Juixe Techknow

From time to time I just blast tweets about software development, project planning, team dynamics, or whatever else comes to mind. Here is a synopsis of recent tweets and rants. If you want to follow the conversation follow me at techknow and/or juixe.

Software Development

• Software will rule the world.
• Software will inherit the earth.
• In the interwebs, beta is forever.
• The future is written in code.
• When you have no QA, everyone does QA.
• I breakpoint for bugs.
• Can’t say enough good things about jqPlot. It’s a great JavaScript charting library.
• Search term that popped up on my blog’s analytics dashboard: programming languages are like girlfriends: the new one is better because *you* are better
• I prefer “show me the source code” over “show me the money”
• No simple change ever ends up being so simple.
• Optimize for simplicity.
• I remember when developing in JavaScript was cool, then when it wasn’t, then it was cool again, back to not, … fast forward to now.
• How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? And … how many leaks does it take to crash your app?

Thought Leadership

• Seek out silver bullets instead of reaching out to golden hammers.
• The future is not in plastics, it’s in multicores.
• Delegate and defer.
• I have 99 problems and deferring and delegating them ain’t one.
• Brainstorming the perfect storm.
• “If you build it they will come” has been replaced with “test it, see if they will come, outsource it, and charge for it.”
• No one starts out as an expert.
• As a consumer, this is one concern I have with cloud/apps, that when they get updated you are forced into the upgrade no matter what.
• If every piece of software is in the cloud, there will not be any legacy apps, everything will be in ‘beta’ or dead.
• If you have writer’s block, put a stick of creative dynamite in it and light the fuse.
• Disrupt all the things.
• It is unfortunate that instead of finding the silver bullets people settle for a golden hammer.

Product Placement

• Google started out as a search engine but when they searched for revenue the top result was advertising.
• It has been reported that Google has applied for the TLD .lol in addition to .google and .youtube.
• Is Google a gTLD squatter? They have applied for 98 domains including .app, .lol, .dad, .foo, …
• The MLB and NFL should apply for .mlb and .nfl TLDs.
• I’ll be happy when Siri can monitor my heart rate, cholesterol, weight, and automatically schedules exercise as needed.
• Apple is not good at backward compatibility. I have a perfectly working second generation iPod Touch but a ton of the apps have stopped working.

Silicon Startup

• At some point in a company’s history it will be either be in one of the following stages: resurrected (IBM), zombie (Yahoo), dead (Kodak).
• In Silicon Valley, apps that attempt to make Silicon Valley nerds cool or popular get immediate funding.
• Fund raising is easier the pimping!
• If the bubbly flows day and night then we must be in a bubble.
• Pivots are to be the new sport at this Sumner Olympics.

Google IO

• Facebook has nearly double the amount of users than there are Android devices.
• Google is demoing Jelly Bean (Android OS 4.1) but still the most common Android version in new phones is around 2.3.
• The one feature I really want on Android OS is the ability to easily take a screenshot or screencast from my device.
• Android is still playing catchup to iOS. The audience doesn’t even know when to applaud. #awkward
• Wow… Jelly Bean has a built it Siri clone. #tailgating
• “Smarts phones are only as smart as its users.”
• Android is the perfect stalking device. I knows your appointments, your routes, your schedule, you contacts, your preferences
• What the towel covered stool in the middle of the stage at? Seems cheap way to reveal the new Nexus 7 tablet.
• “I read this so many times I don’t know what will be exiting to you”
• Asus is making the Nexus 7 tablet.
• The crowd don’t seem as excited as you would think for the big reveal on the Nexus 7 tablet.
• Still waiting for the killer, must have, innovative features available in Nexus 7 tablet.
• “Video is stunning in Nexus 7, you can see the individual hair in Ron Swanson’s mustache.” – #awkward
• Nexus Que?
• Sergey looks like Larry, Larry Ellison.
• yeah, woo who – Sergey Brin.
• The police and military industrial complex are going to love Google’s Project Glass.
• Google Project Glass available to US-based IO attendees for $1500. Not intended for consumers. Shipping early next year.
• Android Developer Pack: Galaxy Nexus phone, Nexus 7 tablet, Nexus Q. #oprahmoment

This geek gift guide is not so much for geeks and techies but for those that have geeks and techies in their life and need a little help in finding the right geek gift this holiday season. If you want to wow the geek in your life with the latest technology gadget you need to look no further.

For two years straight the iPad has been the most coveted piece of technology on most self respecting geek. The iPad is great for geeks no matter their expertise, music, photography, gaming, social media, etc. A geek that travels a lot or enjoys reading on their iPad when at a coffee shop would enjoy the 3G iPad so that they can always be connected no mater where they are. Whether you give the geek in your life an iPad or if they already have one, there are a ton of great accessories, such as a envelope iPad cases from Poketo.

Poketo Envelope iPad Case

Over this last year there has been an explosion of tablets come into the market such as the Amazon Kindle Fire, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet. The Nook tablet at $249 is a great bargain but so is the Amazon Kindle Fire at $199. The Nook tablet is a bit faster and more powerful than the Kindle Fire, but if you already own a Kindle or have purchase Kindle ebooks then the Kindle Fire would be the obvious choice.

For the financial whiz in the family I would recommend the HP 12c Financial Calculator. The HP 12c Financial Calculator has a retro HP look and over 120 mathematical functions that would be appreciated by any business and finance power user.

Every engineer needs a notebook and there are no better notebooks than Moleskine notebooks. Moleskine has come out with a limited edition Star Wars notebooks perfect for that die hard fan. For the old school video gamer in the family, they also have a limited edition Pac-Man set.

As everyone already knows, the standard geek uniform is jeans and a t-shirt. Any self respecting geek needs to have some ThinkGeek shirts in his wardrobe. ThinkGeek gear is like Armani Exchange for geeks, binary fashionable and geek chic.

If you need more suggestions, take a look at previous years geek gift guides:

The Ultimate Geek Gift Guide 2010, The Ultimate Geek Gift Guide 2009, The Ultimate Geek Gift Guide 2008

I use Apple’s Mobile Me service. I got the first year subscription as a gift a little over a year ago and I recently renewed the service for another year. I don’t use the email or calendar service in Mobile Me much but one feature that is worth its price is the Find My iPhone locator feature. This feature lets you track the location of your iOS device, it lets you put an alert message on your iPhone or iPad, and it lets you ring the iPhone (even if it’s on vibrate or silence mode). I’ve used it once when I lost my phone under the couch and I couldn’t find it. It also lets you lock down or even wipe your missing iOS device of all personal and identifying data.

Apple's Mobile Me

All mobile devices, from phones, tablets, and to laptops should have a built it self destruct feature that when activated would destroy all data on a compromised device. It is my belief that a phone is a very intimate and personal device, there is so much personal data in my phone from private contact lists, to confidential business emails, to other dubious activities that I may or may not be involved in.

In addition to having the ability to destroy incriminating data from a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad, I want the ability to program rules into the phone. Such as if the phone has not been unlocked in over 24 hours, or if the attempted to unlocked more than three times, if it activated with a given specific code, if it is located in a known police or government building, etc.

Find My iPhone