Java and JavaScript Objects

Dave Winer posted a lesson-learned tip about JavaScript. Although Java and JavaScript are unrelated languages, they have many similarities.

var d1 = new Date ("March 12, 1994");
var d2 = new Date ("March 12, 1994");
alert (d1 == d2); // false

It seems that JavaScript, like Java, is actually comparing the two Date objects, d1 and d2, to see if they're the same object in memory, not the same value. Since these instance variables are not referencing the same object the alert line of code returns false.

Although, at first blush, this seems unintuitive, it actually allows greater flexibility when making comparisons. If you don't want to compare the two objects, but rather the value of the two objects, then you can simply send the Date object the getTime() message which returns true.

var d1 = new Date ("March 12, 1994");
var d2 = new Date ("March 12, 1994");
alert (d1.getTime() == d2.getTime()); // true

And, finally, to prove my theory to myself...
var d1 = new Date ("March 12, 1994");
var d2 = d1;
alert (d1 == d2);  // true

Apple’s Future

During the Q&A portion of my Apple Talk, I’m frequently asked about Steve Job’s greatest invention and the future of Apple.

Steve Jobs's greatest invention was Apple, the company. This invention, and more importantly the principles it’s based on (best possible customer experience, simplicity, etc), is what keeps it going strong. Apple's greatest competitor isn't another company, product, or organization. Apple biggest threat is complexity. When looking at long term risk, Apple doesn’t focus on a thing, product, or event that threatens. Instead, Apple focuses on the principles of that threat to their core offerings and they have the imagination to immediately recognize threats when they're still small. 

Engineers Turned Entrepreneurs, Part 2

Imagine this...

A candidate for a software engineering position comes into your office to interview as your first hire to build your application. The candidate has virtually no experience at software engineering, design, development, or deployment, but they tell you how hard they're willing to work because they believe in your business vision. During the interview, they describe and quote numerous articles they've read about famous computer scientists and CTOs in the news and on Wikipedia. Plus they give you a high level overview of bubble sort, map and reduce, object oriented design, and big O notation, although they've never coded.

Do you hire them to be your first software engineer? Of course not. So why would an angel or VC invest in an unproven career engineer turned entrepreneur, no matter how good the business idea?

Engineers are smart people and they know they're smart. Where they're not so smart is in dealing with people, in general, be it customers, employees, or investors. They're not the best communicators and often focus on features, not benefits. Frequently, in the mind of an engineer, they believe that if someone doesn't understand their vision it's because their audience isn't as smart as they are. It might seem easy to market and sell your idea, but it's not. 

Part 1 in this series:
http://blog.joemoreno.com/2018/08/engineers-turned-entrepreneurs.html

Part 3 in this series:
http://blog.joemoreno.com/2019/01/engineers-turned-entrepreneurs-part-3.html

Minor Bitcoin Epiphany

Summary

While in my hot tub, this afternoon, I had a minor Bitcoin epiphany: Since Bitcoin is based on supply and demand, the supply, once it's reached its pinnacle, will continue to decrease in perpetuity meaning its value will continue to increase, somewhat similar to gold but greatly accelerated. We may have reached, or are very close to, the zenith of Bitcoin in circulation because it's probably vanishing faster than it's being created.

Background

I am not a fan of Bitcoin; not so much because of the technology, but because of how it's presented. The Bitcoin movement started as a fad with engineers, not economist or entrepreneurs. If you ask a technically-minded Bitcoin aficionado to described the benefits of Bitcoin, they won't tell you. Instead, they'll spout a list of features such as:

• Laissez-faire: It's a currency that's not controlled by any country or central bank. Keep in mind that organized crime is also laissez-faire and Bitcoin has found a nice home there.
• Anonymity: Transactions can be carried out without revealing the transacting parties. The same is true for cash and cash transactions typically have zero fees.

The truth of the matter is that Bitcoin comes with most of the same downsides as cash or gold. We don't keep cash under our mattresses because it's too dangerous. Bitcoin's personal security solution is the wallet, kept with a third party, which stores a Bitcoin transaction's credentials. So, now the Bitcoin community has effectively created banks without FDIC insurance. In other words, Bitcoin banks that are easily robbed without recourse or recovery.

Some people refer to Bitcoin as a currency and other's consider it an investment. The IRS considers Bitcoin to be property (like gold) which has helped it flourish since it's unconstitutional for any person, company, or state to print or coin money.

As an investment... and this is my key heartache with Bitcoin aficionados... there's no deep fundamental insight into Bitcoin. Rather, all speculation in the Bitcoin market is predominantly based on technical analysis (trading trends). This seems more like gambling at a blackjack table than crossing the British pound with Japanese yen, etc. Yes, people make money investing in Bitcoin, but so do lottery winners.

Conclusion

We've reached a point were it seems that Bitcoin is disappearing faster than it's being created and this trend will likely continue. The anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Nakamoto, has disappeared leaving an estimated one million Bitcoins in virtual limbo. Nakamoto Bitcoin accounts represent billions of dollars that haven't been touched since their creation. That is the equivalent of burning cash, never to be recovered.

So, if you own a Bitcoin, hold on to it as the supply dwindles.

Did We Invite in Big Brother?

Facebook Tracking My Movements With Breadcrumbs

Here's a fascinating podcast about how smartphone apps track your location (more than 14,000 times/day, in some cases) and how this anonymous data loses its anonymity.

The knowledge that you're being watched changes your behavior (the antithesis of privacy). It's the Heisenberg uncertainty principle at the macro level. This doesn't only apply to smartphones since even a basic cell phone needs to be tracked by cell phone towers, but not with the same level of granularity as a GPS enabled smartphone.

This screen shot, from a few years ago, shows how Facebook tracked me, unknowingly, as I went to visit a high school classmate at Club M at the Grand Del Mar resort.

You can always turn off location services for an app or smartphone. But the cell phone towers will still have a good idea of where you're at. Tracking isn't only limited to web browsers as the woman in this podcast mentions (visit http://history.google.com to see the info Google keeps on you).

Note: This post is a follow up to the Facebook tracking privacy issues I first noticed about five years ago:
http://blog.joemoreno.com/2014/06/facebook-tracking-and-privacy-concerns.html

Internet Bottleneck

It's interesting that the Internet bottleneck of 2000 is now reversed. In 2000, less than 20 years ago, when I setup my first wireless router in my home, the bottleneck was the dial-up bandwidth connection to my house.

Today, the bottleneck is on the other end, at the server. High demand video websites now govern their outgoing bandwidth to our homes. In other words, they slow down how fast they serve you a movie because they have to pay for that bandwidth, and video requires a lot of it, so they use it wisely and efficiently. 

Today, the speed of your internal WiFi can be a limiting factor for even a small home as multiple family members are watching videos at the same time. 

I'm Excited

Only twice has my Apple Watch warned me that my heart rate was elevated above 120 bpm while I was inactive. Now this may sound ridiculous, but both times it was caused by a personal "Apple" event.

The first time it happened I was standing still for awhile when I received a text message that my HomePod had been delivered to my doorstep on release day. I was initially concerned about my elevated heart rate, since this had never happened before. After some thought (and no chest pains or palpitations) I concluded it was the good news about the HomePod delivery that spiked my pulse.

The second time it happened I was halfway through a flight from San Jose to San Diego. I was reading several articles where Jony Ive was detailing the excitement he feels when tackling new problems as he explained his design process and philosophy. While reading his words, I could sense his excitement without realizing it and my Apple Watch alerted me to my spiked heart rate. I quickly reached the same conclusion as the previous time, plus, I tend to have a very high max heart rate that's over 200 bpm.

I guess I truly and deeply get excited over Apple. I'm sure there are others. 

Beautiful iOS Keyboard Editing Feature

For years, I've wanted a simple feature for the iOS keyboard which let me reposition the cursor without lifting my finger off the keyboard. It turns out this exact feature has been in iOS, but I don't know for how long. Regardless, it's very handy. Simply press and hold on your iOS keyboard and it will turn your keyboard into a virtual trackpad. 

Little Dog, Big Presence

Drafting this blog post with handwriting recognition software. 

Years ago, I was at a car dealership in Santa Cruz. The U-shaped waiting room was too tiny for the half a dozen of us to ignore each other, especilly the older lady with a chuahah which quickly became the center of conversation for all of us. The cuteness of her dog was a natural draw for people; doubly so for little kids due to its smallness.

The lady said that little kids could sometimes be a bit too rough with her dog and quickly overwhelm it. But, she pointed out that she came up with an ideal solution. She taught the dog to growl on the command “ferocious” and then she demonstrated.

"Excuse me, is your dog friendly? Can I pet him?" she said kids would ask her.

"Be careful, he is ferocious," she’d respond. As she told us this story, the dog showed his teeth and let out a growl fiercer than his size. We all roared with laughter. She then said, "Growl," a couple more times, and each time, the dog let out a highly convincing growl. Impressive and effective. 

iPhone XS Waterproofing

I forgot I placed my iPhone XS on the hot tub cover.
When I flipped the lid closed, into the hot tub my phone went.

The new iPhone XS is suppose to be waterproof; or at least water-resistant for up to 30 minutes when submerged in two meters of water. I have always been very careful with my iPhone. After more than a decade of iPhones, I've never dropped one in water or cracked a screen, etc. 

Last night, I decided to use my iPhone while soaking in the hot tub. I've only done this a couple times since getting the iPhone XS, last month. (I don't even have a case for it.) And, wouldn't you know it, I dropped it into the hot tub for about 30 seconds (That's how long it took me to find it.) I pulled it out of the water and, lo and behold, it hasn't skipped a beat. It's working perfectly.

I would have never brought it into the hot tub, had it not been water resistant, but, now it's nice to know that it works as advertised.