On September 1, 2010 in Palo Alto, SDForum’s Semantic Web SIG hosted SAP’s Michael Bechauf and David Meyer presentation “From meaning to intelligence: do implicit semantics hold the key?” They showed how SAP uses its deep context experience with applications and business intelligence to help in the enterprise market. They can recognize emerging social networking patterns by studying who is following what activity stream to get work done. They use explicit and implicit semantic models to manage customer networks. They introduced a community-based concept showing how using semantic technologies can share mapping knowledge and ease collaboration.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Events, Reviews at 2:32 PM UTC []
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Somebody went on a fabulous cruise and took the smokestack funnel from the ship as a souvenir.
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Posted by dj as Humor at 4:30 PM UTC []
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A inflatable pool in the backyard will not add value to your home. Of course, the crop circle it will leave behind may attract unusual visitors.
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I did not know what to make of this garage. It has a dartboard and what looks like lots of soundproofing material. Perhaps it used for an extreme game of darts.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 11:59 PM UTC []
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Note: This a work of fiction so get over yourself.
The Girl From Metropolis
By DJ Cline
June 1, 2010 West Hollywood California
Never take a date to the end of the world.
Aaron Auschmann was watching a restored version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis on his new television. While most people watched this 1927 science fiction classic for the special effects or the social relevance, Aaron was looking for someone he knew.
During a crowd scene in the futuristic city he looked for a girl he once dated named Elsa Wagner. A struggling actress, he suspected she dated him just so she could be introduced to someone in the movie business. When a friend hired him as an extra for the big climactic crowd scene, Aaron invited Elsa to come along. She was hired as an extra on the spot.
Years later he thought he saw her face on the screen. He paused the movie. The television was three meters across and had touch screen capability like monitors on a cable news channel. He walked across the living room to the screen and the spot where he thought Elsa was in the crowd. He placed his hands close together on the screen and then spread them apart. The image zoomed in. With his failing eyesight he loved being able to do this.
She was just a face in the crowd but it was the last time they were together. Elsa met another man that day on the set and he never saw her again. He learned a valuable lesson as a young man. Never take a date to the end of the world. He had always wondered what happened to her. It was likely her world had ended a long time ago.
The speaker from the front gate buzzed. The television image switched to a security camera image of a young woman. She was carrying a satchel with a white sign on it that he could not read.
“Mr. Auschmann? I’m Wendy Walmer from the U.S. Census Bureau. We have a some questions. Can you come down and talk for few moments?”
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary, Fiction at 4:11 PM UTC []
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If you are a fan of unicorns, why not put unicorns on a big fan in your living room?
Ciopyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:43 PM UTC []
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On August 26, 2010 at Celia’s in Palo Alto, the STC Silicon Valley chapter hosted Vincent Lowe, co-founder of the nonprofit Transformation of Education and Schoolhouse Earth. His presentation was “Social Media and Your Career.” He talked about strategies, tips and techniques for making the most of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Events, Reviews at 4:45 PM UTC []
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On August 21, 2010 in San Francisco at Pier 14 the Gothic Rocket by the Black Rock Arts Foundation was on display. It will be on display until October 7th, 2011. It looks like something off the cover of Hugo Gernsback’s Astounding magazine.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Events, Reviews at 10:20 AM UTC []
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Once again we have a distorted view of a living room. I assume the boards over the windows help keep the place from falling down.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:26 PM UTC []
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A man’s home is his castle, literally. Come home to a renaissance fair everyday.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:36 PM UTC []
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What’s with the red steps? Are you supposed to feel like you are walking up the red carpet as you trudge up from the garage?
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:28 PM UTC []
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The Phoenix Papers
By DJ Cline
Note: This a work of fiction so get over yourself.
August 1, 2010 Phoenix Arizona
Aaron Auschmann lived so far in the future it frightened him.
He was chained to a metal table in an gray windowless interrogation room under the gaze of a camera with an unblinking red light. He was still in street clothes so there was a chance he could talk his way out of this. He knew that until they issue a uniform there is still a chance. Text from DJ Cline.com
It wasn’t his first time in custody. He counted dozens of times and countries where he had been “detained” for questioning. They always said they wanted the truth but that wasn’t what they wanted. They wanted a story they could believe in or at least have others believe. Something that would fit in a report.
Aaron’s life would never fit in a report. A life that takes a hundred years to live takes awhile to explain. He had outlived generations of friends and enemies. His life was outside most people’s frame of reference. So much had changed that it would be hard to explain to someone younger than his wristwatch. He then remembered that nobody wore watches anymore. They carried those damned phones.
They wanted papers. They didn’t know he wanted papers too. It was why he was in Arizona in the first place.
The door buzzed. Showtime.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary, Fiction at 4:10 PM UTC []
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The sideways paneling reminds me of a sauna.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:20 PM UTC []
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This living room can easily be converted into a bowling alley or basketball court.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Humor at 4:20 PM UTC []
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Intel is buying the software security firm McAfee. Frankly, McAfee is in a mature market. This looks like a long term strategy to buy up the best candidates in mature or stagnant markets. The last man standing, so to speak.
Intel has to do something. Their old partner Microsoft is in trouble. Intel’s relationship with Apple is changing as Apple uses its own A4 chips in new products. Intel is looking for opportunities. Text from DJCline.com
Recently they bought Wind River, which makes software for designing complex circuits. Wind River was the best surviving candidate in a mature (moribund) EDA market. Intel waited until the other surviving companies merged or went out of business. The weakened survivors will fight over fewer and fewer opportunities until they finally shut their doors.
Investors who stuck with McAfee will get their chance to exit on top. If Intel does not buy your company in a stagnant market, you may have a much less pleasant exit.
I suspect they will try use Wind River’s design software to embed McAfee’s security software into Intel chips for mobile devices.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 11:59 PM UTC []
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On August 12, 2010 in Palo Alto at the George E. Pake Auditorium, PARC’s Victoria Bellotti and James Glasnapp presented “The (not so) secret weapon: Just-in-time wisdom with ethnography.” They demonstrated how ethnography finds out what people actually do versus what they say they do.
Belotti said “Beware of the obvious; it looks just like the truth!”
Before you write a line of code or build a single prototype, think about human behavior and how your product or service would fit into it. Would it enhance or augment existing behavior? Would create an entirely new kind of behavior? You cannot theorize, you must observe human behavior to see if you have overlooked some detail. If you find something that does not fit your assumptions, don’t discard it, examine it. They demonstrated PARC’s toolkit of methods to examine the data and how they made decisions based on it. The toolkit includes focus groups, surveys, shadowing, personas, and other statistical observation techniques.
I have seen and benefited from PARC’s work over the years, I recommend going to them before developing a product. They understand usability more than anyone else. They can help design a product meeting individual, social or cultural needs while saving time and money in the process.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Events, Reviews at 1:04 PM UTC []
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On Wednesday August 11, 2010 in Palo Alto at SAP, Women in International Trade – Northern California (WIT-NC) discussed “Trading with BRIC Countries: Navigating FCPA Challenges” with John McKenzie and Robert Tarun, both partners at Baker & McKenzie. The term BRIC stands for the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. FCPA stands for the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which according to the US Department of Justice says:
“The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq. (“FCPA”), was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. Specifically, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.
Since 1977, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA have applied to all U.S. persons and certain foreign issuers of securities. With the enactment of certain amendments in 1998, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA now also apply to foreign firms and persons who cause, directly or through agents, an act in furtherance of such a corrupt payment to take place within the territory of the United States.”
As more companies do business overseas, they need to be aware of this law.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Events, Reviews at 1:25 PM UTC []
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How fast are things changing? I walked into the dentist office waiting room and their were no old magazines to read. The receptionist handed me an Apple iPad loaded with Time magazines. I wonder if they have one for kids loaded up with old Highlights magazines?
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:09 PM UTC []
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