Archive for March, 2009:
More Fun with Virtualization
I love me some virtualization.
Whether you’re testing a web app in various O/S + browser configurations, running production hardware, testing new a O/S or just geeking out for fun, virtual machines are your friend.
I started out with VirtualBox, because it’s open source, and then went to VMWare (Fusion, specifically) to run the official Oracle Base [...]
Requiem for the Computer Lab
Ever seen PCU?
It came out while I was still in college, and being of that vintage, I relate to it. Remember the scene where Tom runs through the computer lab, where scads of students are cranking away on year-end thesis papers and trips over the main plug that supplies power to all the computers?
Hilarity ensues.
Maybe [...]
What is it about Kudos?
Last week, Paul spoke on a webinar panel hosted by Communitelligence about social networking inside the firewall. Also on the panel were Lee Aase of the Mayo Clinic and Polly Pearson from EMC.
I didn’t attend the webinar, but Paul mentioned that Kudos was well-received. We did a follow-up meeting with some folks from EMC, Jamie [...]
I Am Not a Good Lead
New this week, cold calls from innovation and strategy consultancies.
Maybe it’s a function of a crappy economy, or maybe I happen to be an easy to find contact at Oracle. For whatever reason, I’m now fielding calls from consultancies who want to help Oracle with innovation or Web/Enterprise 2.0 adoption or social media or brand [...]
Feeling Lucky?
I always find it noteworthy when a handful of stories about a single company or service pop up within a day or so.
Usually, none of them alone is all that interesting, but as a collection, they sometimes form a story that I find blogworthy.
This time it’s Google’s Web Search.
Totally weird to see that in print. [...]
Had Enough Twitter Yet?
Twitter is exploding. You’ve probably seen the numbers.
1,382% comparing February 2009 with February 2008. More than 50% from January 2009 to February 2009.
By all measures, that’s an insane growth rate. Mainstream media has taken note, and celebrities (and impostors) are flocking to Twitter in droves. Pun intended. Do you have a favorite celebrity you follow? [...]
Web Mission is Coming
As he did last year, Paul will be speaking during the Oracle portion of this year’s Web Mission, which runs March 28-April 3.
What is Web Mission? Glad you asked, from the about:
Web Mission is organized Bronwyn Kunhardt and James Lawn from the market intelligence company Polecat (www.polecatting.com) and by serial entrepreneur, Oli Barrett. Each [...]
Ignore Your Competition, Focus on the Stable
Photo Credit: FoxTongue
I watched a recent interview with Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose the other day. In it, he was questioned as to how he, against the odds, “beat” the various etailers of the day pushing books online. His answer was fantastically elegant and straight forward. He is fanatical about aligning his organization to his [...]
I Might Pay for JotNot
There are very few times when I read something and think to myself, I must blog this immediately and tell as many people as possible.
This is one of those few times.
JotNot is a web service that converts pictures into documents. Send a picture to them by email or upload one to their website and get [...]
TED on Play
I am spending some cycles these days thinking on the integration of play and work. I happen to believe that there is some real magic to be had here for organizations and for firms looking to supply the next generation of software. Sure making work a game seems a bit out there (I get that), [...]
I Want VLI
Back in 2006 while on a trip to HQ, I sat in a meeting with some folks from the User Experience (UX) team. I don’t remember exactly what the purpose of the meeting was, but we wandered off topic and were just bouncing ideas off each other.
I threw out the idea of a zero interface, [...]
TweetDeck Adds Facebook, What’s Next?
As is usual during the weeks before and during South by Southwest, there are a lot of product announcements.
I’m not quite sure how/when it happened, but SXSW Interactive has become a nexus of startup activity and geekery, e.g. Twitter’s first bump came when the service won the SXSW Web Awards in 2007.
So, it’s become a [...]
Anatomy of a Spam Attack
Yesterday, I did some browsing of the web analytics for this blog to get comparison numbers for the browser stats I had for Connect.
Today, I went back to do a little more digging and some navel-gazing
We use Google Analytics, which I prefer to Mint for web metrics. It has loads of metrics beyond [...]
On Browsers
IE6 is like that cold that just won’t go away; you feel well enough to go to work, but it keeps sapping your energy.
To many users, IE6 is the Internet. It came with your computer, and it’s the way you get online. Resisting the urge to put online in quotes. Like many web apps, we’ve [...]
Trying Pivotal Tracker
Last week, Rich proposed that we try Pivotal Tracker for Connect.
Our work on Connect can be loosely described as agile. We generally meet, either in person or on the phone, to hash out major feature releases, and then Rich and Anthony build and deploy. And I test. Every six months or so, we rinse and [...]
APEX in the Cloud
This post about running APEX in the cloud by Jason Straub came across OraNA last week.
I’m surprised Chet didn’t pounce on it, being the APEX devotee that he is. Basically, you can now run APEX on Amazon EC2 for 60 cents.
Oracle has recently been rolling out more offerings with AWS, including database and backup images [...]
Connect Adds Geolocation
Now, we know where you are . . . but only if you tell us.
Yesterday, Rich completed the addition of geolocation tracking to Connect. Now, when you OraTweet your location or update your Connect status with the secret phrase “@location” followed by a place (address or city or country), Connect stores your location.
And that’s pretty [...]
Learning from Entertainment
Photo Credit: Timothy Hamilton
I recently watched this excellent video of Nick Fortugno at the Meaningful Play conference in 2008. If you are into designing games with a message behind them it is worth a watch.
Among other things, he highlights the basic split in entertainment between “form” and “content”. Form being the mechanics used to convey [...]
Leave a Comment using Facebook Connect
Just before Christmas, Disqus announced their support for Facebook Connect. At the time I remember being a little disappointed with the decision, due to Facebook’s closed nature and what seemed like a choice for the walled garden of Facebook and against the open web (OpenID, OAuth, OpenSocial).
I like Disqus; they’ve been responsive when we’ve had [...]
Batman vs. Superman
Here comes a topic for a Friday.
I try to torture my wife with this nerdy debate, but she consistently rises above the argument. So, I’m coming to the ‘tubes to get some real discussion.
This class comic book nerd debate is really Batman or Superman, not vs. which suggests they’re fighting. It’s styled as vs. because [...]
