EDS' Next Big Thing Blog: Read and Respond to What the EDS Fellows Say About Technology

More About Google And The Wireless Spectrum Auction

Last week I wrote a blog article about Google looking to get into the wireless airwaves business. It remains an unfolding story as this Cnet Interview with Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google demonstrates.

Google's potential interest mobile phones and mobile software isn't going unnoticed by at least one of the companies that already occupy some of that space. Google's mobile interests have been given some direct attention by Microsoft's Bill Gates, whose comments in this article speak volumes. As for my opinion; I'm always on the consumer’s side where more choices and less cost are usually the right answer.

More From Xerox PARC’s Rich Legacy

As if the Graphical User Interface, Ethernet, laser printing and object-oriented computing weren’t a rich enough legacy, Xerox PARC continues to impact the evolution of information technology with contributions to modern search engines. According to this article, a company drawing from PARCs 30 years of linguistic research is poised to offer an innovative natural-language search engine that extracts deep concepts and relationships from both target texts and query texts.

Though search engines like Google and Yahoo use some components of natural-language search the article claims that this could be the first full-scale solution. With Web 3.0 emerging, the timing couldn’t be better.

Electricity Generating Microbes

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's all about power; power generation, power transmission, power storage and power consumption. The most useful form of power in our modern electronic world is electricity, it can drive technologies that move us, assist us, inform us and ultimately protect us. With such a bright future for electricity shouldn't we be laser focused on finding better ways to generate it.

A couple of years ago I read an article about a naturally occurring bacteria that produced electricity by eating pollution. Given the modern energy and pollution situation, it seemed like a potentially important new avenue for energy research. Since that initial article I have seen a few follow-up articles, like this R&D one on bacteria based fuel cells, but nothing about the commercialization of the science. Even if they haven't been productized yet, the approach probably will eventually get to the commercial markets (kidding aside, products like mud batteries could give another revenue stream to chicken and pig farmers as they sell power to the grid while detoxifying all that waste).

Of further interest is the recent discovery of other bacteria, at Yellowstone National Park, that convert light to electricity. Using photosynthesis to create electricity, these bacteria are sure to become an important research and discovery tool.

For the future, all of these bacterial generators could become important for energy independence, not just national independence, but personal independence as well. With the prospect of inexpensive alternative energy generation from sunlight, waste disposal and other readily available sources, along with intelligent power storage systems, shouldn't we expect to someday generate enough energy for our own individual needs? If not completely then what about partially?

With so much attention dedicated to research on batteries, power management and alternate power sources shouldn't there be some system thinking going on that would bring it all together? How about self-contained on-site power systems for our homes? If Apple produced one it could be called iPower and it would be launched with a very hip and expensive ad campaign. As for me, I’ll be waiting in line on launch day.

Sliverlight for Linux?!

In an article titled Moonlight in Paris an effort by the mono project to expand the appeal of Siverlight was described. It looks like a real effort to make the Rich Internet application (RIA) tool more multiplatform than just running on the Mac and Windows environments. The article describes how a group of developers demonstrated Silverlight-based multimedia running on a Linux-based system (the project was called Moonlight). Microsoft hasn't announced plans for a Linux-compatible version of Silverlight (yet). The story goes into a little more detail about the scope of this coding spike (placing a stake in the ground for future work).

The flexibility and capability of an increased market for Silverlight will continue to expand the appeal of the composite application activities that Microsoft has underway. Tools like this will provide a much richer interaction environment, and hopefully be less fragile than the fat-client approach of the past. Being able to use delayed assembly approaches where the user interface issues are separated from the business issues have been a goal for many organizations for years (decades?) and techniques like this will keep the interaction rich without giving up greater separation – but only if it can be widely accessed.

Focus On Independent Thinking

Problem solving abilities are often enhanced by increasing one's level of independent thought. It is clear to me that some my best ideas were my most offbeat and radical ones. This gem of an article opens with an anecdote about 10 year old children and independent thinking that struck a chord. Daring to develop and express a truly novel thought requires a boldness that is rare and potentially disruptive (disruptiveness can be both a positive and a negative). For those of us craving the next big thing, it is the independent thinkers that we value; but are they feared by the rest of us?

Contrary to Goethe's famous quote and we know this intuitively, being bold does not necessarily bring mighty forces to your aid. Sometimes boldness brings mighty forces down on you. Maybe that's why we see so little independent thought. Sorry, I digress; the article doesn't really address the boldness issue but it does outline 5 strategies that you can use to improve your independent thinking abilities. How you express and develop the resulting independent thoughts is up to you.

Patents as Nukes In Software’s Cold War

This article about Sun versus Microsoft gets off to an interesting start proclaiming that Sun considers Microsoft guilty of patent terrorism by using alleged and unspecified patents to pressure the Linux community. Those of us familiar with the software side of intellectual property have to take a deep breath at this point. Microsoft's position on open source has been negative news this year while Sun's position will certainly appeal to most supporters of open source software. Sun doesn't want to go it alone so to help get its point across, Sun even cites IBM as a potential ally in this.

IBM’s arsenal includes a current active worldwide patent portfolio in excess 40,000 patents; many of which are software based. In an intellectual property cold war where patents are nukes, IBM has the numbers. In touting IBM's strategy as more in line with "the spirit of innovation around software" than Microsoft's, Sun's alignment with IBM in this debate is clear. Still, Sun’s endorsement of IBM's strategy has its caveats.

With all this maneuvering and diplomacy, could we be moving from cold war to détente? That's probably up to Microsoft at this point.

Modernization vs. starting over

I was looking at the Consider the Source blog entry titled The Optimus Primes of Outsourcing. It made a good point about how different organizations look at advancing into the future. Some are transformational while others like bold new projects. In a world where outsourcing is becoming a common way of integration and modernization for organizations. It is an alternative for easing into change by pulling in experts. There are skills and models that can be brought to modernization situations to help lower risk. Organizations that do these activities more than once will have best practices and repeatable processes.

The imperative for enterprise modernization is simple: It comes down to common-sense economics. Familiar legacy systems have been the foundation for many businesses for decades, so it's easy to ignore the compelling economics of the non-proprietary alternatives. The complexities of that success will require periodic weeding for maximum value harvest.

I find it interesting that organizations can view infrastructure modernization separately from application modernization. From my perspective there will always be elements of both for every improvement. I have not quite included business modernization, but will give in that any effort that has real business impact will need to incorporate those aspects as well.

There is no one best way to modernize. The process begins with a current situation assessment and review of the existing applications and hardware portfolio with an eye toward long-term goals and thinking about value delivered and what can be migrated and what should be migrated. Your partners in modernization should be able to attune themselves to your business and be open to finding a solution that matches your needs. While the migrations that are core to modernization were once viewed as risk-prone, as the improvement process becomes rigorous and reliable it should be less risky (the current production is running on that code after all).That’s assuming that the foundational business rules have not changed and can be harvested effectively from the existing code.

Google Earth and Keyhole Markup Language

Google Earth isn't brand new, so it may be just a little under-appreciated.

When you combine Google Earth and Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files you get a powerful tool that lets you display earth maps overlaid with rich geographically anchored information (including graphics, text, Web links and even videos). If you haven't already become familiar with Google Earth and some of the existing KMLs, you can experience it all by downloading it and installing it on your Windows, Macintosh or Linux computer. Also, if you ever wondered what could be done with programmable Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a little time with Google Earth is a great way to find out.

This combination of Google Earth and KML files can make for some stunning map displays and can be particularly useful for representing things like driving tours, political unrest and all kinds of other demographics. It is truly a customizable digital atlas.

Because some of these KML overlays can be used as a tool demonstrate or make a point, for public benefit, Google has launched the Google Earth Outreach. This article about "Advocacy Mashups" is all about Google Earth's Outreach. It is, in a nutshell, a program that gives non-profit or public benefit groups free tools and help while making their point with Google Earth and KML. Check out the "Outreach" showcase; overall it looks like a win-win to me.

Mechanical Computing Redux

The introduction of electronic digital computers and their subsequent proliferation, beginning mid-20th century, have had a significant impact on human culture and events. But the concepts behind our modern electronic computing marvels have been with us for a very long time; first in the form of mechanical computers. There is much evidence that the concepts behind mechanical computers are very old indeed.

The earliest known example, the 2000 year old Antikythera mechanism, was apparently built by ancient Greeks. Progress on the mechanical computing front was apparently not very swift so the age of mechanical computing didn't reach its ideological apex until the 19th century (at the hands of Charles Babbage with his design of the "difference engine"). Although Babbage never completed the envisioned 13 ton, 25,000 moving part steam-powered device, his design survived - deemed both workable and capable.

Until now, I thought that the story ended there; that the history books were closed on mechanical computers. And then along comes nanotechnology. With Babbage's designs as inspiration, and a modern zest for all things nanotechnological; the concept of a nanoscale mechanical computer is born.

Don't get me wrong, I think the concept of a microscopic mechanical computer has the makings of a fantastic science project. I also think that much can be learned from such research. I could even envision products that would result from this work; I just don’t see a mechanical computer being one of them.

Does writing code make you feel younger?

I've noticed a pattern in the people that I work with that I've found interesting. My counterparts who have a software development background that continue to write code throughout their career (even if it is just recreationally) appear more enthusiastic and open minded than those who stop.

Is coding somehow cathartic and provide health benefits? Or is it just that they just never grew out of their enthusiasm for the creative process. I can see it now, a move beyond aroma and music therapies into coding therapy to increase your creativity and zest for life.

Maybe it is a local phenomenon.

Google Looking At Wireless Airwaves

A side effect of the US transition to digital TV is the analog TV switch-off. As a result the wireless broadcast frequencies that had been used by analog television will be re-purposed as the federal government auctions them off to the highest bidders. This transition of the 700MHz bandwidth may herald the beginning of new and open wireless services, devices and applications, if Google has anything to say about it.

Google's wireless vision will give consumers the ability to use the software and handsets of their choice over open and competitive networks. The Internet giant may be willing to bid at least $4.6 billion in the federal government's wireless airwaves auction if the ground rules are to their liking. The catch is that Google will only enter the bidding if the FCC mandates that winning bidders lease some airwaves to other companies for new high-speed Internet services.

Just a couple of weeks ago this article, about Google's indecision on joining the wireless auction, gives us a little more insight into what Google may be thinking. Rumors about Google phones aren't new, when you add Google's interest in the bandwidth auction it really starts to make sense.

WiMax On The Move

Nationwide mobile WiMax services may finally be rolled out across the US if Sprint and Clearwire have anything to say about it. A partnership created by the two companies said that it plans to team-up to do just that. Based on information in this article, Sprint will cover areas of the country with about 185 million people while Clearwire will cover an area with 115 million people. Based on recent US population figures, that would cover almost all of us.

Because WiMax has such great reach, this service will be available in not just urban and suburban markets, but rural markets as well. With estimates for pricing under $60.00 per month and the ability to roam freely, this expansive WiMax network will likely become a popular way for consumers to achieve greater mobility with higher throughput; all for a reasonable price. Look out wired broadband!

Programmers have Personalities???

In a recent Redmond Developer magazine there was a short article about a programmer personality test. It is similar to a Myers Briggs test in that it tried to divide developers into groups. In this case they are:

Do’ers <-> Planner

Low level <-> High level

Solo <-> Team

Conservative <-> LiBeral

The test only has 12 questions, so it’s probably could be a bit more accurate, he is working on a version 2. Tests like this usually point out inclinations, so you could ask how accurate does it actually need to be? I do think the questions are a bit biased by the size of the projects that people are used to working on as well. That may be a personality issue as well. It was interesting to see how you rate against those around you. Just like in a Myers Briggs test, it may explain why some meetings go down the tubes in a certain way. By the way I turned out to be a DHSB and can’t agree with the results. In MB I am an INTJ.

What Is Web 3.0?

Just when we get our arms around Web 2.0 along comes Web 3.0. Like it was in the early days with Web 2.0, Web 3.0 doesn’t come with a nice and neat definition. And like Web 2.0, you can’t just dismiss it out-of-hand either.

So what is today’s definition of Web 3.0? I surfed the Web in search of an answer; they were many and varied. There does however seem to be general agreement that the foundation of Web 3.0 is embodied in Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web.

The Semantic Web movement may help us to understand the foundations of Web 3.0 but it only paints an abstract technical picture of what Web 3.0 will do and how it will do it. A more digestible definition, from Web 3.0 aficionado John Markoff, defines Web 3.0 as a set of technologies that offer efficient new ways to help computers organize and draw conclusions from online data.

Wikipedia defines it as a term that has been coined with different meanings, including transforming the Web into a database, making content accessible by multiple non-browser applications, leveraging of artificial intelligence technologies, the Semantic Web or the Geospatial Web. Unfortunately, Wikipedia is all over the map on this one!

This Web 3.0 article by Nova Spivack on KurzweilAI.net is more helpful. Of particular interest is the expanded definition and the way that it ties Web 3.0 to the convergence of five key emerging technology trends:

• Ubiquitous Computing
• Network Computing
• Open Technologies
• Open Identity
• The Intelligent Web

The article also points out some of the third generation services that comprise Web 3.0, as opposed to those that we attribute to Web 2.0 or Web 1.0. I found article helpful in differentiating all three.

What we really need is a list of Web 3.0 applications; I think Yahoo Pipes is a good example, got any more?

Scavenging For Energy

Since the advent of mechanical devices the value of obtaining free and continuous power has been well understood. The optimal solution to this problem, however, is considered to be unobtainable. Energy must come from somewhere and modern physics denies us perpetual motion. A more reasonable and time-tested approach is to scavenge energy from ambient sources then translate and store that energy for use when needed. Sometimes passed-off as perpetual motion, it is actually just an energy conversion and storage strategy. The concept is particularly well demonstrated in timekeeping by clocks and watches that never need winding.

Historically, as early as 1610, a clock powered by changes in air pressure had been demonstrated. Its modern day counterpart, the Atmos clock, uses both temperature and air pressure changes to accomplish the same feat. Also, mechanical wrist watches that are referred to as automatic, self-winding or perpetual, stay wound by converting and storing energy scavenged from the movement of the wearer.

What makes timekeeping so ideal for this sort of strategy is that a small timepiece or clock doesn’t need very much energy to do its job. This article demonstrates that modern wireless electronic sensors are also an excellent candidate for an energy scavenging strategy.

Will our ability to power electronics with ambient energy stop with simple applications, like wireless sensors? As power scavenging technologies, like the ones in the article, evolve and power requirements for electronic solutions decrease, will we ultimately have free power for all of our portable electronics? Will there ever be a day when our cell phones, and even PCs, stay charged all by themselves?

Is the need for Enterprise Information Management a symptom of success?

I was talking with someone the other day about why there is an increased emphasis around Enterprise Information Management (EIM) -- if there isn't there should be.

An organization’s successful use of a variety of home grown and COTS applications across the breadth of its business has caused many different representations of business entities (e.g.: customer, invoice), over time. In a way, we’re a victim of our own success as we grow, pulling more of our spending into maintaining this fragile environment. This redundant, unaligned data causes organizations unnecessary cost and confusion. Enterprise Information Management (EIM) is a technique that weaves an information fabric throughout the enterprise, developing a common understanding underpinning the Process, Application, and Business view. EIM is key to creating a single view of truth and integration for the new agile enterprise, improving communications, reducing costs and increasing flexibility.

When I looked for EIM inside Wikipedia, about the closest definition I could find was Enterprise Data Management. As we move into having a more service based approach to the IT environment though it will require more than just common data. We need more commonality of data, process and service.

The IT industry has tried to tackle a common view of data before. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the answer was database management systems (DBMSs), in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was 4GLs, spreadsheets. In the 1990s, it was ERP, OLAP and data warehousing. Each of these approaches has solved part of the information access problem, but getting at the right information across the enterprise is still a problem.

Enterprise Information Management looks at both the data and the processes, enabling agility within the enterprise by incorporating principles of model-driven reusability of standard data, information, intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom throughout the organization. We’ve taken a multi-tiered approach to EIM within our processes:

1. The Data Resource Infrastructure (DRI) tier represents a new layer of data for the agile enterprise created from 100%-reusable data structures that are based on industry best practice data models. For most organizations at least 80% of their data and process model is not unique. These data assets create the IT foundation for enabling data management (sometimes called metadata management or master data management) for any business or industry.
2. The Enterprise Information Architecture (EIA) tier represents a new layer of information and intelligence for the agile enterprise that enables the single point of truth and integration for clients and EDS. These client-specific or industry-specific assets are intended to create the foundation for information architecture. This seems to where many master data management efforts focus.
3. The final tier Strategic Information Architecture (SIA) enables the client-specific or industry-specific business system to be modeled and the implicit knowledge and practice (wisdom) to be modeled explicitly to graphically reveal the business system of performance (that is, to show companies what makes them succeed or fail based on their goals and initiatives).

Having this more holistic approach enables greater consistency and value in a way that can be validated.

Data Explosion To The Extreme

Data Explosion is a term I have been hearing more and more over the last several years. Common discussions that I have heard on this topic paint a doomsday scenario where we have so much data that we can’t find what we need when we need it. Ultimately, it is argued, the wheels of business and civilization could grind to a halt as we drown in oceans of data, all of which we must keep and none of which we can find. Such a consequence for storing too much data strikes me as utter hyperbole because even if it were true (that we keep too much extraneous and duplicate data) our ability to find what we need when we need it has never been better. Further, as data storage becomes cheaper and smaller we will want to keep even more and we will get even better at sorting through it. We may even want to keep everything that we experience minute-to-minute and day-to-day. The technology to do so is not far fetched and each year brings us closer to it.

This article from Charles Stross, a UK science fiction writer, paints an interesting picture of that future. By talking about human history as it relates to memory, the author shows us a future where history remembers everything. With the atomic-scale data storage of the future able to record a lifetime of video and audio in a miniscule amount of space, the concept of privacy will be a thing of the past. To me, the real question is not about how great it will be to have an accurate view of human history; it is about whether we, as individuals, will actually give up our privacy just so that history can judge us (as it is oft wont to do).

On-line Video Downloads

Now that broadband connectivity is ubiquitous, we are seeing an increase in all kinds of data intensive content. From streaming video like YouTube delivers to real-time video conferencing services, there is more and more evidence that the Internet may soon end up delivering almost all of the entertainment content that we crave. A vital link in that delivery chain is beginning to emerge that will enable a robust connection between the Internet and our primary media devices, our television sets. It is the next step in digital media's push into the living room.

Old style video downloads require that a PC be used to download and play videos. Playback to the household big screen is reserved for those with outputs directly to a TV or more sophisticated playback solutions. These more sophisticated playback solutions seem to be emerging from familiar places.

As everyone gets in on the act, there are three major factors that will likely expand consumer demand; user friendly delivery systems, integrated rental services and advancements in DRM. Inhibitors will likely be the barriers put in place by the assortment of cable and satellite systems whose business models would suffer at the hands of yet another content provider.

While old style video downloading continues to expand, Walmart's newly announced video download service is of the old style, more advanced delivery systems like Amazon's Unbox on TiVo are beginning to appear. Amazon's new Unbox on TiVo uses an Internet connected TiVo already connected direct to your big-screen. It eliminates the need for the PC for both storing and playing downloaded video purchases and rentals. This will be a particularly effective model from a very familiar place, your TiVo set top box (as long as it isn’t a Direct TV or Comcast one).

Another familiar place is Apple TV. It is a set-top-box that, while it continues to use a personal computer running iTunes to both download and optionally play movies (through a wireless network connection), it also stores and plays them back directly from Apple TV to your big screen. The hitch with apple TV is that you must currently purchase the movies from iTunes, but a few recent reports (this and this) indicate that rentals and other sources will become available as well.

So, as broadband and set top boxes are helping serve up consumer friendly Internet-based movie downloads, this new marketplace will mature. But there is no rest for the weary; the next hurdle waits; doing the same with high-definition.

I Always Come Back To Batteries

That's right; batteries are in the news again in both good and bad ways. To start with, the news is abuzz this week screaming about the cost and complexity of replacing the iPhone battery. Now that the iPhone is launched and in the hands of both pleased and perturbed consumers, the big complaint, according the media, is about battery replacement. I have to admit, the consumer advocates and pundits seem much more concerned about this than any of the iPhone owners I know. I’ll just cross that bridge when I come to it. As an iPhone user, I am more concerned about a few other problems I have experienced with the fledgling device, little things that aren’t very newsworthy. I take comfort in knowing that Apple is a company that I trust to get it right in short order.

On the more positive side of things, there is news out of California about a new plug-in hybrid test program combining the expertise and capabilities of both Ford and Southern California Edison. Finally plug-in hybrids will get field tested in a way that will allow for real use data collection. With all the hype about this new breed of hybrid, this experiment, and the resulting real world data, should be very enlightening. That being said, the article clearly acknowledges that battery technology still remains a potential barrier.

Finally, the military is probing the public sector for wearable battery solutions with a competition that includes a one million dollar prize. This announcement is getting its share of publicity with the popular press, including this article from MSNBC's Cosmic Log that sums it up fairly well. What's important here is that this is just one of a series of initiatives, funded by the US government, designed to push the limits of innovation. The good thing is that everyone will ultimately benefit as new ideas are made real. A better thing is that the government has found a way to bring innovation back into the bureaucracy.

MEMS moving the ball down the field

I saw a few articles (this and this) about Micro-electromechanical robots playing "soccer" at this years Robocup in Atlanta. I was even able to find some videos of the robots on YouTube. "The robot is six times smaller than an amoeba and weights no more than a few hundred nanograms." Robots of all sizes were at Georgia Tech, but this nanotech competition captured my attention. They had a few different completion areas: 2 mm dash, a slalom race course.

Most of what I hear about nano-tech is based on taking advantage of the different chemical and physical properties, incorporating them in a relatively static fashion in commercial products. This competition shows a glimpse of a more interactive set of tasks performed by devices that have been manufactured near the nano-scale. During their discussions with the press, some of those interviewed talk about these kinds of devices eventually entering the blood stream and carrying a payload to fight disease.