Redefining a City By Changing Its Visual Landscape

Chazz Miller speaking at TEDxDetroit. Chazz is the founder and muralist at Public Art Workz. Chazz founded Public Art Workz to stimulate community growth, provide a creative outlet for children and instill an appreciation of the arts. PAWZ offers enrichment programs in art and technology and helps to drive academic achievement.

http://www.publicartworkz.org

TEDxDetroit
The area’s leading creators, catalysts, entrepreneurs, artists, technologists, designers, scientists, thinkers and doers gathered on Wednesday, October 21st to share what they are most passionate about — positive ideas for the world from Detroit.

 

 

Google Enterprise Apps – a first look.

I attended my first Google event last week at Google’s Ann Arbor, MI office. The event was titled “ready for the cloud?” referencing today’s IT organizations are in the midst of a cloud computing revolution, as a growing number of businesses choose hosted messaging and collaboration solutions — such as Google Apps — to help employees collaborate more effectively while saving significantly on IT costs.

Let me reiterate, this was my first “Google” event; I’ve been following the cloud-computing movement for some time, and Google is a major player – so naturally my expectations were pretty high. Not only was I interested in content, but curiously also about this Ann Arbor office. Google has made alot of news about their presence in Michigan, with a few offices in the area. It was my understanding that their precence here was primarily with their AdWords division, which I neither confirmed nor denied, but as I expected, the presentation was hosted by regional sales folks using the AA office as a hub for businesses in the area. The event took place on the 4th floor which resembled a lounge. It had all the expected Google “stuff” – pool table, ping-pong table, bar, vending drink machines, TV w/gaming systems, rock band, and a couple arcade games. We were setup in the back corner with tables in classroom style, facing two projectors.

Speakers included two Google employees from the Enterprise division and one of their Enterprise partners, Sheepdog inc. The presentation started off with a slide deck overview of google, which lead into their growing Google Enterprise practice, which encompasses four primary units: Search (appliance) / Maps / Postini / Apps.  A couple quick facts: 2008 Google had > 20k employees, w/50% of them being engineers.  They had 21B in revenue, with 13B in profit (conveyed verbally), Google owns 70% of online Ads and has aprox. 63% search market share.  Also interesting was Google is considered the 4th largest hardware manufacturer – whereas they custom build all of their own infrastructure equipment, from switches to servers (I had heard that prior, but was interesting to confirm.)  Platforms include Chrome & Android – doing a small primer on both.  They did also reference the development of a Chrome OS, and touched briefly on Wave and Voice – but not within the “Enterprise” offering.

The Google Enterprise practice has aprox. 1100 employees, nearly 800M in revenue (6% overall).  We then began to dive into the 4 offerings.  Enterprise search was quickly referenced as their Search Appliance, and that was about it.  Maps was also glossed over, with references to its popularity both from consumers as well as businesses, and advanced functionality existing to help businesses track assets and location-based information.  Postini (similar to MXLogic) is a hosted email spam filter with some security provisions to help buffer the enterprise from various threats.  We’ve been using MX Logic at Billhighway for a few years, so we’re pretty familiar with the model and will say we’ve enjoyed it thus far.

On to Apps.  We’ve all heard about .edu’s beginning to adopt GMail as their email provider, whereas they referenced a few examples.  >2M businesses were now using Apps, 15M business users and over 4,000TB of data being managed within Apps.  They have >150M Gmail customers and stated an IDC study indicated nearly 20% of corporations are already using Google docs in some fashion.  The takeaway here (from my perspective) was – it’s out there, it’s been “tested”, use-cases validated, capable infrastructure in place and we’re now ready to take on the “enterprise.”

As the slide deck advanced, they referenced numerous other corporations migrating to Google Apps, primarily emphasizing GMail, which appears to be their “foot in the door” product, aimed squarely at MS Exchange and to some degree Blackberry.  One slide outlined the average legacy cost for in-house email hosting was $300/user/year – compared to $50/user/year with Google.  A slide also outlined the breakdown of these costs, with server equipment|staffing|filtering|archiving consuming the lions share of the expense.  Another argument surrounded upgrades, whereas in-house upgrades tend to be painful, slow and potentially expensive (32bit -> 64bit, requiring new hardware example) and may require 22hr/week to keep Exchange “up” – which translates to 60-150 hours/yr downtime!  On the surface, that seems like alot to me.

Gartner estimates 20% of email services will be in the cloud/SaaS by 2012.  GMail references 99.9% uptime, moving to 99.99% with 24/7 support for enterprise customers.  One thing I did like, was a reference to version “.now” – meaning, with SaaS you’re always current, no upgrade/migration and you benefit (seamlessly) with new features, vs. waiting the traditional 2-3 yr upgrade cycle.  As a SaaS provider ourselves, the benefits are pretty obvious, but like all things in technology there is no one-size-fits-all model.

Another interesting trend taking place is the (subtle) migration to the web-desktop.  By leveraging the “cloud” more and more apps can run within a browser, having minimal software footprints on computers.  Google even mentioned, many companies want to get out of the hardware business all together, giving employees a $1500 signing bonus, to cover the cost of their own computer – since the company no longer needs exclusive controls over the software they issue, since more and more of it is being hosted via the web ~ accessed by browser.  This is something I’ve been watching unfold for a while now, still a ways off (in my opinion) but getting closer all the time.

Another trend Google is encouraging is ubiquitous search.  In other words, they want users to give up their hierarchical organizing habits (often found within subfolder upon subfolders within Outlook, or Windows in general) – in favor for search.  Mac users will probably agree, a solid (unified) search is better, even offering context sensitive search.  Threaded messages is also helpful within GMail, which gives the impression of nearly 40% increase in efficiency, by summarizing email chains (which have lots of ‘replies’) into a grouped conversation.  With a simplified UI, it can make you more productive just by organizing your work differently – which provided a segway into an Einstein “Think Differently” quote (which I believe Apple even used to use back in the day.)

Google then demonstrated some use-cases for corporate Gmail, with fast type-ahead and context sensitive features such as “also include, or did you mean” links for frequently emailed users – based upon your usage habits.  Couldn’t help but think about all the [private] date Google has access to, which helps fuel these “features.”  Presentation previews was cool, again within Gmail, to display a doc, or presentation without opening a popup window.  Google also wants to encourage people moving away from attachments, making it easier to share/collaborate with online documents; think of a transparent ‘webEx’ experience, directly within popular apps (word processing, spreadsheet, spreadsheet, etc.) which helps with version conflicts and increased productivity with real-time collaboration.  This also addresses the serial nature of sharing documents, whereas a RFQ would have to pass through several hands independently.  Video chat was also incorporated (directly within browser) which is rumored to support up to 10 users soon.

So, how can you influence your shop to adopt Google Apps (via SheepDog, Inc.) :

1. Communicate the ‘Why’ (cost savings, increased productivity, collaboration & simplicity)
2. Create an Adoption Culture (identify internal advocates, training, leadership)
3. Plan and Discover (pilot team selection, success criteria, allocation of resources, timelines)
4. Train & Support (End user documentation, admin roles & responsibilities, Train the Trainer, online guides\self-service)
5. Other [customized] consulting.

In summary, the session was good.  Clearly, there is some tremendous potential for SaaS/PaaS and the Cloud in general.  I personally am excited about the space and the opportunity it presents.  Like some, I do see “cloud” as evolutionary vs. revolutionary, but it does challenge you to think differently.  If you’re part of an emerging organization already leveraging SOA, SAN, GRID, and virtualization – the cloud becomes a no brainer.  If you’re not familiar with the technologies leading up to the cloud, you have a serious homework assignment.  There is a watershed event taking place around us and you owe it to yourself to become versed in this [arguably] new ecosystem.

SQL 2008 Deprecated Features

This is a quick tip to show you how to list the SQL Server 2008 deprecated features and how to tell if they are still being used in any of your databases.

A deprecated feature is one that will not be supported in a future version of SQL Server.

These old features can still be used, but you need to start modifying code now to ease the transition when you upgrade.

The list of deprecated features can be viewed in Books Online, where they are divided into those due to be removed in the next version, and those that will removed after that.

Microsoft have added a Performance Counter object to enable use of these features to be tracked, but using perfmon is not the most convenient way of doing it. Luckily, you can query a DMV:

select instance_name, cntr_value from sys.dm_os_performance_counters where [object_name] like ‘%Deprecated%’ and cntr_value > 0

This will return all SQL Server 2008 deprecated features that have been used since the last service restart, together the number of occurrences.

“Going Google” with Google Apps – via Billboards

Starting on Monday, Google will begin pitching its enterprise productivity suite, Google Apps, in a decidedly retro manner: The search advertising giant is paying for billboard space on four major U.S. highways to encourage businesses to consider “going Google.”"Going Google”, as Google defines it, means embracing cloud computing: never worrying about email, storage space or backing up files, access to documents and collaboration with colleagues from any Web browser, and never having to worry about IT-related upgrades or infrastructure maintenance.

Presumably it doesn’t include the risks of cloud computing: figuring out how to regain control of your account and your files after someone steals your password, worrying that “trust us” isn’t really the same as on-site security auditing, and wondering how much it would cost to turn a data center employee toward the dark side.The billboard campaign represents a continuation of Google’s increasingly energetic outreach to potential business customers. Through tools like Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook and its vocal promotion of recent customer wins like Fairchild Semiconductor, Hamilton Beach Brands, JohnsonDiversey, and Valeo, Google has become the Pied Piper of cloud computing.

Drivers on San Francisco’s Highway 101, New York’s West Side Highway, Chicago’s Eisenhower Expressway, and Boston’s Massachusetts Turnpike will get to see Google’s billboards, which will feature a new message every day for a month.

The messages will describe the frustration that motivates business users to become Google converts.

“The billboards tell the story of an anonymous IT manager who gets so fed up with the typical IT status quo that his company eventually — you guessed it — goes Google,” explains Andy Berndt, managing director of Google Creative Lab, in a blog post.

CodeMash wrap-up

Well codeMash is over, at least for me, I know a lot of others had families come out on Friday and will stay through the weekend, surely continuing conversations.  I opted to head out a little early to try to beat the snowstorm, but was not successful, doubling my commute home.  

Overall the conference was great and absolutely worth the trip.  I did however at times struggle with which sessions to attend, and whenever found myself in doubt, sat in a session knowing nothing about the subject just to expose myself to learning something new; I also found myself in the the open spaces, which had lots of great conversations.

I went to codeMash this year with a few goals in mind.  Last year, I was interested in gathering as much Agile info as I could, talking with others that were doing it and understanding how I could introduce this within our organization – and codeMash delivered.  This year, it was less process and more technology, however they are often co-mingled.  My intent to was to get up to speed on iPhone development, and dive deeper into WPF, WCF, silverLight, and of course continue along Agile topics such as TDD, and continuous integration (CI.)  

I’m happy to say I managed to make progress on each of these items, learning new things while also filling in some gaps on others.  I’ve managed to fill up my 2009 “to do” list, which I’ll blog about in another post.

The CodeMash team does a great job trying to push the envelope ensuring there are lots of new technologies to expose attendees to, this sometimes come at the expense of other current technologies that we all could benefit from diving deeper into, but, you can’t please everyone – and overall they do a superb job!

This years theme, in my mind, (trying to read between the lines of the session tracks, keynotes and many opinions of attendees) was very much a continuation of Agile principles, namely testing; TDD, unit testing, automated testing, etc.  iPhone also held a special place as there’s clearly a lot of interest in this new arena.  RIAs also got alot of coverage, DSLs continue to impress with functional and behavior languages remain on the horizon.  Microsoft also had a big presence at this years event, introducing some cool technologies with VS2010, Azure and .NET 4.0 – yet, even with lots of content (and lots of ms developers attending) it didn’t seem (to me) to over-shadow the conference.  Many times, with big sponsors, it ends up being a vendor marketing message you leave with, but technology and developers remain at the forefront of CodeMash and I hope that alway is.

So, until next year – let’s hope everyone goes back to the ranch and applies some of the tools & techniques we’ve learned to get the MidWest back on track.  If you’re interested in attending CodeMash next year, be sure to check out codeMash.org and the Google Group - oh, and book early (it always sells out!)

The No-Bull-Shiitake Investor Wishlist

I’m a big fan of Guy Kawasaki,  (so are the nearly 30,000 that follow him on Twitter.)  Anyhow, I recently came across this “Investor Wishlist” and thought it was worth sharing… http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/30385.

If you haven’t heard of Guy, you owe it to yourself to check him out.  Follow him on twitter, read his blog, visit his site, or buy his books.

CodeMash Bloggy Goodness

Catherine Devlin, a python and Oracle connoisseur, published Planet CodeMash using Yahoo Pipes!  Lots of attendees of codeMash are bloggers, as published at: http://groups.google.com/group/codemash/web/2008-codemash-bloggers and instead of clicking into each link to keep up, you can use pipes to aggregate feeds together into one master list, pretty cool!  You can check out here design notes here: http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/2008/12/planet-codemash-yahoo-pipes.html

Brief background on Pipes – Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.  Like Unix pipes, simple commands can be combined together to create output that meets your needs:

• combine many feeds into one, then sort, filter and translate it.
• geocode your favorite feeds and browse the items on an interactive map.
• power widgets/badges on your web site.
• grab the output of any Pipes as RSS, JSON, KML, and other formats.

Sounds good? Learn more….

Pipes sounds interesting, I’ve read about it, but haven’t yet had a chance to get my hands dirty with it yet.  I myself aggregate a TON of RSS feeds using NetVibes; I highly recommend them, not only can you organize content cleanly with tabs, it’s highly extensible with widgets – moving ever so closer to the elusive web desktop!  I myself use it as a glorifed RSS aggregation tool, and it works better than great!

What is Cloud Computing?

I get asked that question alot.  Like web 2.0, cloud computing means different things to different people.  The vanilla answer is “software delivered over the Net.”  According to Google, consumer cloud computing is the web, but when people talk of the brewing cloud battle among Amazon, Microsoft and Google; it takes a slightly different form.

The first is operating internet-based services in the cloud, everything from web-based programs such as GMail and Hotmail to the model used by enterprise software such as SalesForce.com, which hosts and runs high-end business applications for corporations.  The other is the idea of offering an internet based platform to developers who want to create services but don’t have their own cloud to run them on.  So they rent storage, computation, and maintenance from someon else, currently Amazon ang Google, but soon Microsoft (enter Azure!)

Cloud companies assume that consumers will embrace the idea that much of what was once crunched on their PCs and stored on their hard drives will now live in some vague, faraway place, trusting that it will always be there when they need it.

Needless to say, it’s a controversial subject that is getting alot of attention.  It plays nicely with the virtualization movement and helps to bring the promise of the “web desktop” a little closer to reality.  It’s still early to predict how the cloud will ultimately impact markets, but it’s surely something to watch.

If I were to make a bold prediction, borrowing heavily from my understanding of Ray Ozzie’s vision (Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect) we’ll see a whole new marketplace created for consumption by business and consumers alike.  I personally credit Saleforce.com and Software as a Service (SaaS) for pioneering the notion (or arguably others prior, such as application service providers [ASP] models) which together have been pushing the boundaries ever slow slowly away from the desktop and making the “platforms” themselves more ubiquitous, enabling developers to target platforms where marketplaces already exist, vs. trying to create it themselves.  Imagine Facebook Dev Platform + OpenSocial + Apple iPhone Apps, Amazon Services, Google App Engine and now Azure – each with offer unique capabilities and distribution channels, yet they all share one tenet, empower the developer to create value-added applications for their respective platform(s). Think Slide for the enterprise, or the realization of Mark Zuckerberg’a vision for a whole new computer marketplace, trumping that of the “OS” itself – which could spur the next round of technology giants!  Pretty cool stuff.

Software reminds me a lot of Michigan weather, if you don’t like it, just wait five minutes and it will change!

Moving SQL 2005 System Databases

While in the process of upgrading our database servers, I had to recall how to move system databases, which forced me to update my notes, from sql 2000.  Below are the steps required to move sql 2005 system databases.  If you’re wondering why this is needed, well there’s a few reasons.  First, if you don’t select the target location during SQL install, these files can be put under the default installation path, typically under the C:\ drive.  In our world, optimization is everything, therefore we attempt distribute data, logs, tempDB on their own spindles with varying RAID levels to maximize performance, which is a whole other topic.

NOTE:  These steps are slightly different if you’re working with clustered databases, which I’ll speak to in a future post.

MODEL:
To move the MODEL database, you must start SQL Server together with the -c option, the -m option, and trace flag 3608. Trace flag 3608 prevents SQL Server from recovering any database except the master database.

1. In SQL Server Configuration Manager, click SQL Server 2005 Services.

2. In the right pane, right-click SQL Server (<instance_name>), and then click Properties.

3. On the Advanced tab, in the Startup Parameters box, type the parameters separated by semicolons (;). i.e. -c; -m; -T3608

For example, to start in single-user mode, insert -m; in front of the existing startup options, and then restart the database.

Important: After you are finished using single-user mode, you must remove the -m; from the Startup Parameters box before you can restart the server instance in the normal multi-user mode.

4. Stop and then restart SQL Server.

5. Detach the model database by using the following commands:

use master
go
sp_detach_db ‘model’
go

6. Move the Model.mdf and Modellog.ldf files from the D:\Mssql7\Data folder to the desired location.

7. Reattach the model database by using the following commands:

use master
go
sp_attach_db ‘model’,'R:\sqlData\model.mdf’,'T:\sqlLogs\modellog.ldf’
go

8. Remove -c -m -T3608 from the startup parameters in SQL Server Configuration Manager.

9. Stop and then restart SQL Server. You can verify the change in file locations by using the sp_helpfile stored procedure. For example, use the following command:

use model
go
sp_helpfile
go

 

MSDB:
To move the MSDB database, you must start SQL Server together with the -c option, the -m option, and trace flag 3608. Trace flag 3608 prevents SQL Server from recovering any database except the master database. To add the -c option, the -m option, and trace flag 3608, follow the steps in the “Moving the model database” section. After you add the -c option,  the -m option and trace flag 3608, follow these steps:

1. Stop, and then restart SQL Server.

2. Make sure that the SQL Server Agent service is not currently running.

3. Detach the msdb database as follows:

use master
go
sp_detach_db ‘msdb’
go

4. Move the Msdbdata.mdf and Msdblog.ldf files from the current location to the new target location.

5. Remove -c -m -T3608 from the startup parameters in SQL Server Configuration Manager.

6. Stop and then restart SQL Server.

Note If you try to reattach the msdb database by starting SQL Server together with the -c option, the -m option, and trace flag 3608, you may receive the following error message:

Server: Msg 615, Level 21, State 1, Line 1 Could not find database table ID 3, name ‘model’.

7. Reattach the msdb database as follows, changing “X” for your target location:

use master
go
sp_attach_db ‘msdb’,'X:\sqlData\msdbdata.mdf’,'X:\sqlLogs\msdblog.ldf’
go

 

MASTER: Moving the master database

1. Change the path for the master data files and the master log files in SQL Server Configuration Manager. Note You may also change the location of the error log here.

2. Right-click the SQL Server in Enterprise Manager and then click Properties.

3. Click Startup Parameters to see the following entries:

-dX:\data\master.mdf
-eY:\errlog\ErrorLog
-lZ:\logs\mastlog.ldf

-d is the fully qualified path for the master database data file.
-e is the fully qualified path for the error log file.
-l is the fully qualified path for the master database log file.

4. Change these values as follows:

a. Remove the current entries for the Master.mdf and Mastlog.ldf files.

b. Add new entries specifying the new location:

-dX:\SQLDATA\master.mdf
-lZ:\SQLDATA\mastlog.ldf

5. Stop SQL Server.

6. Copy the Master.mdf and Mastlog.ldf files to the new location (E:\Sqldata).

7. Restart SQL Server.

tempDB: Moving the tempdb database

You can move tempdb files by using the ALTER DATABASE statement.

1. Determine the logical file names for the tempdb database by using sp_helpfile as follows:

use tempdb
go
sp_helpfile
go

The logical name for each file is contained in the name column. This example uses the default file names of tempdev and templog.

2. Use the ALTER DATABASE statement, specifying the logical file name as follows:

use master
go
Alter database tempdb modify file (name = tempdev, filename = ‘S:\tempDB\tempdb.mdf’)
go
Alter database tempdb modify file (name = templog, filename = ‘T:\sqlLogs\templog.ldf’)
go

You should receive the following messages that confirm the change:

Message 1
The file “tempdev” has been modified in the system catalog. The new path will be used the next time the database is started.

Message 2
The file “templog” has been modified in the system catalog. The new path will be used the next time the database is started.

3. Using sp_helpfile in tempdb will not confirm these changes until you restart SQL Server.

4. Stop and then restart SQL Server.

 

- Hope this helps save you some time next time you need to move system databases around.

What is a Plenum?

During some investigation for our new office space, cabling quickly became a subject of interest.  It seems the previous tenent had been there for some time (nearly 15 years) and underwent numerous updates, most of which ended with cat5 cabling.  Being the bandwidth-hungry company we are, we opted for category 6 cable, giving us the increased throughout and support for future bandwidth intensive applications.  In the past, we had to use plenum cable, as we had plenum space (above ceiling tiles) whereas our new space has higher ceilings direct through to the rafters, so I needed some clarification to justify the extra “plenum rated” expense – which I found below.  Now I’m just waiting for cable vendors input..

According to the National Electric Code (NEC) a plenum is a “compartment or chamber to which one or more air ducts are connected and [which] forms part of the air distribution system.” To qualify as a plenum, the space above an acoustic tile ceiling would have to extend above other rooms in the same building or be open to ducts connecting it to other parts of the building. The concern is that during a fire, if there is burning material in a plenum air space, smoke and fumes can travel through air ducts to the whole building. For this reason, there are codes to restrict the types of materials (such as wiring) that can be placed in the plenum.

It’s quite common to have an acoustic tile ceiling without having a plenum. If your room-dividing walls extend above the dropped ceiling and seal off the space above, you do not have a plenum air space and so may not require plenum-rated wires. (See illustration.) You can lift up an acoustical tile in your room and peek in to see if your room has a plenum.

So, what is the code?
According to the National Electric Code (NEC), in plenum air spaces you must use plenum rated cables, also called Communications Plenum Cable (CMP). Plenum cable is only required when cable is installed in a plenum air space. Materials kept below the ceiling — including speaker wire, computer cables, telephone cords, etc. — do not need to be plenum rated according to the NEC.

Remember that even though the National Electric Code may allow non-plenum cable, the final decision is up to your local Fire Marshall.  Most cities adopt the national codes as their own without revision, but some cities modify or expand them and require plenum-rated cable in all situations.  Regardless of the code or its interpretation, your Fire Marshall makes the final decision. We recommend that you contact your Fire Marshall if you have questions.

Why is the regulation for plenum air spaces but not for other wiring such as speaker wire?
It’s dangerous to inhale fumes from any burning material. Speaker wire is no more dangerous than any other plastic item you would find below the ceiling in a typical classroom — computers, carpet, power cords, etc. Therefore, requiring the use of plenum wires within the classroom itself would have little impact. The regulation covers the area where it’s most critical.

How is plenum wire different from other speaker wire?
Plenum rated coating on wire burns at a much higher temperature and emits fewer fumes.

Who sets the guidelines?
The National Electrical Code (NEC) is a set of guidelines recommending procedures to reduce the risk of fires, electric shock and other hazards associated with electrical installations. The code is advisory in nature, but most state and local building departments across the country use the NEC as the basis for their own electrical codes. Some local codes may be more restrictive, so please check with your local Fire Marshall if you’re unsure