A Halla from Halla

One Idea for Improving USPS Profitability: Spam Filters

2010-07-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

I've had an idea brewing for years on how the United States Postal Service (USPS) can improve it's chances of reaching profitability.

It's super simple, and I'm shocked the USPS hasn't tried to implement this yet: Spam Filters.

I don't know about you, but I hate junk mail - even more than I hate junk email.

I would gladly pay a monthly fee to the US Postal Service - be it $5 or $10 or even $15 dollars a month - to absolutely never again receive a single piece of junk mail.

I read with great interest the McKinsey & Company and Accenture presentations on their respective recommendations for the USPS' business model (you can read them here).

There wasn't anything really revolutionary in either PDF document. It was a bit surprising that the USPS would pay such high consulting fees to these companies, and get almost nothing out of it. Our tax dollars at work, I suppose.

Beyond additional service offerings, I'd love to see the USPS privatized; I'd love to be able to select a mail carrier provider as my go-to carrier. Having competition between the USPS, UPS, Fedex, DHL, etc for my mailbox business would be great. Opening up mail delivery for my postal address to a number of carriers would increase competition and drive down costs (gotta love capitalism).

Only through service diversification does the USPS have a hope of improving it's profits, however. Paying a monthly fee to block junk mail is just one potential idea for one exciting service that the USPS could offer. I'm sure there are other great ideas out there; it is a bit of a shame that none of the expensive consulting firms that the USPS hired to help them envision their future business model offered any real ideas, beyond pushing for new legislation, raising stamp prices, and bemoaning the fact that the USPS no longer has a monopoly on letter and package delivery.

On a lark, I reached out to an Arizona Representative through email to offer this idea up, but never heard back. Who knows... maybe someone in the USPS will run across this post and give the idea consideration.

History of Internet Memes

2008-08-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

The sad part is, I actually remember the vast majority of these.

History of Internet Memes

Mike Savage Attacks Autistic Children Update: He's off in Mississippi!

2008-07-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Steve Davenport, CEO of TeleSouth Communications has had the good sense to take the ranting lunatic and absolute moron Mike Savage off of the air in Mississippi.

Effective immediately, Michael Savage and his Savage Nation Radio Show has been canceled on all Super Talk Mississippi stations. Michael Savage's comments about Autistic children were beyond inexcusable and are unacceptable. Super Talk Mississippi and the Gallo Radio Show have assisted numerous Autism organizations on the air in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Autism is a serious condition affecting children and adults in Mississippi. We appreciate our many listeners who notified us of Savage's comments, especially those listeners who have autistic children. Steve Davenport, CEO Telesouth Communications, Inc.

Read more about this update on getting Mike Savage off of the air at Think Progress.

On the Unspeakable Name of God

2008-07-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

This has to be the most fascinating article I've read in awhile:

Rabbi Unveils a Secret About God

I'm not about to get all mystical or religious on y'all, but the article is definitely worth the read.

Mike Savage Attacks Autistic Children. Let's Take Him Down.

2008-07-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on his radio show, right wing talker Michael Savage said that autism is “a fraud” and “a racket” and that “in 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.” Savage then asserted that all these “brat[s]” need as a father to tell them to “stop acting like a putz“.

You can read about this on Digg, which links to a transcript of Mr. Savage's comments on Media Matters, at http://digg.com/politics/Conservative_Radio_Host_99_of_Autistic_Children_Are_Frauds

As the father of a young son with autism, I am outraged at Mr. Savage's verbal assault on helpless, disabled children.

I have opened a formal FCC complaint and demanded inquiry into this matter, as well as punitive measures to be taken against Mr. Savage, his radio program, and the stations which carry his program.

Please see FCC Complaint 08-C00036602 for details.

I strongly encourage all readers of Digg and my blog - be they on the autistic spectrum, a relative or parent of a person with ASD, or simply educated individuals who wish to defend persons with ASD, to follow suit and open their own formal FCC Complaints.

FCC Complaints can be opened online at: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

The process takes less than 10 minutes. Let's work together to take ignorant megalomaniacs like Mr. Savage off of our airwaves. People who attack children - especially disabled children - have no place being on our airwaves, or for that matter being in America.

Datacase - Turn your iPhone into a Wireless Harddrive

2008-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

The Tuaw article on Datacase mentions that it's ability to allow your iPhone to act as a harddrive works not only wirelessly, but will also provide FTP and HTTP capabilities.

I wonder if I could use my iPhone as a web server? How crazy would that be, to be running a PHP or Rails app on my damn phone?

IndyMac Bank Collapse - Customers Make a Run on Withdrawals

2008-07-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

This image is so scary; IndyMac customers making a run on withdrawals at their local IndyMac branches after the bank collapsed and was taken over by the FDIC.

I remember seeing images like this in history books growing up, in the chapters dealing with the Great Depression and WWII.

Microsoft and Search - The Problem isn't Tech, it's Branding

2008-07-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

After being spurned in their first takeover bid for Yahoo!, Microsoft toyed with the idea of acquiring just Yahoo's search assets. Then the whole deal collapsed, only to be resurrected recently with Carl Icahn's interest in pushing out Yahoo's board.

MS' problem with Search isn't technical based, however. It's an issue with their brand. Users trust Yahoo more than Microsoft, just as they trust Google more than Yahoo.

Google earned that trust through fast, accurate search results free from invasive advertisements, and has kept that trust through solid performance over the years. The second-tier search engine providers - Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask - offer up search results that are roughly equivalent to one another, and at times more relevant and compelling than Google's (more the case for Ask than Yahoo or MS). Again, the problem lies not with technology - for what it's worth, Ask has a very technically compelling user interface and results page for searches, even more so than Google.

It's all about brand perception. MS just isn't trusted. This may stem from the 90's anti-trust debacle; it may stem from users inundated with MS software at work (Outlook, Office, MSIE) who just want a change when they're online; it may stem from MS' recent woes with Vista, previous missteps with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP; it might be the shitty job MS does in filtering Spam from its free Hotmail accounts (which Yahoo stinks at filtering as well... really only Gmail keeps its users safe from Spam); it may be a combination of these and myriad other factors.

The point is, simply buying Yahoo or acquiring Yahoo's search assets won't fundamentally change anything for Microsoft's positioning in the search arena. If MS purchases Yahoo's search assets, they'll re-brand them under the MS moniker. All Yahoo would have to do at that point is acquire Ask, and it would continue to be the #2 search provider. Yahoo has a brand that is perceived in a more positive light than MS.

MS' best option would be to either cede the search business altogether, or to quietly acquire another less visible search provider, keep the connection between that 3rd party and MS very, very quiet and maintain the branding separation. For instance, MS could acquire Ask, and keep the Ask branding on that search portal, but push it forward with additional revenue, to expand Ask's indexing and increase its speed. Buying Yahoo, Ask, or any other search property and re-branding it under the MS name basically kills it.

Unfortunately, MS is a technology company run by technologists. They don't understand branding; never have, never will.

ITIL Service Manager and ITIL Practitioner - Job Available, Help Wanted, We're Hiring

2008-05-12T10:36:00.001-07:00

I work for a Fortune 500, multi-national software company that is currently hiring process & technology architects with ITIL IT Service Manager / Service Master and Practitioner certification. You would be a Services Architect working with our clients on ITIL process and technology design.

This is a Manager / Architect level position. Travel is involved, but is generally just in the Midwest (including Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska).

Experience in a ITIL v2/v3 environment and experience with Service Desk and CMDB products and related processes is preferred. ITIL Service Manager and/or Practitioner certification is preferred.

Please email me for more information.

Elizabeth Edwards Endorses Clinton's Misguided Health Care Plan

2008-04-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

This just in from the AP: Elizabeth Edwards Plugs Clinton's Health Plan.

The Edwards' should be smarter than this. Hillary Clinton's health care plan is a disaster for America, should she ever become President. Mandating that everyone have health insurance brings significant and terrifying problems. What happens if you lose your job? How then do you pay for this mandated health insurance? What if it's too expensive? Clinton promises to help subsidize those who need assistance, which in turn sounds like another massive Federal bureaucracy, impossible to navigate for the average American (much like our student loan system, Medicare, Medicaid, etc already are).

Universal Health Care to the rest of the civilized world means a single payer health care system. Frankly, it is disingenuous for either Clinton or Obama to call their proposals Universal Health Care, when in fact they are not. Mandating health insurance is not the answer, and will only exacerbate existing problems with America's broken health care system.

Shame on you, Elizabeth Edwards. You should know better than to endorse a concept so critically flawed as Hillary Clinton's health care plan.

Michael Moore Speaks Out Against Hillary's Health Care Plan

2008-02-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

About time someone spoke up about this:
Michael Moore speaks out against Hillary Clinton's health care plan.

A single-payer system is the only viable option. Mandating health insurance misses the point entirely. What happens to people who are unemployed? How will they pay for health insurance? Hillary Clinton's health care "plan" is severely flawed.

Google Launches PowerPoint and WebEx Killer

2007-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to having to sign up for WebEx accounts to show PowerPoint presentations to customers, colleagues, etc.

Google has launched its online presentation software today, as a compliment to its already robust, excellent online docs and spreadsheets offerings.

Here is an example of an online Google Presentation (really stupid simple):
Simple Google Presentation Example

This rocks... seriously, I cannot wait to use this instead of the ppt/webex combo... Very, very cool.

Microsoft Should Get Off the Internet

2007-06-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Microsoft should just stop trying. Turn off your search engine. Kill MSN. Shut the whole thing down.

Keep your corporate site, and your development communities. The rest of it should be eliminated.

Focus on building the OS, browser, server-side software, etc. You've never understood nor properly executed the media aspect of the Internet. You're much better suited to work on the back-end aspects of the Internet, like your brethren Sun, Apple, Novell, RedHat, etc. You don't see them trying to be both behind the scenes and front-and-center, do you? For good reason. They don't really get it, either.

Apple comes close, and closer still since the whole incestuous Apple-Pixar-Disney thing went down. But still - Apple isn't out there trying to compete with Yahoo, or Google now, are they?

Windows security is still terrible. Your last OS release was a major letdown. It's time to regroup around the original mission, MS. Time to get your mojo back.

Carter is Officially an Idiot

2007-06-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Former President Carter, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and a person whose views I normally strongly advocate, is suggesting that the US should support Hamas.

For those of you unfamiliar, Hamas is a Islamic-militant-driven terrorist organization which enjoys murdering innocent people for fun, spouting off psychotic rhetoric about how their blood-thirsty revenge killing escapades are the desire of Allah and Muhammed, which is just retarded.

Here's a quote from the AP article:

Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was addressing a human rights conference in Ireland, also said the Bush administration's refusal to accept Hamas' 2006 election victory was "criminal."

Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with Abbas' moderate
Fatah movement.

Basically he's advocating military in-fighting between what are supposed to be two political parties in Palestine. Hamas is a terrorist organization. That's nice that they won their election in Palestine. However, they still want to kill Israel, they still want to kill Americans, and they still haven't opted for a peaceful political solution either inside of their own country and with their neighbor Israel. The fighting instigated by Hamas against the rival political party, Fatah recently is evidence that they're basically at their core nutcases with machine guns.

Seriously, Carter, you're going to erode your world-stage credibility with idiocy like this. Go home, Jimbo, go home.

Most Ironic Comment of the Day: Bush Says Will Veto "Runaway Government Spending"

2007-06-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

I almost fell of my chair when I read this headline:

Bush warns he'll veto runaway spending

That's an amazing statement. Too bad it's 7 years too late.

Letting Go of Your Fear

2007-06-14T08:13:00.001-07:00

Ran into a great article about letting go of your fear today.

For those of you who know me, I'm not exactly a shrinking violet; however, thought I'd publish a link to this article, as it encapsulates many great ideas about moving past one's fear of the unknown to expand your experiences and live a fuller life.

Kudos to the author, J.D., for putting himself "out there" and sucking the marrow out of the thighbone of life.

In Laws

2007-06-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those nights, where the in-laws are driving you up a wall? Yeah. I'm there now. Luckily, I have my office, the internet, Radiohead, and Blue Moon to keep me company.

Emotionally Unstable Wives, Rejoice!

2007-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Winkler was sentenced today, and stands to spend anywhere from 2 months to 1 week in prison for shooting her husband in the back with a shotgun while he was sleeping.

You read that right: 67 days maximum; 7 days minimum. For killing someone. By shooting them in the back. While that person was sleeping.

Ever hear of "divorce", lady?

OK, so maybe he was abusive. OK, so maybe he liked kinky sex. I don't condone the former at all; the latter... well... we'll not go there.

In any event, you always have a choice: the choice to walk away. If the marriage was that bad, you could have just gotten up, found a cheapo divorce lawyer, and bailed. Any court in America would have granted you custody of the kids; you probably would have walked away owning the house, too.

Great. Now emotionally unstable women everywhere are going to be cleaning their guns in anticipation of this wonderful new precedent.

I'm personally gonna be watching my back when I sleep.

He'll Never Be Elected President

2007-06-07T16:40:00.001-07:00

Edwards isn't pulling punches anymore; check this comment out:

"If Mayor Giuliani believes that what President Bush has done is good and wants to embrace it and run a campaign for the presidency saying 'I will give you four more years of what this president has given you,' he's allowed to do that.

"He'll never be elected president of the United States, but he's allowed to do that," he said.

Kind of ironic, Edwards saying to someone else that they'll "never be elected president of the United States". Still, interesting to hear what Edwards has to say, now that he has a set. Good for him.

Standard Human Emotions, According to Liam, Age 7

2007-05-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

According to Liam, age 7, the standard human emotions are as follows (presented in order of either frequency or importance):

Happy

Angry

Whatever

Loud

While "Whatever" and "Loud" aren't usually on lists of emotions, given that he's being raised in Mid-western America, #4 seems pretty obvious; given that Liam is autistic, #5 suddenly makes quite a bit of sense (having me around the house probably doesn't help any).

In celebration of this new definitive emotions list, I'd like to recommend this song. It neatly expresses both #4 and #5, in a way that will make you feel either #1, #2 or #3, depending on your personal background and experiences. Enjoy!

It Worked with Frank

2007-05-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had such luck with the "Looking for Frank Lombardo" post (yes, I found Frank! He's alive and doing really well in Chicago. Woohoo!), that I thought to try it with some of my other long-lost friends.

So, here's the list (not in order of preference, just in the order that I happen to remember them in at this late hour of the night):
NIU

Bill Augle. I might be mis-spelling Bill's last name; it might be Bill Ogle, or Bill Oggle, or Bill Auggle... Honestly, even though we were roommates, I can't recall ever seeing his name in print.

Bill was my roommate for most of Freshman & Sophomore year. I miss Bill, he was a really good person... we had a falling out in S.year; hopefully, after all these years he's not still pissed at me! :D Bill, if you're out there, gimme a buzz d00d!

John Janda. John, we're getting the band back together.

Matt Daoud. Hopefully I'm not on "the list"!

Shithead. His first name was really Dave; I've forgotten his last name. We all called him Shithead, because, well, he was a bit of one. But, in a good way.

Wheeling, IL friends:

Laurel Robinson

Wadsworth, OH friend(s):

Doug Knoop

Marion, OH friends:

Ricky Rick III (Yes, I really had a childhood friend named Ricky Rick)

Jenny Schwartz

OK. That'll do for now... hopefully someone on this list gets ahold of me! Email me at drgroove[at]gmail[dot]com!

Daylight Savings Extended Starting in 2007

2006-12-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

Why is no one in the IT industry screaming bloody murder about the recently passed Daylight Savings Time extension. Due to take affect in 2007, the new act extends DST by two months.

Daylight Savings Time Extended

Folks, this is Y2K all over again. Every computer operating system, application platform, and development language containing logic for tracking time in the US now have to be updated. All of them. In less than three months.

The fallout if this isn't accomplished could be similar to some of the projected issues that would have arisen had the Y2K issue not been settled. However, I have yet to see this issue hit the radar screens of the major IT publications, blogs, forums, etc.

Are we gun shy after saying that the sky was falling in the late 90's, only to have no issues arise come 2000? Keep in mind that programs worldwide tolled endless hours rewriting millions of lines of code to prevent Y2K from becoming a real issue. In this instance, however, I haven't seen any efforts being put into resolving the problem.

Did the Republicans Steal the 2004 Presidential Election?

2006-09-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Robert Kennedy Jr. believes they did - and I have the utmost admiration and respect for RFK Jr.
Read the article for yourself - Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Looking for Frank Lombardo

2006-07-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for Frank Lombardo.

Frank Lombardo was a drummer I met while at NIU. We were good friends for a long time, having played together in a band called One Past Fast, which was a combination of funk, speed metal, punk rock, and rap (and this was back in 1994, before such a style really existed anywhere else).

We were roommates briefly in Chicago; this was after he returned from touring with Buddha Knievel. After he moved out, I only saw him once or twice, then slowly lost touch with him.

I've dug around online and through the various social networking sites (Friendster, MySpace, etc) to no avail. I even paid for an ad in the Chicago Reader, but haven't received any responses from it.

Frank Lombardo's father was an auto-mechanic in Chicago's South Side; his mother was a hair dresser or hair stylist.

If anyone knows where Frank Lombardo, drummer, bicyclist, and all around really cool dude is, or better yet, if you're Frank, please get in touch with me! Email me at drgroove[at]gmail[dot]com. It would be awesome to hear from you, Frank!

MakeMy.Name

2006-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you're looking for a way to rapid create unique names for your business, website domain name, product, video game character, pet, new automobile or boat, progeny, or anything else that requires it's own moniker, check out MakeMy.Name.

MakeMy.Name is a great tool for finding the name you need for your company, website or product. Even if the names MakeMy.Name creates aren't "the one" the first time around, it really helps to get your creative juices flowing. If you don't like the first batch of 21 names it creates, just hit the "create" button again for another unique batch of great names to choose from!

MakeMy.Name has three cool ways to create a unique name:

First, it can work completely randomly;

Second, you can type in a character you'd like the name to begin with; the rest of the word is created randomly by the name generation engine. For instance, check out random names that begin with the letter S;

Third, you can enter in a word that you'd like the randomly generated word to be somewhat related to. For instance, MakeMy.Name can generate names from words like Software, Funk, or Racecar. The upshot of the Related Words method is MakeMy.Name will also recommend words which are wildly related to the one you typed in, giving you yet another way to find the exact name you're looking for.

Sun referenced my JDJ article on Java Studio Creator 2

2006-06-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Thought this was interesting... well. OK. It probably isn't interesting to you. It's basically completely narcissistic for me to post this. But still. It is my blog. So there. :p

http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/reviews/jsc.html

Cringley's Response

2006-06-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Jason,

I can easily see Google competing with Akamai, but I don't think they
really want to be an ISP because that would just drag down their
earnings.

All the best,

Bob

Open Email to Bob Cringley about Google

2006-05-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hi Bob,

We've corresponded in the past about our respective blogs.

Just had a thought that I wanted to share with you: What if the real reason that Google is vying against the ISPs on network neutrality is that it wants to leverage those super-powered hardware boxes it has been dropping into its dark fiber for the past few years as accelerators for paying customers? Similar to what Akamai is already doing...

For instance, if a media company wants its news, downloadable songs, advertisements faster than their competitor's, they would pay Google to cache that content on their hardware crates, so that rather than have the content served from the company's server, Google does its geo-detection, finds the nearest crate and serves the requested content from the crate, thereby bringing that content to the user faster. Allowing the ISPs to charge those same media companies for faster content delivery would cannabalize a business that Google plans to get into, but just hasn't yet, and won't until a net neutrality bill is signed into law.

Another thought for the Google crates: How hard would it be for Google to turn its dark fiber on, open up an ISP where broadband is served up at cutthroat rates (like, $5/mo), plus every user gets a stripped-down PC (say, with some flash memory, a little RAM and a nice flat screen) capable of running Ubuntu & Firefox (and that's it), through which users access Google-built productivity applications (like Writely, Gmail, Maps, Calendar, etc) online, rather than having them loaded locally on their PC? I know the bubble days of giving away free PC's to get users onto an expensive ISP dial up plan crashed and burned, but this strategy (if I'm on the right track) seems a bit more viable. The PC would really only work w/ Google's online internet operating system and applications stack, insuring that people who buy into the program won't simply drop Google as an ISP and switch to a local broadband provider like Comcast or AT&T. Google now has a steady revenue stream from a reasonably captive user base (basically, it would put AOL out of business by taking all of their users) for its applications, advertisements, portal content etc... but, could also allow users to get to the "regular" internet (not follow the "walled garden" approach that AOL tried).

Thoughts?

Emails to AOL bounce when Using GMail

2006-04-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

This has been the case for several weeks now. Per AOL's instructions online, I emailed their postmaster address about the issue, but never heard back.

Today, CNet published an article about AOL bouncing emails - validation of the problem I've been experiencing (for those of you who thought I was doing something wrong w/ my GMail account. Ha! Vindication is mine!).

Today's Prediction

2006-03-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Apple and/or Disney will purchase Nintendo. I also believe Steve Jobs will merge Apple with Disney, in order to better compete with Sony and better distinguish Apple (as an entertainment hub) from Microsoft. The move makes perfect sense, as Nintendo has always differentiated its video game system from competitors by focusing on the quality of the characters and game story line, rather than competiting solely on processor speed or type of DVD player included, as Sega, Sony and now Microsoft have done. Nintendo becomes the perfect vehicle for distributing games based on Disney/Pixar characters, an ideal competiting platform for living room mindshare against Sony & Microsoft. Additionally, Nintendo could easily be ported to run a version of OSX, allowing it to connect to the web, interface with iPods, and more- again become a showcase for Apple's people-friendly computing technology.

I also still believe that Apple should acquire Sun (their products form a "perfect circle" - with Apple focused on the consumer, desktop/laptop PCs and electronics, and Sun focused on corporations, with servers, enterprise-class software, etc), but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. However, when it does happen, I've found the perfect song for the commercials announcing the merger - Stevie Wonder's You Are the Sunshine of My Life (it makes sense when you read the lyrics and/or listen to the tune).

Google Needs Some SEO

2006-03-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

A search for the phrase "search engine" on Google shows that the #1 company in search could use a little Search Engine Optimization - Google itself does not appear in the Top 10 results of its own index.

Search Engine on Google

Sun Java Studio Creator 2 Review on Java Developer's Journal

2006-03-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here's the linkage: Sun Java Studio Creator 2 Review on JDJ.

Enjoy, lemme know any comments on the review.

Today's Prediction

2006-02-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

Verizon will acquire Vonage.

There. I said it.

Pixar Board Approves Disney Takeover

2006-01-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Today British media site Telegraph reports that Pixar's board has approved a takeover by Disney to the tune of $7 billion. Steve Jobs stands to earn around $3.5b, and will become Disney's single largest shareholder.

I won't rehash the article here. However, I will say that while synergies between the two companies abound, there is also the real possibility that this merger will cause the dilution of creativity previously seen from the Pixar camp, as the stodgy Disney pro-corporate culture clashes with the more free flowing Pixar culture.

Additionally, I have thought for awhile now that Pixar's 2006 Summer feature Cars will be their first bomb. Watch the trailers - Cars just doesn't appear to have that same sense of mystique or character intrigue that Pixar's previous offerings have had. The animation is top-notch, as always, but I'm afraid that Cars may represent the first instance of a Pixar film where they let the cool animation tricks overtake character development and story line.

It will certainly be interesting to see what changes Jobs and the creative team at Pixar lead by Lasseter will bring to bear on the Mouse Kingdom.

Sun May Open SeeBeyond, Provide Google with Servers

2005-12-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

I've been privy to two seemingly credible rumors this week, both circumstantially involving Sun Microsystems.

Open SeeBeyond
The first is that Sun may be planning to open-source the code for the recently acquired SeeBeyond middleware/integration product.

On the one hand, this follows the same open source / paid support model that Sun appears to be migrating to, having opened the source to its Solaris operating system via the OpenSolaris project. This would be an unbelievable boon for developers attempting to adapt non-Java components to their J2EE systems - SeeBeyond has an impressive suite of adapters for a wide variety of non-Java and legacy systems (COM, DCOM, mainframe, .NET, CORBA, etc).

At the same time, its adapters are unique in the industry, and one of SeeBeyond's key competitive advantages over systems like WebMethods - it is this fact that gives me some pause in completely putting stock in this rumor.

Google Turns to Sun for Servers
The second rumor is a tad less believable than the first, but potentially amazing if it plays out to be true - Google has apparently approached Sun about migrating their legendary server farm over to Sun hardware.

This poses a ton of questions - would Google conduct a mass migration, or migrate through attrition as servers die off and need to be replaced? Would Google rely on Sun's latest Niagara chipset, or stick to the x86 architecture and use Opterons or some other AMD offering? Obviously, Google wouldn't move their highly customized OS (based on the Linux kernel, w/a custom file system, node communication, etc) to Solaris, making the AMD chipset the more likely candidate. Still, this would be a huge win for Sun, giving much credibility to the abrasive marketing campaigns they've launched against competitors such as Dell (looks like Dell is Sun's new MS, doesn't it?).

As much as I disdain churning in the Rumor Mill, these two pieces of insider information seemed to good to pass on. Only time will tell if either manifests.

IUPUI HCI Project Evaluation

2005-12-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

I was recently invited again by Dr. Tony Faiola through Mike Kelly to participate in the final project evaluation for Tony's HCI (Human-Computer Interface) Prototyping grad course at IUPUI. Several other industry professionals participated as well; Mike Kelly, freelance tester, professional speaker/writer; the CEO of a Business Process Optimization firm out of Chicago, as well as another professor of HCI from Purdue University.

The course itself grouped students into three mini-corporations, each charged with creating a non-functioning prototype of a personal communications device; the device should have features such as phone, wireless web access, photo, video, etc.

Two of the three student groups focused on creating cell-phone style devices targeted at corporate users. One group in particular had a unique method of adjusting the phone so that it is more appropriate to use during a video conference. The other corporate-targeted group discovered a way to make video camera work with a portable more intuitive. The third group targeted their device towards the more casual user, though their main point of interface distinction was a bit odd.

I won't discuss details of their projects in this medium, out of respect for each group; I'm not certain if any of them will try to bring their ideas to market, and wouldn't want to hurt their chances. I will say that it is fascinating to view the final output of these groups; there were certainly some design mistakes at work, but some real interface gems as well. In any event, it was a pleasure to participate in this exercise for another semester, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with Dr. Faiola in the future.

IQAA October 2005 Seminar

2005-10-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

I was invited to speak at the October 2005 IQAA Seminar, and presented on Discovering and Creating Architectures for Non-Functional Requirements.

A link to my NFR presentation is available at: http://www.iqaa.org/events/seminars/documents/NonFunctionalRequirementsIQAA.ppt.

There were many excellent workshops given at the IQAA; I highly recommend reviewing some of the other offerings available at: http://www.iqaa.org/events/seminars.

Thank you again to Mike Kelly for the invitation to speak, and the IQAA for hosting the conference.

Developers Behind the Podium

2005-06-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Like it or not, at some point in your career as a software developer you will have to give a presentation. These kinds of experience range from presentations in front of managers, other developers/architects, clients, conferences, etc. Many developers dread this - especially those who tend to be introverted and more concerned with technical details than intrapersonal communication skills. On top of this, even those programmers who have the gift of glib can choke in front of an audience.

Read the full article here

IBM's Community Source Could Redefine RUP

2005-06-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

BetaNews posted an interview today with Doug Heintzman, VP of Strategy and Technology for IBM's Software Group; the focus of the article was on IBM's new Community Source initiative, a hybrid open/closed source development strategy. Read More...

Investigative Analysis

2005-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today I found myself in the position of having to rewrite a stack of use cases, originally written by a business analyst contracted for a project we’re working on. This got me thinking about requirements, about the criteria by which we judge a set of specifications to be usable and about the steps required to craft a quality requirements document. Read more...

Macromedia Announces Eclipse Plug-in

2005-06-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Macromedia announced today an Eclipse plug-in to allow developers to create Flash-based applications in the popular open-source IDE:
Eclipse Flash Plug-in

So, at least one of my predictions has proven out.

How Apple Can Move to x86 Successfully

2005-06-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

How Apple Can Move to x86 Successfully

Camping

2005-05-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

Went camping this memorial day wknd w/ the fam, down in Kentucky outside of Mammoth Cave park. Sunday was camping; Monday was splunking. I have to say, if you have a five year old son or daughter, camping is just about the most enjoyable thing I can think to do with your kid(s). My son absolutely loved every minute of it. The tent, the campfire, making s'mores... things that as adults we view as part and parcle of the camping experience are completely new and exciting for kids. I've never seen a person more excited about making a campfire. Liam was totally thrilled to do watch me build the fire though. The caves, while majestic and breathtaking, seemed almost an afterthought in comparison to the energy he showed for simply setting up camp.

A Service is Course, of Course of Course

2005-05-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

One of the central tenets espoused by SOA advocates is the concept that information returned by service calls be course grained. Read the entire article...

Big Glue

2005-05-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

A point largely overlooked by other reports on the recent pairing of IBM and Gluecode is the fact that Gluecode's product is more than just another J2EE application server. Read the entire article...

What They Don't Tell You in the SOA Owner's Manual

2005-05-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Most enterprise IT departments consist of a heterogenous computing environment, with applications running across the gamut of operating environments - mainframe/midrange, solaris or other unix, linux, and windows.

Read the rest on ADT -> What They Don't Tell You in the SOA Owner's Manual

Big Game Hunter

2005-05-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sun Microsystem's CEO Scott McNealy recently mused on the record that his company is poised to begin making larger acquisitions in the pursuit of more aggressive financial growth.

Read the rest on ADT -> Big Game Hunter

JBuilder Moving to Eclipse

2005-04-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

JBuilder Moving to Eclipse - my thoughts on Borland's recent announcement that it is donating the core JBuilder code to the Eclipse foundation.

Impacts of the Adobe / Macromedia Merger

2005-04-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've just posted my thoughts on the Adobe / Macromedia merger on ADT's Enterprise Insider blog; please read and share your thoughts on the subject.

ADT - NEW! Enterprise Insider Blog

2005-04-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

ADT Magazine has invited me to write their Enterprise Insider blog.

An announcement is available on ADT's website, at http://adtmag.com/article.asp?id=10936

This is an enormous honor, and I once again thank ADT for the priveledge of writing for their publication.

I'll post a link to the new Blog once it's up and running (you can read a preview of my 'welcome' post here: http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=10937).

AT&T's CallVantage VoIP Service - Router

2005-04-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Just a quick tip on this - if you're behind a router, place the telephone adapter behind the router as well, not as a passthrough from the modem to the router. I had an incident this week where Comcast's service died, and took the VoIP out with it; once Comcast came back up, the TA still would not respond, meaning that the router wasn't getting a signal, so I could still not access either the web or use the phone. Putting the TA behind the router got me back online, but the TA required to be both reset (hard reset, using the push button on the back) as well as re-activated via AT&T's CallVantage website.

The literature states that the connection isn't as clear from behind the router, but I haven't notcied a difference. From a technical perspective, having the TA behind the router is clearly superior to using it as a passthrough, and should be described as such in AT&T's printed and online documentation.

Hopefully this tips helps someone!

Google Desktop Search - Update

2005-03-08T16:43:00.001-08:00

Google today announced the final 1.0 release of their Google Desktop Search software, complete with a more comprehensive list of searchable document types - including FireFox web history, PDF, and multimedia files such as images, video and music - as well as a new published API, allowing savvy developers to roll their own extensions to the service.

The updates to the product’s already impressive feature-set are on target to the recommendations that I and other GDS reviewers and the litany of GDS users have made. It’s wonderful to see a mega-corporation such as Google actually listening to both their users and the press. Kudos to Google on both the excellent free product as well as their ability to distill the myriad suggestions coming in from outside the company into their offerings.

I’ll be posting a link to this update on my ADT review of Google Desktop Search as well.

Google Desktop Search - Review

2005-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

My review of Google’s Desktop Search is now online at Application Development Trends magazine. Please feel free to post comments either on ADT’s site or on this blog.

For the record, the desktop search shootout portion was originally much more fleshed out, but had to be cut down to fit in the print publication. I'll double check with my editor over at ADT to see if it's kosher to post the unabridged article on this blog.

Also, if you subscribe to ADT magazine (free, btw), you can get a PDF version of the magazine, complete with product screenshots, etc. Definitely worth the 5 minutes needed to fill out their request form for the PDF version.

Hibernate in Action

2005-03-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

As an adjunct to the Hibernate Roundtable discussion, I've purchased a Hibernate book - Hibernate in Action by C. Bauer and G. King. Just getting into the reading now, thusfar looks promising.

Do yourself a favor - if you purchase it, get it through Amazon, the price beats out Borders & Barnes & Noble hands down.

GoF Design Patterns in Java

2005-03-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

For those Java programmers/architects looking for examples of the Gang of Four Design Patterns in Java, check out Larry Truett’s Java and UML samples on FluffyCat.com - Java Design Patterns. Thanks for putting this reference together Larry!

Hibernate Roundtable

2005-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

I've started a Hibernate Roundtable discussion on the Java forum at Devshed.

If you’re a Hibernate user, or thinking about using Hibernate on a project, please share your thoughts on the roundtable. I look forward to reading your experiences and comments.

IWST Workshop

2005-02-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

Mike Kelly invited me to participate in an Indianapolis Workshop on Software Testing session, which focused on performance data analysis and interpretation. While not a QA person by any stretch of the imagination, I thought that the seminar and subsequent discussions were thoroughly fascinating, and enjoyed learning more about the QA mindset, process, techniques, etc.

Consequently, I will be attending the upcoming session on Unit testing - a topic of which I'm more intimately familiar. Mike has requested that I conduct one of the presentations (e.g., on JUnit or Apache Cactus); time permitting, I'd like to, but we'll see. If I do present, I'll be certain to blog the contents of the presentation.

Off topic:
Bit of irony - the IWST website is horribly slow. I wonder if they do performance testing on their own website? Something to ask Mike, I suppose...

It Works!

2005-02-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm getting incoming calls, and can make outgoing calls as well. One thing which takes a minute to get your head wrapped around is that you have to dial a completely qualified phone number with area code as well - even if it's a local call. This makes perfect sense - the VoIP service doesn't know where I'm located - but seems a bit counterintuitive, if only for the reason that I've spent the better portion of my life omitting the area code for local calls.

AT&T's CallVantage VoIP Service - Review

2005-02-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

I ordered VOIP service from AT&T a little over a week ago. I was previously with Sage Telecom, on one of their x-number of minutes per month flat rate plans. Unfortunately, Sage hasn't held their end of the bargain - the plan I supposedly signed up for has been broken repeatedly by Sage, and I've been overcharged three months in a row. This, on top of horrid customer service drove me to find another carrier. If you're currently using Sage Telecom, you know what I'm talking about. Quit torturing yourself and bail out while you can.

Being a geek, VOIP seemed like a logical choice. AT&T had a deal where the first month was free, and the monthly rate thereafter is about $30/mo. Officially the plan is "CallVantage for Broadband" - marketing speak for VOIP. Not the best deal on the block (Vonage is slightly cheaper, at last check ~$25/mo.), but Vonage is largely an unknown quantity to me, so I went with AT&T. We'll see how AT&T's customer service holds up now that they've been swallowed alive by SBC. If AT&T/SBC whatever doesn't hold up, it's off to another carrier. And so the cycle continues.

For the record, if Comcast could get their act together and offer a reasonably priced, flat-rate cable modem + VOIP package, I would have selected Comcast for the whole package. As much as a dislike Comcast's anti-trust fodder packaging of their cable TV service with their broadband internet service (and the price gouging you suffer if you select just the broadband service w/o TV), their customer service is superb, their technical support group is easily accessible and helpful, their billing policies are reasonable (in that they don't turn you off if you haven't paid in 30 days), and the service overall has had very few points of failure. One point of concern is that if my cable service does flake out, w/o a cell phone I'll be in a bit of a jam getting ahold of Comcast to get everything turned back on. All of my commuication eggs are in one broadband basket.

Over the weekend I received a box from FedEx. I'm just getting to it tonight. Inside of the FedEx box is another box, with the label "Telephone Adapter - Individual Box" on the side. On top of the box is a note - "Please Activate /Immediately/" in large, demanding black letters with a red background. Please activate immediately, so we can begin billing you as soon as possible. Thanks for the reminder, Ma Bell.

Inside the box is an invoice, an envelope containing:

An 11 page service subscriber agreement (this will be an interesting read) - including information about the screwy 911 call instructions for VOIP users;
A shiny welcome letter with support phone and website info;
A quick reference guide to placing calls and using the supporting website;
A 29 page Telephone Adapter Install Guide
Two fold-out charts, for connecting to either a DSL or Cable modem (the latter will be the one I'll reference, being a Comcast subscriber)
A Home Wiring Do-It-Yourself Guide
Three, identical copies of the Alternative Setup for TA Behind the Router diagram. Yes, three. All identical. Odd.
A rather beefy looking power adapter, made in Taiwan
A blue, 2 foot cat-5 cable
Another phone cable, looks to be about 10 feet in length
A D-Link VoIP Gateway, model DVG-1120M. Looks like a hub with phone outputs.

Fortunately, it appears that AT&T has taken into consideration each portion of my setup at home - cable modem, router - and provided friendly, colorful diagrams and installation guides to assist in the setup.

The term "TA" appears repeatedly throughout the literature - apparently, this stands for "Telephone Adapter", or the D-Link VoIP Gateway. Interesting how AT&T's marketing machine strives to minimize use of the term "VoIP" in their literature.

Tonight I went through the 6-step guide to installing the VoIP adapter and transferring the phone line. There is a huge amount of noise around my PC now - between the cable modem, router, VoIP D-Link, and my aging PC fan it is beginning to sound very strange in my office.

After doing the hardware installation, you have to log onto AT&T's website to register the D-Link with their service. ZoneAlarm doesn't run up the red flag during this process, which is a tad alarming. The light on the front of the D-Link turns green after about a minute of processing, meaning that, in theory, if all went well, I'm now the proud user of VoIP.

My phone just beeped. Odd.

I picked up, turned it on, and got a dial tone. Cool.

It's late, so I try calling work number.

"Your call cannot be completed as dialed... beep beep beep beep"

OK. No big deal. AT&T's website says it might take 30 minutes or so. And the beeping is part of the setup. It would help if I actually read the instructions before reacting, but to do that would be to deny that I have a Y chromosome.

Alright, I'm downright amazed right now. The service came with free voicemail. No big deal, plenty of telephone services include free voicemail. Here's the kicker - I can check my voicemail online - I get an audio of the message, time it was left, number that they called in on, a button to direct dial, the name of the person, the ability to forward the message, and a quick link to add the person to an address book. Plus, I can have an email alert sent to me and 9 additional addresses when I get a message. I've saved a bookmark to the site in Firefox, and setup a keyword to get to it - "voip". Nice. Very nice.

Only one problem, however. My wife hates voicemail, and really, really wants to keep using our answering machine. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that AT&T's Callvantage service allows me to simply disable the voicemail service. So, the hackish solution is to set the voicemail to activate after 10 rings, but the answering machine to activate after 3 or 4 - basically guaranteeing that the answering machine will get to the call before the voicemail does. Hopefully this works - otherwise, the better half will simply have to learn to use the online voicemail service.

Instant call logs. I can see up to the minute who has made incoming and outgoing calls. Technology convergence is such a wonderful thing, isn't it? VoIP not only utilize's the internet's backbone for delivering phone service, but allows companies like AT&T to treat voice messages as if they were emails. I remember back in the late 90's working for a company that had (what was then) state of the art technology for managing phone calls like emails. Now, for about $30/mo. for VoIP and $50/mo. for broadband, I can have the same service at home.

It will be interesting to see what kind of packaged services the new SBC/AT&T company will bring to market. A combo DSL/VoIP w/ a low rate would have me switched over from cable in a heartbeat. Sorry, Comcast - lower your rates!

AT&T obviously hasn't tested their site using Firefox - attempting to search creates all sorts of problems.

OK. I'm done for the night. We'll find out in the morning if the VoIP service works, I guess. So far though, no real issues. Good work, AT&T.

UML: Activity Diagrams

2005-02-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

Found this great article on IBM’s website today about Use Case / Activity diagrams, with solid explanations and good UML examples. Here’s the link to the article:
Activity Diagrams: What They Are and How to Use Them

Why do you believe the Earth is flat?

2005-02-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

This was a question randomly posed by blogger's profile form. My response couldn't be shoehorned into the alloted 150 character space, so here it is:

Actually, I don't believe it is flat - I have an entirely different theory, summed up as follows:

1. Cats always land on their feet
2. Buttered toast always lands on the buttered side
3. A buttered cat must land on both its feet and the butter, and therefore cannot land at all
4. All objects which do not fall are buttered cats
5. The Earth does not fall, but rather rotates in space
6. The Earth is a giant, buttered cat

Not only does this theory merge the disparate postulations of the relativity and quantum camps, but also neatly explains why I have hayfever (I'm allergic to cats).

VoIP

2005-02-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

To whet your appetite, I ordered VoIP service about a week ago, and have been journaling the process of installation and subsequent usage. I'll have the full story up in a short while.

Coffee Cures Cancer

2005-02-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

Beat that with a stick, will ya? The best part is that increasing your daily intake to 3 or 4 cups a day actually helps more.
Coffee May Help Prevent Liver Cancer

JClass Review

2004-12-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

My review of Quest’s JClass was published on Application Developer Trends Magazine today. Many kudos and thanks to my editor John Waters for the polish he always adds to my copy - I really couldn’t do this without an editor like John watching my back.

Unfortunately, to see the election easter egg, you have to have subscribed to their PDF or print version of the mag; the web postings don’t include the product screenshots. Just more incentive to subscribe to ADT, so you don’t miss the next one. :D

Turkey Day

2004-11-25T10:09:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is a holiday which was manufactured by the Lincoln Administration, to garner nationalist support in order to shore up northerist resistance to a separatist-leaning south. This day has always been a bit of a conundrum to me. On one hand, I think there is a positive aspect to reserving a day for spending with friends, family, and giving thanks for the life that you have to live. On the other, the pretense under which this day was initialized, and the falsities surrounding the pilgrim and indian stories, greatly bothers me. In the end, the positive aspects outweigh the negative; I recognize the hypocrisy for what it is, and simply accept that the day will continue to be celebrated regardless of my misgivings, leaving me to utilize the occasion for the best purpose possible.

Columbus Day is another matter entirely. I'll deal with this one next summer, rather than get off on a tangent now.

Gobble, gobble.

Brighton Beach Dinner

2004-11-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

Ever see Brighton Beach Memoirs? Tonight my father-in-law comes over, and cooks beef livers for dinner. Beef livers, rice, and lima beans. I tried. Really I did. The aftertaste is just too terrible to bear, though... it's odd, considering I can eat liverwurst. No scummy aftertaste there. Chicken livers - the last liver experience I had - were even worse, in terms of the "you are injesting poison" aftertaste that burns the back of your throat while eating. Beef livers aren't as bad, but the flavor - or, should I say, anti-flavor - is still present.

So, here I sit - feverish, coughing, working on a client's website, and starving.

Send food, please.

Where'd You Go, Ohio?

2004-11-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

In just a few short hours, we'll have official word that voters in Ohio - a swing state in the 2004 Presidential election - by a slim majority have handed the White House to George W. Bush.

This is shocking, to say the least. I cannot imagine what voters were thinking when selecting Bush as their candidate. Outside of the abortion issue - the only issue where I agree with Bush, and disagree with Kerry - Dubya has single handedly botched every other major important issue facing our country today. Iraq. The economy. The environment. To think that we'll be forced to suffer four more years of this is unbelievable.

My only hope is that the Democrats, or some other viable third party (Green, Libertarian, etc.) rises to the challenge in 2008. Of course, this is what I was saying in 2000, about 2004.

No Article, No Cry

2004-11-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

My JClass review for ADT wasn't published in the November issue. I'm bummed - I had an Easter egg in that review that was pertinent to election day, which won't be published in time. I'll crack that egg for y'all once the article is out (or, rather, I'll link to the article and let you figure it out).

Halloween

2004-10-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

Today being Halloween, we stayed up late last night carving pumpkins. This was Liam's first real attempt at carving his first pumpkin... he did, well, OK for a five year old. Basically he just poked the thing full of holes, but had a good time doing it. Kara somehow managed to carve a pretty realistic looking Mother Theresa image in her pumpkin. Honestly, I have no idea even how to begin to explain how she pulled this off, you'll just have to either take my word for it or gawk at the pics once they're posted. Myself, I slapped together a freakish shark-inspired ghoul of a gourd, which is sitting next to MT in the front yard. Maybe she'll exorcise it for us.

Welcome to the Official Blog of DrGroove

2004-10-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

For the record, this is my second blog. The first one can be found on Devshed, where I'm a Moderator for some technical forums, sheparding geeks worldwide. Being hosted on DS, that blog's content seems restrained somewhat to only the digerati, whereas my interests tend to be more broad, not solely silicon based.

For those who know me, this blog will be an open window into my radically odd and occassionally fascinating journey through this world.

If you're not at all aware of who I am, you're probably better off.