Archive for October, 2008

Postcards From the Edge – Developing Generally and Developing in India Specifically

Published by Ben Kepes on October 31, 2008 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

My other blogging gig is over at the Cloud Computing specialist blog CloudAve. CloudAve is sponsored by Zoho as a way to be part of an ongoing conversation around Cloud Computing.

Zoho gives us full editorial independence and the only requirement they had was that the blog be hosted on the Zoho blog platform (which didn’t even exist a few weeks before we started) – I thought I’d write a post detailing my experience helping design and build this platform.

I’ve got to say first and foremost that I’m no geek – my perspective is very much that of a user, and the input I had and have towards the development of the service is very much couched in those terms. I’ve also never been involved in the build out of a technology offering (actually I’m concurrently involved in another technology build out but that’s another story) and so the experience was fantastic for me – both experientially and also as a skills/portfolio building exercise.

I have to say there have been some frustrations – we’re trying to build a product here that will be better (for a particular use case) than anything else out there – that meant starting from scratch which I’ll admit was frustration – there were times I despaired, thinking how easy it would be to just use an existing blogging engine.

It was also an interesting logistical exercise. We had input from the editorial team in the USA and New Zealand, and development itself was done out of Zoho’s Indian centre – lots of late night Skype sessions and broken threads were the order of the day!

I’ve just been in India for a week working on some products with Zoho, one of which is the blogging platform – we’ve created a high level roadmap for the future features we’re looking to build into it – both for CloudAve itself, but more generally as a valuable offering for existing and future Zoho customers.

So what’s to come? Well without giving too much away we have a vision that a blog engine is more than just about blogging – rather it’s just one vehicle in the arsenal of tools that a business uses to connect, communicate and collaborate with it’s stakeholders – to this end expect to see a lot more integration with other tools helping these aims, as well as the enablement of a more holistic view of conversational activity.

All in all it’s been a really fun experience – stressful at times but a real insight into the way software development in general works, and in particular software development utilising geographically diverse teams and with a very knife edge, iterative build out pattern.

Keep watching for more!

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And the Winner Is…..

Published by Ben Kepes on October 30, 2008 in Blogroll, SaaS and The Cloud. 1 Comment

After an unprecedented response (people are so shallow out there – you offer something free and they swarm like vultures) the time has come to make the draw in the Diversity Bleeding Edge Competition.

First though I’d like to run you through the exceptionally high tech process used to decide the winner.

Step One – The Holy Grail

hatIt might look like just a hat to you but don’t be fooled. Given to the Editor by his brother nigh on two decades ago, this is a genuine, made in Porirua hat from none other than Hills Hats. Obtained (possibly with a dodgy twist – I wouldn’t know) when my brother was doing some work for the former proprietor Harry de Krey.

Step Two – It’s All in the Tool of Choice

scissors And this, dear reader, may look like a simple pair of scissors but in fact it is a genuine pair of Tupperware scissors bought, unbeknownst to me, by my wife at one of those God-awful Tupperware party that I thought only happened in deepest, darkest suburbia. They’re actually quite cool, with a flick of the wrist they split into two pieces – great for cleaning!

Step Three – Papier!

P1030847This dear readers may look like a simple piece of (recycled – or post consumer for those in the know) paper….. and it is. (I used the other side)

Step Four – My Lovely Assistant (Actually More Cute Than Lovely)

omri Age 6 1/2 and he already has high-stress roles to fulfil – this time he was chief assistant deputy vice president for selection facilitation.

Enough of that – Who Won?

OK – I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the inaugural Diversity On the Edge competition was JAG from Adelaide, South Australia. Thanks everyone for entering and stay tuned for more free stuff from time to time.

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Kids and Computers – If Google is Making Us Stupid What’s it Doing To Our Kids?

Published by Ben Kepes on October 30, 2008 in Efficiency and Society. 6 Comments

I have to say I’m a little reluctant to write this post, it’s a subject that inflames passions on both sides of the debate.

I was at a conference a few weeks ago where one of the sessions discussed kids and computers – while the session was primarily concerned with discussing the tools available to teach children programming and the like – I attempted (somewhat unsuccessfully it must be said) to subvert the discussion into a more existential one – specifically should young children use computers at all and when is an appropriate age to start?

I have to declare split interests regarding this subject – my children are experiencing a somewhat unique upbringing – we don’t have a TV, they spend a lot of their time doing craft work type things and my wife and I make a concerted effort to shield them somewhat from the technological and societal realities of modern adult life. On the other hand I’m an early adopter that is never more than a few meters from a web enabled device of one sort or another, and who spends a fair amount of his waking hours discussing the subtleties of microblogging, social media and "The Cloud".

So… is early use of computers a net positive or negative influence on children?

Nick Carr blogged about the UCLA’s Memory and Aging Research Centre latest research on the effects of Internet use on the brain. Centre director Gary Small wrote that;

The average young person spends more than eight hours each day using technology (computers, PDAs, TV, videos), and much less time engaging in direct social contact. Our UCLA brain-scanning studies are showing that such repeated exposure to technology alters brain circuitry, and young developing brains (which usually have the greatest exposure) are the most vulnerable … More than 300,000 years ago, our Neanderthal ancestors discovered handheld tools, which led to the co-evolution of language, goal-directed behavior, social networking, and accelerated development of the frontal lobe, which controls these functions. Today, video-game brain, Internet addiction, and other technology side effects appear to be suppressing frontal-lobe executive skills and our ability to communicate face-to-face. Instead, our brains are developing circuitry for online social networking and are adapting to a new multitasking technology culture.

Now going back a step, one could ask the question whether the traditional skills we learnt and used are valid or necessary under modern society. In fact the question came up at the conference session when an attendee contended that traditional skills (and I lump them under the moniker of "old creativity" – drawing, fairy stories, invented play and the like) are no longer necessary, their utility replaced by a new web augmented reality.

If you subscribe to this perspective than my post will appear to you as a nonsense – an attempt to return the world to some ideal that only exists as a memory. To those folks I’ll appear to be one of the people in the following video;

I however don’t believe that we’ve moved on from traditional skills and values. There is a reason for a return to farmer’s markets, community gardens and artisanship generally – people wish to reconnect to traditional values and ways of living – the contention that many people share is that early exposure to the leading edge attributes of modern life limit peoples abilities to make these reconnective leaps.

Yes, I’m prepared to be lashed – after all the readership of this blog believes in the promise of a brave new world (as do I). I’m just not sure if we should think long and hard about how much of the old world we wish to leave.

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Design 101

Published by Ben Kepes on October 29, 2008 in Design. 2 Comments

I do this sort of in depth research and analysis so you, my dear readers, don’t have to. The hotel I stayed at in Chennai was the GRT Grand, a lovely place that harked back to the days of the empire and England’s best and brightest enjoying ginsling and high tea.

Anyway – I digress. As fellow travellers know the most exciting thing about being overseas is checking out the free toiletries supplies at the hotel. The GRT Grand was no exception and I was stoked to find a shaving kit came with the deal (no need to schlep mine from home after all).

shaveme

Part of the shaving kit was a small sachet of shaving cream pictured below. You’ll note the "cut here" symbol and the picture of a pair of scissors.

cuthere

I’ve got to say Gilette is a cool company with excellent products (I’m a bit out of the loop – does their current premier shaver have 7 or 8 blades?) but there’s something missing here. I was a good Boy Scout who has always adhered to the Scouting mantra "be prepared" but even I don’t shower with a pair of scissors at hand. What’s worse I had no scissors in my hotel room so ended up resorting to spearing the sachet with a pen in order to extract said shaving cream.

User centricity? Not

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Awesome – VSA 2.0!

Published by Ben Kepes on October 28, 2008 in Business and the Environment, Economic Development and Society. 1 Comment

The always informative (if generally technophobic) Mr Raf over at Sustento gave me a heads up about Nabuur. In their own words Nabuur seeks to be;

an online volunteering platform that links Neighbours (online volunteers) with Villages (local communities) in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Connected through Nabuur.com, Neighbours and local communities learn about each other, share ideas and find solutions to local issues.

Think Voluntary Service Abroad and then extend it to people who haven’t got the time or freedom to commit to an extended offshore placement but still want to help the developing world in some way.

While not virtualising the breadth of what VSA volunteers do (despite technological advances it’s still hard to build a water purifying plant virtually), Nabuur does provide another way to balance out the inequities in our world.

Nice one!

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You Know You’ve Made It When…

Published by Ben Kepes on October 28, 2008 in Business, Economic Development, Efficiency and Society. 7 Comments

I’ve always had the firm belief that all consultant were w^#$ers – charging lots of money for stating the obvious, living the fat cat life and doing nothing productive – yep when it comes to consultants I have a pretty “blue collar” attitude.

I had an email exchange with a friend though who told me that you’re only a consultant if you’re charging for the advice you give – at the moment I’m sitting in Chennai, India while here for a week helping out Zoho fortunately I’m doing it for “love” not money so I’m not yet a consultant ;-)

Anyway – the following sign greeted me at Zoho. Thanks for the welcome guys and stoked that I’m not a consultant – welcome signs or not!

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So That Was India

Published by Ben Kepes on October 28, 2008 in Economic Development and Society. 9 Comments

I’m sitting at Chennai airport waiting for my flight and I figured this was as good a time as any to reflect on my first visit to the sub-continent. India is a brutal lesson in the inequities that exist in our world. I saw the bill for my one week hotel stay and compared it to some average salary statistics that I saw in the newspaper this morning – my one week stay cost roughly equivalent to what a taxi driver earns in nine months. Bear in mind that, while a great hotel, it wasn’t the top of the market, and that taxi driver is doing OK compared to a significant proportion of his one billion countrymen.

Of course one answer would have been to stay at a cheaper hotel and spread my Western affluence elsewhere? Another was found by my choosing regular buses over air conditioned ones (or taxis for that matter) or of walking through a monsoon downpour rather than take the easy route and jump in a cab – but who am I kidding – at the end of my (very) wet walk I had a nice hot shower and clean dry clothes, and the end of my trip in the sweltering bus I had a nice cool air conditioned room to enjoy. So yeah – as someone far less wise (bear with me – you’ll agree once you realise who I’m talking about – Dubya) than myself said; "If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem".

I went out from the hotel this evening before coming to the airport and watched the Diwali fireworks – while I did so an elderly woman shuffled past in the middle of the road carrying her shopping. It was one of those little things that make you catch your breath and wonder about the bigger questions in life. I couldn’t help but think of my Grandmothers in Eastern Europe a few decades ago – there but for the grace of God go I and all that. I was sorely tempted to pay a rickshaw driver to take her to wherever she needed to go – but I didn’t – there are different norms going on here and my (Western) perception is much more likely to be way off the mark than correct.

So what’s the answer? Well I’m no economist, and considering the economists themselves haven’t solved the issue we’re probably best not looking to them for answers. Maybe we should look to initiatives like those employed by Sridhar Vembu, owner of AdventNet the company for whom I came to India. Sridhar runs a university as part of his operation, teaching capable and motivated kids, without the financial resources to study themselves. Many of the developers he turns out end up working for AdventNet/Zoho and greatly bettering their lives in the process – from small acorns and all that.

Of course the ascension to middle class by these kids brings it’s own problems – Chennai, and I’d wager most of India, is densely populated, massively polluted and highly consumptive. More money for more people will only exacerbate this problem – you can’t breathe the air now – what will another few hundred million cars on the road do?

So I’ll head back to New Zealand and read in the paper those exhorting us to reduce, reuse and recycle – all lofty aims for sure – but it’s hard to see how anything that any of us in the West can do will really improve things in the world until the billions of people living in squalor and poverty rise out and enjoy some of the quality of life that we, in the Western world, take for granted. And until all of us, together, work out a way to live without turning this planet into a massive toxic dump.

So I’ll go back to New Zealand – to my well-fed, comfortable and resource heavy life. Meanwhile that little old lady will keep shuffling down the road, carrying her shopping, breathing the foul air and wondering where her next meal will come from.

Or maybe that’s just my Western take on it???

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The Best, Shortest Blog Post I’ve Yet Seen

Published by Ben Kepes on October 27, 2008 in Business, Efficiency, IT, New business and Strategy. 2 Comments

Over on Julian’s blog, J posted a pearler (that’s antipodean talk for a great post)

Worlds shortest blog post – "How do you build a world class software product, compete with large players and grow an excellent, loyal user base on a near $0 advertising budget?"

It’s fairly easy. Talk, Blog, Syndicate, SEO, Tweet, and build a Solid Product. Then look after users and they’ll become evangelists. Rinse and repeat!

Now I’ve seen the rings under Julian’s eyes and have received emails, tweet and Skype IMs from his at all hours of the day and night so his comments need to be seen in that light. When he says "it’s fairly easy", he means it’s fairly easy if you’ve got razor focus,  mucho ambition and the commitment to do the hard years – all of which I personally know that Julian has.

So yeah – it’s easy, but it’s also really hard!

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Life on the Edge Competition Draw

Published by Ben Kepes on October 27, 2008 in Business. 0 Comments

So – entries have closed and selection is soon to occur. I’ll be making the draw on Thursday when I am back in New Zealand – watch this space – the winner will be announced on Friday!

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A New Friend in the Playground

Published by Ben Kepes on October 24, 2008 in Business, Design, IT, New Zealand, SaaS and Strategy. 4 Comments

I woke up in the middle of the night to take part in a phone conference (NZ 9am is some ungodly hour in India) only to find my time zones were confused and I was an hour to late.

The conference was initiated by Telecom New Zealand and was to announce their partnership with Xero. It seems Xero will now have a presence on the Telecom Business Hub – Telecom customers can get a free 60 day trial of Xero (as opposed to the standard 30 day one).

It’s a big win for Xero in my opinion, despite their bullishness they need to achieve scale (their released half year report show a burn rate that demands scale). Telecom is already in the mind of most New Zealand business customers so this move just increases that presence.

So from a marketing perspective I understand the benefits to be gained from this deal. From a user perspective there are a few things that would really create a value add that a partnership like this could bring such allowing for a single billing point and tight functional integration between the two companies.

Given the economic climate however it’s a great win for Xero that should see them ramp up their customer numbers, and for Telecom it builds the perception that they’re building a complete business needs marketplace for their customers.

(And maybe, the recent announcement about the new WCDMA network will mean that Telecom customers can have those iPhones that Rod has long been saying will be revolutionary ;-) )

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