mobrec

So
From Cnet:

In an effort to capitalize on the Java brand, server and software company Sun Microsystems will change its stock ticker from SUNW to JAVA next week.

Sun is making the shift because Java has far greater brand awareness than the company's name, said CEO Jonathan Schwartz in his blog on Thursday. The current symbol, which stands for Stanford University Network Workstation, reflects the company's origins but not its present, he said.

“The number of people who know Java swamps the number of people who know Sun,” Schwartz wrote. “JAVA is a technology whose value is near infinite to the Internet, and a brand that's inseparably a part of Sun (and our profitability).”

Sun estimates that 1 billion consumers recognize the steaming coffee cup symbol of Java, it said in a press release.

Using similar logic, Microsoft will soon be changing it's stock symbol to BSOD an 'innovation' for which it is well known and that people associate with the MS name.

Technorati Tags: sun, java, bsod, microsoft, stock

So
Ok, maybe the title is a bit strong, but it is the one thing that struck with me when I was reading through a posting on ESB-Oriented Architecture at IBM DeveloperWorks. This is the part that struck me:

Rather than the IT field of dream’s slogan of “if you build it, they will come,” a more appropriate slogan comes from Extreme Programming (XP): “You aren’t gonna need it.” This slogan is shorthand for a very practical principle:

Always implement things when you actually need them, never when you just foresee that you need them.

This principle—don’t build it until you need it—is the opposite of the IT field of dreams. Rather than building it because you hope that someone will want it, do not build it until you know someone wants it. Then you can make sure to build what they want, not what you think they might eventually want. And you will not incur the costs of building it until you are also ready to reap the benefits of having built it. This principle is just a good business philosophy, and it applies to the IT department as much as any other parts of the business.

This may have some applicability at a 'micro' level, say, when you are deciding whether or not to write a function or class — a task that may take minutes or hours. But, I think it absolutely misses the mark for larger scale efforts that might take months or years. I believe this posturing also reflects the disdain that the 'agile' and XP herds have for sound architectural principles. Coding is not architecture. Nor is it proper documentation.

A successful enterprise architecture strategy should reflect a robust enough understanding of the business that it supports to be able to anticipate when changes are needed and build them before the business actually needs them. This is how architecture adds value to the enterprise, not just to a project. However, if you enter into a reactive process where you are trying to build out significant infrastructure at the same time that a project or projects is intending to consume it you will likely fail.

To put it in the terms of the posting: the business would have come (and gone) because you couldn't build it fast enough to add value. And rare is the project that will just hang around for a year while you quickly try to deliver. Something.

Technorati Tags: ibm, architecture, badideas, developerworks, esb

So
Both of the things that I am about to suggest have been around for a while, but I think the combination of them is very compelling. First off, if you haven't already, read A Long Way Gone. Then watch the movie Blood Diamond (if you have already seen the movie, read the book).

While the story of the 'boy soldier' is just a subplot in the movie, the book does an incredible job of providing first hand insight into what it was like to exist in that mode. The movie really brings to life all of the things you read about in the book and provides more insight into that subplot in the movie.

Technorati Tags: boysoldier, conflictdiamonds , book, dvd, history

So
So what does 192 AA batteries get you? An 83.7 pound car with a top speed of 75.8 MPH and an average speed of 65.8 MPH.

Technorati Tags: battery, car, electriccar, gadgets

So
This is a rather stunning/shocking video of a Chinese made car absolutely failing a crash test at around 42 MPH. The car basically crumples in half and the crash test dummy takes it pretty hard. It costs $9000USD and you definitely seem to get what you pay for — not much in the way of safety.

Technorati Tags: cars, crash, madeinchina, buyerbeware

So
It struck me as uncomfortably timely and ultimately confirming that there was a Diane Rehm show (broadcast on 26 July 2007) discussing why the US needs to invest more in it's infrastructure, rather than, say, giving tax breaks to the very wealthy. This discussion was unfortunately punctuated with the failure of a major bridge in Minneapolis just five days after the broadcast.

Give the discussion a listen.

Technorati Tags: ideas, news

So
If only one of my memory lapses proved to be so profitable...

Technorati Tags: fun, humor

So
This article sheds a bit of light on the true nature of Microsoft revisionist history innovation. The final bit sums it up nicely:

The PC world might have looked very different today had Kildall's Digital Research prevailed as the operating system of choice for personal computers. DRI offered manufacturers the same low-cost licensing model which Bill Gates is today credited with inventing by sloppy journalists – only with far superior technology. DRI's roadmap showed a smooth migration to reliable multi-tasking, and in GEM, a portable graphical environment which would undoubtedly have brought the GUI to the low-cost PC desktop years before Microsoft's Windows finally emerged as a standard.

But then Kildall was motivated by technical excellence, not by the need to dominate his fellow man.

Technorati Tags: history, microsoft, technology

So
Last summer I purchased a copy of Handy Weather from Epocware to have a weather app on my Nokia smartphone. I chose Handy Weather because it was relatively cheap and didn't carry a 'subscription plan' like Mobimate did. However, I was recently informed by Epocware that I essentially needed to re-purchase the software because it was now under a 'subscription service'. First off this kind of bait-and-switch stuff is just annoying; made even further annoying by the fact that Epocware has decent software. Second off, the 'subscription' is the entire price of the software. I could see paying $5USD or so but not being forced to re-buy the $15USD software.

I was left thinking, 'surely there must be some mistake'. I contacted Epocware support and was flatly told to pay the re-purchase gouge or stop using the app (the latter option being sort of amusing because they disabled the app sometime in early July before they even sent me an email about the subscription).

The irony of this is that Mobimate is now offering a version of their software for free that includes weather, world map, world clocks and currency conversion. You can upgrade Mobimate to the 'pro' version which gives you access to live flight schedules and arrival/departure info (which I suppose if you traveled a lot would be quiet handy and worth the annual fee). I also note that Psiloc is now offering a completely free weather app as well. On top of this, there is always the mobile version of the Accuweather site which provides access to current conditions, multi-day forecast and even animated radar images.

My suggestion to those looking for mobile apps, beware of Epocware because apparently there is no telling when an app that you purchased free and clear will suddenly become a 'subscription service'. I myself would not buy another app from Epocware and recommend that others don't as well to keep from being burned by these dubious sales tactics.

Technorati Tags:
epocware, ripoff, handyweather, fraud, baitandswitch, mobimate, psiloc

So
It comes as no surprise that Duke's network issues were ultimately found to lie with Cisco and not with the Apple iPhone. After all, if this was a general issue with the iPhone, every open wifi connection in San Francisco (and other me-too gadget locales) would have been crashing just like Duke's.

Other than applying a patch from Cisco, the root-cause remains a bit murky:

“Cisco has provided a fix that has been applied to Duke's network and the problem has not occurred since,” the statement read. Cisco did not describe what the source of the problem was. Late on June 20, Duke released a statement elaborating on the problem and how it was resolved. “The reality is that a particular set of conditions made the Duke wireless network experience some minor and temporary disruptions in service,” said Tracy Futhey, the university's chief information officer, in a statement. “Those conditions involve our deployment of a very large Cisco-based wireless network that supports multiple network protocols. Cisco worked closely with Duke and Apple to identify the source of this problem, which was caused by a Cisco-based network issue,” the statement said.

Sounds like one of those political non-apologies where 'mistakes have been made' but no admission of guilt or responsibility is offered.

Technorati Tags: apple, iphone, ddos, cisco, chaos, iDDOS