Disqus - Latest Comments for bexmex

Re: Help Bex Choose a Topic for His Collaborate 2013 Deep Dive

bex — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:29:31 -0000

Thanks, Jake! I hope this turns out well... if I don't get much consensus from the WebCenter community, I'm probably just gonna do performance tuning...

Re: Mashup Standards: JSON-P vs. CORS

bex — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:13:38 -0000

Cross domain iframe are a whole 'nother security issue entirely... and just like life before CORS, mostly a collection of workarounds.

There's no cross-domain iFrame standard that I cam across in my research, so I omitted it as a possibility.

Re: City Pension Fund $1.1 Billion in Debt

bex — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:28:49 -0000

A "defined benefit" pension is essentially no different than a fixed-benefit annuity, which is sold by pretty much every bank, broker, and insurance company in the world. They are far from obsolete. They're just a bit more expensive than they used to be.

Re: City Pension Fund $1.1 Billion in Debt

bex — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:26:37 -0000

Three things...

1) as the head of the biggest bond fund in the world (PIMCO), Bill Gross has a strong financial incentive to make people think bonds are better than stocks

2) there's a big math logic in his analysis about how stocks consistently yielded 3% above GDP growth. Yglasias covers it better than I:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/...

3) it's still possible to get 8% return, provided you are investing in countries with fast growing GDP... there are several overlooked in Africa which seem to be the future. It won't last forever, but we don't need it to.

Re: City Pension Fund $1.1 Billion in Debt

bex — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:19:51 -0000

If they are getting 0% return this year, then all is not lost. It's possible that they invested in assets while they were cheap, and then they got cheaper... in 3-5 years the value could bounce back and this may just look like a blip.

It all depends on whether the pension fund manager was smart and bought assets that traditionally increase in value... or if he's a dunce and invested in some hedge funds like all the stupid money did in the past decade.

Re: City Pension Fund $1.1 Billion in Debt

bex — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:14:45 -0000

The assumption of a 7.75% rate of return is a tad high, but not
insane... Discount brokers like Vanguard have several annuities that
have about that rate for annuities.

I'd argue that these kinds of pension funds would benefit from a split
pension... half of which is a fixed, defined benefit, and another half
is variable. Like 5% is guaranteed, the rest is not. Sort of like 'social security plus'

Re: On Other Blogs Today: The NHL in Bellevue?, the Trash Strike, the 1st District, and More

bex — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:03:14 -0000

So, recycling drivers start at $17/hour, and trash drivers start at $26/hour?

Call me crazy, but that seems fair. Recycling is far less stinky. I know lots of people who would be a recycling driver at that rate, but wouldn't be a garbage driver at that rate.

Re: June Jolt: What We Missed, Winners Edition

bex — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:40:01 -0000

" Democrats ... who were likely reluctant to vote for someone who was leading a battle against Obama, can now cast a vote for McKenna ... guilt free."

Um, no...

Washington State experimented with health care reform without a mandate: it blew up. Despite this reality, McKenna spearheaded a campaign to repeal Obamacare... with no concern about practicality, nor any empathy for the thousands of people who would suffer and die because of a repeal...

McKenna proved nothing more than that he's a spiteful, partisan hack. Any Democrats who vote for him should not be surprised when he turns into the next Scott Walker.

Re: June Jolt: What We Missed, Losers Edition

bex — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:26:15 -0000

"$1.4 billion to repeal an earlier 20-cent fee"

WHAT??? 1.4 BILLION???

I think you mean "million," yes?

Re: Software Does Weird Things

bex — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:13:10 -0000

"Rich hasn’t worked for me since he left for Atlassian (@atlassian) last August, but being the rockstar that he is, apparently, he’s still a profit center."

LOL...

Re: More WebCenter Sites Resources

bex — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:27:49 -0000

'ami' ? short for 'amigo' ?

Re: Recap of the Apps UX Gamification Design Jam

bex — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:38:13 -0000

Bex's First Law of Gamification: If your system is a game, then people will game the system ;-)

Looks like I missed a lot of fun this week! Dang...

Re: Next Tour Stop: An Apps UX Design Jam

bex — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:36:46 -0000

I suck... Client having a meltdown on production, and they want me on site next week to fix it, so I'm going to miss this gamification seminar :-(

I saw the starter presentation, tho... lots of good points. But, missing some important ones. One of the BIG problems with gamification is that people want INSTANT feedback on when they did something good. This can be a very bad thing... because in many cases you don't know if an action was actually good until weeks/months/years later. Not enough talk about long-term feedback loops in games, IMHO.

Re: Finally, a Good Starting Point for Why Software is Hard

bex — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:41:48 -0000

Oldie but goodie... My opinion is that software is hard because it's more like gene-splicing than anything engineering or construction related:

http://bexhuff.com/2008/07/...

There's also the inherent problem that both good and bad developers have strong incentives to wring overly complex code. Bad developers do it to mask incompetence... Good developers do it because they're bored with simple code:

http://bexhuff.com/2008/06/...

Re: Oracle WebCenter Sites 11gR1 Released

bex — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:18:36 -0000

Still no Jump Start Kit, tho? Bummer... Unless it's buried deep in that download...

The new contribution interface is pretty slick, tho. I look forward to playing with that!

Re: I Don’t Get the iPad, There I Said It

bex — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:23:56 -0000

Here's why I like the iPad:

1) portable streaming HD video: from the dining room, to the kitchen, to the bedroom
2) a skype appliance: front and back facing cameras with a big screen are handy when grandparents want to see their new grandchild
3) consuming RSS feeds
4) reading -- not writing -- email
5) some games
6) pandora
7) much faster than a smart phone
8) better battery life than a smart phone
9) charges a LOT faster than a smart phone

Other than that... yeah, it's a kind of status symbol. I do think that there is a kind of "critical mass" where something becomes much more intuitive, and then crazy popular for reasons hard for tech geeks to understand... sort of like why everybody flocked to the iPod even tho bigger/better/clunkier MP3 players were available.

Re: WaPo’s Ezra Should Have De-Kleined - FishbowlDC

bex — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:43:02 -0000

Ezra claims it was not a "briefing," it was a discussion, where the supercommittee was barely touched upon:

http://www.washingtonpost.c...

So... a neutral person should take his word over anonymous accusations.

Re: Chrome Remote Desktop

bex — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:01:25 -0000

If Chrome had a larger user base, this would be a big win... but, at present if the first step of desktop sharing is "go download application XYZ," we're not much closer from a usability standpoint.

Is it peer-to-peer plugin to Chrome, or does it need a web server running somewhere?

Re: Can We Stop Building Tools to Convert Users to Developers?

bex — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:22:34 -0000

I know which products you mean... but professional courtesy prevents me from criticizing by name ;-)

Have you ever read "No Silver Bullet"? People have been promising a world where non-developers could develop applications for well over 30 years... and nobody has gotten even close:

http://bexhuff.com/2006/10/...

Can non-programmers make trivial applications? Yes. Can they make useful applications? No.

But... if marketing dupes yet another generation into believing the impossible to purchase an unnecessary upgrade, then marketing did exactly what they were paid to do.

Re: Can We Stop Building Tools to Convert Users to Developers?

bex — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:09:56 -0000

I think probably the only counter-example is Microsoft Excel. Not the macro language, mind you, but the ability to visually spit out a bunch of numbers into a chart... then tweak a few starting numbers and get different results.

It's not really a "program" per se, but that kind of applied fourth-grade-math is about the best you can expect from a non-developer.

Re: Dear Seattle: Let’s shut up and start building some companies

bex — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:03:50 -0000

To clarify: I agree with Kirill that Seattle entrepreneurs need to work harder and quit whining... but I disagree with Ray when he says flat-out that ecosystems "don't matter." There's a lot of data to show that they do.

But... as long as you get the right people in a room collaborating in the right way, and coming up with a plan that "plays to their strengths," then anything is possible.

Re: Dear Seattle: Let’s shut up and start building some companies

bex — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:44:03 -0000

In my opinion, the main reason for businesses to avoid the Bay Area is to get better software talent.

I recently moved from Minneapolis to Seattle. Where I'm from, we call it the "Hollywood Effect." Basically, if you are a "good" actor, you can probably find work in any major city. If you are a "bad" actor, your only hope is to move to Hollywood and get lucky.

The same rule applies to software. If you're a "good" developer, you can get a decent job in any major city. If you're a "bad" developer, your only hope is to blend in where employers are dripping with cash and desperate for warm bodies: Silicon Valley.

Easy access to capital is a major double-edged sword...

Re: Dear Seattle: Let’s shut up and start building some companies

bex — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:32:23 -0000

The current data does not support your hypothesis. Ecosystems do indeed matter:

http://www.theatlantic.com/...

Basically, there are "pockets" in the world where innovation happens much faster than other places. There are several theories as to why this is the case... but basically no man is an island. We are all affected by our environment.

But... end of the day this just means Seattle needs to ditch the Silicon Valley playbook: there's a million ways to build a great company. And if that means you just have to work a bit harder, then so be it!

Re: Thanks and Good Luck Rich

bex — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:59:15 -0000

Have fun a Atlassian, Rich! Sad to see you go...

Re: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

bex — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:03:09 -0000

Personally, I think this is 10% about their technology, and 90% about their patents...

Some corporate Google smack-down might be able to shake up the lethargy that has defined Motorola for the past 5 years... plus there's a good chance Google will lure away the hardware "alpha" geeks that previously would all have preferred Apple. So, end of the day they can salvage something from the actual business.

Still... it's all about the patents. Google was surprisingly naive about this when they charged into hardware...