Open source methods and their future potential. [eGov monitor 4/20/2005 00:16 via Linux Today 4/20/2005] According to a Demos report, many of the principles of the open source model could have radical implications for governments, citizens and businesses in a wide range of fields - from law to the arts, from academia to social innovation. Open source methods have achieved remarkable success using an open, co-operative approach to produce much of the software that the world’s computers and the web now run on, as well as projects like the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. The report argues that the future potential of open source principles are wide reaching, and that they could be applied in a many areas including the media, academia, legislative policymaking, and social innovation. 4/20/2005 7:26:00 PM    

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The Power of Analogy. [Computerworld 4/11/2005] Q&A: Analogies are efficient strategic tools in the highly ambiguous world of IT, but they can lead you astray if used carelessly. Analogies are to strategy as blueprints are to buildings. Just be sure you've got the right blueprint.

Low-end chips are to Intel Corp.'s future as concrete reinforcing bars were to U.S. Steel's. Unless you know the history of the steel industry, that analogy will leave you cold. But it compelled former Intel CEO Andy Grove to change his product strategy. Intel for many years resisted entering the low end of the market. U.S. Steel had let minimills take over the low end with cheap concrete reinforcing bars called rebars. This was the beginning of the troubles for the U.S. steel business:  once the minimills got a beachhead at the low end, they moved up. At Intel, this really struck a chord. Andy Grove feared if they ceded the low end of the market, the high end might follow. He even began to refer to low-end PCs as "digital rebar," and soon thereafter Intel introduced the Celeron processor to fight it out on the low end and prevent other companies from getting a beachhead. In this case, the analogy wasn't about learning from someone's success but trying to prevent a repeat of someone's failure. It was about what they thought U.S. Steel should have done.

4/20/2005 6:53:36 PM    

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An Update on Prompting a User to Save When Leaving an ASP.NET Page. [4GuysFromRolla.com 4/20/2005] Several months ago I wrote an article titled Using ASP.NET to Prompt a User to Save When Leaving a Page, using the onbeforeunload client-side event, which fires whenever a Web page is being exited. With some clever client-side programming you can use onbeforeunload to to save changes whenever the user is about to leave a page, be it through the user closing the browser window, clicking on a bookmark, clicking on a link in the Web page, or any other task that would cause the Web page to unload. This update deals with auto-postback Web controls (such as DropDownLists or CheckBoxes with their AutoPostBack property set to True); and how to prevent "Unspecified error" script errors that can creep up depending on how, exactly, the page was unloaded. 4/20/2005 6:17:56 PM    

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Great apes to learn human behaviors [CNN 4/20/2005 14:32 via Boing Boing 4/20/2005] Researchers at the Iowa Great Ape Trust are putting eight intelligent bonobos in a human-like living situation to study how culture may emerge.  
The bonobos will be able to cook in their own kitchen, tap vending machines for snacks, go for walks in the woods and communicate with researchers through computer touchscreens. The decor in their $10 million, 13,000-square-foot, 18-room home includes an indoor waterfall and climbing areas 30 feet high. Bonobos, a species of ape from the Congo, are the most like humans. They constantly vocalize "as though they are conversing" and often walk upright. The animals, which have a life span of up to about 50 years, will be allowed to mate and have families -- and develop cultures that will be studied for generations to come. 4/20/2005 4:13:58 PM    

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Target Remakes the Pill Bottle - sensibly and beautifully [New York Metro 4/18/2005 via Gizmodo, Boing Boing 4/19/2005] The standard-issue amber-cast pharmacy pill bottle has remained virtually unchanged since the second World War. An overhaul is finally coming, courtesy of Deborah Adler, a 29-year-old graphic designer whose ClearRx prescription-packaging system debuts at Target pharmacies May 1.

1. Easy I.D. The name of the drug is printed both on the top and side.
2. Code red. The bottle is Target’s signature red color - and a symbol for caution.
3. Information hierarchy. Most important information (drug name, dosage, intake instructions) above the line, less important data below.
4. Flat sides for readability; Upside down to save paper.
5. Green is for Grandma. Different colored rubber rings for each family member.
6. Info card that’s hard to lose tucked behind the label.
7. Take “daily.” Avoids the word "once" on label, since it means eleven in Spanish.
8. Clear warnings. Revamped the 25 most important warning symbols.

4/20/2005 3:44:07 PM    

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Demystify scope definition by considering these categories -- a handy checklist --  [TechRepublic.com 4/19/2005; 2:52:13 PM] Defining scope is perhaps the most important part of the upfront definition and planning process. If you don't know what you are delivering and what the boundaries of the project are, you have no chance for success. 4/20/2005 2:03:58 PM    

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Lack of Developers Delays OpenOffice.org. [LinuxWorld Australia 19/04/2005 11:21:10 via Linux Today 4/19/2005] Open source productivity suite OpenOffice.org may be touted as a viable alternative to Microsoft Office, but there are claims its pace of development and adoption of new features is being stifled by a "monolithic" code base and a developer community still largely controlled by Sun Microsystems. Project contributors speaking at the annual OpenOffice.org miniconference in Canberra this week raised numerous issues, including a lack of independent contributors. OpenOffice.org developer Ken Foskey said the biggest problem with the project is a lack of developers and a code base that is "just too big". "It's 10 million lines of code and takes serious commitment just to compile the thing." 4/20/2005 2:00:29 PM    

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We Need Better Open-Source E-Mail... Now. [eWeek 4/18/2005 via Linux Today 4/19/2005] If open source is to continue gaining ground with the corporate desktop, it must develop not just an outstanding e-mail client, but an all-out replacement for Outlook on Windows, with all the popular mail-protocol support, Exchange 2000 and 2003 e-mail and calendaring support, GroupWise support, and spam protection. Even more than Firefox, a real Outlook replacement could make a big difference in persuading corporate IT departments that now is the right time for open source on the desktop. 4/20/2005 1:54:44 PM    

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Building Web Service Wrappers for an XML-based System. [DevX: Latest Enterprise Content 4/20/2005; 12:53:37 AM] Giving external—or internal—clients direct access to existing applications isn't always practical, secure, or flexible. Instead, it's often better to provide Web service wrapper around existing applications. Such wrappers let you safely expose existing systems to both internal and external customers. The wrapper uses a configurable transportation protocol handler and can work with a variety of communication methods through a generic ProtocolHandlerInterface. 4/20/2005 1:47:33 PM    

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Google's Impact on the Internet [Slashdot: 4/20/2005; 9:52:47 AM] The Globe & Mail and Fortune Magazine [$$] both wrote a piece on Google, one of the most important companies on the Internet. In particular, they mention the effects of Google's recent new services, like Blogger and Maps, as well as their take on how Google threatens the Microsoft Corporation. "If Sergey and Larry stick to their corporate mantra -- Don't be evil -- and are able to stem degeneration into the typically corrupt corporate ethos, who knows, they may just succeed in assuming the fair and honourable dominion over the world's information they so naively set out to achieve eight years ago in their garage." 4/20/2005 10:24:31 AM    

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