Kyle Buza · Storify

Kalalau Trail

Kyle Buza — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 23:36:21 GMT

On the north shore of Kauai.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Fri, Jun 29 2012 16:36:21

The Kalalau Trail is a trail along the Nā Pali Coast of the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. The trail is very strenuous and runs approximately 11 miles (18 km) along the island's north shore from Keʻe Beach to the Kalalau Valley. An experienced, very fit hiker can complete the trail in about a day, but most people require two days and will camp along the trail. At this time camping is only permitted at Hanakoa Valley (6 mile mark) and Kalalau Beach.
— · Fri, Jun 29 2012 16:03:29

Backpacker Magazine - America's 10 Most Dangerous Hikes - Kalalau Trail, Kauai, HI

Backpacker Magazine - October 2008 by: Kelly Bastone The Hike Pictures of the dramatic and lush Na Pali Coast stir hikers' wanderlust, but the Kalalau Trail hugging this dramatic coastline also triggers something far less romantic: terror. "People have a hard time with some of the dropoffs," says Kathy Valier, a Kauai resident who's written guidebooks on hiking the island.

IMG_2725 · Kyle Buza

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Crawlers ledge.

IMG_2767 · Kyle Buza

The cliff section simply requires patience and paying attention and anyone who has an aversion to heights probably should pass.
— · Fri, Jun 29 2012 16:03:29

IMG_2784 · Kyle Buza

11 miles later..

DSC05913 · Kyle Buza

The top 5 ways that WWDC sucks.

Kyle Buza — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:15:04 GMT

If you didn't get tickets to WWDC this year, look on the bright side. Here's the top 5 ways that WWDC sucks.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Fri, Apr 27 2012 16:15:04

REASON #5

Lines.

Lines. Everywhere. Do you like waiting for 20-30 minutes in a line to go see a presentation that you can watch online for free a few weeks later? Do you like doing this 4-5 times a day? I don't.

Line Up! · zykloid

Small part of the line · chrisfarber

REASON #4

The music.

Google I/O gets Janes Addiction, and WWDC gets crappy party bands, beach balls, and guys dressed up like Where's Waldo. If you have good taste in music, odds are you'll be disappointed.

WWDC 2011 Bash (72 of 127) · Kominyetska

WWDC 2011 Bash Party at Yerba Buena Gardens · Jorge Llubia

REASON #3

The food.

While not completely horrible, the food offered at WWDC is reasonably bad. If you're trying to save money and can't afford to eat all of your meals out in San Francisco, you're stuck.

Miles of Meals · sidha

No title · Jorge Llubia

REASON #2

The price.

$1600 for a ticket, a few hundred for a flight, more for transportation, food, and lodging will put you reasonably close to $4,000 for the entire trip. Wouldn't you be happier with a new laptop and thunderbolt display?

Apple WWDC tickets sold out in just 2 hours and one ticket cost as expensive as a macbook pro. OmG
— · Fri, Apr 27 2012 11:06:18

Got my WWDC Ticket and the hotel I wanted! Is it just me, or does it keep getting more expensive each year? #wwdc2012
— · Fri, Apr 27 2012 11:06:18

Oracle vs. Google - The Short Version

Kyle Buza — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:58:03 GMT

Oracle is suing Google over Android. This is my attempt at a simple summary of the case.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Fri, Apr 20 2012 16:58:03

If you're interested in the legal details, read here:

Groklaw - Oracle v. Google - What's the Deal With the Java Specification License?

Oracle v. Google - What's the Deal With the Java Specification License? The opening statements having been made, and it is worth a look a...

Otherwise, continue:

In the 1990s, Sun began development of a programming language to target mobile devices with an emphasis on ease of programming and enhanced security. This language eventually is named 'Java'. Sun decides it should invest significant effort into the platform over the course of the following two decades, justified by a pricing model that allows vendors to say their device 'supports' Java by purchasing a test suite, or TCK. Vendors are welcome to build their own Java VM, but in order to *call* it Java, it must pass the TCK, which costs money.

Danger, (the creators of the T-Mobile Sidekick, founded in 2000) licensed Java for their devices. Andy Rubin, a Danger co-founder, left in 2003 to start Android. Nobody really knows what Android did between 2003 and 2005:

"Android has operated under a cloak of secrecy, so little is known about its work. Rubin & Co. have sparingly described the outfit as making software for mobile phones, providing little more detail than that. One source familiar with the company says Android had at one point been working on a software operating system for cell phones."

Danger (company) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Danger, Inc. was a company specializing in platforms, software, design, and services for mobile computing devices. Its most notable produ...

In 2005, Google purchased Android and hired Tim Lindholm, a Distinguished Engineer at Sun (a position of extremely high rank), along with a few other senior embedded Java engineers and language designers from the mobile Java team.

Mr. Lindholm suggested that Google license Java for Android: "Mr. Lindholm writes that he was asked by Mr. Page and Google co-founder Sergey Brin to explore alternatives to Java for use in Android — but found they all “suck.” He adds, “We need to negotiate a license for Java.”

Who Is Tim Lindholm? Google's CEO is Wondering That Too

Google CEO Larry Page has testified during the company's trial with Oracle Corp. that he can't "particularly" recall the identity of Tim ...

Google didn't want to officially license Java because it's expensive to license and apparently didn't like the terms. They ended up building their own Java VM called Dalvik that runs programs written in Java for their Android platform.In theory, because Google doesn't ever brand Android devices as "Java powered" or "Java enabled" there's no need to purchase a license from Sun regarding their use of Java.

My Title

Kyle Buza — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:31:14 GMT

My Description

Storified by Kyle Buza · Sun, Feb 19 2012 23:31:14

30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features In 2 Minutes [Video] | Cult of Mac

If you're as excited as I am about OS X Mountain Lion, you'll want to check this video out. Since only developers have access to the Mountain Lion beta at this point, I put together this quick video for all of Cult Of Mac's great readers detailing 30 of the best new features of Mountain Lion, all jam packed into just two minutes.

@davidstolarsky I find that hard to believe. I've never had the maps app be off by very much. Simple filtering should solve such issues.
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 16:20:11

James instagr.am/p/HHSDFOnH_E/ · Marcos Ojeda

Late night trivia question: What's the name of Woody's horse in Toy Story? pic.twitter.com/08Lek4Bn · The 90s Life

Happy to have visitors in town from Twitter HQ. Now... Off to the pub! cc/ @jennadawn @jbrewer @jinen pic.twitter.com/0elHeN5Y · Twitter UK

Do any of you remember her? pic.twitter.com/cP78gGuG · The 90s Life

Get the newest Cinderella collection from Precious Moments Doll Maker Linda Rick, Feb. 17-19, at World of Disney Store in #DowntownDisney.
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 16:20:27

Panorama at Truckee rail station. Where's the snow!? twitpic.com/8l6e21 · Jake Bayless

Trivia question #2: In Pokémon, what is Ash's hometown called? pic.twitter.com/9h93gJVM · The 90s Life

Good morning from Disneyland Resort! Today’s hours: Disneyland 10 AM – 8 PM Disney California Adventure 10 AM – 8 PM.
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 16:20:27

Jordan Mechner (@jmechner, creator of Prince of Persia & Karateka) swaps triple-A for Indie develop-online.net/features/1545/…
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 16:20:27

@tinrocket best ever percolated bar in Brussels #belgacafe #flagey pic.twitter.com/VnUXXrUN · Nico Bogaerts

PBox2D

PBox2D - Processing JBox2D helper library and examples

Google Releases "Dartium" Browser for Developers

Google is trying to get developers interested in Dart with a technology preview of the Dart VM in Chromium, better known as Dartium. The plan is ultimately to include the Dart VM in Chrome itself, but no timeline has been given yet for that. Google has been pushing pretty hard to move Dart forward.

all while talking with @bluemangroup about ideas for their new Vegas show. Going back to Vancouver super refreshed
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 14:42:19

And their responses pic.twitter.com/IjgWrW4p · Code and Theory

Hosted by NVIDIA, register at bit.ly/yZgcLO for Debugging CUDA with TotalView, a webinar on Feb 22.
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 14:42:19

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

No Description Available

I mean: What. The fuck.
— · Fri, Feb 17 2012 14:41:47

Just posted a photo instagr.am/p/HHrRTgwZJ3/ · Jason Hreha

Riding the API Limit

Kyle Buza — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:18:01 GMT

Artist Kim Asendorf wanted to find out how long he could save images to his Flickr Pro account until Flickr suspended him. It didn't take long for him to get an answer.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Wed, Oct 26 2011 23:14:12

HOW MANY IMAGES AM I ABLE TO UPLOAD UNTIL FLICKR LOCKS MY ACCOUNT

Riding the API at the limit.

"Flickr offers 'Unlimited uploads and storage', and that is the only thing I want. To exploit my upload and storage I am going to use a Java application, that generates numbered images and automatically uploads them to my Flickr pro account. The only thing which stands in the way is the Flickr API. It has a limit of 3.600 queries per hour across the whole API key, means 1 API call a second.
To attract as little attention as possible, my images have a pretty small file size, around 4KB at 640x640px. If I could make 3.600 uploads an hour, it would make a total amount of approximately 14.4MB, which should be fine with the Flickr APIs Terms of Use.
Can not be named 'bandwidth killer'."

Late last night, I saw the images appearing in the most recent Flickr stream:

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/nuq6pp Shared by · yfrog.com

24 hours and 20,000 images later, Flickr removed his account.

This member is no longer active on Flickr. After 24 hours and approx. 20.000 uploads Flickr deleted my paid pro account without any warning.
— kimasendorf · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:41:28

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimasendorf/
— kimasendorf · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:14:46

@kimasendorf it's like the David/Goliath battle. One computer vs flickrs serverfarm. I should focus more on the mm show. Been distracted. :)
— jonas_lund · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:50:26

This member is no longer active on Flickr. --> flickr kicked me.. =(
— kimasendorf · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:14:29

@kimasendorf great shit dude. flickr is a sham.
— mitchtrale · Tue, Oct 11 2011 11:00:32

@kimasendorf huh! wild that they just dumped a paying account.
— robdeadtech · Tue, Oct 11 2011 10:44:41

@kimasendorf why did flickr delete your account?
— sougwen · Tue, Oct 11 2011 10:12:16

IF ANYONE HAS ANY SCREENCAPTURES OF THE 'RIDING THE API AT THE LIMIT' PERFORMANCE.. PLS SEND IT TO ME!!!! =)
— kimasendorf · Tue, Oct 11 2011 10:01:29

"@kimasendorf: i was too stupid and didn't make a screen capture.. =( lol" todays archive problem cc @benfinoradin
— jonas_lund · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:52:36

@kimasendorf There are three ingredients in the good life: creating, using and killing an account.
— killaccount · Tue, Oct 11 2011 09:50:56

JSON + iOS

Kyle Buza — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:49:02 GMT

Another lesson in iOS development.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Wed, Oct 26 2011 23:07:58

When I first read about the Nextive JSON parser, it seemed promising. The original benchmark results were quite impressive.

After using it for a number of weeks, and seemingly having no trouble with it, I found out the original benchmarks were incorrect.

@kylerichter JSONKit is currently the fastest JSON parser. Nextive originally posted inaccurate speed results: http://t.co/p8jnR1SR
— ThadMcDowell · Fri, Sep 30 2011 14:40:54

Nextive Blog

The code with which the Nextive JSON Parser was tested on had a bug, which gave the results we published. After the bug was fixed, the resulting speed wasn't as fast, although it's still one of the fastest out there.

Uninterested in updating my code to JSONKit or SBJSON until absolutely necessary, I left it alone, only to discover (within two days of one another) that not only is the Nextive JSON parser buggy and flawed, the encoder doesn't work either.

Live and learn, I guess.

Mummies @ The Knockout 9/6

Kyle Buza — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:15:51 GMT

Bay Area garage punk legends The Mummies played a show on September 6, 2011, at The Knockout, a tiny bar in the Mission district of San Francisco. After 17 years of waiting for an opportunity to see these guys perform live, my waiting has ended...

Storified by Kyle Buza · Tue, Apr 10 2012 17:15:51

For the unfamiliar, the Mummies are a garage punk band from San Mateo, formed in the late 1980s. Video from an east cost show from has moved from VHS to YouTube in recent years, and exemplifies all that is awesome about this band.

The Mummies - The Fly ·

I've been waiting for 17 years to see the Mummies perform live, and upon noticing that "BUDGET ROCK 10", a garage rock showcase, would be happening sometime this October, I started doing some homework to see if I might be in luck and have the Mummies be a part of the event. I checked the band website daily for weeks, only to see a posting for an event in Oslo in September called Gutterball.

FFFFOUND! | Official Mummies news!

BUDGET ROCK now on Twitter!!! A new low. Please enjoy listening to The Fingers on your iPhone. News about this year's fest coming soon!
— BudgetRock10 · Tue, Jul 06 2010 00:37:07

Due to the delay between posts, my brain had been automatically filtering out previous entries on the same page, just inches below the topmost post. After weeks of checking, my eyes ventured down a single entry and actually *read* it.

FFFFOUND! | Official Mummies news!

My heart stopped, and I checked the ticket sites... Sold out.

I carefully evaluated my options, from waiting outside the club for most of the afternoon to obtain one of the few remaining tickets to be sold at the door, or to find another way. I had no friends working at the Knockout, and my friends with friends working there were unable to procure tickets on my behalf.

I checked Craigslist, and noticed some offers to buy a $15 ticket for $20.

anybody with an extra ticket??? really want to go ... REALLY
— sfbay.craigslist.org · Fri, Sep 09 2011 14:49:42

I felt there was little room for error, so posted my own entry for a much more substantial amount.

Need to see the Mummies at the Knockout. $100 for a ticket if you've got one.
— sfbay.craigslist.org · Fri, Sep 09 2011 14:29:05

Weeks went by, and I got a response. It sounded legit, so I arranged to meet up with the seller at his place of employment: The Rainbow Grocery.

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/keq3btp Shared by · yfrog.com

I obtained a ticket, but remained worried about its legitimacy, so I showed up to the show a little early just in case.

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/gzq7d6p Shared by · yfrog.com

Unfortunately, the line tended to grow horizontally, as friends of existing waiters cut in front of everyone else, and I failed to obtain a second ticket for a friend due to this behavior.

I then proceeded to the front of the line, to try and use my ticket, which was reviewed with much skepticism by the bouncer, as it was not in my name. After much deliberation, it was approved, and I was granted entry to the 132-person capacity bar.

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/kgu5kvp Shared by · yfrog.com

With people, cometh crap.

Kyle Buza — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:22:16 GMT

Invite-only sites such as ffffound and dribbble, which cater towards design-minded people were initially able to maintain decent standards of quality control. Over time, contributions of dubious design value have not only become more common, but users have continued to rank them highly, pushing them to the front pages of these sites. Sadly, with people, cometh crap.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Thu, Oct 27 2011 00:08:53

Each of the following images has been featured on the main page of their originating site (ffffound / dribbble). These coveted positions provide significant exposure and visibility to site visitors.

Badness, it seems, 'finds a way'.

41 likes on ffffound:

img.ffffound.com

35 likes on ffffound.

img.ffffound.com

An incredible 152+ likes on Dribbble, but has since been removed.

dribbble.com

36 likes on ffffound.

img.ffffound.com

25 likes on ffffound.

img.ffffound.com

19 likes on ffffound.

img.ffffound.com

Only 5 likes on ffffound, but it makes for a great header.

img.ffffound.com

Mermaid Convention Makes a Splash in Las Vegas

Kyle Buza — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:45:55 GMT

The first mermaid convention (MerCon 2011) took place in Las Vegas earlier this month, creating buzz for these beauties of the sea and their admirers.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Thu, Oct 27 2011 00:12:22

The inaugural mermaid convention and awards were at Silverton Casino Lodge on Friday, and the Las Vegas Sun’s April Corbin was onsite for a report on the action.
— lasvegassun.com · Thu, Aug 25 2011 18:27:03

worldmermaidawards.com

The first mermaid convention (MerCon 2011) in Las Vegas was a huge success. Hundreds attended at Silverton Casino.
— vegashotelshere · Thu, Aug 18 2011 23:03:31

Juliana Tucker, a 21-year-old fashion design student, Disney World entertainer and stilt walker from Orlando, Fla., was crowned Miss International Mermaid.
— lasvegassun.com · Thu, Aug 25 2011 18:27:53

Congratulations go to Juliana Tucker for winning the prestigious title of Miss International Mermaid, who was lucky enough to be crowned by Kylee Troche, the current Weeki Wachee and International Mermaid.

The reigning International Mermaid, who is also Mrs. Weeki Wachee and a current Weeki Wachee mermaid, Kylee Troche, was there in a gown, tiara, and gleaming International Mermaid sash to crown the new winners.
— thehairpin.com · Thu, Aug 25 2011 18:35:05

Photos: Mermaid convention breaks record(s), returns to L.V. next year

Tom Donoghue/DonoghuePhotography.com By Don Chareunsy (contact), Robin Leach (contact) Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011 | 7:30 a.m. The inaugural mermaid convention and awards were at Silverton Casino Lodge on Friday, and the Las Vegas Sun's April Corbin was onsite for a report on the action. Check back later for a story from Mr. Vegas DeLuxe Robin Leach.

A few skeptics failed to grasp the magnitude and profound implications of the event:

A mermaid convention? I don't... understand. http://t.co/RuVeITk
— katelinnea · Wed, Aug 24 2011 14:09:30

Naysayers aside, it's apparently a stressful time for both contestants and judges.

It's not an easy thing, scoring mermaids and mermen on scales of one to 25. In the “formal wear” section of the competition, I did dock that baby merman several points for showing up in a polo shirt. I mean, what was he thinking?
— thehairpin.com · Thu, Aug 25 2011 18:42:36

'Aqua', a professional mermaid, shares her thoughts on what it's like to be a mermaid: "It's such a sparkly and magical thing to be a mermaid, and I get to bring that sparkle and magic to other people's lives. And to spend some time in that magical, sparkly place is really special!"

Mermaids Add `Sparkle' to Parties, Corporate Events - Video

Aqua the Mermaid talks with Bloomberg's Peter J. Brennan about her job as a mermaid and the first World Mermaid Awards convention that took place in Las Vegas on Aug. 12 and 13. They spoke in Newport Beach, California, on Aug. 22. Photography of the mermaid convention by Kevin Zacher for Bloomberg Businessweek.

Pageant producer and PR consultant Stephanie Sims, summed the event up quite nicely:

This was a great way for mermaid enthusiasts to come together
— lasvegassun.com · Fri, Aug 26 2011 00:21:40

First Major Tablet Casualty

Kyle Buza — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 03:43:58 GMT

Following the success of Apple's iPad, everyone is busy making a tablet. Those released have yet to see significant sales numbers. In less than two months from its original release date, HP has decided to call it quits.

Storified by Kyle Buza · Thu, Oct 27 2011 00:25:56

The original HP touch pad was released on July 1, 2011 in the US.

On August 19, 2011, Ars Technica reported that following poor sales numbers, Best Buy hopes to return the remaining units back to HP.

Best Buy has managed to sell only 25,000 HP TouchPads across its retail stores and apparently wants to return unsold units to HP, according to a source who spoke to AllThingsD on Tuesday.
— arstechnica.com · Fri, Aug 19 2011 14:54:45

This was apparently four days after the device was released in Australia.

HP's TouchPad tablet killed in Australia

HEWLETT-PACKARD'S much anticipated TouchPad tablet computer has been withdrawn from sale in Australia just four days after its retail launch. Harvey Norman, who began selling the now-defunct tablet in Australia exclusively on Monday, has instructed its franchisees to take all stocks of the tablet off shelves, contact customers who purchased it, and offer them a full refund or credit for another purchase.

An official HP announcement came soon after.

HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.
— techcrunch.com · Fri, Aug 19 2011 15:05:42

This comes as no surprise to some, based on the release strategy and product quality of the device(s).

Announce and briefly demo a product at start of the year? Check
— news.ycombinator.com · Fri, Aug 19 2011 15:07:45

Delay getting SDK to developers? Check
— news.ycombinator.com · Fri, Aug 19 2011 15:07:57

Ship poor hardware with buggy software to retailers later than anticipated? Check
— news.ycombinator.com · Fri, Aug 19 2011 15:08:17

What is perhaps most shocking about these events is the speed at which the product was terminated. I'm sure a large number of companies that still have their tablets in development will seriously begin to re-consider their efforts.

Fortunately for HP, in 1983 Atari set a precedent for how to dispose of products that consumers didn't want. Between 10-20 truckloads of the Atari 2600 game E.T. were sent to a landfill in New Mexico and bulldozed to the ground.

Sounds like it might be time for HP to truck their remaining TouchPads on over to Alamogordo, NM just like the old days. goo.gl/j7a7s
— buza · Wed, Aug 17 2011 11:32:06

E.T. had been available to consumers for nearly a year.

HP is lead by reason. Apple by vision.
— xdamman · Fri, Aug 19 2011 20:04:40

Exactly.