Productivty and usability issues are in every company

It's amazing to read that even Bill Gates (yes, the founder and former CEO of Microsoft) has severe issues with his own company's products (in this case Moviemaker... or is it Movie Maker?), in which he then slams his employees for their degrading performance (as re-published by the Seattle Times), and doesn't receive much in the way of action (other than a serious case of "he should do it... no, he should do it") more than FIVE years later! If nothing else, this gives me comfort that the daily struggles of sustaining ownership, responsibility, accountability, and follow through exist everywhere.

Yes, I'll have the "Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman"

CNN: Apparently China's restaurants are coming up with creative (or less creative?) ways to lure more 2008 Olympic visitors to dine at their establishments... by changing the name of their quirky-named Chinese delicacy dishes. I must admit, I'd probably pass on the "Husband and wife's lung slice" and prefer to try "Beef and ox tripe in chili sauce." Wait a minute... tripe... no matter how you change the name, I'd still pass.

American First

Here's an interesting read in which CNN discusses Obama being bi-racial and the ensuing dynamics in being identified as a black presidential candidate.

Reading this article made me think about how I've often struggled with my racial identity, having a white mother from Vermont and a black father from South Carolina. Even though I do identify more with being black, I also always stay true to the idea, originally taught to me by my father, that I'm American first.

Online Gaming for Artificial Intelligence purposes

Ever attempt to buy tickets online and have to decipher and type the letters contained within a distorted looking image? The distorted letter puzzle is better known as a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart).

One of the computer scientists who help develop this concept, Luis von Ahn, has now helped create online games that not only entertain the user, but will also aid computers in building their artificial intelligence for retrieving better search results. With these types of opportunities, perhaps computers will someday know what we are thinking.

I've always been a magazine man, myself.

A coworker of mine recently showed me the July issue of The Atlantic which contains an article by Nick Carr: "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?" The article primarily focuses on the new way in which each of us (our brains) are being programmed to seek out easily retrievable, concise snippets of information such as those found through Google searches or my newly discovered hobby, Twitter.

After discussing this topic with others and researching comments posted about this article, I, like many others, found this topic to be fascinating and nerve racking. I'm intrigued by the idea that the brain is malleable and can be shaped by whatever exercises we may put it through (can someone say Big Brain Academy?). I also find it to be disturbing that as I desire to learn more and more, I'm simply taking in snippets of information to satisfy my curiosity and quickly moving on, never giving myself enough time to deeply explore all my academic curiosities.

I confess to be a terrible reader, most often unable to sit down and read more than the inside jacket cover. To give you some more insight, I barely made it through the Harry Potter books (thank you J. K. Rowling for your easy-to-read series). If the information doesn't immediately entertain me, or if the plot line makes me store all this information to constantly revisit, I'd rather watch it in movie format (much more of a auditory/visual person) or read a quick magazine article.

iPhone 3G: July 11, 2008

So I already expressed my excitement about the upcoming announcement of the iPhone 3G... but now it's official. As of (or around) July 11, 2008: Goodbye Treo... goodbye Palm... goodbye Sprint. Hello Moto iPhone.

Why Mozilla still exists as User Agent String in Microsoft Internet Explorer

As I'm doing research, I often find that in an attempt to answer one question, I come up with several more questions. Such is the case with my latest venture into Ajax.

So I read about the origin of the web browser, JavaScript, and the competition. Then I started to distinguish the difference between FireFox and Internet Explorer. However, one thing that threw me for a loop was the term "Mozilla." Two competing web browsers, yet they have the same User Agent String (i.e., information about the web browser that is serving a web page to a user).

Well, a little research on Mozilla and I found my answer. Being a fan of useless knowledge, it's very interesting to know that companies as large as Microsoft cloaked and spoofed their way into the web browsing market.

JavaScript Overview

As part of my Ajax research, I'm learning more about JavaScript and figured I'd create a separate post for JavaScript.

JavaScript is a object-oriented scripting language, often used within web browsers and HTML pages. JavaScript was originally created by a Netscape (remember them?!) Navigator developer. Microsoft, not to be outdone, entered into the scene with their own version called JScript (you know, kind of like the J++/J# to Sun's Java) for Internet Explorer 3.0.

Given the confusion between JavaScript and JScript within the developer community, a third-party council - European Computer Manufacturers Association - agreed upon a "common" scripting language between the two called ECMAScript - still commonly known as JavaScript within the developer community.

The convergence of all three versions of scripting is a work in progress, but the core of the language is becoming very similar. Here's a good place to start in understanding each language.

Wish I understood more about the human psyche...

Hartford, CT has been the scene of three incidents in the past week that have caused me (and the Hartford Police Chief) to stop and wonder: just what exactly is our society thinking about?

One of the incidents involved a 78-year old man, struck by a car and left for dead. Not to mention, all the cars and people that kept going on about their business. Hartford police are still unable to determine whether anyone actually called 911 after this incident occurred. Apparently, it just happened to be coincidence that another Hartford Officer passed by on his way to responding to another call and saw the scene:

Update: At a news conference held in Hartford, it was reported that several people indeed called 911 after the incident. Also, the story has now made national news, with an interview of the victim's son on NBC's Today Show and also Top-10 article on CNN.

Ajax Overview: Part 1

Once again, an overview for me (and those IT inclined who care) about another technology... Ajax.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)
A collection of technologies, Ajax is an essentially element of Web 2.0, in its ability to communicate with servers in the background without the necessity of refreshing the client browser. Perfect example: Google Suggest. As you type each letter, without refreshing the page, often searched Google terms are displayed for a user to select.

Asynchronous: A request is made to the server, but does not wait for a response. However, upon a server response, the browser is able to handle the request.

JavaScript: The programming language used to communicate with the server and handle incoming data requests.

XML: One of text-based communication languages used as part of Ajax for receipt of messages. However, plain text and other text-based languages such as Dynamic HTML and CSS can also be used. This would allow an Ajax-endabled website to only refresh a portion of a page, displaying the desired results.

Some more free advertising for Twitter

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/05/twitter.maree/index.html

This was the story that first gained my interest in Twitter. And as contained within the article, it appears the story (of unfair treatment and unrest) isn't over. Meanwhile, Twitter continues to gain free advertising. I can only imagine how many new people are joining Twitter, given its recent worldwide attention.

Web Service Overview

If for nothing else, this post is for me (and others who are IT inclined) to serve as just a quick overview of web services, their high-level components, and some quick links:

Web Services
Web services are application components that communicate using XML and are transported using SOAP via the HTTP (an Internet) protocol. Web services are self-contained and self-described using WSDL. They can be discovered using UDDI. Web services are meant to be used by other applications. The combination of one or more web services can create an entire application containing application and system integration and cross-communication.

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
SOAP is an XML based protocol used for communication over the HTTP (an Internet) protocol. SOAP is a format for sending messagings in platform and language independant manner. SOAP contains the following structure:
- Envelope (required)
- Header (optional)
- Body (required)
- Fault (optional)

Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
WSDL is an XML based language specifying the location and methods of web services. A WSDL file may contain the location and methods for one or more web services. WSDL contains the following structure:
- portType (methods)
- message (messages used in methods)
- types (data types used by the web service)
- binding (communication protocols used by the web service - e.g., SOAP)

WSDL inherently describes the operation type: one-way (receive), request-response, solicit-response, notification (one-way send).

Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)
UDDI is a platform-independent framework for describing services, discovering businesses, and integrating business services by using the Internet.

Introduced in 2000, UDDI was once thought of as a directory to share available web services, both publicly and privately, to potential consumers. However, as web service standards and UDDI uses were refined, it appears as though UDDI is now more of an internal metadata directory for web service producers and consumers. In my limited research, it's not easy for someone to simply scour the Internet for available web services. While sites such as seekda! exist, large web service proponents such as Microsoft, IBM, and SAP have dismantled their public registry of web services. The best way to find a web service is to establish an old-fashioned relationship with a contact, and then inquire as to their specific web service offerings.

Coming Soon: The Next Generation iPhone

I'm with Crave: The Gadget Blog on this one: what will the next generation iPhone be called? For those of you who find such an article useless, you definitely won't be reading my articles for very long... because his thought process is exactly how I think. What an interesting idea from Apple, establish and continue to use the name iMac over the years, letting the user community decide the version naming conventions.

Whatever the name, I am all too excited for Steve Jobs to unveil the latest iPhone as part of his keynote at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference. I only hope that the latest iPhone has all of the rumored specifications - most importantly 3G (a must), GPS (I can only hope), and thinner (a luxury feature that no one really needs... but cool to say you have it). I'm also excited by the updated 2.0 software, that above all will have Microsoft ActiveSync... finally a secure (hopefully) business alternative to Blackberry and Windows Mobile OS.

While I didn't bite on the first generation iPhone (because of a binding two-year contract), you can be sure that I'll be in line for the next generation iPhone as soon as it's available.

Unbelievable Picture: Car crashes into bike race

Drinking, driving, and falling asleep at the wheel is dangerous enough... but when you add the element of a bicycle... that's just a distaster. It's no wonder why this is the most emailed item on CNN.com today:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/06/02/mexico.bikers.ap/index.html

I also find it amazing how the first picture in this article was taken mid-crash with literally bodies, bikes, and gear flying everywhere.

Manny being Manny

It was definitely one of the best baseball games I've ever attended. To be witness to an event that only two dozen other players have ever accomplished... watching Manny Ramirez crack his 500th homerun.

It was pretty funny how just innings before the historic occasion, Manny let two moderately easy fly balls to left field drop or glance off his glove. However, once he swung at the first pitch of his late inning at bat, easily crushing his 500th homerun into right field, showing baseball fans just how amazing of a hitter he is, all was forgotten. And once again, Red Sox Nation was OK with Manny being Manny.

P.S. One guy in particular was trading $5 bills for ticket stubs. I wonder how much he'll get for them.