The final afternoon of the Business Leadership Forum focused on the big picture -- of both global political factors and technology. A panel included Karl-Heinz Grasser, Federal Minister of Finance for the Republic of Austria. He spoke about how governments can not only avoid being an obstacle to innovation and growth but also encourage competition thereby creating more jobs. The panel was bullish about how the information revolution -- ushered in by the microprocessor in the early 1970's and the Internet of the 1990's -- has led to an explosion of new products and new business models, However, there was a consensus that retaliation from poor economies and over-regulation by some countries could stymie the growth. 

Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University and commissioner in the European Union for ten years, was quite optimistic about the EU -- a market of 480 million people -- and said that the EU itself is an innovation. He said that Europe is much more like the U.S. than it was. It is now a single market, has a single currency, and has been expanding market reach around the world. The shortcoming is that Europe, unlike America, does not yet have a constitution. This results in an economic disadvantage because the European community can not make a decision for the total. The European economy is not innovating quickly enough and in fact some countries are protecting the past at the expense of the future. Mario says it is time for "naming and shaming" the laggards through peer reviews. Then he got more specific -- "Germany, France, and Italy are behind on liberalization of service markets and have resisted initiatives to increase competition". These three countries will have a negative impact on the Euro which in turn will hurt the rest of Europe. Mr. Monti's presentation was sobering but hopeful. He said the EU has a lot of good features, that it can protect intellectual property but also move against monopolies such as Microsoft. The key to get innovation going in Europe is for the EU to innovate itself by completing it's constitution.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger kicked off the final segment of the forum, which focused on the future. IBM supports Linux because it is a great operating system for computers. Irving introduced Linus Torvalds the developer of Linux which he published as a student in 1991. Don Tapscott, a widely acclaimed author, who invented the term "paradigm shift", then moderated the final panel which included Linus, Nick Donofrio, executive vice president for innovation and technology at IBM, and Ann Mettler, executive director and co-founder of The Lisbon Council. It was a wide-ranging discussion. Linus is an incredibly humble guy. He said he has no vision, just looks 5 cm ahead before each step, and loves to solve technical problems. Linux is successful, he says, because both the development and the decision making are distributed -- a "built-in meritocracy". Don asked why volunteers worked on Linux for no economic return. Linus said, "if you were all engineers, you would not be asking that question". Open source software is viable in most all software areas, with the only exception being niche markets which are too small to get adequate collaboration. "Open source will take over most all infrastructure".

Ann said there is a huge gap between businesses which are moving ahead rapidly and societies which feel left behind. The key problem is that the economy is 70% services but the regulations and governance are still based on an industrial model. She believes that government should learn how to innovate from businesses. "Politicians are clueless about the discussion of the past day and a half". She says that businesses need to share their leanings with society. The labor market in Europe is flat because companies do not want to hire and that is because the laws are so onerous. "You can hire but you can't fire". Labor reform is needed desperately.

Nick says' It' s all about change". IBM is doing a balancing act by supporting both open things and proprietary things. The company is generating a lot of patents but also giving away a lot of patents to move the ball forward in key markets such as healthcare and education. "The world can move ahead faster if the OS is Linux -- it is good enough and a "blow for freedom". A California venture capitalist asked about business ethics and Nick was very aggressive in his response saying it was not optional for companies to be totally and completely ethical in every respect. (Having been at IBM for 38 years, I can say I never ever had a  concern about ethics at the company). Nick summarized that anyone can innovate if they are willing to change. "If nothing changes, nothing changes". Sam wrapped up the conference by saying corporations need to be transparent. Their ultimate responsibility is to create value for the constituencies: stockholders, customers, employees. He walks the talk.  

Intro to Roman Rendezvous Stories
Index to Roman Rendezvous stories

Overview

Web development incorporates all areas of creating a Web site for the World Wide Web. This includes Web design (graphic design, XHTML, CSS, usability and semantics), programming, content management, marketing, testing and deployment. The term can also specifically be used to refer to the "back end", that is, programming and server administration.

ref: Wikipedia: Web Development

For whatever reason, Amazon’s S3 has captured my attention since the day it launched.

I want to use S3 for an online backup of my most important files. (I already do nightly local backups of everything, but that’s not enough. I’m paranoid.)

I’m finally close to reaching this goal, but it’s not been terribly easy.

Here’s a brief recount of my trials with S3 so far:

1. s3DAV. It didn’t work so well on OS X. The developer was really helpful, so we traded a few emails while he attempted to get it working on OS X from across the Atlantic. No luck.

2. JungleDisk (via Steven Frank). Much, much better. Of course I jumped in head-first and ran my backup script immediately, which attempted to copy 10GB of data to my S3 account. That took all night and then some; I finally had to cancel the operation. But somehow I managed to bork (technically speaking, of course) my S3 bucket so JungleDisk beach-balled every time I tried to connect.

3. S3 Browser. I found this while looking for a way to get into my account and delete the screwed-up bucket. Too bad there was no way to delete more than one file at a time — I would’ve had to press “Delete” 15,000 times. Not fun.

4. jSh3ll. Like most things of this nature, I had to turn to the command-line to get anything done. In a rare moment of competency, I downloaded and built jSh3ll (using Ant, no less) on my Power Mac and connected to my S3 account. I deleted the troublesome bucket from the command-line and now I’m back to square one (mostly).

I’m running a much smaller backup to S3 right now. Wish me luck.

(Oh, and have a good weekend! Michelle and I are headed to Green Lake for the holiday. How about you?)

Here’s a common design problem: You have a long list of data, far too long to fit on one screen.

Sound familiar? You might be tempted to paginate the results, using something like this or this to help users navigate through the list.

Why not use the scrollbar?

The scrollbar was invented as a way of helping users navigate a long list of data through a limited viewport. It’s still relevant and useful — though often overlooked — today.

I’m a big fan of the scrollbar. Implementing it requires no extra development work (it’s built in to the browser), and the popularity of scroll-wheel mice means scrolling is no longer a pain in the neck. Scrollbars also offer some usability benefits — browsing, comparing and place-finding is easier than with a paged list.

One challenge is extremely large lists. Some datasets are so large that loading them all on one page is just too slow. (We have this problem with some long email subscriber lists.)

But the rest of the time, scrollbars work — better than you’d think.

I’m officially pro-scollbar. Mark me down.

Late, late, late on a Tuesday night almost two weeks ago, we re-launched FeedBurner.com with much-needed updates to the design, content and overall direction.

Traci already commented on the strategic importance of the new site, while Rachelle provided a more personal account.

But as the designer and half-developer (Rachelle did the other half — actually, probably more than half — with great skill and speed), I’m going to share a couple of “behind the scenes” details that I find super neat. Hopefully you’ll feel the same way.

Powered By FeedBurner

Going in to this project, two requirements became clear:

1. Traci (our marketing director) needed the ability to make content updates without routing all changes through the design team.

2. Many types of content needed to be reused in slightly different settings and formats around the site.

To address these requirements, we came up with the idea of modular content — basically, little nuggets of content that can be randomized, subscribed, inserted and updated anywhere.

For a couple of content types — blog posts, publisher buzz, press releases — we used feeds and our very own BuzzBoost service to repurpose content wherever we needed it on the site (mmm, dog food). For others, we generated custom blocks of static HTML or Javascript and included those in the JSPs that contain forms, session information (“You are signed in as…”) and other application components.

Of course, we had to generate all of this content somewhere…

Powered By MovableType

We’re using MovableType to store and publish the press releases, in the news, events, corporate backgrounder, stats, Publisher Buzz, and of course our blog, Burning Questions. Our MovableType installation is rigged up with a variety of templates that publish static files in HTML, Javascript and Atom formats — all of which are then pulled into the pages like I mentioned above.

One of the complaints people have about MovableType — that it creates static files by default — is actually a huge advantage here. We’re able to publish flat, lightweight static files to a single server, then pull in these files in a variety of ways across our distributed server environment.

Elegant, dual-float layout

When I was first learning CSS, doing multi-column layouts was always the hardest part. Even two-column layouts seemed tricky, weighing the pros and cons of various approaches and never being totally satisfied with the end result.

Then I got floats. Like, really got them. It was Doug Bowman’s slides from this presentation that secured my understanding and I haven’t fretted about CSS layouts since.

On the new FeedBurner.com, everything but the home page uses a classic dual-float, two-column layout. I set a width on both columns in the CSS, then assigned float:left on the left column and float:right on the right. Finished with a clear:both footer, it’s a solid layout that works regardless of which column is longest.

A new approach to navigation

While many sites feature massive navigation (practically a site map), we took a page from Flickr’s design books this time around and divided our navigation into two sections. A high-priority “primary” navigation and a lower-priority “secondary” navigation are based on prominence, not hierarchy, which helps focus the page and not overwhelm people with choices.

We also made heavy use of in-text hyperlinking across sections, to encourage exploration without forcing folks to grok and traverse our site architecture via the navigation.

Coming soon

Perhaps the best things to come out of this redesign process haven’t arrived yet. As a result of our extensive brainstorming and planning, we have tons of ideas and a general roadmap for web site improvements over the coming months.

And now, with the addition of Rachelle Bowden to our team, we have the manpower womanpower to get it done.

Questions? Comments?

Use the comment form. As always, I love to hear from you!

• Greg Payne spotted a sign on the highway in Norwalk, Connecticut: “Superman Returns Toys.” He asked himself, “Why, was he dissatisfied with them?”

• Amazon.co.uk’s review of the Steve Coogan movie Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story included this, to the surprise of Paul Hassett: “Nor is the versatile filmmaker a stranger to the post-modern romp, like 24 Hour Party People. In that peon to Manchester’s music scene, Steve Coogan was Factory honcho Tony Wilson.”

• “I always knew that moving up in a corporation was hard work,” Reg Brehaut e-mailed, “but now it has been documented: an editorial in Computerworld (Vol 22, No. 12) refers to their current Salary Survey results, in which ‘Every wrung of the corporate ladder is represented.’”

• Susan Gable found a comment in the Mashpee Enterprise, a newspaper based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that may arouse an image you’d prefer to avoid at the breakfast table: “Coyotes will gladly go for food left in unsecured garbage cans and household pets.”

• Our old friend the misplaced modifier has turned up again, this time in the Netscape News Anchor Commentary last Monday about that building that collapsed in Manhattan: “There was one person inside the building at the time of the explosion, a doctor of Emergency Medicine. After spending about 90 minutes trapped in the rubble, firefighters pulled the doctor to safety.” You’ve got to admire those firefighters; even being buried doesn’t stop ‘em.

• And finally, a couple of headlines that might be errors or could be quiet jokes by bored sub-editors. Michael Keating found this one on the normally extremely sober news@nature.com site: “Bruno the bear: released to the Italian Alps, meets grizzly end in Germany.” And a headline from last Monday’s Guardian: “Rare flower found on site is a plant, says developer.” [A word of explanation is perhaps needed here: a California developer claims a rare protected plant called the Sebastopol meadowfoam found on a site he is about to develop was transplanted there by opponents in order to stop him. The dispute has become known as Foamgate.]

Lately I've been working on ‘Den’ and other things relating to the E programming language.

Looking for a great SQL Code Camp to attend? Check this out ?

What is SQL Down Under Code Camp?

SQL Down Under Code Camp is a SQL Server community driven event which allows people with interests across the SQL Server and Data Access platform to come together in one location and see speakers (including many expert presenters) present on a wide range of developer topics. It is being run in conjunction with Charles Sturt University and PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server). We are still finalising the sessions for this year. The call for speakers will close 31st July 2006.

Check it our here

UMPC and Tablet PC Application Contest

Develop and Win a UMPC

Handango is looking for fresh Tablet PC and Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) software content. Are you up for the development challenge? By converting your existing Pocket PC or smartphone applications or creating an entirely new title for Tablet PC and UMPC, you?ll be eligible to win one of three Ultra-Mobile PCs! Personal productivity, travel, fitness, medical, multimedia, and entertainment titles are all great fits for Handango's catalog. The contest runs from now until August 31. Start coding!

How to get started:

1. To begin development, please visit the Ultra-Mobile PC Development Quick Start Guide.
2. If you have questions, please visit the MSDN Mobile PC and Tablet PC Developer Center or e-mail mpcisv@microsoft.com.
3. For ways to optimize your UMPC applications for touch and ink, check out Microsoft Sudoku.
4. Test your application in the UMPC Display Emulator.
5. After completing your application and verifying that it?s compatible with Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs, e-mail the Handango Tablet PC team to submit your titles.

The deadline for all entries is August 31, 2006.
 
Winners for top personal, media and entertainment, and multimedia and communications applications will be announced in September.

Please contact tabletpc@handango.com if you have questions or need additional details. We look forward to seeing your applications.

Device Security Manager Powertoy for Windows Mobile 5.0 Released!

This test tool helps developers of Windows Mobile applications test various security policies for Windows Mobile devices.

Overview: It is designed as a desktop application that ships with a preset list of ?security configurations?. A security configuration can be thought of as a template, which contains a collection of individual policies and settings. For example, a security configuration could define policies such as whether unsigned applications are allowed to execute, whether RAPI is disabled etc. Using this tool, the developer can provision a Windows Mobile device with different configurations, and then test the application?s behavior under these configurations. This tool can be used either on an emulator or an unlocked Windows Mobile device.

Check it out here

CoDe (Component Developer) Magazine, The leading independent publication for .NET Developers announced that they will feature a page in each issue dedicated to .NET related events where CoDe Magazine is present.  Whether it is INETA events, Code Camps, User Group meetings, or developer-centric conferences or meetings, CoDe Magazine is in the thick of it!  Have your event, speaker, or group featured in CoDe Magazine with ?CoDe on the Road.?  Simply send in a picture of a featured speaker, your group or event along with a name, title and brief caption and it may appear in CoDe helping you spread the word about your group or event to the Microsoft developer community!  ?CoDe on the Road? will also have an online element to display more photos.  Tom Buckley of CoDe Magazine encourages that submissions be kept simple and to not forget to have a little fun with them.  You may submit pictures to tbuckley@code-magazine.com for review and publication.  Picture files must be a minimum of 1.5 MB for print.

WMDVUG July 19th Meeting - Registration Open

The event registration URL for the July 19th meeting of the Windows Mobile Developer Virtual User Group is now open! You can register via this link at the Microsoft Events site. Please be sure to register right away!

See you online! 

1. Spotlight (too slow, too inexhaustive, too unfocused)


2. Dashboard (utterly devoid of any obvious function)


3. Safari RSS (even if I hadn't bought NetNewsWire, a link to the free download of NetNewsWire Lite would have been more useful and a lot less effort)


4. iChat AV (I have no camera, and Adium supports the protocols people I know use)


5. Automator (unlikely to replace cron(8) and Ruby)


6. QuickTime 7 (crippled unless I pay $29/year to use it)


7. .Mac Sync (useless unless I pay $99/year to use it)


8. VoiceOver (I'm not blind)


9. Parental Controls (I'm not a parent, and I don't believe in censorship)


10. Mail (slow search, awkward editing; it was better in 10.3)

VMware Player

Free virtual machine player from VMware The free VMware Player lets you run pre-built virtual machines on your desktop.You can run multiple operating systems side-by-side, easing the process of software development, testing, and evaluation.Virtual machines developed in VMware Workstation, ESX Server, or VMware Server can be run in VMware Player.To run the VMware Player, just run /usr/bin/vmplayer from within X.

Note: You will also need the VMware Player kernel modules to run vmplayer. These can be built from source from vmware-player-kernel-source, or you can install a pre-built vmware-player-kernel-modules package for your kernel.

Version: 1.0.1-4