2014 Mar 3

Because That's Where The Money Is

The infamous bank robber Willie Sutton is rumoured to have said, when asked why he robs banks, "because that's where the money is." This is, apparently, an urban legend, according to snopes. Either way, the legend endures for 3 reasons: It is a great quote; after all, that is where the money is (or used to be). It is a great retort; they weren't asking him why he robs banks, as opposed to post offices, but why he robs at all (as opposed to, say, becomes a banker or a lawyer).

2014 Feb 27

Is Black the New... Boeing?

Without much fanfare, Boeing - one of the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers and one of the world's largest defense contractors - released a Web page of its new smartphone, Boeing Black. Based on a variant of Android (it helps to modify something that is already open-source and has a permissible Apache license), the phone is intended to be a secure usage and communications tool for government and military personnel.

2014 Feb 26

Will Carriers Ever Learn to Just Do Their Job Well?

Mobile carriers just received another blow in their attempt to be "more than just carriers." The overwhelming majority of people in the developed world nowadays - and many in the developing world - carry mobile phones, many of them smartphones. Since payment cards are nothing more or less than data holders and, with chip-based-cards, small computers, there is no reason payment cannot be stored, managed and paid using a mobile phone.

2014 Feb 24

Test Baby Test

A short while ago, when reviewing a company's operations, I suggested their testing was deficient. Specifically, they had some decent unit testing, but very weak integration testing. In simplest terms: Unit testing checks if small, individual components function as expected Integration testing checks if larger systems, or the system as a whole, function as expected Testing is the only way you can have confidence that what worked before works now, and that what you put in new works as expected.

2014 Feb 21

Who Are You, Who Who... WhosApp?

Among the many perspectives discussed surrounding Facebook's $19BN acquisition of WhatsApp, one that I have not seen is the problem of user definition, which differ significantly from Facebook to WhatsApp. In order for a messaging system - Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, iMessage, BBM, email, or carrier-based SMS - to send you a message, it needs to identify you. It needs to know, in the immortal words of The Who, "Who Are You?

2014 Feb 20

WhatsApp, Doc? Facebook Bets the Bank

Just about everyone is writing about the $19BN purchase of WhatsApp by Facebook. Here are several key analyses: The price is ~11% of Facebook's $173.54BN market cap. Since Facebook is not buying it just for current value, Facebook sees WhatsApp as, essentially, equal in value to Facebook in the long-term. This is an enormous risk. Risks like this are usually approved by shareholders, and if they go bad, the CEO is gone.

2014 Feb 18

Emergency Room Dollars

Last week, I had the distinct "pleasure" of visiting the local emergency room. I managed to severely twist my leg at the end of a hockey game. My friend the orthopedist, who was with me, took a look and sent me off to get X-rays. Turns out, it was broken, and it will be many weeks before I start running or playing hockey again. The interesting business part is the structure of reimbursement and incentives.

2014 Feb 17

They Hacked in Via the Air Conditioning? Really?

Brian Krebs, the cybersecurity blogger who first broke the Target attack, has reported that the hackers who infected Target's Point-of-Sales (POS) systems, did so via their Heating/Ventilation/Air-Conditioning (HVAC) servicing company. Unlike a simple home, large-scale office facilities have complex HVAC systems. On the one hand, they want the optimal temperature, humidity and airflow in their facilities. On the other hand, they are acutely aware of the cost; it costs a lot more to air condition a big-box store than your local townhouse!

2014 Feb 5

How To Organize Your Cloud Technology Teams - A Manifesto

This article has been in formulation for a long time, and is the result of my own experiences in many places: corporate IT, software startups, services (cloud) startups, consulting, and many other places. It includes the input of many people whom I respect - although many disagree with some of my conclusions - including consultants, executives, founders and venture capitalists. How should you organize your technology team? This is a difficult question to answer, yet critical to your ability to succeed.

2014 Jan 31

The Challenges to True Roaming

As a regular business traveler - and therefore one who regularly pays roaming fees or swaps SIM cards on my iPhone - I am attuned to the shifts in the mobile telecom market. One of the issues that has come to occupy my attention recently is the lack of multi-SIM cards. Although we call them "SIM cards", the physical card we stick in our phone is actually called a Universal Integrated Circuit Card, or UICC; it is, essentially, a very small computer, just like your laptop or iPhone.