Create Content

Help my friend’s video game project Cloudberry Kingdom on...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:54:37 -0700

Help my friend’s video game project Cloudberry Kingdom on Kickstarter

The backer rewards are sweet too! If you haven’t had the chance to play the game, I feel sorry for you.

Hosting a Dynamic Site on S3

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:32:00 -0700

I’m no expert on backend architecture, but I stumbled on a very scalable one that I haven’t seen talked about…

Many know you can use Amazon S3 to host a static site (html, css, js, etc). It’s a fast, scalable and cheap solution because Amazon does all the heavy lifting for you. But say your site isn’t static: it may communicate with a database, or do some kind of backend processing. You’ve been told you’re out of luck; that’s not what S3 is for.

It’s what I was told. But as long as the backend requests can be made asynchronously (say, on pageload) you can enable a cross-origin request from your static HTML file to your server to populate in “dynamic” content. A cross-origin request in human speak says, “I trust requests from this URL.” Without giving such permission, there are security risks involved. The protocol is called cross origin resource sharing (CORS).

At Quip, we use Node.js and Express.js. Enabling CORS is as simple as:


var app = express.createServer();
app.all('/*', function(req, res, next) {
 res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "URL TO STATIC ASSET");
 res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "X-Requested-With");
 res.header('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET, PUT, POST, DELETE');
 next();
});

See here to enable CORS in various environments (Apache, PHP, ASP, etc).

You still need a server in addition to your S3 hosting. But this approach frees up a lot of bandwidth. If setup correctly, your server never has to send a single line of html/css/js. Your index.html file is infinitely scalable because of S3. At Quip, our async requests are just passing snippets of JSON to and from the server, so load is at a minimum.

This approach won’t work if your server is responsible for rendering your HTML synchronously. However, the trend of web development is moving away from this pattern. With the rise of client side templates and rich MVC tools like BackboneJS, the server can instead defer rendering to the client.

There is another perk: if your server is still overloaded, it’s easy to implement a “static flag” which can sever the connection to your server. You’ll be left with a static site (perhaps with an indication to your users), but at least the site will be accessible.

I encourage everyone and their mothers to find if your local...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:03:00 -0700

I encourage everyone and their mothers to find if your local Psych department is conducting any fMRI experiments. Seriously. They gave me $60 AND a 3D model of my brain to get in their fMRI and play a driving game for 2 hours.

I thought I’d just get 2D cross sections and I was looking forward to coming up with algorithms to make something cooler out of them. Turns out there’s incredibly amazing free 3D software that has already done it. I used Osirix. They even have an iPhone app. What has this world come to?

The Psychology of Tackling Hard Problems

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:18:35 -0700

The thing about hard problems is that there are many difficulties and few solutions. Sounds obvious, but what’s often overlooked is the psychological component to this asymmetry. There’s a simple reason why tackling a hard problem can lead to depressive symptoms: you’re necessarily wrong 99% of the time.

I’m getting my PhD in math, and developing a web app/startup on the side. I can tell you that one thing from my PhD research that I can carry over to my entrepreneurial ambitions is that you only have to be right 1% of the time. The hard part is, you need to be psychologically prepared to be wrong all other times.

I haven’t seen much discussion of this idea, but I’ve faced it repeatedly myself, and I often see it in others. I’ve seen it so often I’m convinced of its pervasiveness. Here’s an example. One of my peers tells me his numerics code isn’t working:

Me: Have you tried this test case?

Him: No, actually.

Me: Well that may isolate the bug.

Him: But I’m afraid that it won’t work.

Sound silly and contrived? It isn’t and I have complete sympathy for this situation. So many times in my work I’ve fantasized about the solution to an idea, and have been too afraid to implement it because of the subliminal fear that I will be, yet again, wrong. It’s a Pavlovian response to the track record of being repeatedly disappointed. Meanwhile, I delight in having new ideas, and enjoy brainstorming them. But without implementing them, the process is worthless.

The point is to be aware. If you find yourself resisting an obvious step due to an irrational fear, step back and force yourself to push onward. You only need to be right 1% of the time.

I publicly launched www.quipvideo.com yesterday. The project...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:46:06 -0700

I publicly launched www.quipvideo.com yesterday. The project I’ve been working on for the past two years.

In that time Quip has been viewed by almost 500 people across 41 countries. Maybe you are one of those dots. I can’t explain how happy this has made me. I’ve poured so much of myself into this project. To have it reach a phase of completion where I can put it out there and it takes care of itself is wonderful.

People are commenting on videos they’ve posted on YouTube from years ago. Other people are replying to those comments. They’re interacting with each other over an infrastructure that I built. I feel like I invented the telephone.

Working on Quip has been an emotional roller-coaster to say the least. I’m sure it will continue to be. But this is one of those high points, and I’m going to relish it. Thank you all for your continued support.

Pictures of the chicken heart. Most of them taken by Louis...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:43:42 -0800

Pictures of the chicken heart. Most of them taken by Louis Tremblay.

I invited Louis to take some pictures. Here’s a showcase...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:35:39 -0800

I invited Louis to take some pictures. Here’s a showcase of old an new photos of the pyronado. The last picture was taken at precisely when the nichrome wire exploded in a firey glory.

Demoing Quip at Lynda.com It went great! I successfully did not...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:07:05 -0800

Demoing Quip at Lynda.com

It went great! I successfully did not poop my pants.

My good buddy Jordan is pitching his video game Cloudberry...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:46:59 -0800

My good buddy Jordan is pitching his video game Cloudberry Kingdom to the big guns at Microsoft HQ tomorrow. His trailer has gotten almost 25,000 views in just the last few days. You (and all your friends) should watch it at least 100 times each so that he can drop some buzzwords like “viral” and “phenomenotastical” with the requisite grassroots cred.

Good luck Jordan. Own that shit.

Workin’ on the website for Quip and realizing design is a betch!

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:45:02 -0800

Workin’ on the website for Quip and realizing design is a betch!

Some of you have asked me, “Dave, what are you doing when...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:57:52 -0800

Some of you have asked me, “Dave, what are you doing when you graduate?” Well, Plan A is to start a company. I’ve been working on a web app that I want to be a platform for adding interactivity to online video. I call it Quip.

Here are some screenshots. The idea is that video on the web currently just sits there, and is passively consumed. Everything else on the web has evolved away from this model, but video is lagging. You can’t search inside a video, you can leave a comment for a video, but that comment relates to the video as if it were a static object. Often you see, “Loved minute 2:47.” Silly. Videos are dynamic, but the web hasn’t done anything about that yet.

Quip tries to open up video by syncing content with the timeline. Whether it’s slides appearing for an online lecture, or users fact checking a political debate as it unfolds. That’s Quip in a nutshell. Soon to be in Beta!

Just bought this poster from the design company Fathom....

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:31:00 -0700

Just bought this poster from the design company Fathom. It’s a map of the contiguous US, where the only marked feature is roads. 240 million roads.

It’s now framed in my bedroom and it’s awesome.

A secret hobby of mine for the last two years has been front-end...

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:49:00 -0700

A secret hobby of mine for the last two years has been front-end web development. I’ve been learning a lot of Javascript, HTML, CSS and libraries like BackboneJS and jQuery. In the last week I built this simple animated list and scrollbar from scratch. This is to be a small cog in a larger machine that I call Quip. In the coming months I’ll be posting more about Quip. But for now click the pic to see some pretty smooth animations and scrollbar sexiness.

If you don’t notice anything special, then I consider that a success. The best interface is the one you never notice. With that said, if you do find any bugs, please let me know.

I’m finally settled in my new house with the new roommates...

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:21:24 -0700

I’m finally settled in my new house with the new roommates (R)achel, (T)eddy, (Y)en. Welcome to the DRTY house.

I had just began college at NYU when 9/11 happened, ten years...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:06:00 -0700

I had just began college at NYU when 9/11 happened, ten years ago. Being in the city at that time is an experience I will never forget. Seeing cars stopped in the middle of streets, with huddles of strangers gathered around to listen to the radio. Seeing the ghostly ash air cover the city the next day. Walking around in the evening and finding that the ONLY place with their lights on was Gray’s Papaya, serving hotdogs. Feeling the sense of community that followed in the days to come in a city where people usually mind their own business.

When the city installed the Tribute in Light, I saw it as a very elegant symbol. I’d often walk to it at night. Often enough, that I became friends with one of the security guards, Richard Singer, who would at times be at the gate, chatting passersby. I was there again the day before the installation was to be terminated (though it was reinstalled for the anniversaries). I’m glad I came that day with my girlfriend. Richard said he had something he wanted to show us, and took us up to the platform where the spotlights were installed. We were alone in the footprint of a tower, in a cage of light that converged at the clouds overhead. That’s where I snapped this picture.

[click pic for better resolution slideshow] My roommate Jordan...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:31:00 -0700

[click pic for better resolution slideshow]

My roommate Jordan just flew off today to start a new life as a post doc at NYU. He has been a very dear friend to me in the four years we’ve been roommates. It’s sad to see him go, but I’m also very excited to see where life takes the both of us and the synergy that will happen when we reunite in the future. He’ll be in good hands in NY with Emerson, Marc, and a guaranteed supply of my mom’s meatballs.

Last Friday, we threw a final hurrah to see Jordan off and to celebrate the successful defense of his thesis. I wanted this to be a party Jordan would remember, whether or not he was consciously aware of his surroundings. I also wanted everyone who knew him to actively participate in creating an atmosphere of debauchery.

The idea was to plant five disposable cameras around the apartment and issue each guest challenge cards. On a card would be a suggestion to take an unsolicited picture with Jordan in some kind of perverse context. You can see the pdf of all challenge cards here. Each card had bonus challenges, and a completely arbitrary point system. About half the challenges handsomely offered bonus points if Jordan’s pants were off. Judging by how many times Jordan was without pants (at least 3 separate times), I’d say the party was a complete success.

Throughout the night Jordan was made to wear an epic crown crafted by his girlfriend Anh, from the finest materials: penis straws, feathers, angelic figures, a giant glittery dove, and (not pictured) “Dr. Jordan” spelled in pipe cleaner. Each level was a metaphor for the four stages of life: carnal earthly life, heavenly afterlife, self-actualized nirvana, and lastly getting your doctorate.

The next step is to combine the photographs into a collage and send it to Jordan…still thinking about how to best do that.

Just when I didn’t need another hobby: hacking the XBox...

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:06:33 -0800

Just when I didn’t need another hobby: hacking the XBox Kinect!

An equation is especially sexy when it doesn’t fit in one...

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:06:00 -0800

An equation is especially sexy when it doesn’t fit in one line. The feeling is similar to the 50 pt bonus for using all your Scrabble letters.

Woh…I cannot wait to spin fire to this. Sounds like old...

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:33:05 -0800

Woh…I cannot wait to spin fire to this.

Sounds like old school Glitch Mob pre-Kraddy leaving is back.

Free to download here: http://t.opsp.in/PIiN

I live right by a monarch butterfly preserve. Every year the...

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:59:58 -0800

I live right by a monarch butterfly preserve. Every year the butterflies come from Dec - Feb along their migration and settle into the protected eucalyptus grove by my apt. There are thousands of them, and most sit perfectly still on the leaves and branches of the trees in huge clusters. I think to gain energy for the rest of their migration.

Strangely, no butterfly lives long enough to make it through the annual migration. The longest they live is 8 months. Somehow they all know where to go, and they keep coming back to the same spot every year.