The low-end Oracle database has a no-cost license on low-end hardware. (Maybe it even allows RAC.)
Create license-free appliance (Solaris, Oracle) to manage Oracle database by providing RMAN repository, OEM, Oracle Internet Directory (naming), along with a read-only share for software, docs, whatever.
Then add-on typical software management items such as version control, wiki for documentation editing, on-call support calendar.
Charge an up-front fee to cover hardware costs, with a monthly subscription.
===============================================
20071008
Push stats/reports to participatory web site for help by others in public.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
General Info - What Causes Success
...
And so you start to wonder -- what correlates the most to success? Or, more bluntly, what causes success? And, for those of us who are students of startup failure -- what's most dangerous: a bad team, a weak product, or a poor market?
...
Do whatever is required to get to product/market fit. Including changing out people, rewriting your product, moving into a different market, telling customers no when you don't want to, telling customers yes when you don't want to, raising that fourth round of highly dilutive venture capital -- whatever is required.
When you get right down to it, you can ignore almost everything else.
(I'm not suggesting that you do ignore everything else -- just that judging from what I've seen in successful startups, you can.)
Whenever you see a successful startup, you see one that has reached product/market fit -- and usually along the way screwed up all kinds of other things, from channel model to pipeline development strategy to marketing plan to press relations to compensation policies to the CEO sleeping with the venture capitalist. And the startup is still successful.
...
And so you start to wonder -- what correlates the most to success? Or, more bluntly, what causes success? And, for those of us who are students of startup failure -- what's most dangerous: a bad team, a weak product, or a poor market?
...
Do whatever is required to get to product/market fit. Including changing out people, rewriting your product, moving into a different market, telling customers no when you don't want to, telling customers yes when you don't want to, raising that fourth round of highly dilutive venture capital -- whatever is required.
When you get right down to it, you can ignore almost everything else.
(I'm not suggesting that you do ignore everything else -- just that judging from what I've seen in successful startups, you can.)
Whenever you see a successful startup, you see one that has reached product/market fit -- and usually along the way screwed up all kinds of other things, from channel model to pipeline development strategy to marketing plan to press relations to compensation policies to the CEO sleeping with the venture capitalist. And the startup is still successful.
...
User Reviews
Photobucket is a one-stop site to upload photos. Other online photo services use photobucket images. This allows the user to keep photos in one area.
User reviews stored at shopping sites (amazon, circuit city) could be consolidated on one user reviews site. This would allow the review submitter to control/save all of their reviews, with a feature to submit the review to other sites.
User reviews stored at shopping sites (amazon, circuit city) could be consolidated on one user reviews site. This would allow the review submitter to control/save all of their reviews, with a feature to submit the review to other sites.
Monday, June 25, 2007
General Info - Write A Short Book
Pragmatic Programmer has short "Friday" PDF publishing, along with full-length books.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Track Utility Costs
Track/trend/forecast utility bills. Potential customers are high-bill utility customers such as associations and governments. Could offer free version for consumers if the bill can be scraped from a web site.
Could be expanded to include other utilities such as phone/internet/cable. Could be internationalized.
UM Server is an analytical and reporting tool for the management of utility bills from receipt through payment.
... store information about each of your sites, utility vendors, utility accounts, & utility bills. Data entry is made easy since templates can be customized to precisely match the layout you see on your bills.
With hundreds of built-in reports, analysis tools, and import/export features, The Utility Manager Version 4.1 helps you:
• have accurate and detailed utility information at your finger tips;
• compare the relative efficiency of your various sites;
• find billing errors;
• forecast and budget utility costs; and
• monitor the results of energy and water saving projects.
Pricing
$3,900: K-12 School Districts
$7,000: All other customers
This requires user to enter bill line items. This clerical work could be outsourced or possibly the bill could be scraped from the vendor's web site or EDI.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Metrix 4 Utility Accounting System normalizes your energy usage for weather and other variables (such as number of cars produced), and presents your true energy savings. Now, variations in weather or production schedule, occupancy or schedule will no longer compromise your energy savings numbers.
$9,995 Utility Manager Pro
For a multi-building school district, implementation and training was 39,000. Yearly support is 4500.
Could be expanded to include other utilities such as phone/internet/cable. Could be internationalized.
UM Server is an analytical and reporting tool for the management of utility bills from receipt through payment.
... store information about each of your sites, utility vendors, utility accounts, & utility bills. Data entry is made easy since templates can be customized to precisely match the layout you see on your bills.
With hundreds of built-in reports, analysis tools, and import/export features, The Utility Manager Version 4.1 helps you:
• have accurate and detailed utility information at your finger tips;
• compare the relative efficiency of your various sites;
• find billing errors;
• forecast and budget utility costs; and
• monitor the results of energy and water saving projects.
Pricing
$3,900: K-12 School Districts
$7,000: All other customers
This requires user to enter bill line items. This clerical work could be outsourced or possibly the bill could be scraped from the vendor's web site or EDI.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Metrix 4 Utility Accounting System normalizes your energy usage for weather and other variables (such as number of cars produced), and presents your true energy savings. Now, variations in weather or production schedule, occupancy or schedule will no longer compromise your energy savings numbers.
Benchmarking-----------------------------------------------------------------
Load Factor Analysis
Rate Analysis
Determining Changes in Energy Usage Patterns
Setting Savings Targets and Tracking Your Progress
$9,995 Utility Manager Pro
For a multi-building school district, implementation and training was 39,000. Yearly support is 4500.
Monday, June 18, 2007
General Info - Delivering Software As A Service
Traditionally, companies buy software and then install and maintain these applications on their own machines. That model is giving way to one where companies will buy subscriptions and access services over the Internet from software developers that host their own applications.
Some applications will migrate to the new delivery model faster than others, but all software makers should begin to explore the economics and necessary capabilities for online delivery.
Revenue models for these developers will change, since software as a service delivers fees over time rather than large up-front license purchases.
Customer service and R&D capabilities will also need to adjust to the reality of ongoing relationships with customers rather than periodic upgrades.
Some applications will migrate to the new delivery model faster than others, but all software makers should begin to explore the economics and necessary capabilities for online delivery.
Revenue models for these developers will change, since software as a service delivers fees over time rather than large up-front license purchases.
Customer service and R&D capabilities will also need to adjust to the reality of ongoing relationships with customers rather than periodic upgrades.
Hiring Compliance
A service to provide guidance, and to allow interview follow-up documentation.
1. If this is your first time hiring an employee, make sure your insurance policy covers worker's compensation and any other liability before you even begin. You don’t want to be stuck paying out of pocket.
2. Make sure your hiring process is legal. If a candidate feels that he or she has been denied a job because of discrimination, he or she can file a suit against you with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
3. Avoid this problem by creating a criteria matrix that defines the functions of the job, so that you can prove that you denied someone employment because he or she wasn’t qualified and not because you’re biased. Also, don’t throw away anyone’s paperwork for two years, just in case they come back with a claim.
4. Advertise the position in a wide range of places, so that you don’t get caught in the EEOC’s “systematic discrimination” initiative, which preys on companies that don’t look into a large enough pool.
5. Don’t ask inappropriate questions both on applications and during interviews. You may think you’re being friendly, but asking personal questions can be illegal.
________________________________________________________
201109
Service to provide:
Resume / work history verification. Look for lies, distortions, omissions and exaggerations.
Typical background check / credit check / motor vehicle check / offender check.
Train interviewers to be less likely to be manipulated and conned.
1. If this is your first time hiring an employee, make sure your insurance policy covers worker's compensation and any other liability before you even begin. You don’t want to be stuck paying out of pocket.
2. Make sure your hiring process is legal. If a candidate feels that he or she has been denied a job because of discrimination, he or she can file a suit against you with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
3. Avoid this problem by creating a criteria matrix that defines the functions of the job, so that you can prove that you denied someone employment because he or she wasn’t qualified and not because you’re biased. Also, don’t throw away anyone’s paperwork for two years, just in case they come back with a claim.
4. Advertise the position in a wide range of places, so that you don’t get caught in the EEOC’s “systematic discrimination” initiative, which preys on companies that don’t look into a large enough pool.
5. Don’t ask inappropriate questions both on applications and during interviews. You may think you’re being friendly, but asking personal questions can be illegal.
________________________________________________________
201109
Service to provide:
Resume / work history verification. Look for lies, distortions, omissions and exaggerations.
Typical background check / credit check / motor vehicle check / offender check.
Train interviewers to be less likely to be manipulated and conned.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Work (Maintenance) Order Management
CorrigoNET Key Features
Corrigo's service management and work order software provides a rock-solid foundation, to which you can add exactly the features and functionality your business needs—no more, no less—to build a streamlined service dispatch and maintenance management solution tailored to your needs. Bells and whistles where you need them, not just extra noise.
Maintenance scheduling:
http://gamma-software.com/htdocs/html/mssbullet.pdf
Corrigo's service management and work order software provides a rock-solid foundation, to which you can add exactly the features and functionality your business needs—no more, no less—to build a streamlined service dispatch and maintenance management solution tailored to your needs. Bells and whistles where you need them, not just extra noise.
Maintenance scheduling:
http://gamma-software.com/htdocs/html/mssbullet.pdf
Property Management
DIY is a fully featured property management software system for the owner or property manager with 1 to 1000 apartment units or single family rental homes. This web based system allows you to manage your properties from anywhere there is an internet connection.
Monthly service fees are $25 base subscription fee plus 30 cents per unit.
Rent Manager is an intuitive, out-of-the box solution for residential and commercial property management companies. Designed from the ground up by property managers and computer professionals, our experience has made us a leader in our field. With over 21 years of experience and thousands of companies currently using Rent Manager, you can rest assured that our software will help your company become more organized, more efficient, and increase your bottom line.
Designed for properties of any size, Rent Manager XP helps you increase your productivity by organizing your rental information, reducing the number of delinquent accounts, and automating your accounting.
Ideal Software for:
Apartment Communities
Manufactured Home Communities
Student Housing
Commercial Properties
Condominiums
Single Family Homes
Storage Facilities
Homeowner Associations
Rent Manager Xi Property Management Software - 10 Rental Unit License
Price $149.95
Allows up to 10 rental units
Monthly service fees are $25 base subscription fee plus 30 cents per unit.
Rent Manager is an intuitive, out-of-the box solution for residential and commercial property management companies. Designed from the ground up by property managers and computer professionals, our experience has made us a leader in our field. With over 21 years of experience and thousands of companies currently using Rent Manager, you can rest assured that our software will help your company become more organized, more efficient, and increase your bottom line.
Designed for properties of any size, Rent Manager XP helps you increase your productivity by organizing your rental information, reducing the number of delinquent accounts, and automating your accounting.
Ideal Software for:
Apartment Communities
Manufactured Home Communities
Student Housing
Commercial Properties
Condominiums
Single Family Homes
Storage Facilities
Homeowner Associations
Rent Manager Xi Property Management Software - 10 Rental Unit License
Price $149.95
Allows up to 10 rental units
Requirements Management
Telelogic DOORS®, the market- and technology- leading family of solutions for Requirements Management, improves quality by optimizing communication and collaboration, and by promoting compliance and verification through the following capabilities:
* Intuitive interfaces that encourage adoption of Requirements Management
* Scalability for any project size with any number of users
* A flexible, up-to-date, easy-to-use requirements traceability matrix
* The most comprehensive support for recording, structuring, managing, and analyzing requirements and their traceability
* Unparalleled integration with Telelogic's other solutions and third-party tools to increase requirements visibility and to drive their traceability throughout the development lifecycle
_____________________________________________________
http://www.casecomplete.com
"gather, organize, and communicate requirements."
* Intuitive interfaces that encourage adoption of Requirements Management
* Scalability for any project size with any number of users
* A flexible, up-to-date, easy-to-use requirements traceability matrix
* The most comprehensive support for recording, structuring, managing, and analyzing requirements and their traceability
* Unparalleled integration with Telelogic's other solutions and third-party tools to increase requirements visibility and to drive their traceability throughout the development lifecycle
_____________________________________________________
http://www.casecomplete.com
"gather, organize, and communicate requirements."
Project Management
Unfuddle is a secure, hosted software development environment and project management solution for small software development teams.
===========================================
20070907
His startup plans to launch its hosted, Ruby On Rails project management suite shortly.
About the product Seybold says: "It offers an innovative system for capturing estimates and creating probabilistic schedules that teams can actually trust. LiquidPlanner blends social networking features with project management to help teams stay connected, and its analysis features help teams focus on the key metric -- meeting promise dates."
===========================================
20071215
Axosoft
Track everything from bugs to software requirements, team member tasks, and more with up to 100% project visibility.
===========================================
200805
task management
Tasks Pro™ or Tasks
All the great task management features.
Choose from these account options:
Tasks Pro™: Unlimited
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for use by your entire organization.
$26.95 / month
Features:
* Unlimited Users & Groups.
* 100 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks Pro™: 25 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 25 users, perfect for small teams.
$17.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 25 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 50 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks: Personal
A Tasks (info) installation with everything you need to stay organized.
$3.95 / month
Features:
* Single user/personal installation
* 20 MB of space for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB (up to 100MB)
* Secure access via SSL: $2.50/month
Tasks Pro™: 10 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 10 users, perfect for small teams.
$12.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 10 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 30 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks Pro™: 5 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 5 users, perfect for families.
$8.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 5 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 25 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
================================================================
200810
Tungle simplifies an office assistant setting up meetings with multiple people's calendars.
===========================================
20070907
His startup plans to launch its hosted, Ruby On Rails project management suite shortly.
About the product Seybold says: "It offers an innovative system for capturing estimates and creating probabilistic schedules that teams can actually trust. LiquidPlanner blends social networking features with project management to help teams stay connected, and its analysis features help teams focus on the key metric -- meeting promise dates."
===========================================
20071215
Axosoft
Track everything from bugs to software requirements, team member tasks, and more with up to 100% project visibility.
===========================================
200805
task management
Tasks Pro™ or Tasks
All the great task management features.
Choose from these account options:
Tasks Pro™: Unlimited
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for use by your entire organization.
$26.95 / month
Features:
* Unlimited Users & Groups.
* 100 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks Pro™: 25 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 25 users, perfect for small teams.
$17.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 25 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 50 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks: Personal
A Tasks (info) installation with everything you need to stay organized.
$3.95 / month
Features:
* Single user/personal installation
* 20 MB of space for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB (up to 100MB)
* Secure access via SSL: $2.50/month
Tasks Pro™: 10 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 10 users, perfect for small teams.
$12.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 10 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 30 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
Tasks Pro™: 5 Users
A Tasks Pro™ (info) installation for 5 users, perfect for families.
$8.95 / month
Features:
* Up to 5 Users with Unlimited Groups.
* 25 MB for File Uploads
Optional Add-ons:
* Additional disk space for file uploads: $2.50/month per 10MB
* Secure access via SSL: $5/month
================================================================
200810
Tungle simplifies an office assistant setting up meetings with multiple people's calendars.
Vendor Payment
Electronic vendor payment. Concur is a publicly traded company.
Concur Vendor Payment enables organizations to electronically capture vendor invoices and invoice data quickly and easily, using three
primary methods:
There will always be paper invoices. These invoices – even those with no fixed layout – can be electronically scanned into Concur Vendor Payment using Concur’s advanced Intelligent Capture functionality. This exclusive feature captures and extracts the appropriate data to essentially convert a paper invoice into electronic invoice data, eliminating tedious re-keying and reducing errors.
Images of paper invoices can also be captured by Concur Vendor Payment and electronically linked to the appropriate payment request, providing instant access to any invoice image for further review or audit.
Working through our partner OB10, your vendors can submit their invoices electronically to Concur Vendor Payment. The invoice data is automatically captured and is ready for routing for approval and payment processing.
Concur Vendor Payment enables organizations to electronically capture vendor invoices and invoice data quickly and easily, using three
primary methods:
There will always be paper invoices. These invoices – even those with no fixed layout – can be electronically scanned into Concur Vendor Payment using Concur’s advanced Intelligent Capture functionality. This exclusive feature captures and extracts the appropriate data to essentially convert a paper invoice into electronic invoice data, eliminating tedious re-keying and reducing errors.
Images of paper invoices can also be captured by Concur Vendor Payment and electronically linked to the appropriate payment request, providing instant access to any invoice image for further review or audit.
Working through our partner OB10, your vendors can submit their invoices electronically to Concur Vendor Payment. The invoice data is automatically captured and is ready for routing for approval and payment processing.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Health Department Patient Tracking
Envision Technology sells to government agencies. Reasonably easy functionality. Could be a long sales cycle.
WebIZ
Web-based Immunization Registry System
WebIZ is a high-performance Web application designed to meet all clinical needs for State and County immunization registries including a client/patient registry, billing and inventory tracking, and a powerful immunization 'Recommend' feature.
WebCIM
Web HIV Client Information Management System
WebCIM is a Web-based HIV Client Information Management system used by providers, nursing services and social services in an EMA. WebCIM improves the health status of low-income HIV clients by coordinating the support services given to HIV clients using a central patient registry.
MCH
Web Maternal Child Health Encounters and Assessments
Maternal Child Health (MCH) is Web-based and allows for the entering and tracking of patient encounters and patient assessments. Nurses and other users can download patient data to a laptop to perform encounters and assessments in the field. Results can then be uploaded to a centralized patient registry.
WEST
Web Equipment & Software Tracking System
WEST is a Web-based Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system that allows organizations to track, inventory, and audit all of thier important assets and equipment.
Note they all sell asset tracking.
WebIZ
Web-based Immunization Registry System
WebIZ is a high-performance Web application designed to meet all clinical needs for State and County immunization registries including a client/patient registry, billing and inventory tracking, and a powerful immunization 'Recommend' feature.
WebCIM
Web HIV Client Information Management System
WebCIM is a Web-based HIV Client Information Management system used by providers, nursing services and social services in an EMA. WebCIM improves the health status of low-income HIV clients by coordinating the support services given to HIV clients using a central patient registry.
MCH
Web Maternal Child Health Encounters and Assessments
Maternal Child Health (MCH) is Web-based and allows for the entering and tracking of patient encounters and patient assessments. Nurses and other users can download patient data to a laptop to perform encounters and assessments in the field. Results can then be uploaded to a centralized patient registry.
WEST
Web Equipment & Software Tracking System
WEST is a Web-based Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system that allows organizations to track, inventory, and audit all of thier important assets and equipment.
Note they all sell asset tracking.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Proposal Management
Pitch to 100 sponsors in minutes
Many sponsors receive thousands of proposals a year. How well does your proposal measure up? How can you test your proposal for effectiveness meeting sponsorship objectives? Quickly and at little cost?
For a mere $80 USD, SPONSÉ gives you the tools to pitch to 100 different sponsors. You'll receive immediate feedback on the effectiveness of your proposal.
SPONSÉ really works. It offers you superior "Sponsor Intelligence." It helps you stop wasting time, money and resources starting today.
Who are the sponsors in the database?
The majority of the sponsors in SPONSORIUM'S extensive database are Fortune 1000 companies.
Many sponsors receive thousands of proposals a year. How well does your proposal measure up? How can you test your proposal for effectiveness meeting sponsorship objectives? Quickly and at little cost?
For a mere $80 USD, SPONSÉ gives you the tools to pitch to 100 different sponsors. You'll receive immediate feedback on the effectiveness of your proposal.
SPONSÉ really works. It offers you superior "Sponsor Intelligence." It helps you stop wasting time, money and resources starting today.
Who are the sponsors in the database?
The majority of the sponsors in SPONSORIUM'S extensive database are Fortune 1000 companies.
Social Networking Site For Recovery/12-Step
Daily Strength is doing a broad health issue networking site.
• Get immediate support from others like you
• Create and share an anonymous journal
• Learn about treatments and ways to cope
• Get recommendations of medical professionals
Do accounts cost anything?
DailyStrength is free for members. There are no costs or fees of any kind.
DailyStrength of course has competitors, like MDJunction but the site clearly has a growing user base and a focussed niche where advertisers will pay top dollar for. They also have natural partnerships that they can use to get greater distribution.
============================
2007.06.09
Allow users to:
create their own "my story".
daily journal for the steps and whatever else
notes on group meetings and sponsor meetings
inventory / amends
============================
2007.09.27
Confession sites.
============================
2008.12
Like a closed meetup.com group, without the fees.
• Get immediate support from others like you
• Create and share an anonymous journal
• Learn about treatments and ways to cope
• Get recommendations of medical professionals
Do accounts cost anything?
DailyStrength is free for members. There are no costs or fees of any kind.
DailyStrength of course has competitors, like MDJunction but the site clearly has a growing user base and a focussed niche where advertisers will pay top dollar for. They also have natural partnerships that they can use to get greater distribution.
============================
2007.06.09
Allow users to:
create their own "my story".
daily journal for the steps and whatever else
notes on group meetings and sponsor meetings
inventory / amends
============================
2007.09.27
Confession sites.
============================
2008.12
Like a closed meetup.com group, without the fees.
General Info - Ruby On Rails Presentation Notes
Minutes of the 8 May 2007 meeting, "Ruby on Rails: The Good, the Bad
Posted by: JZapin
Date: Wed Jun 6, 2007 8:46 pm ((PDT))
I'm sorry for the delay in getting these out.
I will follow up with a link to the speaker notes.
JZ
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
About 50 people attended tonight's meeting. Josh Zapin facilitated and
Jeremy Kohler recorded the minutes.
----------
MEETING SPONSORS
Microstaff (www.microstaff.com) provides refreshments, Copy Diva
(www.copydiva.com) provides the audio-visual equipment, NCAR
(www.ncar.ucar.edu) provides the facility, and ONEWARE
(www.oneware.com) sponsors these minutes.
---------------
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Josh welcomes suggestions for topics and speakers for future meetings,
please email Josh with your ideas.
Derailed is an RoR user's group in Denver, and there's also a Ruby
user's group that meets at Collective Intellect. Google it to find out
more.
---------------
INTRODUCTION (Josh Zapin)
Ruby On Rails (RoR) has taken the programming world by storm since it
was released to the public in July 2004. RoR combines Ruby, an object
oriented programming language with super-clean syntax, with Rails, an
open-source Model-View-Controller (MVC) based framework that enables
development, according to rubyonrails.org, ten times faster than
typical frameworks. The two together enable programmers to create
fully functioning websites in a fraction of the time. There are demos
on rubyonrails.org allowing you to build five-minute websites.
Sounds too good to be true? Consider the following:
- The official RoR website features two almost-too-good-to-be-true
demos: Creating a Weblog in 15 minutes and a Flickr interface in 5
minutes. (I've personally tried them and it's true)
- RoR has built in AJAX libraries such as Script.aculo.us to make very
slick user experiences within a typical web browsers, enabling a high
level of usability.
- Apple will be adding RoR as part of their next version of OS X (due
in October).
But how many times have we heard and tried new development platforms
only to have them not meet up with the hype, and is RoR all what it's
cracked up to be? Well maybe not, as fantasy doesn't always match
reality. So let's put our geekiness hats on.
----------------------
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Gustafson (mailto:dave.gustafson@wyantdata.com) is Vice
President of Technology and Product Development for Wyant Data
Systems, Inc. Dave joined WDS from his position as Founder and Chief
Architect of Cold Mountain Software, a provider of software services
and products for project management and enterprise knowledge
management. Prior to Cold Mountain Software, Dave was Chief Architect
and Co-Founder of Accumedia.com, Inc., a provider of hosted and
managed content management, control, and delivery systems targeted to
the media and entertainment industries. Dave holds a BA in Physics
from Middlebury College and has done graduate study in Computer
Science at Worcester Polytech and the University of Colorado.
---------------------
LINKS
wyantdata.com
rubyonrails.org
------------------------
DAVID GUSTAFSON
Ruby on Rails in Context: Should we care?
Where does RoR fit in the context of the programming world at large?
Yes, We should care.
If you don't remember much of this presentation, or if you completely
forget that you were even here, just remember these two things:
1. How to peel a banana. Seems absurd. Well, monkeys peel it
differently. They pinch the bottom to split it open, and that's the
proper way to peel a banana. Go try it, but do it first at home where
no one can see...you might make a mess.
2. Ruby and Rails are Real! You can't just dismiss the hype, so make a
small investment to see how it might fit in the context of your work.
I'm not an expert on RoR, but I manage complexity and risk. I deal
with problem spaces and solutions. What I do for a living: last week I
testified before the CO legislature, doing IV&V for a voter
registration system. So I have to testify about how well millions of
dollars are being spent on this system. Would I advocate using RoR for
implementing voter registration? Forget about it. It's just not mature
enough for that.
I have a passion for programming languages. I was managing a Java app
and a .Net app. The Java was a disaster, .Net was working well. So I
did some experiments comparing productivity of various apps, timing
how long it took to do a mini project. I threw Ruby into the mix. The
result: What took 2.5 hours in Java took 15 minutes in Ruby.
Philip Greenspun says, "Java is the SUV of programming tools" It's
like driving your giant SUV just to go to a 7-11.
Risk: "There are old climbers, there are bold climbers, but there are
no old bold climbers."
Climbing gear is heavy. Are you going to carry 60 pounds of gear just
go bouldering? So Java is too heavy for some stuff.
Why should we care about RoR?
- In the right circumstances it gives you a 5- to 10-fold increase in
productivity.
- It is subject to programmer motivation. Linus's Law: programmers go
through Survival, Social Life, and Entertainment (the highest
pinnacle). RoR can help them get there.
- It is subject to business motivation: productivity = $$
WHAT IS RAILS?
Rails is a full-stack framework for developing database-backed web
applications. This is what most web apps are now. Database, reports,
and forms. That's it. Based on Model-View-Controller pattern, which
came out of Smalltalk. It all happens in the browser as part of Ajax.
Convention over Configuration: this is controversial. Instead of
having a way to configure everything under the sun, you have to follow
conventions. But if you do follow the conventions, everything just
falls into place.
Meta-programming: This is generating dynamic code on the fly (you
never see it) to process the tables you tell it about. It finds all
the columns, like magic.
A language for mapping: It's very easy to specify class relationships.
Little statements like "has many pictures" tells it about a
one-to-many relationship, which saves you a lot of time.
WHAT IS RUBY?
Ruby is an interpreted scripting language for quick and easy
object-oriented programming. It was created by an amateur who put
together some small stuff to make Ruby: combining features of
Smalltalk, Perl, and Lisp.
"High-level languages are often all treated as equivalent. They're
not" --Paul Graham.
Using Lisp, Graham said he could add new features faster than his
competitors could announce them. This is a historical example of using
a language as a "secret weapon" to gain significant competitive
advantage.
What's it like?
Convention over Configuration: Say here's a table, and it will go off
and find all the columns. Not like XML which you configure like crazy.
Don't get me started about XML. You screw up there and you could be
chasing down issues for days.
With Ruby, it just feels like configuration, but you're really writing
code. Like Emacs.
LANGUAGE INTERLUDE
Embedded DSLs.
Rails is a domain-specific language specifically in the domain of
creating database web applications. Ruby is very well suited to
creating DSLs. It's not like Python, where there is only one way to do
things. Ruby gives you a zillion ways to do things. Totally object
oriented. "33.multiplynext" for example, is an object in Ruby if you
want it to be.
Thoughts on Languages: The highest correlation between implementations
is the programmer. Wide range of skills and speed. The difference
between programmers is larger than the difference between languages.
Usually the guy that knows more languages is going to be more
productive.
RoR BUZZ
Productivity questions: performance, scalability, legacy integration,
range of application. It can't handle multiple-column primary keys,
so often you must create views to handle legacy integration. So that's
a bit tricky.
Should I bet my job on RoR? Go to my boss and take a stand?
CROSSING THE CHASM
Marketing and selling disruptive products to mainstream customers: for
high technology, any successful item must cross the chasm between the
"early adopters" and the "early majority" starting to adopt the
technology. It's very difficult for a language to cross that chasm.
Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Java all did it. Now what's the next language?
Will Ruby cross the chasm?
It needs critical mass of a programmer community, people who will bet
their jobs on learning this language. Or a "killer app" can do it. Is
Rails the killer app that will help Ruby cross the chasm?
Before Rails, I thought Ruby lagged behind Python and Perl because of
less complete and less mature libraries.
Ruby Risk vs. Java Risk.
Ruby risk is going down, and Java risk is going up (because of its
increasing complexity over time). Java generates confusion over which
framework to use. But it's very hard to sell Ruby to someone who has
already bet their job and critical software on Java.
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
- JRuby: a jar you put into your Java application, to quickly map out
business rules. Running Rails on top of Java should soon be an
alternative.
- Ruby on the CLR (Microsoft common language runtime)
- Microsoft is joining the party by announcing Silverlight and DLR
(Dynamic Language Runtime), based on Jim Hugunin's work with
IronPython, faster than CPython, made a DLR on top of thatCLR, that
runsin the future should be able to run Ruby in the browser: no more
javascript!
Pitfalls and Opportunities
It's simple and easy to get started, but subtle to achieve the kind of
power that Rails displays. See the Ruby Quiz on rubyonrails.org.
When you create a Rails application you could approach it in a variety
of ways. #1(good) Build your application on top of the Rails
framework. #2(great!) When you build a Rails app, think how to extend
Rails to build your own dynamic language for your specific domain.
This might be the most valuable recommendation you hear tonight…
Implement your app as a DSL that extends the Rails framework. Make a
DSL for your business domain.
Get Started!
Learn Ruby!
Explore Rails as an implementation for internal tools.
Make quick demos to get early validation of your ideas.
Parallel Development: Go have a horse race. Race the Java team to get
attention. Do it for free to start.
Embedding Ruby: Scripting inside of other apps, like JRuby inside
Java. Helps you streamline your development.
CASE STUDY
JokeVision.com was a perfect opportunity to try RoR. They were
producing comedy video, originally targeting the cable TV market. Lots
of content, but no buyers. They needed a database-backed website to
engage viewers and gather new content. So they did it with RoR. It
remains to be seen whether JokeVision will succeed.
Remember the banana? We think we know how to do something, and we are
creatures of habit. But try something different. RoR should be taken
seriously. It's not a silver bullet, it hasn't crossed that chasm
beyond the early adopters, and so has a lot of risk. But it's a lot of
fun too.
Q & A
Q: Is it scalable?
A: It's more scalable for the size of apps that people would do in
short order. But there are going to be integration problems with more
complicated stuff. So I don't know. I was using an RoR based project
management website called Basecamp (basecamphq.com): SomeoneI
overloaded it because we they had too many milestones. The service was
basically unavailable for a day. That hurt my confidence in its
scalability. They did solve it, but you can find yourself outside RoR
technology pretty quickly when trying to scale.
Q: You can break the conventions if you really want to.
A: Yes that's true, it requires some extra effort to do so.
Q: What doesn't scale well?
A: Adding functionality to apps and changing requirements tends to
create scaling issues. Like when your requirements for performance,
volume, etc. change. For example, suddenly you find you have to handle
huge image files and suddenly there's no infrastructure to handle it.
More people can be trouble too: things don't scale easily to handle
more people working on a project.
Q: How do you use AJAX and libraries to make it look pretty?
A: I'm still exploring this stuff. Libraries like Prototype can give
an object-oriented feel to the javascript. RoR doesn't necessarily
have a clear advantage, library-wise.
Q: Any high-scale web apps out there?
A: Basecamp is big, and I hear Amazon and Yahoo are using it
experimentally.
Q: When do you know something can't scale any more? Where is the limit
point?
Audience Comment: Ruby is single-threaded, handles one request at a
time. So user scaling backed people up quickly, and you have to deal
with the single-threaded problem using other technology like
ApacheLib. This could change in the future.
A: This is one of the interesting things: like starting up the Ruby
interpreter in fast-cgi to solve problems, and this chips away at your
10x productivity. But the same tricks you've used before will work
here.
Audience Comment: There are some evolving technologies and people are
coming up with solutions for scaling issues. It's a hot issue about
RoR scalability.
Q: How mature are the tools for developing Ruby, other than Emacs?
A: All the usual tools work pretty well. I use RadRails which is a
module for Eclipse. TextMate in Mac OS is good. More and more
environments are out there to help you be productive. Create the
database, create a Rails app, then create a migration. It's very
rapid. It automatically creates unit tests. So you're using standard
extreme programming tools to build things.
Q: What do you use for Ruby development?
A: Emacs and Eclipse. And a lot of command lines.
Q: What about IntelliJ?
A: It's a great environment, so keep an eye on it. Rails generates a
console for you to allow you interactively create instances of a class
and manage them.
Q: Any famous Ruby failures?
Audience Comment: It's too new.
A: Worst I know of is my own experience with Basecamp, but that was
just a blip. I don't know how they resolved it, but they did.
Q: How about Rails as a cost-effective beta?
A: It's all about evaluating market acceptance. If you try something
and mess up, you get bad press and it's hard to come back. So you need
to build enough foundation to get started and to stay ahead of it.
It's risky.
Audience Comment: You can't afford to go dark for six months while
you're rebuilding.
Q: After the database is developed, do you still have the 10x
advantage?
A: No, not in my experience. In Java we had to build some code
generation to get it to work like Rails. Do I just switch to RoR? It
depends on how much pain you're experiencing in your current process.
Right now you need be in quite a bit of pain before risking a switch.
It's risky to do wholesale switches; better to ease into it with
something new.
Audience Comment: We're building a public site to track all CO
legislation. We'll see how it goes with scaling.
Audience Comment: I started a website starting in PHP and then JSP and
then stopped because it was just too hard. Then we switched to Ruby
and suddenly we found ourselves doing things we couldn't even have
imagined before. It sure got us off a plateau.
Q: Can you call DLL's and other compiled things?
A: Yes, you can extend Ruby with C extensions, embed Ruby in C. It's a
pretty good technology for building in those kinds of things.
Q: Any good books and tutorials?
A: That depends on your learning style. The "bible" is the Picaxe book
by Dave Thomas. Typographically strange, but pretty good. Also "Ruby
For Rails": good for understanding Ruby as you need it for working
with Rails. Also "Enterprise Integration with Ruby".
Audience Comment: Check out tryruby.hobix.com. It's got interactive
cartoon web pages on Ruby that guide you. It's very good.
Audience Comment: There are also good resources at rubyonrails.org.
A: Continuations and Closures and Blocks take some time for you to get
your brain around.
Posted by: JZapin
Date: Wed Jun 6, 2007 8:46 pm ((PDT))
I'm sorry for the delay in getting these out.
I will follow up with a link to the speaker notes.
JZ
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
About 50 people attended tonight's meeting. Josh Zapin facilitated and
Jeremy Kohler recorded the minutes.
----------
MEETING SPONSORS
Microstaff (www.microstaff.com) provides refreshments, Copy Diva
(www.copydiva.com) provides the audio-visual equipment, NCAR
(www.ncar.ucar.edu) provides the facility, and ONEWARE
(www.oneware.com) sponsors these minutes.
---------------
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Josh welcomes suggestions for topics and speakers for future meetings,
please email Josh with your ideas.
Derailed is an RoR user's group in Denver, and there's also a Ruby
user's group that meets at Collective Intellect. Google it to find out
more.
---------------
INTRODUCTION (Josh Zapin)
Ruby On Rails (RoR) has taken the programming world by storm since it
was released to the public in July 2004. RoR combines Ruby, an object
oriented programming language with super-clean syntax, with Rails, an
open-source Model-View-Controller (MVC) based framework that enables
development, according to rubyonrails.org, ten times faster than
typical frameworks. The two together enable programmers to create
fully functioning websites in a fraction of the time. There are demos
on rubyonrails.org allowing you to build five-minute websites.
Sounds too good to be true? Consider the following:
- The official RoR website features two almost-too-good-to-be-true
demos: Creating a Weblog in 15 minutes and a Flickr interface in 5
minutes. (I've personally tried them and it's true)
- RoR has built in AJAX libraries such as Script.aculo.us to make very
slick user experiences within a typical web browsers, enabling a high
level of usability.
- Apple will be adding RoR as part of their next version of OS X (due
in October).
But how many times have we heard and tried new development platforms
only to have them not meet up with the hype, and is RoR all what it's
cracked up to be? Well maybe not, as fantasy doesn't always match
reality. So let's put our geekiness hats on.
----------------------
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Gustafson (mailto:dave.gustafson@wyantdata.com) is Vice
President of Technology and Product Development for Wyant Data
Systems, Inc. Dave joined WDS from his position as Founder and Chief
Architect of Cold Mountain Software, a provider of software services
and products for project management and enterprise knowledge
management. Prior to Cold Mountain Software, Dave was Chief Architect
and Co-Founder of Accumedia.com, Inc., a provider of hosted and
managed content management, control, and delivery systems targeted to
the media and entertainment industries. Dave holds a BA in Physics
from Middlebury College and has done graduate study in Computer
Science at Worcester Polytech and the University of Colorado.
---------------------
LINKS
wyantdata.com
rubyonrails.org
------------------------
DAVID GUSTAFSON
Ruby on Rails in Context: Should we care?
Where does RoR fit in the context of the programming world at large?
Yes, We should care.
If you don't remember much of this presentation, or if you completely
forget that you were even here, just remember these two things:
1. How to peel a banana. Seems absurd. Well, monkeys peel it
differently. They pinch the bottom to split it open, and that's the
proper way to peel a banana. Go try it, but do it first at home where
no one can see...you might make a mess.
2. Ruby and Rails are Real! You can't just dismiss the hype, so make a
small investment to see how it might fit in the context of your work.
I'm not an expert on RoR, but I manage complexity and risk. I deal
with problem spaces and solutions. What I do for a living: last week I
testified before the CO legislature, doing IV&V for a voter
registration system. So I have to testify about how well millions of
dollars are being spent on this system. Would I advocate using RoR for
implementing voter registration? Forget about it. It's just not mature
enough for that.
I have a passion for programming languages. I was managing a Java app
and a .Net app. The Java was a disaster, .Net was working well. So I
did some experiments comparing productivity of various apps, timing
how long it took to do a mini project. I threw Ruby into the mix. The
result: What took 2.5 hours in Java took 15 minutes in Ruby.
Philip Greenspun says, "Java is the SUV of programming tools" It's
like driving your giant SUV just to go to a 7-11.
Risk: "There are old climbers, there are bold climbers, but there are
no old bold climbers."
Climbing gear is heavy. Are you going to carry 60 pounds of gear just
go bouldering? So Java is too heavy for some stuff.
Why should we care about RoR?
- In the right circumstances it gives you a 5- to 10-fold increase in
productivity.
- It is subject to programmer motivation. Linus's Law: programmers go
through Survival, Social Life, and Entertainment (the highest
pinnacle). RoR can help them get there.
- It is subject to business motivation: productivity = $$
WHAT IS RAILS?
Rails is a full-stack framework for developing database-backed web
applications. This is what most web apps are now. Database, reports,
and forms. That's it. Based on Model-View-Controller pattern, which
came out of Smalltalk. It all happens in the browser as part of Ajax.
Convention over Configuration: this is controversial. Instead of
having a way to configure everything under the sun, you have to follow
conventions. But if you do follow the conventions, everything just
falls into place.
Meta-programming: This is generating dynamic code on the fly (you
never see it) to process the tables you tell it about. It finds all
the columns, like magic.
A language for mapping: It's very easy to specify class relationships.
Little statements like "has many pictures" tells it about a
one-to-many relationship, which saves you a lot of time.
WHAT IS RUBY?
Ruby is an interpreted scripting language for quick and easy
object-oriented programming. It was created by an amateur who put
together some small stuff to make Ruby: combining features of
Smalltalk, Perl, and Lisp.
"High-level languages are often all treated as equivalent. They're
not" --Paul Graham.
Using Lisp, Graham said he could add new features faster than his
competitors could announce them. This is a historical example of using
a language as a "secret weapon" to gain significant competitive
advantage.
What's it like?
Convention over Configuration: Say here's a table, and it will go off
and find all the columns. Not like XML which you configure like crazy.
Don't get me started about XML. You screw up there and you could be
chasing down issues for days.
With Ruby, it just feels like configuration, but you're really writing
code. Like Emacs.
LANGUAGE INTERLUDE
Embedded DSLs.
Rails is a domain-specific language specifically in the domain of
creating database web applications. Ruby is very well suited to
creating DSLs. It's not like Python, where there is only one way to do
things. Ruby gives you a zillion ways to do things. Totally object
oriented. "33.multiplynext" for example, is an object in Ruby if you
want it to be.
Thoughts on Languages: The highest correlation between implementations
is the programmer. Wide range of skills and speed. The difference
between programmers is larger than the difference between languages.
Usually the guy that knows more languages is going to be more
productive.
RoR BUZZ
Productivity questions: performance, scalability, legacy integration,
range of application. It can't handle multiple-column primary keys,
so often you must create views to handle legacy integration. So that's
a bit tricky.
Should I bet my job on RoR? Go to my boss and take a stand?
CROSSING THE CHASM
Marketing and selling disruptive products to mainstream customers: for
high technology, any successful item must cross the chasm between the
"early adopters" and the "early majority" starting to adopt the
technology. It's very difficult for a language to cross that chasm.
Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Java all did it. Now what's the next language?
Will Ruby cross the chasm?
It needs critical mass of a programmer community, people who will bet
their jobs on learning this language. Or a "killer app" can do it. Is
Rails the killer app that will help Ruby cross the chasm?
Before Rails, I thought Ruby lagged behind Python and Perl because of
less complete and less mature libraries.
Ruby Risk vs. Java Risk.
Ruby risk is going down, and Java risk is going up (because of its
increasing complexity over time). Java generates confusion over which
framework to use. But it's very hard to sell Ruby to someone who has
already bet their job and critical software on Java.
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
- JRuby: a jar you put into your Java application, to quickly map out
business rules. Running Rails on top of Java should soon be an
alternative.
- Ruby on the CLR (Microsoft common language runtime)
- Microsoft is joining the party by announcing Silverlight and DLR
(Dynamic Language Runtime), based on Jim Hugunin's work with
IronPython, faster than CPython, made a DLR on top of thatCLR, that
runsin the future should be able to run Ruby in the browser: no more
javascript!
Pitfalls and Opportunities
It's simple and easy to get started, but subtle to achieve the kind of
power that Rails displays. See the Ruby Quiz on rubyonrails.org.
When you create a Rails application you could approach it in a variety
of ways. #1(good) Build your application on top of the Rails
framework. #2(great!) When you build a Rails app, think how to extend
Rails to build your own dynamic language for your specific domain.
This might be the most valuable recommendation you hear tonight…
Implement your app as a DSL that extends the Rails framework. Make a
DSL for your business domain.
Get Started!
Learn Ruby!
Explore Rails as an implementation for internal tools.
Make quick demos to get early validation of your ideas.
Parallel Development: Go have a horse race. Race the Java team to get
attention. Do it for free to start.
Embedding Ruby: Scripting inside of other apps, like JRuby inside
Java. Helps you streamline your development.
CASE STUDY
JokeVision.com was a perfect opportunity to try RoR. They were
producing comedy video, originally targeting the cable TV market. Lots
of content, but no buyers. They needed a database-backed website to
engage viewers and gather new content. So they did it with RoR. It
remains to be seen whether JokeVision will succeed.
Remember the banana? We think we know how to do something, and we are
creatures of habit. But try something different. RoR should be taken
seriously. It's not a silver bullet, it hasn't crossed that chasm
beyond the early adopters, and so has a lot of risk. But it's a lot of
fun too.
Q & A
Q: Is it scalable?
A: It's more scalable for the size of apps that people would do in
short order. But there are going to be integration problems with more
complicated stuff. So I don't know. I was using an RoR based project
management website called Basecamp (basecamphq.com): SomeoneI
overloaded it because we they had too many milestones. The service was
basically unavailable for a day. That hurt my confidence in its
scalability. They did solve it, but you can find yourself outside RoR
technology pretty quickly when trying to scale.
Q: You can break the conventions if you really want to.
A: Yes that's true, it requires some extra effort to do so.
Q: What doesn't scale well?
A: Adding functionality to apps and changing requirements tends to
create scaling issues. Like when your requirements for performance,
volume, etc. change. For example, suddenly you find you have to handle
huge image files and suddenly there's no infrastructure to handle it.
More people can be trouble too: things don't scale easily to handle
more people working on a project.
Q: How do you use AJAX and libraries to make it look pretty?
A: I'm still exploring this stuff. Libraries like Prototype can give
an object-oriented feel to the javascript. RoR doesn't necessarily
have a clear advantage, library-wise.
Q: Any high-scale web apps out there?
A: Basecamp is big, and I hear Amazon and Yahoo are using it
experimentally.
Q: When do you know something can't scale any more? Where is the limit
point?
Audience Comment: Ruby is single-threaded, handles one request at a
time. So user scaling backed people up quickly, and you have to deal
with the single-threaded problem using other technology like
ApacheLib. This could change in the future.
A: This is one of the interesting things: like starting up the Ruby
interpreter in fast-cgi to solve problems, and this chips away at your
10x productivity. But the same tricks you've used before will work
here.
Audience Comment: There are some evolving technologies and people are
coming up with solutions for scaling issues. It's a hot issue about
RoR scalability.
Q: How mature are the tools for developing Ruby, other than Emacs?
A: All the usual tools work pretty well. I use RadRails which is a
module for Eclipse. TextMate in Mac OS is good. More and more
environments are out there to help you be productive. Create the
database, create a Rails app, then create a migration. It's very
rapid. It automatically creates unit tests. So you're using standard
extreme programming tools to build things.
Q: What do you use for Ruby development?
A: Emacs and Eclipse. And a lot of command lines.
Q: What about IntelliJ?
A: It's a great environment, so keep an eye on it. Rails generates a
console for you to allow you interactively create instances of a class
and manage them.
Q: Any famous Ruby failures?
Audience Comment: It's too new.
A: Worst I know of is my own experience with Basecamp, but that was
just a blip. I don't know how they resolved it, but they did.
Q: How about Rails as a cost-effective beta?
A: It's all about evaluating market acceptance. If you try something
and mess up, you get bad press and it's hard to come back. So you need
to build enough foundation to get started and to stay ahead of it.
It's risky.
Audience Comment: You can't afford to go dark for six months while
you're rebuilding.
Q: After the database is developed, do you still have the 10x
advantage?
A: No, not in my experience. In Java we had to build some code
generation to get it to work like Rails. Do I just switch to RoR? It
depends on how much pain you're experiencing in your current process.
Right now you need be in quite a bit of pain before risking a switch.
It's risky to do wholesale switches; better to ease into it with
something new.
Audience Comment: We're building a public site to track all CO
legislation. We'll see how it goes with scaling.
Audience Comment: I started a website starting in PHP and then JSP and
then stopped because it was just too hard. Then we switched to Ruby
and suddenly we found ourselves doing things we couldn't even have
imagined before. It sure got us off a plateau.
Q: Can you call DLL's and other compiled things?
A: Yes, you can extend Ruby with C extensions, embed Ruby in C. It's a
pretty good technology for building in those kinds of things.
Q: Any good books and tutorials?
A: That depends on your learning style. The "bible" is the Picaxe book
by Dave Thomas. Typographically strange, but pretty good. Also "Ruby
For Rails": good for understanding Ruby as you need it for working
with Rails. Also "Enterprise Integration with Ruby".
Audience Comment: Check out tryruby.hobix.com. It's got interactive
cartoon web pages on Ruby that guide you. It's very good.
Audience Comment: There are also good resources at rubyonrails.org.
A: Continuations and Closures and Blocks take some time for you to get
your brain around.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
General Info - Web Site Items
A business site should have the following:
1. A multi-step strategy to generate sales
2. A major initial benefit/offer
3. A sign-up form or box to get onto a weekly mailing list
4. A good reason to sign up
5. Freebies for visitors
6. Premium membership (for information sites)
7. Ways to contact someone at the business
8. A Privacy statement and a Terms of Use statement
It should be updated frequently with benefits-oriented
information. This gives visitors reasons to return.
1. A multi-step strategy to generate sales
2. A major initial benefit/offer
3. A sign-up form or box to get onto a weekly mailing list
4. A good reason to sign up
5. Freebies for visitors
6. Premium membership (for information sites)
7. Ways to contact someone at the business
8. A Privacy statement and a Terms of Use statement
It should be updated frequently with benefits-oriented
information. This gives visitors reasons to return.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Getting Things Done Item Tracking
Getting Things Done, commonly abbreviated as GTD, is an action management method, and the title of a book by David Allen.
GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks.
GTD: A New Cult for the Info Age
A holy book for the information age is turning stressed-out worker bees into members of an unlikely new cult obsessed with keeping an empty inbox.
To converts, popular time-management manual Getting Things Done is a way of life and its author, personal productivity coach David Allen, leader of their flock.
click to see photos
See photos
Allen gained notoriety in corporate circles when the hardback was first published in 2001, proposing a new philosophy for slicing through tasks, managing projects and boosting efficiency.
But the mentor's teachings have taken on a life of their own, thanks to online buzz from a devoted movement of fans who say the way of "GTD" has helped them do more stuff with less stress.
"It has changed my life irrevocably," said Marc Orchant of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who calls Allen "my guru" and who uses time saved by following the doctrine to earn extra income from writing five blogs and hosting a weekly technology radio show.
Many who have reaped a streamlined work life and extra family time by singing from the GTD hymnal are now using web tools to spread the word with an almost evangelical zeal.
...
There are already stand-alone and email plug-ins to track the items and tasks. Could be a simple web site to allow users to create account, track items, and display relevant ads.
The web-based app is already done (with Ruby On Rails) though apparently it is for download and not hosted anywhere.
Tracks is a web-based application to help you implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done™ methodology. It was built using Ruby on Rails, and comes with a built-in webserver (WEBrick), so that you can run it on your own computer if you like. It can be run on any platform on which Ruby can be installed, including Mac OS X, Windows XP and Linux. Tracks is Open Source, free and licensed under the GNU GPL.
Light-weight TaskToy.
GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks.
GTD: A New Cult for the Info Age
A holy book for the information age is turning stressed-out worker bees into members of an unlikely new cult obsessed with keeping an empty inbox.
To converts, popular time-management manual Getting Things Done is a way of life and its author, personal productivity coach David Allen, leader of their flock.
click to see photos
See photos
Allen gained notoriety in corporate circles when the hardback was first published in 2001, proposing a new philosophy for slicing through tasks, managing projects and boosting efficiency.
But the mentor's teachings have taken on a life of their own, thanks to online buzz from a devoted movement of fans who say the way of "GTD" has helped them do more stuff with less stress.
"It has changed my life irrevocably," said Marc Orchant of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who calls Allen "my guru" and who uses time saved by following the doctrine to earn extra income from writing five blogs and hosting a weekly technology radio show.
Many who have reaped a streamlined work life and extra family time by singing from the GTD hymnal are now using web tools to spread the word with an almost evangelical zeal.
...
There are already stand-alone and email plug-ins to track the items and tasks. Could be a simple web site to allow users to create account, track items, and display relevant ads.
The web-based app is already done (with Ruby On Rails) though apparently it is for download and not hosted anywhere.
Tracks is a web-based application to help you implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done™ methodology. It was built using Ruby on Rails, and comes with a built-in webserver (WEBrick), so that you can run it on your own computer if you like. It can be run on any platform on which Ruby can be installed, including Mac OS X, Windows XP and Linux. Tracks is Open Source, free and licensed under the GNU GPL.
Light-weight TaskToy.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Sold - FeedBurner $100M
Google acquires Web media distributor Feedburner
By Eric Auchard Fri Jun 1, 3:35 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. said on Friday it is acquiring Feedburner Inc., bolstering the Internet advertising leader's capacity to distribute both media and advertising to blogs via Web syndication technology.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, a Google spokesman said. Various blog reports in recent weeks had put the price of a potential deal at about $100 million, but those reports could not be confirmed.
Feedburner is a pioneer in the market for delivering the latest updated information to other Web sites using technology known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Customers include the Wall Street Journal, BBC and Amazon.com Inc..
...
=================================================
2008.05
FeedLounge shut down. It was supported by monthly/yearly fees.
Spectra "visual news reader"
By Eric Auchard Fri Jun 1, 3:35 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. said on Friday it is acquiring Feedburner Inc., bolstering the Internet advertising leader's capacity to distribute both media and advertising to blogs via Web syndication technology.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, a Google spokesman said. Various blog reports in recent weeks had put the price of a potential deal at about $100 million, but those reports could not be confirmed.
Feedburner is a pioneer in the market for delivering the latest updated information to other Web sites using technology known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Customers include the Wall Street Journal, BBC and Amazon.com Inc..
...
=================================================
2008.05
FeedLounge shut down. It was supported by monthly/yearly fees.
Spectra "visual news reader"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)