_The Real Technology War

It seems every other day there is a new battle brewing in the digital landscape.  iPad vs eBook readers, iPhone vs Android, Apple vs Adobe, HTML5 vs Flash, Chrome vs IE9, Google Docs vs Microsoft Live Office…and the list goes on.  With every new battle that starts there is another blogger tweeter techie know-it-all that comes up with an article explaining why participant in this battle is better than the other or why one will not last.  AND to top that off, you have CEO’s of companies battling with these bloggers and other companies.  It is very soap opera-ish.  ”What will Steve Job’s do next?  Will Google Chrome take over the world?  When will Microsoft strike back?  Stay tuned till next episode to find out.”

I am neither a CEO or a know-it-all but I have a different point of view that people are missing.  Let me first start out with an analogy.  Think back to when you were a kid and watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (if you don’t remember this show, think Animal Planet).  Theses were fascinating shows about wildlife.  All sorts of wildlife.  The big episodes or the episodes that were always cool to watch were with the Lion.  The Lion is the main event.  Always!  At every zoo and every show, when there is a Lion, people stop and watch.  So true with this show.  Sometimes two Lions would fight.  Sometimes they would just sleep all day.  Other times they would hunt some prey.  No matter what they were up too you were glued to the TV waiting for the Lion to attack…yes…a Wildebeest.  The Lion would sneak up on a herd and take one down.  They would feast for hours and then move on.

Now bear with me here, I am not comparing any of these technologies or companies to either the Lion or the Wildebeest, but just the battle.  The battle would produce a ferocious scene; dirt flying everywhere, animals watching and running, blood spurting.  Most of all, the Vultures would come to wait and benefit from the battle.  Once the Lion was done, it was their time to feast.

I am a Vulture.  I am going to feast on these battles.  Why?  It is because I am a technologist and I have too.  The way I look at it is this; sure one technology will probably overtake the other but until then I will support both and deliver both.  I will feast on the remains of the war of words and the war of the diverse technologies to deliver what is right, appropriate and on target to my clients.

Here is another example.  One of my clients is a Fortune 500 client.  Thousands of employees.  They all use IE6.  IE6 is bad.  Real bad.  Not only from a security standpoint but from a coding perspective as well.  It is buggy, renders CSS differently than other browsers, and requires a lot of extra effort to make it work.  There are sites out there that are not supporting it any more.  But when a client is paying you to develop a web site and they cannot view it on their computer or better yet from, ANY of their company computers, that is a big time #FAIL.  So what do we do?  We do what they want us to do and make it work.

There are 2 rules in Customer Service that I learned from Stew Leonard’s:

Rule #1: Customer is always right.

Rule #2: If Customer is wrong, see Rule #1.

As a technologist, I am not going to deliver a solution that only works on X percentage of the devices that are out there.  If I am building a web site, not only will it work in older browsers but mobile phones, netbooks, iPads, Android Tablets etc.

So what’s the point?

There are 2 points.

Point 1:  You don’t have to rely on one technology to do a job.  Each of the technologies in question came out because one does something different from the other.  The questions should be, what are you trying to accomplish?  Answer that first, then the technology will shake out from that.  I had someone ask me about HTML5 vs Flash and what do we do since Flash is not available on the iPad.  What are you trying to do?  Will your customers go to your site on an iPad?  If so, lets make an iPad enabled site and leverage what the iPad does best.  Keep Flash for the desktop based site.  What’s the problem with 2 or 3 different sites?  You don’t wear dress shoes to go running.  Choose the right tool for the job.

Point 2:   While companies argue and battle regarding what technology will win, I will need to support all of them until there is a winner.  By supporting all of them, I will deliver 100% coverage to my clients customers which makes everyone happy.

So the next time someone asks, “Will HTML5 take over Flash?” or “iPhone vs Android”,  your response should be “I hope it is a long battle”.

_Android Activity Not Launching MapActivity

I have decided to play around with Android and started out using the Google API for Maps.  My goal is to create an app that has a tab view that you can tab through some info and on the tabs there will be a button to launch the Google Map to show the location of the point of interest and show where you are and provide directions.  I have the tab view working great but when I try to fire off an event for the MapActivity that is where it fails.

If I create my own MapActivity project it works fine, but when I include the class in my tab project it fails.

Here is what I have:

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.location_tab);
...
Button btnMap = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnMapview);
btnMap.setOnClickListener(mMapListener);
...
}

And my Listener

private OnClickListener mMapListener = new OnClickListener() {
        public void onClick(View v) {
        	Intent mapIntent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(),LocationMap.class);
        	startActivity(mapIntent);
        }
 };

And here is my Map Class:

public class LocationMap extends MapActivity {

	MapView mapView;
    MapController mc;
    GeoPoint p;

	@Override
	protected boolean isRouteDisplayed() {
	    return false;
	}

    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
	@Override
	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        mapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.myMapView);
        mapView.setBuiltInZoomControls(true);

        mc = mapView.getController();
        String coordinates[] = {"40.750386", "-73.976773"};
        double lat = Double.parseDouble(coordinates[0]);
        double lng = Double.parseDouble(coordinates[1]);

        p = new GeoPoint(
            (int) (lat * 1E6),
            (int) (lng * 1E6));

        mc.animateTo(p);
        mc.setZoom(17);
        mapView.invalidate();

	}
}

I get a force close each time I click the button. I have swapped out my LocationMap.class with a standard activity class and that works fine. I have put my LocationMap class in it’s own project and that works fine as well, but together…no dice.

Any thoughts?  Here is my StackOverflow post

_iPad – The Weekend

On April 3rd the world got their hands on Apple’s latest creation call iPad.  Our company (Story Worldwide) pre-ordered one and we got our hands on it the following Monday.  We all “oohed” and “ahhed” over the looks.  The screen was crisp, the movement was as expected.  We downloaded a few apps, surfed a few sites, hooked up email etc.  Some liked it, some dismissed it.  Overall it met the expectations that we had for it.

So after having it in the office for a week and messing around with it how would it really hold up with ‘real world’ use.  I decided to bring it home this weekend.  Here is my recap.

Friday Night: After running around when I got home and making dinner I was able to settle down with the iPad and my family.  I showed my kids and they instantly thought it was cool.  Probably because it was a new gadget in the house.  I went to the app store and downloaded a few games (all free) and they were hooked to the big screen.  So Friday was an A+ with the kids.

Saturday Morning:  Like most people, Saturday is the day to catch up on the week that has passed.  So with my coffee and my iPad I started to surf the web for the latest news.  I started with Google News like I always to on my Laptop.  After reading some headlines and clicking over to the news sites, I had hit and misses.  The resizing became more of a pain surfing the web for some time.  Flipping the iPad horizontal was better but still a pain.  Grade B.

Saturday Mid-Morning: While I was prepping to start running around with the kids, I flipped on Netflix for them and they watched Tom & Jerry for a bit.  Kids Grade A+

Saturday Afternoon: During my running around my car died.  That was it.  Time for a new car.  (we have been thinking about getting one so this just seemed right).  I opened up Google and did some searches for local dealers and their inventory.  Well, most of the sites are in Flash so it was very difficult for me to search and find out the info I needed.  Grade C-

Saturday Late Afternoon:  I did end up visiting some dealerships but more on that later.  When we got back we decided to do some DadPerfect basketball shots.  See DudePerfect.com for more info.  After hitting two shots from down the driveway and over the garage I went in with the kids to show them how the experts do it.  So we whipped up DudePerfect.com and….wait…that is Flash.  So we fired up the Laptop instead.  Grade F

Saturday Evening: After putting the kids to bed I started to check out the app store.  A few things I noticed.  1.  Not a lot of apps yet, that will eventually change.  2.  Not a lot of free apps.  3.  Why are these apps 1000% more than what the iPhone are?  Is it the bigger screen?  Anyway, I downloaded a few different ones.  Some for the kids, some books, magazines and games.  The one I was excited about was the Bible.  I can bring the iPad to church and have the Bible right there.  When I started to view it and read it, the glare from the screen was a little annoying.  It seems ok for web pages and images but when I really needed to focus on text I did not like it.  Grade C-

Sunday Morning: After looking at a few cars I wanted to do some more research.  I went to MazdaUsa.com.  That proved useless.  The site detected my browser as an iPhone so I got a skinny mobile site.  I tried to hack the url to get the full site but kept getting an XML error.  I Google’d some Mazda terms and found some links into the Mazda site but same result.  Argh.  I then went over to BMWUSA.com.  Mobile site appeared.  I could not do anything.  I tried entering my zip code.  I tried clicking on some dropdown menus and nothing.  Site was not working.  I went over to Ebay.com so I can just view some photos.  That worked but not as fulfilling as I wanted it to be.  Grade D

Sunday Evening: I skipped the afternoon since I ended using the Laptop to view the sites listed above.  So my car died again today leaving me and the kids stranded, has to be alternator.  I dropped my wife off at work earlier in the day and now it was time to pick her up.  We hop in the car that works and take the iPad.  The kids are playing Tic-Tac-Toe and having a blast on it in the back seat.  Kids A+.  Me – C- because the screen was so bright it was annoying me on the way home.

My overall impressions.  It is nice.  Videos look nice.  Kids love it.  When push came to shove and I wanted it to do what I do on a normal basis, it failed.  Until the Internet converts everything to HTML5 and out of Flash then it will be worth it.  Until then, you need to rely on ‘apps’ and pay for everything that is normally free on the Internet.  For another game console or a portable DVD player for the kids, sure it is good but I can get those for 150 bucks.

_HP or CDW Fail Take Your Pick

It was time for me to get a new laptop for me here at work. I was excited since I can now move up to Windows 7 from Vista and sink my teeth into the I7 processor from Intel. The HP Elitebook was chosen for the availability and specs. 4gigs of RAM,I7 Processor, DVD Burner, 14″ screen, 250GB hard drive..etc..etc..

Now my set up here at work is dual 19″ monitors for my development environment. Works well. So I really need a dock for the laptop.

Here is where the fun begins. I get the HP EliteBook and dock and get it all set up. Move over my files, install programs etc. Then I notice I only have 37 minutes left of battery. Wait. I am docked. Oh, the power cord must of came out. Checked the plug. That is not it. Maybe the power cord is the wrong voltage. Tried another. That is not it. Phone tech support, must be a Windows issue. That is not it. Argh. Must be the NEW dock.

They send me out a new dock. Awesome! I am back in business. Ah…no. No worky still. I have to send back the Laptop. The BRAND NEW LAPTOP. Fine. Then at the last minute they say we have one in stock and we will ship that back out to you. Awesome! I will get a replacement instead of waiting to get this fixed.

Now it is Friday and a full week has passed since the start of these events. I get the NEW laptop. I did not have to reinstall anything since we just swapped out Hard Drives. Look it charges! Yeah..

So all is well again with the HP Elitebook and it is charging when docked. I take the laptop home over the weekend and notice a scratch on the screen. C’mon. It is about 20 pixels big. I did not notice it when docked since the video card was outputting to my monitors. So annoying.

I then come in on Monday and dock my laptop and start my process of plugging in my headphones and listen to some music as I work. Hmm..that is weird, music is still coming out of my laptop speakers. After troubleshooting and doing a bunch of things, it turns out the headphone jack does not work. Seriously?

So, my NEW replacement laptop has a scratch on the screen and a dead headphone jack. Wait there’s more.

My IT guy is now phoning HP to let them know. In the meantime I still have to work. So I am slicing up some images using Adobe Photoshop, I have NetBeans IDE open for PHP development, Firefox running to view my site and MS Outlook. Then sloooooooooowness happens. What the heck it going on? I check the system settings just to see what the memory is and I see 2 gigs of RAM. Not 4 but 2. Really? They rob me of my RAM.

So I close all my apps and then try to install Windows XP on the VMPlayer since my Virtual PC Hard Disk for some reason has been corrupted. I get the DVD and go to my laptop and….what the…where is my DVD Rom?

I can’t make this stuff up. FAIL FAIL FAIL.

I will report back when I get my third laptop, hopefully three times IS a charm.

_Launched a New Site for a Friend

Another WordPress site is up.  This time for QJF Services in Newtown CT.  QJF is a professional landscape and property maintenance company.  They have been providing quality service in Newtown for a number of years.

The site is built of the Buffet Framework and all jQuery.  I need to upgrade it to 1.4 but for now it is 1.3.2.

Facebook pages to come.

Visit it QJF Services here.