Mac@Work : The Ultimate Business Machine

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Weblog • Archive • Cutedge

by: Bernard Teo

Wed 29 Sep 2004

My Mac Life

Category : Commentary/MyMacLife.txt

My iBook crashed on Saturday night, right after Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the penalty for Man United against Spurs, at which point nothing could puncture my feeling of elation. It was half-time and I was about to check my mail.

But it didn't take long for me to feel distraught the next day. I've got my whole life on that iBook and I hadn't backed things up for a while.

Let's see - there was Stefan Hartmann's German localisation for Postfix Enabler, a lot of stuff from the hostel project, and the material that I was revamping for our Java and AppleScript Studio courses.

And lots more. I hadn't backed things up since WWDC. There're bits and pieces that I had stashed all over the place that I can reconstruct from, but I would still have lost quite a bit of stuff.

Fortunately, the iBook resurrected itself when I sent it in to AppleCare and I wasted no time in copying everything out to an external hard drive, and from there to my wife's Titanium on which I am writing these thoughts.

So I must never ever forget to back things up again. The problem is, I think, I've stopped thinking of that iBook as a computer system, separate from myself. I bring it wherever I go - I read mail or do some writing wherever I find a McDonald's (where we continue to get free Internet access) or when I'm in a mall that has free wireless access. When I close its lid and put it to sleep beside me on the bed, I'm used to having that throbbing light that serves as night light for our kid who sleeps next door across the open doorway. I've used it in and out, without a break. So I've quite forgotten that it's a computer, and that computers can fail.

So my work life had merged with the rest of my life and there's no real break between them. I can work at home, or at friends' or relatives', so long as there's Internet access. And at work, in our office, I often do other things that wouldn't be considered working, like surfing the web, listening to music, and just seeing what turns up.

I'm reading The Cluetrain Manifesto. It's set me thinking quite a bit. Some of the writing may be said to be smug. But I've enjoyed the sections by Rick Levine ("Talk is Cheap") and by Doc Searls and David Weinberger ("Markets are Conversations").

I think it's true that our notions of life, work, and the market-place are all changing, ever since we had the Internet. I can feel the changes in my own life, but we're all in a flux. The journey that we're on is to work out how we'll fit in, to take advantage of the new realities - to make a living while still leading a life of some quality.

Note : while following the links from The Cluetrain Manifesto, I came across this interesting Salon review of Bill Gates' book, "Business @ the Speed of Thought" - or why Bill Gates still doesn't get the Net. I would like to add that this is also why a lot of IT managers, following in Microsoft's wake, still don't get the Net. Do read it.

Posted at 9:27AM UTC | permalink

Fri 24 Sep 2004

The ASP Model and why Java will set you free

Category : Technology/JavaWillSetYouFree.txt

I found this in Jonathan Schwartz's Weblog :

"... what Google, eBay and Salesforce.com are proving are the economics of using someone else's uniformly standardized infrastructure to run your business. Sun's business, historically, has been the opposite - we deliver infrastructure to customers who work with us to customize that infrastructure to unique workloads. What salesforce.com and others prove is that there are some workloads for which the reverse can be true - mapping the workload, like salesforce automation, to a singular service provider with a common infrastructure, yields savings from economies of scale that vastly outweigh any potential expense in changing workflows/workloads. The ASP (application service provider) model is, in fact, a great model."

If you put aside the excesses of the dot.com bust, the ASP model is indeed a great model. There is something powerful in there in that concept.

I was working on helping my friend set up his hostel. It felt fun to pull in all the technologies that we've been working on, tie them together, and see if we end up with something a whole lot greater than the sum of its parts.

And I've learnt a few things in the process.

For one, the web-based way is a whole lot more fun and easier to support. For example, if we had only the Cocoa-based version of our accounting system (Luca) to work on, we would have had to send updated versions to each user each time the system changes. And what do you do if the user is on a PC? Having Luca running on the web solved these problems in one fell swoop. And we just update things on the server.

Also, while the new iMac looks like it'll make a great Point-Of-Sale terminal, we're having problems getting receipt printers and touch screen vendors willing to work with us to help make their gear gell on the Mac. Having the system work on the web means we can treat the POS terminal as a black box. Get rid of the stress; chuck a PC in there until we can make the Mac work.

And, getting back to what Jonathan Schwartz was talking about, I don't much care to have to feed my own server farm. If I have money coming in for these services, I would be very happy to divert some of these to guys who would be willing to manage those servers and the other issues relating to maintaining uptime, quality of service, responsiveness, back-ups, security, etc...

We're running Java. We pack everything into our WAR (web archive) file and send it over to wherever the servers are (Siberia - "to keep cooling/real estate costs low - no offense to our friends in Siberia"), and whatever they run on (Tomcat, JBoss, WebLogic, Linux, Solaris, OS X, whatever).

Truly, Java (and the web) will set you free.

And there's another angle to this. While the Mac's still our favourite computing platform (and there's nothing else I would rather use), Apple as a company still doesn't really "get it" when it comes to enterprise computing (though there are individuals who are making a great effort to turn things around). This could have become frustrating but, while we're on Java, there are other resources we can tap on.

Microsoft's great strength is their ability and willingness to take enterprise developers under their wing and help them soar (I think System Access in Singapore is one good example). Sun is vastly limited in terms of resources, by comparison, but they have a similar understanding of what it takes to keep their platform relevant in the enterprise space.

So, for someone like me who is not willing to build a business on top of .Net, a marriage between Sun and Apple would be one made in heaven. But I'm sure that's not going to happen. In the meantime, while we're on Java, we can still do enterprise-level work - and move around in that space - and still keep our Macs. And that's good enough for me.

Posted at 9:25AM UTC | permalink

Thu 23 Sep 2004

Infinitely Useful

Category : Technology/infinitelyUseful.txt

It's been three weeks since I last updated this weblog. But if you go to beds-central.com and look up its reservation page, you'll see what we've been working on.

It's all done in Java (running on Tomcat) and the database we used is MySQL. The reservation system is integrated with the hostel administration system (so the hostel staff knows who is checking in or out on any specific day), as well as with the accounting system.

If you do the demo (the system is not yet "live", so we set it on a "demo" mode), you can see how the data generated by a bed reservation eventually end up in the accounting system, as an impact on the bottom line, in terms of revenue generated.

In most other systems, this would be a multi-step process with manual interfaces, fraught with data inconsistencies. But if you're able to flow things around this way, you can take away a lot of the pain from the human operators.

Or at least that's the theory and we shall see.

Somewhat surprising, we're finding that the people we showed the system to like the web-based version of Luca (the accounting system) better than the one we did in Cocoa - even the people who are using Macs. I think we're on to something here.

This wraps up what we were supposed to work on. Everything we did - from web site design, to programming, to creating an events calendaring system, to space planning, to budget planning - all these were done on the Mac. Useful isn't it?

Posted at 11:46AM UTC | permalink

Tue 31 Aug 2004

Ways of Seeing

Category : Commentary/waysOfSeeing.txt

I was thinking, after I made that last post, that maybe we can try to understand how two people can look at the same iMac G5 in two different ways.

Readers of this weblog may know that I have made references to Robert Pirsig's book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - and his ideas about the classical-romantic dichotomy - many times.

What Paul Thurrott is doing, when he says that the iMac is derivative and boring, is that he is looking at things from the classical point of view, i.e., in terms of form and function.

So, if you think only in terms of form and function, you will consider that, hey, the PC manufacturers have built PCs with largely similar physical configurations before, and so, where's the excitement?

The classical mind, which can find beauty in abstract symbols and meanings, will also find Windows XP Service Packs exciting. You would, too, if you think about it means - that this is Microsoft at their best, showing resilience and cunning in extricating themselves from close shaves and near disasters, with convoluted patches and counter-patches.

The romantically-inclined person, on the other hand, just wants to run his hands over the smooth, (presumably) white surface of the new iMac and admire the glint from the metallic surfaces. It is shape, fit, colour, and texture that excite us. And how it all feels ... just right.

For example, when I'm writing these words, I'm concentrating on the message. I'm wondering if I, myself, understand what I'm saying. I'm conscious of myself dredging out half-formed ideas, and organising them into a stream that, hopefully, makes sense to another person. But I'm not conscious of the fact that I'm pecking at the keyboard. If I were, I would lose my train of thought.

That's why Mac users understand the joke about the disappearing computer - "where did the computer go?". In our mind, the computer was long gone, and that was what made the Mac great as a thinking tool. What Apple did with the iMac G5 was to make the physical computer gone, too, at least visually, and we enjoy how advances in technology have now made these two images resonate in sync, as they ought to.

So, Paul Thurrott can't see what's so exciting about the new iMac. But Mac users see excitement in precisely the absence of things to see.

The computer ought to disappear, leaving only the screen, because that's the only thing left that ought to be there. The best tool is the tool you're not conscious of using. In that sense, less will always better.

Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not.

From Peter Merel's interpretation of the Tao Te Ching

Posted at 4:58PM UTC | permalink

One Man's Meat

Category : Commentary/meat.txt

Paul Thurrott calls the new iMac G5 derivative and boring. "My God, is this really the best they can do? The previous generation--expensive as it was for what you got--was at least gorgeous looking, head-turningly-gorgeous looking. The new iMac is ... My God, guys. I can just see the marketing for this one: It's like a big iPod! Get it? Anyone? That's just a shame, it really is."

Well, go over to his other site, "SuperSite for Windows", and you get this, "...Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows is dedicated to providing all of the information you need to evaluate Microsoft's upcoming Windows platform technologies. These exciting (sic) products include Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)..."

Sort of, chips away at his credibility, doesn't it?

Posted at 2:48PM UTC | permalink

Spine Tingling Sensation

Category : Commentary/spinetingling.txt

There is no other computer manufacturer on earth who can create such delicious anticipation when they unveil a new product.

When I saw this note coming in my mail-box to check out http://www.apple.com/imac/, my spine started tingling as I waited for the page to load - I kid you not.

This is something special - Zen is the word - the more you take away, the better it becomes.

I'm going to be wanting one of these.

I can hear her heartbeat from a thousand miles
And the heaven opens every time she smiles
And when I come to her
That's where I belong
And I'm running to her
Like a river song

Crazy Love - Van Morrison

Posted at 11:12AM UTC | permalink

Sun 29 Aug 2004

Airport Express Close-Up

Category : Commentary/aeCloseUp.txt

I like the Airport Express a lot. It takes so much less space than the Airport Base Station it replaces. It's nice to look at and is easy to set up. The 10-concurrent access limit is not a problem for home users (I'll probably only ever have need for four or five max). And the price is right.

I've only used two out of the possible three connections. I don't have speakers connected at the moment, but one line goes to the broadband modem (next to the Airport Express) and the other goes to the USB-based Epson Stylus 870.

But notice the size of the power plug that we use in Singapore. It'll be interesting to trace how we came to choose the three-pin type plug. Is it possible, now, to switch en-masse to the thinner two-pin plugs - because the day will come, soon, when many of the equipment we use are actually smaller than the power plug they need.

While we're on this, doesn't driving on the "wrong" side of the road, left when most countries use the right, increase our cost of operations? I mean, car designers would design, by default, cars with steering wheels on the left. But, while designing, they have to remember that there will be versions of the cars made, with the steering wheel switched to the right, like the ones we use in Singapore. So there will always be that extra cost. Then, there's also the greater chance that I'll get knocked down by a car when I next go to WWDC, because I happpened to look out the wrong side when I'm crossing the road in San Francisco. It has happened, once too often. So maybe we should spend our time standardising on these, rather than on Windows.

Posted at 2:21AM UTC | permalink

Sat 28 Aug 2004

Airport Express

Category : Commentary/airportExpress.txt

This is my newly-delivered Airport Express.

Plug it in, connect to broadband, connect USB Epson printer, install CD (which I'm not sure I even need to), enter some info. It just works.

No fuss, Internet access from anywhere, at home. (Nice box, too).

Posted at 4:19PM UTC | permalink

Creative Not So Creative

Category : Commentary/notsocreative.txt

Creative unveils its not-so-clever "imitation iPod" at the Comex computer show in Singapore - even down to using Garamond on the poster, similar colours to the iPod mini, and what looks like Chicago on the music player's screen. The device will remain un-mentioned here. Embarassing doesn't even come close to describing it.

Meanwhile, at the Apple booth, they're reeling in the money. These fellas are actually queueing up to give Apple some of their hard-earned cash.

Posted at 4:00PM UTC | permalink

Fri 27 Aug 2004

It's Turning

Category : Commentary/MacsAreCheaper.txt

More and more people are realising that using Macs is the right way to go - even if we're looking at things purely in terms of the cost of purchase (let alone total cost of ownership over the life of the machine).

"So, bottom line, are PCs cheaper than Macs? No, despite what you read in the PC press, it's the other way around. Compare Apples to apples, and Macs are cheaper than PCs."

That's from an article on LinuxInsider.

Way to go ...

Posted at 3:06AM UTC | permalink

Thu 26 Aug 2004

A German Localisation for Postfix Enabler

Category : Technology/PFEInGerman.txt

From Stefan Hartmann (www.glamorama.de), we now have a German localisation for Postfix Enabler. I've updated both the Postfix Enabler 1.0.9 and the Postfix Enabler Beta pages with Stefan's contribution.

It's things like this that makes it all so worthwhile. Thanks, Stefan.

This also shows why Cocoa and the Mac is so cool. It took only a few minutes to include Stefan's localisations. So now we can use Postfix Enabler in French, German, English, and Traditional Chinese, all within the same application. Japanese, anyone?

Posted at 12:55PM UTC | permalink

Tue 24 Aug 2004

WebLogic

Category : Technology/WebLogic.txt

We've got WebLogic running on the Mac. WebLogic is a Java J2EE-class application server.

We're setting up a demo for Apple Singapore that will show WebLogic integrated with Oracle and running on an Xserve :

The figure above shows the WebLogic console. All the examples work, including support for multiple languages, like Japanese. And support for encrypted communications between browser and server, via SSL. The Xserve is running OS X Panther Server.

More importantly for us, LucaWeb - the web browser-based version of our Luca Accounting System - also works on WebLogic. That's what we will be able to demo - plus having the data coming out of an Oracle 10g database, sitting on the same Xserve.

Isn't OS X great? That brings to three the number of Java application servers we know we can run on - Tomcat, JBoss, and now, WebLogic. Total code portability. And reusability. That's freedom of choice.

Posted at 12:24PM UTC | permalink