Best practices when you lose your digital device to liquids ...

An article in today's Mercury News by Patrick May prompted me to pen this blog about being deprived of your digital device - cell phone, laptop, camera, etc.

This has happened to most of us - when our phone has fallen into a "bowl" or coffee spilled on our laptop or the camera got drenched in rain.

I wanted to ask people out there what they have done in such situations. There is, of course, the dreaded, "Liquid spills are not covered by the warranty." Is there anything that works? What have people done in the past - post them as comments to this blog and I will collect these and post a follow up blog towards the end of this month.

Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows, Part I

We are a family of "Potterites" - I am sure like many others out there. We have contributed to Ms. Rowling's billions by purchasing the books, watching the movies and owning the DVDs/Blu-ray. We have, therefore, followed the orphan Harry from his cupboard, beneath the stairs of his uncle Vernon's house on Privet drive, to the heights of Hogwarts. I must say that we have enjoyed seeing the young wizard on his missions in preparation for the inevitable battle against the Dark Lord, Voldemort. The movies have turned out to be just as engrossing - doing justice to the larger than life productions and respectful to the book. That is, until this latest one. The biggest challenge in it is not whether Harry and his friends find the remaining horcruxes, but for the audience to sit through the movie.

I am sure the producers are wringing their hands over the choking of this cash cow - since Ms. Rowling chose to end the series with the seventh book. So, the marketing geniuses at Warner decided to stretch the last book into two parts. Now, they had to fill Part I with enough material. As a result, instead of scooting through, the movie wanders aimlessly in the middle in the pretext of Harry and Hermoine not-knowing-what-to-do-except-to-curse-Dumbledore-for-not-leaving-enough-clues.

The one bright spot in this movie is Emma Watson. Hermoine has a much bigger role here than any of the previous movies. She steps up and delivers - even in those boring tent scenes where the three teens are lost in the woods (along with their audience, I must add).

I am sure this review will not dissuade other "Potterites" from seeing the movie. Harry, Ron and Hermoine have given them much pleasure over the last 13 years and deserve their faithful company for one more visit - even if this one is long and boring.

I am also certain that us "Potterites" will see Part II when it comes out in July 2011 - so Warner does come out ahead, after all. However, no amount of magic potion can revive the ennui that sets in this yarn.

PS: Ironically, at Micello, we mapped out Hogwarts in preparation for the release of this movie. Turned out that Hogwarts is not featured in the movie :) Nevertheless, the map is available ...

President Obama's visit to India

You can't turn anywhere these days without seeing another article about President Obama's upcoming visit to India - ranging from

• the amusing to
• are-they-going-overboard-with-this to
• jeez-this-is-costing-the-tax-payer-a-lot

For the uninformed, here is Obama's official itinerary.

Seems to me to be a reversal of roles in that Obama is the one who is seeking help from India. Note that he is traveling with a 250-member team that includes a who's-who of American business. These are heads of corporations whose revenues are higher than the GDP of several countries - including Jeff Immelt (GE), Jim McNerney (Boeing), Indira Nooyi (Pepsi), Terry McGraw (McGraw Hill), and others. Their mission is seek sales orders for everything from aircraft engines, to nuclear reactors, to power plants. The underlying message is, "Do not take our jobs, take our goods." Clearly, they are hoping that the tremendous opportunity for goods and services that India offers will make a dent in US unemployment.

My question is what are they offering in return ...

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs

The world heard your tirade against RIM and Android on Monday. I understand that you are nervous over the fact that Android Sales have overtaken iPhone. As any good sales person would, you injected some FUD to deflect the positive press that Android has been receiving.

But it is just that - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Usually, this is a sign of weakness - conceding to the enemy and "retaliating" with FUD. Fundamentally, your rant can be distilled to two issues:

1. Fragmentation of Android resulting in developers spending more time testing than adding features
2. Multiple Android Markets making it confusing for end users and developers

As a developer who has applications on both iOS and Android, I can tell you that I do not have the issue of having to "port" my Android code to multiple Android platforms. My code runs as-is across all Android devices.

Now, regarding the issue of multiple Android Markets, I think this is an advantage for Android. As a developer, this gives me multiple channels to have my app get downloaded. It is a matter of time before these markets provide an svn repository for my "bundle" (which includes screen shots, descriptions and the .apk file) that I simply upload to the various markets. The end-user can find the app within their context (either GetJar or Amazon or Google). Moreover, this keeps Google on its toes to constantly innovate. Competition always brings the best out in people.

You have always eschewed "open" and taken the I-know-what-is-best-for-you approach. The success of Linux for desktops/severs did not necessarily raise your antennae because the "fight" was for a much smaller percentage (Windows owns 90+% of the market. Linux/MacOS and others were competing for the scraps). However, the world of Smart Phones is a new era and an opportunity for "world dominance". Things were going well until Android started gaining momentum and started eclipsing the iPhone. Thus, the need for the rant.

I continue to be in awe of your genius. Your ability to provide clear thinking to a befuddled marketplace is phenomenal. Your legacy to our world of technology is unparalleled. So, you can understand my bewilderment with your scare tactics.

I believe there is room for two players in the market (three if RIM gets their act together quickly). Windows 7 is probably late to the party. However, if RIM does not watch out, the third player could well be Windows Phone 7. So, my request to you is to leave Android alone and focus on things that you have control over improving:

• Reduce (or even remove) the approval time for apps on iTunes
• Add recommendations to the iTunes store (similar to Amazon) including percentage of people who download the app, percentage of people who bought other apps, etc.

With Best Wishes,

NO on Proposition 23

Proposition 23 suspends the implementation of Air Pollution Control Law (AB 32) that requires major sources of emissions to report and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, until unemployment drops to 5.5% or less for a full year.

Excuse me! I am surprised that they even allowed this to get on the ballot!

Who in their right minds can support a proposition that threatens public health and kills clean energy and air pollution standards. The only people benefiting from Prop 23 are the Texas Oil companies - because a YES on 23 would increase our dependence on their costly oil.

Here is a link to an Open Letter from over 100 leading economists, including Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow, warning against any delay in the implementation of California's Clean Energy policies.

On November 2nd, please vote NO on Prop 23.

HP vs Oracle Round 3

Round 1: August 6th 2010 - HP Fires Mark Hurd for fiscal improprieties. Larry Ellison calls this "the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago."

Round 2: September 6th 2010 - Oracle hires ousted HP Chief Mark Hurd. HP responds with a law suit that "in the course of his duties with Oracle, Hurd will inevitably disclose HP's trade secrets and confidential information."

Round 3. October 1st 2010 - The Silicon Valley Soap Opera took another bizarre turn with the appointment of Leo Apotheker as the new HP CEO. Larry Ellison says publicly that he is "speechless" that HP "picked a guy who was recently fired because he did such a bad job running SAP."

Will somebody please stand up and tell Larry Ellison that *he* hired a guy who was recently fired from HP because he did not stand up to HP's ethical standards (which are also the standards normally practiced by the rest of us). Who is "speechless" now?

HP really hit it where it hurds the most (sorry, could not resist that!) with the appointment of Ray Lane as the non-executive chairman. Ray Lane has a storied history with Larry Ellison. It will be interesting to see who makes the next move.

I was disappointed with Chris O'Brien's piece in the Mercury News earlier today. He starts off very well building the case for why the other stories (Apple vs Adobe and Google vs Apple) pale in comparison to this one. It was his conclusion on "How can this get better?" that was disappointing. Chris O'Brien opted to take the trite path to possible conclusions.

I think the battlefield is now the marketplace. HP and Oracle are going after the same customers in the Enterprise Data Center. Oracle had the upper hand with Enterprise Software. HP closed that gap with the hiring of Leo Apotheker. With HP's recent acquisitions of 3Par, ArcSight and Fortify they are filling critical holes. I believe that they have the right person at the helm to lead them. I applaud HPs Board in having the courage to hire a rank outsider to help them effectively combat Oracle - an advantage that an insider would not have given them.

We are nearing the end of the first quarter and, by my score, HP is leading by a field goal - with each team having scored a touchdown. We have three more quarters left in the game. The Bay Area is already abuzz with all the activity that has happened so far. Hold on to your seat belts folks. The game has just begun!

Oracle Open World

I was at the GlassFish Community Event at Oracle Open World earlier this evening. The theme for Oracle Open World Conference this year is "Hardware and Software. Engineered to Work Together". The entire block of Howard Street was blocked off by a huge tent for the event. A Half Pipe with the "Future of Java" is the first sight that greets you as you make the left turn into Howard Street from 4th Street.

Other than this blue, the area was swathed in a sea of Oracle Red. I have been attending JavaOne conferences at Moscone for the last 15 years. I have not seen the area transformed in this fashion.

As you enter the Moscone Convention Center, the first thing you see is the America's Cup trophy - with two guards stationed to ensure that it stays there! The crowds were quite huge. I was not surprised when Judith Sim (Oracle CMO) announced that there were 41,000 people in attendance. The Opening keynote of the conference was delivered by HP Exec VP Ann Livermore. I am not sure if I was the only uncomfortable person in the room when she was introduced. Here are two companies that are bitterly feuding out in the open. Her introduction might as well have been , "HP paid mucho bucks to sponsor this conference. There was no backing off their keynote slot. So here is Ann Livermore." Ms. Livermore made the mistake of asking the audience how many people used Oracle solutions on HP hardware. About a dozen people raised their hands. Usually, when the audience is asked a question, the lights go brighter and the camera is turned towards the audience. Luckily (for HP) the logistics folks at Moscone realized the disastrous response and quickly dimmed the lights. Ms. Livermore recovered glibly and unconvincingly said, "Good. That is a sizable number". The rest of her talk focused on the HP panoply of solutions.

The lowlight of the evening was Larry Ellison's keynote. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I had gone there to hear an industry visionary provide a state-of-the-industry, an Oracle-State-of-the-Union, where-is-technology-headed, state-of-feud-with-HP. Instead, we got a dull, boring, sales pitch on Oracle's new Exalogic Cloud server. I was curious to check if it was just me who was uninspired. Just about everyone I checked with afterwards gave a resounding, unequivocal thumbs down. In my opinion, here are the mistakes Mr. Ellison did:

• Beating up Salesforce.com and Marc Benioff openly. Also, Mr. Ellison made some simplistic assumptions on Salesforce.com and started bashing this mythical entity.
• Insulting the IQ of his audience by repeating just about everything he said not once, not twice, but at least three times. We got it the first time you said it, Mr. Ellison.
• At one point in his drone, Mr. Ellison said, "They asked me not to add this information." "They" suggested that for a good reason, Larry. By putting it up and reading it out loud (as if by rote), you did not help yourself.

At around 8:00 pm (the keynote was already 15 minutes past the scheduled end time), I could not take it anymore and walked out. I looked back and most of the seats were empty ...

Oh! and as I was explaining what Micello does to a few folks at the conference, the unanimous response was, "I could totally have used that at this conference". Especially this year, where JavaOne, Oracle Open World and Oracle Develop are all combined into a single event!