Register to Vote Online

As fans of webware, we have come across some tools to register to vote that are easy-to-use and free (we like these types of tools!):

• http://www.gop.com/actioncenter/registertovote/RegistrationInformation.aspx
• https://www.voteforchange.com/

Which one do you like?

Microsoft: It's About Web Services, Silly.

Microsoft’s chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, wrote an interesting memo which seems to shift their mission from creating software to creating a mesh between people and devices. To paraphrase, he says the value of Microsoft’s software will depend less on what it can do on its own than what it can do with others. More validation that web-based services trump software. Read the full memo here.

Grape Varieties?

Similar to last question; is there a definitive list of grape varieties? We appreciate your feedback as a comment to this post.

Appellation, AVA, Denominazione...

We want your thoughts on the best source by country/region to define the terroir. France has the "Appellation d’origine contrôlée" governed by INAO; and the USA has the "American Viticulture Areas" approved by the TTB. Is there a definitive list of appellations, AVAs, etc? Please post your replies as comments.

VitSmarter Coming Soon!

We are weeks away from the Beta launch of VitSmarter - the free and easiest way to manage grape growing online. Please contact us if you would like to participate in the Beta Program.

Happy Birthday Google!

Ok, not related to viticulture, but definitely relevant to technology... and probably many other things we do (and google).

The http://www.google.com/ domain was registered in 1997 and the company was launched one year later. Although the exact date changes, Google has recently stuck to the 9/27 date, when it displays a special doodle on the search page.

[Funny. The doodle serves to remind me that I have one week before my anniversary... Thanks Google; and happy BD!]

Social Operating System?

Here is a new one: Social Operating System. SOS?

I usually think of Microsoft or Mac whenever I hear OS. The Bay Partners' press release announcing the AppFactory program to develop Facebook applications referred to the Facebook platform as a new "social operating system" (Facebook countered with the FB Fund - another topic for discussion).

The promise of a Facebook Economy worth billions of dollars is sure to lure more developers -- in addition to 30 million users as of 7/10/2007.

Is this hype? Not sure. I'm too busy figuring out how to manage winegrape quality using Facebook.

Geek IQ?

OK Mensas and Mensos! Test your Geek IQ with this online quiz from InfoWorld. Questions range from the easy:

What celebrity on this list co-founded a still-functioning Internet business? (William Shatner, Al Gore, or Alyssa Milano)

...to the ones that remind me of high school...

Given two water faucets, one hot and one cold, and one bucket. The hot water fills the empty bucket in eight minutes. The cold water fills the bucket in seven minutes. Then I make a hole in the bucket such that the full bucket drains in four minutes. Now take the empty bucket, with the hole, and place under both faucets together. Turn on the hot and cold water at the same time. How long does it take to fill the bucket halfway?

Enjoy!

Skype Lessons

Last week's downtime of Skype's VOIP service was a great reminder to consumers that we have options that could quickly replace faulty service... and to vendors that consumers can quickly replace faulty service!

Huh?

Simple. When we figured out on Friday that we could not communicate via Skype with our developers in Mexico City, we quickly switched to GoogleTalk (available as a gadget, too) and carried on with business.

Skype alternatives such as Gizmo, GrandCentral, and Jajah all reported a nice uptick in business. According to Alexa, traffic to Gizmo tripled in three days, and GrandCentral hit a four-week high. Jajah reported a 50 percent increase in user registrations following the Skype outage.

We've returned to Skype, though I don't expect all of our customers will be as forgiving if we suffer a similar outage. Gotta stay on our toes!

Windows Vista | Our Take

Some of our users are asking us if they should upgrade to MicroSoft Windows Vista, so I guess it is time we weighed in on the evolutionary (though not necessarily revolutionary) product that was five years in the making and has been available for nine months...

BOTTOM LINE

If you need a new PC and it comes with Windows Vista, go ahead. Otherwise, we see no reason to upgrade (especially if you have an older PC).

GOOD

• Cool Mac-like user interface;
• Better stability, fewer crashes;
• Improved security.

NOT SO GOOD

• Costly ($200 - $400 depending on version);
• Hefty hardware requirements (you might need a new PC);
• Some compatibility issues with non MS applications;
• Lots of little enhancements, but no single compelling reason to upgrade from Windows XP;

BTW - here is a funny tutorial on installing Windows Vista.

Server configuration

We're optimizing our server configuration this week. Though we're doing the DNS changes during this week's Independence Day holiday and have structured the changes in such a way that the server downtime should go unnoticed by our users (given the timezones that we span, there is no "ideal" time), we still wanted to get the word out to prevent any unnecessary anxiety attacks. In addition to being fully backed up in multiple sites and on multiple media, your data is not the subject of our work and the only thing that you may notice is temporary system availability issues. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please don't hesitate to get a hold of us.

Delivery of Software as a service

Webware now threatens traditional software according to The McKinsey Quarterly article entitled: Delivering software as a service. Based on some solid research, the article points out how the SaaS model is increasingly a growing priority for many CIOs an VCs.

This is, of course, great news for those of us who have embraced the principles oftentimes encompassed in the term "Web 2.0"; and, conversely, a challenge for software developers who refuse to modernize.

But the authors also point out that it's not a stroll in the park for the SaaS providers:

The next frontier —we might call it software as a service 2.0— will include new classes of applications which are actually better suited for online delivery and seamlessly integrate with on-premise applications.

Based on this news and on our tireless efforts to bring viticulture into a new era, we've decided to build a list of SaaS providers who cater to the wine industry. If you (or someone you know) offers webware useful to vineyard and winery operations, please send us a quick e-mail referring us to your web site - we'll make sure to include you in our list. Stay tuned for the publication of this list...

SFDC...

We’ve been Salesforce.com users for the better part of a year now and are very happy with how it helps us with our CRM. Lately, however, we’ve become even more intimate with SFDC while working with their AppExchange platform. The “On-Demand Business Applications” not only provide some great webware for running any company (with the characteristically low TCO of the SaaS model, PLUS the ability to do some pretty creative mash-ups), the application builder is very straight forward – with a little process knowledge, anyone could easily put together some great applications. It’s like Google for companies.

Salesforce Developer Conference

We attended another great event by Salesforce.com ((NYSE = CRM) on 5/21; the Salesforce Developer Conference in Santa Clara. The day kicked off with a series of presentations by Marc Benioff and Parker Harris describing the vision, some solution AppExchange examples (the Adobe Apollo demo was pretty neat), and the keynote by Guy Kawasaki. As always, his presentation was both funny and insightful (and available online).

We spoke with some Salesforce techies and fans... and are getting pretty geeked about the Salesforce platform and the potential it holds for webware!

Most peculiar, however, was Salesforce's "cautious approach" about Google. They showed off some integration with Google Apps (REALLY COOL), but they had a weird vibe about it...

Something in the works?

Snap Shots™

I just added Snap Shots™ to our blog (it took me all of 3 minutes to complete!). Basically, when you hover over a link, you'll get a preview without having to navigate away from the site - you can confirm that the link is of interest before you load a new page or tab in your browser.

The interesting part is that it is a "smart" preview - it displays the content that you really want to verify. For instance, when you hover over a link to wikipedia (say, the definition of Web 2.0), a link to Google finance (say Microsoft's latest NASDAQ performance), or a link to IMDb (say the latest news on Pirates of the Caribbean) you just get the right content. It works with a whole host of platforms, so check out Shots Central for more info.

How cool is that?!

Widgets & Gadgets

No we're not talking Econ 101... these are new buzzwords for pretty cool publishing tools. Don't worry, we'll help you make sense of 'em. This is an example of a widget.

Widgetbox makes it REALLY easy to make and publish to myspace, blogger, facebook, google, and more.

It should also help make sense of the video we blogged about in this entry on April 26.

Salesforce in Santa Clara

We are headed to the the Salesforce Developer Conference in Santa Clara next week. It promises to be a busy day with the usual presentations. We're most excited about the chance to talk with like-minded webware developers, as well as a chance to play with cool AppExchange solutions.

See you there!

NO DWT in WA!

The Seattle Times reported the crackdown on DWT - Driving While Texting - in Washington State. Under the new laws, drivers who read and compose text messages or talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device could face a $101 ticket.

Neither offense will be enough to get a driver pulled over by the police, but we think it is a good start.

Just for the record, we discourage any attempt to Grow Smarter While Driving (GSWT)!

IT as a source of competitive advantage?

The most recent McKinsey Quarterly article on IT Strategy (The next frontier in IT strategy) reports the results of a survey of 72 senior IT Executives in North America: "IT executives say that they are now helping to shape business strategy but need to improve their ability to tap innovation."

The authors propose that the focus of a company's IT strategy should not only span several years, but should be a proactive part of the formulation of business strategy - evolving from a simple support of business needs by taking into consideration technology trends and the competitive landscape.

I guess I wasn't all too surprised to see that the survey respondents gave their IT strategy lowest points in harnessing emerging technology and taking into account competitors' IT capabilities. They didn't rate themselves very highly in introducing new technology, as compared to the competition, either.

How do you feel about the role IT plays in your organization?

IT Change Control

One of the major things about our service that goes unnoticed is our change control process (good scenario found here). This is a key element of our IT operations that helps us keep track of who did what ...where... when... and why...

It seems a little silly, but this is one of the cornerstones of our security, as well as our ability to provide uninterrupted service. Like our users, I rarely think about it --but now that I am, kudos to our development team for maintaining this best practice!