Dubstep with Rainbows is 20% Cooler

Via Kotte I am introduced to both dubstep and the My Little Pony music underground :

and, yes, it is 20% cooler with rainbows.  Cooler than what, I don't know, but the beat is fun.

Shorter Step-by-Step Guide to Leaving GoDaddy

After browsing the link from Kotte to A Step-By-Step Guide to Transfer Domains Out of GoDaddy I was shocked to discover that he lists 19 steps.  Yup.  Nineteen.

Well, this dedicated TWiT listener has a shorter way:

1. Go to Hover.com and dial their customer service number
2. Sign up for their service
3. Ask for their Conceierge to transfer your domains
4. Hang up

They will ask for some basic information (like your GoDaddy password) and email you with progress reports.  In not to long, with no effort on your part, your domains will be transferred.  Yes, there will be a small fee (use offer code TWiT. they should hook you up), but it's the Holidays and don't you have better things to do than bother with 19 steps to transfer your domains?

Opening a Nest

Since Nest is produced in an Apple-like fashion, I thought some initial impressions upon opening the package (something Apple always excells at) might be appropriate.

I'm very nit-picky with the following lists. Nothing but an Apple-inspired product gets this kind of attention from me because, frankly, they are all so bad there is no point in even trying!

• The recycled brown box is wrapped in celphane.  This kind of ruined the whole eco-friendly theme right off the top for me. And it seems the only reason it is necessary was to keep the outer sleeve with all of the printed information on it attached to the box.
• The initial impression upon opening the box is perfect.  There sits the nest, which was smaller than I anticipated, with a protective cover.
• After I took out the Nest unit and removed the top shell to get to the rest of the product, there was a strong industrial-solvent smell.  This dissipated quickly (or my nose became de-sensetized quickly), but smell is a power sense so I thought I would mention it.

So far, so good! The first thing you see after taking out the Nest itself is the "nest, Welcome home" pamphlet. This is a long, multi-fold square document and provokes more questions than answers:

• The left-most page shows how to control the Nest.  Excellent. I love diagrams like this.
• The facing page describes a feature, "Set up your Nest Account".  The brief explanation is entirely "what" and not a word about "how".  This provokes some anxiety immediately: how do I do this? I hate things like this.
• Opening the next fold and there is more information about what I will see when my Nest is installed: excellent.
• This time, the facing page mentions the smarthphone application AND tells me how to get it. Better.

Overall, that's pretty good, too!  Just 1 complaint on the welcome document is a huge improvement over most products I get.  Next up: installation instructions.

• The first thing I see after taking off the welcome pamplet is "8. Attach display".  Here's hoping steps 1 through 7 are in there somewhere.  See?  Nit-picky.
• The stickers for the existing thermostat wires feel great, but are hard to peel
• The cap for the screwdriver can be tricky to re-attach
• There should be a place to record which breaker controls the power in the instruction booklet
• No jumper is required between Rh and Rc, which is good, but it takes careful reading of the instructions to find this information
• Why are there steps 5a and 5b?  Why not just 5 and 6?  Similarly for 6a and 6b.

The Nest was easy to install, despite the hole behind my original thermostat looking like it had been made with a hammer.

Beta Industry No More

DaringFireball quotes MG Siegler saying:

 If you release shit, you look like shit. It’s much better to release nothing at all.

This statement marks a significant change of direction for the internet software industry.  Since Netscape began the trend of early and perpetual "beta" releases, half done shit has been the norm.  Everything was beta, all the time, and it all stank.

Even so, this was the advice given to all startups by all the experts: release early and often and don't sweat the crap.  Google became the 800 lbs gorilla following just this model: everything was beta, most of it stank, and if it didn't stick to the wall, they eventually killed it off.  What did stick still looked aweful (with the sole exception of their home page).

Then came the Apple half-decade.  Apple released product after product that was just georgeous and (for the vast, vast, majority including myself) just worked.  Eventually, you get acustomed to having things not stink.

So sing hallelujah!  Our long dark night of "beta" may be coming to a close.

A Hobbiest Axiom

It is axiomatic for people who like their hobbies to include making things, that they should never, ever, add up the cost of an item.

Moreover, it is strictly forbidden to compare those costs to either the cost of hiring a contractor or purchasing a pre-assembled or manufactured version of said item.