Jason Wong

We've recently re-engaged Halogen Guides, formerly known as Helium Report, on a new, under wraps, Ruby on Rails project. They target high net worth individuals, a new market for i5 (and one I wouldn't mind being a part of). We're working closely together on both the design and development of the project, and with frequent iterations and lots of customer feedback. Version 1.1 gets iPhone compatibility!

To take care of rsi problems, I've tricked out my keyboarding. I use the Colemak typing layout with a zero force Fingerworks Touchstream keyboard installed INTO my MacBook Pro. This is "never mind the mainstream" geek pride at its best. Thanks and props go to Andre for unscrewing, rescrewing, glue dots, and ingenuity.

The Touchstream takes getting used to - after 6 weeks with the layout adjustment and the new keyboard, I'm only at 65 wpm, where I used to be at 105 on qwerty. BUT, mousing on the keyboard surface and gesturing, rather than doing key combos saves a lot of time (not enough to make up for the typing yet, but getting there). To cut, you highlight the text and pinch your fingers on the keyboard. To paste, spread them apart. Close windows with a twist. I can have a gesture for any keyboard combo.

Another cool feature about this keyboard is that gestures and modifications are saved to firmware, which is updated by a Java application. I don't have to worry about the software getting killed by platform migrations (like the move from PPC to Intel).

The Engadget article refers to tactile feedback which already exists on the keyboard. It seems to work by monitoring the amount of surface area that your finger is using and whether that amount is increasing or decreasing (for say higher key repeat rates and such).

Unfortunately, after Apple purchased Fingerworks, they stopped selling keyboards, and worked on integrating the technology into the iPhone and probably the next generation ultralight. To find one, you have to ebay it(where you might find one for 600 bucks), or, occasionally, they show up on Craigslist(where my friend lucked out and found someone getting rid of one for $50).

Announcing version 0.5 of Mommy or Daddy? The premise is that people want to see whether a child looks more like the father or mother. Let me take a a step back. The premise is that people will have a TON of fun with the site. Please try it, upload some photos, provide recommendations, vote and send to friends!

Technically, there's a few fun things we're doing. We're using Ruby on Rails, of course. This is the first set of live slices on Cluster 2 of Engine Yard. Finally, we're using Amazon's S3 web service for storage and upload of files. I expect things to break, so please do go ahead and try it out. You can reach me at technique at gmail dot com.

I'm 2 for 2 in semi-major amateur poker tourneys! #1 of 68! It's no WSOP, but exciting, nonetheless.

The beginner method of iPhone typing uses the index finger, to get an idea of keyboard placement. The video shows typing with two thumbs after practice, but this is a legacy of the button-based keyboard - you NEED to use your thumbs because you have to hold the buttons down, while keeping the phone balanced. With practice, what's far faster is using one hand with 5 fingers to type - your one hand has far less distance to move to hit each key. I'm 1.5x as fast as was on my blackberry, and getting better. As an added bonus, this looks way cooler than using two thumbs, because it feels more free, and only screen based phones are effective with this input method. Which means that, for now, this method of typing is exclusive to the iPhone.

So I rgot the iPhone 1 1/2 hours after it released. I didn't activate it for a whopping two days, thinking I could resist and return it. I'm so glad I didn't. The thinking went something like this:

1. iPod - $250
2. Internet Tablet - $286
3. Participating in consumer electronic history - Priceless

OMG. Imagine the slickness of Safari's feel, with the rendering accuracy of Firefox. Add some speed on top of it. Then you get Camino. You lose some plug-ins, but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Slam OpenDNS on top of it, and you're browsing about as fast and pretty as you can without getting a new computer.

With Andre's help, we migrated Mephisto from Rimuhosting to a Lifetime (sorry guys, deal is over) Joyent Accelerator. $649 compared to $40 / month. No need to even think twice about it.

Two initial impressions. Solaris is going to take some getting used to, and not NEARLY as slick as apt-get, but I'll deal. Next, this thing is freaking fast. I don't know how it compares to slicehost in terms of speed, but page refreshes are near instantaneous for writes to the DB, which wasn't the case on Rimu.

I'm a happy camper, and over the long haul, I'm saving a ton of money.

I've figured out how to shuffle my money. On April 26th, Charles Schwab created the Investor Checking Account with 4.25% interest, 0 ATM fees (anywhere), and 0 minimum balance. I get money, I get freedom of withdrawal, and I can have any amount in a balance. Awesome. Goodbye Bank of America.

Additionally, my portfolio is moving from $5 / trade Ameritrade Ivest to Wells Fargo, which charges $0 for the first 100 trades (if you have over 25,000 in your combined accounts) in WellsTrade. I'll also keep a free checking account open there, so I can physically deposit checks.

So I'm using a brokerage for my banking and a bank for my brokerage. What's ironic is that Schwab and Wells Fargo were figuring on acquiring more brokerage and banking customers from their respective deals. For those willing to separate accounts, and spend a few minutes applying online, this is the fee free way to keep your money.

A client hired one of my favorite developers late, last year. This put i5labs into a bit of a tailspin, and me, into conniptions.

I immediately found contractual clauses which make poaching unfavorable to a client, and that addresses one, immediate, issue.

The most daunting problems for any small company are growth and employee turnover. Generally, i5labs employees stay 2-3 years, which is pretty good for the technology industry. The smaller the company, the greater the proportion of institutional knowledge stored in each employee. Documentation and being on great terms with your employees help, as they both transition future employees.

As a service company, revenues tie directly with the ability to handle workload. In the past, I'd start with contractors, and hire them into full time employees. That doesn't help with the burden of constantly searching, and worse, searching in a tight labor market.

I took an unconventional approach to address growth. On January 31st, I acquired Baldwin, Forrester & Company, a technical recruiting firm. With some smart cost-cutting, and infrastructure investment (say, a website that doesn't suck), the numbers should be excellent, as it's a heady year for growth in the Bay Area.

There are so many benefits for i5labs. There's a constant stream of developers, resumes, and candidate profiles flowing into the company - I can grow for any project, and I have the manpower to start any company for which I have the time. I've never had this kind of flexibility before, and it feels good.

I've successfully converted my blog from Typo to Mephisto! It's surprisingly easy. The only note I'd make about conversion is that you actually don't have to create a new entry in the database.yml file. It's now included so you have to edit the existing file. That took all of 15 minutes for me to figure out (duh).

That also means this machine's migrated to Rails 1.2. W00t! DHH thinks I'm a wuss for not living on edge rails, but I'll live.

I need a little bit to settle into my new surroundings, but this really is quite nice. Looking forward to posting actively again!

In exciting Rails news, Zed Shaw just released his PDF book Mongrel (Digital Shortcut): Serving, Deploying, and Extending Your Ruby Applications. If Zed’s writing is anywhere near as good as the server he’s written, he’ll have a hit on his hands.

I grew a double chin. Sigh.

This week’s edition of Asian Week has a voter registration card enclosed. In fact, there are 44,400 voter registration cards floating in this week’s distribution, courtesy of AsianWeek, and the Asian Pacific Democratic Club (where I’m president).

This quarter’s Hyphen Magazine includes an ad from the APDC and voter registration cards as well. It should be hitting newstands and homes this week.

Finally, there will be a press conference with Asian candidates and elected officials across the City outside City Hall on Monday, August 15th at 2pm. Come. Have fun.

Moving 1,650 lbs of voter registration cards 4 flights of stairs from my office, to the truck, to the printing office (for folding), and then to another printing house (for insertion) is a gigantic pain in the ass. At 6:30AM. Ugh. I sleep now.

I’ve finally found a method to <a href=”http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/22/real_estate/playing_the_home_price_market/index.htm?postversion=2006032212 ”>go short on housing.

7.2 drop predicted in SF by August next year.

Holding off on a home purchase might not be a bad idea.