Eyal Gersht
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Posts
- Plastic, please (or, How I DIDN'T learn to dump the CD and love the iTunes store)
If you know me, you know content is a pretty big deal with me, and music is top amongst content sections.
Now, call me old fashioned - but I still buy my music, and I do it in plastic form.
Don’t get me wrong, the music industry is extremely f**ked up, and has been screwing my favorite artist (and others), as well as us consumers for years.
Still, I want to pay for the music I like. I always saw the music download scene (since Napster and up to Torrents, Usenets, and, in a way, Youtube) as having two roles in my music experience:
- Allowing me to discover and try out music before I purchase it (I buy things that I like and don’t own)
- Allowing me to hear rare versions that are not necessarily purchasable, or purchasable for me (since I do live outside the US/UK/Commonwealth)
“OK, we get the general geist - but why not buy music online?”, some would ask.
Well, there are several reasons, and amongst other I can point out that:
- Buying music online has a very different browsing experience than in “record stores”
- Discovery, Discovery, Discovery
- The covers and booklets
- The formats - I would like to buy music in a lossless (or as close to, since it is digitalised) format all the time
- The physical backup - yes, I think I should still have one (though, the cloud may change it, eventually)
- The DRM - If I rip my CDs, the files are mine to use. I’m not locked into one DRM system, or anything. I can port them to any of my devices as I please.
Don’t get me wrong - I think it’s all solvable, and I would love to pay direct to the artist (or a small cap to a broker and a lot to the artist) once it’s solved, but we aren’t there yet.
Well, today I decided to try and see if buying music online can work for me.
I went to the go to place (especially since I have a multitude of Apple products) - the iTunes store.
I’m on the american store, I’ll just go and buy the fourth CD in Johnny Cash’s American series, right?
Wrong. They don’t have it. The have the 3rd, they have the 5th, but not the 4th (or 1st, or 2nd, for that matter).
I had a moment of weakness, where they could have converted me, and they failed to.
So I’ll stick with plastic, at least for now, thank you very much.
- What wikipedia need to do to get a donation from me
A few days ago, I tweeted:
“It’s that time of the year again. When Jimmy Wales stares at you all day long for a couple of months. That’s what we pay for using wikipedia”
But we should pay, and with real money. Wikipedia is a great tool and asset, and we really can’t do without it. And I do believe that most of us don’t want ads on it.
So, what do they need to do to get my money?
Simple. Allow me to check a box saying “Don’t show me the donation banner again this year” during the donation flow. My experience from last year is that donations don’t make Jimmy’s “I’m disappointed in you” stare go away. “Stop being so disappointed, Jimmy,” I would yell at him, “I’ve already donated”.
Really wikipedia, even just set it as a cookie value. If I clear my cookies - I’m the only one to blame.
This interview has so many hidden gems in it.
Approach, entrepreneurship, inspiration.
It’s just a great read.
- $(document).ready fires before images load on WebKit
The project I’m working on now (LoyalBlocks) has a script that calculates and sets the heights of some HTML elements.
Naturally, the script runs on page load (the project uses jQuery):
$(document).ready(function () { /* fix heights */ });The solution above works great on Gecko and in IE, but is buggy on WebKit browsers.
As it turns out, webkit browsers fire the document ready event when the DOM is ready, but before all images are downloaded. It causes the script to calculate heights all wrong, because, as far as the script is concerned, the images’ heights are all 0px.
The behavior is also inconsistent, because if the images exist in the client’s cache, they’re sometimes rendered to the DOM before the script runs, and make it run correctly.
Obviously, setting the images’ height via CSS would solve the issue, but that’s no way to solve things.
Turns out, that while $(document).ready fires on DOM ready, $(window).load fires after the DOM is ready AND all assets have been loaded.
So, all I needed to do was change my code to:
$(window).load(function () { /* fix heights */ });Simple enough!
I did not move all load handlers to run on $(window).load, just the height-fixing script. All the rest still run on $(document).ready - that’s for two reasons:
- Consistency - that’s how we’re used to writing code, and that’s also what most plugins do.
- No need to wait for $(window).load with most scripts, they can start running when the DOM is ready.
Couldn’t resist an attention grabbing headline here after spending yesterday morning with my daughter on the kind of homework that just completely takes the fun out of learning. In geography her class is learning about latitude and longitude. As homework they got a work sheet that made them look…
I think this classically shows why we need to draw passionate, inspiring people to be teachers and educators, and why we need to do everything in our power to reduce the burnout.
This is a classic case of an overtired, fatigued teacher, that took the easiest way possible towards assembling an assignment. And I believe it’s us to blame, not the teacher.
via @awissman.
Very interesting analysis of the software market.
To me, the point of this piece is not proving that we are not in a bubble - the fact that software in itself is not a bubbled industry, does not mean that we are not in the beginning of a bubble created by unwise software investments - but in pointing out that we live in a time of a great revolution.
Our grand-children will learn of the software revolution in high-school history classes just like we did of the industrial revolution.
It’s even more obvious that Mr. Andreessen’s points. Our children (and to some extent, ourselves) are born into a world where software is an obvious reality - they are born with the skills, and don’t know that there could be a different world.
Via @aaroncohen.
This is simply a brilliant article.
Time will tell if the assumptions regarding Groupon are true, but regardless - even if Groupon pulls through via some kind of divine intervention - the basic assumptions in the article, and the description of how things SHOULD be done - they will remain totally true.
Excellent post.
Fav quote:
And, that’s when I realized that I didn’t actually know if I was good enough because I hadn’t really failed in life (at least not professionally). Most people don’t really fail. We tend to take the job that we think we’ll succeed in. We are hesitant to reach. And, if we do reach and succeed, then we don’t reach again.
The only way to know how good you might be at something is to fail trying it.
Via @innonate.
Wow.
That’s all I can say.
Of course this is a bit extreme, but it’s very much to the point. Part of being a good engineer is being a great communicator.
Wow.
Excellent post.
For me - invention is a must, but it should be used only where it is needed.
I use bits of code that have been proven to work wherever I can, and save my reservoir of inventions for when I have to build something brand new, create a competitive advantage, or am faced with a problem for whom the solutions I can find aren’t good enough as far as I can tell.
The ideal mix for me would have me inventing, and not seldom, but would be with a team that can appreciate the use of existing tools where we can.
That’s also why I’m a big advocate of open-source tools.
Really interesting stuff.
(via @joeysim)
A good (even if obvious at most parts) read.
The key points are that as an entrepreneur, entering the tech startup scene, you need to be ready for failure, accept and embrace it, and pick yourself up and start all over again if it strikes.
Not an easy feat to achieve, but hey - no one said that building the next big thing’s gonna be easy, aye?
I think it has all to do with content, not efficiency vs being compelling.
Most google+ers are also on FB. and they have more friends who are active on FB, than people on their circles who are active on G+. And even the ones on their circles who are on G+, are usually still on FB, and more active there.
So, bottom line, if G+ works, and more and more users create more and more content on G+, I think we will see these number shift.
If it doesn’t they won’t.
And being compelling, or efficient, or whatever is a result of content to consume.
Which makes this the benchmark for G+ success.
All other things aside, one must admit that running into a person with no computer or internet usage in his personal history, nor an understanding of how to start and try using these tools from the exposure that person should have had to them via popular colture and social ties - that’s pretty awesome.
Gives a good historical view, and a glimpse of corporate colture at both Goog and FB.
At the bottom line, I agree with his basic, non-spoken analysis - google+ doesn’t have to be a facebook killer or it’s doomed. They may end up co-existing, forcing them to create connections between them, and distributing powers.
If that happens, then (to me at least) Google+ is a success.
In my eyes, this definitely isn’t THE goal, and may not even be one of the goals (though I do believe they want the ability to freely scan and index social data, and most of all stay with the “google is the internet” status quo they had for years, and not have it degrade to a “facebook is the internet” scenario, especially since the company that “is the internet” is the one that will end up making money selling ads - and for that they need access to all data, and interoperability with other services), still - it’s a different angle worth reading.
I think most programmers will find this interesting, especially all you freelancers, who can manage their time as they see fit.
BTW, they say Leonardo slept in a pattern very much resembling the ubrman pattern in this post.
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Tweets
- @yanchuf @urban_candy בחרתי לי יום לא להיות בפיד, הא?
- @Elinorigby לא בטוח. אולי לא קראתי את זה טוב.
- @Elinorigby לפי הפער בין איך שלקחתי את זה, לאיך שאת מגיבה אלי, אני מניח שזה פשוט לוסט אין טרנסליישן, בין איך שזה היה לבין איך שזה נקרא לי
- @urban_candy @bathlizard דאט ביינג סייד, שירתתי בצבא עם שני דרום אפריקאים שעלו לפה בגלל שפה יותר בטוח. בלב האינטיפאדה השניה. אז מי יודע?
- @urban_candy @bathlizard אני לגמרי חושב שלרכז הרבה יהודים במקום צפוף וקטן זו קנוניה לחיסול. וביטחון אין פה, לא מדיני, לא אישי, לא כלכלי. >>
- @Elinorigby יודעת מה? שחררי הרי לא הייתי שם רק אושר, בלי אף ניצוץ של ציניות
- @elinorigby בעצם, טור זו מילה יותר טובה, לא? כפי שסיפרת אותו בטור.
- @EyalGersht @urban_candy וגם: המחיר.
- @Elinorigby מאחל לך רק אושר, כן? לא צרה עיני לך, ואני מקווה שצליחו ויהיה לכם אחלה אך סיפור החלום, מאיך שסיפרת אותו בכתבה, עלבון לאיטיליגנציה
- @urban_candy פחחח. חדרה זה מרוחק, אבל לא לא קיים.
- @urban_candy קחי את כל זה, ותוסיפי עליו פתח תקוה, באמת
- @Elinorigby אני לא מכיר אותו, but he sounds like an asshole of the general type. כמאמר הקלישאה - מספיק עם ילדים, תמצאי גבר.
- @LiorShemesh בוא נגיד ככה - אם היו שמים לך את זה בבלנדר, לא היית משלם פחות מ- 17.
- @YulaShpil זו נחמה, זו?
- @urban_candy נמלים. לא נֶמֶלִּים, נֶמַּלִּים.
- @urban_candy בקשר למה שאמרת קודם - אין לי שם בית, במקום זה - פתח תקווה. וגם זה שכור.
- @urban_candy זה פחות או יותר הדיל שמסתמן, רק לונדון
- @urban_candy אז את אומרת שגם הלב שלי יהיה בפתח תקוה?
- @urban_candy i'll need it. דכאון.
- @roee_r מהציוץ הקודם שלי נשמט #תוכניתהחלוקה, למרות שהוא היה יותר סימבולי מאשר מדוייק
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Checkins
- Porter & Sons14 HaArba'a St.
- Coletteמרחביה
- Gazoz88 Frishman Street
- קלפי בי״ס שרתהזית 1
- Moon (מון)58 Bugrashov St.
- חדר האוכלSderot Shaul Hamelech 23
- Amore Mio (אמורה מיו)100 Ibn Gabirol St.
- Raphael (רפאל)87 Hayarkon Street
- Aeroporto di Roma Fiumicino "Leonardo da Vinci" (FCO)Via dell'Aeroporto di Fiumicino 320
- Aeroporto Di Venezia Marco Polo (VCE)Via Galileo Galilei 30/1
- Basilica Di San MarcoCalle Canonica
- La ZuccaSanta Croce 1762
- Old Jewish GhettoVecchio Quartiere Ebraico
- Goppion CaffetteriaCampiello de l'Anconeta
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Info
- Summary
A team leader and hands-on internet developer, with over eight years of experience, three of which as a soldier in Israel’s Defense Forces (at the MAMRAM Unit).
Loves making great internet products come to life, and building the teams that create them. Believes that a professional is measured by building great products with great teams, and not by titles.
Extremely passionate of the end product, being a user first and a developer second. Has technical skills, managerial experience, and product understanding:
• Specialized in deep Internet product and development understanding; Code, system and Database design and architecture; Development methodologies; and management and leading technological teams.
• Has always been hands-on, and believes that the only way a technical manager of small teams can stay good at his job is by not neglecting hands on development.
• Focuses on development using open-source tools and technologies (experienced with PHP, RoR, LAMP stack). In addition to writing server-side code - has excellent HTML/JavaScript (& jQuery)/CSS skills, as well as very strong database abilities, and information security know-how.
• Has substantial experience at leading development, research and technical teams (at Metacafe.com, at InternetIsFun.com, and currently at AnyClip).
• Familiar at a basic level with Java, and C#.Net (ASP.Net as well as desktop development).Has mainly focused on consumer facing internet products, especially online media.
Big advocate of SCRUM, TDD, and automated-tests backed continuous deployment. Believer in A/B testing.
Specialties: * Leading development teams * Design, implementation and maintenance life cycle of large internet based sites/applications, having very high traffic rates, and in need of high availability. * Software architecture and Code design * Building products from scratch, as well as getting into large existing products, and enhancing them. * Providing fast, out-of-the-box solutions * Creating and maintaining work processes, establishing methodologiesExperience- Nov 2011 - PresentSenior Developer - Web team / waze
- Mar 2010 - Apr 2011VP Development & Engineering / AnyClip
• Fully led all development efforts in the company, managing two development teams (the Consumer-Products/Web team, and the Search-core/API team), as well as QA people, and a system administrator. At most, led up to 8 developers of various expertise, 2 QA engineers, and one system administrator.
• Worked directly with engineers, product managers, and visual designers. Reported to the CEO.
• Was part of the company's active management, taking part in setting direction and strategy. Was also in charge of translating strategy to operational plans in his department.
• Was in-charge of the hiring process of engineers, and managed to recruit several major talents he has worked with before, as well as new talents.
• Hired, managed and worked with freelance help and consultants.
• Contributed code and hands-on development.
• Since November 2010 also functioned as a Product Manager – planning features, creating wireframes, working with design and development, and measuring success.Decided to leave AnyClip after a change of management, that let to a shift of direction and change of product focus in the company.
- Jun 2009 - Mar 2010Web team leader / AnyClip
• Joined the company as team leader of the web team, lead that team in the efforts to win the TechCrunch50 competition of 2009 (runners up to the judges award, winners of the crowd favorites award).
• Led a team of four developers, working on a consumer-facing website, an iPhone app, a connected Blu-Ray app, and online back-office tools.
• Contributed code and hands-on development, Mostly HTML/CSS/JS and RoR, as well as some PHP. All running on AWS over LAMP stack.
• Re-architected the system, making page-load 15 times faster.
• Worked directly with engineers, product managers, and visual designers. Reported to the EVP Product. - Apr 2008 - Feb 2009R&D Team Leader / INTERNET IS FUN
• Joined as PHP developer and MySQL applicational DBA, and was shortly after promoted to R&D Team Leader.
• Directly managed 3 developers and a linux SysAdmin.
• Wrote code in PHP, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and SQL. Development over LAMP stack.
• Wrote and maintained all Database related code, including stored procedures, a proprietary DAL, and the design of Database architecture.
• Created plans and presentations for the board of directors in relation to development progress, hires, tools, hardware, budgets, etc.
• Reported to the company's VP Product, who was also a co-founder.InternetIsFun was closed due to lack of funding during the 2008-9-recession period, while being in open beta, and after gaining over 1500 active registered users.
- Aug 2007 - Apr 2008Infrastructure Team Leader / Metacafe
• Managed three developers directly, as well as served as Scrum-Master for as much as two Scrum teams in parallel, and as many as six people per Scrum team.
• Wrote code in PHP, SQL, and sometimes HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Development over LAMP stack.
• Was in-charge of product stability in the production environment, as well as application security.
• Advised the front-end team in regards to web front-end development, including semantic HTML and true cascading use of CSS. Also helped with laying down a proprietary AJAX foundation based on JavaScript and JSON, and writing Object Oriented JavaScript code.
• Led a team that served as the connecting link between development teams and the DBA and System teams. - Aug 2006 - Aug 2007Security Developer & Consultant, Founding member of Atreyu / TANGRAM-SOFT, ATREYU
• Joined Atreyu as it was founded, and was part of the initial seed of people that brought the company to life (though he was not a founder).
• Wrote code in Java, C#.Net, JavaScript, XSL, and Perl. Worked with several Databases, including Oracle, MySQL, MS SQLServer, and DB2.
• Developed processes over ITIM (IBM Tivoli Identity Manager) and IBM DataPower products.
• Wes responsible for writing specifications, hands-on development, creating documentations, and training existing personnel who were part of the customer’s team.
• By the time he left Atreyu, it has proved to be a well established power in the market, with clients including the Israeli Government, the Israeli Air-Force, several banks, Amdocs, at least two leading Israeli Telecom companies, and more.Left Atryu in order to return to his passion as an internet Developer.
- Jul 2003 - Jun 2006Internet Developer / IDF, MAMRAM, MAMKA, LESHEM
• After joining the section, had two months to take full ownership of all the projects that were developed up to that point, since the veteran programmers were all at the end of their mandatory service.
• Worked with the section’s officers (mostly non-programmers), and re-built the section's personnel, maintained the knowledge-base and handled training.
• Programmed in ASP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS and XML technologies (XSL, XSD), as well as extensive work with SQL over Oracle Databases.
• Initiated a re-write of the systems to Object-Oriented JavaScript both on the server and the client side.
• As the section gained personnel, took on more infrastructural tasks, as well as writing technical specs and code designs, and leading integrations of projects that were developed by several developers.
• Worked on projects using a vertical methodology, writing code design, implementing server-side logics, database design and implementation, and client-side coding and styling (but not visual design).
• All in all, wrote and maintained over 15 projects, all of which included both informational sites as well as complex interactive services.
Education-
2007 - 2009Israel's Open UniversityStudies for Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Computer Science and Economy
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2003 - 2003IDFProgrammer's Trianing in Computer Science
