Ruby on Rails Development
September 30, 2005
I was having a conversation with Eric Molitor (a Dallas programmer who is into Battlebots) today and we were talking about development in Rails. I explained how our IT services company hired a programmer to redevelop the help desk and trouble ticket system in PHP. The process took almost six months and the resulting product worked, but was too heavy (three months later and we have not launched the new system).
I then explained that one of our managers overheard our conversations about Rails and Ajax and decided to read a book on the subject. Eariler this week he took the help desk and trouble ticket specification and wrote a fully functional application in Ruby on Rails with a few touches of Ajax. Imagine a framework that can be learned overnight and allow smart programmers to develop great applications very quickly? Want to guess why everyone is so excited?
So what is so great about Rails? Basically, it is easy to rapidly prototype and launch an application. We were able to see what worked and what did not work. Eric agreed, but explained that Rails has scaling issues. I assume he is correct on this point; however, by the time scaling becomes an issue you likely will have the time and resources to resolve the issue. Why spend time and money creating very scalable applications that may never see the light of day. Get them up and running now…
Web 5.0 - Not getting enough attention!
September 30, 2005
Josh Hallett did another Web 2.0 post today you can read here. Interestingly he detailed the Google search results of Web 2-4:
Web 2.0 - 9,230,000 results
Web 2.1 - 19,700
Web 3.0 - 38,300
Web 4.0 - 16,100
I was wondering how many references to Web 5.0 there might be. The results? You will have to Google it for yourself. FYI, these Google results won’t really tell you if the author is actually discussing Web 4.0 in the ‘Web 2.0′ context (but it is fun anyway). The better part of Josh’s post is the scene from There’s Something about Mary check it out here.
*Oh, the picture at the top of the page is from Josh’s blog header. I always liked it so I decided to post it. When I was growing up my Dad was president of a Wind Power company called Kenetech Windpower - they built and ran those wind turbines in the Altamont Pass (you know they ones that kill all the birds).
Got a Web 2.0 Idea? Need a Partner?
September 29, 2005
I had lunch with a lawyer/investor/angel who has an idea for a Web 2.0 application/business and he asked me how we could work together. This blog is dedicated to "Web 2.0 initiatives in North Texas" so I thought it might be a great time to let everyone know how we might work together to create initiatives ourselves.
Most of the people who approach M | Ventures usually lack money, resources and/or time. We can easily provide the various resources that you would need to get your idea off the ground whether you need programmers, consulting, equipment, bandwidth, servers, office space, phones or perhaps a little capital. But that is not really the most interesting aspect of the ‘help’ we can provide; the most interesting/useful things are:
- Partners who are spending day and night playing with the Web 2.0
- Partners who are talking to most of the movers and shakers in the space
- Partners who have been there and done that before
The lawyer/investor/angel has plenty of resources, including more capital than we have. He assumed he just needed some Web 2.0 programming talent, perhaps someone with Ruby and Ajax developers. He suggested that he might hire us to develop his ideas into software for a fee. At the end of the day anyone can hire coders with Web 2.0 skills, but we believe that what we offer is far more valuable than a few coders - we believe that we can help create great businesses.
What is our standard deal? Assuming we like your project we will help you develop, launch, and grow your idea into a business. In most cases we simply split everything 50/50. How can you get our idea to us? Just blog about it and tag it with Delicious with the tag "mvenidea". If you are wondering if we are going to work with the lawyer/investor/angel I will let you know if he decides to take us up on our offer…
Web 2.0 Visualizations? Jargon-filled and Unreadable?
September 29, 2005
According to Barb Dywbwad from the Social Software Weblog, that is exactly why Tim O’Reilly’s and Dion Hinchcliffe’s visualizations are not simple enough. Ironically Barb’s answer is to create more jargon-filled and unreadable graphics that I liked enough to reblog here. Check out her post here.
Welcome to Google, no actually it is Googol, nevermind Google is fine.
September 29, 2005
Some interesting ‘did you know‘ facts about Google:
- Brin and Sergy didn’t know HTML when they started Google
- Google is a misspelling of the intended name, Googol
These tibits from Marissa Mayer a product manager at Google. I guess the fact that Google’s interface is so simple stems from the lack of HTML knowledge. Want to work there? Toss around ideas like Ajax and Ruby on Rails, and you better have a PhD from MIT or IIT. [via]
Ever use elfURL? The Web 2.0 way to shorten URLs.
September 29, 2005
I just blogged about this on Weblogs Work, but I thought I would reblog here. On a whim we had a coder spend a few hours creating a URL redirection tool that would do more than TinyURL. From my perspective TinyURL is a great idea. If you have a long URL you just go to tinyurl and the tool will create a short URL for you. This allows you to email links without fear that the link will be broken by the email client. I decided we could extend upon this idea with some Web 2.0 features with a service called elfURL. Here is what I came up with:
- elfURL should shrink giant URLs.
- elfURL should provide statistics on the number of times the elfURL has been clicked.
- elfURL should deliver those statistics via RSS.
- elfURL should automatically create delicious tags for the links.
- elfURL should automatically create Rel-Tags for the links as well.
Since July (when we launched elfURL) we have only had 12,894 visitors to the site and created only 688 links. I think TinyURL has created 11,000,000 links. Wonder what we are doing wrong? Also, we created an elfURL Konfabulator widget, but have not released it due to lackluster demand for the free service. Comments/thoughts would be appreciated.
Ben Barren Aussie With That Certain Something…
September 29, 2005
So I stumbled upon Ben Barren’s blog today. Here are a few of the titles of his most recent posts:
- Meta-Real Estate + PacMan Game Theory
- Take me to the Moon Google, with NASA anyway
- The 2.Out of Cash Jessica Alba Casting Couch
- Rules of Blogging + Social Networking
- The Usual News Corp + Yahoo Media Suspects
- When is Big, enough?
- Scobel links Wifi + Search
Anyway, I don’t know what it is but his posts are more interesting than mine on the very same subjects. First his titles are better, but I can’t really figure out why they seem to hold my attention moreso than my own. Check it out for yourself (oh and don’t bother with RSS, just visit the site here). Just leave comments here if you have any ideas… Thanks!
Microsoft picks HD-DVD instead of Blu-Ray
September 28, 2005
Now maybe I can get our show on HD-DVD! (FYI - if you didn’t realize, you cannot watch HD content on your existing DVD player) Microsoft’s last minute decision should hasten the deployment of the HD-DVD standard and provide another nail in the coffin of Blu-Ray. [via]
1999 versus 2005 Web 2.0 Meme
September 28, 2005
[via] [also, what is Web 2.0]
“Cash is always king”
September 28, 2005
Fred Wilson does a regular post called "VC Cliche of the Week" and this week’s is a winner. CASH IS KING! He is dead on, check out his post here.
"The single most important financial metric for any startup company isn’t revenues, margin, headcount, or profits. Those are all important, for sure. But the number that matters most is the cash balance."
I learned this lesson the hard way in my first venture backed deal. NEVER RUN OUT OF CASH!
Scratched iPod Nano? Get over it…
September 28, 2005
My brother-in-law explained to me this weekend that he was waiting to get his Nano until after the lawsuits were over. I asked, "what lawsuits?" and he explained that Apple used an inferior screen surface this time. Well, my good buddies at Make pointed me to a great solution for those of us "pre-lawsuit" iPod Nano users. "If you’re one of the folks who have a new iPod nano and have scratches - here’s a HOW TO on using some Brasso, polishing cream and a little time to polish it up to like-new. Link."
Web 2.0 and Television, Ug!
September 28, 2005
Sometimes it seems like television networks operate on a different plane of existence than the rest of us. Previously, (I guess currently) I was involved the production of a television show called MotorSport Ranch. When I started the project all I had was money and what I thought was a great idea - I didn’t have a clue how the television business worked.
This afternoon I was reading Eirik Solheim’s blog called Eirikso live from Norway. Eirik had some great points about how the television networks just don’t get it. His post had some funny comics describing his frustration. Here are his primary points:
- make user friendly, high quality alternatives to illegal download
- Remember: the world is connected!
- The system of different regions on DVD was a bad idea even at the point where DVD was born back in 1996
- To even think about dividing the planet into something other than 6 billion potential viewers is utterly ridiculous
- Availability! People want to play their content on all their devices
We sold our HDTV pilot to INHD; however, I was one of the executive producers of the show and I have not seen it in HDTV! INHD is only found on cable networks - I have DirectTV so I cannot see it. Ideas?
Neurophysiological Monitoring is Big Business
September 26, 2005
Scott and I visited with a neurophysiological monitoring startup called Intra-Op that provides monitoring services to surgeons during surgery. Thier service allows surgeons to detect changes in the status of neural structures at risk during surgery. Early warning of potential alterations of neural function allows the surgeon to intervene immediately and avoid potential defects.
The company is based near New Orleans and Katrina disrupted their business; however, most of their employees are on the road so the disruption was minimal. Most of our discussion centered around the application of various technologies to their business, including several Web 2.0 style (but we did not use the term to avoid any sort of confusion). Document management, scheduling, and mapping are all important parts of their business. It will be interesting to see if we can apply Web 2.0 ideas to a HIPAA world…
Shop.com Raises $25MM Series A
September 26, 2005
Nope, it is not 1999. Nope, you read it correctly the first time. Shop.com just raised $25MM in their first round. Who is the culprit? Fred Harman at Oak Investment Partners. Shop.com is going to revamp their website with the money. Why? Fred has $4.2 billion in committed capital to spread around.
Podcasting, Skype, Spanish, Four Year Old, & Argentina.
September 24, 2005
This evening I was attempting to use Skype as a podcasting tool on my Mac when Ethan, my four year old, asked why I was talking to my computer. I was chatting with Rodrigo, one of the Weblogs Work guys who happens to live in Argentina. Ethan went to Spanish camp this summer and takes a weekly Spanish class. He knows his numbers and colors and is currently working on naming items of clothing. I gave Ethan the headset and he started chatting with Rodrigo in Spanish. It was sort of wild hearing my son speak spanish via the computer to one of our people in Argentina. Ethan is growing up in a very different world than any of us did. Nothing is going to be the same - and for Ethan there is nothing different about that. It is normal.
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