Technology

Tuesday at JavaOne

The Scott McNealy Keynote was ok. I mean he had his rants and the slapping of the back by some consulting firm. Orbitz won a Dukie award for using Java and Jini that was cool. It�s nice to see a Chicago company get some recognition.

I went to some good sessions and some dogs. I attended a session on the new programming language Groovy. It is really nice and eliminates a great deal of java boilerplate. A friend of mine would like the support for closures and autoboxing. The Angry Penguin would like it because it can be run as an ant task.

I attended a session on instant messaging and presence. The best takeaways from that session were that the programming is slowly getting easier and this is going to big. Imagine a context aware device that facilitates and intermediates a customers experience. I say cool and the sooner the better.

Stay tuned more boring commentary to come.

Reviews, Travel

JavaOne Blog Begins

I am trying to blog as often as possible from JavaOne.

The Arrival

The flight out on America Airlines was full and uneventful. SFO was amazingly efficient in getting my bag out. The plane arrived at 1:15 and I was in a cab by 1:25, not bad for SFO. I am staying at the Westin St. Francis, the Cabbie new where the hotel was and made great time getting there. The only problem was that she could not get her credit card machine to process my card. The cab driver gave up after multiple phone calls to someone and lots of heated Portuguese. So lets see 4 hrs flying, 10 min to get my luggage, 20 min cab ride, 45 minutes trying to charge my credit card. aaaaahhhhhhh! She even had to call me later to get the expiration because the imprint didn’t get it, Go Figure. Here is my suggestion, how about a stored value smart card that you can buy at the airport for taxis, or flat rate vouchers you configure and buy at the airport. More to come�. Stay tuned.

Technology

SuSE 9.1 on my laptop

I just upgraded my laptop from Win 2K to SuSE 9.1 professional. I had some trouble with the install configuring the docking station display properly. I had to call in the Angry Penguin for assistance to resolve the problem. When I undocked the laptop again had a problem configuring the LCD. Using my feeble Linux skills I was able to resolve the problem. Display configuration aside Suse 9.1 is great. extreamely well developed and packaged. I have used RedHat 7 & 9 and Solaris none are as polished. I could replace my windows based system with SuSE 9.1. Wine is included and would allow me to run Office. Java is supplied along with most of the big open source software products.

Look out Mr. Gates a German lizard from Utah is coming to get you.

General

Getting Things Done: By David Allen

I just completed “Getting Things Done” by David Allen and found it to be simply insightful. David Allen thoughtfully and simply described a process to bring open items to objectives and actions. David Allen describes his Natural planning process as the act of applying actions we use everyday. You determine the outcome and identify the next action for all obligations. The book is laid out in a clear and linear fashion. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to more effectively manage their obligations.

Technology

Software Engineer Licensing

I attended a software engineering conference last week. Richard Mark Soley CEO of OMG was the keynote and gave an interesting presentation on MDA. Without going into the drawn out detail there was a panel discussion on the future of software engineering. One of the topics was licensing of software engineers by state governments. It seems there exists a group of people who believe governmental intervention will improve the quality of software.

What one thing is better after governmental intervention? In my opinion, legislation rarely results in an increase in quality. The environment and public education seem to be glaring examples were legislation has not resulted improved quality.

If software companies were held accountable for bugs, then we might see an improvement in software quality. There is a fine line to between holding companies accountable and hindering the industry. I am not sure that our fine government could find that fine line and not cross it. I guess that’s why state governments would rather put in place laws that could create classes of software professionals. As soon as you begin to require software engineers to take specific course work through universities we tie the opportunities in software engineering to socioeconomic institutions.

The workers control the means of production!

Food for Thought

Aaaaahh…..

I dream about building things that are beautiful and memorable.

I dream of building things that have QWAN (Quality Without A Name).

I dream of building things that ooze value and integrity.

I dream…..

Reviews

iTunes

I just downloaded iTunes. Apple knows user interface and has put together an impressive music catalog. The directed search is nice and the relevancy indicator is well done. I like the value added theme albums. They are the modern equivalent to the classic mix tape.

Bravo Steve Jobs, I don’t know much but I know I like iTunes.

Design is everything. iTunes may not dent the universe but it sure does make a nice effort.

PS. A qualifier, I don’t own any Apple products.

Book Review

The One Minute Manager

I read “The one Minute Manager” By Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson on the recommendation of a friend. I found the book interesting and straight forward in its approach. If you are looking for a book that provides a fundamental model for managing people this book could be of assistance. I found the method used to describe a one minute manager interesting and easy to read. The only flaw in the book is that it leaves a gap around leadership. It provides context for managing people but it does not lay out a context for leading people. I would recommend this book it should be in every manager’s library.

Food for Thought

Insight and Caution

Sir Winston Churchill said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” This quote at face value is nothing more than a commentary on architecture. The logic behind this quote is applicable across many endeavors not just the construction of a building. Its most profound applications arise when one considers the totality of ones life. That which we have constructed now holds and directs us. We must be mindful and exacting when composing the structures in our lives, for they can inspire us and imprison us.