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I’m finding that the easiest way to write a web based application is to use the following (Open Source) stack:

• TIBCO General Interface (GI) for the AJAX interface.
• DirectWebRemoting for javascript-to-java remoting (essentially transparent RPC)
• Apache iBatis for database access in Java
• Apache Tomcat
• PostgreSQL database with PG/PL (PL/SQL look-a-like) stored proc language
• Sun NetBeans

This combination is really productive.  GI has a great IDE for building user interfaces. If you’re like me, you are a good programmer but a lousy UI designer.  With GI, all of your UI looks a lot like a regular Windows app. it’s easy to understand if you’re a user.

DWR makes moving data back and forth easy.

Postgres has comparable power to an Oracle 10g database at least for my needs.

Finally, NetBeans + Tomcat makes it easy to write and test the Beans and Models needed to implement the back-end.

I’ll keep posting my results on this journey but so far, this combination seems to be attractive on many levels.

I wonder about AJAX and longevity of applications. 

I write applications for my small business.  I know that these applications will remain fairly stable over the years.  I would prefer never to update them at all, given that I already have a full time job.  By using AJAX technologies, which are by necessity tied to specific browsers (and often specific versions), am I painting myself into a corner or rather condeming myself to a “lifetime” of continual updates of the software?  What about re-writes of my code just to keep  up?  Ultimately, I would never have these problems with either “pure” HTML clients or “pure” Java fat-clients.  I could choose a middleground such as Flash which has been more durable than most.

I’m not sure I’ve found the answer.

and switched back to my Blackberry 8700g.

No Holster

The Blackberry holster is a great business tool. It lets you have different ringtones based on whether the phone is in or out of the holster.

No mute button

The blackberry can be muted with one touch.

Fast dialing and contact information

Much faster than using a G1. Total click count is always less on a Blackberry. I bet the BB also smacks the iPhone down in this area.

Auto Text

What? No way to program convenient abbreviations in your phone? In my 8700, I have taught it to read a whole slew of abbrevs. If u r busy call me l8r. It also serves as a Poor-man’s spelling corrector (just like in Microsoft Word or AutoHotKey).

No Compelling apps

Gee - the G1 matches the 8700 in this category.

Better keyboard

The BB has a better keyboard. The keys are raised higher and are easier to “touch type”.  Also, it does things like capitalize automatically at the start of a sentence.  Movement around email is much easier. If you want to go to the top, press T. The bottom? press B.  Everything from a text perspective is better.

Better Email

The G1 works best with Gmail.  But if you have a variety of email systems, you’ll be disappointed. The Blackberry works well with Both Gmail and Yahoo Mail.

Better menus

On the G1, menus appear to be arbitrary or alphabetical.  The blackberry software selects the most likely thing you want to do. It’s  uncanny!

Browsing

The  G1 beats the Blackberry hands down in this category. The blackberry browser is barely adequate.

Conclusion:

Sure, the webbrowser is crappy but THIS IS A PHONE!  I want it to be the best darned phone ever. Let’s worry about browsing later. First, build a good phone if you want to compete with BlackBerry. Sorry G1 - u stink.

Ok,  I know I’m going to come across as some old Commodore Amiga bigot.  Well, I am. Consider that the hey-day of the Amiga was circa 1987, it is amusing to review some feature.

Here’s are a couple of reasons why Amiga DOS (and the GUI, Intuition) was more evolved that Windows.

1. Desktop Icons can be of any size, not just some arbitrary limit. 
2. Drive names can have more than one letter. This is more like what you’d find on VAX/VMS for example.  (Which is particularly interesting since VMS was a clearly an inspiration for Windows/NT yet this feature was not carried over.)
3. Scrollbar arrows located close together, rather than at opposite ends of the scroll bar. 
4. Resizeable RAMDrive.  It automatically grew and shrunk with the size of the data stored in it.  And it was fast!

I donate on a monthly basis to TWIT because I find that I listen to the TWIT podcasts (aka netcasts) more frequently than any other shows on the internet.   Leo is a great host and the guests are top notch. The primary podcast in the TWIT network is TWIT  which is literally This Week in Technology.  However, Leo Laporte (bless his heart) can’t seem to talk enough about TWITTER - it has gone beyond a couple of stories and has now become the "This Week In Twitter" show.

I must be one of the few people who do not enjoy twitter.  I do not feel the need to be connected (if connection is really the word) in real-time to the world at large.  I’m sure that, as journalists, bloggers and pundits, this is great stuff.  But it is largely irrelevant to me. I do enjoy a cogent summary of "This Week In Technology".  That’s why I "tune in". 

So, if Leo and company want to change the name of the show, by all means. Call it "This week in Online social media" or "this week in twitter". I’ll find something else to listen to or simply drop the show off my iTunes list.   I think Leo is making a big mistake in assuming that his listeners are as interested in journalism as he is.  The listening audience is certainly more diverse than that.

I’m just thankful for podcasts like Security Now which have not become twitter gratification shows.

I have been experimenting with the IES4Linux.org.  These guys have put together a system for running MS Internet Explorer on Linux. In fact, several versions of IE (which is why the website starts with IES and not IE) can be installed.  

My tests involve using this technology with sites such as Quickbooks Online.  So far, QBOE works fine.  This is pretty amazing since QBOE uses ActiveX. Yet it works just fine.

Now, I also tested it on Facebook (wow - how scientific you might say).  Well, it turns out the Facebook uses a fair amount of AJAX.  The AJAX in Facebook looks pretty but runs really slowly on IE on Linux.  It runs fine on Firefox on Linux.

I need to learn more about this. But for now, I’m pretty darned impressed.

I see BPM technology has providing a necessary glue between humans and computers in business processes. Oh sure, we have software which people use directly but BPM works in the space between applications.  It works in the “hand-off” space.  It’s the place where work goes when it isn’t being done in one application or the next one in the process chain.  It’s the “inbox”. it’s the “call queue”. It’s the empty space where productivity is lost.

Do you know how much time your core business processes are losing because forms, data, requests, etc. are sitting in wait?   Just to give you some context, that core business process could be “Order-to-Cash”.  That is, from the time the order is placed, transmitted to order capture, a request to inventory is sent, product delivered, invoice sent, payment received, etc. etc. etc.

I don’t always emphasize this in my posts but BPM software is business “group productivity” software.  That is to say, it makes it possible to measure and improve the productivity of a cross-functional group of people in real-time.  It is certainly complementary to a Lean/Six Sigma effort.

While we always say you can’t improve what you don’t measure, strictly speaking, you won’t know what you gained if you didn’t measure.  A BPM system allows you to perform that measurement while you operate. 

In a small business, it is generally easier to identify the process problems because they tend to be more linear.  But in medium and large businesses, those processes can become tangled quickly.

There’s a concept I read about in a book about IBM that makes a lot of sense - they call it “empty box time”. That is, how long would it take your company to ship an empty box?  What is the overhead of all the bureaucracy, forms, stamps, approvals, and other red tape?

Read up on Six Sigma, “walk” the forms in your business, count the steps, and get a feel for what your empty box time is.

With the introduction of cheap/free BPM software (like Nova Bonita), we are starting to get the tools to introduce gradual automation into business with minimal disruption, laying the foundation for gradual improvement.

I’ve decided to return to school to begin the process of earning my Doctor of Management degree at University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, MD.

So far, the registration process has been smooth and the folks at the University very patient and helpful. Look for more updates as I continue.

Well, I’ve started trying Super Ubuntu on my otherwise useless HP Pavilion Entertainment Laptop.  If you find constant Window crashes entertaining, then this is the laptop for you!  Perhaps you find Internet Explorer Freezing and locking to be a joyous occasion ? Again, this is the box for you.  It is the machine that finally convinced me not to use AMD and HP any more. Enough of that.

So, I’ve downloaded Super Ubuntu which is basically Ubuntu done right.  It includes the “hated” proprietary drivers that Ubuntu does not.  I find that it just works.  I was able to use the NDIS driver support built-in to load a standard windows Atheros driver.  Then, I connected to the internet and browsed MP3 files and watch youtube without issue.  It is not this easy with plain Ubuntu.

Kudos to the Super Ubuntu team!

http://www.hacktolive.org

Update: I’m really loving this distribution.  I also used a system called IEs4Linux at 

http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page

and it works!  Remarkably well, in fact.  I was able to connect to my Quickbooks Online account which is not only IE based but requires ActiveX technology.  It worked like a champ.

I’ve played around with a number of bug/issue tracking systems.  The one that I found is easiest to setup and manage has been Mantis.

It is simple, uses a “standard” SQL database for storage, and only requires a few minutes to learn/understand.

It is certainly easier than trying to cobble together a system using Man’s most misunderstood DB tool - MS Access.