Smarter Stuff

10 Mobile Wireless Technologies

From Gartner:

1. Bluetooth
2. Mobile web access
3. Widgets for smartphones
4. Platform-independent app development tools
5. App stores
6. Enhanced location awareness
7. Cellular broadband
8. Touchscreens
9. Machine-to-machine communication (the internet of devices)
10. Device-independent security (???)

Nothing to see here.  Move along.

From InfoWorld.

Why Apple Will Win The Flash Battle.

For whatever reason, Apple has opted not to allow Flash on the iPhone or iPad.

Here's why they will be able to make that stick:

1. Apple's iPhone and iPad owners don't care about Flash - they care about being able to watch video on their device.
2. The suppliers of video content don't care about the delivery technology - they care about being able to deliver their content to large groups of people.
3. Apple users are important to video suppliers as visible, vocal, trend-setting consumers.

As a result, the video suppliers will (sooner or later) convert their content to a format suitable for the iPhone and iPad.  The cost of conversion is small, certainly on a going-forward basis.

Yes, this analysis ignores other uses of Flash, e.g. casual games like Desktop Tower Defender.  But most of the conversation around Flash has been its use as a standard method for video distribution on the Web.

Moving From Blogger To Movable Type 5

For the longest time, the Who2.com blog has been Blogger-based, making use of their FTP-publishing option (I'm part of the Who2 tech team).

Unfortunately, that option is being eliminated on May 1st of this year (2010).  So, we had to find another option.  After due consideration, we decided to convert from Blogger to Movable Type (MT).

There are some published methods for converting from Blogger to Movable Type, but they all appear to be based on using the Archive function and a template.

I'd like to offer this alternative method,  based on backing up your Blogger blog into the Atom Publishing Format (as opposed to exporting an archive), and a Perl program which I wrote.  It doesn't require you to change settings, change templates, or re-publish.

To back up your Blogger blog, begin by logging into your Blogger account.  Then click on Settings:

At the top of the Settings page, you'll see an option to Export Your Blog:

 

The next page has a big download button which will put the exported data on your hard drive:

 

At this point, you're half-done.  You should have a file like blog-03-31-2009.xml  on your hard drive.

Now all you have to do is run it through BloggerToMovableType.pl:

$ BloggerToMovableType.pl blog-03-31-2010.xml > mtimport.txt

The resulting mtimport.txt  file should be placed in the import subdirectory of your MovableType installation.

All that remains now is to import your blog using MovableType's import function:

This version doesn't  export Pings from Blogger (the logical translation is to MT trackbacks), and Blogger labels are imported as MT tags (not categories).

Was this helpful?  Did it work (or not)?  Got a question on the code? Leave a comment!

Steely Dan Live - October 24, 2009

I went to my second live Steely Dan concert last night at the Masonic Hall in San Francisco.  4th row seats to Fagen's left (Section 6, Row D, Seat 4), and a real hoot to watch him channeling Ray Charles.

They did all of "The Royal Scam" 

1. Kid Charlemagne
2. Caves of Altamira
3. Don't Take Me Alive
4. Sign in Stranger
5. The Fez
6. Green Earring
7. Haitian Divorce
8. Everything You Did
9. The Royal Scam

and then a whole raft of other songs:

• Black Friday
• Dirty Work
• Hey Nineteen
• Aja
• Daddy Don't Live
• Show Biz Kids
• Josie
• Peg
• My Old School

and then encored with "Reelin' in the Years." Over two hours without a break (and not a lot of chit-chat from Fagen or Becker). Great horn section, anchored by Michael Leonhart (from prior tours -- he was with them when I saw them in 2003). Amazing lead guitar stuff from John Herington (also a perennial tour member).

Thanks to my buddy Chet for providing the impetus to go.

Further Proof...

That most of the smart people are *not* inside your company (the exact quote is lost to time, and attributed to both Scott Nealy and Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems).

Philip Greenspun on Chrysler's decision to put owners's manuals on DVD.

How can (large) companies like Chrysler develop a way of vetting these brilliant ideas with people who are provably innovative before committing massive resources to a course of action?

College for $99 a Month

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php

Click Here

I find it amusing that there are currently over 1 BILLION results from a Google search for the phrase "click here".

The results themselves are interesting, although useless.

Not A Bad List

 THE 12 RULES OF LASTING SUCCESS

These "simple" rules can take a lifetime to master, but they're well worth the effort. Make them your daily operating procedure and watch the success unfold.

 
START THE DAY RIGHT.
Figure out what puts you in a positive frame of mind, and make it your morning ritual.
 
EXPECT GOOD THINGS.
Keep that glass half full by choosing faith and hope over cynicism and skepticism.
 
TAKE TIME TO BE AWED.
Look through the lens of appreciation and see all that is going right in your workplace.
 
LIVE A MISSION.
When completing those everyday tasks and projects, see how they contribute to a greater good.
 
DO ABOVE-AVERAGE WORK.
Every job involves service to someone, so serve them well by setting a high standard every day.
 
MAKE PLENTY OF FRIENDS.
Every workplace is its own community, so reach across the fence, meet your neighbors, and build your network.
 
SHOW UP ON TIME.
Lower your stress and boost your reputation by being reliably prompt.
 
BE INCLINED TO SAY YES.
When requests, offers, and invitations come your way, look for every reason to accept.
 
EXERCISE YOUR STRENGTHS.
You're good at many things, and you'll get even better by putting those strengths to work.
 
SEEK OPPORTUNITY IN ADVERSITY.
When times get tough, search the situation for something to learn or some other way to benefit.
 
FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE.
Enjoy solitude and social time, work and play, activity and rest, indoors and outdoors...all in the same day...in measures that bring you fulfillment.
 
LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY.
As the sun sets, reflect on your day and identity one discovery you can put to work tomorrow.

 

 

   SOURCE: BetterWorkplaceNow.com

   Copyright 2009 Tom Terez Workplace Solutions, Inc.

Franklin Day Planner

Ben Franklin's daily plan:

Pretty impressive, and representative of "early to bed, early to rise."

From this clever and fun essay entitled Can Do by Maria Kalman.

(via metacool - worth a read for its own sake).

Core Human Skills

A solid list of core human skills from PersonalMBA.com:

• Information Assimilation
• Writing 
• Speaking 
• Mathematics 
• Decision-Making 
• Rapport 
• Conflict Resolution
• Scenario Generation 
• Planning
• Self-Awareness 
• Interrelation 
• Skill Acquisition 

The article has more details about each one.