Single-threaded developers in a parallel world

I screened a candidate yesterday with a background in web dev. ASP.NET, MVC, basic webservicess experience. When I asked him if he had ever used .NET's new Parallel object, or any of the more conventional multithreading facilities, his reply was, "No, I've never done multithreading, I've only done web development."

Once upon a time, I thought multithreading was pointless in webdev myself ... but that had to be 6-7+ years ago now at the least. I came up in the software world through "basic web design" back in '95-'96, n-tier web & database work starting in '98, then started adding getting into service-heavy stuff some five years ago now. This gentleman got his start some 16 years ago writing assembly, and at some point working in the embedded world. If anything, I'd think his perspective on efficient utilization of CPU resources would be even sharper than mine.

Any kind of iterative/enumerative operation can benefit from multithreading. Any kind of process that does not require synchronicity from the client/viewer/browser side of things can be done in an asynchronous fashion on a throwaway thread, giving the end user a perception of greater performance/responsiveness.

I found it a bit shocking that in 2011, someone with over a decade and a half of experience in the software world could, or would, be so dismissive of multithreading, even if doing "only" web development type work.

In .NET, it's so easy! The Asynchronous Programming Model has been around since .NET 1.1 and the async delegate and BeginInvoke/EndInvoke methods. The BackgroundWorker dispatch model has been available since .NET 2.0. Now in .NET 4.0 we have the Task Parallel Library (TPL) which allows simple-to-write inline asynchronous task execution and similarly easy parallel for/foreach operations against enumerables, as well as PLINQ which gives us parallel execution of LINQ queries.

Review: Verizon Android 3G Mobile Hotspot

Due to some unforeseen travel complications, I had to reschedule my Comcast install. As such, I'm relying on my HTC Droid Incredible and the Verizon 3G Mobile Hotspot feature for a few days.

Point one: DHCP & Verizon-assigned DNS is horrendous -- they make the feature unusable. Use a static IP address and Google or OpenDNS or other known reliable third-party DNS servers. Once I switched over to this configuration, connectivity has been flawless -- zero interruptions.

Point two: Still can't use voice + data at the same time. If you receive an incoming call while using the Mobile Hotspot feature, you will lose data connectivity for the duration of the call, just like using the plain old handset.

Point three: While it is better than some hotel WiFi I've dealt with, this feature does not appear to be a speed demon. With 3/4 bars, from a Chicago suburb, I performed a Speakeasy speedtest against Chicago-based target servers with the following results:

Conclusion: while having some connectivity on my laptop is certainly better than no connectivity, or smartphone-only, I absolutely cannot see multiple users using this as a hotspot simultaneously. USB dongles and ad hoc networks, or MyFi type devices, in my experience, provide much better performance, if you, or your boss, can pony up the cash for them -- plus you are not then forced to choose between voice or data.

Moving - not free, not cheap, but ... !

In the process of packing up a 2BR apartment for an out-of-state move, I've been shocked by some of the price estimates I've received to move the majority of my possessions.

I got rid of my garage, I have no basement, no storage locker, just a ~1500sqft 2BR apartment, three pets, me. PODS wanted something like $2800; full-service mover numbers along the lines of Allied or United were $4000 and up. PODS offered a too-small and a too-large container option for out-of-state moves -- not a lot of granularity, which added to the cost. As did the forced storage fee. I suspect their heavy marketing adds to the cost there too.

A good friend in Chicago offered to drive a Penske truck out for me, but the apartment complex I'm moving out of doesn't prorate (though they screwed up the lease and I might actually have leverage as far as that goes, but not worth the hassle) and the 31st is a Thursday, which, with two cats and a dog that make staying in a hotel difficult if not impossible, makes getting packed and moved out without incurring another month's rent a bit complicated. Cost would have been $350+ airfare, $1200 truck, fuel/tolls for truck, for about $1800 total.

Though I've seen ABF trucks before, I'd never heard of UPack until my old Meridian colleague from Rochester Darren Swartzendruber and SmAlbany acquaintance Angelos Tzelepis educated me via Twitter on the topic. Two "ReloCube" container gives me what seems to be the appropriate amount of space to pack a washer/dryer, queen-size bed, full-size futon, a few desks, tables, chairs, kitchen appliances & dishes, pet stuff, books, a few electronics and computer items. Total cost? About $1290, with a $50 discount via the "TWEET" code that ABF provided after observing me talking with Darren and Angelos on Twitter. If I end up needing storage, (I still don't have a house to move to!) it's an option with ABF, unlike PODS, where it seemed to be mandatory.

Thanks again Darren & Angelos for the heads up!

Consulting Rates, Building Tech Teams

Great conversation going on on the New York Tech Meetup (NYTM) mailing list regarding building tech teams and hiring/contracting developers and CTOs; I feel obligated to quote Jonathan Vanasco, acting CTO of an IAC property:

Having an 'agency' contract you developers in NYC is 150-275 /hr. It makes sense to do that when you don't have the time to assemble a team from start.

It's an employee market right now. 8+ years experience can be from 120-200k base, with a bonus on top. Hourly you'll expect 100-160hr.

Yes you can find people who are 40-80/hr -- but they almost always lack the experience and skills to bring a project to fruition on time , budget & expectations -- that's why they're still entry level. If you have a solid CTO or some Sr devs -- then sure, hire the junior people and develop their skills. Otherwise, what the fuck are you thinking? Stop trying to cut corners on your own product.
For a "CTO" to come in, its all over. Rates are different as well, esp with equity packages. My compensation from Startups is vastly different than what Corporations pay me.

SOLVED: 5GHz 802.11n networks not showing up with Dell DW1520 wireless-N adapter

In rebuilding/building out my home office network, I've been adding some wireless-N equipment that finally seems reliable -- the Netgear WNDAP350 and WNDR3700. After poor experiences with N since late 2007, I had purchased a new laptop (Dell Studio) in May with a G-band wifi card only. My more recent, happy experiences with N led me to purchase a replacement mini PCIe 802.11n adapter from Dell - the DW1520.

The adapter arrived yesterday, and I of course eagerly popped open the back of my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 laptop to install it. Everything in place, machine rebooted, and ... it got a great signal from my G-band access points, but not a sign of the N-band APs.

I rebooted the PC, the router and the AP, all to no avail. No sign of the Ns. Did some research online, found problems with previous adapters in the series, but researched the Broadcom component on the DW1520 to find that 5GHz was, in fact, supported. I was stymied.

Hours later, I took another stab at it. In reviewing the driver settings, I found that my Location value was set to Japan, and I had no way of changing it! Recalling the multiple sets of localized drivers on the driver CD provided by Dell, I made the lucky assumption that Windows had found the wrong set of drivers and regional telecom/wireless compliance mismatch was probably interfering with the adapter finding my 5GHz networks.

I uninstalled the network controller and driver via Device Manager, making sure to specify the Windows should delete the driver software to ensure I replaced it with the properly localized binaries. Scanned for hardware changes, specified browsing for the driver, made certain to select the Win7\DRIVER_US folder for searching.

Voila! The wifi adapter reinstalls painlessly, and this time my location is correct:

Now connected to my nearby N-band AP with speeds of up to 300mbps (varies):

Venture capitalists tire of Twitter-y start-ups

In addition to these theories, I would also guess that developers have realized that Twitter could simply replicate their feature sets and make their client/service the default choice. This is of course, Twitter’s prerogative, and is also the risk developers undertake when building for a platform they don’t control.

I have no doubt that Twitter wants an ecosystem to thrive around its platform, much in the same way that Facebook wants an ecosystem around its social network. However, as I wrote all the way back in July of 2008, VCs must wise up to the fact that investing in accessories that can be reproduced and easily packaged as part of a core offering may not be the best business strategy.

link: Venture capitalists tire of Twitter-y start-ups – CNET

Worth sharing: Academic inflation: Higher education | The Economist

Rising education costs are not matched by rising wages. Hrmm.

Academic inflation: Higher education | The Economist

The 10 People Who Follow Me That I Won't Follow On Twitter

1. Social media 'gurus,' 'ninjas,' 'rockstars,' 'samurai' or 'experts.'
2. Multi-level marketers (MLM) or affiliate program marketers.
3. SEO 'gurus,' 'ninjas,' 'rockstars,' 'samurai' or 'experts.'
4. The ignorant and/or the bigoted.
5. Non-conversationalists.
6. Porn 'stars' or porn spammers.
7. Self-proclaimed, no-name rappers.
8. Drama queens.
9. 80 million following to follower ratio'd.
10. No-name DJs/MCs/emcees.

Product review: HTC Incredible accessories

Having had some time to exercise the case+holster, car mount and extended-life battery (yep, I gave in) for my HTC Droid Incredible, I am now prepared to render my verdicts.

First up: Seidio Innocase II Surface case + holster combo



Seidio remains one of my favorite mobile accessory brands. The Innocase II Surface is perfect -- light, great fit, great protection for everything but screen, (LOVE the camera lens protection!) and even with the case on, not too much bulk for my pockets, no pants dragging at the waistline due to weight. As such, I've had no reason to use the holster, which was an unwanted but pragmatic requirement since the days of my brick of a HTC Hermes some five years ago.

Two thumps up! Three if I had a ... three!

Next up: Arkon universal car mount



I had hoped to use the Arkon in a vent-mount configuration, but in my 2001 Blazer, that's a no-go. I'm not sure if it is the Blazer's vents, the Arkon's vent clips, or a combination of the two, but this is just not a sturdy setup. I have not had a chance to try the suction cup, I'm not sure I really have a convenient area for it, but will try soon and report back. All in all, not thrilled with Arkon. The part that holds the smartphone is snug, I do like that, but the rest of the kit seems flimsy.

No thumbs up at this time.

Finally: Seidio Extended Life 1750mA battery



Back to Seidio! I decided to trust the brand and cough up the cash for the 1750mA battery, 400mA more than the standard battery provided for the Incredible by HTC. Not the beefiest extended life smartphone battery out there, but I did not want to disturb the Incredible's awesome sexy slim & convenient profile, especially not with the Innocase II Surface in place. I wasn't sure this was going to be worth it. I'm still not certain it was. I haven't run out of juice in the middle of the day since I swapped in the extended life battery, but that could be better battery management and charging practices (screw USB!) on my part as well.

I'm going with one thumbs up on this one. I think I'm seeing increased battery life, but it could be wishful thinking as well. It has not been a total disappointment, but I'd rather have spent $20 on it than the $59 I seem to recall dropping.

Windows 2008R2: Windows Update stuck at 0%

Windows 2008R2 has finally let me down. For some time now it has been my most-favorite Microsoft OS since MS-DOS 3.0. Administrator- and developer-friendly, stable, performant, reliable. Until now.

For a week or so now, since the off-schedule high-priority Microsoft updates 2-3 weeks ago perhaps, I have had a six-month young Windows 2008R2 Standard (x64) machine (Hyper-V image) that refused to download updates. Despite doing some minor cleanup, service tweaking, rebooting a few times, it was just plain stuck.



I didn't see any apparent system errors or Windows Update specific entries in the Event Viewer - Windows Logs, System or Application. There were, however, a number of TrustedInstaller errors:



Though I had not had the "opportunity" to experience an issue with Role Management, I was simply concerned with getting Windows Updates back to up-to-date, after days of frustration I came across this MSDN forum post that led me to a working solution.

I worked through all steps of the post marked as answer, finding that an in-place "upgrade" was apparently the only solution that worked in my scenario. This is rather disappointing -- up until now, Windows 2008R2 had never failed me.

SaaSGrid Blog: High Availability SaaSGrid

I just posted a blog on "High Availability SaaSGrid" on the SaaSGrid community site. In IIS7+ we now have "Application Request Routing" (ARR) and the "Web Farm Framework" available to facilitate deployment and management of high availability IIS webfarms (clusters).

Desktop Web is Dead

I've had an emptiness inside me for a while now. The kind of cold, dark, gnawing emptiness that can only be filled with a fresh hit of sick software and/or tech.

Unfortunately I have not encountered any truly compelling apps via my desktop experience in many months now. Perhaps going on a couple/few years.

Desktop web ... and perhaps Web 2.0 as a whole ... are dead.

Know where I _have_ finally found that rush? My mobile experience since going Android, and switching to a mobile network with actual coverage (Verizon).

I'm getting my hit of tech not just from social or entertainment apps these days, but from the utility experience perhaps most of all. Apps like Google Maps, (especially with enhanced navigation in Android 2.1+) Evernote, GMail and the HUGE convenience of having all my contact info & photos/avatars combined into effectively one mostly usable, visible, format -- FINALLY -- is giving me at least twice the kick Twitter did when I "got it" back in '07. And then you've got the mostly as-yet unrealized potential of augmented reality apps that truly excite me.

In short, the mobile world is, at long last, maturing into an indispensable part of our daily lives as more than just a simple phone -- I finally feel like I can leave my PC behind some part of the time, and yet still be in touch with what I need to have access to for personal and work communications. The mobile entertainment experience is even gaining some traction with me.

Despite searching fairly long and hard, it has been a long time since I have had a compelling experience with a web app, particularly from a desktop perspective. Twitter is past its peak as far as my interest level goes. Twitter and Facebook remain useful points of contact, useful venues for lifestreaming, but they are no more intriguing to me than LinkedIn or CNN at this point, and the volume of noise makes it hard to find quality signal like the "good old days." (Anyone else miss Friendfeed from waaay back? Pre-Facebook purchase? Pre-early majority noise?)

The existing social media landscape becomes far more interesting when access is made ubiquitous and near-seamless by the latest generation mobile devices -- but even then, I feel like the overall importance or prominence of any one conventional app is diminished. It no longer matters if you are only on Facebook OR Twitter (substitute any number of social media apps/networks) because the device in my hand either combines, or makes equally accessible, your profile and communications in any of these media, networks and/or apps.

To an extent, it feels like we are on the threshold of some truly powerful handheld devices that will take our mobile experience, and our use of technology in our daily lives, to "the next level." Augmented reality that is not limited to a ~4" screen. (3D video calls and HUD GPS navigation via the one-device-that-does-everything-a-person-needs? Always-on peer-to-peer networks? Think of the possibilities! Auto-reroute around weather, accidents and construction in real-time based on reports from traffic ahead of you? Avoid restaurants with long lines? Find parking spaces? Food delivery to your location, not an address? Obviously there are security concerns ...)

What's the next great networked experience on the horizon? Is it desktop or is it mobile? Is it an existing app that no one's heard of yet, or perhaps an as-yet unexploited technology, platform or medium? Is technology holding that next wave back? Does Web 3.0 == mobile+augmented reality?

EDIT: A few notes. Threadsy is a handy way to combine things, but the experience does not light my fire. I never really got into Twine too hard before they got gobbled up by Evri. Quora I have recently found very interesting, but not life-changing. Rdio is nothing special.

HTC Incredible: Accessories: Case, holster, car mount

After a couple false starts, I finally ordered a few accessories for my much-loved Verizon HTC Droid Incredible:

Seidio Innocase II Surface + Holster combo:



I had the Seidio holster for my old AT&T TyTn II/HTC Kaiser, and I LOVED it -- best built, most rugged, tight-gripping holster I've ever owned. I expect great things out of the Innocase II + holster combo. I've dropped every cell phone I've ever owned; how I've gone nearly two months without dropping the Incredible is beyond me, and I'm done with trying my luck. I'm concerned about the case, the screen and the camera lens. Seidio's Innocase II appears to address case and lens issues, but I wonder about the screen. I may yet get one of those film protectors; last time I tried one was three or four years ago, and they were crap. I hear they've come a long way however.

Tip: you can get this $10 cheaper, and with free shipping, from Amazon.

Arkon Universal Windshield/Dash/Vent mount:



I'd seen a cupholder-mounted car mount, but I couldn't seem to locate it today. For $16, I'll give the Arkon a try.

I am still tempted to upgrade my battery, but $25-$70 for a 1750mA battery -- an upgrade to a mere 118% original capacity -- is a tough sell, and going bigger would mean blowing out the back panel/battery door, and possibly not fitting in cases and holsters. For now, a beefier battery remains on my wish list.

Review Followup: HTC Incredible on the road

I've owned the HTC Incredible from Verizon for a little over two weeks now. I spent a week traveling from Albany to Denver by way of Cincinnati, then Denver to San Diego, then back to Albany via Dulles. Along the way I encountered a few other happy new Incredible owners, as well as a lot of recognition of my Incredible by non-owners. I think I converted a few to soon-to-be owners as well. Everyone loves it, even Blackberry and iPhone 3G owners -- and ESPECIALLY WinMo owners. (Joe, I'm lookin' at you pal ;)

Signal in Albany, Cincinnati, Denver and San Diego airports was good to great; signal in Dulles was EXCELLENT, at least in the United terminal. Reception in general in all these cities was reliable, 3G included. Denver International Airport might have been a bit of a 1X zone however.

Battery life continues to be a concern for me, as well as a few other otherwise overjoyed owners I spoke with. I'm debating a +200mA upgrade battery that fits under the OEM cover. I'm also debating a 2100mA upgrade battery that requires a matching, bloated aftermarket cover. I think it would be unfortunate to disturb the beautiful lines, the compact profile of the Incredible however, and as I'm now looking at skins and cases, I don't want to mess with fit. The marginal utility of a $50 standard-fit 200mA upgrade is highly debatable however.

One note: a lot of apps execute in the background without explicit user activation. Using Advanced Task Killer, regularly wiping out resident background apps, I do seem to get better battery life, but not great. I'm working on uninstalling a bunch of useless apps I added, in the hopes that less background app activity will lengthen battery life.

I am currently in love with GPS + Google Maps Navigation on this Android 2.1 device. One word: SICK!!!!!!!! Two words: fothermucking SICK!! No need for a separate GPS device for automobile navigation ever again. Other than some hiccups over direction retrieval after an update last week where since updating only explicit addresses seemed to work for navigation route lookups, Google Maps Navigation readily guided us from place to place with great navigation perspective and excellent, responsive recalcs and voice turn-by-turn directions in Denver and San Diego.

Search by Voice needs some training, but it has a TON of hands-free potential. Searching by location in general is an EXCELLENT way to find ATMs, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, parking, client offices. I am totally, completely in love with this heavily integrated set of map & navigation features, aside from its battery-draining potential.

On the road for work purposes, I was occasionally forced to tether, especially when "high speed wireless Internet" at Doubletree Golf Resort San Diego or Fairfield Inn in Denver was simply unusable, as it was numerous times in the few hours I spent awake in my room in either location. I am having difficulty with USB drivers, HTC Sync and Windows 7 x64; these do not seem to have been entirely resolved by installing Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1; I have not been able to get Verizon Mobile Broadband to work with my notebook yet. After installing WMDC 6.1 I was finally able to get PdaNet to work, which provided some much-needed, better-than-dialup connectivity at times when Doubletree's wifi couldn't get its act together. I have still decided that I, or the office, will still need to be investing in a 3G broadband card, but PdaNet and the Incredible over Verizon aren't a bad emergency option.

Typing is still a bit of a chore, but definitely getting more comfortable with it. I'm not disappointed at leaving the physical keyboard of the TyTnII/Kaiser behind -- not one bit.

Enjoying the beautiful sunny blue sky by the bay at Seaport Village in San Diego Friday afternoon, the screen on the Incredible was pretty much unreadable. That is a bit unfortunate, but using one's hand, and/or finding a bit of shade, is an acceptable compromise for me in an otherwise dynamite mobile device.

I would absolutely buy this phone again, and unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone looking for a new smartphone. I am exceedingly happy with both the phone and with Verizon signal and 3G broadband.

Review: HTC Incredible

*inaccurate mockup pic removed :)*



I have had the HTC Incredible from Verizon in my grubby little hands for about 20 hours now, approximately 15 of them waking. Here's my first impression.

As an AT&T refugee, the experience with Verizon to date has been EXCELLENT. Everything went smoothly and quickly and slickly. I was originally told a ship date of May 4th -- then an hour after I placed my 7:30am order, I got a shipping notification. Phone showed up at 1:15pm the next day. Activation and porting were both painless. Reception is excellent, the broadband experience is superb.

Now, let's get to the phone itself. Packaging was minimal. No extraordinary efforts required to open. I unboxed it at the Apprenda office, where our sales guy, Bob, former telecom guy, could hardly wait for me to get my own look at it before he virtually snatched it out of my hands for his own examination. Our CEO, Sinclair, who has had a Droid for six months or so now, was eager to check out the Incredible of course, though I think Bob was really the most eager out of the three of us.

The phone: incredibly light and compact. Battery came half-charged; case snaps open to install battery. Almost-perfect weight: I won't feel like I am holding a cinder block to my ear, nor will it blow away in the wind. (Remember the Motorola Q anybody?) It could be a tad lighter, but my beer muscles are in good shape, this phone should not present any fatigue issues when I choose not to use my Bluetooth headset. And, the screen? BEAUTIFUL. No other word for it. Great resolution and color and responsiveness. The phone takes a fair amount of time to startup, but it is certainly still an improvement over WinMo 6.1 boot times on my old TyTn II / HTC Kaiser.

Every one of my pain points with a six or seven year history of using WinCE/WinMo phones, almost all of them HTC along the way, seem to have been addressed. The power button has a great click -- no irritating, flakey power-off pushes like my HTC Kaiser and Hermes. Getting where I need to go, and getting "back," are perfectly enabled with the back or return physical button on the bottom/righthand side of the phone. The camera is fast -- fast to start, super fast to focus, fast to take a shot, fast to return to shooting. Just plain fast. And the pics are FANTASTIC! 8MP of awesomeness. And the optical joystick is a super clean way of triggering your shot -- none of those overly-tough buttons HTC used in the past that almost inevitably led to you jiggling the phone when trying to take a slow-to-shoot shot.



I'm not sure what I think of the optical joystick yet. Still getting used to it. The touch typing, however, was a HUGE concern of mine. I'd stuck it out with physical keyboards for years, but I have grown tired of making the compromises that come with a physical keyboard. I wanted a big, beautiful screen in a slim-as-possible profile. No more physical keyboard.

So, how is the touch typing? Pretty darn good. I'm still making a few more mistakes on average than I would with my old physical keyboard HTC devices, but I suspect, especially when autocomplete is better trained, to be flying along at something a lot closer to my standard PC keyboard 95WAM.

Loose ends: GPS. EXCELLENT!!! Super fast to get your position, and it seems to track in near-realtime at a walking pace. Bluetooth: smooth. No contortions required for use. Everything. Just. Works.

Battery life? Don't know yet.

Apps: great pre-load, and a huge set of awesome free apps readily downloadable from the Market. I'll review specific apps sometime down the line, when I'm more familiar and have some standout favorites. Everything seems to run very smoothly and quickly with the right amount of OS and cross-app integration. Again: Everything. Just. Works.

EDIT: I almost forgot Exchange integration. So far, so good, but I have yet to test notorious calendar invite and attachment issues. Also, HTC Sync does not seem to play nicely with Outlook 2010. GMail integration however is awesome, so maybe I don't need to sync my PCs at all, since GMail/GApps drive all my non-Exchange mail already.

I think that about covers it for now, thanks for reading. Any specific questions, hit me up in the comments, I'm happy to follow-up!

EDIT2: Well, I just gave it a full workout in bright sunlight. My conclusions:

1. When you're shining a spotlight, or the sun, at it, yes, it's unreadable, as is any other screen, gloss or matte. A few angles tend to produce this effect, but it wasn't horrible.

2. In bright direct sunlight, reflection is present but not horrible; the bigger downfall for me was that the camera loses detail on-screen. However, I found that reading email and writing on the touch keyboard were still pretty easy. Visibility in sunlight really not a huge issue for non-video apps it seems to me. No, it's not eye-popping wow like it is indoors, but I find it to be very usable, at least in comparison to two older HTC smartphones I've owned.

Why I did not buy a MacBook Pro

On the ride back from Philly Code Camp 2010.1 yesterday, I purchased a new laptop from Dell.com's SMB section using my aging Windows smartphone. My current primary work machine is a 2.5ish year old Dell Vostro 1500. It has served me well, but its time is past. The backlight is dim and the performance just doesn't hold up to my needs anymore. Plus 15.4" and 1440x900 really is not enough real estate, though I do plan on sitting at my desk in my home office more, and running video out to a 24" Dell panel I've hardly used since I purchased it, also 2.5ish years ago.

I had been considering a new laptop for six months or so. I had really wanted to hop on the Apple bandwagon with a beefy MacBook Pro, and boot or virtualize Windows on it, because I would love to be running a BSD derivative as my base OS, and as a tech pro I would like to get to know the Apple bit of the technology world better. In the end however, I could not justify a ~50% premium in price for something that did not even meet, much less exceed, the specs of the lower cost Dell I ended up with.

With development as a primary activity, and code and other client and user group/etc. presentations as a secondary consideration, I had a few requirements and preferences:

1. i7 processor strongly preferred.
2. 8GB+ RAM capacity.
3. 17" screen.
4. No more than 7 pounds.
5. 7200RPM+ disk or SSD. Prefer dual HDD capacity for RAID0 capability. (Visual Studio bottlenecks on disk more than one might think. Will VS2010 be better? I also prefer RAID0 for VM performace.)

With those details in mind, a MacBook Pro 17" 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo (old tech!) starts at $2499.00. The Dell Studio 17 i7 3.06 GHz I picked up cost significantly less than $2499 - fully loaded. Here's the breakdown:

17" MacBook Pro ($2499.00)
Configuration
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (+$300)
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB (+$600)
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm (+$50)
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display ($50)
Basic 90/1 year warranty, no additional paid support

Total: $3499.00 (before tax!)


17" Dell Studio 17 purchased via Dell Small Business (can't seem to find original price for SMB, sorry)
SMB discount (-$250)
Intel Core i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
8GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, 2 DIMM
Backlit keyboard
17" multitouch display with webcam and facial recognition
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 4650 1GB
1TB (2x500GB) 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive (no Blu-Ray option with SMB :(
9-cell battery
Bluetooth
802.11g (I haven't had a lot of good experiences with 802.11n ... I may upgrade the mini pci-e half card down the line, but I have a strong preference for wired LAN in general)
2-year support (which seems to be just about the reliable, performance-friendly lifetime of a midline Dell like my old Vostro 1500; I hope to get 3 solid years out of this higher-end i7 at this point. I will consider renewing the warranty in 2 years.)

Total: $2169.00
With tax: $2342.52

And at that price, I added a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse to the package for another $79.

From what I have read and been told in conversation, Apple doesn't use particularly premium components in their machines. How in the heck can they justify that sort of premium price, with inferior specs/capacities?

One of my colleagues at Apprenda recently picked up a Studio 16 with SSD and is very happy with it. At Philly Code Camp 2010.1 yesterday, one of the volunteer staff had a 2-year old Studio 17. It was still in great shape, and he had been very happy with it -- no complaints. That sealed the deal for me -- no MacBook Pro unless I win the lotto sometime soon and have cash for personal toys.

Philly Code Camp - Gold Sponsor!

I'm happy to announce that not only will I be attending Philly Code Camp 2010.1, but my new employer, Apprenda, will be there as Gold Sponsor, specifically of the Architecture track.

We may or may not be doing a presentation on SaaSGrid. Unfortunately we got our ducks in a row at a bit of the last minute on this, though we are eagerly awaiting a last-minute presentation slot to open up, whether that be due to a presenter's sickness, travel difficulties or sudden enrichment of their bank account. *cough* ;) As it is we missed NYC Code Camp 4 and New England Code Camp 13 :( We are also looking for future Code Camp sponsorship and presentation opportunities!

I believe we are going down to Philly the evening of Friday the 9th, and possibly considering staying as long as overnight Saturday. I don't believe I've ever been to/near Philly before ... perhaps driven on a nearby bypass?

One more note, SaaSGrid may make an appearance at CloudCampNYC on April 20th as well. TBD.

Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion - CNN.com

I couldn't agree more!

Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion - CNN.com

"We should be talking about real problems, like nuclear proliferation and genocide and poverty and the crisis in education," Harris said in a recent interview at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. TED is a nonprofit group dedicated to "ideas worth spreading."

One thing Tech Valley lacks

Having grown up just inside the development-restricted, redneck-populated, overwhelmingly large and backward Adirondack Park spending my teen years playing football, causing trouble and trying to sell websites to small business owners who often didn't have dialup Internet service, or, in many cases, even a computer on-site at their business, I've seen a lot of positive change, real progress, in this relatively recently bemonikered "Tech Valley" region. Broadband just about everywhere that really matters. Computers in every shop. A website for everyone. A big semiconductor foundry of an alleged job-mill in our backyard.

One major piece of the tech worker and tech industry growth puzzle that Tech Valley still falls flat on however is workspace. Office space is often underserved and overpriced for independent, often mobile tech professionals, or startups and other small businesses that may work in small and/or remote teams and have little or no need for a permanent office. And no, neither Panera nor Starbucks comes anywhere close to cutting it. What Albany needs, what Tech Valley and its population and ability to innovate would benefit from, are coworking spaces.

What is coworking? Perhaps you've heard of hotdesking? The act of borrowing someone else's desk for a period of time? Envision a flexible office space of nothing but hotdeskers. Tenants, if you will, who might be there for a few hours, the day, or maybe 9-5 (or 9-9, or 5-9, you get the picture) all week long. Coworking spaces are dedicated workspaces, sometimes run as clubs or co-ops, or on a subscription basis. Flexibility is key!

Nobody loudly placing orders at the register. No kid kicking the back of your seat. No squealing babies. No delinquent punks eyeballing your gear. Chairs, desks, tables, whiteboards, often conference rooms. Some coworking spaces provide laptops and computers for rent. Any coworking space worth its salt provides coffee makers and solid Internet connectivity, the best providing both RJ-45 jacks for gigabit LAN and 802.11 for WiFi.

Office supplies are often available, sometimes as part of the package, sometimes for a fee. Scanners, faxes and printers are commonplace. Some of the nicer spaces also have high-end videoconferencing gear.

Not only are coworking spaces great for getting work done at an affordable rate, or having team or even client meetings, but coworking venues also typically offer a great networking scene as well. Similarly motivated and hardworking people with often complementary capabilities -- that's nothing but win.

Coworking spaces in metro areas tend to pop up in the unused or underutilized space of established companies, though that's not a rule by any means -- Rochester's first coworking space has sprung up in a loft I used to party in in my western NY days. Any space with the appropriate zoning and infrastructure, or the potential to cost effectively add or augment the required infrastructure, will do. (And this includes parking in cities where mass transit is less common.)

Albany has plenty of empty real estate ... do we have enough motivated, semi-mobile professionals who would know what to do with coworking space if they had it available? Does Tech Valley have what it takes to genuinely bootstrap and nurture its homegrown talent, expertise and productivity pools in areas that will matter most in the coming decades?

UPDATE: Laura has created a fan page for Coworking in Albany on Facebook.

UPDATE2: Laura's blog entry on this topic.

UPDATE3: The coworking pbwiki -- I'd be remiss to continue to neglect linking to this, as Laura has in her post. Great info from providers and consumers of space, as well as a listing of worldwide coworking spaces!

Book Review: One Second After

One Second After by William R. Forstchen


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
As my friend Mathew Koeneker wrote in August, I was a little surprised to be finding myself reading a book with a foreword by Newt Gingrich. I was even more surprised that I actually read the foreword, which, perhaps to my shame, I tend to ignore in most books that are not of particular import to me.

That's where Mat and I's outlooks diverge.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

I didn't find One Second After to be particularly worthwhile. It failed to rise to the level of interesting until page 161 or so, where a half-hearted patriotic quote is to be found.

It did not raise my awareness of EMP, nor my alarm level. In this day and age there are so many threats, and we have no idea what our government is or is not doing to protect us. Perhaps the politician and Navy officer responsible for, respectively, the foreword and afterword, know something Joe Plumber does not? Or could it be that perhaps this disgraced and fined politician and mere Navy captain are not as well-informed as they'd like to be these days, and are simply trumpeting an issue for the sake of selling a book? That is what this book leaves me asking, not, "Are we doing enough to protect ourselves from EMP?" (Then again, I think the planet could use a good die-off ...)

Sure, I teared up a tiny bit at the death of the dog, and then the daughter, but to be frank, the plot and pace of this work was pretty awful.

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