FUSE Master Class Series - Hidden Gem

A couple of weeks ago, I published the first 3 videos of the FUSE Master Class Series on the open.iona.com wiki. Sooner or later we might link to it from the top page, but for the time being they are hidden gems :). The videos are also available from my homepage.

The sensoric revolution - iPhone/Chumby integration

The embedded/mobile software market is growing faster than the rest of the industry. From my point of view this just the tip of the iceberg, because we are at the beginning of the sensoric revolution.

Historically all data got created in the "middle" and we used integration technologies to distribute the data. Web 1.0 turned out to become the preferred mechanism to get this done and we changed the content/data in the middle through the web (e.g. online banking). With Web 2.0 something new is happening, because the data/content does not get created anymore in the middle. It gets created at the edges of the web and flows into the "middle" (e.g. mobile phones with cameras).

The next wave is going to be the sensoric revolution, where lots of data/content will become available, but it is not going to be produced by human beings anymore. Instead devices like homes, cars, phones, toasters will produce data/content. Because they can. Because by now all of these devices contain a million (not quite) sensors to measure, what the h... is going on around them. A car is driving over a bridge and the sensors in the car detect that there is wheel-spin and that the temperature is below zero. The car will then make this data/content available and other cars going into this direction can be warned that this bridge is probably slippery. The VP Engineering at IONA Technologies is on his mountain bike going downhill and flips over. The accelerometer in his iPhone detects the stunt (and waits for one minute, if there is anymore movement :)) and notifies a selected group of people (not me) to check on him.

The sensoric revolution is coming. How do we integrate with these sensoric devices?

Check out this cool iPhone/Chumby integration.

 

Mobile Monday in Belfast - WebServices to foster innovation

Monday evening I spent in Belfast at the Mobile Monday, presenting on "How to access WebServices from the iPhone" (pictures are available upon request :)).

Good event. We had 30 people in the room. Good format. Four short presentations with good networking before and after the talks.

My favorite presentation was Michael Crossey from Aepona, talking about "Exploiting Telco Asserts through Telecom WebServices". 

One interesting point that he raised is that Mobile Telecom Operators are currently challenged (or even threatend) by "Over the top" applications (applications that use the network as a bit-pipe), which will over time marginalize the value of the operators in the value chain.

Therefore the operators have to find new innovative ways to stay relevant. And they also know, that time is of essence. And they know, that if you are in a business for a while, you develop a certain amount of a tunnel-vision. Therefore they need help. The suggested approach is to expose network capabilities as WebServices (maybe comparable to the Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud - EC2) and let other people innovate based on this set of capabilities.

WebServices as a way to make asserts digestible for a large group of people to foster innovation. Here is a new business value for WebServices.

Link of the month - TwitterFone

Just updated the Link of the Month. It now points to TwitterFone (by Dial2Do). Cool stuff. Traffic in Dublin is a nightmare. Means I am walking a lot. This is the way to Twitter, while you walk (or drive).

Very innovative.

Complexity explained simple - Ciaran McHale talks about security

Just finished a/the review of a great presentation on security and security concepts published by Ciaran McHale on www.ciaranmchale.com.

His claim is that 80% of the the perceived complexity of any given subject is not in the concept, but in the way it is explained to people. His quest is to fix this. Therefore he has started to publish a series of very well written presentations to introduce technical concepts in the most simple way possible.

He also plays with the idea to use opensource engineering principles to develop courseware.

Very innovative.

Check it out.

 

Quantum Leap

Today we went to a local art (flee) market. We were looking for some paintings for our new house.  At the end we could not agree on anything, but I was in the right mindset to find something that will focus the mind, when I am at my desk.

I like innovation and I like to innovate. Sometimes this requires to take a leap of faith to produce a quantum leap. Just bought Quantum Leap from Anne Nielsen. 

Mobile Monday

Got invited to talk at the Mobile Monday Series in Belfast.

Looks interesting/promising. Will publish a post lateron

next week.