The Official Rules of Calvinball. [Bernie DeKoven's FunLog 4/6/2005; 10:52:33 AM] We are fortunate indeed to have in our virtual playground someone like Sam Ryan who has the wisdom to go to the needed lengths to document the essence of the prototypical Junkyard Sport, Calvinball. "IMPORTANT: All rules are subject to be changed, amended, or dismissed by any player(s) involved at any time...." 4/6/2005 2:42:46 PM    

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Microsoft Keeps Up Presence at Open-Source Events. [eWeek April 5, 2005] Determined to have its presence seen and its voice heard by its core customer constituencies amid the growing open-source chorus, Microsoft is coughing up cash and sponsoring targeted open-source conferences. The software maker is a platinum sponsor of the Open-Source Business Conference held in San Francisco this week. Jason Matusow, director of Microsoft's Shared Source program, will give a talk examining the effects of commercialization on open-source software and discussing strategies for adopting source-code licensing in a commercial software organization. 4/6/2005 2:21:42 PM    

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They can't steal data that you don't have. [Computerworld IT Management News 4/6/2005; 1:53:14 PM.] You can help beat data thieves by using effective data management. If you collect information that you don't actually need, not only are you spending money needlessly, but you're also opening yourself up to the risk that the unneeded data might be stolen or misused. If you can't define a valid business need or some legal or regulatory requirement for each piece of data, why are you keeping it? IT people should step back and ask whether it's appropriate to store the data they are holding, whether it's being stored for an appropriate period and whether it's being stored in a sufficiently secure fashion. 4/6/2005 2:12:42 PM    

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Think Week, the WSJ, and those Ten Crazy Ideas [Mini-Microsoft 4/4/2005; 9:53:14 PM] by Who da'Punk: We read a bit about Bill Gates' most recent Think Week in the March 28 Wall Street Journal article In Secret Hideaway, Bill Gates Ponders Microsoft's Future [Paid subscription required, but you may be able to access the google cache or some other on-line copy for free - Eric.] First, this Think Week is a great idea for everyone. Here's an interesting bit:

Four days into this Think Week, Mr. Gates had read 56 papers, working 18 hours straight some days. His record is 112 papers. "I don't know if I'll catch my record, but I'll certainly do 100," he said. Among the unread papers: "10 Crazy Ideas to Shake Up Microsoft."

Figures. About a month ago, a friend emailed me the "10 Crazy Ideas" paper off of Think Week. For those in Microsoft, you can go and read it yourself by navigating through the http://thinkweek/ web site and finding the Winter 2005 papers. I don't think they are crazy ideas at all and it's unfortunate, and very telling, if the paper went unread and not commented upon. Perhaps they should have chosen a more subtle title. I wish that Kentaro and Sean would go ahead and share their ideas broadly, posting either their own edited versions in a blog or emailing me text they'd like to share. I'd even serialize it! The ten crazy ideas? Mostly, more common-sense than craziness ( ooo, cut back on Bureaucracy! Craaaaaazy... ). Okay, I'll share that part:

1. Schedule Unscheduled Time into Performance Reviews
2. "Break Up" the Company
3. Encourage Loose but Prominent Couplings
4. Exile and Empower Incubation Projects
5. Offer Super-exponential Rewards
6. Offer Different Risk-Reward Compensation Profiles
7. Cut Back on Bureaucracy
8. Review Cost Cutting
9. Reduce Headcount on Large Dev Projects
10. Eliminate Exec Reviews

4/6/2005 1:52:19 PM    

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Developer Site CodeZoo Launches [Slashdot: 4/5/2005; 6:53:14 PM]  CodeZoo is an archive of Java code pieces, which plans to do for Java what cpan did for Perl, according to an announcement from O'Reilly. From the announcement: "We're not focused on hosting developer projects, like SourceForge, nor on comprehensively listing all open source Java code. Instead, we've hand-selected a list of the components we think will be the easiest and best to use in your development projects -- whether you are an open source or commercial developer. It’s a fast-forward button for your compiler." 4/6/2005 9:35:54 AM    

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The secret of effective scope change management. [TechRepublic.com 4/5/2005; 3:53:07 AM] One of the conflicts project managers face is that they don't want to say no when someone asks for a scope change. Here's a "trick" that takes away the need to do that... [also known as "Pass The Buck" - Eric] Ask the client to send you an e-mail explaining the new capability and the business value of the change, including a description of the consequences if the change is not made. Determine the impact to the project on terms of budget and schedule and then send the benefits and costs to the sponsor for a decision. 4/6/2005 9:29:00 AM    

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Zinc shown to sharpen teenagers' mental skills [Globe And Mail 4/5/2005; 4:54:38 AM] Teenagers who take zinc supplements are more attentive and responsive at school, according to a new U.S. study. The research, among the first to look at the impact of the essential micronutrient on adolescents, suggests that many suffer from zinc deficiency. Teens are believed to be at particularly high risk of zinc deficiency because they are growing quickly and tend to have poor eating habits. The problem is particularly acute for girls because many adopt vegetarian diets in adolescence. 4/6/2005 9:25:11 AM    

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Write-on Poly Sheets - Instant whiteboards [Cool Tools 4/5/2005] Avery Polysheet instant whiteboards are thick, static-laden sheets of plastic, like ultra-heavy garbage bags. Just unroll one, slap it on the wall, and instant whiteboard! The 27 x 34 inch pad fits standard flip chart easels or conference cabinets; Rolls up for travel and storage. Dry erase markers wipe off fairly easily, and/or perforated sheets tear off cleanly. 4/6/2005 9:19:56 AM    

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Internet Explorer Search Prefixes. [via Lockergnome 4/5/2005] Internet Explorer has a little known feature that lets you quickly search for something on any site: IE Search prefixes. After the search prefixes are set up, you can type a single word identifier (prefix) and search query in the IE address bar to send the query to any website.  For example, the prefix "kb" can go to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, "syn" to a thesaurus, or "quote MSFT" to a stock quote. This script installs several MSN search prefixes to your machine.  You can add and customize your own search prefixes using the Microsoft Tweak UI utility for Windows XP. 4/6/2005 8:47:21 AM    

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NASA Presolicitation Notice: Sponsorship Opportunity for Bandwidth Support to Return to Flight Missions (STS-114, STS-121) [NASA Watch 4/6/2005; 1:53:29 AM] As Discovery and Atlantis are readied for their respective Return to Flight Missions, NASA is preparing to meet public demand to see the launches and missions via the NASA Web Portal (www.nasa.gov). Based on data from previous missions we expect 20 to 30 million visits with 250,000 to 500,000 Internet users also accessing NASA TV coverage via Web Streaming. NASA is seeking proposals to sponsor the bandwidth costs. In exchange for this sponsorship NASA will consider offers to display the logo of the sponsor(s) and give credit to the sponsor(s) ... 4/6/2005 8:31:18 AM    

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Copy This. [Fast Company 4/6/2005; 6:54:10 AM] Anne M. Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox, has the company cranking again. Here are her thoughts on changing an organization, taking risks, and telling stories. "In a crisis, you have the opportunity to move quickly and change a lot -- and you have to take advantage of that." 4/6/2005 8:19:51 AM    

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One Handset, Five Operating Systems. [SmartPhoneToday via  Linux Today 4/6/2005; 7:52:10 AM] In theory, Palm smartphones and PDAs should work with other operating systems besides the Palm OS. There have been rumors that even the platform's founder, palmOne, may introduce a Windows Mobile edition of the Treo 650—the highest profile Palm-based device currently on the market. Oswin Technology plans to release Palm, Pocket PC, Linux, MXI, and Windows CE editions of its new Zircon Axia A108 smartphone ($899), all using the same exact hardware. The Windows CE version of the Axia A108 is already shipping with the MXI and Pocket PC editions due for release during the third quarter. Axia A108 owners will be able to ship their phone back to Oswin and have their smartphone's OS changed. 4/6/2005 8:16:14 AM    

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