php-horde-feed 2.0.1-4 / usr / share / php / tests / Horde_Feed / Horde / Feed / fixtures / lexicon / http-www.windley.com-rss.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Phil Windley&apos;s Technometria</title>
<link>http://www.windley.com/</link>
<description>Organizations Get the IT They Deserve</description>
<copyright>Copyright 2008</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:47:40 -0700</lastBuildDate>
<generator>http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.1</generator>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> 


<item>
<title>A Day Without a Laptop</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>
I forgot my laptop at home today.  Just drove off without it.  Left it sitting in the garage.  Ugh.
</p>

<p>
Fortunately, today wasn't a day that I was planning on spending the day coding.  My development environment runs in Fusion on my MBP, so that would have been tough.  I had a day of meetings and discussion and for that, my iPhone worked just fine.
</p>

<p>
For the most part, I take my laptop everywhere I go.  This mistake has taught me that I could take it fewer places and get by.  
</p>

<p>
What suffered?  I couldn't pusblish today's show on IT Conversations from my iPhone very easily.  I couldn't blog easily.  As I mentioned, I was without my development environment.  Other than that, life went on.  
</p> ]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: </p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/a_day_without_a_laptop.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/a_day_without_a_laptop.shtml</guid>
<category></category>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:47:40 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>August CTO Breakfast at UTOSC</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
August CTO Breakfast at UTOSC
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
utah, events, open+source, cto, breakfast
-->
<p>
A few days ago <a
href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/cto_breakfast_on_friday_2.shtml">I
said</a> that we wouldn't be holding a CTO breakfast in August.  I
was wrong.  In fact, we'll be holding the breakfast on August 28 in
conjunction with the <a href="http://2008.utosc.com/pages/home/">Utah
Open Source Conference</a> at Salt Lake Community College.  Please
mark your calendars.  
</p>

<p>
If you're a regular breakfast attendee, I have discount codes for
UTOSC that I can give you.  Just send me a note.  
</p>

]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/utah" rel="tag, nofollow">
utah</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/events" rel="tag, nofollow">
events</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/open+source" rel="tag, nofollow">
open+source</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/cto" rel="tag, nofollow">
cto</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/breakfast" rel="tag, nofollow">
breakfast</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/august_cto_breakfast_at_utosc.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/august_cto_breakfast_at_utosc.shtml</guid>
<category>utah, events, open+source, cto, breakfast, </category>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:45:26 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Saving Money by Slowing Down: Applying Technology</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Saving Money with Speed
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
politics, gas
-->
<p>
With the high price of gasoline, lots of people are looking for ways
to save money on gas.  The simplest method is simply to slow down.
The drag on a vehicle goes up with the fourth power of the speed.
That implies a  <em>very crisp</em> knee in the curve.  
</p>

<p>
Of course, the standard answer would be "lower the speed limit to
55MPH."  But that would really be a bummer for people on long
trips.  We have better technology than in the 70's. 
Most people cruising down the highway at 75 don't know that they
could slow down 10 or 20 MPH and save real money.  Let's give them
data.   Here's my proposal.
</p>

<p>
Why don't cars come with a meter that shows how much you're spending
right now on gas.  Turn instantaneous mileage into instantaneous
dollars and you'll see real behavior change.  That leaves people free
to choose and most will choose saving money when there's no
compelling reason not to while leaving people the freedom to spend
money to get where they need to be.  
</p>

<p>
One step further: create an online game where people can compete for
best performance over a given route. 
</p>


<p>
I'm looking for an iPhone app that does this for starters.  
</p>]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/politics" rel="tag, nofollow">
politics</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/gas" rel="tag, nofollow">
gas</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/saving_money_by_slowing_down_applying_technology.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/saving_money_by_slowing_down_applying_technology.shtml</guid>
<category>politics, gas, </category>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:31:39 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Using bit.ly with MovableType</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>
I've been using the <a href="http://plugins.movabletype.org/mttwitter-1/">mt-twitter</a> plugin to automatically publish blog articles to Twitter.  I find that I get more readers that way than RSS or my newsletter at this point.  One problem is that you don't get any good stats that way.  I've modified the mt-twitter plugin to use bit.ly now to solve that problem.  With bit.ly you can click on the "info" link and get good stats about who clicked from where.  
</p>
<p>
This is the code I added to the <tt>_update_twitter</tt> function:
</p>
<pre class="code">
 my $bitly = LWP::UserAgent->new;
 my $url_response = 
       $bitly->get("http://bit.ly/api?url=" . $obj->permalink);
 my $small_url;
 if($url_response->is_success) {
    $small_url = $url_response->content;
} else {
   $small_url = $obj->permalink;
}
</pre>
<p>
Of course, you also have to change the line that creates the twitter message to use the new shortened URL (<tt>$small_url</tt>) instead of the permalink directly.  
</p>]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/blogging" rel="tag, nofollow">
blogging</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/perl" rel="tag, nofollow">
perl</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/movabletype" rel="tag, nofollow">
movabletype</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/using_bitly_with_movabletype.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/using_bitly_with_movabletype.shtml</guid>
<category>blogging, perl, movabletype, </category>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:21:44 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Top Ten IT Conversations Shows for June</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Top Ten Shows for June
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
itconversations
-->
<p>
Here's the top ten shows on IT Conversations for June:
</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3704.html">Episode Nine - StackOverflow</a> (Rating: 3.28)<p>Joel and Jeff discuss Apple's WWDC (and the correct pronunciation of OS X), the use of JavaScript on modern web sites, affiliate programs, and much more.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3710.html">Episode Ten - StackOverflow</a> (Rating: 3.43)<p>Joel and Jeff discuss the fine art of listening, source control, the risks of being an internal IT developer, and the state of current mobile platforms. Oh, and how to clean the toilet.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3712.html">Episode Eleven - StackOverflow </a> (Rating: 3.28)<p>Joel and Jeff try to avoid talking over each other while discussing data generation, full text searching, cross-site scripting, Markdown, Microsoft's Silverlight, and how to get a job at Fog Creek software.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail355.html">Scott Ambler - Are You Agile or Are You Fragile?</a> (Rating: 3.72)<p>A presentation by Scott Ambler at the SDForum Distinguished Speaker Series in 2003 entitled "Are You Agile or Are You Fragile?" The software industry is shifting from large-scale, prescriptive processes that mandate rigorous procedures and policies to lighter, more agile methodologies. Are these agile processes appropriate for your organization? If so, which should you consider adopting? What challenges can you expect and how can you overcome them? (Audio from IT Conversations. This is a long one: nearly two hours.)
      </p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3697.html">Episode 8 - StackOverflow</a> (Rating: 3.35)<p>In the first episode hosted by the IT Conversations, Joel and Jeff discuss Joel's keynote address at the recent Rails conference, the attitudes of some of those who don't use Macs, and Clay Shirky's recent book, "Here Comes Everybody". </p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3699.html">Stuart Kauffman - Reinventing the Sacred</a> (Rating: 3.44)<p>Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with biologist and author Stuart Kauffman, about his latest book "Reinventing the Sacred," which discusses a new way to look at science, the universe, and the mystery of life.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3696.html">Ken Ledeen & Harry Lewis - Blown to Bits</a> (Rating: 3.50)<p>Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis are co-authors (with Hal Abelson) of the forthcoming book "Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion." All three authors are veteran information technologists. On this edition of Interviews with Innovators, host Jon Udell speaks to Ledeen and Lewis to reflect on the rapid and sweeping changes these technologies bring.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3442.html">Connected Innovators Showcase - New Business Ideas</a> (Rating: 3.21)<p>The Connected Innovators program showcases emerging technologies and new business ideas likely to make an impact on the networked future. After a competitive application process, Supernova's Kevin Werbach and TechCrunch's Michael Arrington invite a dozen top company leaders on stage to present their best, quick pitch. Then, a panel of start-up experts analyzes the offerings, judging their potential in the marketplace, and their meaning for the tech industry.</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail350.html">Ken Schwaber - Wrestling Gold from Today's Software Projects</a> (Rating: 3.79)<p>"You Thought it was Easy: Wrestling Gold from Today's Software Projects." The benefits of Agile are many, the implementation is easy, and the problems are daunting. Ken Schwaber, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium & Chairman of the Agile Alliance, discusses the obstacles to wresting the gold from today's software projects. (IT Conversations audio from SDForum Agile Summit.)</p></li>
<li><a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3369.html">Mark Shuttleworth, Tim O'Reilly - Talking Ubuntu</a> (Rating: 2.71)<p>Mark Shuttleworth began Ubuntu in 2004 with a dedicated group of developers intent on creating a revolutionary new Linux desktop. Now, many in the Linux community are calling it the Linux desktop for real people. After three years of phenomenal growth, Shuttleworth sat down with Tim O'Reilly at the first ever O'Reilly Media sponsored Ubuntu Live Conference. During the interview, Tim asks Mark for insight into Ubuntu's meteoric rise and about key challenges for Ubuntu going forward.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>
Interestingly the Ambler and Scwaber shows are not recent, but
getting a lot of play and quite a few ratings (in the hundreds).
Stack Overflow is doing well, as you'd expect given the audience both
Jeff and Joel bring to the podcast.  
</p>

<p>
Since Doug put up the new ratings system, the overall number of
ratings per show are up considerably--all of these ratings numbers
have enough behind them to make them credible.  
</p>]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/itconversations" rel="tag, nofollow">
itconversations</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/top_ten_it_conversations_shows_for_june.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/top_ten_it_conversations_shows_for_june.shtml</guid>
<category>itconversations, </category>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:00:46 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>CTO Breakfast on Friday</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
CTO Breakfast on Friday
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
utah, events, cto, breakfast
-->
<p>
We're doing the <a href="http://www.windley.com/cto_forum">July CTO breakfast</a> a little early this month because
of Pioneer day.  For those of you <em>not</em> familiar with Utah,
Pioneer day is a state holiday on the 24th of July and it's a pretty
big deal. Celebrates the day the first pioneers entered the Salt Lake
Valley in <strike>1848</strike>1847.  
</p>

<p>
We'll do the usual thing on Friday.  Anyone with an interest in
technology products and companies it welcome to come.  Hopefully <a
href="http://www.phil801.com/wpblog/">Phil Burns</a> will come and we
can get into heated discussions about the iPhone.  :-)  If you've got
other things you'd like to discuss, bring them up.  
</p>

<p>
There's no breakfast in August.  After that, here's the schedule:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Sept 26 (Friday)</li>

<li>Oct 30 (Thursday)</li>

<li>Dec 5 (Friday) - Combined Nov and Dec breakfast</li>
</ul>  

<p>
Here's a 
<a target="_blank"
href="http://www.google.com/calendar/render?cid=elc1ns8qtncojt4adrveag2jo4%40group.calendar.google.com">Google
calendar</a> for the breakfast.
</p>

<p>
We'll meet in the Novell Cafeteria (Building G) at 8am and go until
10am.  I hope to see you there.  
</p>]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/utah" rel="tag, nofollow">
utah</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/events" rel="tag, nofollow">
events</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/cto" rel="tag, nofollow">
cto</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/breakfast" rel="tag, nofollow">
breakfast</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/cto_breakfast_on_friday_2.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/cto_breakfast_on_friday_2.shtml</guid>
<category>utah, events, cto, breakfast, </category>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:31:01 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Waiting for the iPhone--Again!</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Waiting for the iPhone--Again!
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
iphone, apple, gear
-->
<p>
I've had mixed feelings about whether to upgrade my iPhone to the new
3G model.  Ultimately, I get three things: 3G, GPS, and 8G more RAM than
I have now.  None of those alone were enough to tip me and together,
they were marginal.  Consequently I wasn't all in a tizzy over
today's iPhone availability.  Still, since I had a few friends who
were excited to get one and were coming up to the Apple store in Salt
Lake to get one, I figured I'd tag along and maybe pick on up.  What
I wasn't ready for was 7 or 8 hour lines.  
</p>

<p>
I figured that iPhones would be plentiful.  Beside, it wasn't the launch of a
1.0 product (and hence less excitement).  On top of all that, after
the doors opened last June the lines went so fast that I figured
you'd be able to show up anytime today and waltz in and get one.
Wrong.  
</p>

<p>
What changed between last year and this one was the in-store
activation.  Last year, you bought your phone and took it home to
activate it.  Yeah!  That was a heavenly experience.  This year--to
curb people buying phones so and then unlocking them--in-store
activation is required.  It's taking, according to some of the Apple
Store employees working the line, 20-30 minutes.
</p>

<p>
That's when the
activation system is working at all.  There have been, according to
reports, frequent break downs.  Consequently, the line moves in fits
and starts; lurching toward the door.  
</p>

<p>
The whole experience, as a result, has been much more frustrating
than last year. People waited in line last year and this year.  But
that's where the similarity ends.  People aren't anxiously waiting
for the doors to open and then rushing in to buy the product they've
been lusting for.  Instead, the doors have been open for 7 hours and
hundreds of people are still lined up waiting for the machine to
serve them because of IT problems.  Big difference Apple.
</p>



]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/iphone" rel="tag, nofollow">
iphone</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/apple" rel="tag, nofollow">
apple</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/gear" rel="tag, nofollow">
gear</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/waiting_for_the_iphoneagain.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/waiting_for_the_iphoneagain.shtml</guid>
<category>iphone, apple, gear, </category>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:26:00 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Success Factors for Saas Delivery</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Success Factors for Saas Delivery
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
software, saas, licensing
-->



<p>
I'm at the <a href="http://www.uita.org/">Utah Technology
Council</a>'s CTO P2P forum this morning.  Nate Bowler, a former
collegue at Excite@Home and CTO of <a
href="http://www.attask.com/">@Task</a> is speaking about <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_Service">SaaS</a>,
software as a service.
</p>

<p>
Nate says that his number one take-away from this talk is: Pick a
market that is underserved or could benefit from the improved
delivery model of a SaaS platform and serve it in a non-trivial
manner.  Emphasis on "non-trivial."  Often companies dumb down their
SaaS offering.  Nate stresses the importance of using the same
technology stack for on-premise and on-demand options.  
</p>


<p>
In order to deliver SaaS, you have to be able to support billing,
provisioning, and back office tools over and above the base level of
software functionality.  Beyond that you probably also need
multi-tenancy.  
</p>

<p>
And, of course, there's the scalability issue.  A critical question
is how scalability concerns line up with the business model.  What
are the hardware demands per customer?  Per user? This information
needs to be fed back into the product pricing.  
</p>

<p>
Billing can be a big deal.  Many people start out with home grown
billing systems that limit their flexibility.  Most companies start off
with a single "this is how we're going to price things" plan, but
clients have different ideas.  Are you going to pass up a client
because they want to pay in a way that you're billing system doesn't
support?  Instead you'll probably end up constantly hacking the
billing system.  
</p>

<p>
You need to be able to monitor every component of your application
stack: systems, network, and processes; availability; application
functionality; and user experience.  In addition to monitoring these
things, you need to be watching trends to avoid surprises.  
</p>


<p>
Security is obviously a big deal.  You need instrusion detecion
systems, SAS70 compliance for business processes, and external
auditing of security issues like XSS, data partitioning, and software
patch levels to protect customer application data.  Automated testing
needs to be rigorous.  
</p>

<p>
Some thoughts from Nate on pricing: 
</p>

<ul>
<li>You can't offer SaaS level service for traditional pricing
(perpetual licensing) and survive. You can get by in the out years
with just maintenance dollars (typically 20%). </li>

<li>Price on-demand and on-premise the same and keep release cycles
in lock step. </li>

<li>You need the discipline to walk away from deals that won't accept
a term license.</li>

<li>Term pricing value to customer breaks down in 2 conditions: when
the contract duration is greater than 3 years and when the user count
grows beyond 200 users.</li>

<li><em>Terpetual</em> pricing is an option: customer pays 180% of annual
price in first year and pays 35% in years two and three.  The idea is
that it's still cheaper than a perpetual license deal for the
customer in year one, but is more inline with how they're used to
buying software--big upfront fee followed by maintenance.  </li>
</ul>


<p>
@Task has had good luck selling on-premise software with term
licensing.  
</p>


<p>
One of the ideas Nate brings up that's pretty interesting is
implementing a Digg-like feature for your product roadmap and letting
your customers vote for features that are important to them.  
</p>

<p>
@Task has found that most customers opt for on-demand rather than
on-premise contrary to conventional wisdom.  Similarly, they haven't
found that a self-sign up with free trial was an effective strategy
for generating leads.  This may be specific to @Task that has a
fairly complex, group-oriented product.  The enterprise nature of the
activity means that free trials have to be carefully orchestrated.  
</p>









]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/software" rel="tag, nofollow">
software</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/saas" rel="tag, nofollow">
saas</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/licensing" rel="tag, nofollow">
licensing</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/success_factors_for_saas_delivery.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/success_factors_for_saas_delivery.shtml</guid>
<category>software, saas, licensing, </category>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:23:44 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>The 50-50 Rule in Retail: Capturing Customer Conversations</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
The 50-50 Rule in Retail
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
ecommerce, kynetx, customer, vrm
-->
<p>
Ross Mayfield <a
href="http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2008/07/service-and-the.html">notes</a>
that in an Apple retails store "50% of the space is for retail sales
and 50% for service and support."  He goes on to contrast that with
places like Fry's or Best Buy.  I'm always amazed when I go into an
Apple store: they're happening places.  If you're in retail, visit an
Apple store and then go back to your place.  Seem kinda quiet and
dead.  Yeah, I thought so.  
</p>

<p>
Ross goes on:
</p>
<blockquote>

<p>
What Best Buy is missing is the fact that they provide no after
market value add with their retail -- in comparison to buying and
servicing with an e-commerce vendor.  If I buy something in person I
expect a person to be able to help me when things go wrong.  At least
during the manufactures warranty, and I might pay to extend that
period with the retailer.
</p>

<p>
But I think Apple gets something more than the value of customer
experience.  According to the Consortium of Service Innovation, there
is an iceberg effect for product knowledge.  90% of conversations
about supporting products never touch the company.  Only 10% touch
the call center.  And 1% of this service and product quality
knowledge are assimilated.  
</p>

</blockquote>


<p>
In other words, Apple's trying to capture more of the product
knowledge conversations.  That goes beyond mere "customer experience"
and gets to building relationship.  
</p>

<p>
Finally Ross gets to the key question for online retailers:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
For your business online, what porportion is dedicated to retail
vs. support?  When not constricted by the boundaries of physical
space, and can be empowered through community, where do you draw that
line?  What crosses that line is a process not unlike osmosis, where
energy is released with the right balance. 

</p>

</blockquote>


<p>
When I was at Internet Retailer it was clear that one of the hot
features for ecommerce Web sites was customer reviews.  More and more
places are following Amazon's lead and adding places for customers to
talk to other customers (and inform the retailer in the process).
This is a great way to capture more of the customer product
conversation and capitalize on it in order to keep shoppers coming
back for more.  
</p>

]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/ecommerce" rel="tag, nofollow">
ecommerce</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/kynetx" rel="tag, nofollow">
kynetx</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/customer" rel="tag, nofollow">
customer</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/vrm" rel="tag, nofollow">
vrm</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/the_5050_rule_in_retail_capturing_customer_conversations.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/the_5050_rule_in_retail_capturing_customer_conversations.shtml</guid>
<category>ecommerce, kynetx, customer, vrm, </category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:03:59 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Understanding the Net</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Understanding the Net
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
internet, politics, regulation, open+source
-->
<p>
Doc Searls must have spent some of his convalescence deep in
thought.  His recent essay <a
href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/saving-net-iii-understanding-its-frames">Saving
the Net III: Understanding its Frames</a> is a great piece on how we
understand <em>and don't understand</em> the Net.  This is a long
essay.  You'll actually have to do some reading if you want to get
the meat of Doc's argument.  But it's worth the time.  
</p>]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/internet" rel="tag, nofollow">
internet</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/politics" rel="tag, nofollow">
politics</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/regulation" rel="tag, nofollow">
regulation</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/open+source" rel="tag, nofollow">
open+source</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/understanding_the_net.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/understanding_the_net.shtml</guid>
<category>internet, politics, regulation, open+source, </category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:47:55 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Open Source and The Gap</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Open Source and The Gap
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
open+source, politics, itconversations
-->
<p>
<a href="http://eaves.ca/about/">David Eaves</a> posted a piece
overlaying the <a
href="http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/">Firefox 3
Pledge Map</a> and <a
href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/Map_index.htm">Thomas
Barnett's map</a> that divides the world into the "the functioning core" and the "non-integrated gap."
</p>

<p>
As you might expect, there's a high correlation.  People in the gap
aren't connected, so they have less access to computers, use the 'Net
less, and participate in open source projects less.  There are some
exceptions--like Scandinavia on one side and Columbia and Turkey on
the other.  
</p>

<p>
David makes this comment:
</p>
<blockquote>
Non-Integrated Gap countries with the most pledges are Iran, Turkey, Venezuela, Peru, and Indonesia -- interesting list. Seems to suggest that many of the countries the US tries to isolate are actually the most connected.
</blockquote>

<p>
I too find this ironic.  I think that the Bush administration has
made a huge mistake in not pushing these countries to integrate more
fully.  Forget their governments, their citizens want to be connected
and once they are, the policies of their governments will follow them
into the functioning core.  They have to.  
</p>

<p>
As <a
href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2008/07/scanned_bobbitts_second_book_t.html">Tom
points out</a>, terrorism is "what's left" after the cold war and I
see it as a reaction to connectivity.  Terrorists, while exploiting
the connectivity of the 'Net, would deny that connectivity to people
because it leads them away from the fundamentalist societies that the
terrorists promote.  
</p>


<p>
David's analysis is just one more data point in the argument that
some of the world's seemingly most dangerous countries have citizens
who are ready to connect.  The world (i.e. functioning core) needs to
take advantage of that.
</p>

<p>
<em>As an aside, I just <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399155376/windleyofente-20">pre-ordered
Tom's new book 'Great Powers: America and the World After Bush'</a>
from Amazon.  I'll schedule another IT Conversations interview with
him after the book comes out.  I had a <a
href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail788.html">great
conversation with him</a> a few years back.  </em>  
</p>




]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/open+source" rel="tag, nofollow">
open+source</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/politics" rel="tag, nofollow">
politics</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/itconversations" rel="tag, nofollow">
itconversations</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/open_source_and_the_gap.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/open_source_and_the_gap.shtml</guid>
<category>open+source, politics, itconversations, </category>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:56:22 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Browser Mix on Technometria</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Browser Mix on Technometria
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
blogging, browsers, firefox
-->
<p>
As long as we're <a
href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/top_ten_stories_on_technometria_last_month.shtml">on
the subject of Technometria stats</a>, here's the browser breakdown
for last month on Technometria:
</p>

<ol>

<li>FireFox - 41.80%</li>
<li>Internet Explorer - 33.76%</li>
<li>Safari - 12.65%</li>
<li>Mozilla - 9.06%</li>
<li>Opera - 1.79%</li>
</ol>


<p>
Roughly two-thirds of the visitors to Technometria were using
something <em>other than</em> Internet Explorer.  Granted, this is a
pretty geeky crowd.   
</p>

<p>
Of the Firefox users, roughly 30% were using version 3.  Of the IE
users, roughly 40% were using version 6.  Only four visitors the
entire month were using IE 5.5.  I had a few IE 8 visitors.  
</p>

]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/blogging" rel="tag, nofollow">
blogging</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/browsers" rel="tag, nofollow">
browsers</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/firefox" rel="tag, nofollow">
firefox</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/browser_mix_on_technometria.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/browser_mix_on_technometria.shtml</guid>
<category>blogging, browsers, firefox, </category>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:30:37 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Top Ten Stories on Technometria Last Month</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Top Ten Stories on Technometria Last Month
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
blogging
-->
<p>
It's funny to me which stories and posts seem to take off and which
don't.  Sometimes when I'm writing a post I just know that it's going
to get traction, but most of the time, it's hit or miss.  Here's a
list of the top ten posts on Technometria for June.  Only two of them
were written in June.  
</p>
<ol>


<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2007/10/fixing_macbook_pro_sleep_problems.shtml">Fixing MacBook Pro Sleep Problems</a> 8.74% of all downloads for the month</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2007/08/p2v_how_to_make_a_physical_linux_box_into_a_virtual_machine.shtml">P2V: How To Make a Physical Linux Box Into a Virtual Machine</a> 6.18%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/top_ten_it_conversations_shows_for_may_2008.shtml">Top Ten IT Conversations Shows for May 2008</a> 4.35%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2002/12/cio_vs_cto.shtml">CIO vs. CT</a> 4.23%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2005/06/free_mobile_cal.shtml">Free Mobile Calls to Anywhere in the World</a> 3.76%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/essays/2004/how_to_start_a_blog.shtml">How to Start a Blog</a> 2.37%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/welcoming_joel_spolsky_and_jeff_atwood_to_it_conversations.shtml">Welcoming Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood to IT Conversations!</a> 2.36%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/03/dreams_from_my_father_my_attempt_to_know_obama.shtml">Dreams from My Father: My Attempts to Know Obama</a> 1.46%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2007/02/broken_scroll_ball_on_mighty_mouse.shtml">Broken Scroll Ball on Mighty Mouse</a> 1.34%</li>

<li><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2006/02/alan_kay_is_com.shtml">Alan Kay: Is Computer Science an Oxymoron?</a> 1.25%</li>

</ol>

<p>
The one that is the most amazing to me is the "free mobile calls"
post.  It's about how to use a family plan  and an autodialer
connected to Skype to get reduce mobile call bills.  It's usually the
number one hit on Google under <a
href="http://www.google.com/search?q=free mobile calls">free mobile
calls</a>, so it gets a lot of traffic.  What waste of bandwidth.  :-)
</p>

]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/blogging" rel="tag, nofollow">
blogging</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/top_ten_stories_on_technometria_last_month.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/07/top_ten_stories_on_technometria_last_month.shtml</guid>
<category>blogging, </category>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:18:54 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Panniers for Laptops</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Panniers for Laptops
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
biking, gear
-->
<p>
For the last three weeks I've been riding my bike to work when
occasion permits.  Unfortunately, that usually only works out to a
few times per week.  I live in Lindon and work at Thanksgiving Point,
about 17 miles one way. One of the first things I discovered was that
I needed a good way to carry my laptop.
</p>

<p>
I have a backpack and a messenger bag.  I immediately dispensed with
the backpack since it's up high and made me too hot.  The messenger
bag keeps the weight low, but after 17 miles, it's a boat anchor
around you neck.
</p>

<p>
What I needed was a <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannier">pannier</a> big enough to
carry a laptop.   I used to commute by bike regularly but that
was 15 years ago.  My panniers from that time are small and not
nearly big or sturdy enough to carry a 15 inch Macbook Pro.  
</p>

<p>
After a week or so of searching and reading message boards I came
across the <a
href="http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/commuter/overview.asp?fl=1&site=">Arkel
Commuter</a>.  This is, as far as can tell, the best commuter pannier
around.  
</p>

<p>
At $159, it's not cheap, but after using it a few times, I
think it's well worth it.  The load is low and the bike is doing the
work.  The bag is well made and the laptop is secure.  I especially
like the cams that lock it to the rack--the last thing I need is my
laptop flying off the bike on a bump.  
</p>



]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/biking" rel="tag, nofollow">
biking</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/gear" rel="tag, nofollow">
gear</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/panniers_for_laptops.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/panniers_for_laptops.shtml</guid>
<category>biking, gear, </category>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:31:03 -0700</pubDate>
</item>

<item>
<title>Shopper Experience and Competitive Advantage</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!-- title: 
Managing Shopper Experience
-->
<!-- category: newsletter -->
<!-- keywords: 
ecommerce, development
-->

<p>
When I was at Internet Retailer in Chicago a few weeks ago, I heard
at least three speakers give as story that, abstracted, went something
like this:
</p>
<blockquote>
We started off building our own ecommerce platform, then we switched
to a vendor supported product.  After we almost went broke, we went
back to building our own ecommerce platform.  
</blockquote>

<p>
Your reaction to that might be like mine was: "why would a retailer
want to spend money building their own platform?"  After all, shouldn't
they concentrate on their core competence--retailing--and leave
software development to the experts?  
</p>

<p>
Here's what it comes down to: most online retailers aren't selling
unique products.  They're sourcing product from a supply chain that
their competitors have access to as well.  So, they're all selling
the same thing with roughly the same margins.  What do they compete
on?  Shopper experience.  
</p>

<p>
The one thing that can make a huge difference in their top-line
revenue is the overall experience that a shopper has when they visit
the online store.  If it's slow, ugly, full of friction with too many
clicks, breaks, doesn't offer features shoppers expect, and so on,
shoppers will go somewhere else.  
</p>


<p>
All of these depends on the platform and if you're using the same
platform as your competitor, you're reduced your degrees of freedom
substantially.  
</p>

<p>
Amazon, of course, is the biggest example of a company that uses a custom ecommerce platform.  They're a premiere
technology company <em>because that's what it takes to be the Net's
biggest retailer</em>.  Amazon wouldn't be Amazon if they were
running on ATG (ignoring issues of scale).  Amazon is the biggest
retailer because they run their own platform--not the other way
around.  
</p>


<p>
Every business has to know how they compete and who they compete
with.  In retail you might compete on a unique product, but usually
you're competing on price and experience--and only the latter is
sustainable.  
</p>






]]>
<![CDATA[<p>Tags: 
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/ecommerce" rel="tag, nofollow">
ecommerce</a>
<a href="http://www.windley.com/tags/development" rel="tag, nofollow">
development</a></p>]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/shopper_experience_and_competitive_advantage.shtml</link>
<guid>http://www.windley.com/archives/2008/06/shopper_experience_and_competitive_advantage.shtml</guid>
<category>ecommerce, development, </category>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:19:24 -0700</pubDate>
</item>


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