onThought

Archive for September, 2009

How to Setup OpenID with Google Apps

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Digital Dandelion wanted to provide OpenID accounts for its staff. (I’ll explain why later.) It could have setup its own OpenID server, but it already used Google Apps for Your Domain. Google recently announced that the Google OpenID Federated Login API had been extended to Google Apps accounts: “Individuals in these organizations can now sign in to third party websites using their Google Apps account, without sharing their credentials with third parties.” Brilliant.

Here’s how to set it up for your domain:

1. Sign up for Google Apps for Your Domain and set it up as Google instructs.

Note: The Federated Login Service is disabled by default for Google Apps Premier and Education Editions. The domain admin can enable it from the Control Panel at http://www.google.com/a/cpanel/<your-domain>/SetupIdp. The Federated Login Service cannot be disabled in the Standard Edition, which is to say that it’s already turned on for freeloading Google Apps customers.

2. Add openid file on your server.

Create a file accessible on your site as http://example.com/openid with this inside of it:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xrds:XRDS xmlns:xrds="xri://$xrds" xmlns="xri://$xrd*($v*2.0)">
	<XRD>
		<Service priority="0">
			<Type>http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0/signon</Type>
			<URI>https://www.google.com/a/example.com/o8/ud?be=o8</URI>
		</Service>
		<Service priority="0">
			<Type>http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0/server</Type>
			<URI>https://www.google.com/a/example.com/o8/ud?be=o8</URI>
		</Service>
	</XRD>
</xrds:XRDS>

Be sure to replace example.com with your domain.

3. Tell Apache to serve the openid file with the correct MIME type.

You can do this by modifying your .htaccess file. If this file does not exist in your web root directory, create it. Add these lines:

<Files openid>
	ForceType application/xrds+xml
</Files>

4. Add host-meta file on your server.

Create a file accessible on your site as http://example.com/.well-known/host-meta with this inside of it:

Link: <https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/site-xrds?hd=example.com>; rel="describedby http://reltype.google.com/openid/xrd-op"; type="application/xrds+xml"

Again, be sure to replace example.com with your domain.

5. Access your OpenID with the “vanity” URI http://example.com/openid

You’ll be redirected to Google Accounts, asked to login, asked to approve the site for authentication, and on your way to enjoying the many benefits of OpenID.

Bingo.

Be A Treasure Hunter

Friday, September 25th, 2009

I struggled with assumptive cynicism for much of my life. This is the gut reaction where you feel personally attacked when someone acts in a manner that seemingly is insulting or dismissive without substantial evidence that such an action was intended to hateful. My senior year of high school, my friend Adam Nolley featured a quote in a piece of his artwork that said, “Choose to not be offended.” This struck me because I never had thought of being offended (or any emotional reaction really) as a choice. It is.

When someone says something in a tone that seems negative or makes a decision that has negative consequences fo me, I try to take a moment to understand their perspective before reacting. I know this sounds simplistic, but it is something that I have had to practice to form a habit. In some circumstances, it’s just a miscommunication and not spite.

Even if the offending party was intentionally offensive, a negative response only escalates the offense. The preeminent How to Win Friends & Influence People changed how I negotiate everything in every moment of life. I try to read it at least once a year. Empathy is difficult, but Dale Carnegie’s techniques have helped me create understanding when I feel wronged and just don’t care.

I recently stumbled upon Twenty Life-Improving Principles. One principle jumped out at me: “Be a treasure hunter; consciously find (and appreciate) the good in your world.” I think that beautifully summarizes what I’ve said above and tried to practice for years. Treasure hunters know there is value to be found and that such a reward involves a journey. (I liked some of the other principles so much that I made a sign to hang by my desk.)

As I near the first anniversary of being married to my amazing husband, I’m reminded of the study “Predicting Divorce among Newlyweds from the First Three Minutes of a Marital Conflict Discussion” mentioned by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Researchers concluded that they could determine divorce probability by observing assumptive cynicism when a couple communicates:

“The biggest lesson to be learned from this study is that the way couples begin a discussion about a problem – how you present an issue and how your partner responds to you – is absolutely critical,” said Gottman. “Women need to learn how to soften their approach when they bring up a problem,” added Carrère, “and men have to learn how to be more accepting of what she’s saying.”

Finding the treasure in everyone in all situations is not possible, but you’ll end up a richer person the more you try.

How do you stay motivated to be a treasure hunter?

Header: Adapted from “Typcut #0002: Are You Happy?” by Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn

Lessons from FarmVille

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Zynga’s FarmVille has attracted over 44 million monthly active users on Facebook. After seeing it dominate my news feed for months, I finally started playing FarmVille in August. It’s addictive and makes great use of the Facebook Platform, even if Zynga allegedly ripped off the idea. Here are some of my observations that all Facebook App developers should consider if they want to make an addictive viral game.

Promote Activity

• Have lots of quick, little tasks to do that must be done as a process on a recurring basis for easy and frequent play.
• Tease and gradually unlock desirable virtual goods and features only through continued play.
• Require follow up sessions to be rewarded for action in current session (e.g. you must return to harvest your newly planted crops). Negate previous activity if player does not return soon enough (e.g. crops die if not harvested). Set the minimum maturation time to four hours to force another session.
• Give random rewards just for logging in each day.
• Rate of progress increases as capacity to do more in the game increases. Gradually increase the progress required between levels to increase difficulty as players advance and reward early progress frequently.

Promote Strategy

• Provide multiple metrics for progress (e.g. experience, coins, cash).
• Reward accumulations of various activities to generate additional rewards worth sharing in a news feed story (e.g. ribbons).
• On actions that require follow up sessions, provide varying maturation times so that players can schedule appropriately.

Promote Player to Player Interaction

• Provide excuses to explore other users’ creations, such as inspiration for one’s own creation and as a method to earn currency and experience points.
• Make application invitations and notifications meaningful to game play.
• Gift giving at no expense to the player promotes sense of generosity while promoting reciprocity which creates additional engagement. Unlocking gifts available to be given as a progress rewards is a way for a user to brag about achievement.

Promote Virtual Currency Spending

• Provide premium methods to do tedious tasks (e.g. tractor, harvester).
• Make some virtual goods only available through a separate paid currency.
• Engage real world preferences by allowing players to make purchase decisions that reflect personal preference more than strategic benefit (e.g. certain crops are barely profitable but might be more desirable on an emotional level).

Header: Screenshot of Zynga FarmVille. Their copyright.

So long Aptera. I hardly knew you.

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Arthur and I are giving up our Aptera hybrid reservation 1,717 reluctantly. The decision did not come easily.

Aptera showed promise with its unique design and smart application of new technologies. Unfortunately, production delays and our impending move to northern California make our reservation worthless. As apartment renters, we knew we would never have the ability to run charging outlets to a parking garage, so we opted for the 2H (gas generator hybrid) model. Months after making our reservation, Aptera informed us that only the fully electric 2E model would be available initially. We were willing to wait because we still expected to be Aptera owners by Fall 2009. Today, there is still no Aptera 2E (electric only) ship date and even less information regarding the 2H. The requirement for reservations to be held by southern Californian residents is just a nudge out a door we were already leaving through.

We want a small, sexy car that drives well and gets great gas mileage for $30k or less. No auto maker has been able to deliver on this and it’s frustrating.

Aptera’s outlook doesn’t look optimistic. Major automakers will be shipping plug in hybrids by the time the 2H is available for a little more money without any compromises. We want Aptera to be the new American auto success story. Unfortunately, too many obstacles mean we won’t be able to contribute to it.

Header sunset photograph by Axel-D / CC BY 2.0.

from xenu to sigmund

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

From a conversation with Steph tonight:

Marx made humanity look around itself, Darwin made it look at its past, and Freud made it look inward as it had never done before. I think the Nazis would have burned Freud’s books even if he hadn’t been Jewish. Looking inward eventually results in the recognition that every human being has the same interior life as you, and that notion is incompatible with Nazi fascism. People who realized that either worked to resist the Nazis or felt unabsolvable guilt for not doing so.