Herein you’ll find articles on a very wide variety of topics about technology in the consumer space (mostly) and items of personal interest to me. I have also participated in and created several podcasts most notably Pragmatic and Causality and all of my podcasts can be found at The Engineered Network.
Closing the Loop
With Lion (OSX v10.7) only 7 months in the market Apple have just announced their first Beta release (for developers only) of Mountain Lion (OSX v10.8) and it has a brief list of new features. Underscoring the way Apple does business, with smaller incremental updates to their operating systems, Mountain Lion is no different.
On their first look page Apple list the following:
iCloud: Like like iOS5 now every Mac User running OS X can sign up for iCloud and documents will sync with like iOS.
Messages: An upgraded iChat that now includes iMessage from iOS5. It fully synchronises with the current services and is currently available to be downloaded as a Beta (like Apple did for FaceTime before Lion came out) right now.
Reminders: The same app from iOS5 in iPad format, now on OS X.
Notes: The same app from iOS5 in iPad format, now on OS X. Used to be in Mail - now out on it’s own.
Notification Centre: The same idea as iOS5 and taking over from Growl notifications (used to be free but now a paid application in the Mac App Store) but accessed with the two finger right-to-left swipe instead of a single finger down swipe on iOS5.
Gatekeeper: The only new feature in the top ten list that isn’t derived from iOS5 this asks that developers sign their applications with an Apple provided certificate. It checks when the program is launched each time to see if the certificate is still valid with Apple (i.e. hasn’t been blacklisted) and provides a better level of protection from installed software malware. This alone, is a whole other article.
Share Sheets: You can share almost anything from anywhere in OS X with Twitter etc.
Twitter: Twitter integration - like iOS5.
Game Centre: Games on the Mac Desktop can now also be part of Game Center like on iOS5.
AirPlay Mirroring: Mac Desktops will not be able to push their display so it appears on their TV sets via an Apple TV - just like the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, running iOS5.
Apple forked OS X and created iOS and after five years has come full circle to close the loop between the two OSes in terms of common features - each with it’s own slightly different feel for OS X and iOS. I suspect the main reason for the update is to ensure that OS X reaches feature parity with iOS as soon as they can so that in future any new iCloud related feature will be released for each platform at the same time. With a new version of iOS coming out this year, expect there to be a few additional services in iCloud that will work on OS X that haven’t been announced yet. By previewing it early and releasing it they can get developer feedback on 95% of it as they bring their two OSes closer together.
Mountain Lion looks to be closing the loop and bringing OS X and iOS back together into a single, cohesive, experience that gives users the best available cloud-centric software experience. It can’t come too soon.
Calculated Risks and Allowing Slips
No one can tell the future. For those reading this that are clairvoyants, you should stop reading now.
Given that the future is unknown we try to plan our projects and our days, hours and minutes based on estimates of our past experiences. How long does it take to design a building of this size, shape in similar locations? How long does it take to write a block or object and how many blocks are there to write?
When we schedule, those more experienced understand that inclement weather, illness, floods, earthquakes and mass hysteria do happen and so program a contingency into the project plan to allow for some slip. Assuming the team members are performing well and we’ve estimated well the project runs smoothly (yeah, maybe that’s what happens on some projects…). So in reality people resign, they make mistakes, work needs to be reworked, work reported as being complete isn’t complete, time and money is lost and most projects start to slip.
There are two ends of the slip spectrum: the position that all slips are unacceptable no matter the reason, and the alternate position is that if something goes wrong, it’s okay to leave it until tomorrow - never setting a hard deadline and never really finishing. The truth is somewhere in the middle however when a project goes bad and slips so far to the right the former position becomes the reality on those projects.
Even the best project planners understand that some risks are worth keeping money in the budget for, and others aren’t. Employing someone specifically to handle specific (catastrophic) issues that arise seldom works, as this person becomes a “free resource” to the project and is usually dragged into other aspects of the project. When the catastrophic event occurs and they are they needed, they are unavailable and that contingency plan falls apart.
Holding a person outside the project (possibly a contractor) on retainer in the event of a catastrophic event during the project could be a worthwhile investment even though they cost more to keep on retainer and have higher rates the total cost is less than the internal option.
If a catastrophic event stops the project dead and days of productivity are lost (on some projects this could be measured in the millions or dollars a day) then spending a few thousand dollars to keep a fix it person on retainer seems like a great investment in retrospect. This sort of calculated risk is what good project planners are paid to account for but my observations are that this is rare. In the end justifying the additional costs in the budget ahead of the event is impossible when dealing with short sighted management who want to “win the job” at the bid stage.
So often it’s those contingencies that are removed, and when they could have been of benefit their absence causes so much pain and suffering later in the project and almost always it’s not the people that made the cuts to the schedule that feel that pain.
The reality is that thoughtful and realistic planning with calculated risks and contingencies are what make projects look professionally executed with significantly less stress for all concerned. Those people that cut out the contingencies and ignore the calculated risks to save a few dollars up front are usually the same people that insist there shall be no slips when the inevitable disruptions occur.
Fight to keep your contingencies and calculate the true costs of your risks and keep them in your plan and life in your project will be just that little bit better.
Not Clap-worthy
A few years ago I purchased a brand new iPhone 3GS on the first weekend that model was available in Australia. At that time, there was no Chermside Apple store (the closest store to me today) but was at Robina (a good 1-1/2 drive away). Off I went, queued up before they opened and snagged the 2nd last unlocked model they had.
Then something strange happened…
The entire staff just started clapping at me. Cheering as well…
As I walked, slightly more uncomfortably with each passing step, I approached the door and skulked away - certain that I’d lost several inches in height in the 50m quick pace I’d set to escape the applause. The experience still creeps me out, even three years later.
Recently I purchased a bumper for my new iPhone 4S. I had purchased the iPhone 4S at a Telstra store: truth be told in part because I didn’t want to experience that humiliation again. So as I waited in the queue to pay for my new bumper, a poor soul, looking just as meek as I did a few years ago, walked out with iMac in hand, applause following them on the way out of the store. I paid and left without applause. Clearly my $39 bumper was just not clap-worthy.
It started me thinking: surely this is standard Apple Store behaviour? I Googled the night away and was surprised to find out that it was more prevalent at some stores and I just happened to live in a hotspot: the two stores that kept coming up exhibiting this behaviour were Robina and Chermside. Oh goodie.
I did track down a comment but could not confirm with the author directly, however Skittlebräu writes: “Speaking as someone who worked at an Apple Store, the clapping/cheering just happens whenever someone asks for it, if it’s a customer’s birthday, if a six year old kid buys his first Apple product, first person to buy x product on launch day etc. There’s no set event as such that triggers it. When you go through Apple Retail training you’re told to just join in on clapping whenever it happens…”
Perhaps there are cultures that might find the clapping to be somehow positive, inspirational or some such emotion, however every, single Australian I have talked to about this has felt nothing but repulsion for the clapping. It’s already discouraged me from buying Apple products from their stores - I’ll go to Telstra, David Jones, JB HiFi or Myer before I step in there. The only reason I went there for the bumper was because no-one else stocked it!
To summarise, I don’t understand their motivation to clap. It’s just, for the want of a better word, CREEPY. Also if they are going to clap then why only the more expensive items as has been my observation of the product purchases that get the cheers? Should I be offended if I only spend $50 in store and hence get no clap? Apple want to satisfy every customer according to the late Steve Jobs: so either clap everyone or clap no-one.
Googles new Terms of Service: Much Ado About Nothing?
Google has updated its Terms of Service and its Privacy Policy and have a helpful FAQ for those that don’t feel like reading the longer two documents. Breaking them down there’s not much to read that isn’t obvious: Google capture everything thing you type into their search engine, log IP addresses and if you’re logged in with your account they can match it against searches from the same place with the same IP address or address range and with cookies (not the edible ones okay).
If you have Google Docs, Adsense, Analytics, Reader, GMail or even Google+ then it’s all being combined into a single login system with a single set of terms and conditions. As I see it, their FAQ states the obvious contradiction:
“Is Google collecting more information about me?” ‘No, Google is not collecting more data about you…’
Followed by:
“What should I expect to see change as a result of this?” ‘Over time you can expect to see better search results, ads and other content…’
Purely by correlating information posted on each individual service, now that they have your formal permission to do so.
Frankly I find it difficult to believe that they aren’t already doing this sort of correlation or at least some level of it. The updated Terms and Privacy policy simply make it official: ‘You knew we said we were doing it so you have no right to complain about it!’
Should you be worried about this? If I’m right - it’s no different to what they’re already doing in the background. If you’re not currently worried and carry on and enjoy yourself! If not, cancel your accounts and go elsewhere. I won’t be.
Google just want to legitimise they already do. Good for them.