10.20.06
Posted in General Rant at 9:10 am by Administrator
There’s been quite a number of stories in the past week about RIA’s – their definition and why people should/should not use them. For those of you that aren’t “hip” to all the crazy acronyms floating around these days – RIA stands for Rich Internet Applications.
RIA is an acronym that Macromedia (now owned by Abobe) came up with in 2003 as a way to basically sell Flash as a way to create “highly interactive” web-based applications. They later developed Flex – an application framework (based on the concept of remote flash), and have added a bunch of connectors to databases, and even a very basic IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that is a plug-in to the venerable Eclipse development environment.
Flex is an XML-based language and application server that are used (allegedly) to create scalable business application on web sites. The way it works is you write a bunch of XML files that contain code (with or without the IDE) – save it as a .swf (Flash) file, and upload it to the server. Then, on your page – you make reference to the .swf file – and when the page loads, the Flash plug-in the browser takes over and renders everything.
Flash itself is a very “sexy”, graphics-based technology that allows developers to build “pretty” interfaces that run in a web browser. Flash has cool effects like wipes, dissolves , etc. Traditionally, Flash has been used for web site animations, banner animations, etc. because it is very compact (files are small), and the installation of the Flash plug-in into a browser is very straight forward and easy.
The problem, in my view – is that there are LOTS of moving parts involved. There are LOTS of physical files that make up a final solution. There isn’t any automatic data binding – in fact, there’s very little “automatic” anything! Just for fun – check out this “simple” application of showing contact records from a database.
YIKES! I can build AND DEPLOY that solution in 15 seconds in Servoy – with ZERO code.
Besides being difficult to develop (and maintain) code – and the fact you have to have connectors and a messaging server, installing and configuring a J2EE application server (JRun, IBM Websphere, or BEA Weblogic) and all the rest of the requirements (at least deployment isn’t that hard) – there are a few other points that are a bit disconcerting:
- Data connections to back end databases? Ummm… yeah, but licensed separately – and good luck figuring out the messaging model.
- Mac Version? Ummm… yeah, sure, sometime.
- Cost? $1,000 per developer + Data Services (price TBD)
- 1 GB of memory (Flex Builder)
- Your application’s compiled SWF file is in the same domain as the remote data source. OR, if you use a proxy and your SWF is on the same server as the proxy.
- Loads, and loads and LOADS of code! In little files. LOTS of little files – all over the place.
Yeah, but is Servoy a “true” Rich Internet Application tool? In a word: YES. You can launch via a browser a 2K .jnlp file (Java WebStart config file – auto-generated by Servoy for you). Everything else happens outside the browser, but across the Internet (or LAN or WAN or VPN). Compiled methods are executed on the client. Data access, data connections, data change broadcasting, finding data, editing data, creating new rows, duplicating data, embedded JavaBeans, embedded JavaApplets, enhanced plug-in functions (get/post http; platform-specific dialogs, UDP calls, pop/smtp email, etc) are handled automatically by the Servoy application server (servlet) and Smart Client.
Servoy will do virtually all the same stuff (except the pretty transition effects) BUT:
With NO coding to setup all the “plumbing” behind the scenes.
With NO code to make data connections.
With NO code to bind data objects to “grids” for display.
With NO code to create relationships between tables.
With NO code to query the correct columns.
With NO code to query tables across different databases.
With NO code to broadcast data changes to other clients.
With NO need to “compile”/run to test changes to functionality.
With NO need to replace HTML code to roll out newer versions.
Servoy is THE easy way to a truly Rich Internet Application.
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10.19.06
Posted in General Rant at 11:08 am by Administrator
The big news a couple of months ago was Apple’s announcement that it would ship a program (currently in beta) called “Boot Camp” that would allow users of the MacBook (with the new Intel dual core processor) dual boot between Mac OS X and Windows. I guess hell really did freeze over.
Maybe Steve & Company finally realized that they really do only have about 4% of the OS market. I guess they figured if people run Windows on Apple Hardware, then they would also finally be exposed to the “computing for the rest of us” – the elegant way that computer interfaces should be.
I guess they’re hoping Windows users will wonder at the seamless way that a Mac will recognize peripherals, wireless networks, and other goodies that often require untold downloads and installs of various service packs, driver updates, “have CD” installs and all the other crap that is standard procedure on any Windows box.
If I were Microsoft, I would be “concerned.”
Microsoft is busy missing shipping deadlines for Vista (their next version of the Windows operating system); heavily promoting “studies” (that they funded) slamming Linux as a server OS; and also readying a new update to Office; and Exchange; and SQL Server; and .NET; and Visual Studio; and… and… and… oh, never mind. Let’s just say they’re updating everything under the sun – in order to stay relevant. To keep their OS dominance in the marketplace.
Meanwhile, the world is a changing. Sun released their Solaris OS as open source. Open Office is gaining steam in new versions as a viable alternative to the Office suite. Red Hat just bought middleware maker JBoss (also open source) to beef up their Linux server platform. Oracle is buying up open source companies like they were going out of style.
If I were Microsoft, I would be “very concerned.”
The cash cows of Microsoft have traditionally been it’s Server operating system, Office productivity suite, and SQL Server database. With Linux (server operating system), Open Office (and cousin Star Office from Sun – productivity suite), and MySQL costing a small fraction of the price with 80%+ of the functionality – and all being open-source – the Microsoft cash cows are starting to look like hamburger.
Then, while surfing this week, I came across something – yet another open source, reasonably priced piece of software. It’s called Zimbra. This app is delivered via a browser and uses AJAX. It comes with a “collaboration server” – and the web-based UI is optional. You can just as easily use Thunderbird or even Outlook. The AJAX-based UI is very cool and has drag/drop capabilities, a “reading pane” for emails, a collaborative calendar, supports an API that would allow developers to create “Zimlets” that would – for example – get information on a FedEx package when the cursor is rolled over it, etc.
Oh, and they also just announced they would be adding a word processing and spreadsheet to the suite as well. Cost? “Small Business Edition” at $1,450 per year for up to 50 users, or the “Standard Edition” at $28 per user/year (min 500 – then in blocks of 50). Included is access to their knowledge base, email, phone and 24×7 crisis support.
Can you say “Exchange killer?” Unlike Google’s disjointed offerings and Microsoft’s own LAME “Live Office” offering – this is looking very interesting. And cheap. And open-source. And browser-based. And cheap.
If one of the “big boys” (Google, Yahoo, etc.) picked up on this technology and were able to push it through their already huge network of users – well… it could be the beginning of the end of the Microsoft-dominated software era.
If I were Microsoft, I would be “afraid.” Very afraid.
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10.18.06
Posted in General Rant at 12:07 pm by Administrator
During a late-night break from programming this week – I caught an old episode of Saturday Night Live that cracked me up – and inspired me to ask this question:
The Mac OS is cooler than Windows because:
a) It’s built on Linux
b) Steve Jobs can do do wrong
c) It’s got more cowbell
Answer: C – more cowbell.
“More cowbell” is the punch line to a five year old skit that featured Christopher Walken and was a spoof of VH1’s “Behind the Music.” The “show” takes a “behind-the-scenes” look at what might have happened when the 1970s band Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) went into the studio to record “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – one of the bands most recognized songs.
Those of you who are old enough to know what a “record” is (hint – has nothing to do with databases) – you know that “Don’t Fear The Reaper” features a prominent cowbell during the entire song.
I won’t ruin the fun by explaining the skit – but Walken steals the show with “I gotta’ have more cowbell!” – as he pleads with the band members who are annoyed with Gene Frenkle’s (played by Will Farrell) incessant cowbell beating.
That got me to thinking about what “I gotta’ have more cowbell” really means. On the surface, it’s just a silly saying really only aprapose in the context of the skit. On a deeper level (stay with me here) it’s actually got some meaning beyond the context of a “cute” skit.
To me, it’s a battle cry for accentuating the positive – and calling for more of “it.” “It” in this case is whatever “it” is that makes a product or service go beyond just acceptable and brings it into the realm of “gotta’ have it.”
Some examples:
- The Ritz Carlton’s High Tea
- Riding a BMW R1200 RT over a winding mountain road
- Servoy
- Zillow.com
- Wired Magazine
- Nordstrom’s
It’s not often that I have a “cowbell moment” – but when I do – I’m generally hooked. I look forward to having that moment again and again. Even more than that – I EXPECT it. It raises the bar for not only that product or service – but my baseline expectation is that of excellence – everytime. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – until the inevitable happens – the human factor.
Someone drops the ball.
Some invoice gets lost.
Some phone call gets missed.
Some website goes down.
Basically – life happens. No matter how hard you try, or how well the planning goes – there are those times when everything goes to hell in a handbasket and there is little or nothing you can do about it.
So how does that affect the “cowbell” experience? If you’ve already had the “cowbell” experience, and you’re a “fan”, then it’s probably not that big of a deal. I mean, everyone (person and company) has a bad hair day occasionally.
However, If you’re not already a “fan” – then it can sometimes make the difference between becoming one and not. Or at least your expectation is set lower than the reality – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This just means, in the case of a really great company, you’ll be delighted (if you give them a second chance) and then hopefully, you’ll have your own “cowbell” moment.
Thought for today: “Guess what? I’ve got a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell!“
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10.16.06
Posted in General Rant at 9:02 am by Administrator
My wife and I have been on some wonderful vacations together. We have enjoyed many different cities, states and even countries together.
I recently had the opportunity to go with her and the kids on a getaway for a long weekend. Those of you who have children can attest to one thing: when you’re traveling with your children – there is no such thing as a “vacation” – it’s a “trip.”
There is a vast difference between a vacation and a trip.
A vacation is a chance to unwind and re-charge your batteries.
A trip is something you do to get out of the house.
On a vacation, you “splurge” for a nice room with a view – in a 4 star hotel.
On a trip – you map out the route based on “super saver specials” and refer to the Motel6 website for inspiration.
On a vacation you enjoy intimate meals and private moments.
On a trip – you scarf McDonalds and install earplugs for the mind-numbing screams in the indoor play area.
On a vacation your time is your own – you can sleep in, read, get a massage and take long walks hand-in-hand.
On a trip – you can get up at 6:30am to watch Dora the Explorer, grab breakfast at 8:00am and be totally exhausted by lunch.
On vacation you can read the morning paper over coffee, hop in the car to explore new areas, and dine al fresco.
On a trip – you can read page one of the paper on the toilet (if you’re lucky), spend 25 minutes getting ready to go on the day’s outing (complete with 1/2 the luggage you brought “just in case”), and dine in any “kid friendly” hash joint you choose.
On a vacation you stroll the Champ-Elysees and have a meal at a quaint French sidewalk cafe overlooking Notre Dame.
On a trip – you go to Buffalo Bill’s in Primm Nevada (”the hotel with the rollercoaster, Daddy!”) and endure a bland all-you-can-eat buffet.
On a vacation you shuss down slopes of white powder followed by a Hot Toddy in front of a roaring fire in the lodge.
On a trip – you put the kids in “ski school”and shuss down slopes of white powder followed by a Hot Toddy in front of a roaring fire in the lodge (hey, I’m not STUPID!).
On a vacation you escape to a local hotel – even just overnight – for an evening of quality time and romance in a room with a comfortable oversized bed and fluffy down pillows.
On a trip – you “get as many miles behind you” as possible – hoping the kids will not fall asleep too early so you can collapse into a rock-hard bed with foam pillows.
You get the idea. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love to travel with my family. We go interesting places, and half the fun is to watch the kids enjoying themselves and see them learn and experience things for the first time. I get a chance to experience things that I probably wouldn’t normally “choose” to do if the kids weren’t there. Plus, there are plenty of bright spots during a trip – otherwise I wouldn’t go on them anymore.
It’s just… well… a vacation is totally different. I really look forward to them because I don’t take them often. I relish “catching up” with my wife and having the luxury of being completely selfish with our quality time together. I don’t have to worry about schedules, email, phone calls, potty breaks every 30 minutes (at the most inappropriate times), etc.
Software can be the same way. For me, using Servoy is like going on a vacation. Other software I use is simply a trip.
Thought for today: If you’re tired of your “trippy” software – give Servoy a look-see. http://www.servoy.com
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10.14.06
Posted in General Rant at 1:14 pm by Administrator
Google’s “PayPal killer” buying system, Microsoft’s “iPod killer” and Parallels “Boot Camp Killer”
Google is releasing a payments and certification service named GBuy on June 28. Merchants enrolled in the program would receive free payment processing during the beta period after that they will be charged between 1.5% to 2%. In addition, each merchant who drinks the multi-colored KoolAid will be designated by Google (on the search results) as a “trusted GBuy merchant.” I’m sure the thought here is that if the average joe search user sees this – they will be more likely to click on the link – and perhaps even buy from that merchant. Although not explicitly stated – don’t you think that GBuy-certified merchants will appear higher in the rankings? Nah! After all, Google’s motto is “don’t be evil”…
Once Google has this setup, and has a boatload of merchants – do you honestly think they won’t go after consumer-to-consumer payments? If I were PayPal, I’d start to grease up…
Microsoft’s vaporware PR machine has been blowing steam about a new music store and handheld device that will rival Apple’s iPod/iTunes combo. Of course the “announcement” was very vague, with no specific features listed, no prices, no timeframe for launch… but hey, those are just annoying minor details. I don’t know where Microsoft comes up with all their brilliant ideas. An online music store? A handheld MP3 player that will play the songs you buy and download from an online music store? REVOLUTIONARY!
It’s just another lame-ass attempt at the MIcrosoft mantra: “Embrace and extend” – which translated another way is: “Rip off and make proprietary”. It’s something they’re very, very good at. Here’s just a few examples:
- Windows (based on Mac OS)
- SQL Server (originally licensed from Sybase)
- Excel (based on VisiCalc)
- Word (based on WordPerfect)
- Mobile OS (based on Palm Pilot)
- Internet Explorer (based on Netscape)
- X-Box (based on Sony PSP)
- Visual Basic (based on Basic)
- C# (based on Java)
- Vista “eye candy” (based on Mac OS)
- Vista desktop search (based on Mac OS/Google)
- MSN advertiser-sponsored search (based on Google)
- Windows Media Player (based on RealPlayer)
Ummmmm… you get the idea. I think they’ll do what they did with the X-Box, and eat most of the cost and offer it for a really reduced price to gain market share. Hey, why not? They’ve got over $34 billion in cash just sitting around…
Finally, there is one of my new favorite companies – Parallels, Inc. and their virtualization software by the same name. Is it a Boot Camp killer? Yes. Boot Camp is beta software from Apple that lets you set the boot OS (Mac OS or Windows). Once you’ve booted up in that OS, you have to effectively shut down that OS to start the other one. Yeah, I know it’s lame! With Parallels, you can have your Mac OS AND run Windows (see my previous column) at the same time. This is the promise of “Virtual PC” – fulfilled! There are some rumors that the next version of Mac OS (Leopard – due later this year) MIGHT contain that same functionality… but Apple is being mute about features in Leopard until their World Wide Developers Conference in August (the opposite strategy of Microsoft!).
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10.13.06
Posted in General Rant at 2:24 pm by Administrator
I’ve been in the market for a different car. There are lots of choices out there… too many!
There is a LOT of competition out there for things that do basically the same thing – with basically the same purpose: to get you from one place to another.
They all even have the same basic parts: chassis, body, doors, windows, engine, wheels, seats, steering wheel, lights, etc.
So – from a purely practical point of view – they all do the same thing – and they all have the same basic features (at the core). Why, then, are there so many different manufacturers and so many model types within those different brands?
I think it all comes down to this: Different strokes for different folks with different budgets and needs.
Car manufacturers are very, very good at creating different models that appeal to different types of drivers. Once they identify a wide niche (or a best-selling trend by a competitor) – they create a full-fledged vehicle to try to appeal to that demographic. This is a huge investment. Often in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It often takes anywhere between 18 months and 36 months to bring those cars into production (if they ever see the light of day in the first place).
When they sit down to design a car for a particular segment of driver – they make sure that everything about the design will appeal to that segment. For example, If you pick a brand and model – say “BMW 760Li” that car is designed for a very specific buyer/driver and that is much different than a “Toyota Corolla“. Both do the same thing. Both are made from basically the same parts. One is $118,000 – the other is $14,000.
In the end it depends on what you need, what you want, and what you can afford.
If you’re driving a old, beat-up ‘69 bug that you bought new, and is still “good transportation” and you’re happy with it – then there’s no need to change. On the other hand, if you just bought a new Toyota Corolla and it’s not meeting your needs – it’s not like they come with 30 day money back guarantee. You would have to trade in that car to get a new one – and you would find out that it has lost value based on the number of miles, etc. so you won’t get what you paid for it. Of course, this varies by model and how desirable it is, and how many people want to buy it used. The dealer of the new car would take your old (new) car, figure out what they could sell it for (plus a profit) and credit that against the price of the car (or truck) you “really” want.
There is a period of transition as you get “used to” the new (new) car. Things work differently. You have re-input all your favorite radio stations. You have to set up the automatic garage door opener. You have to set up the seat adjustment, the mirror positions to fit you. You probably will want to customize it in some way – personalized license plates, an evergreen deodorizer, custom wheels, etc.
It’s the same will ALL cars. Same with trucks. Same with SUV’s.
Same with software.
There are lots of choices for storing and retrieving your data. There are desktop databases that are inexpensive and easy-to-use, there are high-end RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) systems, and Open-Source databases, and free databases, and proprietary databases. There are also many, many different tools for getting your information in and out of those databases – client software, HTML-based CGI programs, dumb terminal software, etc.
Once you get software you think you want, you have to configure it and customize it for your own needs. Once you have it customized and working – chances are good that it will continue to work well (with regular maintenance) for a long time.
NOTHING lasts forever.
At some point, you’ll have to upgrade your car, I mean database. There are different circumstances – but it really all comes down to the same issues that you have when you’re thinking about trading in your car: reliability, fitness for purpose and scalability.
Reliability – are you spending more time and money “fixing” and “patching” what you have than you are actually using it?
Fitness For Purpose – have you “outgrown” it. A two-seater convertible was awesome when you were single – but does it meet the needs of your growing family?
Scalability – does it meet not only your needs – but your anticipated needs. After all, if you’re going to get a new car (or software) – it should not only meet your current needs but your needs for the next few years (at least) as well.
If you’re using some stone-age 4GL and you’re in a place where you have 50 or more users – and you’re “old clunker” of a system is ready for a replacement – then check out Servoy - you’ll be glad you did.
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10.12.06
Posted in General Rant at 11:25 am by Administrator
For years Oracle has been running its “Unbreakable” ad campaign – touting how Oracle is hacker-proof – especially on Linux.
Well, it turns out that they are not quite “unbreakable” – as they just released a security patch that fixes 83 “critical” security flaws. I guess they have a good excuse – beyond just the normal “Ooops, my bad” – that seems to be going around.
After all, they have been on a $19 Billion buying spree over the last two years. They had such a hard-on to “slaughter” SAP in the CRM space and after finally buying PeopleSoft (and JD Edwards as a result) – they’ve been really “busy” with the whole “integration thing.”
So who could notice that… ummm… by the way – your database, the main product for Oracle, the “thingie” that hundreds of thousands of businesses use to store mission-critical, personal customer information in is… well… sorta’ broken.
More than a little disturbing? That would be a “yes.” Because at the end of the day – “unbreakable” is just a marketing campaign – right? Wrong.
Hackers are the ones that take the “unbreakable” tag line to heart – and they aren’t exactly the ones coming forward with sample code for exploits they find. Rather, they’re the ones that keep silent and just steal a coupla’ million rows worth of personal or confidential data. Confident that their victims are all warm and snug in their beds – 100% secure in the fact that their prized information is totally safe in an “unbreakable” repository.
Never let it be said that Larry Ellison would let the facts get in the way of a great tag line.
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