Sunday May 29, 2005

Guns, Germs, and Steel

I just finished reading Gun's, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. I highly recommend it. "This book attempts to provide a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years" That's The first sentence of the preface to the paperback edition. That in and of itself would make the book interesting to me. I have always wondered about world history beyond the caucasian history that I learned in school.

But beyond the history, the book attempts to develop some possible answers to the the big questions " Why did wealth and power become distributed as they now are, rather than some other way? For instance, why weren't Native Americans, Africans, and Aboriginal Australians the ones who decimated, subjugated, or exterminated Europeans and Asians?" Guns, Germs, and Steel is a very easy to read book and it is the kind of compelling non fiction that engages me. Each chapter starts with questions like Why did only some societies domesticate plants and animals and become farmers? Why did Europeans germs wipe out Native Americans rather than Native Americans germs wipe out the Europeans? Diamond's suggested answers are fascinating.

Diamond's arguments stimulated me to think about other topics too. When he explored why the same society is not equally receptive to all inventions it made me think about why my friend Joe Reinhard's gyroplane which as I understand it is a superior technology is not in production today.

When he talked about the development of writing and how "ancient writing's main function was to facilitate the enslavement of other human beings." It got me thinking about the ways that modern technologies could be used in a similar way.

I think I will eventually read Diamond's most recent book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. But the next book on my list to read is Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Friday May 27, 2005

Where will you store your data?

In a recent post about Gmail Jeremy Zawodny said "The more I use GMail, the more I find myself re-thinking about the question: Where will you store your data?." I think that the long predicted transition to keeping your data on the network as opposed to on the desktop is really happening. I know that I like the idea of someone else backing up my data and me being able to access it from anywhere. I've recently started using Plaxo for my address book and del.icio.us for my bookmarks. I still use Thunderbird at home to access my yahoo email but I am seriously considering changing over to Gmail.

This change to keeping your data on the network reminds me of the change from punched cards to on line files. (I know I am dating myself) I remember liking the security of being able to hold my program in my hand but once I faced the fact that a program on a deck of cards was probably less safe that an online program there was no looking back. Having all your data on the network accessible from your PDA, your laptop or a computer at work just makes sense. This is of course Sun's vision of the future of computing. Why should you be tied to just one device.

Friday April 22, 2005

Web services, Application Service Providers, and Be Interesting!

Tim mentioned in his blog yesterday that he just did an op ed piece in Business Week about Web Services. After reading his piece I realized that I only have a hazy notion of what web services means. To learn more I just read the web service entry in Wikipedia. It helped. The article said that software applications can use web services to exchange data over computer networks and web services can be deployed by using application server software from companies like Sun or BEA Systems. What I didn't realize before doing my little bit of research was that although lots of companies are exchanging XML messages across the network to do their work today the method for implementing web services is still evolving and will be a big area of future competition for companies like Sun, IBM and Microsoft. So what are the important factors that people will look back on in 10 years and say made the difference for the successful company or companies in this market?

I always hesitate to post an entry like the one above. Writing it forced me to understand the concept enough to be able to explain it at least a little. So it helped me, but is it interesting?

Almost a year ago Tim published the Sun Policy on Public Discourse. One of his rules is Be Interesting. I try very hard to make that my primary objective when I write for this blog. For that matter I try to make it my mission in life. So is my explanation of what I have learned about web services interesting? I am not sure. A conversation on the topic would be very interesting to me and perhaps to others but I almost feel that to be interesting on a topic like this you need to be the expert.

Another area that is very interesting to me is the whole application service provider (ASP) model for delivering software. It seems to me that it was really hot during the bubble but now is beginning to evolve and mature. Salesforce.com is the ASP example that I always hear. RightNow is a company that that I just learned about. They also use the ASP model for software and have some very cool customer service software.

The idea of selling software on a subscription basis makes so much sense to me. The appeal of not having to maintain or administer servers, back up data, or upgrade your own software is very strong as is the appeal of being able to access your application from a browser anywhere. I have to believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the future of this business model.

Sunday April 17, 2005

Books and Baseball

Back on March 20 I mentioned that I was reading three books. I've finished two of them and read one not on the list so I thought I would summarize my impressions.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides was my book club book back in February and I talked about it then but I hadn't finished it. Now that I have I can say I enjoyed the book. It is a family saga about a Greek-American family who have a hermaphrodite child. But I would also agree with Stephen O'Grady's comment on my posting. He said he thought the story was a bit overwrought. I also thought it was somewhat contrived. For example, there was a part in the book where the family was exposed to the start of the Black Muslim movement. The coincidence was hard to believe. In spite of that I would recommend the book.

The second book was also a book club book. I read it for my April book club. The Book of Salt by Monique Truong was not my kind of book. It is about a Vietnamese cook employed by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in 1930s Paris. Truong has amazing skill with language. Her descriptions of food and scene are masterful. She developed the theme of cultural isolation so effectively that it impacted my feelings. In spite of all that I disliked The Book of Salt. At first I thought the Toklas / Stein connection was a gimmick to get people to buy the book then I thought maybe she was trying to emulate Stein and that was why there was no story. In any case I don't enjoy a book without a story and this book didn't have one.

I really loved the third book I read. Moneyball by Michael Lewis was the most enjoyable book I have read in a long time. A good non fiction book is hard to beat. Moneyball is about statistics in baseball and how the Oakland A's use them to win more than almost any other team in baseball while having one of the smallest salary budgets in baseball. They employ the baseball equivalent of the efficient market theory of investing. I highly recommend the book.

We went to see the A's play the Anaheim Angels this afternoon. It was great fun to see the people I had read about. There is a whole chapter about Scott Hatteberg who plays first base and also quite a bit about Nick Swisher. We were one row behind the Angel's dugout so there was often a guest relations person standing right by us to make sure no one climbed on to the field. I heard him asking the guy in front of me if he had read Moneyball when I said I had he pointed out which players he thought were current undervalued players. We see the A's play a couple of times a year. Today was fun. It was beautiful day and they won a close game 6-7.

Saturday April 02, 2005

A very interesting tidbit As I finished reading this posting all I could say was that's fascinating. (2005-04-02 16:56:25.0) Permalink

Thursday March 24, 2005

Change is guaranteed

Robert Scoble the well known Microsoft blogger had a posting today about a church that recently switched away from Microsoft. He highlighted something I firmly believe. Microsoft will not be the dominant player forever.

We all have the tendency to assume that the way things are today is the way they will always be. Back in 2000 very few of us understood we were riding a bubble waiting to burst. Today we tend to assume that interest rates will stay relatively low forever and that Sun stock will never again see 10. Similarly people can't imagine that anyone but Microsoft will ever dominate the desktop. But no company stays dominant forever and especially in technology no platform dominates forever. There was a time when Ashton Tate was the dominant data base company and there was time when nobody could imagine a company like DEC going away. I am not suggesting that Microsoft will disappear but I am saying that I don't believe they will dominate forever.

It is important for all of us to consciously fight our tendency to assume that things can't change. I try to remind myself of the fact that what is today will change. I also try think about how I should factor that thinking into my decisions whether they be financial, technical or personal.

Wednesday March 16, 2005

Various Links

As you probably know Bob Lutz the GM Vice Chairman has a blog. In this entry titled "What I Meant To Say Was… " he responds to people who reminded him that there are a lot of Americans who "want a car designed and engineered for European roads and tastes." I'm one of them. My favorite car I ever owned was the BMW I owned 20 years ago. Even when it was ten years old I still loved the way it went around corners.

This blog " Your brain on multitasking " rang true for me. Anyone who knows me knows that whether you call it day dreaming or multitasking, I do it. I am really working on doing a better job of focusing. My piano teacher and I talk about it all the time. I've discovered that you really can't daydream while playing the piano. It is great training.

Sun's very own Eric Richert was quoted recently in an article on virtual offices on the Federal government IT site. Although they did spell his name wrong.

I recently found a very old James Michener essay about the value of constant learning which I liked. It was a link off David Bull's website. He is a woodblock print maker.

Tuesday March 15, 2005

How Sun uses JES to enable mobility

Bill Vass, Sun's CIO has a Sun internal blog. He recently did an entry about how to use a internet enabled mobile device like a cell phone or PDA to read your Sun email or access the Sun Portal. It is a great demonstration of how well Sun's Java Enterprise System (JES) works. I asked him if it would be OK for me to edit his entry a bit and republish it here. He said yes. I have taken out the references to Sun internal web sites. If you are a Sun employee you will find more specifics in Bill's original blog.

One other point I should make, I haven't done this myself yet. Bill's blog has inspired me so that I am thinking about making the investment. It seems like a lot of money though. A Treo would probably cost me around $450 and I suspect I'd have to pay around $50 more per month on my Verizon cell phone service to get reasonable internet access. It is hard to justify spending that kind of money but on the other hand it sure would be fun to do.

From Bill's blog

"When I'm on the road meeting with customers I always try to show them the ability I have to access my Sun email and and Portal using my mobile device. Here's how...

First, you need to have the ability to log in to Sun's wide area network via either via Sun's full portal or our original edgemail pilot.

Second, you need a compatible device. I'm currently using the Sony Ericsson P910. The Palm Treo Smartphones, the Sony Ericsson P900, and the Nokia 6800 also will work well. It will really work on ANY device, including Microsoft based handsets and wireless PDAs, as long as it supports SSL, will run Java, and has an http/https browser such as the Opera Mobile Browser. It works with just the phone's browser too, but it does not have as many features and can be a little slower depending on the speed of your data connection. For Palm Treo users, the built in browser works fine.

Although you can use a Microsoft based device, we don't recommend it since they are not our standard and selecting one may limit the functionality you have in the future, and they are prone to viruses. On that note, always make sure your device's blue tooth and IR communication capability is turned OFF since viruses and hacking have been known to occur using those technologies. Also, always protect your PDA's or phones with a password/PIN whenever possible.

I strongly recommend devices that have a keyboard of some type to really be useful. The keyboard can be on the touch screen, on the face, or in some fold out configuration. Also, you want to select a Phone that has a Java SIM GSM chip, because we will be loading the service providers certificate into our system for seamless authentication. Take the time to look at the features of what ever device you are selecting. If it has a good keyboard, browser, and screen, you may find yourself using it more as a data connection for mail and portal interaction than as a voice connection for talking, as I do.

Third, you will want an IMAP client for direct connection to Edgemail, such as EmailViewer (Installconfig). For Palm Treo users, you can try Aileron, PaPi-Mail, or SnapperMail. Also, Palm's Versamail 2.7 and above will work on devices that support PalmOS 5.4 and above. PalmOS 5.2 has a bug in the SSL library implementation that fails with our SunPKI signed certs. For Symbian devices and MS SMartphone platforms you can use ProfiMail from Lonely Cat Software.

The IMAP client gives you a Rich interface to your mail server. However, without the IMAP client, you can access your mail through the portal's simple interface. Once the IMAP client is installed and configured properly, you will be able to access the Edge and login, as usual, through the browser using your user ID and password.

Wireless Portal
Through the wireless portal you will be able to access all sorts of SMI applications directly from the phone or wireless PDA. Mobile users should watch each new release of SunWeb to see what new applications and features will be enabled through your wireless device. Here is how you can set up your phone to access the wireless portal:

The user has to login to the portal via a regular web browser to configure the access to their calendar and mail account before they can access these applications via the wireless portal with their mobile device. Instructions to set up the mail/calendar account are as follows:
1. Login to the portal via a regular browser
2. Once logged in, a personalized desktop will be displayed with Calendar channel, Mail channel, Address Book channel ..etc
3. To configure your calendar account for the calendar channel,
- Click on the "edit" button on the right hand side of the title bar of the Calendar channel
- An edit page is displayed with the calendar server name and server port pre populated
- Enter your User Name and Password accordingly
- Click on the "Finished" button to save the configuration
- When done, your personalized desktop will be displayed with your calendar appoint shown on the channel
4. To configure your mail account for the Mail channel,
- Click on the "edit" button on the right hand side of the title bar of the Mail channel
- An edit page is displayed with the mail server name, Mail Client URL and Mail ClientPort Number....etc pre populated
- Enter your User Name and Password accordingly
- Click on the "Finished" button to save the configuration
- When done, your personalized desktop will be displayed with a list of mails shown on the channel
After the configuration is done, you can access your mail and calendar via the wireless portal with your mobile device.

Lots of great features are available today... and many more coming, watch the SunWeb portal news and my blog for new features as they become available. Get productive with your mobile device!

I encourage you to share this information with any other employee so they can start using JES (portal, Java, and edge mail/cal) the way the product teams intended.

Next I will show you how to sync your mobile phones off line features like calendar / contacts with the JES server directly through a wireless connection, and how we will be able to use your cell phone to authenticate to the network.

Try it out, and HAVE FUN!"

Tuesday March 08, 2005

Recommended New Blog to Read

I'd like to recommend a new blog that just started yesterday. A coworker of mine, Bob Cook is the Head of Financial Strategy in Sun's Workplace Resources organization. If I want to know anything about corporate real estate and especially anything to do with real estate finances Bob is the person I go to. He is the expert! It should be a fascinating blog.

I used to be the IT manager for Sun's corporate real estate organization. My group put the IT infrastructure in to all of Sun's new offices. When I joined the organization I knew nothing about corporate real estate. Sun's real estate organization is recognized as one of the best so it was a great group to be a part of. The first time I heard Bob present to our vice president it was obvious to me how complex his job is and how well he does it.

Because the real estate organization works with the whole company they have a unique perspective on the company as a whole. On top of that a company's real estate budget is a major part of the total budget so how that budget is managed has a major impact on company results and strategy.

Bob used to teach at the university level, he has lived and worked abroad and he has the kind of analytical mind and business knowledge that makes him a unique asset to Sun. I'm really looking forward to learning from him.

Bob, you asked what we'd like you to discuss. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about how companies can plan for the peaks and valleys of corporate real estate supply and demand. I'd be interested to hear how you evaluate locations for future offices. I'd be interested in your perspective on the impact of Sun's iWork program on the real estate budget. I'd be interested in what you've learned from working at Sun. How's that for starters?

Thursday March 03, 2005

Random Links

I've never done this before but I thought I would try including some links to interesting blogs I've read in the past few days.

Stephen O'Grady of RedMonk has a a very interesting posting about how IBM is wooing their ISVs. I hope Sun is doing as good a job on a much smaller budget!

A blog about how people pass up free money when they don't take advantage of their company's 401k matching. It is pretty mind boggling.

I enjoyed Paul Rogers' Top 10 Best and Worst of Sun's Engineering conference I thought he did a great job of being real or perhaps it was projecting his voice. His combination of measured optimism and reserving judgement reflects my feels about Sun right now and I'm not an engineer. Although I got to speak at the conference I didn't get to attend any other parts of it.

A good laugh from Janos Cserep's Weblog.

Tom Peters always gets me thinking about how to keep my energy level and enthusiasm high. I have no simple answers but it is always worth thinking about.

That's all for now. I'm heading home.

Wednesday February 16, 2005

What business is Sun in?

As I have mentioned I am on vacation taking a financial planning class this week. At lunch today I was talking to a financial planner from Seattle who works for a large brokerage house. After I told him that I work for Sun he asked me " So what is Sun's business? " I felt like I should have a really good answer. You know I should have an elevator pitch answer, but I wasn't sure that I did. I took a deep breath and said, " Sun has always been known as a computer hardware company and we still make great powerful computers but we are becoming more and more of a software company. We also are becoming a services company. For example we just announced a subscription service that will allow people to buy computer power for $1 per CPU hour." The conversation went on from there. It seemed like an OK answer but I felt like it could have been better.

Wednesday February 09, 2005

Nuclear submarine accident

I read an interesting article in Wired News yesterday. It was about a nuclear-powered submarine accident. What really struck me was that I never heard about this in the mainstream media. Did I just miss it? It seems like a nuclear submarine running into an undersea mountain and killing one crew member and seriously injuring 23 others would be a big deal.

The other thing that the story made me think about was how to solve the problem of undersea mapping. Why couldn't you put some of the new undersea imaging tools described in the story on ships already crossing the seas, combine them with GPS technology and collect the data. The data could then be downloaded to a Sun Grid and processed across the grid. Out of this would come updated more accurate maps. Perhaps it is already being done. It is the kind thing I would dig into some more if I had the time. It also seems like the the kind of story that distributed journalism, as described by Dan Gilmor, could really fill out.

Tuesday February 08, 2005

Office as a service

James Governor is one of the founders of RedMonk, a small industry analyst firm. His Feb 4 blog entry reflecting on what he heard at Sun's recent analyst conference about the Sun's drive into grid and service management was thought provoking. He ends by asking "Why am I so bullish on services and service oriented economics? They seem to have momentum; they are winning in the market. ...... Service management is a notion I subscribe to. Service Oriented Economics will underpin the successful business models of the next few years, ..... Sun is getting ready."

The blog entry was thought provoking because it got me thinking about Openwork, Sun's consulting offering to share our experiences and learnings from the internal work infrastructure program we call iWork. James says "Sometimes it seems like Mr. Schwartz doesn't believe anyone should own things at all, except service providers that is, who should build the infrastructure for us. Rent your house don't buy it... Actually Jonathan would probably rethink house market economics entirely, de bono style. Talk to cable companies and suggest they offer free accommodation in some remote (cheap) corner of the world as part of multimedia services offering--TV, broadband, wifi subscription, music downloads and phone. You get a nice cozy pod and all the multimedia frenzy you can imagine, why bother going outside at all? Excuse the digression but that's the thing with Sun at the moment, there is a lot of innovative thinking going on." He is right there is a lot of innovative thinking going on. It is one of the best things about working for Sun.

So think about distributed work. Currently I don't own an office, but I have one wherever I need one. All I really need is a SunRay and a phone. (With VOIP I probably won't need a phone much longer.) So why not the office as a service. Charge for the SunRay service and the computing power it gives me. My desktop is totally customized for the way I work and is accessible when ever and where ever I insert my Java badge. Why not just throw in the office space for free?

Friday February 04, 2005

To LA this weekend

My youngest is moving back to LA this weekend to finish her junior year in college. Last semester she studied in France so it has been eight months since she lived down there. She drove down this morning. Tomorrow my husband and I are driving a very full van load of stuff down to her. We were down there two weeks ago to look at apartments with her. The very boring highway 5 through the California central valley is becoming way too familiar. It is pretty exciting though to be helping her set up her very first apartment.

Thursday February 03, 2005

One of the Best Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area

We had dinner last night with some long time friends. Rather than go out they picked up food from Kabul in Sunnyvale. 833 W El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 408-245-4350. Food from Kabul is consistently very good and picking up their food to go makes a wonderful dinner party. Masood Mortazavi described the restaurant in his blog. Personally I think they are one of the best restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area.