Uba Kontrovasie

JQuery is child’s play right?

I found this tutorial the other day on the Google tech talks channel. They have a 12 year old child genius giving a lecture on JQuery to a class full of adults. Look at how confident he his as a presenter, very impressive!

JQuery is essentially a Javascript library, which is used by many designers/developers for handling HTML events, adding animations and Ajax to websites and web applications.

It is also used for advanced CSS manipulation, enabling websites and web applications to have richer and more dynamic UI’s.

Tags: ajax, animation, css, HTML, Jquery, RIA, RIA'S, UI, web applications, web development

Development Frameworks

With so many new web-applications and social websites on the web, I decided to take a step away from the websites themselves and instead deconstruct and analyse the technologies which power them.

Most developers currently seem to use MVC architecture based frameworks (MVC stands for Model View Controller), the most talked about MVC based framework at the moment has to be Ruby on Rails as it “powers” Twitter.

Frameworks essentially make the process of building web applications simpler and applications designed around MVC are easier to manage because they are split into segments, which facilitate independent development. In addition to MVC architecture Rails also works on the principle of DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). DRY insures that code in applications is expressed only in one place, without duplication and this approach minimises bugs and inconsistencies.

It is important at this stage to understand that Rails is a framework in its own right and it is based on an MVC architecture, in order to use Rails developers have to code in Ruby.

In reality not all developers or development teams have the resource or the skills in-house to use ROR and most webmasters and web developers are commonly skilled in PHP, Java or [dot]NET. This has spawned an evolution of PHP, Java and [dot]NET based MVC frameworks, which provide the benefits of using MVC frameworks whist levering existing coding skills. 

So what are some of the alternatives:
- PHP: Cake & Symfony 
- ASP.NET MVC 
- Java: Struts
- Python: Django

There are various arguments for and against different frameworks, some say Rails is the fastest others will say it is Django. Some important things to consider when selecting a framework are:
- Skills of your developers?
- Application requirements?
- Client requirements and constraints?
- Demands of the applications?
- Scalability - Will the framework accommodate and support a growth in users, or be extended in some way to do so?  

To be honest I got quite engrossed in Frameworks and I started reading deeper into ActiveRecord, ORM, CRUD, KISS and Webrick servers. All this framework terminology was far too much detail for a blog post, however, feel free to read further into it all by punching the abbreviations into Wikipedia or Google.  

Tags: asp.net, cake, django, frameworks, Java, php, python, rails, struts, symfony, Twitter, web applications

Open source and open source communities

Having never really grasped Photoshop properly and only making minor changes to photographs using Apple’s Aperture on my old Mac, I thought it was time for me to really start editing my photos properly. After all sometimes you only have a single take whether it’s film or digital.

With this in mind I began to start scouring the web for a free, ahem, cough, splutter Photoshop equivalent. A single Photoshop license costs a king’s ransom and as I’m not a designer the cost is not justified.

After some exploring and playing I’ve chosen GIMP, an open source package which runs on my mac and those things called PC’s. This package is not a new name to any of us, however, the reason why I’ve chosen it is the community that surrounds it.

The package is free and the training is free too! There is a whole youtube/blog/forum community built up around GIMP and due to the package being free there are so many people talking about it and exchanging learning’s.

Other things I like about GIMP:

> It can read, open and edit psd’s
> It has RAW editing capabilities
> Lots of frequent updates

I’ve been using software off sourceforge since I was at Uni, when you’re on a budget open source gets things done cheap.

What I am now witnessing is an increase in the number of businesses adopting open source technology. Open source software and technology no longer has this geeky back room shadow hanging over it. It is reliable, slick, robust and the endorsement from smaller businesses has led to larger organisations using it for enterprise purposes.

Businesses want lean, dynamic low cost solutions, which just work and this is open source in a nut shell. How is it dynamic? Well there are a whole host of community developers working constantly to make the technologies and the programs more stable and advanced. The communities which surround around open source technologies are often quick identify to quirks and suggest product improvements.  

When Google launched Andriod Sergey Brin said that even he had used open source tools as a developer and I believe as open source technology moves forward it will only become more advanced, facilitating and fostering more creativity and great ideas from it’s users.

So where do the heritage technology providers fit in? Microsoft, Adobe and Apple have excellent products and product support but this all comes at a price. Their business models have been built on licensing fee’s and support contracts.

For software giants like this to sustain growth they will have to maintain the bedrock revenue they receive from licensing and product support, so how will they compete with open source products?

Well Tim Bray summed it up quite nicely at FOWA “monetisation on the point of value”, I believe the giants such as Microsoft and Adobe will have to focus on product support and dedicated enterprise integration.

These heritage software companies will/should move to provide their core customers (FTSE 100, Fortune 500, SME) with solutions and not just software and product support. The models need to change and essentially businesses should present heritage technology giants with real challenges and the technology providers should work to overcome these challenges with solutions using their platforms, technology and knowledge.

By now most of you are probably thinking they already do this anyway and this is true, however, these services at this point in time come at cost.

In order to compete with the growth in open source adoption the software giants will have to start providing these services for free, yes free! Businesses in time will only pay for licensing fees and continual support once solutions start working and delivering.

Skeptics may disagree with my idea and argue that tech giants have a grip on the enterprise, which is too strong. I believe this grip will fuel the emergence of a new breed of business start-ups; consultancies and support agencies who manage the seamless transition from traditional paid solutions through to open source solutions.

This new breed of support agency will analyse business environments, select appropriate open source technologies, train staff, provide support and replace bloated solutions provided by heritage technology giants.

With no licensing fees, low-cost solution development and training, the allure of open source technology is getting stronger. We are also now amidst economic recessions and because of this we are facing interesting times ahead, as businesses look for value I am keen to see how the major players diversify their offerings in to order stay competitive.

I know I’ve digressed from all things advertising within this post, however, some of the key points to note: open source technology is developed through communities, common goals and collaboration. These points should be taken into account by B2B marketers and factored into business/marketing plans.

If you’re in business to provide other businesses with products and services now is the time to think about what you’re actually delivering, how and when do your products deliver value to your clients? How and why are your prospects collaborating? How can your business contribute positively to business collaborations and communities?

For me personally open source software technology has and is still continuing to broaden my knowledge about technology and the web. Some of the communities I’m reading into revolve around the following programs and platforms: Inkscape, Freemind, Wordpress, Text-pattern, Mod-X, Aptana Studio,TextWrangler, FileZilla and Firefox.

I am for now still quite happy with Mac OSX, however, when I get around to it I would like to get my Mac to dual boot into Ubuntu. With the likes of Dell and Asus shipping machines with Ubuntu, there will be more people using it and exchanging ideas about how to make it as practical as the more popular operating systems.

There is still a gap in the market! If anyone can point me in the direction of an open source, cross platform equivalent to MS Visio I would be keen to take it for a test drive.

Also taking is all about giving back and “spreading the love”. If you do use any open source technology go onto the forums, answer questions, blog, help where you can and if possible donate some money…you’re using something amazing for free!

Finally what to look forward to? I think it has to be the cloud computing / open source software mash-ups and open source apps, which facilitate collaboration in real time via the web.

(The image for this post was edited using GIMP and is a play on the Original Source brand logo)

Tags: enterprise 2.0, enterprise solutions, online communities, open source, open source development, open source software, social media

My iPhone

I’ve had it for a few months now, yes I was one of those sad people queuing outside the O2 store during the first month they came out.

This little gadget has seriously changed the way I work these days, here’s why:

- It syncs with my calendar at the office
- It syncs with with my work e-mail in real-time via the exchange
- The internet is fast enough for me to read my RSS feeds on it each morning en route to the office
- I have a better back because I do not need to a lug a laptop with me everywhere I go mon-fri

I haven’t massively got into all the fun applications just yet, however, here’s my run down of the ones that I’ve found the most useful:

Shozu - lets you upload pics from your iPhone to Flickr
Evernote - my “cloud” notepad of choice
Facebook for iPhone, need I explain any further
Twittereffic - All things twitter
Wordpress - Blogging on the fly
Google.co.uk/reader/i - access to my feeds
Light Saber - Yes a Light Saber on your iPhone (hours of fun)

Another app I also recommend is EventSync for the Mac, not an iPhone App as such but it lets you sync all Facebook events to iCal and iTunes does the rest by syncing everything to your handset. I’ve given up on the Upcoming + Facebook app working, it just keeps dying and not syncing both ways.

My criticisms? bad battery life, I’ve had to drop the screen brightness right down to make the battery last a full busy day. Also the camera could be better, they could have quite easily incorporated an LED flash like they did on the Sony K750 a few years ago.

Rant and praise over, hope you guys find the tips useful.

Tags: 3G, Apple, eventsync, evernote, facebook, flickr, ical, iphone, phone application, phone applications, shozu, twitteriffic, upcoming, wordpress

FOWA

I was at FOWA for the second day of the conference last week, it was an insightful day out of the office and I walked out feeling quite informed about all things going on in the world of web apps and social websites.

My day kicked off with Tim Bray giving a good on talk on how we as an industry should move forward, in what now has been dubbed as the “credit crunch”. Open source software, cloud computing, social media, collaboration and multi-skilling were all on the top of his list.

Without sounding cheesy it was quite an inspirational talk from a man who had a frightening amount of knowledge about technology, business and err…the world. Definitely one of those ones that leave you thinking “s*** I should read more”.

One of my favourite quotes from his talk was “monetisation on the point of value”, this referred to how the enterprise will lean towards open source technology and only pay for solutions when they start to deliver value, gone are days of licensing and value delivery after expense and integration.

This made me think about the value of social media more and more. As the use of social media is not as accountable as traditional DM/DR marketing what value does it deliver during a credit crunch?

Personally I believe it allows a brand to get closer to it’s audience during this period of financial uncertainty. People are now more than ever are looking for a value exchange and this is something that can be most effectively delivered by brands through building relationships with audiences.

A typical example would be someone looking to buy a high-end laptop online: Taking the current state of the economy into account, would a cash thrifty consumer buy a laptop from a brand who has no unbiased online feedback? Web commentary, product reviews and integration information? I wouldn’t buy from that brand, I would want to be reassured that during these cash strapped times my investment is a sound one. No form of interrupt marketing will provide me this reassurance until we reach a period of economic stability.

This may not apply to every product, service or vertical but think about it! The people who have the cash, the big spenders, they’re often the wisest ones too!

Moving forward we will see more brands get closer to their existing customers, do the best to provide a pre-purchase value exchange to prospects using social media in conjunction with low cost acquisition methods such as Affiliate Marketing, SEO and low cost CPC advertising.

I digress but that’s what thinking makes me do anyway…

Other highlights of the day included all the sessions on cloud computing, in particular Jeff Bar from Amazon web services made some really good points during his session. Microsoft were also demo’ing all their new bells, whistles and Silverlight but I think my second favourite batch of talks were delivered after lunch.

The interview of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg was really insightful. It answered a lot of questions about the directions Facebook is taking in regards to making the platform more open, integrating technologies such as oAuth. Zuckerberg said it wasn’t out of the question and it is something that is on the cards, however, timelines are yet to be established. He went on to say that one of the key things that keep him and Facebook going is the passion he has for sharing information and this is why Facebook, overtime will become a more open platform.

Seeing someone soo young, speak with such a forward thinking mindset was definitely good for personal motivation. Roll on FOWA 09!!

Tags: Cloud computing, collaboration, credit crunch, facebook, FOWA, oAuth, open source, social media, web applications, zuckerberg

Amazing technology and entertainment from Sony

Tags: music technology, robotics, sensor technology, sony rolly