no excuse accounting

Eric Sink on iPad

2010-03-31T18:00:00.001+02:00

Last night I (Eric Sink) saw this article, which basically says the one day soon computers won't present the user with the ability to manipulate 'files' anymore.
Suddenly, I had stuff to say. But I've been using Twitter, which limits me to 140 characters. So, I Tweeted this:

We're heading toward two classes of computers: one for people like me, and one for people like my Mom.

(And BTW, Mom, usually when I mention you on the Internet, I'm not really talking about you. You're a metaphor for "normal people", those who use computers to get things done, as opposed to geeks like me, who use computers just because they are shiny.) Anyway, I thought the tweet would be enough. It wasn't.

In the beginning, we were the only ones here. Normal people didn't use computers at all. Only the geeks used computers, and we certainly weren't using them to get anything done. I remember my Mom saying that she would never use a computer. (Mom, this one is actually you.) And I certainly can't blame her for thinking that at the time. She had no reason to see computers as a way of getting things done. All she knew is that I would periodically run into the family room to announce to my parents that I had just shaved three more instructions out of the main loop so now my graphics move faster. And Mom just wanted me to at least stack my Byte magazines in the corner so she could get the vacuum cleaner through.

Fast forward to today. Computers, by and large, are still designed for geeks. This is why we all buy T-shirts that say "No, I will not fix your computer". The genius of the iPad is that it cannot get things like viruses. It is a closed platform. You can't put apps on it. You can't write and distribute software for it without Apple's permission. This is why geeks hate it and normal people will love it.

Your Mom wants a computer she doesn't have to ask you to fix. She is willing to trade power and flexibility to get simplicity. The iPad is another major step. I find this interesting because it raises all kinds of questions:

The industry is finally ready to sell things that make geeks feel frustrated instead of things that make normal people feel helpless. What does this mean for geeks and our role in society?
How is the terminology going to shake out? Surely we need two different names? Things that geeks use should probably still be called "computers". What should we call the class of devices that helpnormal people manage their Amazon wish list?
We geeks will become the minority market niche. How will this affect the pricing of things? Will there be sufficient economies of
scale to sell computers to geeks at margins that are tolerable to both buyer and seller?
What kinds of computers/devices will get caught in the middle and suddenly have no place in the world?
What classes of users are going to be special cases? I'm talking about folks that are not geeks but that for some other reason cannot accept the power/simplicity tradeoff of devices designed for normal people.

This is a major wave of change. I don't know the answers to these questions. The only thing that seems clear to me is that Microsoft will miss this wave just like they missed the last one.

Cloud 1 og 2, where do YOU want to be?

2010-03-31T09:42:00.000+02:00

TechCrunch talks about the new Cloud. I know where iFacturas will be. Do you?

Manage your FreshBooks expenses on the go

2010-02-03T08:36:00.000+01:00

FreshBooks on iPhone and Anroids : "

ExpenseBooks puts all of your expenses in the palm of your hands.

One of the biggest requests we get time after time, is more mobile support for FreshBooks. That’s why we’re happy to announce ExpenseBooks, a mobile expense tracking application brought to you by Mobomo. ExpenseBooks is available today, for both the iPhone and Android smartphones.

ExpenseBooks works directly with your FreshBooks account, and is perfect for those of you that use FreshBooks to keep track of all of your expenses. ExpenseBooks allows you to create, edit and delete expenses on the go. Don’t have constant access to the Internet? No problem! ExpenseBooks lets you work offline and then syncs the data when your connection is back up and running.

Now, you don’t have to wait to get back to your desk to record your latest expense. With ExpenseBooks, you can even do it while your waiter is bringing your change!

ExpenseBooks is available through iTunes and the Android Marketplace (version 1.6 and above). As usual, visit our add-ons page to learn more about ExpenseBooks, and the rest of our add-ons.

Microsoft plays Tag with the bar code

2010-02-02T13:38:00.000+01:00

Ars Technica says Microsoft plays Tag with the bar code: "

Microsoft Tag, whose slogan is 'Linking real life with the digital world,' is another stab at digital scanners that aim to connect printed materials with online content. The advantage of Microsoft Tag, which first began as a Microsoft Research project and was unveiled at CES 2009, over previous digital scanner attempts is that it doesn't require a special device. It's simply software that you can load on your cell phone; the phone's camera is used for scanning the bar code and the digital content shows up on the phone, provided your phone is online. Microsoft Tag can run on devices from basic Java phones to smartphones, including Windows Mobile devices, BlackBerrys, and iPhones.

Over the past year, the tags have started showing up in magazines, newspapers, yellow pages, and public transportation tickets, though they can also be placed on business cards, directly on products, and even on large billboards. The tags can link to anything on the Web: be that additional information on a product, interactive content, or just a company's website. CNET has a video up that demonstrates exactly what the technology is all about:

Since advertisers and publishers can set up tags by themselves, and the technology is freely available to try for anyone who is interested, the Microsoft Tag team is only four people right now. Microsoft thus has a little bit of trouble keeping track of everyone that uses the technology since it does not charge companies that want to create a tag or for the reader software itself. 'It's the hyperlink in the physical world. We believe the basic services we provide now are going to be free,' Marja Koopmans, Marketing Director of Online Services at Microsoft, told CNET. Microsoft may charge for more advanced services sometime in the future though, she said.

Erik Meijer and Team: Cloud Data Programmability - Connecting the Distributed Dots | Going Deep | Channel 9

2010-01-25T11:48:00.000+01:00

Connecting the Distributed Dots | Going Deep | Channel 9

You are your website

2010-01-24T19:57:00.000+01:00

Building a brand on the Web:

Where customers spend their time is where you build your brand. Organizations need to stop trying to use traditional advertising techniques to create false images. For an increasing number of customers, you are your website. It's about time senior management woke up to that fact.

MVVM, MVC and MIX10

2010-01-22T11:34:00.001+01:00

We got the MVC inventor, Trygve Reenskaug in as an mentor, in order to inspire and check that we made a true MVC implementation of our product, and And after struggling with the MVVM variant a half year, we are pleased to see that we are not alone ;-)

Shawn Wildermuth: "The MIX conference this year had an open call for sessions, and 12 sessions were voted by the public out of 169. Surprisingly (or maybe not that surprisingly in fact), 3 sessions out of the 12 have the MVVM pattern in their title."

How many PCs in the world have the .NET Framework installed?

2010-01-20T17:48:00.000+01:00

I did a second .NET Framework features informal poll recently, and as with all .NET related polls the question comes up: How many PCs have the .NET Framework on it?

If you're a company that is considering creating a client application using .NET (not Silverlight, but the .NET Framework) you'd probably like to know if your end-user needs to install something extra to use your app.

So I started asking questions. We've said things here and there about the pervasiveness of the .NET Framework but I wanted to get the final word (at the time of this writing) and put it somewhere easy to fine.

After some digging, here's what I've got:

Well over 90% of the PCs in the world have some version of the .NET Framework installed.
Over 65% of Windows PCs in the world have .NET 3.5 SP1 installed.

This is a lot higher than I thought, and it's pretty cool.

The .NET Framework is smaller than you'd think (that's why I wrote SmallestDotNet). The very small .NET 4 Client Profile makes it easier (both speed and download size) to put .NET on a machine.

I think these numbers will help folks who might be considering using .NET for a client application.

Apple Dominated With Nearly 100% of Mobile App Sales in 2009 [Apple]

2010-01-20T11:33:00.000+01:00

Gizmodo explains: "

Say what you will about platforms, but in 2009, Apple's App Store absolutely pwnd the paid mobile app space—selling 99.4% of the $4.2 billion market single-handedly, according to ars technica.

All this data is based upon research by Gartner, who claims that, should sale trends continue, Apple could retain 2/3 of the paid mobile app market into 2010 (amidst growing competition from Android, Palm, RIM, etc). Of course, if Apple releases an app-wielding tablet, market share could error greatly in their favor again.

(Note: there's some discrepancy in these numbers, as Engadget counters ars' 99.4% number crunching with a 97.5%. Whatever, either way, it's enough of the market to mean every other retailer was moot in 2009.)[Ars and Gartner]

Apple has 99.4% of mobile app sales in 2009

2010-01-19T10:24:00.000+01:00

Apple responsible for 99.4% of mobile app sales in 2009: "

The latest report from market research firm Gartner suggests that mobile apps are big business, and that business should only grow in the next few years. According to Gartner's numbers, Apple completely owns this market, grabbing almost every one of the 4.2 billion dollars spent on mobile apps in 2009. Based on Gartner's estimates and our own analysis, Apple could hold on to at least two-thirds of the market if current sales trends hold for 2010.

Apple first opened the App Store in July 2008, along with the launch of the iPhone 3G and the release of iPhone OS 2.0. Sales were brisk, with 300 million apps sold by December. After the holidays, that number had jumped to 500 million. Earlier this month, Apple announced that sales had topped 3 billion; that means iPhone users downloaded 2.5 billion apps in 2009 alone. Gartner's figures show another 16 million apps that could come from other platform's recently opened app stores, giving Apple at least 99.4 percent of all mobile apps sold for the year.

La creación de empresas sube por primera vez en dos años y medio

2010-01-18T18:08:00.000+01:00

La creación de empresas sube por primera vez en dos años y medio: "La creación de empresas ha logrado cerrar noviembre con su primer repunte tras dos años y medio de caída. Según ha publicado hoy el INE, en el penúltimo mes de 2009 se dieron de alta 6.947 sociedades, un 4,6% más que en el mismo periodo de 2008."

My first iPhone app submitted!

2010-01-18T08:17:00.001+01:00

I’ve just submitted my first iPhone apps to Apple Store. In my company we have scheduled next Saturday to do an iPhone app stunt, trying to get something out during twelve hours. But it’s a long time to next Saturday. It was too long for me at least…

So this Saturday morning I got an offer of 75% off the $199 price on www.AppMakr.com through http://startupTodo.com, which had managed to get this with a little help from Guy Kawasaki at http://blog.guykawasaki.com

AppMakr.com, as of now, seems best to create a news app showing different news feeds. I have a lot more feeds than I really can manage, and the possibility to have them joined inn an app was appalling.

I followed a guide in startupTodo.com showing the process. AppMakr also have its own wizard which are pretty easy to follow, at least if you have graphics and feeds in the right format – that’s it. But this was not what I had…

My nice graphics didn’t have the correct pixel formats. iPhone is very restrictive, and will have the graphics at an excact size. So I had to try, try, try and I finally got something that wasn’t too bad. The AppMakr wizard cropped my images a bit, but they are still nice. As a splash-screen I used a painting of my late cousin Annette Hide of Calendula Officinalis. It is a bit cropped on the side, but still pretty cute.

For the logo I used the ones created by Toni Tito in Summa Summarium SL and myself. They also had to be cropped. If I had access to a 24/7 designer they would helped me, but now I have to get some graphic software myself, and learn to crop and size.

The feeds were a lot of work to find. AppMakr doesn’t have the ability to search for feeds in a website, so you must be exact. www.iakttakelser.com and www.noexcuseaccounting.com feeds did I found deep in the bloggers menu-system. The feed to the company’s Facebook page was very difficult to get. Doing search in Google and tests in yahoo! Pipes, I settled of this http://www.facebook.com/feeds/page.php?format=atom10&id=153623487303. At least it is working now. But Facebook is known to change feed addresses repeatedly…

After some work on Twitter I chose to use http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/70394454.rss. I also added two of my earlier blogs which should be given more attention.

Flash to Silverlight Guide : Project Rosetta

2010-01-16T01:10:00.000+01:00

Flash to Silverlight Guide : Project Rosetta

Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 Will Have Gestures, Really Debut in February [Windows Mobile 7]

2010-01-16T00:55:00.002+01:00

There's still some question about whether Windows Mobile 6.6 or Windows Mobile 7 will be shown in February, but a solid tipster just told us that it will be WM7. And then he describes it.

Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 Will Have Gestures, Really Debut in February [Windows Mobile 7]: "
Here are a couple things described about WinMo 7 that mesh with the rumors we've heard before. First, it'll have the Natal-like gestures to be able to use the phone without touching it. We first heard about gestures on WM7 two years ago, and then prinkled about the rumors in the past year.
Then, he says that you won't be able to upgrade to Windows Mobile 7, because the OS actually requires you to have better hardware (faster processor, more memory, etc) and includes support for the motion-sensing gestures above.
This bit also meshes with the rumored specs of the 'Zune phone', which is basically Windows Mobile 7. From that rumor:

ARM v6+ processor, with an Open GL ES 2.0-capable graphics chip-this may be the TI3430 or the Nvidia Tegra. To show all the eye candy there will be a 3.5' 800 x 480 or 854 x 480 pixels touchscreen. The specification also points out at other things in Pink, like 3-megapixel camera, GPS, light sensor, 3-axis compass, accelerometer, USB, Bluetooth, and full Wi-Fi support.

But then how does that account for the HD2, which HTC Russia claimed will be getting a WM7 upgrade? Because HD2 is basically the top of the line right now, which—looking at its specs—put it into the Windows Mobile 7-capable category.
So yes, it seems like we'll be seeing Windows Mobile 7 at Mobile World Congress in February. It better be pretty damn good for Microsoft's projection of being able to regain 25% of the phone market by 2014.
Thanks tipster!

Famous Knots of the World Illustrated in Earbuds [Image Cache]

2010-01-16T00:50:00.001+01:00

Famous Knots of the World Illustrated in Earbuds [Image Cache]: "
I can't tie a sheepshank knot off the top of my head, but more than once, I'm pretty sure I've tangled one by accident. (Yes, this is a Ford Sync ad, but it's quite clever.) [AdsoftheWorld via 9GAG via TheNextWeb]

Delay's Blog : "I feel the need... the need for SPEED!" [Seven simple, performance-boosting tweaks for common Silverlight/WPF Charting scenarios]

2010-01-14T17:25:00.000+01:00

Delay's Blog : "I feel the need... the need for SPEED!" [Seven simple, performance-boosting tweaks for common Silverlight/WPF Charting scenarios]

Telerik Silverlight Roadmap 2010

2010-01-14T16:54:00.002+01:00

Silverlight/WPF

General Improvements
- Major focus on streamlining control templates, minimizing assembly size (SL), streamlining/simplifying control templates, and improving animations/transitions (i.e. a major "improve what you've got" release)
- SL4 beta support (this release will still be primarily SL3, though)
New Controls
- (Beta) RadEditor for SL & WPF(!): based on SL4, early preview (this control will grow in 2010)
- (Official) RadMap for SL & WPF: Official release of control intro'd in Q309
- Transition control: new tool for making animation configuration easier
(Other) Major Improvements
- RadGridView: Built-in paging UI
- RadChart: New optimizations for handling millions of data points
- RadScheduler: New UI virtualization for better handling of many appointments

The App Store Economy is Booming [Apps]

2010-01-13T22:49:00.002+01:00

The App Store Economy is Booming [Apps]: "
We've already followed the iPhone money, but this follow-up infographic from GigaOm proves what we suspected all along: the real money's in apps. [GigaOm]

Let's just add in a little virality

2010-01-09T08:59:00.001+01:00

Josh Kopelman, Managing Director of First Round Capital tells:

It happens all the time. I’m meeting with an entrepreneur, who is telling me about a really innovative product idea for a consumer website. And I’m liking it. We’re going back and forth on product ideas. And before I know it, we’re approaching the end of our meeting. I then ask them, “So, how are you going to acquire customers.” And that’s when it happens. That’s when I realize that they’ve spent all their time focusing on the product/site, and aren’t nearly as innovative when it comes to their customer acquisition plans. They view marketing as something they can “bolt on” afterwards.

The most disappointing answer is when they say “Oh, we’ll just make it viral.” As if virality is something you can choose to add in after the product is baked - like a spell checker. Let’s imagine the conversation at the marketing department of the wireless phone companies. “Let’s see. Should we spend $4 Billion on advertising this year…or should we just make it viral?”.

Redeye VC: Let's just add in a little virality

Google y Apple, en el Olimpo bursátil · ELPAÍS.com

2010-01-05T20:49:00.001+01:00

Google y Apple, en el Olimpo bursátil · ELPAÍS.com: "Los dos grandes protagonistas han sido Google, que fortalece su posición dominante en Internet, y Apple, capaz de reinventarse a sí misma por enésima vez, esta vez con el iPhone como bandera.
Apple ni siquiera aparecía a finales de 2008 en la lista de las 50 empresas del mundo con mayor valor en Bolsa y este año ha logrado escalar hasta la undécima posición, con una capitalización de 132.000 millones de euros, más del cuádruple que Nokia. La finlandesa era hasta hace pocos años todopoderosa en la telefonía celular y la primera empresa de la zona euro por valor en Bolsa. El arrollador éxito del iPhone, que ha revolucionado el mundo de las aplicaciones para móviles, ha permitido a la compañía revalorizarse un 147% en 2009. Es la cuarta vez en los últimos seis años que las acciones de la compañía que dirige Steve Jobs suben más del 100%. Desde comienzos de 2003, su precio se ha multiplicado por 30. Sus iPod, sus portátiles o sus grandes tiendas han impulsado las ventas de la compañía.

Google, por su parte, ha pasado en un año del puesto 35º al 10º. Su historia bursátil es más corta que la de Apple, pero casi igual de exitosa. Tras asentar la hegemonía de su buscador, se ha lanzado a la conquista de nuevos mercados, desde los vídeos de You Tube a los sistemas operativos para móviles, pasando por la geolocalización o el software para ordenadores. Su próximo gran estreno será el Nexus One, su réplica del iPhone, que se vestirá de largo la semana entrante."

Apple's App Store: More than Three Billion Served

2010-01-05T17:13:00.000+01:00

Apple's App Store: More than Three Billion Served: "

Apple announced that over three billion apps have now been downloaded from its barely-18-month-old App Store.

The App Store now offers over 100,000 apps--over 20,000 of which are games--to more than 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch users in 77 countries worldwide.

After years of lurking in the fringes of the smartphone market, mobile apps have taken center stage, as RIM, Microsoft, and other vendors rush to populate their own online stores for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and other devices.

"

Apple Now Selling 350 Apps Per Second

2010-01-05T16:45:00.002+01:00

Apple Now Selling 350 Apps Per Second [Apple]: "
Heyzeusrollerbladingchrist. Apple has sold one billion apps since the two billion September 28 mark, reaching three billion in 98 days. That's 30,612,244 apps per day, 1,275,510 per hour, 121,043 per minute, 350 every second. Freakingnuts.

Apple's App Store Downloads Top Three Billion
CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by iPhone® and iPod touch® users worldwide.
'Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months-this is like nothing we've ever seen before,' said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. 'The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.'

How much is that in fart apps? And how many apps per minute would Apple sell if you counted time in dog years? What about fox years?

AppMakr Lets Anyone Be an iPhone App Developer (Not Really)

2010-01-04T23:16:00.000+01:00

AppMakr Lets Anyone Be an iPhone App Developer (Not Really): "PointAbout has unveiled AppMakr, a service that lets developers cobble together basic content-focused iPhone apps in as little as an hour for $199.

As MediaPost reports, that compares well to the usual $10k+ budgets and weeks-to-months of development time the average iPhone app takes. But there's less here than meets the eye, as the service concentrates on text, video, and RSS-type services--not games, tools, utilities, or other rich media.

Still, it's an interesting concept. To get started, users enter a site address, upon which they receive a sample iPhone app built with content from that site within about 30 seconds. After that, publishers can customize the app by adding feeds, Twitter compatibility, new graphics, and so on--and then even sell the app in iTunes (pending approval) or hook into Google AdSense and AdMob for extra revenue streams.

The $199 price stamps an AppMakr logo on your app. For $499, developers get more control with separate Apple developer accounts, although AppMakr still handles provisioning, according to the report. A $99 discount coupon through January 15th is available to the first 1,000 users to sign up.

"

RIA jobs market trends: Silverlight vs Flex vs JavaFX

2010-01-03T12:16:00.002+01:00

Several days ago I’ve received message with link to the InsideRIA. Mike Slinn of the InsideRIA has posted interesting article about job trends regarding Silverlight, Flex and JavaFX. If you go to the Indeed webpage and search for these keywords, you might be surprised. Here are some really interesting facts.
med henvisning til: RIA jobs market trends: Silverlight vs Flex vs JavaFX (vis på Googles sidewiki)

The US virtual economy is set to make billions

2010-01-03T12:03:00.001+01:00

Virtual goods such as weapons or digital bottles of champagne traded in the US could be worth up to $5bn in the next five years, experts predict.

In Asia, sales are already around the $5bn mark and rapidly growing.

For many, virtual goods are one of the hottest trends in technology and are fuelling huge growth in the social gaming sector.

"This is just an exploding part of the gaming business right now, said venture capitalist Jeremy Liew.

"It is the most exciting area in gaming," he said.

Mr Liew, whose firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested $10m in virtual goods companies, said the rapid growth of the sector was unprecedented.

"We have seen companies go from nothing in the last 18-24 months to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue."

med henvisning til: BBC News - The US virtual economy is set to make billions (vis på Googles sidewiki)

Eclipse Tools for Microsoft Silverlight

2009-12-31T11:58:00.000+01:00

Silverlight tools are coming to Mac and Linux - and towards iPhone!

Eclipse Tools for Microsoft Silverlight

Brief: App Store success several times what Apple likely expected

2009-12-22T14:02:00.000+01:00

Brief: App Store success several times what Apple likely expected: "

The runaway success of the iPhone App Store, which Apple didn't even launch until a year after the first iPhone became available, caught even Apple by surprise. The 2-billion-apps-sold milestone, reached in late September after just a year and a half of sales, surpassed even the most optimistic expectations inside of Apple.

'We had no idea there would be 2 billion downloads by October,' Kleiner Perkins partner Matt Murphy, manager of the then $100 million fund, told Financial Times. 'Most people within Apple, if you had told them it would be a fifth of that by now, they would have been pretty happy.'

Apple's initial reluctance to allow third-party native app development may have been influenced by those low expectations. When the iPhone was first launched in June 2007, Steve Jobs tried to sell developers on just making Web apps. When Web-based apps couldn't match the performance or capabilities of native apps, developers asked for more. Apple announced that they were changing course in October, but didn't launch the App Store until July 2008—just as Apple released the second generation iPhone hardware.

The success of the App Store is attributable to a sort of positive feedback loop among developers and users, FT explained. Developers created the 100,000+ apps that are currently available, giving users a smartphone platform that is capable of almost limitless functions. The growing user base that was attracted to the selection of apps then provides developers a large potential market to address with new applications.

"From Apple’s perspective, the gold mine was that they found a source of differentiation, independent of the hardware and basics software design, that they could never have anticipated," Professor David Yoffie, of Harvard Business School, told FT.

Besides benefitting Apple, some developers have also had quite a bit of success developing iPhone apps. Tap Tap Revenge maker Tapulous was recently profiled by Reuters, noting that the company generates about $1 million in revenue per month. While most developers won't be able to sustain such numbers, it shows that a bit of dedication, clever design, and more than a smidgen of luck, developers have a shot at making serious money.

What is a 'Brief' post?'

IDC: Apple App Store to Top 300,000 Apps in 2010

2009-12-09T14:16:00.002+01:00

Olga Kharif in Business week find the estimate conservative, but conclude with this:

"There are a couple of reasons why this deceleration in developer interest in the App Store might happen. One, rival app stores, such as Google’s Android Market, will continue to gain traction. The Android Market should grow from more than 12,000 apps recently to as many as 75,000 apps by the end of 2010, according to IDC. Two, many developers are growing increasingly frustrated with Apple’s application approval process. They also complain that, as the App Store’s catalogue grows, users will find it increasingly difficult to find their apps, and it will become increasingly challenging to make money in the App Store."

- IDC: Apple App Store to Top 300,000 Apps in 2010 - BusinessWeek (vis på Googles sidewiki)

...in 2010: 'information wants a small fee.'"

2009-12-03T19:56:00.000+01:00

It's Google Friend Connect vs. Facebook Connect

Just hours after Yahoo announced a planned implementation of Facebook Connect on its network of sites, Google announced that you can now use your Twitter credentials to register on Google Friend Connect sites

It's what PCWorlds Ian Paul expects. Later he continues:

2009 may have been the height of Google's power as the champion of the open and free Web, but the mantra 'information wants to be free' may start to change in 2010 to 'information wants a small fee.'

And what's in it for my self and my newborn company www.noexcuseaccounting.com ? You have to read the whole PCWorld story. But I think it has a a lot to do with us:

We have to implement Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect
And really search where we can earn our dimes

Understanding the WCF in ‘WCF RIA Services’

2009-12-03T07:15:00.001+01:00

RIA Services on WCF: Best of both worlds
Ever since we announced RIA Services at MIX '09, we have heard strong customers feedback that they would like a consolidated services story from Microsoft. Acting on that feedback, over the last few months RIA Services has spent a significant amount of effort aligning closely with WCF. The Data Services team at their end has been working on a similar alignment with WCF as well.
By centering all our service offerings around WCF we are maximizing developer knowledge transfer and skill reuse, both in the short and the long term.
For more details on the alignment and the motivation behind it please also check out this post by the WCF team.

From: Saurabh Pant's Weblog : Understanding the WCF in ‘WCF RIA Services’

Hver fjerde kommune vil kutte i sykehjem mot 2015

2009-11-12T06:23:00.002+01:00

Ifølge rapporten «Framtidas omsorgsbilde» som Senter for omsorgsforskning - Sør har laget for Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet, planlegger 24 prosent av kommunene å kutte i antall sykehjemsplasser fram mot 2015.

Samtidig planlegger 13 prosent av kommunene å øke antall sykehjemsplasser vesentlig. Trenden ser videre ut til å bli at kommunene heller vil bygge omsorgsboliger. 68 prosent av kommunene har planer om å bygge vesentlig flere omsorgsboliger enn de har i dag.
in reference to: Hver fjerde kommune vil kutte i sykehjem - nyheter - Dagbladet.no (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bob Muglia on Azure, Silverlight, and Realtime

2009-11-11T20:02:00.002+01:00

Something from the interview by Steve Gilmore:

STEVE GILLMOR: What are we going to see in Silverlight 4?

BOB MUGLIA: Well, what you’ll see is more improvements along the lines of what we have today, so continuing to make the video experiences better. You’ll see us broaden what you can do with Silverlight in terms of international support and things. I mean, one of — if you talk to people who are trying to build business applications and reach broad sets of consumers, and they want to reach consumers in China and India and Thailand and everywhere else, so being able to easily support a broad set of languages, I mean, the way I sort of view it is Silverlight 3 is the mature, broad platform people can use to implement things with, and we think that that’s where we’ll see very strong application adoption. Silverlight 4 rounds it out. It takes the next step forward and continues that process.
...
STEVE GILLMOR: You stop really thinking about that in that way.

BOB MUGLIA: One of the things you’ll see as we advance Silverlight is continuing to advance the frameworks to simplify the common interactions between a server and a rich client. I mean, with Silverlight, you have a rich client, right, and you’ve got a lot of computational power, everything available there. So, whether it’s getting data down to the client or invoking rules, whatever it might be, making that simpler, and this is the sort of stuff — it turns out that if you look at the amount of time people spend building business apps, or apps of any kind, consumer-based apps, et cetera, there’s a set of problems everybody has to do again and again and again and again. And you know, the kind of stuff Scott and his team are doing is saying, okay, these are the ones we’ll just build into the framework and make real easy for people, and so that’s what you’ll continue to see as we continue to evolve Silverlight.
in reference to:

"Bob Muglia on Azure, Silverlight, and Realtime"
- Bob Muglia on Azure, Silverlight, and Realtime (view on Google Sidewiki)

Viral marketing - as Wired sees it

2009-11-08T10:00:00.002+01:00

Vira marketing is what Google, youTube and a lot of web companies have obtained. It's characterized by that every new user brings more than 1 user with him. If you reach 2, then the stars are the limit!
Adam Peneberg discuss viral marketing in details. You owe yourself an understanding of this pattern which drives our web!
in reference to: Pass it on: the power of viral loops (view on Google Sidewiki)

Paid Application on the App Store

2009-11-03T19:48:00.001+01:00

pinch media describes the prizes and download of the paid apps, which count for 77% of the 100 thousand apps now out in the store.

in reference to: Paid Applications on the App Store (From 360iDev) – Pinch Media Blog (view on Google Sidewiki)

Microsoft Office Accounting - RIP

2009-11-03T13:15:00.001+01:00

Microsoft is killing off its whole Office Accounting product line on November 16, 2009.

in reference to:

"Microsoft is killing off its whole Office Accounting product line on November 16, 2009."
- Microsoft Office Accounting dies on November 16, 2009 - Ars Technica (view on Google Sidewiki)

My computer dream isn't a server-rack - now it is a server container!

2009-11-02T14:49:00.001+01:00

CNet have been inside the new Microsoft data center in Chicago. There they are using server containers, with 2000 servers readily set up in each container, complete with water cooling, electricity and cables. Just plug it in!
The video is quite impressive - and from now my hardware dream will be that - a MS prebuildt server container ;-)

in reference to: Inside one of the world's largest data centers | Beyond Binary - CNET News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Amazon Launches Hosted MySQL Database Cloud Service

2009-10-31T23:26:00.003+01:00

A nice pricelist from TechCrunch:

Name Memory Comp Price per hour:

Small DB Instance 1.7 GB 1 ECU $0.11 USD
Large DB Instance 7.5 GB 4 ECUs $0.44 USD
Extra Large DB Instance 15 GB 8 ECUs $0.88 USD
Double Extra Large DB Instance 34 GB 13 ECUs $1.55 USD
Quadruple Extra Large DB Instance 68 GB 26 ECUs $3.10 USD

in reference to:

- Amazon Launches Hosted MySQL Database Cloud Service (view on Google Sidewiki)

GPS on top of search engine

2009-10-31T22:57:00.001+01:00

Erick Schonfeld in TechCrunch writes about Google GPS and Apple. And his gives the reason why the existing GPS providers doesn't stand a change - Google GPS are buildt on its search engine!
Navigation apps are a key category for mobile phones, and the iPhone is for once at a disadvantage here. Even the paid navigation apps in the iTunes store can’t compete because Google’s new navigation app is an extension (albeit a customized one) of its search engine. When a navigation app becomes an interface to Google’s massive search engine, it begins to deliver things that GPS app developers like Garmin and TomTom will never be able to build (search along a route, natural language search). Oh yeah, and did I mention it is free?

in reference to:

"Erick Schonfeld"
- Google Should Make Apple Beg For Maps Navigation (view on Google Sidewiki)

Skanning av bilag - med iPhone

2009-10-30T07:18:00.001+01:00

Shoeboxed lar deg ta bilde av kvitteringen. Den blir så lastet opp og OCR behandlet, og du får den tilbake som en importfil til ditt regnskapsprogram.

in reference to: App of the Week - Shoeboxed Makes Quick Work of Receipts - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Revolusjonen ligger i brukeropplevelsen

2009-10-28T17:50:00.002+01:00

...“det neste store” ... "at revolusjonen ligger i brukeropplevelsen og ikke i teknologien."

Eirik Solheim i NRKbeta skriver videre:

Tanken er ikke på noen måte ny. Og når jeg titter tilbake skrev jeg om dette på min egen blogg en gang i 2006. Med følgende refleksjon:

Ingeniøren tror det kommer til å slå an bare fordi det er mulig
Økonomen tror det slår an bare det blir billig nok
Markedsføringsavdelingen tror det kommer til å slå an bare de får slengt ut nok reklame
Men få tjenester slår an før de er tydelige og brukervennlige nok.

in reference to:- Revolusjonen ligger i brukeropplevelsen (view on Google Sidewiki)

Cloud Computing - Amazon fire back at Microsoft

2009-10-28T09:24:00.001+01:00

VisualStudio reports that Amazon will be hosting MySQL in its Cloud. Commenting the prices the said:
Amazon's pricing move establishes a price ceiling for Windows hosting, said Jeffrey McManus, CEO of consultancy Platform Associates, in an e-mail. "Very few hosting providers are going to price their offerings higher than that of EC2," McManus said.

in reference to:

"Amazon's pricing move establishes a price ceiling for Windows hosting, said Jeffrey McManus, CEO of consultancy Platform Associates, in an e-mail. "Very few hosting providers are going to price their offerings higher than that of EC2," McManus said."
- Amazon Sets Stage for Cloud Battle With Microsoft -- Visual Studio Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

SQL Azure Team Blog : Updated CTP for SQL Azure Database includes complete feature set for PDC 2009!

2009-10-27T05:33:00.000+01:00

New version of SQL Azure. New locations, new commands... The CTP is featurecomplete for PDC in November.

SQL Azure Team Blog : Updated CTP for SQL Azure Database includes complete feature set for PDC 2009!

Screencast – What’s new in the Entity Data Model Designer in VS2010 : Don't Be Iffy

2009-10-24T09:21:00.000+02:00

The life of programming is just getting a lot easier ;-)
Screencast – What’s new in the Entity Data Model Designer in VS2010 : Don't Be Iffy

Silverlight på iPhone - det er spørsmålet!

2009-10-23T09:20:00.001+02:00

Det vi mangler i prosjektet vårt er iPhone programmeringskompetanse. Men det er små hint der ute at vi kanskje ikke trenger dette. Hvertfall ikke med en gang. Scott Gurthie er sjef av sjefer i utvikling i Microsoft og han sa:
"Expect to see Microsoft putting Sliverlight on as many mobile devices as possible, not just Windows Mobile devices…. *pause*… anything with an SDK."
Vi knytter fingre...l

in reference to:

"Expect to see Microsoft putting Sliverlight on as many mobile devices as possible, not just Windows Mobile devices…. *pause*… anything with an SDK."
- Scott Guthrie Hints At Silverlight On iPhone at Simon’s Blog (view on Google Sidewiki)

Plan for RIA Services drops at PDC 2009 / drops for VS 2010 Beta2 : The Official Microsoft Silverlight Site

2009-10-23T06:23:00.000+02:00

The new Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 make us to take a lot of caution: our favourite feauture .net RIA services, will not work with VS10 until the RTW which are expected between November and March.
Plan for RIA Services drops at PDC 2009 / drops for VS 2010 Beta2 : The Official Microsoft Silverlight Site

Silverlight and ViewModel meet F# | DavideZordan.net

2009-10-20T12:06:00.002+02:00

Davide Zordan, who is an MVP, wrote:

Many MVVM implementations are available on the net, personally I love the approach used by Laurent Bugnion in the MVVM Light toolkit and Michael Sync in the Silverlight MVVM toolkit (Jeremiah Morril have posted a great article about this pattern, don’t forget to read it here).
All these examples use C#, what about F# for describing ViewModel classes? F# is a very powerful and readable language and permits to perform operations using a small amount of code. Last, but not least, at this time it’s a first citizen .NET language and can be easily used in Silverlight applications as well.

More on Silverlight and ViewModel meet F# | DavideZordan.net

Blendable MVVM : Introduction and Databinding . Blog . Compiled Experience . Silverlight Development

2009-10-19T11:39:00.001+02:00

Blendable MVVM : Introduction and Databinding . Blog . Compiled Experience . Silverlight Development
A strange header. I will explain it. Blendable is usable in Expression Blend. MVVM is a variant of Model-View-Controller pattern. The article seems througout.

Confusing menus and links: the web's biggest challenge

2009-10-18T18:38:00.002+02:00

Berrt McGovern does every sunday come up with nice observations and strategy about web sites. This week he says:

Menus and links need to be designed in the context of the task the customer is trying to complete. That means stripping away higher-level options and creating links that point forward based on the task at hand.

in reference to:

"Confusing menus and links: the web's biggest challenge"
- Confusing menus and links: the web's biggest challenge (view on Google Sidewiki)

Forecast for Microsoft: Partly Cloudy

2009-10-18T06:11:00.001+02:00

Bred artikkel om Microsofts tilstand innenfor high-tech og hva fremtiden vill bringe. NYT spiller hele tiden på et ordspill om "Cloudy forecast" og "Cloud Compueting". God gjennomgang av IT-bransjens ledende aktører!

in reference to:

"Forecast for Microsoft: Partly Cloudy"
- Microsoft’s Future, Beyond Windows 7 and the PC - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

IDC’s New IT Cloud Services Forecast: 2009-2013

2009-10-10T22:17:00.001+02:00

As we noted last year, IT cloud services adoption is currently in the “crossing the chasm” stage. This revenue and growth data is very much in sync with this view. As Geoffrey Moore pointed out, in this period, total revenues are small, but – as the market is on the steep part of the adoption curve – growth is extremely high. The lesson of past technology adoption waves is that suppliers who wait to position themselves until revenues get big (e.g., greater than 10%), are too late, and find themselves edged out of the all-important mainstream adoption phase.

in reference to: IDC eXchange » Blog Archive » IDC’s New IT Cloud Services Forecast: 2009-2013 (view on Google Sidewiki)

De tre lovene om tilgjengelig offentlig informasjon:

2009-10-04T12:34:00.001+02:00

1. Hvis det ikke kan bli indeksert, finnes det ikke
2. Hvis det ikke er tilgjengelig i et åpent ,maskinlesbart format, kan det ikke engasjere
3. Hvis det ikke er lov å bruke det fritt, gir det ikke makt til brukerne

in reference to: The Three Laws of Open Government Data | eaves.ca (view on Google Sidewiki)

Microsoft Dynamics NAV heads toward social apps

2009-10-04T12:29:00.001+02:00

"As they use more of their internal tools such as Silverlight, SQL Server Reporting Services and Windows Workflow Foundation, they will be able to move towards more social, connected enterprise-class apps," Wang said. "Continued investment in dynamic user experiences, business process, and community connectedness will give Microsoft Dynamics a head start towards the development of more Social Enterprise Apps."

in reference to:

"particularly"
- SP1 Adds Improvements to Dynamics NAV 2009 -- Visual Studio Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

Regnskapsprogrammet Outright gjør mye riktig

2009-10-01T09:55:00.002+02:00

PCMag er svært fornøyd med dette amerikasnske regnskapsprogrogrammet. En amerikansk SMS uten ansatte skal kunne klare seg med 29 min. i mnd. Dette vil firmaet ha ned til 15 min.
Outright henter banktransaksjoner og fakturaer fra Freshbook og Shoeboxed.
in reference to: Outright (September 2009) - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

The wrong marketing for open source

2009-09-30T20:57:00.002+02:00

Matt Asay from CNET: "Open-source advocates for years have waved the banners of "freedom" and "no vendor lock-in" to sell the value of open source. It hasn't worked. Chief information officers don't buy vague concepts. They buy high-quality software at a compelling price. To better market open-source software to the world, open-source advocates need to match their message to what CIOs actually want to buy."
...
"Sell the CIO on open source's value, in terms of cost and quality, as Forrester reports. That's the marketing message she needs to hear right now."
in reference to:

- The wrong marketing for open source | The Open Road - CNET News (view on Google Sidewiki)

App store in accounting programs

2009-09-30T06:12:00.001+02:00

Intuit QuickBooks new version include an App Store, where you can see, try and buy 25 different add-ons. One more imitating Apples brilliant idea.

in reference to: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2353409,00.asp (view on Google Sidewiki)

@pcmagradio review

2009-09-29T17:44:00.002+02:00

Laplink PCMover is a very viable solution to move from XP to Window 7. At $20 it's also moves yours application. The free Windows Easy Transfer has some traps even to move your data.
in reference to: PCMag Radio on USTREAM: Get the scoop from PCMag.com experts on the latest products. We deliver practical solutions to everyday problems, provide insight i... (view on Google Sidewiki)

Fjernstyring av andre PCer - support

2009-09-29T06:58:00.002+02:00

Citrix GoToAssist Express er et alternativ til TeamViewer. $660 i året for ubegrenset antall brukere. PCMag Editors Choice borger for kvaliteten.
in reference to: Citrix GoToAssist Express - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

Using the startup community resources

2009-09-26T20:59:00.000+02:00

Creating a new startup is a overwhelming project. There is just so much to do!
I have requested help from two sources: Business Plan Pro Coaching and StartupToDo. The first will start October the first, the second I joined to day.
Yesterday I got TweetDeck up and running, so now I also have a decent way to "twit" ;-)

New company, new blog, "new" life?

2009-09-25T18:23:00.003+02:00

Creating a new company is like beginning all from start. It's nice. Like earlier I'm fixed in the will to do everything right. Bob Walsh in "The Web Success Startup Guide" told me through his book two things, release early and often, and create a media presence including Twitter and Facebook. The former is hard. As I'm born in -52, I had hoped not to mesh up in the social media - but alas. Blogging is however trivial. My private blog iakttakelser is many years old and have 436 posts (be warned - it's in Norwegian). I was looking at the posts this morning, trying to create tags for old posts. It was like going back in history...
Well - welcome to my new blog, company and upcoming services. Hope to see you a lot!