[Finally.](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/06/26plans.html)

Take a look at the bottom of the page for a chart. In the last column, $99 a month gets you plenty of minutes, unlimted data and mobile-to-mobile. That’s what I have today with Sprint and in March of 2008 when my contract’s up, you can count on me switching. The unlimed data is something I was hoping for and that means I can kill my Twitter notifications via SMS and use a Widget.

Sweet. Thank you AT&T for doing the right thing from the get-go with unlimited data plans!

Today’s Tammy’s birthday, the first we’ve spent apart since we’ve been together for nearly 12 years. I miss her terribly as only a husband and best friend could. Since we can’t be together today, I’ve taken some steps to make sure she knows I’m thinking of her…

Happy Birthday!

So I’m watching the [introduction video for iPhone](http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour_small.html) and they casually mention that Google is the default search engine on iPhone. So how much must Google have paid Apple (per referral in searches) for that privilege?

One of the things that no one tells you about riding a bike is saddle sores. I’m sore in a place that you *only* feel when mounting the bike. Ouch! I rode again this morning, making a loop around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes of exercise. At 6AM, the streets are still mostly empty and that makes for an easier ride.

The iPod Shuffle that Tammy got last year (the one that looks like stick of gum has been very valuable. It certain relieves the boredom of riding but it’s hard to strike a safe balance in volume levels. Modern cars are quiet enough that you hear the tire noise long before the engine’s sounds. I think I’ll invest in mirror of some type. Recommendations?

Dave Winer: “Okay, that’s a trivial example, but Twitter is all about trivial examples. It’s about the stuff of no importance whatsoever that make us feel nice about being human.”

I’d like to ask all of the technology companies out there to stop shipping beta software. You’re lowering the benchmark for software. You’re giving people something that doesn’t work quite right for free. You’re delivering two sets of expectations to your customers. “Beta” is starting to mean “I’m not smart enough to figure out a fix to this bug”.

A beta test of software used to mean something. Tests were put in place and the testers (or users) had an expectation to test for bugs and report those to the programmer. Beta software has been used been many companies as a way to “ship” but give them an out when things go wrong. Instead of saying “we make shitty software” they say “it’s a beta!”

As of this morning, 4 of the top 25 listings of Mac OS X software on VersionTracker were labeled “beta”.

If it’s good enough to send to the general public for “beta testing” then ship it.

So it’s 4:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday and I’m working on my wife’s website. I’ve made *huge changes*. [Take a look.](http://redbeedesigns.com)

So what do you think?

Same old thing you say? You’re almost right. All of the changes were under the hood. All of the code is managed with software that will help me keep track of revisions. I can revert to an old version of the site with a few simple commands. There are three working databases: test, development and production. All of the databases run from a single server and I can tell the application which database to use at any given moment. I’ve redesigned the server software so it now uses Ruby on Rails which makes dynamic web programming easier and faster not to mention more powerful.

Most of all, I’ve spent the time getting the infrastructure right so the rest is just programming. And isn’t that the fun part?

🙂

So I’ve been using Subversion for a safe repository for my wife’s website. I started with an import of everything, created a trunk and branch folder and then started moving things around. So far I’m doing well with the basic commands, moving things around and deleting old content. I’m using Coda for the front-end editing and but not to upload files. I’ve got a local copy checked out and that’s what I’m editing.

Today’s changes were minor: stylesheet changes, page size reduction and a link to her weblog.

This weekend: Add the scaffolding of a Rails app and start work on a database-driven version of a gallery, store and inventory system.

I switched my weblog and [Tammy’s](http://tammykirks.com) to use the latest WordPress code from [the Subversion repository](http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/trunk). Upgrades now consist of:

1. Backup the database.
2. Log in to the server.
3. Type “svn up”
4. Sip beverage.
5. [Upgrayedd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy#Cast) complete!

A post to ensure the upgrade to the new version of WordPress really works!