Blog Holiday for 2 weeks

I’ll be on my annual “quiet” retreat — no people, talking, books, music, phones, computers, etc. Silence

“Useful” OS X Software | RSS | Blog | Backup | TextEditor | MindMap | Encryption | more

In keeping with List Mania Month. Here is Mac OS X software that I use a lot.

• Skim — PDF Reading/Marking — Fantastic if you read lots of PDF files. Quick to load. Simple markup & commenting. Export notes to text. Use this everyday … it is my default pdf reader.
• NetNewsWire — RSS Reader –I read a lot online. This is the best way. I reviewed RSS News Readers a while ago.
• Mars Edit — Blog Editor — I really like this. Daniel@RedSweater has done a great job with version 2.x.
• Camino — Web Browser — I used Firefox for a long time, but Camino was getting some good reviews. I tried it and it’s my default. I still need Firefox for some things.
• BackupPC — Network Backup — This is fantastic. I can maintain a backup of all my families computers and they don’t have to do anything. It’s web-based so each user can have access to their backups if they want. I’ve posted on this part 1 & part 2. I tried Mac Mozy. It is good for “critical” work stuff, but its not gonna work for the whole music and video stuff which requires “gobs of” GB
• TextWrangler — Text Editor — I do a lot of text formatting for posting to MediaWiki pages. I really like the “Regular Expression Search and Replace” (it adds a GREP mode to standard Search), run UNIX scripts on an open page, support for Perl, Python, Ruby, more. It would be nice if it supported MediaWiki markup. I’ve heard lotsa good things about textmate ( I may give it a try )
• FreeMind — Mind Mapping — I also think of it as a free form outliner. Really helps me organize my thoughts on difficult/larger problems. I don’t use this everyday, but when I need it. I really need it.
• Adium — IM — I keep coming back to Adium. I’ve got MSN, Messenger as well. But Adium works across them all. I like Fire as well, but it is no longer.
• Crypt — File encryptor — This is a handy program for those times when I need peace-of-mind with a “sensitive” file.
• VLC — Media Player — If it doesn’t work in QuickTime … it always works in VLC. I should probably use this as my default player.

New

• MediaWiki — Wiki — I put this on the network a few weeks ago. I really like it. I think it will stick.

On the fence

• Journlr – This is an electronic “journal”. Begins with the simple “keeping a journal” and then adds cool features like “tagging” documents, blog posting, etc. It is really slick. But it’s not sticking for me. I gotta try again.
• iTerm – terminal app – I keep switching back & forth between iTerm and the Apple terminal. mainly ’cause i fiddled with some settings that mess with “vi”. yes I still use “vi” for quick jobs. It’s just there
• Skype – I’ve had a love / hate relationship with Skype for a few years now. I go thru phases of using it a lot and then only using it for IM. I did buy the $14.95 version for 2007, but will not renew. I have not phoned on it for months. We got the Shaw phone.

Aren’t Data Caps a P2P Regulator? — comments on “P2P Part 3 – Blog Maverick”

Mark Cuban is having some fun with P2P. He is suggesting that a solution to P2P “over-use” is to charge for upstream traffic. I thought Data Caps were for that purpose? Guess they’re not doing a good enough job.

P2P Part 3 – Blog Maverick: “P2P Part 3
Nov 23rd 2007 11:34AM …. So I take it all back. DONT block P2P traffic. Just charge for upstream bandwidth usage like cellphone companies charge for minutes.

Both Shaw and Telus have Data Caps. Also, Telus charges $2 or $5 per month for each additional GB used over the Data Cap. Here is how BC Internet offerings look. The Data Cap ( or monthly data transfer limit) is substantially different in each price category. From this table I’m guessing that Shaw has the majority of BC’s P2P users.

Review-Brainwashing of the American Investor is Entertaining

The best thing that I took away from this book is:

Selling

• taking profits is good
• selling too early is good
• selling at a profit is good.

I really needed this advice and this book came at me with sledgehammer force.

My Top Reading for 2007 – Pleasure

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J. K. Rowling

• Nothing came close to this.
• I was 4th in line for our family copy and got it in 4 days …. How good is that

2. Ender’s Game ( and Series ) – Orson Scott Card

• Fantastic! The audiobook is well done.
• Sci-Fi at it’s best.

3. A Dirty Job – Christopher Moore.

• Immensely entertaining.
• Audiobook narrator Fisher Stevens is “perfect”

4. American Gods – Neil Gaiman

• In Made to Stick terminology this book is extremely “sticky”
• Darkish and compelling — a “page turner”.

5. Spook Country – William Gibson

• I’m a fan and he didn’t disappoint with this one

6. The Mauritius Command – Patrick O’Brian

• I’m trying to read one of these fantastic books a year.

Podcasts — Pleasure

1. Vinyl Cafe – Stuart McLean
2. The SandTrap – Erik J. Barzeski

Light Reading adds Zeugma Systems to “Top Ten New Startups List”

Cool It’s been a long while since a Vancouver-based networking hardware company had some hype. LightReading Top Ten New Startups List. Excellent

Light Reading – IP & Convergence – Stealthy Zeugma Pockets $22.5M – Telecom News Analysis DECEMBER 13, 2007 — Vancouver-based startup Zeugma Systems Inc. announced a $22.5 million B round of financing today, taking its total funding to $38.25 million. (See Zeugma Raises $22.5M, Zeugma Scores $2.25M, and Zeugma Gets $13.5M for Mystery Box.)

I admire their stealthiness. They’re in good company with likes of Juniper, and Broadcom, who usually announce when a product is in production. Press for these kinda guys is all about “Investor Relations” and not prospect generation. No one’s gonna buy this kind of product (if you believe LR’s educated-guess) without some serious evaluation. I’m sure all the key prospects know about this box. Why bother creating a press make work project? Zeugma just has to “deliver”.

Link to Zeugma news page

My Top Reading For 2007 – Work Related

Here are links to my favorite “work related” reads in 2007. I’m not restricting myself to books released in 2007.

Top Work Related Books

1. Made to Stick – Chip & Dan Heath
• Wanna communicate better in real and business life
• Do not pass go … go directly to bookstore
• It’s even entertaining fun & good for you
2. No Asshole Rule – Dr. Bob Sutton
   

   • Guess that you’re thinking –”He’s not talking about me”
   • Do not pass go … go directly to bookstore
3. Dealing with Darwin – Geoffrey Moore
   

   • Moore tackles innovation strategies.
4. Leadership and the New Science – Marg Wheatley
   • Provides hope for those of us addicted to “corporate herion”
   • How many business books are inspired by Fritjof Capra’s Tao of Physics
5. Long Tail – Chris Anderson
   • This is a big part of our world today. Seems like common-sense, but the examples are not always what I thought.
6. A Random Walk Down WallStreet – Burton Malkiel
   • This is a good “sanity check” for people who read a lot of analyst reports or think they can “beat” the market.
7. The Four Steps to Epiphany – Steven Gary Blank
   • This is a tough read, but the content is fantastic.
   • If you’re developing new products “u need to read this”
   • hopefuly future editions will be easier to read.

Schachter’s Top Ten Mgt Books – globeandmail.com: It was the year of the storyteller

I wasn’t alone is my praise for Made to Stick. Today “The Globe & Mail’s” Harvey Schachter selected Made to Stick as his top management book for 2007. Cool

Here is the article: globeandmail.com: It was the year of the storyteller

10GBase-T Musings

I’m thinking about doing some digging on 10GBase-T offerings. My initial thoughts are very scattered. The topic is intriguing because one hand 10GBase-T is a “no-brainer” ( it will be largely deployed some day) and on the other hand 10xBase-T has always been very difficult to execute on. It can become a “development money pit”. 10xBase-T is a very expensive development project which often requires the Silicon technology of tomorrow. Thus the first chip out is not necessarily an advantange. Standing up to cross the finish line may/will be difficult.

Here is what I’m starting with:

• Too much power dissipation (Pd) – Andrew@Nyquist estimates that offerings in 2011 will have manageable power. Linley wire concurs ( see below)
  

  • Here is a clip from Linley Wire May 2007
    

    By using 65nm process technology, Teranetics should be able to reduce power dissipation – it has promised to sample a 5W device by 2008. Although the first wave of 10GBase-T PHYs should ship in significant volumes, it will be the second generation of devices that ramps up to millions of 10GBase-T ports.

  • What does this mean?
    

    • translates to — the IC technology requires 2 more process/line_width reductions. ( or 2 more full tape-outs )
    • This comment is most likely for quad-port devices for switches. A single port device suitable for servers may be ok now or in next process point.
• The development cost is already stratospheric and they’ve got to do another version
  • What is the business case for CommSemi developments of over $100M? ( eg. SolarFlare ~$100M)
• 10xBaseT mkt has historically started with NIC cards for Servers — but how many servers can really pump out more than a quad-GbE? This is a specialized market for now.
  • I’m sensitive to this ’cause I was once a product manager for GigE NICs
  • The early 10GbE market is switch aggregation and Fibre is ok for now.
• The developers are Solarflare, Teranetics, Aquantia, KeyEye, Plato Networks as well ast BRCM, MRVL, and VTSS (according to Linley Group report .. this is exec summary.)

Honorable Mentions for 2007 (Music)

Here are some great albums released in 2007 that didn’t make my top 10.

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Music – 2007 Honorable Mentions

1. Sloan – Never Hear the End of It – This is a great album. The only knock is that 30 songs is a lot to digest. Involves effort. thx to Seattle Dave for the tip.
2. Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills – I really like track #12 “Hard Rain”. This lives in my car.
3. Menomena – Wet And Rusting – This is very interesting. It’s original. Thx to Eric for tip.
4. Ian Hunter – Shrunken Heads – This is a great album. Easy to like at first, and easy to like months later.
   
5. Jarvis Cocker – Jarvis – Not sure why I don’t like this more. It is very good.
6. Thievery Corporation – Versions – 2007-ish … not their best. But I have a soft spot for this band.
7. Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity – This is one strange sounding band. I really like “+81″ and “Perfect Me”. This is not for everyone. My better half would throw it out
8. Rickie Lee Jones – Sermon on Exposition Boulevard – There are some great songs on this album.
9. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? – This has some great songs, but it just didn’t stick like some other albums. My kids really like it.