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Archive for the ‘Software Development’ Category

Google Offers An Easy Out With Data Liberation

November 24th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Software Development | No Comments »

Want to bail on Google?

If you’re sick of their products and services, the company is making it super easy for people to pack up their data and go.

Enter the Data Liberation Front.

This ingenious – and unconventional – software was designed by Google engineers whose sole mission is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products – essentially liberating them.

Is this an odd business strategy?

Yes, but it’s brilliant at the same time.

Given that most – if not all – of us move among the cloud, data portability has become a key issue – especially for small business owners who rely on Google’s cloud services.

Brian Fitzpatrick, a Google engineering manager, explains:

We want people to try our software, and if we’re going to encourage people to put data in the cloud and use more cloud-based apps, it’s important to show that it should be easy to get that data out as well. I want more people to think about this. It’s an important thing, and most people don’t think “I want to get my data out,” until it’s too late.

There’s even been a hint of a new feature that will give users the ability to export all of their Google Docs files in a single, downloadable zip archive.

I’m sorry, why do we need MS Office again?

Thank you Google for giving me an “out” should my relationship with you end in divorce.

And most of all, thank you for having my back.

My back up data that is.

 Tags: cloud computing, data liberation, google small business, Software Development

The Answer To Irresponsible Texting

October 21st, 2009 by Erin Posted in Software Development | No Comments »

Business professionals are guilty of it.

Parents are have done it.

And, teenagers, well…  enough said.

Texting and driving is rampant – and downright deadly.

It seems people can’t be bothered to take their eyes off their BlackBerry or iPhone – even when they’re speeding down the highway at 65 miles-per-hour.

Well, now they can – thanks to an ingenious app called iZup.

Call it a digital cure for lack of common sense.

Created by Illume Software, iZup uses GPS to calculate your speed – and whether you’re driving. If you are moving faster than your feet can carry you, iZup automatically locks out calls and text messages. That means incoming calls go to voice mail and text messages are held in a queue until you come to a stop.

Will iZup work in stop-and-go traffic?

Probably not – and your mobile device will still remain a deadly distraction.

Still, though, I give the makers of iZup an eager round of applause.

The open Web has birthed many brilliant products and services – but THIS, this is what we’ve needed for a very long time.

A full version of iZup will be out in December, but for now let’s hope that dozens of other software companies are scrambling to put out their own similar nanny-ware third-party app.

There are thousands of obscure, obscene, useless apps out there.

Why has it taken this long to produce an app that can curb such a chronic addiction?

 Tags: izup, nanny-ware, texting and driving app, third party app

The Twitter Effect

October 8th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Software Development, Twitter | No Comments »

There used to be a time when I thought Google was poised to take over the world.

I was wrong.

It’s Twitter.

The social networking/ internet messaging service/ micro blogging site (whatever you want to call it) has grown in gargantuan porportion.

An estimated $1 billion to be exact.

And, now, like the Apple iPhone app frenzy – Twitter is having its own profound effect on the app world.

Enter the state of Massachusetts.

The Bay State is home to many things: the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, prestigious universities and hospitals – to name a few.

But, it’s also a hub for innovative tech startups –  companies, that have developed some interesting applications and services connected to Twitter.

And, unlike Twitter itself, these apps and services are actually bringing in money.

According to Boston Globe’s Scott Kirsner, here’s a look at how some companies are feeding off the Twitter effect – and what they’re bringing to the table.

- Oneforty - Offers a directory of software applications and services that work with Twitter. It helps direct new users and paying customers to them in exchange for a referral fee.

- Thoughtbot – Their Thunder Thimble helps companies track what Twitter users are saying about their brands. Subscription fees start at $9 per month.

- Tweetworks - Aims to help users who are interested in a topic create groups on Twitter and track strings of messages on a particular topic. No revenue model yet.

- Crimson Hexagon - Helps companies track conversations about their products on Twitter (as well as blogs and online forums).

- GraphEdge - Helps Twitter users understand trends among their followers. May soon start charging a monthly fee for Twitter users with a large number of followers.

- HubSpot – Twitter Grader analyzes how well a Twitter account is performing in terms of attracting followers and supplying them with content that they’re likely to pass along ( or “re-tweet”) to other users.

- Traackr – Generates lists of influential users of Twitter so that marketers at a company will know who to reach out to when testing a new product or website.

Anyone can see that by the amount of users (roughly 8 million new users a month) – and the endeavors of these tech companies – the Twitter effect is spreading.

The world is literally Twitter’s oyster.

Let’s hope the site doesn’t blow it by getting swallowed up by Google – or worse, Microsoft.

 Tags: tech startups, twitter applications, twitter services

Microsoft And Google Go Toe-To-Toe

July 15th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Software Development, Technology | 1 Comment »

It’s on.

If ever there was a battle brewing between Microsoft and Google – now’s the time.

The big question is – who’s throwing the first punch?

After the Chrome vs. Bing search engine battle, industy insiders have turned their attention to operating systems. More specifically, Google’s Chrome OS.

Google made waves last week with the introduction of its new operating system designed to compete with Microsoft Windows. And that it does, starting with Android, an open-source OS for small devices like smartphones, and Chrome OS, a browser-focused, open-source OS that will run on notebooks (ie Netbooks) and desktops.

In classic Microsoft style, it too announced it had something big up its sleeve: Microsoft Office 2010 which, like Google, will include free, online versions of its four most popular software programs.

These two companies have become bitter enemies over the years, yet oddly enough there are undertones of each within their OS’s.

The picture became clear when Wired ran an interesting piece on the ecosystems surrounding Google and Microsoft’s operating systems:

Microsoft would love for everyone in the world to be using its Internet Explorer browser to search through Bing to find a story from its MSN portal to email via Hotmail or Outlook to a friend. Add in a smartphone running Windows Mobile and an Xbox in the living room for the kids, and you have a Microsoft family. And though it is much joked about, Microsoft is the dominant platform for software developers of all types, whether they are making small business software, massive online role-playing games or photo-editing utilities.

Google’s ecosystem looks different. It starts with a Google Chrome browser (oddly running only on Windows) with a default homepage set to Google News or a customized Google homepage. From there you might go to Gmail and then click on a Word document sent to you as an attachment which Google will quickly — and safely — open for you in its online word processor. But most importantly, Google wants you to search and travel around the web, hitting web pages that run Google-served ads and Google tracking cookies. You might think that Google is a really cool company to give away all this free technology, while never thinking about the persistent and silent data collection Google is undertaking to profile you in order to deliver you to advertisers for a premium.

Now comparisons aside, there’s also a little trash talking going on.

Bill Gates took a public shot at Google last week, comparing Chrome OS to Linux.

“There’s many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways,” Gates said. “In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there’s something new. I mean, you’ve got Android running on Netbooks. It’s got a browser in it.”

Gates also said it was hard to really say much about Chrome OS, since Google has said so little about how it will actually work.

Yes, indeed, the gloves are off.

But something tells me that Microsoft will be the victor here.

I mean, c’mon, who really uses a Netbook?

 Tags: google and microsoft, google chrome os, google operating system, microsoft windows

Software Developer Productivity – The First Deliverable Dip

August 4th, 2008 by Gregory Silvano Posted in Developers, Software Development | 2 Comments »

I have a theory about the productivity of software developers, and I’m going to call it the First Deliverable Dip.

Software projects have certain phases, as do all projects.  We have conception, brainstorming, kickoff, development, QA, implementation, etc.  Being a programmer myself, I know the parts of the project I like best.  I like the brainstorming and the kickoff, but by the time implementation rolls around I’m pretty much done with whatever it is I’m writing.  I’m sure many developers feel the same.

Now that I’m in management, I want to get a better understanding of developer productivity.  This matters a great deal to me since unproductive developers affect my bottom line.  With 52 software developers at Stature, if all our developers have just one unproductive day it equates to over two months of unproductive business days.

Wow, OK – I just scared myself with that statistic.  The bottom line is that it’s important for Stature to keep its developers productive, motivated, and happy.  Happy developers are productive developers, and productive developers pay my mortgage.

Alright, enough intro.  Here’s the meat of my argument:

I believe software development productivity dips immediately after the first deliverable, when the client first sees a functional version (or subset) of the product.

The “client” is whoever will be using the software.  For Stature, it really is a client.  But for an internal developer, your client is probably a business user at your company.

Here’s what happens:

1. The client works with the development team to design the product.  There are meetings, brainstorming sessions, and eventually some sort of spec.
2. The development team disappears for a period of time.  At least a few weeks if it’s a decent sized project.
3. The development team codes like mad and is highly motivated and productive.
4. The development team prepares for the first deliverable, probably a subset of functionality or a functional wireframe version of the application.
5. The client views the first deliverable.  It is probably presented to the client by the development team, and the client is walked through the functionality and progress to date.
6. The meeting ends.

 

Soon thereafter, developer productivity starts to dip.  Why?

1. This was the first time the client actually felt the application.  Specs are one thing, mockups are another, but to actually use the application is entirely different.  Now that the client has used the product, the first set of changes are about to come.  These changes will come soon – if not at the meeting itself (in the form of “hey, can we…” type questions), then within days afterwards.
2. Once the developers receive the changes, they need to make unanticipated changes to their code.  Even worse, immediately after the meeting the developers are probably working on the very parts of the product that are going to be changed by the client.

 

It is during this period that overall productivity dips.  The project isn’t moving forward with the same energy and productivity as before.  Sometimes the developers start to get that “Us vs Them” mentality, where the they think the business users are neophytes who don’t understand software development (hint: business users don’t understand software development; nor should they).  The developers are forced to abandon some of the cool parts of the code (hey, they spent 3 days getting that treeview just right!) and resent throwing the code away.

This productivity dip is inevitable but the affects can be minimized:

1. Warn the developers that the client is going to do this.  Just knowing it’s coming can make it easier to deal with it.
2. Immediately after Milestone 1, we often have the developers work on tertiary parts of the product.  Things like reports, admin-screens, password-reminder screens, etc.  We have them work on the parts of the application that need to be written eventually (but are often left to the end) and don’t require much client input.  While they’re working on this functionality, the client has the time to thoroughly (and thoughtfully) review the first deliverable and provide feedback.  In the meantime, at least the developers aren’t continuing to code something that may be altered by the changes being written up by the client.

 

The First Deliverable Dip is a real thing.  It can last for days or weeks depending on the changes requested by the client.  Normally the changes are more pronounced when it’s a brand new project that only existed on paper before the first deliverable.  In those projects, it’s really hard for the clients (users) to know how the product is going to work until they get time to play with it.  But with a little planning and lots of patience, it’s a part of the development cycle that can be managed.

And honestly, I don’t blame the clients one bit.  Imagine designing a car on paper.  Do you really think when that car is delivered from the manufacturer, it would feel exactly like you anticipated?  No way.  The radio controls may be a little awkward now that you actually get to use them.  The seats may be a little uncomfortable.  There may be a blind spot.  It’s the same with software projects – you just don’t know how it’s going to feel until you use the product.  That’s life.  Just plan for the changes and everybody wins.

 Tags: deliverable, milestone, productivity, software developer