• Funny (or Alarming) Science Fair Joke | Phoenix Arizona East Valley Living Blog
  "A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment."
  (tags: joke Humor sciencefair)

• Tax personal use of business cellphones? WSJ.com
  The Internal Revenue Service is contemplating a new tax on the use of business cellphones.
  (tags: tax IRS mobile mobility cellphone)
• EasyTask Manager -- GTD Application for Mac & Windows
  "Our personal task manager. Very clean and easy to use User Interface. EasyTask Manager supports the GTD (Getting Things Done) method. Mainly for the home/office user who doesn't need to share or collaborate with a team. You can run it on Mac or Windows. And the best part is that you can sync multiple computers (Mac & Windows) as well as access your data online using our Online Service using a web browser from any computer or from your iPhone."
  (tags: gtd apple Mac Windows iphone)

• Pat Kitano: 6 things I do to limit my time on Twitter to 20 minutes daily
  Pat Kitano: "Despite following 17,000+ Twitterers, I have systemized my time on Twitter to make it an efficient networking tool."
  (tags: twitter)
• Smart Radio - hear audio programs from your mobile phone: Stitcher.com
  stream podcasts, radio shows and news. On demand, anywhere. No wires or syncing.
  (tags: iphone radio audio)
• New GTD-focused iPhone App: Action Lists
  "Action Lists, a fairly strict interpretation of the GTD process for the iPhone."
  (tags: iphone gtd)

• Sydney Morning Herald: Palm Pre beats the iPhone
  "Move over, iPhone. You've had two years on top of the smart phone world. Now there's a touch-screen phone with better software: the Palm Pre."
  (tags: iphone pre palm apple mobile mobility)
• BBC NEWS: Hyper-connected generation rises - How connected are you?
  "Internet services such as Twitter, Jaiku and Kyte TV are giving rise to a "hyper-connected" generation."
  (tags: Hyperconnectivity)
• The Hyper-Connected Generation
  Jyri Engestrom says, "In five years time being hyper connected will become a necessity to be an active participant in the social world".
  (tags: Hyperconnectivity)
• Daniel Sinker: Google Innovates; Newspapers Stagnate
  "No Leaf Clover: Newspapers Keep Pointing to Google as the Source of Their Problems; They Should Be So Lucky."
  (tags: google Newspapers advertising innovation)
• Charles Barkley won't apologize for cursing; rips Twitter - Dan Patrick.com
  "Barkley weighed in on new media. "I think if you Tweet you're a damn idiot," Barkley said. "Anyone who's worried about what Shaquille O'Neal is doing all day is an idiot.""
  (tags: CharlesBarkley twitter)
• Intuitive Identity in a Highly-personalized, Hyper-connected World
  (tags: JavaOne Identity IdentityManagement DigitalIdentity Hyperconnectivity Context Personalization)
• Twitter Apps Directory
  "Twitters apps are developed by third-party developers - who use twitter API to develop / replicate and even create new functions for twitter users - anything from simple functions such as posting messages to finding/follow users in bulk and everything in between."
  (tags: twitter)

A pervasive theme in the just-concluded JavaOne conference was the need for context-aware personalization of the user experience in a hyper-connected world.

For example, Ericsson's overview presentation advised, "it's about people" and "it's all about me, me, me."

"Our kids will grow up in connected world," observed Dan'l Lewin of Micrsosoft.  "... I need to connect to things that matter most from wherever I am."

At that heart of making this all happen is Identity - enabling highly personalized, time-and-space-sensitive answers to fundamental questions:

• Who am I?
• Where am I?
• What "hat" am I currently wearing?
• What  is top of mind to me right now?
• With whom do I wish to connect?
  
• What device am I using?
• How do I want to participate in cyberspace - at this very moment?
  

However, as important as Identity is in answering these questions in a highly-personalized, hyper-connected experience, a user shouldn't have to think about Identity.  A person should be immersed in the personal experience, not distracted by whatever mechanisms provide secure, personalized access to the services and applications that deliver the experience.  Identity must be an integral, intuitive, unobtrusive part of the entire experience.  It must be so natural and easy to use that it fades into the background of any task. 

Identity is rightfully the focal point for the Identity Management professional community.  But one measure of our ultimate success will be how little users have to think about it.

Technorati Tags: JavaOne, Identity, IdentityManagement, DigitalIdentity, Hyperconnectivity, Context, Personalization

• SecureIDNews | White House report calls for identity management
  "The Cyberspace Policy Review, requested by President Barack Obama, says one step that could be taken to improve the security of the Internet is identity management."
  (tags: Identity IdentityManagement security Internet)

• Identity Critical to Interoperability
  (tags: SunMicrosystems Microsoft Interoperability Identity IdentityManagement StoneHenge Metro JavaOne)
• Wordpress Twitter Tools Collection
  "A collection of top twitter tools, plugins that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account"
  (tags: twitter wordpress)
• Despair.com on Social Media
  (tags: despair.com socialmedia)
• Congratulations, GT-RNOC, MoVue and Innovative Students!
  (tags: GT-RNOC GeorgiaTech MoVue Mobility Android)
• The Art of Price Negotiation - for Hair Color?
  (tags: Negotiation Retail)

Dan'l Lewin, Corporate Vice President, Strategic and Emerging Business Development for Microsoft, was on the big stage at JavaOne this morning, delivering a keynote presentation focused on interoperability among disparate information system platforms.  Acknowledging the critical importance of Identity in enabling interoperability, Dan'l remarked, "Identity is Fundamental," and "Nothing is more important than Identity."   He further remarked, "we just assume that Identity will be federated" as we move to cloud computing.

I started this blog on May 13, 2005 - the day Scott McNealy and Steve Ballmer met in a press conference to announce commitment to interoperability between the Microsoft and Sun platforms.  In that maiden post, I stated:

"Identity Management is the key to enabling interoperability. It is the pivot about which the Microsoft/Sun relationship turns. Why - because Identity, by its very nature, transcends platforms. Regardless of which application or platform is being used, a user's basic identity doesn't change. So, in a naturally heterogenous world, an ability to rise above the differences between computer platforms is necessary if companies are to reach goals of efficiency and connectivity they require for business success."

It is heartening to hear Dan'l give essentially the same message today, and to see the progress that has been made in the past four years. 

It was also encouraging to hear both Dan'l and Aisling MacRunnels, Sun VP, Application Platform Software Marketing, re-state their respective committment to fostering interoperability between the Java and .Net computing platforms.  Aisling announced that Sun had strengthened its commitment to interoperability efforts by agreeing to participate in the Stonehenge project and contribute the Metro-based StockTrader application code to that project.

What do you think the next four years will bring?

Technorati Tags: SunMicrosystems, Microsoft, Interoperability, Identity, IdentityManagement, StoneHenge, Metro, JavaOne

Thanks to Brad Blumenthal for sharing Despair.com's delightfully wry commentary on Social Media.



It makes me think of my favorite neurotic worldview: "The whole world is crazy except for me and thee ... and I've been wondering about thee, lately!"

Technorati Tags: despair.com, socialmedia

Earlier this year, I was privileged to participate in the review process for finalists in the Convergence Innovation Competition sponsored by the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC).  I was deeply impressed with the innovation displayed by the Georgia Tech students in the projects they presented.

Yesterday, I received a link to the competition results.  Let me add my congratulations to all involved!  Both students and advisors displayed great creativity and worked very hard to provide innovative outcomes.  Thanks to the sponsors who made it possible.

It was great to learn that the project I liked most was awarded first place overall.  MoVue exploited the camera, GPS and accelerometer subsystems within an Android phone to present a novel user interface showing icons and point of interest information on the device screen in real time, visually filtered according to personal interest and history.  I believe this type of user-focused, context-aware application holds strong promise for commercial success.

Technorati Tags: GT-RNOC, GeorgiaTech, MoVue, Mobility, Android

As Sun Microsystems' fiscal year draws to an end, the air crackles with repeated strike and counterstrike of price negotiation as buyers and sellers seek the best deals.  What if we used similar tactics in common retail situations?  You be the judge:

Thanks to Rohan Pinto for sharing the link.

Technorati Tags: Negotiation, Retail

• Randy Johnson, the Babe Ruth of Beanballs - WSJ.com
  "Though Mr. Johnson is in the spotlight tonight as he tries to win his 300th game, the figure that truly sets him apart is 188 -- the number of batters he's beaned with a pitch."
  (tags: RandyJohnson baseball)
• Facebook Flash Mob Pillow Fight
  (tags: SocialMedia Facebook Vermont PillowFight)
• Never Teach your Mom to Twitter
  (tags: Twitter Zits)
• Google vs. Bing: What do you think?
  (tags: search google bing)

Crazy things happen because of social media. Thanks to Tom Limanek, a new Sun blogger, for sharing the following video of a pillow fight in downtown Burlington, Vermont. The pillow-wielding flash mob formed because of viral communication on Facebook.

Apparently the organizer was arrested by local police, which seems a bit extreme for the clean fun he spawned.

Technorati Tags: SocialMedia, Facebook, Vermont, PillowFight

The comic strips are full of commentary on the Twitter phenomenon these days.  I thought this Zits strip was most insightful.



Technorati Tags: Twitter, Zits

Thanks to Jonathan Gershater for pointing out a site provided by blackdog.ie that allows side-by-side comparison of Google and Bing search engines.


For my first test, I searched the term "Identity Management" on both engines and observed a few interesting things in the top ten results:

• Wikipedia, that bastion of Internet truth, is the first item in the results list.
• Oracle Identity Management was second and fifth on Bing, but was aced out by Ash's Identity Management Rantings on Google.  Congratulations, Ash!
  
• Sun Identity Management came in after Oracle on Google (an interesting fact, considering the pending merger), but alas, didn't show up on the Bing list.
• Both engines included Novell and Quest, but only Bing showed Microsoft.
• The "Discovering Identity" blog didn't make the top ten list on either site. Grrr!
  

Robin Wauters posted a more in-depth review in Yesterday's Washington Post.

I suppose these and other inconsistencies will keep Search Engine Optimization experts on their toes as Microsoft tries to mount a serious challenge to Google's search supremacy.

By the way, with its picturesque mountain landscape, you've got to admit that Bing wins the search engine beauty contest.

Technorati Tags: search, google, bing