tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69437421170956984922024-03-20T09:55:27.635+01:00alex'salexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-38823966216107162052011-06-20T15:08:00.001+02:002012-07-07T15:45:19.292+02:00Google Apps Scripts: Shared Contact Groups<b>UPDATE: Jul 7, 2012</b><br />
While revising the script I did more debugging as there were some code chunks I wanted to improve, thinking that maybe Apps script performance got better. It turns out, creating a new or updating existing contact is very inefficient. Here's a screenshot from my debugging session:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGbgrv3gaTawoh71kuZN8QnGCRPd-29aEIM9VV_6nK2GMp5_f_zjveD8WJ52BkLA9N6CeCcQ9SeuDw8Ltjl51xa0ZEPEs41e5xWZxBRuxLCjddObIekNrf726II3IuADPiTwh4FGrcGM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-07+at+3.18.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGbgrv3gaTawoh71kuZN8QnGCRPd-29aEIM9VV_6nK2GMp5_f_zjveD8WJ52BkLA9N6CeCcQ9SeuDw8Ltjl51xa0ZEPEs41e5xWZxBRuxLCjddObIekNrf726II3IuADPiTwh4FGrcGM/s640/Screen+Shot+2012-07-07+at+3.18.39+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Notice a bunch of cc.setXxx() methods. From my understanding every setXxx() call (e.g. setFamilyName) actually does a real API call to Google Contacts backend, so you can imagine how many API calls the script does only to update or create one contact. I suspect Google (reasonably) sets an API call rate threshold which is probably what limits the synchronization process and "We're sorry, a server error occurred. Please try again".<br />
<br />
A much more efficient approach would be to create or update a contact data in one API call, e.g. ContactsApp.createContact(...all fields go here...).<br />
<br />
Another efficient approach would be to update all fields without making actual Contacts API calls and only afterwords do one API call e.g. ContactsApp.updateContact(contact_object).<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there are no efficient approaches currently available. At least, I could not dig it up from Apps script documentation. This leaves the script to be quite inefficient as there is no way to do "batch updates", especially with a medium to large contact groups. Well, it is possible to use directly Google Contacts API protocol (GData) from Apps script, but App Engine would probably be a better platform to do the job.<br />
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<br />
ORIGINAL POST (Jun 20, 2011)<br />
------------------------------------------------<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
This is a simple <a href="http://code.google.com/googleapps/appsscript/">Apps script</a> to share a group of contacts among some users within your Google Apps domain or just any user with a Google account, if you don't want to buy an <a href="https://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/search?query=contacts+sharing&orderBy=RATING&type=INSTALLABLE&featuring=5&offset=10">app from Google Apps Marketpalce</a>.<br />
<br />
Here's how to use it.<br />
<br />
1. Create a new spreadsheet, go to Tools > Script Gallery, search for "shared contact groups" and click on "install" button. If you can't find it just download this text file and paste its content into the script editor window: <a href="https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B19L0O2pMOKjNDk3ZDJiZjMtZjUyNy00MjY0LTg2NjctMjZjNTgxMzhhM2Nm&export=download">docs.google.com/uc?id=0B19L0O2pMOKjNDk3ZDJiZjMtZjUyNy00MjY0LTg2NjctMjZjNTgxMzhhM2Nm&export=download</a><br />
<br />
2. After you install the script you should be able to see an additional menu called "Contacts". Use it to start sharing an existing group of your contacts:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66XWx48h-CNS85eyYyTohESqZR7Mu5e7v4H-ADUiz4Al4DE5Y3fr8mz6ruYLAHGOvFQlk74GHDFLi4xFYU-CSafU5lMbjpSUEZlkEeqzcCyQEkDmGqDpLIXgg6kxscm1vmOcW1QLVfbWu/s1600/menu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66XWx48h-CNS85eyYyTohESqZR7Mu5e7v4H-ADUiz4Al4DE5Y3fr8mz6ruYLAHGOvFQlk74GHDFLi4xFYU-CSafU5lMbjpSUEZlkEeqzcCyQEkDmGqDpLIXgg6kxscm1vmOcW1QLVfbWu/s1600/menu.png" /></a></div>
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Select a group you want to share and click on "continue"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieb-IxhNrfdBbqSP_1gpvNTw66QQbz9wu4awl6yzET8THZG0hBnKY9ljfhE45iT0ELpSRC0Xx5QAtfRpoVCZOJy1u65aYJmK6pA8MQ1_dzxhVMWGZzFLxxHX0caSB2pIGLk_PjTzt1d0gA/s1600/new+window.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieb-IxhNrfdBbqSP_1gpvNTw66QQbz9wu4awl6yzET8THZG0hBnKY9ljfhE45iT0ELpSRC0Xx5QAtfRpoVCZOJy1u65aYJmK6pA8MQ1_dzxhVMWGZzFLxxHX0caSB2pIGLk_PjTzt1d0gA/s1600/new+window.png" /></a></div>
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3. The script will create a new sheet named after the contacts group and populate it with contacts of that group:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0atg9GKO9h4gz8gVuoyKBsvI625fQoGuMB_XRQquJfFGLfDw-yKBsBtGxvHVHLFITW9AwRssj3glHPdKW7NBQhSf4kjj6G-QcK5pXg6iWgY8FkOksidc03TqLNK9QhXOQsuXjJLy2oMS/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.33.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0atg9GKO9h4gz8gVuoyKBsvI625fQoGuMB_XRQquJfFGLfDw-yKBsBtGxvHVHLFITW9AwRssj3glHPdKW7NBQhSf4kjj6G-QcK5pXg6iWgY8FkOksidc03TqLNK9QhXOQsuXjJLy2oMS/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.33.02+PM.png" /></a></div>
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4. That's it. Now, share the spreadsheet with someone else and tell them to go Contacts > Sync with my contacts:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FS_CJqKfC7rShv-EF7DVE0KR4z9UT0w9Id3o_KtinnS1n2BNGnKieLWiPa0ENjcdQlVe6dkoxp1jfWKxqJwzi1m9SYIwu820Blvzx6JfkIlawgHnk3eEhqMWSjkRDECKDTrXxXdaiI0t/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.36.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FS_CJqKfC7rShv-EF7DVE0KR4z9UT0w9Id3o_KtinnS1n2BNGnKieLWiPa0ENjcdQlVe6dkoxp1jfWKxqJwzi1m9SYIwu820Blvzx6JfkIlawgHnk3eEhqMWSjkRDECKDTrXxXdaiI0t/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.36.15+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
5. Keep it synchronized! Go to<br />
Tools > Script editor and then Triggers > Current script's triggers:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLclzBa8JqA1htsRRwmtVUK2ZQXNfKxs2A74sx4V97ewS-QVviArhMnsnDUImcN8MWRxBLcNvMyWTkIjkjWm_hgpdmSFB3LUAAk3smwGaRtqPeWHZrKS4XQ33EvZSux33KwwHVPd7DWDwJ/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.38.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLclzBa8JqA1htsRRwmtVUK2ZQXNfKxs2A74sx4V97ewS-QVviArhMnsnDUImcN8MWRxBLcNvMyWTkIjkjWm_hgpdmSFB3LUAAk3smwGaRtqPeWHZrKS4XQ33EvZSux33KwwHVPd7DWDwJ/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.38.16+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
Now, add a time-driven trigger keep the contacts in sync with other users you've shared the spreadsheet with:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WubJDw3UOTLwtG9plrbRCbSlxFpNc32t2jh54vGjI-pvUR7TxsuxVF6ddAWRnaB7wPnAOqdBDosl_bEXz1iudZubsb_jIj6gDjVU8dVNElH53m7KlDYVvB71mGvJOPs53zSc3vFDuoR4/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.41.13+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WubJDw3UOTLwtG9plrbRCbSlxFpNc32t2jh54vGjI-pvUR7TxsuxVF6ddAWRnaB7wPnAOqdBDosl_bEXz1iudZubsb_jIj6gDjVU8dVNElH53m7KlDYVvB71mGvJOPs53zSc3vFDuoR4/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.41.13+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdh4CCjt-5xsk3VkxMvQNR1SVDWGG2QKx2I8bTnRhM_ha2VDs2R51N_xCik2RYC8suIbg2MvR4OtsSIddnLCcNReDtPK1wGpE_roEeemjxfpUQszk2TbkZf7MQhDTq_SnVJkfrJCERiHG/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.41.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdh4CCjt-5xsk3VkxMvQNR1SVDWGG2QKx2I8bTnRhM_ha2VDs2R51N_xCik2RYC8suIbg2MvR4OtsSIddnLCcNReDtPK1wGpE_roEeemjxfpUQszk2TbkZf7MQhDTq_SnVJkfrJCERiHG/s640/Screen+shot+2011-06-20+at+1.41.30+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Let me know if you have any troubles.alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-16876599568800330702010-11-20T23:15:00.003+01:002010-11-20T23:19:59.615+01:00Hiring at Cloudware it!Since June I kinda put <a href="http://cloudware.it/">cloudware.it</a> on hold for some personal reasons but it is time for this cloud to come out and fly into the sky, and I have a feeling it's gonna fly real high.<br />
<br />
I'm happy to announce that we've just started <a href="http://cloudware.it/jobs/">hiring people</a>. We're looking for skilled (or not-so-skilled but eager to learn) developers to work with platforms like <a href="http://code.google.com/appengine/">Google App Engine</a>, <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/">Amazon Web Services</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html">Google Apps</a> leveraging all their power through APIs; document-based DBs; frameworks like <a href="http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/">GWT</a> and <a href="http://rubyonrails.org/">Ruby on Rails</a>.<br />
<br />
I hear you saying already, "Hey, where did 'mobile' part go?" - it is there, of course. We're primarily focusing on Android and iPhone platforms but Web interface in HTML5 is as much important.<br />
<br />
We don't expect anyone to be a top expert in all the areas. What's more important is a highly motivated personality. We seriously consider every application.<br />
<br />
A lot of fun now, isn't!?<br />
Official info is on this page: <a href="http://cloudware.it/jobs/">Jobs @ Cloudware it!</a>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-9424528434067120802009-08-18T18:12:00.006+02:002010-04-26T09:30:49.503+02:00Back home to ItalyHere I am back home. Safe and sound. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>A *huge* amount of things happend during the trip. Not everything worked as I planned but still I had a lot of fun and what's most important, a lot of new experience.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>I'll be writing about [real] stories happend during <a href="http://alex.cloudware.it/2009/08/road-trip.html">my road trip</a> in the next post (probably a few). For now, I need a some time to put my thoughts together.</div></div>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-36178195146060047632009-08-10T14:43:00.012+02:002009-08-11T18:00:24.985+02:00Road tripI know, long time no seen.<div>I haven't been blogging lately but like I said I don't favour blogging media-or-social-or-whatever news. There are so many sources out there already that I think it doesn't really make sense just to post a link to someone else's blog post and write a few paragraphs of same stuff. Plus, it seems like a blog concept is a little bit old for that anyway. Check, for instance, microblogging services like <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconica">Laconica</a> or <a href="http://js-kit.com/">JS Kit Echo</a>. <a href="http://friendfeed.com/">FriendFeed</a> or <a href="http://facebook.com/">Facebook</a> might be really good for that matter too. Depends on who you are friending with.<div><br /></div><div>Anyway, looks like this blog's getting more and more personal, a diary if you will. Here's the latest: <b>I'm gonna be driving across a part of Europe (Italy - Austria - Slovakia) AND along Ukraine</b>.</div><img style="float: left; margin:0.5em; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGHKZj8eHA0vnAhRWpjmMAlcZn20H5p473zGD-js4f48fnri5QNrzK7e-fmYk8TQ1O6gfrr84kclUxEIwXhIK5UlvwHRyNQUzxSzbzVLhHxM30uTPXMI7m8-z9d9sk_r9It9FaZNAJJJS/s400/italy+-+ukraine.png" border="0" alt="" id="Italy - Ukraine route" /><div>It's about 3000 km, 38 hours of driving one way according to <a href="http://www.viamichelin.com/">ViaMichelin</a> but I think I'll make it in 2-3 days for I do want to make some stops and sleep a little bit.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm gonna be driving <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpQ1I42x-L2TR1WLPGawriFG-358zEZzJUZ7LCC2fBhU2BH7HIRKCu_fyCcp1hDyO2IaATBBfqyZmDXUCscNsew1BK7f2qsxrUVCYgYTd7zHVNne4o3LKpwPqMAcY7bykMVtTpEkO10fE/s400/my+bmw.jpg">my BMW 520i</a> with widen tires, modified springs and a 200W subwoofer so, that should make it enough comfortable.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure yet which cities I'll be stopping by but I will certainly be publishing photos and videos. Plus, I think I'll stick a hidden front camera on my car as I'm really curious to what's gonna happen on Slovakia - Ukraine border. I've heard a lot of stories but never did it on my own.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm taking off this <b>Wed, 12 August, late evening</b> so stay tuned for updates via <a href="http://twitter.com/crhym3">twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/crhym3">facebook</a>, <a href="http://friendfeed.com/crhym3">friendfeed</a> or this blog.</div><div><br /></div><div>To be continued...</div><div><br /></div></div>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-61235007509813839532009-06-01T18:11:00.007+02:002009-06-02T01:06:21.783+02:00Grow your followers from 2325 to 27487... and then WHAT?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT10T98HvVsIo5ef9hyphenhyphenZc3NfVu_Cw9jq4z2Fi2OmjZ2OqbteHLqRW9HU68tXz-aegid8Cv8WbeeHguUsMpTRq7SA8DVBHQcV_QBGomb9ZO5dOJUzWkcLebYOTOL1-2Q1KkVO-iu0VKdrav/s1600-h/Picture+3.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 39px; border: 1px solid #ccc;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT10T98HvVsIo5ef9hyphenhyphenZc3NfVu_Cw9jq4z2Fi2OmjZ2OqbteHLqRW9HU68tXz-aegid8Cv8WbeeHguUsMpTRq7SA8DVBHQcV_QBGomb9ZO5dOJUzWkcLebYOTOL1-2Q1KkVO-iu0VKdrav/s200/Picture+3.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342405415788730642" /></a>This goes to all of those "affiliated" or "follow me on Twitter and I'll get ya 20000 followers more".<br /><br />I started to get bored of all those noisy followings on Twitter, Friendfeed and other networks by people who don't even care about what I'm saying. Yeah I know it's become a kind of a sport, like <span style="font-style:italic;">"how much followers do you have on X? What? Dude, I've got a few hundreds more!"</span><br /><br />So, now what? Got rewarded with an olympic gold medal or hit a jack pot? I bet at least 80% of those 20k followers do the very same thing: follow anybody to get more followers. Doesn't it sound ridiculous? This is not the same as email spam where even 1% could get you finally hit it.<br /><br />Now, that reminds me of nothing but a simple <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme">Pyramid</a>, a "<b>non-sustainable business model</b>". Just a very few people at the very top of that pyramid made a couple bucks but that's it. Wake up people. I thought we were past this.<br /><br />I don't want to complete any survey for 5$, follow a ridiculous Adwords seminar or do an "extra money" of that kind. The next "affiliated" follower goes straight to a blocked users list.alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-15705986092572846142009-05-30T19:12:00.004+02:002009-05-31T22:57:11.845+02:00Total resetOk... Where do I start? It's been over a year now!<br />
<br />
It's funny though. Few times a month I'd ask myself: "Why am I not wring anymore?" It's not like I had totally nothing to say. Probably, just wasn't in the right mood.<br />
<br />
Anyways, a lot of things happend during last year. I finally realized <a href="http://dataportability.org/" title="Data Portability project">DataPortability project</a> didn't work for me. I was really disappointed. For a lot of reasons, which I can't say are all facts. Some of them are just my assumptions. But for one I can tell you I didn't like how <a href="http://chrissaad.wordpress.com/">Chris Saad</a> was supposedly leading the <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?show=more&enc_user=uTp3KBQAAADN8MvCzWRUkOfOefSzhdjOOPANdqfI6prRsqjc7uCt1A&group=dataportability-public">group</a> at all, and sometimes it really seemed like he was just using DP project to promote others he was involved in.<br />
<br />
I gave a few lessons of Salsa dancing here over <a href="http://barrio-latino-trento.it/">Barrio Latino</a> school. It was a hell of an experience. I usually teach a little bit of <a href="http://www.jamclass.org/">Software Engineering</a> every year at the university I work in but, teaching to dance is something much different from computer science :)<br />
<br />
In the winter season I went snowboarding <a href="http://www.obereggen.com/inverno/mappa.php?lang=EN">hereabouts</a> a lot, especially in December. It was a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pink.mashart.org" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://pink.mashart.org/images/logo-nobg.png" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; float: right; margin: 0 0 0 5px;" /></a> Lately, I've been working on some new projects. One of them is called <a href="http://pink.mashart.org/">Pinkr</a>. I'm really excited about it. Ever heard of <a href="http://sportstracker.nokia.com/">Nokia Sports Tracker</a> or <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/">Garmin Connect</a>? <br />
<br />
Basically, there are two components that work together: an application for mobile device (well, a cell phone) and a web application, the server-side. The mobile app, leveraging <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System">GPS</a>, can store or otherwise transmit (over an internet connection) your current location. Based on that data and a couple of more parameters, the server-side app is able to compute the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(physics)#Mechanical_power">instant mechanical power</a> you produce during your course of run or biking, how much <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie">calories</a> you've burned and other metabolic info. All that in real-time!<br />
<br />
Pinkr is different from others in that<br />
<ul><li>there are more sophisticated formulas involved;</li>
<li>you don't need a special device or a particular cell phone, just about any mobile that can run J2ME application;</li>
<li>all is happening in real-time so can be used for on-line training, monitoring, etc. </li>
</ul>I can't say more right now as we are refining our goals and strategy but I think I'll be posting a lot about Pinkr later on.<br />
<br />
My picks of the year so far? <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/">WolframAlpha</a> and <a href="http://wave.google.com/">Google Wave</a>. Both have totally blown me out.<br />
<br />
A couple of things though.<br />
<ul><li>Too bad at WolframAlpha they have statistical data about the United States only but I'm almost sure they're already working on extending it to other countries.</li>
<li>During the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ">Google Wave demo</a> I might've missed it or they didn't talk about a bridge between SMTP and Wave (or whatever they'll name it) protocols, but I think it's doable fairly easy.</li>
</ul>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-53984378987218287952008-03-31T05:28:00.000+02:002009-05-30T10:40:28.277+02:00What DataPortability means to meThat's right - it's more about <a href="http://dataportability.org">DataPortability</a> than data portability, and it's short: about 3 mins, but anyway.<br/><br/>Oh and, it's late night here and I got about a couple of hours to make the video so <strong>don't mind me looking kinda weird</strong>:<br/><br/><a href="http://blip.tv/file/786463">http://blip.tv/file/786463</a><br/><br/><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="355" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://blip.tv/play/AbCyHwA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" src="http://blip.tv/play/AbCyHwA"></embed></object>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-82759963033994547552008-03-28T03:09:00.000+01:002009-05-30T10:40:28.277+02:00Collaboration for realYeah, it's been a while. I wasn't into blogging lately: catching up with emails, twits, feeds,... well my friends' lifestreams.<br/><br/>I wasn't sure if I should post this but, hey I just can't shut up.<br/><br/>I'm working with couple of groups on a few projects. The thing is, sometimes I'm really disappointed about how some research project management [setup] and design tasks are done here at the university.<br/><br/>So, the guys are usually from old school: emails (communication) + MS Word (documentation). Now, this was a bleeding edge like, how many, 10 or 20 years back?<br/><br/><strong>Here's a little [recent] story</strong>. A guy is writing a spec doc using wiki, emailing the link to the group asking for a feedback. "Finally! someone's getting it right", I thought. Guess what: "uhm.. this isn't good. we got our golden standard: MS Word". Well, the guy copies & pastes that into MS Word doc.<br/><br/>Some people modified the document (you know, the review feature) and email it back; some others (like me) just email the comments. Now, of course I wanted to read the others' comments too (hey, yes, we're talking about collaboration here) but here it is: OpenOffice just don't want to show it to me! Oh man.<br/><br/>"Guys, not that I don't want to but, sorry I can't read your comments...". Right, so someone converts the reviewed MS Word doc into PDF and email it back to me. I finally got to read it all, and of course I had my comments on their comments too. I send another feedback in plain text back: conversion to MS Word, email, back to MS Word, PDF, email,... <strong>you get the feeling</strong>, don't ya?<br/><br/>Well, poor guy couldn't figure out any more where it begins and where it ends. I guess, he just started almost from scratch.<br/><br/>My question is, is it a real collaboration? Oh, come on, give me a break! Please, just try at least get acquainted with new concepts and technologies we have living in 2008!<br/><ul><br/> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki" title="Wiki">Wiki</a>. <em>"Wikis are used in many businesses to provide <a href="http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/" title="Confluence">affordable and effective</a> Intranets and for Knowledge Management"</em></li><br/> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging" title="Instant messaging">Instant messaging</a>. See "Practical Use in Enterprise"</li><br/> <li>Shared calendars</li><br/> <li>Chat rooms and forums</li><br/> <li>... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software" title="Collaborative software">and a lot more</a>!</li><br/></ul><br/>Aw, did I mention social software? Aw, and did I forget to mention that you can push all that stream (of course, including emails) into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)" title="RSS">RSS feed</a>?<br/><br/>What? Oh come on guys, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2">give it a try</a>, at least!<br/><br/>I guess the problem is, it is sometimes (rather often here) hard to deliver this sort of information to a boss (the guy who doesn't know much of technology) in a comprehensible way: advantages that gives you a certain new technology. And the project managers who work directly with those bosses often afraid of the new stuff - afraid to fail and be blamed for that.alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-31167782487647638812008-03-13T00:11:00.000+01:002009-05-30T10:40:28.277+02:001938 Media: Access forbidden<a href="/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/1938media_forbidden.gif" alt="1938 Media: Access forbidden" title="1938 Media: Access forbidden"><img src="http://alex.digns.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/1938media_forbidden.thumbnail.gif" alt="1938 Media: Access forbidden" style="border: 1px solid #999999; float: right" height="72" width="171" /></a>I wanted to watch <a href="http://www.1938media.com/chris-saad-interview/">Chris Saad interview on DataPortability</a> by Loren Feldman but I got this instead: "You don't have permission to access ..." <a href="http://www.1938media.com">1938media.com</a>.<br/><br/>I was about to "wtf, are you kidding me?! I hope we're not in 1938 and 1938media doesn't think <a href="http://www.192021.org/">the US represents the "whole world"</a>. Just kidding.<br/><br/>Fortunately (for me), <a href="http://danielabarbosa.blogspot.com/2008/03/loren-feldman-interviewing-chris-saad.html">Daniela posted a YouTube link</a> (I didn't realize to check on YouTube in the first place) and some comments too.<br/><br/>Although, Loren Feldman always seemed funny to me, besides that Chris found an incredibly nice and simple way to describe what data portability is about to everyone:<br/><br/><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iHjKTcerrPM&rel=1&border=0"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iHjKTcerrPM&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"/></object>alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-34695462122613440532008-03-11T19:10:00.000+01:002009-05-30T10:40:28.277+02:00Net neutrality.. and now Google too?Mick Liubinskas posted a link to a <a href="http://www.liubinskas.com/blog/2008/03/06/net-neutrality-wont-just-happen/">video about net neutrality</a> which I find a very important issue. Then, <a href="http://liako.biz/2008/03/net-neutrality/">Elias found another one</a>, <em>"more concise and to the point"</em>. I'm not gonna say more about that - it's all in Mick's and Elias' posts, and the videos are pretty good too. Check it out.<br/><br/>Here's another thing: <a href="http://www.nicco.org/blog/2008/03/10/google-evil/">"Google = Evil", says Nicco</a>:<br/><blockquote>About two months ago I noticed that Google was marking my website, nicco.org, with a notice that said "This site may harm your computer" as part of natural search results [...]</blockquote><br/><blockquote>[...] I immediately contacted Google and was directed to StopBadware.org [...]</blockquote><br/><blockquote><em>"We have received and processed your request for review of your website, nicco.org/. Google’s most recent test of your website found no badware behaviors on the site. As such, the Google warning page for your site has either already been removed or should be removed shortly."</em> [...]</blockquote><br/>- replied The StopBadware Team a couple weeks later.<br/><blockquote>[...] "Should be removed shortly" my ass. It’s almost a month later – March 10 – and my site is still marked as badware. [...]</blockquote><br/><blockquote>[...] What is going on? I am really, really angry. Google thinks they can simply decide I am evil, and no one should visit my site, without any justification and with no recourse?</blockquote><br/>Now, these issues might not seem connected with the net neutrality but it certainly feels like every time a startup enters the BigCos they want control, more control, ... and even more control! The feeling of power, right. Well, that's wrong. I can't stand it, I'm gonna have to bring up this quote: <em>"With great power comes great responsibility"</em>.<br/><br/>Well, I can understand Google might feel responsible for the services they provide to their users, but not <a href="http://www.nicco.org/blog/2008/03/10/google-evil/">this way</a>!<br/><br/>What do you think?alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-58588318200298207162008-03-10T20:41:00.001+01:002009-05-30T17:30:13.308+02:00Twitter SMS support in Italy?It's been quite a long time (wait, if not since the beginning?) Twitter still(!) doesn't support SMS service in Italy:<br /><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://alex.digns.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/twitter-sms-italy.gif" alt="Twitter text SMS support in Italy" /></p><br />Now, I've come across Russell Beattie's post: <a href="http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/peep-an-open-twitter-server">Peep - an Open Twitter Server</a> and thought why not to start-up kinda "twitter service" in Italy? Like, settle up a deal with the major providers (<a href="http://www.vodafone.it/">Vodafone</a>, <a href="http://www.wind.it/">Wind</a>, <a href="http://www.tim.it/">TIM</a>, and well <a href="http://www.tre.it/">Three</a> too maybe), run something similar to what Russ did, and setup an SMS-to-jabber box.<br /><br />Anybody knows if that exists already in Italy? never heard of such a thing though... btw, I was just wondering how many italian twitters are there.<br /><br />If someone's interested drop me a line (hey, yes, I do speak italian :).alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6943742117095698492.post-41556940168486168152008-03-08T14:55:00.003+01:002009-05-30T11:33:47.215+02:00Hello world!Finally! I meant to start this blog like 2 or 3 years back but there was always something that stood between me and the blog. Another reason is I sort of wasn't really convinced whether I'd be able to keep up.<br /><br />Since then I've got now a lot more reasons why I should actually do it. One of them is I've joined <a href="http://dataportability.org/">DataPortability</a> group. I'm still more of a spectator than a contributor - my job's really keeping me busy these months. But I figured sooner or later I'm gonna start doing something for real so I needed a place where to experiment, too. Well, it isn't just about data portability or social networks. I've got some nice ideas (well, at least it looks like it :) so I thought I might start-up <a href="http://digns.com/">digns.com</a> company at some point.<br /><br />Right now, I'm just really happy I finally got to my blog and I'll do my best to keep it updated.alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04497659736099795725noreply@blogger.com0