Connecting the dots ...
Sam Lawrence, formerly of Jive Software and Enterprise Octopus, most recently Blackbox Republic is baaaack. Big Time. Sorry. I mean Go Big Always. This time (actually a month ago) he is presenting the Magik Quadrant from a customer prospective. (Should it not be the Magik Kvadrant?)
There you have it. But I can’t steal his entire post: for the explanation, Go Big Always. 🙂
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
My new HTC Incredible phone has a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor in it. That’s faster than laptop computers were just a few years ago. That, and reading the US Air Force story (you have to wait for that a little longer…) reminded me of an interesting conversation with Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu two years ago:
Given how mobile phones pack a whole lot of functionality in a tiny package, I have wondered if the ideal server farm is just tens of thousands of mobile phones packed together. It seems to me that the semiconductor technology behind mobile devices is far, far more power efficient than the stuff that goes in servers. Partly it is a backwards compatibility issue, with servers having to run code written all the way back to 1980s, while mobile phones simply didn’t exist that far back. Partly, it is also a function of how traditional client-server applications were architectural monoliths, compared to the deeply distributed “service-oriented architecture” that is common in web applications today.
With mobile phones approaching very respectable CPU & memory capacity, packaging them together as a server cluster makes a lot of sense. Linux can run on almost all of the modern CPUs common in cell-phones, and the mobile version of Java seems actually well-suited for server use, particularly for deeply partitioned, distributed applications. Lightweightness is actually an advantage in server software, just as it is in mobile software.
While I don’t know if anyone has implemented the idea, there are other experiments with using cheap but powerful hardware in non-traditional ways – most notably the US Air Force which concluded that Sony PS3 consoles running Linux provide powerful and dirt cheap computing power.
The above cluster contains 1,700 160GB PS3 units, and is a great example of cheap computing – except for a small glitch. A few month later Sony issued a firmware update that kills the ability to install Linux on the PS3. This won’t immediately turn the cluster into dumb game consoles, since the Air Force is not hooked into Sony’s network. Isolated from further patches the machines can still work as Linux computers – but swapping them out and repairs become increasingly difficult. Unless Sony reverses the decision (which is not out of question, given there are several lawsuits on the matter), the Air Force eventually ends up with a bunch of Game Consoles.
Which is not the end of the world – there’s an abundance of Flight Simulators for the PS3 🙂
(Full story @ Ars Technica)
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Oh, just what the Doctor has ordered: more junk food coming your way, left and right, from the social network that’s taking over the Internet: Facebook. McDonald’s will be the first advertiser taking advantage of Facebook’s soon-t0-be-releasing location feature.
The first reaction from most is this will kill leading location-based services: Hey Foursquare, Time To Close That Round Of Funding Before Facebook Chops Off Your Head. Yes, probably true, but now I am more worried about Facebook users – all of us – then businesses, and not just as a defender of healthier diets. Greasy or not, it’s not the ads that worry my, it’s yet another level of thoughtless surrender we’ll soon be committing: broadcasting our location every step of the way.
Yes, I realize there may be social benefits from bumping into friends via Foursquare Facebook, but have you really considered the danger of letting the world know where you are every step of the way? While you think about it, also consider just whose hands you leave all that data in: not exactly the champions of privacy.
The Relationship Between Facebook and Privacy: It’s Really Complicated says Mathew Ingram @ GigaOM this morning, and I strongly disagree. There is nothing complicated about it. Facebook does not give a *** about privacy: it’s a concept CEO Mark Zuckerberg finds obsolete, simply does not believe in at all. Now, in reality, even Facebook caves in to demands of privacy, but they are either careless or incompetent, or both, plugging one security hole after another.
Three strikes and you’re out – I guess Facebook is exempt from that law, now that they are becoming the New Internet.
But people are actually worried about privacy implications to consider quitting Facebook entirely: 10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account. It’s a post worth reading in full, here are just the headings:
10. Facebook’s Terms Of Service are completely one-sided
9. Facebook’s CEO has a documented history of unethical behavior
8. Facebook has flat out declared war on privacy.
7. Facebook is pulling a classic bait-and-switch
6. Facebook is a bully
5. Even your private data is shared with applications (you are no longer trusting Facebook, but the Facebook ecosystem).
4. Facebook is not technically competent enough to be trusted.
3. Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account.
2. Facebook doesn’t (really) support the Open Web.
1. The Facebook application itself sucks.
I must admit for all my grumpiness I have not deleted my account, and I likely will not (not that it would be easy ). I resisted joining Facebook in the first place, was probably a year or so late, and even when I joined, I created a separate email account just for FB, and disallowed saving any Facebook cookies (remember Beacon? ). But resistance became just too inconvenient… so now I am in. That said I am not particularly active on Facebook, hardly maintain my profile and generally my presence there is a mess (this is where my marketing friends can jump in chastizing me for the lost opportunity). I’m only sticking around because Facebook has proven to be too pervasive, it is everywhere and (almost) everyone is on it. So yes, it is great to find long-lost friends and even discover some new ones. But that’s all for me, and I seriously suggest you all reconsider the level of your presence.
And even if you are very disciplined in your Facebook usage (are you?) read #5 above again. Just yesterday I was setting up my shiny new Android phone: I decided to enable location information, for the benefit of Google Maps and other really useful services. But… but..but … I am also tweeting and communicating in a zillion other ways from that same device, and although I will try to be careful about reviewing the permissions of every single app, it’s likely I will slip sooner or later.
So think about this: in this API-driven intertwined ecosystem of mobile and web services, just how certain can you be that Facebook (and others) won’t get information you never intend to give them in the first place, no matter how careful (you think) you are?
Updates:
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
From my vantage point even dropped calls would be a luxury – meaning you can get a strong enough signal to place calls in the first place. Apparently I live at the end of the World. Sometimes I tell friends if Friedman is right and the World is really flat, this is where you fall off the edge. 🙂
But it’s not really the “end of the world” – Pleasanton is (was) was hometown to software giants like PeopleSoft, Commerce One, Oracle, Workday, or to name a few more traditional businesses, grocery chain giant Safeway, or mega-HMO Kaiser Permanente. Yet this is what AT&T’s coverage map looks like:
Ad no, we’re not even talking about 3G data, this is for voice calls. Now, being in the “good” (on the boundary of moderate) zone may not look so bad, until we look at how At&T defines good voice coverage:
Should be sufficient for on-street or in-the-open coverage, most in-vehicle coverage and possibly some in-building coverage. This AT&T owned network provides GSM, GPRS, and EDGE service
Possibly some in-building coverage? Calling that good? How pathetic. But let’s look at other carriers’ definition of “Good”. T-Mobile:
You will likely be able to place calls outdoors, in a car, and occasionally indoors.
Occasionally? What are they smoking calling this “good” coverage? Hm, let’s check Sprint, home to the uber-super HTC EVO 4GS and the superfast Overdrive 4G hotspot:
You should generally receive a signal strength sufficient to make calls outdoors, in a car and in some buildings.
How Pathetic. All these companies must speak a different version of English, where “good” means “no can do” in most buildings. Insanity.
That only leaves Verizon, which has solid red (best coverage) in my entire area. Which makes my choice easy: all those comparative reviews of the iPhone 3G and 4G, HTC Incredible, Nexus One, HTC EVO 4G are so irrelevant, if I can’t get a signal. HTC Incredible (Android) and Verizon, here I come. By default.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Yes, this is decidedly cheesy: a microblogging app that’s intentionally buggy. Full of holes, like it’s namesake, the cheese. For educational purposes. But I think they forgot something really important:
Yes, I know, proper pairing would be wine and cheese, but it doesn’t rhyme as well as Jarlsberg & Carlsberg.
Besides, this way Google could use the tagline: Probably the Best Bugs in the World.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
As a former Project Manager I faced the above situation far too many times, and I second Dilbert, it does not work. Throwing in more warm bodies often has the opposite effect, you project just got more expensive but not a bit faster…
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
iPad’s are now generally available, so I can’t fathom why people think they can sell it at premium over @ eBay or Craigslist. But there’s one unusal bundle that caught my eyes:
iPad 32g 3G+WIFE – $799 (oakland downtown)
Date: 2010-05-01, 7:10AM PDT
Reply to: sale-xpydj-1719200072@craigslist.org
Hi, its open box and I just it last night from Apple retail store…
Don’t really know how to use…So…
Any questions: …… or email:…..Thanks for looking and have a nice day.
Is this:
🙂
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
This is a sad “I’ve told you” moment, as I predicted the death of dual-screen tablets, be it the one by MSI or Microsoft’s Courier, which has just been canceled. Says Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s VP of corporate communications:
At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It’s in Microsoft’s DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity. The “Courier” project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.
Tech blogs are mourning the innovative, “different” device:
Courier was one of the most innovative concepts out of Redmond in quite some time.
I think dual-screen, foldable tablets are neither innovative nor different. Well, different from other, truly innovative devices, like the iPad, but not different from good old books. And therein lies the rub. Hardware manufacturers rushing to the opportunity to follow Apple thought these tablets are mostly reading devices, so they imitated what we’re all used to: books.
Having two small pages side-by-side is not necessarily the ideal format for reading, it’s just the one we got stuck with for centuries when bound paper was the only way we could record / consume textual information. When we liberate information from paper, there’s no point in replicating the poor paper (book) experience. True innovation means embracing the paradigm-shift, rethinking the basics and maximizing readability, comfort, ability to interact as enabled by the new technology.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
Wow, talk about luck, apparently I caught a discount that barely existed for hours. I’ve long waited for a decent smartphone available @ Verizon, be it the iPhone, Nexus One or whatever else … so raving reviews of the HTC Incredible certainly did not leave me cold. Still somewhat hesitating, I started to look for deals. Verizon offers the new superphone for $199 with a two-year contract, but I’ve quickly quickly found some outlets selling it for $149. Then it occurred to me I should check my new default shopping destination, Amazon. Bingo!
I could not resist the $99 price, so I quickly ordered it. This morning I wondered why people are saying Amazon sells it for $149 … a quick check on the pricing:
Wow – was the $99 an introductory promotion ( not that they needed it, the first shipment sold out in hours), or an honest mistake by Amazon? I don’t know, but am certainly happy that I grabbed it while it lasted 🙂
Now, if only HTC had a better name for it: saying HTC Droid Incredible is quite a mouthful – compared to the elegant simplicity (simple elegance?) of just saying iPHone. Perhaps they should follow this advice:
If you have the audacity to name your new smartphone Incredible, it had darn well better live up to its name. Based on the reviews from CNET, LAPTOP magazine, PC Magazine, and PC World, the new HTC Droid Incredible does just that. In fact, the Android 2.1-based Verizon phone ($200 with two-year contract) could just as well be named Awesome. Stupefying. Maybe even OMG.
OMG. I like it. Now, please, Holy Amazon, just ship it soon.
(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)
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Publisher / Editor of CloudAve and Enterprise Irregulars.
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