Tom from Norway

Dear Google: This is how you fix email for ever

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:08:00 +0200

Although I doubt it will ever happen, this is how Google could singlehandedly, simply, and with very little work fix email for ever. This would ensure that Phishing, Spam, email hacking and information being sent to the wrong people would be a FAR smaller problem than it is now:
Implement public key encryption in Gmail using an open format, and force all businesses to use it. I’m not saying it has to be GPG, but GPG sure is a handy open format that would fit perfectly!
Make sure that you don’t keep the private keys stored serverside - that would be a BAD thing. A simple plugin for most browsers would enable you to keep the private keys saved clientside. (Themselves encrypted using a common password, for instance.)

Implementation outline:

1. Make own keyserver.
2. Allow everyone to use keyserver, whether or not you use Gmail.
3. Implement encryption in Gmail web interface, using SIMPLE words and making sure that the end users don’t have to know the technical terms.
4. Open beta. (Google loves betas) Allow people to send encrypted mail by default, and to only allow encrypted mail to be received.
5. Announce that in 2 years noone will be able to send email to people they don’t have an established relationship with without encryption. (From Gmail.)
6. Announce that in 1 year all Google Apps accounts will be forced to use encryption on all outgoing messages.
7. Push for encryption in all messages using this simple but elegant thought: Unencrypted email is like a postcard, encrypted email is like a letter you have to sign for, then decrypt and finally keep stored in a vault.

End result: Press notice, people start taking email problems seriously, other providers forced to take part, people start using encryption, and the chinese don’t get to hack Gmail anymore.

Once more, following everyone else, into the breach! Oh...

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:24:00 +0200

Once more, following everyone else, into the breach!

Oh yes… I’m founding a company, and that in the social web space… In other words, I’m now a startup hack seeking funding.

And I hate it. The rules are extremely clear, written down everywhere. It’s like there’s a set of 20 steps you must make, and then you automatically receive funding. It feels like the norwegian state social agencies. You just make sure you fill in all the little boxes on the form, and wait four days for the money to arrive in your account.

Well, at least I hope it is! Cause right now we’re spending money with no gains, and even with a clear monetization idea which will be ready on day 1, we might not be profitable for a while.

Anyway, I’m lucky to have found a good co-founder in Raghavender Bheem Reddy, who has actually been working on a technology platform for a year now, and has very nicely allowed me to be a part of it. So I’m not really founding the company (though for norwegian beurocratic reasons I am), but more like stepping into a non-incorporated business already in progress and helping it get traction.

It’s called Chai and it will launch may 1st. Invites available. (Click the photo).

I’ll write a more detailed introduction to the company once launched, for now I just want to bitch and moan about how fantastically shitty it is to be lucky enough to have this opportunity. #firstworldproblems

My moms puppy has invented a new game wherein he steals my handkerchief every chance he gets....

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:00:26 +0200

My moms puppy has invented a new game wherein he steals my handkerchief every chance he gets. It’s getting embarrassing, this is clearly just a new version of his “sockstealinggame” - his creative output has really been suffering this quarter.

I need a keyword search extension for Safari 5

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:32:16 +0200

In other words - I need keywurl for the new system! (http://alexstaubo.github.com/keywurl/)

If someone would make this, I would gladly donate 20$

Dear Internet

Thu, 06 May 2010 18:30:19 +0200

Having enjoyed your humor and entertainment for many many years, it is most saddening that this appears to have been a passing fad. The “memes” of 2010 have been most disappointing, none lasting more than a few weeks and none having any creativity.

Note that I’m not firing you, Internet, but this should be considered a written warning.

— The Reader

Safari needs plugins

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:06:39 +0200

The only thing keeping me with Firefox over Safari, which is faster, smoother and for some reason just feels better, is plugin-support. And no, I don’t mean SMBL, that’s buggy and limited.

Dear Internet:

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:46:30 +0200

Someone liking an item of pop culture that you find distasteful is no reason to dislike that person.
— Santa

Why Lando wears Han's clothes at the end of Empire Strikes Back

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:40:50 +0200

It’s cause he didn’t bring his luggage when they escaped from Cloud City! Obviously, when Han becomes frozen, his clothes (and his cabin, most likely) are then available, so he can take a shower and get some clean clothes.

Jesus, it’s not rocket science, people!

How fast do they go?

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:04:26 +0100

I am now the proud owner of not one, but two SSD drives. The speed is good, but not great. Not yet.
The last few years have been the birth of the SSD industry, but the best is yet to come: the golden age! Over the next 5-10 years HDDs will die away, and SSDs will be faster and bigger than anything we can imagine now.
In fact, I predict that in less than five years we’ll be talking about IO lag more in connection with networking than we do with storage mediums now.

Tabletmania

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:35:58 +0100

So from all the tablets announced at CES, I figure MAYBE three will still be around in six months in some for or another. The problem is - which?
The Freescale stuff is amazing, so I’d put my money on that one, but the MS/HP one is pure crap.

Re: Health care and democracy

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:38:22 +0100

In spectating the Health Care debates and horse trading in the US houses of Congress, I can’t help but think two separate but equal thoughts: money is in fact NOT speech, and wouldn’t it be nice if you americans wished for an actual democracy for christmas instead of Zhu-Zhu pets?

I would pay good money for a full show like this, reenacting...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:05:09 +0100

I would pay good money for a full show like this, reenacting famous music videos, performances and so on.

Review of the Sony Reader Pocket Edition

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:33:19 +0200

So I bought a PRS-300, also known as “the little one without touch”. It was cheap, it radiates quality, the screen is crisp as can be, and I absolutely LOVE it!

Here’s the problem: Sony sucks. Somehow they managed to make this beautiful e-book reader, and fucked up the entire ecosystem. The software is so bad it makes me want to hurl (or use Calibre), and the integrated bookstore is expensive, uses unbreakable (for the moment) DRM, and has poor formatting.

In essence: get the reader - really. But use Calibre for syncing, and buy your books on the web. The reader supports Adobe DRMd PDFs and ePubs, so you’ll definitely find the book you want somewhere.

The List

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:20:33 +0200

No one has ever asked me to make a list of good sci-fi movies to watch, so I decided I’d do it.

2001 - This is it. The very best Sci-Fi movie ever made, and one of the first with the by now classical “angry computer wants to kill people” plot. If you’ve never seen this one, GET THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG TILL YOU DO!
Star Wars - Some people thing the later three/prequels were sub-par, but I think they’re pretty watchable. In any case, they’re part of the oeuvre, and so deserve to be included.
Sunshine - This 2007 Sci-Fi/horror/thriller/drama reminds me a lot of 2001, but it’s definitely updated. The visuals alone should make you cry out with love of Danny Boyle.
The Matrix - Gee, to bad they never made sequels, huh?
Dark Town - Beautiful! Gorgeous! Kiefer Sutherland sucks, though. Why does that man still work?
The Thing - Some would argue this is more horror than Sci Fi, but I hate horror, and I love this move, so obviously they’re wrong.
Blade Runner - I’m one of those idiots who think this should be named after the book it was made from, “Do androids dream of electric sheep?”, but either way it’s kick-ass! Plus, more computers killing humans.
Battlestar Galactica - Yeah, I know it’s a TV show, but it’s made like a series of movies. Just watch it.
The Abyss - Oh yes. It’s a sub/psych thriller meets Sci Fi meets underwater drama. Extremely underrated in it’s day, it’s now more of a cult movie, but I honestly think it’s almost as good as…
Terminator 2 - This is more of a remake than a sequel in many ways. I love Terminator, but 2 is much better. Also, don’t watch 3.
Alien - OK, this is controversial, since every move in this series is a different genre (1: Horror, 2: Action, 3: Thriller, 4: Parody). Depending on who you are and what movies you like, you’ll love one of them and hate the rest. Try guessing which one I like!
Twelve Monkeys - I LOVE this movie, but I couldn’t tell you why.

E-books

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:31:36 +0200

Here in Norway, the publishing industry are planning to release all new books as e-books either this fall or early next year. Meanwhile, Kindle 2 has just been announced worldwide, and there’s a lot of buzz about other readers being announced from both bookstores and publishing houses.
In other words, the time has come for this forward-thinking yet cash-strapped geek to get a reader!
The Kindle is right out, since the chances of the norwegian book industry supporting Amazon is zip. The Sony PRS-300 and 600 are both interesting, but hard to get and expensive in Norway.
The leading e-bookstore in Norway has a deal where you sign up for a 12 month subscription (349,- a month) and you get a Bookeen Cybook Opus reader and two free books (with a price of max 99,- each) a month for the 12 months.
This reader has the weakest reviews of the ones listed here, but still seems like a fairly good device compared to a lot of the other readers on the market.

For now I’m leaning towards the Sony PRS-600, mostly since I can’t imagine I will read 24 _norwegian_ books in the next 12 months, and also since I hate being billed monthly for something I no longer like, which seems like a fair risk with the Cybook Opus.

Is it too early for Dire Straits to be cool again?

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:59:41 +0200

I’m working on a playlist for something, and I can’t avoid putting a Dire Straits track in there, so this got me thinking: have the cool kids gotten over hating on Dire Straits now so we can peek out of the closet and unplug our headsets?
Also - when the FUCK is Tom Waits going to sell more than ten records? The man is not only a lyricist of Shakespearian quality, but his voice would singlehandedly get the Dow over 10.000 if it was traded on NYSE.

Long absence explained, and gdgt

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:02:05 +0200

Been “not posting” for about two months, but that’s cause I just started a new job, and then moved two weeks later. Things are just getting normal again.

I’ve been playing with Gdgt, and I like the concept, but not the design. Now I’ve never been much of a web designer, but I like to think of myself as an about average “user”, so my vote should count for something. Anyway, Gdgt is fine for version 1.0, but the design of the site should be revisited imo.

Still, Ryan Block and Peter Rojas are cool guys, so I look forward to further revisions to the site. I am still using it, so that’s something…

I'm a stock genious!

Wed, 06 May 2009 21:46:00 +0200

Played with Marketwatch’s Virtual Stock Exchange for the last week, and I’ve made $15.000 with a $100.000 pot of playmoney to start with. In other words, if I schmuck like me can make money on the stocks right now, people with money should start buying stuff.

Edit, a few days later: Yeah, I lost it all, and am now under 90k. The stock market is bullshit :(

Dear TV networks, I have an idea for you

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:00:00 +0200

Hi!
I’m a loyal viewer, and I own more TV-series on DVD than socks.
I have a suggesting to you regarding cancellations of shows. I know you have to cancel shows that don’t generate money, it’s capitalism. I get it. In fact, I’m so used to it now, I can see it ahead of time.
However, when you do cancel a show that’s in the middle of it’s stride, like Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dead Like Me, Firefly or Sports Night, please make a TV-movie in order to finish the storylines and satisfy our curiosity! Whenever you leave a TV-show that I was emotionally invested in without a satisfying ending, the loyalty I feel to that network gets lowered quite a bit, while when the opposite happens, like with Jericho, Arrested Development, Life on Mars, or Dead Like Me again (that movie took too long!), my loyalty increases!
Think about it! Brand loyalty has NEVER been more important.

The future of used books

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:01:44 +0200

Right across the street from my doctor’s office, lies a used book store. It’s really just a tiny storefront with windows full of stacked books, and a huge storage area in the back. All you can see from outside is shelf after shelf of books of all sizes and subjects.
At first I was interested, but I never have any money, and they never take card in these places, so I used to look through the windows every time I passed.
Then a few days ago, my doctor told me to stop using my laptop in bed and start reading books to help with my insomnia, so immediately I decided to buy a used book.
The smell as I entered the store can’t be described in words, but it was simply heavenly. It was paper, ink, leather, wood and all those things, but it was also knowledge, humor, tragedy, history and drama. In short, I stayed longer than I intended, but only left with one book due to my poor finances.
My finances aren’t the problem, though. Digital media is.
As soon as books stop being published on paper, the death sentence for used books is written. Books are after all only about a 500 year old invention, and as soon as we stop making them, that’s it. 500 years of production is all that will exist, and all the market will have to trade with.
Most of the trade will stop as it gets impossible to get recent books used, and only older books will remain. The stores will close, and the trade will only take place through the internet and the postal services.
I feel lucky to have been inside a used book store, and I’ve decided to go more often. In fact, every time I go to the doctor, I will buy at least one book. My efforts won’t help in the grand scheme of things, but at least I will get the experience of visiting that store more often, and I might discover new authors.