I just started my first tumblelog

From time to time, there are some random things I’d like to point my friends to. So far, I’ve either posted them on Twitter or in a short entry on my blog here.

A few days ago, I took a look at Tumblr and decided to start my own seperate tumblelog. That way, I can focus my blog here on the more elaborate entries.

So, if you’re so inclined, take a look and subscribe to the feed of Associative Disarray. It should be fun!

Twitter starts OAuth beta test

For a long time now, many websites providing a service to Twitter users had to use those users’ credentials to get access to their profile, messages or to post tweets in their name. For example, I’ve given my credentials to TwitPic, Twitterfeed, Remember the Milk and Skitch.

Many people are quick to give away their username and password — and as many learn the hard way why that’s a bad idea. When Twply, a service emailing your “@name” replies, first promised “Your password is safe with us. No worries.” and then sold on eBay for $1200 after one day, a lot of people that had given up their username and password there were left wondering what the new owner would do with those credentials.

In software development, the underlying structures of best practices are called “patterns”. Using one’s username and password on a service to get access to another service has many bad implications and is therefore called an “antipattern”, a practice that should be discouraged.

Finally now, the Twitter crew has done its homework and is testing OAuth, a protocol to give one service access to another service in your name without revealing your password.

I’m sure that this move will make even more Twitter support services appear, and now you don’t have to do a multi-day due diligence period until you gather the courage to enter your credentials outside of Twitter any more.

Development update

Everyone is asking me for updates. There’s Thomas who wants for me to finally release perl-SIOC, there are the participants of my Perl online seminar waiting for the final version of the course manual, and there’s Eva that’s curious about how the baby’s doing.

Well, what Eva wants of course Eva gets! The baby’s great — alive and kicking would be the correct term. Kicking like a pony, Carolin would add. Here’s the latest ultrasound picture.

Now I’ll have to put some work into the other two release duties. I’m sure they’ll be finished first.

A year without a car

A year ago, when it had become clear that once we had moved to Freiburg, I wouldn’t do the 150 km commute by car, I canceled my leasing contract and switched to public transportation.

I’ve got myself a “Bahncard 100″ that enables me to take (almost) every Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) train I want to for a flat monthly fee. So, if I’d like to visit a friend in Hannover or to go to the next Barcamp Cologne, I just hop on the train. The monthly rate for the Bahncard 100 is about the same as my leasing fee was, and there are no extra costs for fuel, insurance, repair, parking etc. Even with the occasional taxi, I spend less money for the train than I used to for the car.

Although my commute now is five times longer than it was when I lived in Philippsburg, it is much more environmentally friendly. I now share the same vehicle with hundreds of other passengers.

It takes me about an hour to get to work, and over this time I don’t sit behind a wheel cursing at other drivers but at my laptop, doing some work, typing blog entries like this one, reading my Twitter stream, or just relaxing, listening to a podcast or audio book. Thanks to my in-ear earbuds, I don’t get disturbed by crying babies, loudly talking business buffoons or other crazy people.

Of course, not having a car has its downsides. If I want to go on an IKEA rampage or buy five crates of beer, I need to rent a car or ask a friend to help me out. In urgent cases, I have to get a taxi. And there’s always the train schedule that I have to adhere to. Sometimes, the train doesn’t.

But over all, it’s simply comfortable to sit in a soft chair and wait until the conductor has taken me there. I don’t miss the car.

Gave in to the temptation known as Facebook

First, there was Twitter And it became the first networking tool I really used intensively. But it also became my micro blogging platform that has a negative impact on my blogging frequency to this day.

Then, the Facebook hype started. I knew Facebook since I started having contacts in Ireland because Facebook and Bebo are the biggest social platforms for students there. But because my college times are 10 years gone, my interest soon vanished. Over the recent weeks, it was rekindled, though, with Facebook taking the world of non-students by storm. Heavily connected to the world of German early adopters via Twitter, I watched everyone proclaiming their Facebook account. Still, I resisted. Did I really need another distraction, especially if this new social time waster is a walled garden that doesn’t allow peeks from the outside? Furthermore, on XING, I already am a member of a business networking platform.

Well, I couldn’t stand the virtual peer pressure any more. I now have a Facebook account and started build my friends list.

Of course, I found a way to rationalize this step: Facebook will be my international networking platform where I can foster my contacts all over the world. This way, it will be a fine complement to Twitter.

As the Ninja says: I’m looking forward to friending you soon! Yee-Ya!