What is happening is that iTunes requests a URL with a dot after the hostname:

http://ax.init.itunes.apple.com./

And dansguardian rejects it as a malformed URL (since it is).

You can test it by typing:

http://apple.com./

into a browser (note the period/dot after com).

If you get a Dansguardian Malformed URL page and running iTunes 9.1, it is very likely your problem.

In any event, here is a quick and dirty source code workaround to sidestep the issue: iTunes.patch.

Note that this workaround only helps a system administrator/IT type who can rebuild dansguardian from source and install it into your production environment.

I tried to take an approach where Dansguardian would see the URL internally as the non-dotted version so that URL regex’s would not be thrown off, but it is possible that my patch breaks some host or URL matching/filtering within Dansguardian (content filtering should be unaffected).

WARNING: Use the above patch at your own risk.

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My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Copper Scroll is the latest installment of the Last Jihad series by of fiction thrillers by Joel C. Rosenberg.

Joel Rosenberg first came to national attention by writing the first book in the series, The Last Jihad, about a terrorist attach by hijacking an airliner and flying a kamikaze attack against the United States. Not to impressive unless you realize the book was written nine months prior to 9/11.

Not unlike author Dan Brown, Joel Rosenberg writes from a foundation of research and fact that lend an authenticity to the story.

Rosenberg starts with the mystery of a copper scroll which was found amongst the Dead Sea scrolls more than half a century ago. Unlike most of the Dead Sea scrolls this scroll lists location of treasure which would be worth over a billion dollars today. Sounds made-up doesn’t it? Oddly enough this part of the story is pure fact.

Newly discovered secrets about the Copper Scroll unleash a series of events that engulf current and former CIA operatives, leaders of the United States, Israel, and Iraq in a race to unlock the secret.

Although this is the fourth book in the series, it was the first one I have read. I found that that the book stands well by itself.

As a work of fiction it was a well constructed, very enjoyable story with good characters.

On a second level, although the style is similar to that of Dan Brown, the moral of this story couldn’t be more different. While I have found Dan Brown to be an engaging writer, his message seems to consistently be “you can’t trust religious faith”.

As a Jewish Christian, Joel Rosenberg’s message of “there is something to authentic Christianity” comes through loud and clear. As a Christian I really enjoyed this aspect of the story.

On a third level, I was intrigued by the author’s unique ability to project events into the future, in this case mixing the Copper Scroll with prophecy from the Bible.

Note: The author has written a non-fiction book, Epicenter, which deals with with the Biblical Prophecy aspect in more detail.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a Dan Brown style book or political thriller.

View all my reviews.

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Imagine my surprise when I decided to try out an competing feed reader only to discover a number of my subscriptions had been broken for a long time, and Google Reader never bothered to alert me.

This is a huge issue; Google Reader’s only job is to reliably deliver updates from the websites you choose, and it doesn’t tell you when it fails? The equivalent would be sending emails and not getting “bounce” messages back if the message couldn’t be delivered.

Why were my subscriptions broken? After I subscribed, some of the websites had upgrades that changed the address of the subscription. Then when Google Reader tried to retrieve updates the requests failed and Google Reader was silent. I never knew my subscriptions weren’t being delivered.

This reminds me of the whole Seinfeld “What is a reservation?” routine:

The workaround is to use the Google Reader Trends functionality and and look under the Inactive Tab under Subscription Trends heading. If you have a subscription that hasn’t been updated in more than a few days it probably broken.

You have been warned.

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The safer intersection design is known as a “Modern Roundabout”.

The Arizona DOT website list the following benefits of modern roundabouts:

• 90 percent reduction in fatal crashes
• 75 percent reduction in injury crashes
• 30-40 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes
• 10 percent reduction in bicycle crashes
• 30-50 percent increase in traffic capacity thereby enhancing traffic flow

This isn’t your father’s traffic circle

Roundabouts, or traffic circles, have come a long way since they were last in vogue here in Texas. Improved intersection design techniques have eliminated the many of the issues which lead to their decline in popularity.

The modern roundabout incorporates features that helps reduce entry speed which helps to provide smooth and steady traffic flow along with the ability to have traffic smoothly flowing from all directions at the same time.

Safety

Within the roundabout itself, traffic flows in only one circular direction and at a low rate of speed, almost always less than 25 mph. Collisions, when they do occur, tend to be minor fender benders.

Compare this to a traffic light, where is the flow is “sliced and diced” with traffic moving at a high rate of speed from only one or two directions at a time. All drivers must split their attention between the lights and the actions of other drivers.
Collisions at a traffic light intersection, when they occur, can involve two otherwise law abiding drivers traveling at the speed limit going in opposite directions. The force and energy involved can easily be fatal.

Efficiency

With gas hovering at around $4 a gallon, suddenly efficiency is on everyone’s mind. Any “hypermiler”, those individuals who will go to great lengths to squeeze every mile out of a gallon of gas, will tell you that stopping, idling, and starting are the enemies of high gas mileage.

A stoplight, particularly at a busy intersection, may cause a number of stops, idles, and starts for every driver. A roundabout, on the other hand, allows traffic to continue to flow smoothly, although at a possibly slower pace.

A roundabout also provides a 30-50 percent increase in intersection throughput. Saving time and money for every driver that uses the intersection, and even saving money for the taxpayers who don’t use the intersection, since the same lanes with more traffic flow means less money is spent widening roads.

Change

I am well aware that a roundabout isn’t a practical solution for every intersection, but I have a very hard time believing that in all of Allen a lightly traveled intersection by the public library is the only one that makes sense.

My children go to Boyd Elementary which is located at the corner of Jupiter and Bethany — one of the more busy intersections in Allen. The road that goes by my home, White Oak, is used as a shortcut by many drivers due to the morning back-up on Bethany.

I would love for my children, and everyone else’s, to have a 30-40 percent lower chance of being hit by a car on the way to or from school. I would love to enter an intersection with a 90 percent lower chance of getting killed crossing it, and I would love for the city to take a long hard look at why the only roundabout in town is at a lightly trafficked intersection.

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Round Grove’s yearly stewardship campaign focuses on the need of the giver to give.

Christ said in Matthew 7:16-20, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Jesus was saying that Christians, all Christians, are the good trees — must be the good trees. And if we are the good trees we cannot help but bear good fruit.

As I look over this congregation, I see mentors who have showed me, showed all of us ways of bearing the good fruit here at Round Grove:

My wife Trish – who demonstrated the joy of teaching Sunday School over a decade ago when I hung around at the beginning of her Sunday School to “help out a little”. Now I have been teaching here at Round Grove for over ten years.

Grady Quick, my friend who has showed me how to deal with difficult situations with perspective and humor.

Past and current members of the Board of Trustees and the Deacons, whom I have heard some call “do nothing”, but who painstakingly set priorities and did more with far fewer resources than most people will ever know.

Our own Pastor Wells, who has demonstrated personal sacrifice time and time again. I will never forget several years ago when he offered to defer his own salary when Round Grove was low on cash. I will never forget.

Those who show up every week — in very hot robes as I discovered a few weeks ago — and shared their gift of Music with the congregation.

Those families whose example of years of selfless service has amazed me: the Lennerts, the Littrells, the Howells, the Murphys, and many more.

Bud Keil, who showed up at church last week, not even missing one Sunday after a heart attack. Amazing.

So much good being done here at our Church. So much more than I have time to mention (I promised Byron to limit myself to 3 minutes…sorry Byron).

I think this “good fruit” was what attracted my wife Trish and I to Round Grove many years ago. We joined because we felt the welcoming Christian Fellowship that Round Grove offers.

We have continued to be a part of the Round Grove family because we wanted to help in serving God by working side by side with you, our brothers and sisters, to build things up, and to be built up ourselves, in a world that seems to celebrate tearing down, negativity, and hurting others.

1st John 3:11-18 says “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

I’d be a hypocrite if I left you thinking that I feel I measure up to these words…I don’t. But I do know that I love you all here at Round Grove and I am awed and inspired by you. You have challenged me to strive harder by the example of your dedication and loving service.

It is humbling, yet a privilege, honor, and blessing to be a part of this congregation.

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The Timline

• 9:00am — “Twas the the day before Thanksgiving, and to the neighbors bathrooms we did roam, for no water was draining in the in-laws home” — and a clogged up house before thanksgiving is a serious matter.
• 10:00am — My brother-in-law, Larry, and I tried to unclog it with a 40 foot drain cleaner “snake”. No luck.
• 11:00am — A plumber was called that morning and said “We’ll be there by 4 this afternoon”.
• 5:30pm — no plumber. A phone call reassured us that the plumber would be there.
• 6:30pm — through a valiant effort by my mother-in-law, we have a great Thanksgiving meal (yes, on Wednesday — when 3 families are involved things get complicated).
• 7:30pm — still no plumber. A phone call told use that “they should have called you and let you know that the plumber wasn’t coming”. Grrrrrr.
• 7:31pm — panic sets in. What are the odds of a plumber coming the evening before Thanksgiving?
• 7:33pm — Not too bad apparently. One says he’ll be there in 15-20 minutes
• 7:50pm — Plumber arrives.
• 8:45pm — Drain clog which turns out to be 100 feet down the sewer line is fixed. There is much rejoicing.

The Rest of the Story

Pretty boring story, except for the plumber that showed up. I’ll let his phone book ad do the describing:

His van had similar artwork including what may be my favorite slogan ever: We Single Handedly Beat the Competition

The Moral

Too often we try to hide what makes us unique because we don’t want be seen as different. What Mr. Merryman can teach is that we are different, and even if we don’t want to, we will stand out. By being up front about his unique appearance, Mr. Merryman ensures that we won’t forget about him and in doing so removes both surprises and obstacles.

But we can’t win just by being different. We are still being judged by the job we do; by emphasizing what makes us unique we challenge ourselves to excellence. No one wants to be remembered for a job poorly done.

So, as I embark upon my new job search, I hope I have learned the lesson of the one handed plumber well.

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At first you think they’re great. You might even want to get closer. Then, after spending time with them, you realize they are a little obnoxious. Then, bit by bit, you start avoiding them whenever you can.

Finally, the day comes, when a friend quietly whispers “You know, I can’t stand that person”.

Reaction: Relief

Suddenly you realize you’re not crazy, it isn’t you. It’s them. Really.

Well that day has come for me and the Singleton design pattern. In Steve Yegge’s Singleton Considered Stupid I found a friend to confirm my now near hatred for the so called singleton design pattern.

Singleton and I used to be close. When I first started seeing, and, I’ll admit it, using singleton I quickly began feeling a growing unease. I found myself callously using singleton to allocate an instance, and then never speaking to singleton or the instance again.

Then things went from bad to worse. Once I started testing singleton I noticed how self centered singleton was. How could someone insist that they always be “the only one”?

Finally I started cheating; using backhanded methods to use and discard whole series of singletons. I even always took care to keep each one ignorant of the other. I told myself it was just for “unit testing”, but I knew better.

Now I realize I can’t live like this. It’s over.

Now I will only be design patterns who don’t have to be the center of universe. No more cheating, no more lying.

I hope I never see another singleton again.

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The problem: Too Many Places

Too many website to keep an eye on.

If you are like most people, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because of the wealth of data available, a curse because it is easy to waste valuable time and get nothing in return.

For example, if you have a single website you love, maybe you check it several times a day. Easily done.

Sometimes you check a website and there is a new article worth reading, but sometimes there is nothing new. A few minutes wasted.

But what if you have three site you love…then it starts to get tedious, you go to one site for the weather, a second for news, a third for your hobby, a fourth for your grandchildren’s school.

The solution: Just one place

What if, instead, you could check one place and see updates appear from any of the sites you are interested in? Then instead of checking three places, or five, or ten, you could check only one but still get the information you want.

This concept is called “RSS aggregation” (RSS is a a kind of a file format — you probably already know what aggregation is).

But no matter what you call it: RSS is a way to know when new articles appear.

Nothing special about it really.

RSS contains the following information:

• Links to the most recent articles on the site
• Titles, descriptions, and other details of the articles and the website

How it works

The good news is that you never have to edit or save an RSS file, that is the job of the website, they keep their RSS file updated with the list of the latest articles. All you have to do is tell your RSS client software (more on that later) to do the website checking for you. You do this telling your RSS software the web address (URL) to the RSS file on the website you want to keep tabs on.

The RSS software then checks the website at regular intervals (usually every hour) so you don’t have to.

How to spot an RSS link

What RSS practical, is that most sites now supply RSS. This trick is knowing that is is there.

RSS files come in several “flavors” among them various versions of RSS and Atom. The term XML is also sometimes used to indicate an RSS or Atom feed (technically speaking XML is a much more generic term that also includes a huge number of other things).

So to make a long story short, look for links or icons on web pages labeled like the following:

• 
• 
• Atom

RSS Client Software

There are many many choices and this article will not cover any specific choice.

Regardless of the RSS software you choose, they all do the same thing: give you the ability to get your updates at one place instead of many.

There are two broad categories: websites and applications.

RSS Client Website

This type of website collects feeds and displays them. The checking happens from the remote website, and the remote website keeps up to date even if you computer is off or disconnected from the internet.

Pros:

• Accessible from any computer on the internet.
• No installation needed.

Cons:

• If you have intranet (not accessible from the internet) RSS feeds, this software will not be able to access it.
• You must be connected to the internet to even read the headlines.

RSS Client Application

This is software you download, install, and run on your computer like any other application.

RSS Clients that run on your computer

This software runs on your computer and is usually installed as a stand alone application or may even be available as part of your web browser.

Pros:

• Can read headlines and sometimes even the articles themselves while disconnected from the internet.
• Can access intranet RSS feeds.

Cons:

• Runs only on the computer(s) you installed on.

Getting Started

The best way to start is to try one of the many RSS Clients. A list is available at blogspace.

If the above list seems overwhelming, the Google Reader as a good place to starting getting familiar with an RSS Client.

For your first feed, try mine at http://rmore.net/planet/rmore/rss10.xml.

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I’ve seen great assembly language, bad Java, scintillating Visual Basic, poor Python, ludicrous lisp, crisp Hypertalk, and even some very good Javascript.

David Chelimsky asks What’s the Problem with Javascript and all I can do is nod my head and state “I concur”.

Javascript allows you to create classes, subclasses, and even has studly regular expression support that would make a Perl user feel right at home.

Many languages suffer from what can only be considered “the AOL” effect. When AOL really took off, (slightly) longer time internet users considered AOL users to be worthless. Some of it was that they didn’t understand [http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html netiquette], but it was also that their entry onto the internet was considered too easy. They weren’t smart enough, or technical enough, or elite enough to count like ”’real”’ internet users.

Programming languages are the same way. Lisp and C++ users regularly look down on programmers using almost any other programming language because the barrier of entry to Lisp and C++ is high. Mastering difficult languages, and anything else with a high barrier of entry, should result in feelings of pride, but they also often result in feeling of superiority over others.

When I started doing web development, I felt the same way about Javascript. I had mastered C++, Lisp, and many other languages. Perhaps I would do a little client side validation in Javascript, but certainly nothing more.

It turns out Javascript is a pretty nice language. It has a fairly modern runtime: easy, built-in arrays and mapping types, garbage collection, a well designed library, and the ability to manipulate almost anything in a client browser. With a little more study I discovered that the prototype based object system was very handy for developing classes and subclasses and the syntax for doing so was only slightly more awkward than Smalltalk, Java, or C#.

These days I am asked to, and am willing, to write code in many languages I once thought beneath me.

Today if someone were to say about me “Writes good code regardless of language.” I would proud.

Any developer worth hiring should be.

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So it was with some uneasiness that my family went to see Madagascar at the local theatre last year. By the time the final credits rolled I was relieved by not having to field any “thong” questions, but I wasn’t impressed. Despite looking I couldn’t really find any strong message, good or bad.

Fast forward to Christmas 2005. As part of the Christmas festivities at the Morehead household, my children were gifted with a copy of the Madagascar DVD which has now been watched, listened to (while I drove the car), imitated, and repeated more times that I care to try to explain.

After repeated viewings I can now say:

• The movie is more enjoyable that I originally thought, even after repeated viewings.
• I like the penguins — probably a little too much (I only realized this as I blurted out that they “Aren’t creepy!” at an extended family gathering).
• Baron Cohen’s (better know for the Ali G television show) performance as King Julian the Lemur probably saves the movie from mediocrity.
• Even though it is hard to find, it has a moral after all, and it is a good one.

So what is the moral? To fully appreciate it, I have to recommend the Christian book Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul by John Eldredge. Wild at Heart‘s thesis is that the two extreme’s are often seen in men’s behavior: the ‘nice guy’ and the ‘macho man’. Neither extreme is healthy; instead Mr. Eldredge proposes “authentic masculinity”, big words that are better summed up as “good dangerous”. Being “good dangerous” is not being macho or wimpy, but having a solid passionate core that is willing to take risks for that which is truly meaningful. This is what the title calls “Wild at Heart”.

And “Wild at Heart” would also be a fitting subtitle for Madagascar. At the beginning of the movie Alex the Lion looks macho to the citizens of New York, but he is really living a shallow, passive, actor’s existence being careful to “never bite the hand that feeds you.” Once thrown into the wild, Alex must confront his fundamental carnivorous nature. This confrontation jolts Alex from passivity into the opposite extreme of being overwhelmed by his appetite. The climax of the movie is when Alex harness his wildness by being “good dangerous”; feared and respected by his enemies, but loving toward his friends.

This is a message I support. All men, young and old, need both the passion and the discipline to be “good dangerous”.

I only wish the message were told more clearly.

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You can tell a non-technical person wrote the award letter though, because it didn’t say what kind of an iPod it was. That is like telling a wine enthusiast they will be getting a bottle of “red wine”.

In any event, I was very surprised, and pleased, and yet it immediately brought to mind the times in the past I had not won similar awards. Not that I expected to, but I can always dream can’t I? Part of the reason I left soon after was that they were putting in a new “incentive” system which requires that the vast majority of workers will be told they are average and be awarded accordingly — how is this an incentive system?

As usual [http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000070.html Joel on Software has a bead on this issue].

Somehow I think that management is caught up in the idea that managing software developers is just like managing a sports team; that the pursuit of excellence is all about “winning the big one”. Maybe there is something about winning it all, but that isn’t how players or teams become great.

Players and teams become great because they love playing the game. They love the feeling of a performing well, or making a great play, or maybe even just tackling someone.

You can read what makes players tick in the old [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_35_225/ai_77811426 Sporting News article] from 2001.

To me hockey players are the ultimate love of the game group:

“Growing up we always played baseball, football and basketball. One day, the guys said we should try hockey. Wow! What a blast! You had the hand-to-eye coordination of baseball, the hitting of football and the stops-and-starts stamina of basketball. I thought to myself, `Why should I fool around with the other sports when hockey gives me all of the best of the other sports?’”

–Islanders goalle Rick DIPietro

Every year the [http://live82.ihwc.net/english/ IIHF World Championship] is held. Think of it as a mini-Olympics for hockey. The best hockey players play in the IIHF World Championship every year, even during an era when the US Olympic baskball team can’t even attract players who actually are interested in playing.

Even though I stumble around on my recreational league hockey team, I still love it.

And any decent software developer is the same way. They love writing software. Sure, they work at your company because they need the money, but they write great software because they love doing it. Period.

So as far as I am concerned all these corporate incentive plans, plaques, and awards for working weekends and cranking out ugly code can go into the trash can, the recycle bin, or /dev/null.

But I’m not giving back the iPod.

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John Paul II, more than any other Pope, united, in feeling if not in fact, Christians who take the divine Redeemer seriously. That’s the “ecumenical movement” that means something, in my opinion.

Even though I am not a Mormon or a Catholic, I feel the greatest kindred spirit with those Christians whose faith demands (quoting Orson Scott Card’s column again)

…some real and rational degree of sacrifice, obedience, and adherence to faith…

so to Karol Wojtyla and Orson Scott Card I can only follow with an simple Amen.

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As a software developer I find that on every project I look back and I am disappointed by some design decision or implementation choice that didn’t turn out as cleanly as I had hoped.

In my current role as a software architect (a title and position I ironically am not a fan of) I worry that it is easy to unravel the feedback loop as more time is spent in meetings, design sessions, and writing emails. Once you start down the path of less hands-on work how do you truly understand the consequences of the design decisions that have been made so you can improve?

Even the most fundamental truths about software development are easy to forget, like that software development is rarely easy, and shouldn’t be. Just seeing the results from a management point of view, which must happen from time to time in order to effectively delegate implementation, the process looks much smoother, like a mountain range at 30,000 feet. But the smoothness is an illusion.

Management uses phrases like “keeping you hand dirty”, but I still think in terms of being a “real software developer” so I can help make better software.

I only want to work with other developers who are constantly trying to improve. The developers that cause me the most grief are those that are content to do things the same way over and over again regardless of the results.

The good news is that most of the excellent team I work with share my passion for improvement. In the past two years we have gone from non-repeatable builds and misuse of source code control to a smooth build process and logical branch management. Recently we have added RSS feeds of both builds and CVS checkins. To top it off we now have lava lamps to keep tabs on build results (as a mature product we have several active branches/supported versions so we need lots of lamps).

Autopilots off, feedback loop closed, self critique ongoing — who’s with me?

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His basic premise is that what the industry needs is more craftsmanship and professionalism, and not another silver bullet to go chasing after.

I may post his last paragraph to my cube wall. Part of it reads:

I hope the next big thing is the growth of professionalism and craftsmanship, and the realization that these are the attributes, not documented process or raw manpower, that will make our industry productive, accurate, and respected.

Amen.

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It happened innocently enough, my son, during his bath, managed to drop a small lego piece down the bathtub drain and he was really disappointed (that happens often). For some reason after the water had drained, the piece was still visible under the grate (which usually traps slightly larger lego pieces, hair, and other valuables above the grate).

In any event, I started by bending a couple of my daughter’s bobby pins and using them as mini-chopsticks which which I could try and pull the lego out (the holes were too large for actual tweezers). After a few minutes I had to give up and get the kids dressed and off to bed.

Later that night I continued my quest to retrieve the small worthless piece of plastic. Half an hour later I decided the bobby pins weren’t going to work, and I was even having trouble imaging what angle the lego could possibly fit.

Suddenly I had a mental of a lego swirling as water rushes past it and then randomly finding the precise angle that it could pass through the grate. “If only I could do the reverse” I thought.

Then it struck me: the vacuum cleaner could do it reverse.

Five minutes later (at 12:30 AM I might add) I had the bathroom door shut and was turning on and off the vacuum cleaner. It was able to pull the lego piece back up against the grate and I was hopeful that with a few more tries would be enough to have the lego sucked into the empty vacuum cleaner where it could easily be retrieved.

Suddenly, my wife opens the bathroom door and isn’t happy.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

At that moment I was rendered speechless. It started off logically enough, but somehow I had become convinced that running the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the night with my wife sleeping in the next room to retrieve a lego was a good idea.

All I could was apologize and go to bed.

Not my smartest moment.

By the way, I did get the lego piece out the next day. The vacuum cleaner got it half way through the grate and a pair of needle nose pliers finished the job.

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