November 27, 2007
November 26, 2007
Who are the Millennials?
People seem to come up with most interesting labels generations of people. My peer group has been classified as Generation X. Actually, I happen to like that term, as the memory of the magnificent Malcolm X re-emerged during the early 90's. In reality, that is not what Gen X actually represents to marketing types. The chart below compares some of the attributes of GenX with the Millennials (aka Gen Y).
It also appears that the marketing community has not settled into the exact year these Millenials would have been born. I have also seen 1977-1992 (courtesy of Brody Communications, Ltd.) During a recent trip to my alma mater, our recruiting team was briefed about the specific differences in this new generation group.
The idea was to make sure we knew what made these potential prospects tick.
Much of this humored me, as the Generation X (my generation) was said to be lost and unlikely to change the world.
Not by the marketing giants, but the media conglomerates and some disgruntled educators. Methinks it's too early to tell. Besides according to the book, Millionaire Mind, the best ideas typically come at 50. I am far from 50..
Anyway, getting back to this group called the Millennials. Curiously, I would not have met many of them without the help of the Internet and Social Networking. I suppose that this is not unusual, as I am no longer in school or living in area which is in close proximity to a university. Most of Gen Y people I have met have been very sharp and quite engaging. Are they as technically acute as the marketers suggest, I am not so sure. Suffice to say that they are very fortunate to have an abundance of computing power that simply did not exist when I was coming up. All we had was real Hip-Hop and crack rock :)
Since the marketers have made their assertions about what Millennials prefer. I figure that I should be entitled to my own.
- Digg over Slashdot
- Social over Anti-Social
- Virtual over Physical
I am sure that I have got this totally wrong, but it was worth a shot..
November 18, 2007
November 14, 2007
Virtual PR Watchdog
It appears that my most recent Intelligent Design segment is receiving a great deal of interest. I discovered the following while perusing my server logs
http://72.51.39.238/~jdoak/converseon/eresponder.php?newtopic=1& startDate=2007-10-14&endDate=2007-10-15&account=73
Hmmm. So I thought, what would a good closet sysadmin do about this one? Well I scanned the box of the originating IP after following the URL yielded a 401 error. Nice set of FOSS tools on that machine.. I digress. Initially, I thought it was some sort of bot trying to be naughty. After further review and a bit of ubiquitous Googling, I discovered that a companies like Converseon and others are hired on a case to case basis to monitor blogs and other digital media. I suppose the effort is to help companies manage their digital reputation. I guess the Cluetrain Manifesto was correct. Markets are indeed conversations. Apparently the company which I showcased hired 'jdoak' to _monitor_ the conversation in this space.
So, I believe 'Jack' or Jake is playing the role of the embedded reporter ;)
Mr. Doak please introduce yourself to the community..
*Update* to the Krusell case, it appears that I will soon be receiving a more robust multiadapt design. Hopefully, many others will benefit from an improved plastic. Once I receive the new hardware, I will share my thoughts.
November 13, 2007
November 12, 2007
Who owns your data?
Recently had an epiphany relative to data storage and digital identity. Granted my thoughts did not accrue in a vacuum, suffice to say that I have always been concerned with ownership. More specifically, the idea that it is very important to note that convenience comes at a price. I am not here to judge or criticize the desire for people to minimize complexity in their lives. I too have fallen victim to convenience.
I suppose half the battle is understanding the risks. What to do about it?
Here is an interesting use case.. Someone once told me that they did not like the fact that Flickr did not report the origin of the visitors to their photos. Flickr simply reports the number of views for each photo on their system. Perhaps this person wanted to figure out a way to make revenue from the traffic? Nope, that wasn't the concern at all. The concern was that their was no simple way to understand why people were interested in those particular photo sets. What brought them to those set of photos? Why did they find them particularly interesting? Some would probably ask, "Why do you care?" Well, it really is a matter of having some level of control over your data.
Ahh, but is the data really yours anymore? Methinks not. You have agreed to give up those rights the moment you agreed to share the content with Yahoo!
In return Flickr, will mix and slice the information to your liking. The same model applies to every so-called Web2.0 service. You throw your data up into the cloud and rely on the convenience of the service. Some people call it SaaS. To paraphrase Eben Moglen , giving your rights to the bailiff, pretty much guarantees that you do not have control your data anymore. Gmail works the same way, with the exception that the bailiff now earns residual income off your habits and the habits of your unknowing friends. It's all about data mining and ads revenue.
So, again the question is what are we to do about this concern? Well consider that a fundamental level, both Y! and GOOG utilize the same building materials that are readily available in the wild. In a world Free and Open Source Software. I'm not talking about building a private datacenter. Of course that would be cost prohibitive. What I am suggesting is that you begin to store some of your own data. The cost of a terabyte of storage is roughly 1/4 the cost of the same quantity 5yrs ago. The software that you could use to search and index your own data is free. However, cost of learning how to manipulate and use these building materials is not free.
Well, you have to use your good judgment. What are the tradeoffs? What is the cost benefit? I do not have all answers. I merely pose the question. In fact, it is a question that many others have asked too. Fortunately, we still have time think about a solution.
Eben Moglen's MySQL Conference talk
Bradley Kuhn Software Freedom Law Center
*Aside* If you listen to Brad's talk closely, you might actually hear my question about tivoization and GOOG towards the end of the Q&A period.
November 5, 2007
Why Did I Get Married ?
Got hoodwinked into watching a genuine 'chick-flick'. Anyway, it is unlikely that I would do another such film. I had heard about Tyler Perry, but I figured his work was much like "Waiting to Exhale", so I was bracing for the worst.
I don't think the film gave me anymore insight to marriage than I had previously. The only difference was that the cast was comprised of actors who had virtually vanished from the front line landscape (ie Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Michael Jai White). Jackson's performance was particularly awful. She was neither plausible or genuine in her role as a psychology professor. In fact, I think the highlight of her acting portfolio was Jason's Lyric Poetic Justice.
It would seem that the producer did the very best to focus on the monetary wealth of the characters, rather than the essence of dysfunctional relationships. IMHO, the film was best suited for a much younger demographic. Ironically, the storyline would suggest a very mature theme. Go figure. It's Hollywood. Go get the torrent, save your loot.
November 4, 2007
Much Ado About Java
I have been following the various posts regarding Apple's decision not to include Java support Leopard (newest OSX) release. Frankly, I believe it is much ado about nothing. IMHO, Java has a home on many embedded platforms. In fact, the Gmail and Google Maps applications which run on my Treo 650 are powered by Java. Some of my most used software (Limewire and Azureus) are indeed Java applications. So, I really do not believe Apple can curtail the sphere of influence of the Java.
True indeed Sun Microsystems really never managed Java very well. It took them nearly a decade to figure out that releasing Java under the GPL was necessary and critical to the continued proliferation of the software. However, I really do not believe Sun cared much about the desktop platform, after all they spent much of their cycles on building out hardware. Hell, I would call them a hardware company. At the end of the day, Java will have a home in well-conditioned environments. It has very well defined objectives as middleware or glue for various server based applications. As mentioned earlier, Java also works fairly well on ARM processors (ie Smart Phones, etc.).
November 2, 2007
Tale of Two Joes
Now that the dust has settled and A-Rod has opted out of his contract. I figured it would be time to discuss the 2007 Yankee Postseason and the departure of legendary skipper Joe Torre. Yes, I have recovered and can pontificate on the future of the ballclub.
First I was pleased that the Bombers made a huge push and seized a playoff spot. You have to realize that the team was left for dead in June. They were 14.5 behind the Bosox and trailed five other teams for the Wild Card spot in the AL. Obviously, the lionshare of the credit goes to the ballplayers for finally playing up to their potential and also the faith of the GM in playing the youngsters from the farm system. You have to recognize that Torre does not lead with a great deal of emotion and you will never see him in a fit of rage on the bench. This demeanor clearly rubs off on his players. If there were any doubters in that clubhouse, they were well hidden.
Perhaps this is why Mets manager Willie Randolph, a Torre protege never showed much trepidation as his ballclub slid out of playoff contention?
Torre's tenure in NY was extremely successful, 6 WS appearance 4 World championships and 12 consecutive postseason appearances and 9 consecutive AL East Titles. The latter a streak that ended this season. Oh yeah, congrats to RSN, but I am not ready to crown Bosox as the next baseball dynasty. If Boston can show me success over a decade, I will consider it. For now, their recent success is simply "thermal noise" when compared to what the Yankees accomplished in the 90's.
Yesterday, Joe Girardi and Joe Torre were both named managers of their respective new clubs(Yankees and Dodgers). I found it interesting that LA would announce Torre's signing on the same day of Girardi's. Considering how NY management treated Torre during his last days in pinstripes, I certainly can understand if there was bad blood. It probably does not make sense to get into the details of the contract, suffice to say that Torre was given an ultimatum which he deemed disrespectful. So he walked. Especially, considering his successful tenure on the most storied sports franchises. I wish him much success, he certainly earned it.
Girardi was not the people's choice for Yankee manager. Don Mattingly (aka Donnie Baseball) was the fan favorite. Unfortunately, Mattingly had never held a managerial position. So, I suppose it was a relatively easy choice for the impetuous Yankee leadership. While we're talking about Yankee management, it is worth noting that Hank Steinbrenner is likely to be as volatile as his pops George Von Steingrabber :)
George's sons have about as much baseball knowledge as Isiah Thomas. Nonetheless, it was their birthright to run the ballclub. It will only be a matter of time before GM Brian Cashman is released, as there are problems that cannot be addressed through payroll.
Let's reflect on some of the good news of 2007. We have some young arms that will help the club reload (not rebuild) and stifle opposing offenses. Yankees do not "rebuild" as management and fans are quite impatient. Win now and often has always been the motto and the expectation. Although, they have postseason appearance streak that is 2nd only to the Atlanta Braves, the difference between the Braves and Yankees is quite apparent. Yankee ballclubs are expected to crush and dominate opponents. Making it to the postseason means nothing at all. Winning the World Championship is how Yankee ballclubs are measured. Since they have not won since 2000, they have underachieved. Hence, Torre's departure.
Now, getting back to the pitching.. Perhaps the biggest reason that they have not won a championship since 2000 is their inability to pitch well enough to match opposing staffs in the postseason. Teams that make the postseason (NL teams the possible exception) have very good pitching staffs. The ace of your staff must be able to stifle opposing lineups. The Yankees have not had a bonified ace since Andy Pettitte was 25 yrs old. Chien-Ming Wang is very talented but an ace he is not. This became quite clear during the 2007 Divisional Series. Wang does not strike out enough batters to warrant the title of an ace. Additionally, he seems to lack confidence when pitching on the road against tougher competition. In fairness to Wang he is a sinker-ball pitcher. Most sinker-ballers pitch to contact and use their defense to get outs. He has won 19 games in back-to-back seasons. If his club didn't have such a thin number of quality starters, he would not be expected to be the ace.
Next season the starting pitching will be better, but _again_ there will be holes in the bullpen. Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, and Phil Hughes are going to help immediately. They have emerged from a very fertile farm system. These days it seems that there is a plethora of young pitching prospects in the Yankee farm system. This had not been the case 5 yrs ago. Recently, management had decided that _if_ they were ever going to become a dominant ballclub again, they would have to develop a farm system. FWIW, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Ramiro Mendoza were once pitching prospects in the Yankee farm system. How many championships do they have among them? You get the idea.
However, positional players are another topic entirely. There aren't many on the farm. We still have aging veterans in key skill positions. How many years does Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter have left in the tank. Posada and Jeter came from our farm system. Who will replace them? Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano have been "energy" for the Yankee ballclub but we need more of them. Cabrera is going to have become more patient at the plate to stay in the lineup. He does not appear to have much power, but he does have youth on his side and there is still time for him to develop better plate discipline. Cano is going to anchor the infield for a long time. If you look at our archrivals in Beantown, they have already begun to reload the infield with younger positional players. It is unlikely that Posada's 2007 performance will be duplicated. He was phenomenal and at 36 consider it lightening in a bottle. Jeter struggled with nagging injuries late last season and was largely ineffective at the plate during the postseason.
The Bx Bombers made the postseason based upon a bullpen that was solidified by Joba Chamberlain, the sudden awakening of left-handed hitters in the lineup (Abreu, Matsui, and Cano), and of course the awesome season of Alex Rodriguez.
Regarding A-Rod.... There have been many superstar free agents who have donned pinstripes in the Bx. However, a choice few ever left a legacy behind. Reggie Jackson and arguably Paul O'Neill were such free agents. As stated earlier the expectation are quite high in NY. I'm not certain that A-Rod was very concerned about his legacy. If you look at his track record, he was very consistent. Yankee brass knew exactly what they were getting. A very talented ballplayer that had not really tasted much success in the postseason. His tenure in Seattle and Texas should have been clear indicators. So why did everyone expect him to be the next Reggie? Hmmm. Could it be the loot? Give that man a dollar. Actually, I thought he might stay, but I think it's an insult to use the excuse that "uncertainty of signings of key veterans factored into his departure", that's bullshit.
A-Rod is about the money, nothing more, nothing less. He'll likely break Bonds homerun record but it will not be as meaningful without a championship to his credit. Actually, I do not believe that means much to him. I wonder who will pay him $250M over 12 years. Hell, if the Yankees won't pay, who will?
Will the Yanks reclaim the AL East next year? It is very likely. Can they win the AL Pennant? Very unlikely. Time will tell, baseball is a strange game.
November 1, 2007
Now with iTunes Support
I have now added an easy link to the right-side navigation menu. You can easily subscribe to AG Speaks with your iTunes feedcatcher. However, I still refuse to pay Apple any money to list my content in its Apple Store. IIRC, Apple requires a credit card to simply list content in their store. Thx but no thanks.