AWS Java Web Application in Eclipse

In this project I used Eclipse to launch an AWS ec2 instance and upload a website to Amazon web Services.

Public Address
http://ec2-174-129-187-105.compute-1.amazonaws.com

EasyTicket
EasyTicket's mission is to create an online event box office to sell tickets using a fixed pricing structure. It is an online application that allows the event planners and organizers to handle ticketing themselves. An unlimited number of multi-tiered tickets could be sold for the flat rate and delivered via email with QR codes. The QR codes can then be scanned by using the EasyTickets app provided for download on smartphones. All payments are sent directly to the event organizers via their PayPal accounts. EasyTicket provides a way to keep ticket statistics as well as a customizable event page.

How LuLu leverages its API to tranform the book publishing industry

Lulu was started with the goal of utilizing the internet to shorten the distance between content creators and buyers. After eight years of research and development the lulu platform was launched.  It eliminates three steps of the traditional publishing model and connects creators directly to buyers through the lulu API platform.

Customers can manage a publishing business end-to-end.

Eight years may seem like a lot of time but lulu has really done a great job of automating the tasks of agents, publishers and retailers.  Lulu had to create a way to import files of all different formats and develop a way to integrate them, build up a way to store all of the information, generate books,  print books and distribute them.

Lulu is a free and open platform.  Typically API's only expose a company's data to manipulation.  This method makes sense if the value of your business is in your data.  The Lulu API provides entire access to lulu technology because the real value lulu brings is the process they have created.  It empowers next-gen publishing models by lowering barriers to entry "bringing your great idea to your neighbors doorstep".

lulu.com

There are often risks when relying on an API.  A recent example is when Google Translate closed its translation API, requiring many websites and App developers to find new ways to translate data or face extinction.  If a business considers access to another companies API a strategic asett then that business is setting itself up for possible failure at anytime should the API become restricted.  In my view Lulu possesses less a risk than the traditional API for the end user.  Lulu provides a process to transform data, not data for the user to transform.  A lulu user can find a new process to publish their books should lulu ever cease to exist.  A lulu users strategic asset is the content they create.   There is seemingly no risk of lulu ever closing its API because the business is built around it.

Inversely, imagine lulu was a platform that only made the text of books available and you built a business process to use the text to generate ebooks.  If lulu closed in that case the business would be in a stretch because lulu's data was strategic asset to the business.

Before I grew up! is a website that takes advantage of the lulu platform.  It was built by someone to help his family create a book with with pictures and stories.  Each baby book has an associated email address and family members can email pictures and stories. Lulu then generate a book from all of the information and makes a hard copy or ebook available.  Interestingly enough, an elementary school has since gone on to use his application on the lulu platform to create their yearbook.

beforeigrewup.com  

Lulu is a business totally about the API, leaving development of the platform up to the users.

"The Future Internet"

The May 2011 Future Internet Report is from the UK Future Internet Strategy Group.  If you try to visit the website it may not load because ironically enough, it is currently inaccessible.  The report outlines a 20 year strategy for the UK to attract technology businesses to the UK.

To summarize the report talks about the direction communication is heading.  It introduces the concept of "The Internet of People and Things".   It allows for the connection of previously unconnected services and businesses to allow businesses to put together right combination of services together for a customer.  These services will also be able to be customized to an "incredible degree".

It then discusses elements needed to support the "new internet".  One of the first hurdles is the physical number of connected devices.  The current IPv4 standard provides a limited number of IP addresses.  The shift to IPv6 will provide a seemingly infinite amount of addresses to support the massive growth in connected devices.  It goes on to say that the cloud will enable a new style of converged services.  The cloud will allow user and business data to be available anywhere at anytime.  With the cloud users will have the capability to be in control of their data at any time (for example giving and withdrawing consent).

Cloud services could be "aggregated together in any number of ways by a ‘broker’, to provide the end user with contextually aware applications and decision support services".

I agree with the reports prediction and recommendation of converged services.  With more an more enabled devices and services it has become increasingly hard for me to maintain my many separate online identities.  One online service may have one feature I need but not another.  I could very easily have 100 online accounts to accomplish a myriad of tasks.

2011 UK Future Internet Report

The shift to converged services will provide more choices in service provision allowing a more cost efficient integration of services and produce highly capable and competitive businesses.  The cost efficient and connected services will in turn allow for increased profits and lower end-user costs.  

Our class is even related to converged services.  Later this semester we will be using a software API called PhoneGap.  It acts as a broker to create multiple versions of native applications based on one source of data.

My Experience with Google Sites

Sites is a SaaS (software as a service) offering from the big G.  SaaS, often referred to as "on-demand software" is where software is hosted centrally, usually in the cloud.

To be an entirely web based website building platform, Google Sites his a homerun.  It allows anyone with a google account to create a website in a matter of minutes. Many functions like keeping a consistent navigation that plagued early HTML sites and still present problems to basic designers are all taken care of automatically by Sites.  I would recommend it to someone that does not have the time or budget to learn to use a program like Dreamweaver but still wants the WYSIWYG feel.  It also has a plugin type feature called Gadgets that allows you to easily add an assortment of functions to the site like importing an rss feed or displaying a google calendar.

A disadvantage of using google site is that you have to have an internet connection in order to work on the site.  Another let down is that many of the settings take multiple steps to get to.  There is no overarching structure that allows you to access all elements of google sites.

SaaS systems like google sites are related to SOA (service-oriented architecture) because it part of a larger integration system.  Google provides a loose coupling of services including Gmail, Docs, Sites, Blogger, Calendar etc.  Each system is distinct in its operation but they are all able to communicated with each other.  Sharing the same authentication system and able to pass information between each other.  For example, google sites can pull information from each of the other google services and gmail can automatically add appointments to your calendar based on information in an email.

Microsoft 365 vs. Google Docs. vs Zoho (FIGHT!)

The age old question will finally be settled today. I wish I could be that decisive but between the three SaaS offerings it comes down to preferences really.  Since I can pronounce no clear winner I will at least give awards and honorable mentions in individual categories, Usability, Features and Value.

Usability - Winner Microsoft 365, Honorable Mention Google Docs


We are all familiar with the Microsoft Office desktop product suite.  You will feel right at home using Microsoft 365.  The ribbon feature of the newer office versions has carried over into 365.  Working in office 365 feels just like working on the desktop version.  My only gripe about Microsoft Office 365's usability is that many of its useful and advanced features seem to be hidden in menus.  A common misconception or popular gripe is that Microsoft 365 requires you to download a desktop application in order to run it.  This is completely false, no software is required.  Only if you want to have advanced collaboration and desktop integration is this necessary.

The simplicity of Google Docs is what earned it an Honorable Mention.  It is extremely easy to get an overview of all of your documents from the homepage and it is possible to access any document or to create any type of document from the homepage.  Google's design when editing documents (even though recently updated) leaves much to be desired.

Zoho fails at overall usability.  Integration between the various offerings is non-existent and separate accounts are required to use some portions of the site. Usability within the individual applications is great however and helped it take the gold in the Features category.

Features - Winner Zoho, Honorable Mention Tie, Microsoft 365 and Google Docs


Zoho offers a myriad of SaaS features.  Over 27 applications are available for use.  Zoho definitely feels more fleshed out than Docs and 365. For Microsoft Office you will immediately notice that the online version is lacking many features present in the desktop counterpart.  However, this is the first version of 365 and it is already up to par with Google Docs feature wise.  Many features like setting up a blog or team pages, or creating a personal webpage are useful but hidden under menus and not immediately accessible.




Value - Google Docs


Google was the clear winner here.  Almost all of googles SaaS offerings are free and I do not see that changing anytime soon.  Microsoft 365 offers a free trial and requires a subscription after the trial period.  Zoho is mostly free but resources for free accounts is lower than that of google.  Another advantage of google is you share your storage space between the multiple platforms.  So if you upgrade your storage to 15GB with google you can share that amongst your google docs, gmail account etc.  With zoho you are required to update each account individually without the possibility of sharing resources.


Zoho https://www.zoho.com/
Google Docs http://docs.google.com
Microsoft 365 http://office365.com

How routers really work.

This assignment required us to listen to the How Stuff Works Podcast: "How routers work".  The hosts did a good job of providing a general overview of routers and associated protocols. Unfortunately it is hard for me to pay attention to podcasts... so after listening to it three times I have a decent understanding of their discussion.  I hope to overcome the shortfall of all audio podcast by providing pictures to keep you interested.

The hosts focused on three layers of the OSI model. For those of you that don't live in your parents basement OSI stands for open systems interconnection (I didn't know what OSI meant either) and is the backbone of the modern network. In the most basic sense the OSI model is set of definitions to help create the ideal network. .  

Layer one is the 'bit' or physical layer. The actual physical elements of a single communication device such as the internal configuration of the device (pins, bit rate, encoding) or other elements like the voltage needed to transmit data.

Layer two concerns communication between devices within a LAN (local area network).  Which contrary to the title of the post, a router is not needed to allow communication within a LAN, only a switch.

A router is needed when you need to communicate with another network. The network of networks (Layer 3 - internet) is when routers really come into play.  "The router controls the information moving from a local area network to the internet.... and without a router... global communication would not be possible."

Routers transmit pieces of information called packets. Many packets are used to send or request a piece of information. Packets also come with instructions on where the data is to be delivered. Routers help packets reach their final destination by automatically selecting the fastest path to the destination server.  A router uses a routing table to help it send packets.  Routing tables contain a list of dynamic rules that are constantly updating by routers communicating with each other to help select the best paths for packets to be sent.

Routers constantly communicate with each other to determine the path of least resistance.

Routers essentially calculate the cost of transmitting a piece of data to its destination.  For example, one packet may be sent from router A to router B to router C to router D.  Typically routers look for a path with the fewest hops and if a packet has been through too many hops the router may think the packet is lost or has already reached its destination and is loitering on the network.

Bunnies all over the world are tasked with delivering your Wikipedia searches to and from routers. 

MAC addresses are associated with each device on a local network.  Once a bunny has reached the router with the requested information it looks to see which MAC addressed requested the information and delivers the wikipedia search for Miss Piggy to my laptop. 

Ten points if you can spot what is wrong with this picture.

Sometimes we may receive packets from evil malicious bunnies that are carrying data that is harmful to our computers and network.  That is why it is important to have a firewall.  Thankfully, most routers have firewalls built into them.  Firewalls have a set of rules they use to filter out bad packets from ever entering our local networks.

I like to think of my firewall as being Mr. T

I only scratched the surface on how routers work.  If you have any questions please comment and I will try to answer your question as concisely as possible accompanied with an appropriately funny image.

Business Models and Shameless Plugs

In this assignment I was tasked with creating two business model diagrams.  One of which was to be based on a company you have worked for and one where you create a new infomediary business.

StarWarsIntro.com
The first diagram is of a business I actually started in high school.  It was born from my love of Star Wars.  Users can can re-create the iconic scrolling text introduction with their own text, music or graphics.  I first created the program back when Flash Actionscript 2.0 was released.   There was no dynamic 3D text support with MX 2004 so I would manually create orders as they came in.  I spent a good two weeks glued to my desktop trying to match everything as close to the movie as possible.  It turned out to be a bigger success than I would have ever imagined.  I received order after order and was glad to take their money but I was not much fun converting each order manually into 3D and placing it into the program to run.  Once converted into 3D the text was no longer editable and customers would frequently want to change something at some point and I would have to repeat the entire process over.

Screenshot from starwarsintro.com

Actionscript 3 and CS3 came to the rescue and really changed the way I do business.  The dynamic 3D text support allowed me to re-create the program from scratch with the ability to load data dynamically from a text or XML file.  I am now able to offer a DIY version where users simply update the provided XML file with their text and the program does the rest.   I still offer a custom version where I create the scroll for them. It gives the simplicity of only needing one file and the option of using .mov format.  It is much easier for me to create and update than the previous version. Lastly I offer the source code for those who want the ultimate in control.

My client base is quite diverse. The majority are used for birthday celebrations. I have had someone propose to his wife with one which I thought was creative. Corporations often use them as intro's to training seminars or award ceremonies. Companies like ExxonMobil, Sony, Ernst & Young, and Vision Works to name a few are among my customers, many are repeat customers. TomTom even used the scroll as their press release in several languages when announcing Star Wars voices for their GPS devices. A few years ago a promotor working  MTV commissioned me to create personal invitations to celebrities for the MTV music video awards. Others incorporate them into their website or use them for some other purpose.

Jango Fett next to George Lucas

I am still waiting on King George to send a bounty hunter after me but perhaps he agrees with me that I am helping his brand more than taking away from his warchest.

starwarsintro.com

Adrenaline Junkies

For my infomedia business I created something out of my imagination.  I have several existing ideas but I chose to create a new one. I've only known my classmates for a week and they could steal my ideas. Just kidding..

My idea is a infomedia site geared to 'Adrenaline Junkies'.  There is currently no central location for thrill seekers to virtually meet, discuss their trips (brag), post videos or provide ratings/reviews of places to go. The site would be centered around a message board allowing users to post reviews / comments.  A few of the unique features of the website would be for users to be able to 'check in' at locations and provide an 'adrenaline rating' for where they are.  For example people check in at the Skykomish River in Seattle, or the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags and after the trip they can give it a rating to share with the community.  Users could then view the top 'adrenaline' activities from around the world and associated reviews/videos etc.  Companies could bid to become a featured adrenaline area or provide groupon style deals to adrenaline junkie users.  Users would also win points for checking in at locations, purchasing trips through the adrenaline junkie site or having a highly rated review among other things.  They could then use the points to purchase apparel, bid on trips etc.  Other community members could rate other members 'adrenaline adventures' to compete to become the the top adrenaline junkie. The possibilities are endless.

I think it is important to note that some of the customer segments can also be classified as partners.  The site in theory would benefit both the end user whether it be a thrill seeker or business and Andrenaline Junkie at the same time.    My application of the idea is fairly broad and it would likely behoove me to narrow the scope a bit..... but for the purpose of this exercise I am thinking big! This idea isn't that bad... hmmm time to register a domain name.