I’ve had a discussion with some friends in recent times which is this: what is the reason for the rivalry between Google, Facebook and Twitter? What justifies it? The valuations of Facebook and Twitter make sense?

In fact, apparently, the three companies do not compete directly: Google is good at search,  Facebook and Twitter are horrendous; Facebook is good at group interactions, Google and Twitter are weak; Twitter is good in interactions and information in real time, Google and Facebook are weak.

Note that each of these companies know about their weaknesses. This has led to attempts to overcome them: Facebook investment in advertising (successful) and email (a failure) to compete with Google; Google created Google+ to compete with Facebook and Twitter (we’re still to see if successfully); Twitter is also trying to make money with advertising (though with poor results) and to improve interactions in groups (lists), to compete with Facebook and Google+.

But this is the real war? Is there anything else to justify it?

There is, in my opinion: it is all about the war for identities on the Internet. This could yield billions.

The problem of Internet identity is not new. It has existed since the Internet started to get popular. The question of anonymity. Its importance in shopping and transactions online. Its relevance to issues such as defamation or liability for illegal or criminal acts. Various schemes and systems were tried, always with low adoption. Solving this problem can yield billions. And it’s a game where only one wins. Whoever can get more members becomes, for all purposes, a monopoly.

Until recently, the use of multiple identities was normal. Each of us had (and still has) multiple usernames, one for each service. I always try to catch mvalente but I failed sometimes: an Italian guy got it in GMail first and I had to content myself with mfvalente. In addition to usernames we have passwords for each service (you have a different password for each service, right?). And then there is the problem of having to give usernames and passwords for some services, to allow for the interactions between them.

Some technologies were developed to solve these problems, such as OpenID and OAuth, without much adoption. Not even Microsoft, with Passport, now called Live ID, had any success.

What we have seen in the last 3 or 4 years is that more and more Internet services accept registration as a user using only the Google, Facebook or Twitter ID. Many allow you to use either of them. In my opinion this will not last long and one will get the leadership and a potential monopoly. Facebook, due to the number of current users, is who is best positioned.

Assume, for ease of explanation, that the winner is Facebook. In  3 or 4 years it has won the war and it is used in 99% of Internet services. We use it for email, to access the Flickr; to access Pinterest; to access Last.FM. To access Blogger, Spotify, Steam, Amazon. Everything.

And suddenly Facebook decides to start charging for the identification service. Cheap, one (1) euro per year. Not to users. To Internet services using your Facebook ID to identify you.

Some simple math. Facebook has 900 million users, that would make up for a 900 million euro yearly turnover. But each one of us uses more than one Internet service. Let’s say thats an average of 10 services. That would make up for 9.000 million euro turnover (excluding advertising revenue).

If Facebook decided to charge per user per month, you do the math, just multiply by 12. A monopoly of more than 90 billion euro a year would be a nice business to be in. None of the three players will want to lose this war.

Mine are:

• Google Mail: https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/225/#tl/Inbox
• Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader/i/
• Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/app/plus/mp/
• Facebook: http://m.facebook.com/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/mvalente

You’re welcome.

“I know what you’re thinking: “Did he fire six shots, or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well do ya, punk?”

2011/12/9foo@ Startup Pirates Lisboa <lisboa@startuppirates.org>

Não obtive resposta. Forever alone. True story.

Estava a escrever este artigo, que era suposto ser sobre segurança informática, quando recebo a notícia de que Steve Jobs morreu.

Morre um dos meus ídolos da juventude.

Quando comecei nestas coisas da informática, com 12 ou 13 anos, no início da década de 80, fi-lo como utilizador de um Sinclair ZX81. Não cheguei a usar o ZX80. E o ZX81 rapidamente passou a um ZX Spectrum e um Commodore 64.

Ter um Apple Lisa ou, pouco tempo depois, um Macintosh era coisa inatingível. Não só não havia em Portugal (se bem que me lembro de um Lisa numa montra no recém-aberto Centro Comercial das Amoreiras) como estava fora do alcance das bolsas de meros mortais. Acabei por usar o Mac Classic no primeiro ano de faculdade, em 86 ou 87. Também foi sol de pouca dura: o departamento não podia suportar os custos. A solução para mortais, especialmente a partir do lançamento do Windows 3.0, era a compra de um PC.

Nas duplas de fundadores da Apple e da Microsoft, sempre tive uma especial admiração por Steve Jobs, para além da admiração por Steve Wozniak. Na Microsoft nunca fui muito com a cara do Bill Gates, admirando apenas Paul Allen.

Mas para mim o Steve Jobs era algo mais. Enquanto que Wozniak e Allen eram geeks, engenheiros, tecnologistas, pessoas de bastidores, o Steve Jobs era o rebelde, o sonhador, o visionário. Adorava a forma como ele confrontava Bill Gates e dele se distinguia. Steve Jobs era e fazia questão de ser diferente.

Quando ele foi corrido da Apple, fiquei com um ódio danado à empresa. Mas quando percebi que ele ia lançar um novo computador, a NeXTStation, fiquei maluco. Em parte por ser uma workstation Unix mas principalmente por causa do preço. Mais uma vez Steve Jobs criava uma máquina de difícil acesso. Tive a sorte de no meu último ou penúltimo ano de Faculdade trabalhar em NeXTStations e de andar a pensar como poderia comprar uma. Acabei por fazê-lo anos mais tarde quando encomendei uma no Ebay. Pela mesma altura comprei também um Apple Newton. Rejubilei quando ele voltou à Apple por especial pedido: “agora é o gajo vai partir tudo”.

E partiu. Ano após ano era continuada a saída de modelos novos com inovações que outros não tinham. E partia acima de tudo o Windows da Microsoft. Os Macs começaram a se tornar mais relevantes, especialmente para a área das artes gráficas, pelo que eram gozados pelos tristes utilizadores de Windows e pelos tristes do Unix como sendo “computadores para meninas”

De facto, a empresa que tenho com a minha mulher (meninas a fazer desenhos) usa Macintosh desde 1996, praticamente coincidente com a volta de Steve Jobs à Apple. Eu devia estar mais do que ele a ranger os dentes e a dizer “agora é que vão levaar com o barrote 4×4”. E levaram. A volta de Steve Jobs à Apple despoleta uma capacidade de criação de dispositivos colossal. Aproveita o BSD Unix que já tinha usado nas NeXTStations, assim como aproveita todo o sistema de desenvolvimento, e cria computadores belos de alta qualidade mas também com alto preço.

Continuando a admirar Jobs e a torcer por ele, a atitude comercial da Apple nos últimos anos desiludiu-me. A Apple que tanto se queixou das manobras sujas da Microsoft, passou a adoptar o mesmo tipo de acções. Do alto dos seus mihões, ataca tudo e todos; às vezes até os próprios clientes.

Em todo este trajecto via o Steve Jobs como um ídolo, como um modelo. O seu discurso, a sua paragem antes de responder, o seu sorriso, eram algo com que eu simpatizava. Gostava das bocas que mandava aos concorrentes (Bill Gates e Microsoft).

Este foi o Steve Jobs que conheci. Com vontade de mudar o mundo e a capacidade para o fazer. Contra quem fosse, mesmo que tivesse de ser aos berros. O Steve Jobs que conheci tem ar de puto, com um cabelinho à Beatles. Não me quero lembrar de Steve Jobs a fazer as última confertências, fraco, combalido, magro. Gostava que as pessoas comprassem os produtos Apple porque apreciam os mesmos e não porque querem estar na moda. Gostava que as pessoas reconhecessem o génio e o homem e não quantos biliões vendeu. Infelizmente isso não é possivel.

Dizem-me dali do lado que a Apple se vai manter na mesma. Duvido. Por uns meses ou um par de anos, talvez, à força dos fumos de Jobs. Mas a Apple sem Jobs é como a Microsoft sem Gates (e pior, com o MonkeyBoy Ballmer)

Mas aqui, não é a empresa que conta. O que conta é que Steve Jobs deixou um legado computacional mas também um raro legado humano. A diferença que um único individuo pode fazer numa organização. A rara capacidade de cair e se levantar outra vez. De desculpar os ex-colegas que o tinham afastado da empresa. A capacidade de liderança mesmo sendo exigente e muitas vezes agressivo.

Alguns não perceberão este meu artigo. Mas esses não viram o Steve Jobs original a criar sonhos e mudanças mesmo em frente aos nossos olhos. Apenas viram um Steve Jobs cansado a apresentar mais um resma de dispositivos ou features de equipamento Apple.

O meu Steve Jobs era melhor.

So I went ahead and built me a small Python script. You need to have the IMAPClient library installed. Then download and run this Python script to find big GMail messages.

Lets sum up the “innovations” vis a vis Android phones…

- blablabla, a bunch of marketoid numbers

- new Cards app. Really? Fuck me, you’re going into a business with lots of competitors and “innovating” in a dying paper industry? For 3 dollars a message? You’re joking right? Didnt you have something better to show? And to start the presentation?

- notifications now over Wifi+3G and dont interrupt your games. Kinda like the Android phones have had for a couple of years?

- a brand new app is Reminders. You must all be on some kind of strange drugs. A to-do app with notifications? To compete with, lets say, hundreds of free and paid apps in your appstore and in Androids appmarket? This only makes sense if you bought out the largest of those competitors.

- twitter integration. Oh boy what a thrill. Do you mean something like an Android application/twitter intent? But this integrates with ALL the apps. Yours only integrates with your built-in apps, is that it?

- the camera button is now the home button. You mean you cant configure what your home button is? There are hundreds of apps for that. In Android’s market.

- say I take a photo; icloud saves it to the cloud. Like Android sync to Google’s Picasa? Tell me something new please.

- I can see a list of all the albuns/songs I purchased. You couldnt do that before? Thanks god you’re provinding it for free.

- photostream; you can take pictures and they sync to the icloud. The same thing that my 2 year old Android phone has?

- documents created with ipad now sync to the cloud. Great. Thats called Google Docs.

- new app FindMyFriend. Unbeliavable. Are you going to compete with 4square, gowalla and a dozen others? You call that innovation?

- apple is providing 5Gb of free storage. I have 7Gb on Gmail, 1Gb on Google Docs, 1Gb in Picasa and unlimited storage for pics and movies in Google+. All for free. Dont make me laugh.

- now let you track runs and walks. Have you heard of RunKeeper? Please.

- You can have a Mickey Mouse face on the nano. I am going to cum. Not.

Lets delve into the iphone4S features:

- its a dual-core A5. Samsung Galaxy S2 anyone?

- battery time. I’ll concede this one. Android’s battery usage sucks. Even when you do the management yourself.

- 8 megapixel camera. Just like the HTC Droid Incredible? Wow. Unheard of.

- (a lot of shit about numbers; I thought Apple was all about quality and benefits and not about numbers and features. Guess I waw wrong)

- the camera is 1 second faster that the camera in Droid Bionic. I just hope you didnt select that Android phone as a “tweaked” benchmark. Maybe not.

- HD video recording. Samsung Galaxy SII. Nuff said. But that “temporal noise reduction” thing sounded cool.

- HDMI port. Surely you jest kind sirs. That’s Just like Motorola’s Droid, Droid X and Atrix.

Delving into Siri:

- for starters, words fail me.

- voice commands. Voice Actions for Android. http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-actions/ … Available since Aug 2010

- voice recognition search. Great. You’ve copied Google’s Voice Search.

- If you ask it “Who are you?” it says, “I am a humble personal assistant.”… Like I said. Words fail me.

- Siri is in beta. Holy cow! I tought you didnt release half-baked products. That that would compromise your standing for quality. But maybe “beta” transmits some sense of “this shit is innovative”.

- iphone pricing. Besides having fucked over your customers who bought an iphone4 in the last 6 months, those are great prices. Graded according to memory storage. The thing is, you see, most Android phones have an SD card slot. The users can change the factory storage. They can buy a 64Gb SD card for $84.99 at Amazon.

Final words: “When you look at each of these, they are great and fantastic and industry-leading in and of themselves,”

Cmon. You’re just using your alternate reality halo effect and the consensual halucination of your fanboys to pretend that your shit is “industry-leading”although its all copied from previous products.

Take away: it was a non-event. Guess we’ll have to wait for the iphone 5 to see which stuff you’ll be copying.

Anyway… during that time, more specifically in 1988, I bought and read Bruce Sterling’s “Islands in the Net”. I was into BBSs as well, knew of stuff like Bitnet, Arpanet, Fidonet, etc (those that would become the all encompassing Internet), so you can understand why I bought and loved the book.

The story is basically about “life in 2023. Information is power, and even in the peaceful post-millenial age, power corrupts. Data pirates, new-age mercenaries, high-tech shamans, and murder stalk a brutal netherworld of deregulated havens in the Global Communications Network”. You can find out more at cyberpunk.ru and at sfreader.com.

The book is actually available as a PDF file (Islands in the Net), but I think it’s worth it to quote a bit of it here. Some stuff he got wrong, some stuff he got right, and some stuff is pretty hilarious :-)…

“The Lodge did most of its business as telex, straight print sent by wire, such as guest dossiers and arrival schedules. Most of the world, even Africa, was wired for telex these days. It was cheapest and simplest, and Rizome favored it.

“Fax” was more elaborate: entire facsimiles of documents, photographed and passed down the phone lines as streams of numbers. Fax was good for graphics and still photos; the fax machine was essentially a Xerox with a phone. It was great fun to play with.

The Lodge also took plenty of traditional phone traffic: voice without image, both live and recorded. Also voice with image: videophone. Rizome favored one-way prerecorded calls because they were more efficient. There was less chance of an expensive screwup in a one-way recorded call. And recorded video could be subtitled for all of Rizome’s language groups, a major advantage for a multinational.

The Lodge could also handle teleconferencing: multiple phone calls woven together. Teleconferencing was the expensive borderland where phones blurred into television. Running a teleconference was an art worth knowing, especially in public relations. It was a cross between chairing a meeting and running a TV news show, and Laura had done it many times.

Every year of her life, Laura thought, the Net had been growing more expansive and seamless. Computers did it. Computers melted other machines, fusing them together. Television-telephone-telex. Tape recorder-VCR-laser disk. Broadcast tower linked to microwave dish linked to satellite. Phone line, cable TV, fiber-optic cords hissing out words and pictures in torrents of pure light. All netted together in a web over the world, a global nervous system, an octopus of data.”

You gotta love the references to those high-technologies like telex, fax and VCR and them being available to everyone in 2023 :-)

(NOTA: este artigo foi publicado aqui na Exame Informática, na minha coluna de opinião Franco Atirador)

Já tinha referido num artigo anterior que tinha de começar a pensar em substituir a workstation Dell com 10 anos. Comecei a fazê-lo.

A última vez que montei um computador (para trabalho de escritório), vai para 3 anos, saiu aquilo que eu apelidei de System4: 4 CPUs, 4Gb de RAM, 400Gb de disco, 4 portas USB e uma placa gráfica com qualquer coisa relacionada com 4. Claro, o preço foi pouco mais de 400€ (sem IVA).

O meu objectivo para a nova workstation é construir o System8: 8 CPUs, 8Gb de RAM, 80Gb de disco SSD, 800Gb de disco SAS, 8 portas USB 3.0 e uma placa gráfica (ou duas) com qualquer coisa relacionada com 8. Com 8Gb de RAM. Ou com 8 GPUs. Provavelmente esta última, consegue-se fazer juntando quatro placas dual-core, ligadas em SLI.

Estou a tomar como ponto de partida o sistema descrito em http://blog.zorinaq.com/?e=42.

Os 8 CPUs assim como os 8Gb de RAM são importantes para poder correr múltiplas virtual machines, com múltiplos sistemas operativos. O Plan9 é fixe mas não me atrevo a pô-lo numa máquina em produção. Os 8Gb também dão jeito para meter o OS e binários respectivos num RAM disk e obter performances elevadas.

Os 80Gb de SSD são também críticos para a perfomance. O plano é usá-los para armazenar a totalidade do sistema operativo e para armazenar todas ou algumas aplicações mais “pesadas” (OpenOffice, jogos FPS, processamento de som (Audacity e Guitar Rig) e processamento de imagem (Gimp).

Os 800Gb de disco para o habitual: documentos vários, colecção de MP3, colecção de filmes e séries, storage de bases de dados, etc.

As 8 portas são importantes para ligar equipamentos externos, obviamente. E as 4 portas do System4 já se têm revelado insuficientes.

Quatro placas ligadas em SLI são importantes para eventualmente ter um setup com 4 monitores. Também dão jeito para os jogos (Quake3, OpenArena). E os GPUs permitem crackar 33.1 biliões de passwords MD5 por segundo. Um interesse puramente académico, claro.

Esqueci-me de um pequeno pormenor: o System8 tem de custar 800€ ou pouco mais (sem IVA)

Até agora o total dos componentes dá a bonita soma de 2151€, comprados na Amazon UK ( http://goo.gl/FXmfy ). O desafio está portanto em encontrar componentes equivalentes e diminuir o total.

Aceitam-se sugestões.