Perspectives on Microsoft, SQL, Business Intelligence, and other things : Blogging

Blogs on the Road

jhuschka — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:23:00 GMT

One of my interests is mobile computing.

I have a personal interest: I own a Windows Mobile Cingular 8125 phone/PDA. (See Cingular 8125- Cingular Wireless.) So, as I am starting to get “in” to blogging, it is only logical that I start asking “How can I take blogging with me on the road?”

I also have a more professional interest: I think one of the very clear trends of our industry is mobile computing. According to GLOBAL WIRELESS MARKET DATA: Worldwide Mobile Market Forecasts 2006-2011, there were 2.129 billion wireless subscribers at the end of 2005. By 2011, there will be 3.964 billion subscribers. According To In-Stat Strong Growth In Wireless Subscriber Base Resumes, the vast majority of the growth will be in Asia where I understand that wireless is not just a nice portable technology but one that allows a large population to receive information without a wired infrastructure.

So, roughly translated, between now and 2011, there are going to be almost 2 billion new wireless customers. It might be a good idea for me to know something about wireless computing.

It was with this in mind that I opened Internet Explorer the other day and started searching for RSS feed browsers for my Windows Mobile phone/PDA.

I ended up downloading AvantGo, which is a Microsoft partner. (See What is Windows Mobile?)

AvantGo is far more than an RSS feed reader. I would describe AvantGo as a portal specifically designed for the mobile platform. Content is delivered to you as “channels” to which you subscribe.

AvantGo’s business model is the now familiar one in which the basic software is free to the user, but the user sees advertising—of which Microsoft is one. You can subscribe for a fee to get greater capacity. In either case, you create a user id on the AvantGo site, and you manage the channels to which you subscribe from either your PDA or AvantGo’s site.

I have mixed feelings about this approach—placing such personally-identifiable software on my phone/PDA, but I am finding value in the software. The primary value is that I know that the content I’m receiving has been specifically aimed at the PDA.

I downloaded the 6.2 beta version—which I understand plays much better with ActiveSync than previous versions. (See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/activesync38.mspx, notes at bottom of page.) I am syncing by my wireless connection, however.

My initial reaction is fairly positive: The RSS browser seems well-suited for the PDA screen. It is pretty cool to see Ward Pond's Blog and Bob Beauchemin's Blog on my PDA screen. Full text of the articles is downloaded on request using my wireless connection. The syncing seems a bit cranky at times, however.

I will keep you informed of my adventures.

I welcome your comments.

(2B) || !(2B)

jhuschka — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 01:06:00 GMT

After posting my first entry on Wednesday, dealing with “How to be a good blogger?”, I have been considering questions of philosophy.

What do I believe to be a good blog entry worthy of posting?

You see, I would like this blog to be successful. I would like it to provide the greatest number of people with opportunity to discuss (presumably Microsoft-related) topics that are important to them in a way that they find valuable.

But what does that look like?

Based on my informal survey and experience, it seems like blog content falls into two broad categories: Fact and opinion.

Some facts people care about. Some they do not.

Facts invite consumers—people who either need a fact or do not need a fact, likely find it with a quick query against a search engine, and move on.

Opinion, on the other hand, invites discussion, and healthy discussion invites participation by more people, which adds value—all important success criteria.

Therefore, I present the following guiding philosophy for my future blog postings:

· Each post will be aimed at providing value to you who read it and wish to discuss it.

· If the post is opinion, it will, hopefully, invite you to think about it and respond.

· If the post is fact, I will aim to make it unique, and it will invite you to explore it, perhaps developing additional facts and opinions.

· I’m learning. If this philosophy doesn’t work, I’ll change it.

I welcome your comments.

How to be a good blogger?

jhuschka — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:52:00 GMT

That is exactly the question that I’ve been asking myself the last few days since my friend Ward Pond asked me for a link to my blog—which didn’t exist. When I searched the net for an answer, one of the first places at which I landed was at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research which, in June 2006, published the report “Behind the Scenes in the Blogosphere”. In this report, 74 successful bloggers were surveyed regarding their blogging. I think it would be unfair to this rather extensive report for me to attempt to summarize it here, so I encourage you to click on the link at take a look at it for yourself.

On reading the report, however, it appears clear that, in blogging, I am engaging in a conversation with others (as opposed to, for example, publishing to my readers). I need to be authentic, provide value to those who engage in conversation with me, and have some level of focus.

It is the latter requirement that poses the most challenge to me. I think most people who know me would consider me to be a SQL Server/SQL specialist. However, I wonder how much I can add to the SQL discussion with people such as Ward Pond, Bob Beauchemin, Roger Wolter, The SQL CLR Team, The SQL Server Engine Team, The SQL Programmability and API Development Team, The SQL Query Optimization Team, and Kimberly Tripp, to name a few, blogging. Hendry Lee, the “Small Business Blogging Scout” brings some encouragement to me by saying that such “too much competition” defeatism is one of the Myths of blogging.

So, with this post, my first, I enter the world of blogging. I thank Ward for his encouragement, and I welcome your comments and criticism (constructive, please) as I (and perhaps we) explore many issues and questions, including “How to be a good blogger”?