Speechable.com

Speechable.com is an interesting product. Some may classify it as a web 2.0 product due to the social aspects associated with sharing photos but I think it is more than that. This site really provides users with the ability to post pictures and put words in their mouthes, literally. Users can add speech bubbles to any picture. Hours of fun, amusement and enjoyment? I think so. Additionally, this is a great site to state what people, animals, plants and inanimate objects are thinking. What fun!

Kronomy Project

Just to let everyone know, I am not a fan of social networking. I really fail to see the business value of having any and everybody look into my personal life to review my social activities, pictures, work information and so on. It really sounds like an ideal environment for social predators to practice their trade.

However, Kronomy sounds interesting. The website is in beta mode. "Beta" appears to be the new web lingo for constant development historically known as operations, maintenance and continual improvement. Sorry, I don't want to get off on a tangent. The website states, "We are unquestionably pioneers in the Web 2.0 universe, especially where our technical expertise is concerned. We are not aware of another platform that has combined a complex Flash database application (Action Script 3) with Ajax in a comparable manner."

The thing I find interesting about the site is that it is meant only for those you decide to invite. No, that is not a breakthrough idea. Kronomy provides users the ability to create a chronography (sic.) of events. Others in your social network can see where their timelines cross yours. Interesting, cool, possibly creepy. Check it out! I may even try it.

Mobile GPS

This stuff is really cool! The Garmin Nuvi 500 can be used in car, boat, foot or bike. Even better, it can interface with Google Panoramio allowing users to capture and post photos. This represents a significant convergence between GPS and the web. Amazing. Check out the article at http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9996593-1.html.
Enjoy!

Dark Fiber

Check out this article about using dark fiber to enable low cost metropolitan area networks. By using wavelength division multiplexing, non-proprietary administrative tools and scalable equipment XKL is able to decrease the financial burden many companies are exposed to. Optical fiber is expensive to lay and many in the industry are forced to learn (adopt) a proprietary protocol. Of course, the specialists that operate these systems are usually paid quite well.

Applications are moving to open standards and so should network communications protocols. Why should companies be forced to adopt a specific standard? Vendor lock-in was a concept widespread during the dot-com era. We have learned our lesson and should be moving toward open standards. It works with applications and should also work with network administration.

Virtual World Interoperability

Avatars can teleport between virtual worlds. This article has a cool demonstration of avatars teleporting between Second Life and Open Sim. The main topic of the article really hit the point of why virtual worlds will not survive in their current manifestation. Second Life could really be usefull if it could bridge the gap between virtual worlds and the web. I can imagine walking into a virtual store and purchasing a camera via my local electronics store web site. Would that concept allow the Linden to become a legitimate currency?

Bridging the UI of the virtual world and the web will become a challenge. If one of the virtual communities figures out how an avatar can easily interact with the web real value will be created. That could be the future between teleportation between the web, a virtual world and my real life.

Micro Geographic Target Advertising

Mobile advertising is in its infancy. Imagine using GPS coordinates in conjunction with tags or a social profile to provide micro target advertising based on location. Cool stuff. This article describes a step in the right direction. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mobile_advertising_has_potenti.php

WiMax v. LTE

A lot of documentation regarding LTE and WiMax is available. I would really like to find a case study of one company's decision to pursue one over the other. WiMax sounds great but in specific applications.

Corporate Implementation of Social Networks - Is there a methodology?

A recent blog post (here) discussed the costs associated with corporate implementation of social networking applications. The post went on to indicate that corporate adoption is an ongoing issue and the price of implementation is 75% process related and 25% technology. This imbalance is common with software implementations so I am not surprised.

I wonder if social networking application platforms are implemented using a specific type of methodology. Success of these systems is based upon user adoption, informational value and the productivity gains touted by the vendors of these systems. Theoretically, the incredibly low price of procuring these systems should provide companies with easy justification using ROI and payback period estimations. But how do these companies promote usage and adoption of their product? Mature organizations are usually managed by personnel reluctant to adopt web 2.0 functionality. Some still view the computer as a cost center that provides no business benefit.

If anyone has heard of a social network implementation methodology to facilitate user adoption I would like to know about it. Until then the return on investment is reflective in the procurement price of these systems = low.

Another Social Networking Site

Will it ever end? Microsoft will launch a new social networking site to compete with Facebook. With the ongoing proliferation of social networking sites how will anyone be able to manage their contacts using a single application. Maybe a social network consolidation center.

Google Dictates the Future of Enterprise Applications

In this article Google provides a high level strategy behind converting the enterprise application platform from proprietary systems to open source, cloud computing. Contrary to the image, maybe Google can answer everything.

Network Security Risk with Server Virtualization

I continue to hear fears from IT professionals when it comes to server virtualization. Virtual machines do provide corporate infrastructure scalability. VM can also be used to create redundancies within your network as a component of a continuous availability architecture.

Fears come from the unknown. Discussions of server proliferation and lack of control is really a function of the IT change and configuration management processes. Many IT professionals talk about change management but fail to take the necessary steps in defining and enforcing governance of the change and configuration management processes. Don't get me wrong. The fears are accurate and relevant but can be managed. Risk will never be totally avoided.

Check out more here.

Breakthrough Analysis

News alert! Canadians love beer. Read the news. If I lived in perpetual coldness I would drink a lot of beer, wine or anything else. Then again, I would not live in Canada. No offense, of course.

Social Networking & Government Regulation

A recent article discussed the possibility of government regulation for social networking sites. The concept would prohibit publication of copyright pictures and reduce online predatory practices...at least in theory. Government regulation is not what is needed, rarely does it help. Personal responsibility for their actions and community governance is what inevitably evolves without artificial regulation.

I fear government involvement and regulation may eliminate the long term benefits of creating social networks for knowledge management. Never react on fear of the unknown. More info here.

Blog Definition

While typing a paper in MS Word I found that the term "blog" was not recognized. The term is used daily and is major component of the internet so why was it not found. Interestingly, the term was not added to the dictionary until 2005. Other additions for that year include another technical term, "wedgie".

We all know the blog concept has been around for many years as an online diary, weblog or some other manifestation of what is now known as the blog. History of blogging available here.

Mobile Second Life?

No matter where I go the virtual world of Second Life is available. In this article Second Life is made available to all mobile phone users. Of course, you need a telephone capable of running and rendering the application.

This concept becomes relevant to one of my previous postings. Imagine being a field service technician requiring access to a knowledge base and schematic diagrams. It would be nice use the mobile Second Life application to provide social networking. The social networks translate to a mobile knowledge base with immediate access to technical documentation. The need to research every technical topic back at the desk is eliminated and knowledge expands beyond the confines of the corporate enterprise or the vendor FAQ list. This could be a step toward increased productivity and a reduction in system downtime.

Facebook to Open Source

The proliferation of social networking concepts has just begun. With the potential for Facebook to become open source the corporate world will be able to reap the benefits of a proven web 2.0, social networking application platform. Imagine using social networks within your organization for knowledge sharing. More on the potential for Facebook to become open source here.

Trough of Disillusionment

Numerous discussions exist on the value of web 2.0 and its implications for business and networking. Many of these technologies start as great ideas but fail to provide business value. Are companies willing to spend a lot of time and money implementing cool or fun functionality? A valid business case requires associating value to the intangible benefits. Sometimes this type of speculation can be difficult for companies to digest.
I use applicaitons like LinkedIn and may even have a Facebook site. Recently I signed up for Second Life. This is a concept I find challenging as many people have a difficult time managing their first life. Anyway, I signed up to find out what Second Life is all about and to identify some business value. It only took 5 minutes before someone asked me for sex. Shortly after someone wanted to start an arguement just because I was a newbie. While I do see some value in communications and collaboration the tangible benefits are harder to grasp.
Warning: this is a politically incorrect zone. As I continue to explore the web 2.0 concepts I will post updates.

Tag Cloud

Having difficulty getting the tag cloud to work.

Open Source Business Intelligence (BI)

Open source business intelligence (BI) makes business sense. OLTP application suites provide built in processes based on industry best practices. The processes and best practices provided by proprietary vendors are valued for implementation of accounting, ERP, CRM and other transactional systems. Implementations of these systems require large resource commitments for licensing.
BI platforms provide value through their ability to transform data into information. Each company has a unique data architecture leveraging multiple data sources. The uniqueness of each company system architecture requires extensive configuration and/or development of proprietary applications. Open source is an excellent methodology to get the most value out BI.
If customization is required to develop new OLAP cubes, ETL mappings and dashboards companies should consider directing funds towards this development as opposed to procurement of licenses and then the development effort.
An excellent open source BI tool is Pentaho.

Up and running...

This is my first blog content.