Rotating Knives

This is a test of Blogsy, a blogging app for the iPad.

Sometimes the little discoveries in life are the most appreciated.  I’m not sure if that’s entirely true, but it sure feels that way in this case.  Have you ever tried to rename a folder and been refused with the following message:

Cannot rename folder: Access denied.  Make sure the disk is not full or write protected and that the file is not in use

Some program or process is still accessing one of the files in the folder you are trying to rename, or maybe one of its many subfolders.  But does the error tell us which file is causing the problem?  Nooooooooooooooooooo.  But does it tell us which process/application is still accessing it?  Nooooooooooooooo.  But when I walk down the street do people say “there goes Kelly the bar builder.’ Nooooooooooooooo!

I was going through this pain when i discovered this little utility called “Unlocker”.  It is simple and effective.  Right click the folder that refuses to change, select “Unlocker” and up comes a window showing all processes currently acting on that file.  It also allows you to unlock the file/folder or kill the process.  Locked files/folders can cause problems…..but you download ONE utility….

Or rather, the death of icons altogether….sort of.   Windows releases are curious things and are true physical manifestations of the saying “you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”  In fact, when it comes to Windows releases, good luck pleasing most of the people!  I was at Microsoft during the release of Vista and my job put me right in front of customers who offered a maddening set of complaints, the two most prominent being:

• “Hardly anything has changed.  What’s the big deal?”
• “It’s too different!  I will have to train employees on how to use it!”

With Windows 8, my guess is that Microsoft has made a deliberate choice to go for a big change in the hope that they will be able to improve users’ experience with the OS while making the “one OS to rule them all” on different form factors (It looks a LOT like the new OS for Windows mobile phones and upcoming tablet devices).  The problem may be that it’s TOO different.  It marks the first OS I have seen come out of Redmond that fundamentally changes the way users access information and launch applications.  You have to hand it to Microsoft.  When you have the dominant consumer and business operating system in the world, making big changes to it is gutsy. 

The first thing you notice in the preview video is the death of icons in favor of the “tiles” first introduced in Windows Mobile 7 (you can supposedly get back to icons by turning on “classic” mode, something I believe many people will do, at least initially). Tiles are larger and display pertinent information that may obviate the need to open the application at all.  The tile for a weather app will show basic information about today’s meteorological outlook so users only need open the app if they want to see more information, such as the 5 day forecast.  It’s a neat idea for mobile phones where users want information while they’re doing something else, like walking down the sidewalk or conversing with friends.  In these scenarios, give me the information quickly so I can get back to what I was doing.  But when I’m in front of my PC and focused on using it (like I am right now) I’m concerned that these information-laden tiles will overload me with more information than I need or want.  The icon is, and has always been, a good way to organize applications on a focused-use system, which is what a desktop PC is.  I have many applications on my PC, I rarely use more than 4 at a time and I’m constantly closing apps I am done with and opening new ones that I need.  The only information I need is “Here’s the app you need.  Double-click me to start it.”  That’s what icons do and have done admirably for decades now.  I believe the reason some people are reacting negatively to the Windows 8 video is that the additional information on its tiles creates “noise” that distracts people from finding the app they want and starting it up.  Quick and useful information available at a glance while walking up 6th Avenue can become the unwanted flood of information I have to wade through when I’m at my desk doing my job. 

Windows presents Microsoft with an interesting “Innovator’s Dilemma”.  Innovate too little, and no one has a reason to upgrade.  Innovate too much (i.e.: make things too different) and no one will want to upgrade.  Only time and use will tell with Windows 8.

Having a discussion on development methodologies today with some of my colleagues, I read for the first time the “Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship.”  Any manifesto is open to and inevitably spawns much interpretation.  I am interested in seeing where this one goes.  But reading and putting in my 2 cents brought some great work from a great architect to mind.

Back in 2004, Pat Helland produced his work on the evolution of IT called Metropolis which made a compelling argument that we are moving away from software craftsmanship and toward software manufacturing. I had the privilege of getting to speak with Pat while we were both at Microsoft and I am an admirer of his work and accomplishments.  Give Metropolis a read and see if you don’t see truth in the metaphor.

  I am getting deep into VSTS 2010’s modeling tools in my new gig.  Many developers and architects with which I have spoken are not using the tools, though they have been out for some time now.  I find that, because the tools are able to do so much, architects seem to be avoiding them until they can understand how to fully leverage them.  This is a shame, because like UML, the tools in Visual Studio 2010 are very effective at addressing modeling needs on wide spectrum of detail levels. Just because you CAN associate each use case with a work item and each class diagram with actual code doesn’t mean you have to.  There is still tremendous value in starting at the high level and leaving detailed plumbing for later.

Which brings me to this 9 part Channel9 video series by Microsoft Architect Evangelist Clint Edmondson. It is a very nice walkthrough of both Domain Driven Design and the Visual Studio 2010 architecture tools.  If you have been putting off using VSTS 2010 for architecture artifacts, then give this a watch.  Viewing all of them takes a decent block of time, but it is well worth your time.

1. UML with VS 2010 Part 1: Brainstorming a Project
2. UML with VS 2010 Part 2: Organizing Features Into Use Cases
3. UML with VS 2010 Part 3: Modeling the Business Domain
4. UML with VS 2010 Part 4: Capturing Business Workflows
5. UML with VS 2010 Part 5: Architecting an Application
6. UML with VS 2010 Part 6: Designing a Project’s Physical Structure
7. UML with VS 2010 Part 7: Sketching Interactions with Sequence Diagrams
8. UML with VS 2010 Part 8: Revealing Responsibilities with Class Diagrams
9. UML with VS 2010 Part 9: Organizing and Managing Your Models

iOS 4.2 for the iPad became available today at 1:00 PM EDT.  I am downloading and installing now.  The new OS boasts a nice set of new features.  I am particularly interested in the folder capabilities.  I have WAY too many apps and this will help me organize them (so I can get even MORE apps I suppose).  I’m also interested in multi-tasking for my World Clock application so that alerts from other apps don’t keep my alarm from going off in the morning.  There is much more to this upgrade and I will post my impressions after playing with it for a bit.

The tried and true Microsoft tool for creating static diagrams and UML models has taken a major step toward becoming a first-class data visualization tool.  Visio 2010 makes it even easier to create documents that are dynamically connected to data and allows for intricate, meaningful visualizations of that data.  For a great example, check out the World Cup/Visio 2010 website.  Go Espana!!!

The picture in this post is real and has not been doctored in any way. I am indeed playing a flash game on my iPad, while simultaneously running several other programs.  How was I able to do this?  I was because today, from the comfort of my bed, I ran Windows 7 Ultimate Edition on my iPad…..sort of. 

What I really did was remote into my desktop PC which is running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.  I suppose this is cheating, but as a good friend of mine has often said “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’”.  I used a great little app called “Desktop Connect” for iPad.  It supports both VNC and Microsoft RDP and claims to be the only app that will automatically discover all computers on your network (Windows, Mac, OSX and Linux)  that are set up for remote access.  It did.  In almost no time, I was amazed to be using my desktop PC from my iPad.

Performance is not 1 for 1 here.  If you try to watch a movie via Flash, you will not get an acceptable frame rate.  However, simple, turn-based flash games are perfectly usable and you can multitask to your heart’s content.  You can also get to files on your PC without having to figure out how to transfer them to the iPad. 

When I first installed this app, I thought it would be more for the coolness factor than for anything else, but I was surprised to find that I actually used it fairly often.  When I am downstairs relaxing and need to print or view something that is on my PC, starting this app is far easier than trudging upstairs, sitting down, and logging in.  My only recommendation is that you switch Touchscreen Mode to “On”.

Up next, my son and I use the iPad for science! 

  Ok, so it’s been three days since I picked up my new, magical device at the Apple store in Lehigh Valley, PA.  I’ve taken it to my granddaughter’s birthday party and my family’s Easter gathering and shown it off like it was my new child.  Here are my thoughts on the device.

1. It is gorgeous!
   Even the most ardent Wintel supporter cannot deny that the iPad is a work of art.  So thin…so well thought out…such a beautiful HD display.  Even the core design concept, a single, multi-touch surface uncluttered by hard buttons and switches, is a winner.  When you use an app, or look at photos, or read a book, or watch a movie, the device really does seem to melt away.  All you focus on is the content.  As other reviewers have already said, using the iPad is immensely satisfying.
2. It is fast.
   There is little or no delay when using the iPad.  Responses to user input are quick and crisp.  If, like me, you have gotten used to waiting a bit after double-clicking something, you will be very pleased with the speed of the iPad.
3. The larger soft keyboard is better, but still lacking.
   If you are a hunt-and-peck typist, then the new, larger keyboard on the iPad will suit you just fine.  If, like me, you took a junior high school typing class and then worked with a keyboard for many years and are pretty fast with the letters, you will not find the iPad’s keyboard to be useful for serious content input.   I started to write this blog post on my iPad, but it was slow going compared to using my good ole laptop.  Windows Live Writer is still the best blogging application in the universe. 
4. NetFlix is the killer app!
   I have a NetFlix account and love to watch movies and TV shows on my PC and XBox 360 through XBox Live.  But here’s the thing.  My PC is at my desk in my office and my XBox 360 is downstairs in the family room usually being used by my 11 year old son, so getting in some time to watch the next episode of Lost season 3 is not always easy.  With my iPad and the NetFlix app, I can go up to bed early, put on my headphones, and watch movies to my heart’s content. 
5. If you get one, be prepared for Wintel advocates trying to explain to you why you shouldn’t really love it.
   This is the most interesting part of the iPad rollout to me.  I love technology.  My primary expertise is the Wintel platform, but I have written Java applications that ran on Unix and scripts that ran on RS6000s.  If my boss came to me tomorrow and said “We’ll pay you to write objective C” I’d jump at the chance.  I have never, ever understood why people get so religious about technologies and vendors.  This is why the response of Wintel advocates is so puzzling to me.  Clearly, the iPad is a success with consumers.  Clearly it is a great device that does what is designed to do.  Yet I constantly hear people talk about how I’ll be sorry that it doesn’t multi-task, doesn’t have a camera, doesn’t run Flash etc. etc….  Here’s the thing, though.  I know it doesn’t do those things.  I knew that before I plunked down my money for it.  And I still love what it does.  I hope that Wintel vendors will see the consumer trend toward simple, multi-touch devices and start to come up with similar creative products.  If all they can do for a public that is hungry for this type of innovation is tell them “Oh, you really shouldn’t be hungry for that”, then they will fail. 

I’ll say more about the iPad when I have more to say.  Now if you’ll excuse me, i have to go.  That pilot episode of Modern Family isn’t going to watch itself. 

Well, the day is here. I find myself sitting in a folding chair, drinking a free Starbucks and waiting to pick up my reserved iPad. It’s an interesting place to be. It’s not quite a carnival atmosphere, but you can feel the excitement and anticipation in the line. It’s hard to blame them. This thing has been SO expertly hyped over the past few weeks that it’s hard to be here and not feel a little tingle in the belly.

(The Apple staff just came out of the store doing a little clapping cheer.)

I am eager to get my hands on the device, and I truly believe it will be a game changer, but I’m a skeptic by nature. I still love my Windows 7 PC. I still love coding .NET applications. I don’t know if this device can take the place of a good laptop, but I know it will be tremendously useful to me. More when I get some hands on.