development task to work on data acquisition and visualization software for an upcoming shuttle mission called Neurolab (STS-90). The Life Sciences division had several experiments going into the SpaceLab module and needed to capture in real-time data from the experiments.
This is where the tie back to Columbia comes in – Neurolab was going to fly on Columbia, the first space-worthy shuttle and the first shuttle in space! I was pumped. I was even more excited when I learned that I was going to be at KSC for launch and the entire mission. OMG. Kennedy Space Center. The VAB. The launch pads. And I get to SEE THE LAUNCH IN PERSON!!
I had one more surprise in store for me. Once I got to KSC several days before the launch, I found out that we needed to do some service on equipment that was in the Mobile Launch Platform – the thing the Shuttle sits on when assembled in the VAB, and the thing that the crawler is under when moving the shuttle out to the pad. It’s actually a 2-story building with equipment inside.
Anyway, we needed to do some maintenance on some of our equipment that was in the MLP. On the pad. Under Columbia! Holy cow!!! So, a co-worker and I got in the car with another NASA employee and we headed out to the pad. There was a croc laying on the crawlway – apparently that happens frequently because the rocks of the crawlway are quite warm.
We got to the pad and I had butterflies. There’s Columbia. Right in front of me. In a few days it would be blasting into space. We got past the guard at the fence and went up. Here’s where things get really fuzzy for me – I was so excited and full of adrenaline that I only remember certain things: going on top of the MLP – ducking under Columbia’s tail – so close I could reach out and touch it. Riding up the elevator. The memories can be quite overpowering still, so many years later.
Then it was Launch Day – April 17, 1998. Oh, my – words just can’t explain what it’s like to be there in person. The excitement. The noise. The rumbling in your chest – your body literally vibrates with the power. Did I mention it was loud? And, for me, the knowledge that a little part of me when up in the SpaceLab, tucked securely in the cargo bay of Columbia. I learned at that time that ever since the Challenger disaster, custom dictates that you don’t clap/celebrate until SRB separation (after Challenger exploded). It wasn’t really a problem – I think I was so awed seeing the launch that I sorta just stood there in stunned silence. I do remember my co-worker, Sheila, jumping up and down screaming “Go Columbia. Go Neurolab”. I did finally realize that I was crying and hugging everyone around me. That memory still brings tears to my eyes.
The mission went great – we got lots of good data. After landing and several months of cleanup, it was time to move on to other things (job-wise). But my time at NASA/Sterling will forever be the best job I’ve ever had in terms of just pure joy. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. On February 1, 2003, I was outside our house doing something when Shawn came outside and said his brother had just called saying there had been an accident with the shuttle. I hadn’t really been paying attention to this particular shuttle mission, so I really had no idea what the mission was about. I turned on the TV and immediately found news coverage. Columbia had apparently burned up on re-entry. And, over northern Texas (I had moved to Austin by this time).
Again with the crying – I had been within arms reach of Columbia, and now it and it’s 7-member crew were no more. I had this sinking feeling that with an aging shuttle fleet and no plans to build more, this might mean the end. It turned out to be the beginning of the end, just not immediately and for that I’m grateful. We had many more years of science and exploration before today’s end.
So, from a very personal perspective, the shuttle program provided me with many of the most memorable moments in my life, and I believe for many others as well. I’m quite overwhelmed at the moment – happiness at all the great moments it has brought me over the years – mixed with a deep emptiness knowing that I will never again have any more of those moments.
Goodbye shuttle program, this is indeed a very sad day.
CE Pro Says: Warning, Home Control Users: Don’t Update that Apple iOS September 16, 2010
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
I’m reprinting the text of the article and all the comments in this post so that there’s a correct record for it. EH Publishing decided to first rewrite the article and then remove all the previous comments. I’ve pieced this together from several emailed copies of the article that I sent to myself and snarfing text from my browser’s cache database – I’ve only applied slight formatting for easier reading (BTW, i HATE that WP keeps futzing with my formatting in the display). If anyone wants the originating HTML I can provide what I have as well. I’ll comment on it in the next post.
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Warning, Home Control Users: Don’t Update that Apple iOS
You can’t blame Apple fanboys for rushing to download the shiny new iOS 4.1
Who could resist the new multitasking, folders and playlist features, as well as Game Center, iTunes TV show rentals and iTunes Ping?
The trouble is, did those iOS lovers stop to think how 4.1 would affect their home control apps? My guess is that most of them did not take a deep breath and call their home automation expert before they pressed the DOWNLOAD button.
And, surprise! They may have been able to Ping their music-loving friends, but in the process they lost control of their home. Evidently, Steve Jobs didn’t give home automation developers a heads up on the new iOS.
“The problem I see is that Apple does not release any information on any of their changes, and just has a ‘buyer beware’ attitude to the developers,” says Jack Goldberg, principal of Westco Smart Homes, a home systems integration company with offices in Southern California and New York City.
Goldberg also presides over Home Automation Middle East, which markets the HAME Smarthome iPhone app for Vantage control systems, developing the app long before Vantage had one of its own – back in the iOS 3.1 days.
Like other app developers, HAME hit its first major snag when Apple released OS 4.0 for the iPhone 4. When HAME users upgraded to that version, after the programming, “the app just reverted back to the app icon page and did not work,” says Goldberg.
The HAME Smarthome 2.0 app for Vantage Infusion and QLink controllers “had to be a complete rework of the app, as Apple made some radical changes in the OS, and cancelled some of the methods of programming we had previously utilized,”
The re-programming took about a week, and then HAME had to submit the new app for OS 4.0 approval before it was available to customers.
Even Savant Feels the Pain
Goldberg is not just a small, isolated developer feeling the pain of Apple’s folly. Even Savant, which has a close relationship with Apple, must re-think its software with every Steve Jobs whim.
The company, whose whole-house control and entertainment system is tightly interwoven with Apple operating systems, sent a memo to dealers on Sept. 9, warning them to halt their customers’ upgrades to the new version (emphasis added):
As Apple and Savant continue to evolve their prospective products (separately….), platforms, applications and operating systems, we must maintain reliable interoperability between revisions, upgrades, and releases. In many cases this can be planned and timed with minimal user impact. In the cases of proprietary, market differentiating events, the ability to respond with a reliable solution requires time to evaluate test and respond.
Apple has announced the release of iOS 4.1. Savant is performing a full Engineering evaluation to assure that the quality and reliability of our iPhone Apps are optimized with this release. We had no advance opportunity to evaluate this release. As a result, we are discouraging customers from using their iPhones or iPod touch for ROSIE System control with iOS 4.1. Our strong recommendation is to NOT perform the upgrade until notified.
Savant will have the full details on its iOS 4.1 implementation at CEDIA Expo 2010.
Comments
Sorry, these developers aren’t paying attention. The iOS 4.0 developers kit was available MONTHS before the release so they had plenty of time to test.
Dot releases (such as 4.1) rarely change API behavior, so while testing it is obviously a good thing, it’s extremely unlikely that an app will break on that type of upgrade if you’re following the rules (and not using undocumented APIs).
It’s exactly this type of sloppy software development practices that got us where we are with Windows – developers are responsible for paying attention and doing the right thing for their customers – not Apple.
As an iOS developer, we have never had issues like this with our CommandFusion iViewer app.
As Jay says in his comment, there are pre-releases available to developers long before they reach consumers.
Sounds like some companies are not doing enough testing and/or not using best programming practices defined by Apple, then taking the easy route and blaming Apple for their problems.
Update, Crestron Electronics HQ users have nothing to worry about
I have just spoken with them and as as an apple partner they reviewed the api and were ready at release. Mobile pro (The Crestron app) is iOS4 compliant
Crestron seems to always be looking ahead and planing for everything before everyone else. Just my two cents.
http://www.vsys.us
I also dont buy this “we didn’t know”. AFAIK a registered iPhone developer got access to the first beta of 4.1 around JULY.
Even if this update indeed breaks poorly written apps, they could have informed their customers long before. If its broken with beta1, beta2 and beta3 and you still gamble what it will be with 4.1 release, then you dont understand software development.
Harald
Great story and catch Julie. I know everybody is in love with Apple. They are an awesome company but we, the CEDIA community, need to understand our business is a nice add on for them but if we really looked at the total revenue we are producing at the moment for Apple I think people would be surprised that it isn’t a major concern to their quarterly reports! The connection and relationship will take a while and I’m sure this won’t be the first time we all encounter and scramble on these issues.
dkippy: This is not Apple’s fault, it’s the developer’s. We developers get access to the pre-release iOS versions long before consumers do. Not Apple’s fault if some developers choose not to test and release a fix before the upgrade is released.
See above – Crestron’s and our CommandFusion app have not suffered because we test and fix before the end users even get a chance to upgrade their OS.
Ditto with our Indigo Touch app. In fact, Apple warned us a couple of months before 4.0 shipped that we had a problem with our app. There is just bad software development practices.
CommandFusion: I never said this was Apples fault people. The responsibility falls on the developer to be up to date, up to speed and ahead of the curve for testing. PLEASE don’t misunderstand my comment was on the larger picture and we’re going to see a lot more of these issues with all these Apps people are going to be promoting. Apps are software and we all know how that can work depending on who is doing the development!
dkippy: Sorry for the misunderstanding. I agree with you on the “depending on who is doing the development” comment! Just look at some of the apps on the app store… wowee!
i am not having the issue with my control4 app looks like they are right behind crestron in looking forward.
This goes to show that:
1. Savant is not any “closer to Apple” then anyone else in the business.
2. Relying on a company that has nothing to do with the CI Industry (Apple) to run our homes and businesses is dangerous at best.
3. Larger, more established companies like Crestron with a large development staff can get ahead of these things first, and has.
What happens when the next rev. of whatever comes out from Apple? They’ll be updating this stuff forever.
Don’t put your faith in a $500.00 consumer product to run your project!!!
We’ll be having this same conversation in a year when all the Android tablets are out.
Jeff: I dont think point 3 makes much difference. From what I’ve heard there is only a small team working on the Crestron app. But I can say our team at CommandFusion is quite small, yet leading the way in iOS control apps (our app has worked with Crestron systems since August 2008). In the end it comes down to programming competence.
When the next revision comes out, we will update the app again. The app will continue to work on old and new devices and firmware revisions.
I have more faith in my iPad than I do in most dedicated touch panels
Can’t wait for the Android tablet rush.
Jeff: “Larger, more established companies like Crestron”? Sorry, that’s completely untrue – my company is tiny by comparison yet we had working versions for our apps out at launch at each of the iOS upgrades.
This has nothing to do with Apple and everything to do with the quality of the software provider – if they are *truly* dedicated to that aspect of their product they won’t get caught by updates that have been available to them well in advance of customer release.
It’s why (some of) the professionally installed systems and integrators are having such a hard time – they’re used to the relatively slow pace of innovation in this industry. It’s time for a switch from an embedded mindset to a more software and service-oriented approach.
“They’ll be updating this stuff forever.” Yes they will, and we should all be glad of that. Innovation is what will revive and grow this industry by giving customers even more reason to install home automation systems. $1000 dedicated touchscreens certainly didn’t do much to grow the industry.
CommandFusion – Oh my God how true. Some of the things I’ve seen on the Apple App Store and some other App type stores in our industry scare me! As they say just because you can do something doesn’t always mean you should. Such as consider yourself an App developer when you really aren’t. You guys get it!
TPControl has had no issues controling AMX
Guys, no one said the Savant app wouldn’t work with 4.1! They just wanted to fully vet the app before blessing an update. I haven’t heard of anyone that suffered glitches after updating.
@jeff Stringer: Relying on a company that has nothing to do with the CI Industry (Apple) to run our homes and businesses is dangerous at best.
Everyone has to rely on some kind of OS from someone who doesn’t care about the CI industry. Msoft and the collective Linux community don’t care.
My purpose in writing this article was to whine about Apple being such a closed architecture. It would be nice if developers (and installers!!) could dig in deep, lock down certain functions, tweak some others and take more ownership of their programs.
Julie: I don’t believe anyone said Savant’s app didn’t work on 4.1. Our point is that Apple has done all the right things in terms of developer communication about upcoming releases (yes, dot releases included). API additions are well documented and communicated well in advance of release to customers. As far as I know, the only API deprecations have been to undocumented APIs that developers shouldn’t be using anyway – you take that chance when you use one (and even so you still get a lot of time to fix it before the next version breaks it).
If you’re going to complain about the “closed” nature of iOS, that’s fine – but attempting to blame Apple for some developers who clearly weren’t paying attention doesn’t support your argument. I’d love to hear details from other developers who have been “surprised” by any iOS API changes at the last minute before an iOS release – it’s never happened to us but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t – that would be a worthwhile article to read and chastise Apple over.
Developers DO own their programs – which was our point as well.
Julie, WTF?
You changed the story title and body text while keeping the comments from another article?
Talk about bending over for Savant when they obviosly called you out on this.
CEPro is such a joke. Poor journalism at best. This whole site/magazine is nothing more than a collection of advertisements for whomever is paying you that week!
Where’s the original article?
Julie, where did the original story go? These comments are for a different story.
Lame
@Jay Martin reg. slow pace of innovation
There is a little bit of truth in your statement but you omit to mention a HUGE side effect which is way more important than some glorious innovation pace.
Do you really think that a product which is trashed any re-invented about once every 12 months as a typical consumer product is and which is built to last about the same time frame has ANY qualification to be mounted into my brick wall to sit there for the next decade?
Sorry, guys, a few of you really have no clue what technology for buildings is all about.
And it seems many of you also never worked in the consumer products industry either and actually do know about the expected (and DESIGNED for!) life time.
I am NOT talking about mobile gimmicks on my coffee table ready to be thrown out any time but something which runs my building by being part of my building.
You guys crack me up.
http://steindls.blogspot.com
@Julie:
Do you really consider changing the title and the text a good idea? You lost a LOT of credibility by doing this.
HST
Posted by Harald Steindl on 09/16 at 02:03 AM
Do you really consider changing the title and the text a good idea?
Not particularly.
Harald: So, people want to get up and walk to their wall-mounted touch screens to control their homes? Not talking buildings here, we’re talking consumer homes.
Don’t think so. Get with it or get left behind. You crack me up.
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That’s the article. Unlike CEPro, I won’t moderate the comments…
Lamar Smith is a liar and fearmonger November 17, 2009
Posted by jay in Politics.2 comments
I just received yet another propaganda email from my Congresscritter, Lamar Smith. This guy is utterly shameless and has gotten my dander up. Here’s the offensive text of the email:
I support health care reform; however, this bill goes far beyond fixing the problems we all know need to be addressed. Any health care legislation should reduce health care costs and ensure that our health care system is more accountable and accessible to patients.H.R. 3962 mandates a gradual government takeover of the health care industry. This bill increases premiums, increases taxes by more than $550 billion, cut Medicare benefits by more than $450 billion, imposes new tax penalties of more than $165 billion, fails to address medical liability reform, requires many to change their current coverage, and leads to rationing of health care. For these reasons and others, the legislation encountered strong bipartisan opposition, with 39 Democrats voting against it.I supported an alternative plan that would have expanded access to affordable health care coverage for Americans without increasing premiums and taxes or cutting benefits to seniors. It included medical liability reforms modeled after the successful reforms of several states, including Texas, which would save over $54 billion in unnecessary health care costs.
H.R. 3962 mandates a gradual government takeover of the health care industry.
This bill increases premiums
increases taxes by more than $550 billion
cut Medicare benefits by more than $450 billion
fails to address medical liability reform
requires many to change their current coverage, and leads to rationing of health care
expanded access to affordable health care coverage for Americans
It included medical liability reforms modeled after the successful reforms of several states, including Texas
Simple Pleasures August 12, 2009
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
On advice from my nephew Kinnon (thanks for the heads up), I decided to do something I haven’t done in many years: get up in the middle of the night to see a meteor shower. Specifically, the Perseids, which are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. Even with the light of a half moon, I got to see a pretty good show – here’s my tally for the evening:
- 6 Perseids
- 5 Racoons
- 1 Opossum
- 1 Tarantula
Correcting Pat July 21, 2009
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
Last night, Rachel corrected the many incorrect statements made by Buchanan on Friday. Check out the MSN video for details.
PS – I really hope that WordPress will start allowing random embed tags – Not being able to embed MSNBC videos is a total PITA.
WOW!! July 17, 2009
Posted by jay in LGBT Issues, Right-wing Nutters.2 comments
I watched the following exchange in utter disbelief, mouth hanging open.
Here’s the full discussion (WordPress won’t allow embedding MSNBC video content).
Man, where to begin. I believe the only thing he could have done to offend more people is to throw in “White STRAIGHT men” (which I’m sure he just didn’t think of or he probably would have).
Arrival in Cancun July 4, 2009
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
Here’s a picture from our balcony. It’s beautiful!
A thought before I head off for a short vacation July 4, 2009
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
We’re heading off to Cancun for a well-deserved vacation. Before I leave, however, I wanted to pass along a link to an extremely interesting blog post by Dr. James F. McGrath, Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University. I’ll start with a quote and you can follow the link to read the rest.
For those who are enthusiastic about the voices calling for a return to or preservation of the Christian foundations of our society, you will probably find yourself largely in agreement with the sentiment of another famous politician, who said:
The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality.
Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years.
For those following currents in American religious and political life, the language sounds very familiar, and you may wonder precisely whose words these are. They are the words of Adolf Hitler. This is a quotation from the address he gave after coming to power in Germany (from “My New Order, The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, 1922-1939″, Vol. 1, pp. 871-872, Oxford University Press, London, 1942).
Read the full article – I believe you’ll find it extremely interesting. With that, everyone have a great 4th of July holiday.
Senator Kay Baily Hutchison’s Position on the Hate Crimes Bill June 28, 2009
Posted by jay in LGBT Issues.add a comment
So, when I heard last week that the Hate Crimes bill was in trouble, I immediately went to both my Senator’s websites and send them a message urging them to support the bill. Because I live in Texas, arguably the reddest state in the US, I didn’t expect it to do much good, but I thought at least they’ll know that there’s one more LGBT Texan that’s speaking up.
Haven’t heard a peep from Cornyn, and frankly didn’t expect to hear from either. I just received the following reply from Senator Hutchison: (more…)
Welcome to the new and improved blog June 26, 2009
Posted by jay in Life.add a comment
Welcome to my new blog site. This one is better because it supports comments (which I really look forward to) and it gives me statistics about visits. I’m slowly moving my old posts over here, but until that’s done you can go back to my old blog posts if you want to find a previous post – they’ll stay available.
Oh, and, that nice image at the top is a sunset from our back porch. Now you can see one reason why I love living here in Austin.
