Lost Weekend: Troubleshooting a MySQL Installation

Spurred on by Blogger’s decision to stop supporting FTP for publishing blogs, I have finally started the long process to implement a WordPress blog – hosted by myself, not Wordpress.com. To be fair, I am making this longer than it necessarily needs to be, but I am continuing my efforts to maintain a comprehensive Admin [...]

Underwhelming experiences with Google Wave

Took some time today to work with the new communication meme – Google Wave. I wouldn’t call it a fundamentally new way to communicate – well, not yet. I think Google is safe to continue with a “preview” label – clearly not even “beta” yet. No horrible bugs – at least on the Windows platform [...]

Real Business Users and SharePoint

Introducing buzzword-compliant technology like a wiki, or integrated collaboration spaces like SharePoint, will typically go well with a motivated audience like your internal IT department. But if you really want to understand how this stuff works, try it with “real people” – line employees in sales and marketing, operations, and finance.Sure, you’ve heard complaints from [...]

Field Notes: Video Conferencing for Business Conversations

This past week saw my first experience with video conference calling – something obvious to consider in these tight economic times. Some observations –

I got quick feedback that my original camera position was disconcerting for the others. I had put it off to the side, which made me look “off camera”, almost in profile, [...]

Low Tech SharePoint Hack: Project Status Indicator

I’m doing a little hacking in SharePoint that is pulling together a few ideas from the past:

Keeping my tech skills sharp
Knowing when to search for the answer (vs. stubbornly sticking with DIY)
Communicating status tersely but effectively

Apparently, I’m also trying to answer a question that is meaningful to many others, as it is used as an [...]

Another Take on Enterprise Open Source

Today’s best conversation was with Christopher Young, of B2BSX, a startup software exchange where corporate IT departments can buy and sell their development efforts, and make a little cash to offset stressed budgets. It’s an interesting idea, and spawned some ideas in a couple of different directions.Andy Hardy, IT DirectorEvery company I’ve worked for has [...]

Is SharePoint WSS dangerous to SharePoint contractors?

Firing Up Internal OpportunityIt was true last year, but even more so now; SharePoint is very important for corporate IT, both strategically (medium- and long-term) and tactically (short-term). Sure, it’s a terrific way to iterate on collaboration, internal portals, document management, etc. – “enabling innovation” in every buzzword-compliant sense. But there is solid benefit for [...]

Hacking the Google Chart API from Excel

a bit of code on a Saturday night …I’ve written before about a simple way to measure and report IT value to the business – quantifying alignment with strategic initiatives  project spend in context. It all culminated with a single, simple slide – numbers, with some Tufte-esque Sparklines thrown in. Click on the picture for [...]

Third Time’s the Charm? Blackberry Bold

I recently had to part ways with my Blackberry Pearl – some heartache, I suppose, but time and product innnovation march on. There is a lot to like about the Blackberry Bold – I am definitely happy to have made the change …

<aside> … although my inner conspiracy theorist sees a case of planned obsolescence. [...]

Best Practices for Requirements Gathering Sessions

It’s been a while since I’ve led an interactive requirements session for an interactive application – but it’s kind of like riding a bike. After a few minutes, the old habits come back, and the iterative ideas and cascading creativity starts to flow. What has changed, however, is the application platform, the office environment, and [...]